Chapter 2269: The Enemy Country

“You really… you truly make one lose composure. So composed, in fact, that it makes me feel as though I’m the one deeply trapped in this killing formation.” Ren Qiu Li’s gaze, like a mirror, seemed determined to reflect some kind of emotion. “Your friend is still outside. Aren’t you worried about him?”

Jiang Wang replied expressionlessly, “As long as I don’t die, Wen Jing Xiu won’t dare to kill Bai Yu Xia. And you can’t kill me.”

Ren Qiu Li was very willing to continue the question-and-answer session because she needed to wait for the ‘Time-Space Mirror River Heavenly Mechanism Array’ to evolve.

On the walls lining both sides of the long corridor, Jiang Wang’s fingers traced over the inscriptions. He didn’t know when, but a white fire ignited there.

Jiang Wang was also very willing to talk to her, as he needed more information.

Two people intending to fight to the death had, at this moment, an unspoken understanding.

Jiang Wang stood at the boundary between the long corridor and the prison cell. Behind him was the semi-transparent long corridor, and in front of him was Ren Qiu Li and her row of chairs. That dividing line of sight had a dangerous quality, as if it could tear Ren Qiu Li herself apart.

Dou Zhao’s Dao body was completely shattered, and Tian Xiao was also cut off and dropped. In such a situation, jumping into the Aranya Ghost Cave indeed seemed to leave no possibility of survival.

But Jiang Wang said, “In other words, you didn’t personally see him die.”

“Is there a difference?” Ren Qiu Li asked.

Jiang Wang said, “You are the foremost true person in calculation power. You should know that since possibility exists, the outcome is not absolute.”

Ren Qiu Li fell silent for a moment.

She couldn’t help but think, in this game today, does ‘possibility’ also exist?

She didn’t particularly want to admit it, but it was indeed her battle with Dou Zhao that made her determined to help Lu Shuang He eliminate Jiang Wang before the decisive battle began.

Among the killers she had seen in her life, Lu Shuang He was the first. The precision with which he grasped opportunities and his sense of smell for life and death – she hadn’t seen a second like him in so many years.

Dou Zhao was the second.

This kind of person was too terrifying. You simply didn't know where their limit was. Many times, in situations where death was certain, he could still find an opportunity to survive. That never-extinguishing fighting spirit, like a torch lighting up the Fallen Immortal Forest, made her almost believe he was an undying being.

In Ren Qiu Li’s silence, Jiang Wang’s voice was particularly clear: “It seems Dou Zhao left a deep impression on you.”

Ren Qiu Li thought for a bit. “Quite deep.”

That arrogant and unrestrained young man, carrying a Cloud Dream Boat, holding a Tian Xiao Knife, simply wanted to fight two against one, viewing the world’s heroes as nothing. In a pursuit that lasted as long as forty-nine days, he became braver the more he fought—calling it a pursuit, sometimes she wasn't clear who was pursuing whom.

Of course, she and Lu Shuang He held the upper hand, but Dou Zhao became more and more bloodstained, more and more spirited and fierce.

Several times, she wanted to forcibly break contact, but it was Dou Zhao, time and again, who rushed in despite his injuries, only to continue this pursuit.

Even when he finally fell into the Aranya Ghost Cave, that face, covered in fresh blood, still wore an arrogant grin.

He clearly could no longer speak, but that gaze was clearly saying— “These two heads, I’ll leave them on your necks for now. Wait for me to come and take them!”

Ren Qiu Li was always confident in her cultivation. In the Cave True Realm, she had almost explored the limits of this body. She was indeed at the level of a top-tier true person, but in on-the-spot confrontations, she was the one who was caught by Dou Zhao’s opportunities every time.

She couldn’t calm down; she often thought of that gaze. Like a flame that burned forever, a wild and fierce gaze.

She couldn't help but think again and again, if Dou Zhao was like this, what about Jiang Wang?

Could Lu Shuang He really wait any longer?

Her appearance here at this moment was exactly the answer she was seeking.

Lu Shuang He’s journey along this path had been truly difficult. There was no reason, at the peak of his power, for him to still have to gamble his life and death—Jiang Wang was the publicly acknowledged foremost heavenly pride in the present world! When he reached the end of the Cave True Realm, he would very likely stand shoulder to shoulder with Xiang Feng Qi.

And Lu Shuang He had already lost to Xiang Feng Qi once.

That time left a heart barrier; next time, it could only leave his head.

Jiang Wang said, “Everyone who fought with Dou Zhao finds it very hard not to have a deep impression of him.”

“A person truly dies when they are forgotten by the world. From this perspective, he can still exist for a long time,” Ren Qiu Li said.

“I have a kind of baseless belief,” Jiang Wang said. “I feel he can come back.”

Ren Qiu Li looked at him. “If you escape, will you go to the Aranya Ghost Cave to find him?”

Jiang Wang shook his head. “How can I? After I get out, I think the Chu people will turn the Aranya Ghost Cave upside down.”

Currently, the Chu country believes Dou Zhao is dead, and the murderer is somewhere in the Fallen Immortal Forest, leaving no trace, so there hasn’t been much movement. Once the Chu country’s people learn that their foremost heavenly pride finally fell into the Aranya Ghost Cave, they will certainly, at all costs, open up this absolute forbidden land within a forbidden land.

At the very least, the Divine Sin Army will definitely be there.

“Are you so certain you can get out?” Ren Qiu Li asked.

Jiang Wang merely laughed it off and said, “I still have one question I don’t understand. I don’t know if Heavenly Mechanism True Person can resolve my doubt—why would Wen Jing Xiu cooperate with you?”

Ren Qiu Li said, “You feel he shouldn’t dare to set a trap against you, not even participate?”

“This shouldn’t count as arrogance, right?” Jiang Wang asked.

“Probably not—” Ren Qiu Li didn’t create any suspense and said very directly, “I promised him that after we’ve taken care of you, Lu Shuang He and I will join the Yue country and become his high officials, protecting his country for him.”

“I’m not a person who loves to laugh.” Jiang Wang laughed. “Is this promise realistic?”

Ren Qiu Li looked at him quietly, without speaking.

Jiang Wang also stopped laughing. He began to seriously consider the feasibility: “The South Dou Hall is already extinct. You can’t stay in the Fallen Immortal Forest forever; you also need a foothold in the present world. The Yue Court lost Gao Zheng; there’s a gap in its top-tier fighting strength. Wen Jing Xiu can’t handle everything himself. From this perspective, you and the Yue country are indeed a heaven-made match.”

“But the Chu country won’t let you go, nor will it let the Yue country go. For you and Lu Shuang He to serve in the Yue country and play a role, the premise is that the Yue country can survive this disaster and preserve its state before this inevitable huge storm—currently, the Yue country’s situation is already very difficult. To hold on, it needs to have a certain degree of ability to resist the Chu country. Where does Wen Jing Xiu’s confidence come from? The Jing country? The Qin country? Or has the Book Mountain given him further promises?”

At this point, he thought of Ge Fei. “Or… is it related to Huang Wei Zhen?”

Being drawn into the core of this game, he had already vaguely touched upon part of the truth.

Ren Qiu Li said slowly, “Wen Jing Xiu is a country lord. The choices he makes certainly have his reasons. You can have your guesses; what I know is also not necessarily everything.”

“No more guessing! Guessing the thoughts of people like you is truly a tiring thing,” Jiang Wang waved his hand. “I’m still used to asking directly for an answer.”

Ren Qiu Li looked at him. “Aren’t you asking directly enough now?”

Jiang Wang said with a smile on his face, “I still haven’t put a sword to your neck.”

He lifted his foot and walked forward.

Sword energy surged and roared like a tide. Taking one step forward, he somehow retreated out of the room and back into the corridor. He was trying to approach Ren Qiu Li, yet moving away from her!

Time and space here indeed embodied complex order.

Ren Qiu Li was still sitting on that chair woven against the wall, extending an invitation for Jiang Wang to solve the problem. From the doorway to that wall was only a distance of a few steps. But this distance was infinitely extended, becoming a natural barrier. Complex spatial rules crisscrossed in between. Unable to touch the rules, one could never walk past, even in a lifetime.

Jiang Wang stood in the corridor, lifting his head to look up.

The waves above the semi-transparent corridor surged at this moment.

It was perhaps originally indeed a river or sea.

But now… all surged into time!

There were no longer fish, shrimp, insects, or turtles; flowing were only years.

Splash!

A figure, blurred with blood and flesh, fell from time, landing in the middle of the corridor, instantly staining the ground red. This person’s exposed flesh was all scarlet red. He used his dripping bloody eyes to look resentfully at Jiang Wang. Strands of malevolent energy diffused along with the smell of blood.

Ren Qiu Li’s voice rang out from the room. “This is Min Chui Fan, the deputy supervisor of the Kang Long Army, valiant but arrogant. He had no regard for the law and personally killed the young lord of South Chen, for which he was punished by being skinned.”

“South Chen Country” was the predecessor of the Yue country. The Kang Long Army was the imperial guard of the South Chen country, and the Yue country’s Taizu was precisely the chief supervisor of the Kang Long Army that year. For whom Min Chui Fan killed the young lord of South Chen was clear to everyone.

But at that time, the South Chen royal family was extremely popular among the common people. Min Chui Fan’s actions were too brutal, leading to public outrage. Yue Taizu then killed him to appease the public anger and gather support.

Min Chui Fan’s resentment can be imagined.

Before his death, he once shouted loudly, “Getting the country improperly, one can still properly rule the country. With a monarch’s heart not proper, can the state be proper? Yue is destined to mourn and perish!”

Si Ma Heng’s brush was like iron; he recorded this sentence verbatim.

Jiang Wang had read history books and remembered this person. He was a bit curious. “What does this mean?”

Min Chui Fan, who had been dead for so many years, could still appear here. His hatred, accumulated in his bones, yet he stood on the side of the Yue Court. To say he was alive, there was no sign of life. To say he was dead, everything was like the living.

Ren Qiu Li’s voice said slowly, “Today, with the Mirror Lake reflecting the long river of time, I invite you to witness the history of the Yue country.”

To directly mirror and reflect a segment of time, using history to pursue and kill the present—this method was something Jiang Wang had never heard of!

To be able to mobilize the power of time like this, Ren Qiu Li could completely overlook the world. No wonder she was the foremost in calculation power.

Having once held a high position in the Qi country, Jiang Wang understood the significance of temple offerings and incense worship within the inner circle of the court. Being able to, at a critical moment, deploy national momentum and summon protective spirits of the country.

But Ren Qiu Li’s method was completely different.

Even utilizing the Mirror Lake and having the support of the Yue country’s emperor, Jiang Wang didn’t think he knew how to do such a thing.

He looked at this skinless person named “Min Chui Fan” in front of him. His Three Flavors True Fire had already ignited along his line of sight, instantly burning him to ashes.

“A strong spirit descending with real strength, with the strength Min Chui Fan had in history, there shouldn’t be any difference.” Jiang Wang interpreted the knowledge gained from the Three Flavors True Fire. He felt no fear, only the joy of hunting. “Dare I ask Heavenly Mechanism True Person, the history of the Yue country, can I read through it today?”

Ren Qiu Li’s voice seemed very distant. “History, like a book, must be savored. True Person Jiang, you may need to read for a very long time.”

“How long is ‘very long’?”

“Three to five years is not long. It might even be the end of your life.”

An armored, burly general, with a war flag stuck in his back and a saber in his hand, fell into the long corridor.

Ren Qiu Li’s voice explained, “Long Ru Zhi, a fierce general from the period of Yue Tai Zong who was skilled in warfare, once fought against the Wei people and repeatedly captured their flags.”

Jiang Wang still merely glanced at him. Fierce flames burned the flag, burned the armor, and then burned the body.

“Better not call these people out again to waste time. What famous ministers and fierce generals, brave men and virtuous officials, are all just clay figures,” Jiang Wang said slowly. “I have fought to this day, traveled through various realms, and have met few equals! Surveying the history of the Yue country, only two are worth my serious attention. Why not invite them to see?”

“May I ask who?” Ren Qiu Li asked.

Jiang Wang said, “Yue Tai Zong’s Wen Zhong and Hidden Prime Peak’s Gao Zheng!”

“You will see them,” Ren Qiu Li said. “But before that—”

The rooms on both sides of the narrow long corridor, a total of thirty rooms, simultaneously opened!

At this moment, these rooms represented different eras in the history of the Yue country. Just as Jiang Wang said, famous ministers and fierce generals, brave men and virtuous officials, walked out one after another.

Ren Qiu Li truly displayed a heaven-piercing divine ability.

Deployed on the battlefield, these were supreme methods that could instantly reverse the situation.

Among these people, the lowest level of strength was the Divine Arrival Realm, and occasionally there was even the Cave True Realm.

“Reading the history books of the Yue country and seeing the heroes within the book—how fast!”

Jiang Wang turned around, drew his sword, and strode into the crowd.

Today’s enemy country.

Jiang Wang said honestly, “To tell me specific reasons, I can’t. A kind of feeling? I always feel that he will, in the next moment, hold his knife and leap before me. I always feel that a guy as arrogant as him won’t end in such an unspectacular way.”

“He won’t hold his knife and leap before you again,” Ren Qiu Li said with emphasis, solemnly. “His knife is already broken, and his Dao body is also shattered. In the last moment, he jumped into the Aranya Ghost Cave—no one has ever returned from there.”

The Fallen Immortal Forest was the most dangerous place in the present world.

While waiting for the verification, she said in the process, “I have absolute confidence in Lu Shuang He, but he takes you as his ultimate opponent on the Dao path, and he has given you time to grow… As you grew step by step, I did waver. Jiang Wang, you are truly an inconceivable person. When Yi Sheng Feng initially died at your hands, I only felt he had bad luck and chose the wrong battlefield. But now, looking at it, no matter how many times he confronted you, it could only be him who died.”

Jiang Wang said, “Many years later, you mention Yi Sheng Feng again. It seems we have new grievances added to old hatreds, and there are reasons why we must fight to the death.”

“Reasons to fight to the death indeed exist—” Ren Qiu Li said slowly. “You are not wrong. I am afraid. I am afraid of accidents. Even if it’s only a one in a thousand possibility, I still want to eliminate it for Lu Shuang He.”

“Touching friendship,” Jiang Wang commented, and then added, “Dou Zhao? I care more about this question.”

Ren Qiu Li sat on that chair woven with threads, her gaze momentarily lost in thought. Finally, she came back to her senses. “You seem to have extra confidence in Dou Zhao? The Chu Court has already tacitly acknowledged his death. How can you feel that he, having simultaneously challenged me and Lu Shuang He, still has a possibility of survival?”

Ren Qiu Li didn’t argue whether she could kill Jiang Wang, because this question didn’t need arguing; it only needed verification.

They were each very calm.

The Aranya Ghost Cave was the most dangerous place within the Fallen Immortal Forest.

So dangerous that even top-tier true persons like Lu Shuang He and Ren Qiu Li didn’t dare to venture deep into it. From past exploration records, it at least contained Heavenly Ghosts!

Jiang Wang looked at the Heavenly Mechanism True Person before him and shook his head. “You are mistaken. I don’t believe in anything about Lu Shuang He—I only believe in his piety towards the Dao.”

Ren Qiu Li instinctively wanted to retort but in the end, she only let out a bitter laugh. “I didn’t expect your understanding of Lu Shuang He to be so profound.”

The Three Flavors of ‘Qi Fire’.

This flame burned silently, pointing in the empty, narrow long corridor, resembling some mysterious ceremony.

Jiang Wang gently stroked his sword hilt. “My understanding of him… it’s hard not to be profound, isn’t it?”

He chuckled lightly. “In exchange, should you answer my question?”

Reading Red Heart Patrol Heaven