When I Mistook My Arch-Rival for My Dao Companion - Chapter 23.1

Chapter 23.1

Wenren Qian, who had held some expectations for Fu Guzhou, felt like stabbing him straight through with a single sword strike.

Why did Wenren Qian insist on continuing even though he clearly knew the thick fog of the miasma would lead a person into an illusion upon entanglement? It was because he knew this was the only way to come into contact with the miasma’s true consciousness. Only by touching that consciousness would they have a chance to leave the miasma.

Thus, Wenren Qian had risked himself by entering the fray, intending to completely suppress that consciousness.

It was an extremely dangerous move, but Wenren Qian chose to do it out of sufficient self-confidence; this consciousness would not be able to truly control him. It was precisely for this reason that the miasma’s consciousness in this realm had set a very interesting trap for him.

Wenren Qian was currently considered the strongest combatant in the Demon Realm. Although he hadn’t faced all the Demon Emperors openly, those Emperors would not lightly provoke him. Previously, Wenren Qian truly had no one who could be called a rival; counting them down, the only person Wenren Qian acknowledged as an opponent was Fu Guzhou, who had wanted to contract him from their very first meeting.

Thus, the miasma’s consciousness cut in at an ingenious point: the first time they met.

Back then, Wenren Qian had nearly been contracted by a human. In the end, the reason he wasn’t contracted was essentially because that human actively chose to give up. No matter how much time passed, this incident remained a great humiliation for Wenren Qian. Experiencing such a scene again, Wenren Qian would naturally want to kill the Fu Guzhou of that time.

As for Fu Guzhou, he had already experienced three illusions. Seeing Wenren Qian again after his body had been completely out of his control previously, any normal person would feel a certain amount of panic.

To put it simply, this was a trap set by the miasma’s consciousness—a trap intended to make them kill each other.

But who would have thought that because Fu Guzhou’s memory was currently at seventeen, his thoughts were relatively simple, giving him a sense of “great wisdom appearing as folly.” Of course, it could also be explained as him recognizing Wenren Qian by sheer coincidence. Even if they recognized each other, they could have continued the act; as long as they lured out the consciousness of this place, Wenren Qian was confident enough to lead them both out of the miasma.

But of all his calculations, he failed to account for the fact that while Fu Guzhou appeared clever, in many moments, he was simply a fool.

For example, what person who is about to kill another would say to them, “Husband, I’m really the real one”? Was he joking?

However, since it had already happened, even if the other party didn’t cooperate, Wenren Qian could only force the act to continue.

Wenren Qian let out a cold laugh. “You have no other skills, but you are quite an expert at reading This Seat’s memories.”

With that, his strikes, which previously held a hint of mercy, suddenly became completely ruthless.

Fu Guzhou didn’t understand why his Dao companion didn’t believe he was real. But now that he knew the other was his companion, it felt somewhat impolite to strike back. For a time, the two who were barely able to trade blows transformed into a situation where one was being suppressed and beaten by the other.

Not far from them, the miasma’s consciousness, wearing Li Chengyuan’s face, let out a very human-like sigh of relief. Fortunately, only one of the two had recognized the other.

The miasma’s consciousness began to doubt whether its memory reading wasn’t clear enough; otherwise, why hadn’t it read anything about the two of them becoming Dao companions? However, it wasn’t a big problem. If that powerful demon cultivator knew he had accidentally killed his own Dao companion, wouldn’t that be even more interesting than the original script?

The miasma’s consciousness waited gleefully for a scene where one of them would bleed out, failing to notice that the direction of the two men’s fight was getting closer and closer to him.

Earlier, Fu Guzhou was still forcibly explaining that he was real and not an illusion, but later, he also seemed to grow heated. The two went from a one-sided show back to a proper exchange of blows.

By the time they had fought their way over to him, the miasma’s consciousness still had the heart to pretend to be Li Chengyuan and mediate: “Little Guyang, what is going on? Didn’t you want to contract him? Why have you started fighting?”

Fu Guzhou’s face was tense. He ignored his “friend’s” words and instead bit his fingertip to smear blood onto his sword. Suddenly, a great red light erupted from the blade as he lunged toward Wenren Qian.

This strike, containing Fu Guzhou’s essence blood, was quite formidable. Even Wenren Qian prioritized dodging, but his dodging speed was too fast and the sword strike was too fierce; consequently, the sword ended up landing on him.

Wait, landed on him?

The miasma’s consciousness felt something was wrong and said anxiously, “Little Guyang, your sword is plugged into the wrong place.”

Fu Guzhou revealed a joyful smile that completely clashed with his stern face. “It’s not wrong. The one I’m stabbing is you.”

Wenren Qian was finally a bit more satisfied with Fu Guzhou. At least the fellow had understood his meaning in the end; otherwise, Wenren Qian wouldn’t have minded dealing with him with a single sword strike.

After pinning Li Chengyuan down with his sword, Fu Guzhou sought praise: “Am I not very impressive? You didn’t say a word, yet I understood your meaning.”

“Be thankful you understood in the end. Otherwise, This Seat truly wouldn’t have minded turning the ‘fake’ play into a ‘real’ one.” The “real one” in his mouth carried a profound meaning.

Fu Guzhou didn’t sense the danger at all. “You can’t entirely blame me. Earlier, I really thought you hadn’t recognized me.”

After all, not everyone had that “cheat-code” heart-racing sensation. What if his Dao companion didn’t have it?

Fu Guzhou quickly brushed aside the fact that he hadn’t immediately grasped Wenren Qian’s intent and asked instead, “By the way, why do we need to bind Li Chengyuan?”

“Because Li Chengyuan is the incarnation of this place. A miasma that can freely bewitch human hearts must have generated a consciousness. And since it set this trap—judging by how it dared to unscrupulously control This Seat’s body earlier—it is very confident. Being so confident, it would surely be willing to participate in this trap with its true body. Furthermore, This Seat can vaguely sense its presence.”

Fu Guzhou’s eyes sparkled. His Dao companion was so impressive.

Li Chengyuan—or rather, the consciousness of this place—immediately changed his face, wanting to turn into mist and dissipate into the world again. However, no matter how hard he tried, he could not escape the binding of that sword.

To this, Fu Guzhou said casually, “I forgot to tell you, my constitution is special. This move happens to be the best at suppressing yin and fiendish things.”

Had the opponent met anyone other than Fu Guzhou, he might have succeeded in escaping. But he happened to encounter the Fu Guzhou who had once even sealed Wenren Qian. Even if Fu Guzhou lacked his memories now, sealing a miasma consciousness was a simple task.

The miasma’s consciousness hadn’t expected to fail so miserably in such a minor way. It laughed and said, “This time I was a step short. But no one can leave Wujian alive. Even if you leave my miasma, you will fall to other things.”

Unlike his happiness when talking to Wenren Qian, Fu Guzhou’s face turned completely cold toward the arrogant miasma. “Then there’s no need for you to worry about us.”

Fu Guzhou seemed to think of something and stared intently at the miasma’s consciousness. “Speaking of which, your illusions are quite interesting. Since they can ignore the power suppression of Wujian and return our previous cultivations to us, if I study you well, could I find a way to leave Wujian?”

The miasma’s consciousness, which had just been acting like a grand hero, immediately panicked. “That was just an illusion! You thought you recovered your strength, but that only works within my miasmic fog. After leaving the miasma, you will still be suppressed by Wujian. It is impossible to leave Wujian through the miasma.”

“In that case, you are completely useless. Since you’re useless, why should we keep you?”

As he spoke, Fu Guzhou looked like he wanted to stab the sword in a few more times.

The miasma’s consciousness was meeting such a shameless person for the first time. If the opponent had just attacked directly, he could have acted tough; but now that he was clearly being given a chance to perform for his life, how could he bear to actually die?

“Aside from the key, there is only one way to leave Wujian. That is to become a dead person.”

Fu Guzhou said nothing and stabbed the sword in once more. As if that wasn’t enough, he turned to Wenren Qian and said, “Great Demon Sovereign, why don’t you lend me a bit more of your fire? Let’s just roast him with it.”

Now, the miasma’s consciousness desperately hoped Wenren Qian wouldn’t listen to Fu Guzhou. However, Wenren Qian was more cooperative than ever, directly summoning a large cluster of flames in his hand, looking ready to throw them. “Wait, wait, wait! Besides that method, I really don’t know any others!”

The moment the miasma’s consciousness said those words, the fire was thrown directly onto him.

“A miasma capable of generating a consciousness must have existed for at least ten million years. Ten thousand years ago, when Wujian was still used by the cultivation world, how could you truly know nothing?” Fu Guzhou said coldly, ignoring the miasma’s screams.

Realizing he couldn’t hide it, the miasma’s consciousness hurriedly called for a stop. “Wait, let me finish.”

Fu Guzhou looked at Wenren Qian, and Wenren Qian gave him enough face to retract the flames.

Once the fire was gone, Fu Guzhou tilted his chin, signaling the miasma’s consciousness to speak.

Having existed for so long, the miasma’s consciousness was facing this kind of situation for the first time. It said resentfully: “There truly is only one such method to leave Wujian, and that is to become a person of Wujian. Only by becoming a person of Wujian can one truly leave. But there is a loophole to be exploited.

A true person of Wujian is not necessarily a dead person, but someone in a state between life and death. When the body is in that state, one can vaguely see a door. That door is the exit of Wujian. It’s just that countless people take that state to be a hallucination, which is why almost no one can leave Wujian.”

Between life and death. What did “between life and death” mean? Wasn’t it that state where one is just a single breath away from dying? At that point, even if one saw the door, it wouldn’t be of much use.

This was the true malice of Wujian.

One sees the door and feels hope is right in front of them, but lacks the strength to act. No wonder the ghost qi here is so dense. This isn’t purely ghost qi; the resentment of those who saw the door but couldn’t reach it has likely all turned into nourishment for this place.

While Fu Guzhou was horrified by the existence of Wujian, he ruthlessly struck out with his sword and extinguished the miasma’s consciousness.

Wenren Qian gave Fu Guzhou a strange look.

Noticing his gaze, Fu Guzhou rubbed his head sheepishly. “What is it?”

“I didn’t expect the Immortal Venerable would also go back on his word.”

Fu Guzhou gave an “Eh?” “Why do you say that? Because I killed him? But I never said I would let him go if he told me how to leave Wujian.”

What a logical argument. If the miasma’s consciousness were still around, it would surely have died of rage.

After the miasma’s consciousness dissipated, the thick fog and miasma of the area began to fade. As the wind blew, the original landscape was revealed.

Seeing the numerous insects and human bones there, Fu Guzhou felt a lingering fear. Who knew how many lives this miasma had devoured through its illusions to nourish itself?

Take the illusions it first showed Fu Guzhou, for instance. They seemed very warm, featuring the Master he was closest to and missed most, as well as the friend he felt guilty toward. These illusions looked gentle and harmless at first glance, but their fundamental purpose was to lure Fu Guzhou into indulging in the fantasies. Once he lost himself for even a moment, this place would have become his grave.

Just now, when killing, Fu Guzhou had struck fast and hard. Now, however, he felt a bit of regret. Such a consciousness, skilled in illusions and knowing how to build them from shallow to deep—and able to read a visitor’s memories so unscrupulously—had likely attained some level of the Great Dao. He really should have captured it to study it properly.

Just as Fu Guzhou was regretting his quick hand and gaining a certain realization from the event, he suddenly heard the person beside him call him “Little Girl.”

Fu Guzhou was thinking about things and responded directly without a second thought. Only after responding did Fu Guzhou realize he had just agreed to something quite scandalous.

He belatedly tried to save his dignity, but Wenren Qian had already broken into a laugh.

“So the Great Immortal Venerable actually has such an approachable nickname.”

“No, I can explain.”

“Oh? Then let the Immortal Venerable explain.”

Fu Guzhou forced himself to remain calm. Knowing that the name “Miss Fu” hadn’t spread far, he soon said in a very serious voice: “It’s not ‘Little Girl’ (Guniang), it’s Guyang! The ‘Gu’ of Dugu [lonely/solitary], and ‘Yang’ is the one with the fire radical, not ‘Niang’ [girl/mother].”

Fu Guzhou explained with clear articulation, wanting the other to realize the massive difference between “Guyang” and “Guniang.”

Wenren Qian was amused by Fu Guzhou’s serious demeanor again. He said with a half-smile, “But This Seat remembers the Immortal Venerable’s name is Fu Guzhou. Why are you called Guyang by others?”

This question hit the nail on the head. Fu Guzhou couldn’t very well say that because he was often called “Miss Fu,” he couldn’t stand the humiliation and changed his own name.

Although it wasn’t a huge deal, saying it out loud felt strangely degrading.

Fu Guzhou hesitated, finally ending with a simple: “Fu Guyang doesn’t sound good.”

At this moment, Fu Guzhou deeply hated why his Dao companion was so clever. A perfectly simple sentence, yet the man managed to deduce the truth from it.

“Rather than saying ‘Fu Guyang’ doesn’t sound good, it’s more like ‘Miss Fu’ (Fu Guniang) doesn’t sound good, right?”

Fu Guzhou: “……”

Fu Guzhou suspected his companion was deliberately making fun of him. After all, given their relationship, Wenren Qian must have known his previous name long ago. This was likely just to see him embarrassed, so he had to remain calm.

But when Wenren Qian called out “Miss Fu” once more, Fu Guzhou could no longer remain calm. He was incredibly ashamed. This feeling was completely different from when his Master, Senior Brother, or friends jokingly called him Miss Fu.

“Hmm?” Wenren Qian said thoughtfully.

Hearing the sudden tone, Fu Guzhou asked, “What is it?”

Wenren Qian smiled and said, as if teasing a child, “Immortal Venerable, you’re blushing.”

Fu Guzhou: “……”

His body temperature continued to rise.

That wasn’t all. The other added: “Now even your ears are red. Immortal Venerable, you get shy so easily.”

Fu Guzhou felt like he was burning up so much he might start smoking.

That appearance of being bullied but not knowing how to resist looked truly helpless.

Fortunately, Wenren Qian’s teasing was short-lived. After the white mist completely cleared, Wenren Qian spared the poor Fu Guzhou and headed in another direction.

Fu Guzhou trotted after him. “Great Demon Sovereign, do you think what the miasma consciousness said is true?”

“What does the Immortal Venerable think?”

“It should be true. That senior earlier also said only a dead person can leave Wujian, and even tried to trick me into suicide. Later, the other party seemed to want to reveal a bit more, but I ran out myself. Thinking about it now, it likely meant the same thing. To leave Wujian, one must become a ‘person of Wujian.’ But this move is too dangerous; it’s hard to grasp the exact degree of ‘being on the verge of death.’ And those who could see the door then had no way to leave Wujian at all, so…”

At this point, Fu Guzhou hesitated again.

“If you have something to say, just say it. No need to worry about This Seat.”

Fu Guzhou still looked a bit embarrassed to speak, but after a moment of hesitation, he said, “This is just my personal thought, but I believe that Wujian can only be left if two people work together. One makes their life hang by a thread to see the door, and the other finds the door according to their guidance. This is the only way to truly leave Wujian. The reason Senior Dingxie couldn’t leave was not because he was a ghost cultivator, but because he was alone and didn’t trust anyone besides himself. This is just my guess; I don’t know if it’s right?”

This time, Wenren Qian was genuinely surprised. The other was actually able to deduce the method of leaving Wujian from just a few scattered words.

At the beginning, Wenren Qian truly didn’t know the method, but the Demon Realm had records: No one who enters Wujian can come out alone. That “alone” was a bit intriguing.

This was one of the reasons Wenren Qian had kept Fu Guzhou alive.

“Fu Guzhou, This Seat has suddenly discovered you are actually a bit clever.”

“Eh…” Fu Guzhou couldn’t help but be quietly surprised. “Did you think I was stupid before?”

Wenren Qian didn’t speak, but his expression was as good as a default “yes.” This dealt a heavy blow to Fu Guzhou. He surely wasn’t that bad.

However, amidst Fu Guzhou’s pleading gaze, Wenren Qian still didn’t speak, clearly telling him: In my eyes, you really are quite stupid.

Fu Guzhou immediately wilted, dejected.

Wenren Qian glanced at him, raised a hand, and patted his head. “Let’s go, little dummy. I’ll take you to collect something good.”

Something that even Wenren Qian called “good” was bound to be extraordinary. It was interesting; there was a cliff here. The cliff, eroded by astral winds, had formed strange shapes. Under such ominous astral winds, many plants had grown, so green they almost shimmered with a faint ghostly blue.

Support