The Flower Is Not a Flower, and the Fog Is Not a Fog

Chapter 815: Flowers Are Not Flowers, Mist Is Not Mist

"I survived and lived on this ship for a long time, but in the end I still died?"

Qin Mu was distraught and had a strong sense of fate.

He originally didn't believe what the little man in the lantern said, but since he stepped onto the ship, a series of strange and unpredictable events had happened, which made him unable to help but believe it.

Doesn't this mean that no matter how hard he tries, he cannot escape the fate of eventually dying on this ship?

No matter how he struggled, he could not jump out of the ship. No matter how he deduced, he could not break Ling Tianzun's magical powers until his death?

The Dragon Master collapsed and fell to the ground, tears welling in his eyes as he murmured, "How can I leave this damn place? The world can be changed, but it cannot be constant. What does thirty-six mean?"

He was horrified and fell into great panic: "Isn't this what the crazy old dragon said? Why would I repeat his words? Am I really him?"

Qin Mu glanced at him, frowned, and forced a smile: "So, this is our nth time on board? Why don't we have any memory of the previous times we boarded the ship?"

The little man in the lamp said, "This ship has thirty-six time and space resets in each great cycle, appearing in different eras. After thirty-six time and space resets, it will return to the starting point, which is the moment when the fog erupted. Those who boarded the ship during this period will not have their previous memories. They just boarded the ship again and again, died repeatedly, and then boarded the ship again."

The village chief suddenly asked: "Then why do you have the memory of the Great Reincarnation?"

The little man in the lamp said, "I don't really know either."

Qin Mu's heart was slightly moved: "That wailing old dragon seems to have the memory of the Great Reincarnation, but he has gone crazy. What's wrong with him? Who is he?"

The little man in the lamp said, "He is Long Bo. Like me, he did not become empty when the mist erupted."

Hearing this, Huanlongjun couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief: "So it wasn't me..."

The village chief suddenly thought of the key point: "On this ship, besides you and Long Bo, who else has not been virtualized?"

The little man in the lamp was startled for a moment and did not answer.

The village chief narrowed his eyes and glanced at Qin Mu.

Qin Mu also narrowed his eyes, and the sword ball in the Taotie bag flew up quietly. The Worry-Free Sword flew out of the sword ball, with the hilt pointing towards the village chief.

The energy from the village chief's fingertips flew out and wrapped around the hilt of the Worry-Free Sword. He smiled and said, "The world can change, but there are thirty-six unchanging constants. The unchanging constants will not change with the resetting of time and space. This ship has experienced a great cycle after thirty-six time and space resettings. This unchanging constant may not be a number, but the people on the ship. In other words, there are thirty-six people who will not be reset and will not become virtual."

Qin Mu said: "According to this speculation, every time the ghost ship crosses, there will be one person who survives. The first reset was during the fog outbreak, and Long Bo survived. Long Bo was the first observer, and he couldn't accept it, so he went crazy. Every time he saw other people, he said that there were thirty-six unchangeable constants. Unchangeable constants are not numbers. Unchangeable constants refer to thirty-six people who will not be changed by the reset. Since Long Bo survived the first reset, how did you survive?"

The village chief held the sword in his hand and said quietly, "The ghost ship docked thirty-six times in different eras. There were different people on board in each era, and only one person survived each time. Lin Xiao, when did you board this ship?"

Qin Mu said, "When we boarded the ship, you saw me taking out the military token and came to find me. You sat in the lamp and easily gained our trust, so we would not suspect you. Because we knew nothing about this ship and needed your guidance, we would never suspect you. We would therefore trust you without reservation. This is the simplest and most effective strategy, commonly known as the dark under the lamp. The dark under the lamp can fool most people, but it cannot fool the old man."

The village chief held the Wuyou sword in his hand, which was behind his back, while his other hand was placed in front of his chest with the sword in hand gestures.

According to conventional sword techniques, the sword should be in front of the body, and the sword techniques should be behind the body. The sword techniques cannot be seen, which makes the sword techniques more mysterious. However, he did the opposite.

Countless sword lights flowed around him, and a sword pattern took shape, covering the surroundings. The lantern and the little man in the lantern were also covered in the sword pattern.

Qin Mu had never seen this kind of swordsmanship before.

The village chief once taught him nine sword techniques, and his current sword technique should be the new sword technique created by the village chief after he became a god.

His swordsmanship has reached a whole new level.

"And we are the old hands."

Qin Mu smiled and said, "We in Canlao Village never want to harm anyone, but when we interact with others, we always keep an eye out! So Lin Xiao, are you the one who sent Jue Wuchen on board?"

The little man in the lamp stood up from the threshold, looked at the flowing sword light outside, then retracted his gaze and stared at the village chief's hand that was raised in front of his chest and making sword gestures.

"Why do you say that, Lord?" he asked softly.

"After the death of the Emperor of Heaven, the Empress had to deal with Jue Wuchen in order to prevent what she had done from being exposed. However, Jue Wuchen and her body were still useful to her, so they had to be preserved for emergency use. She wanted to deal with Jue Wuchen and her body while preserving them, and the best place to do so was this ghost ship."

Qin Mu smiled and said, "She should be a big shot now, so it is not appropriate for her to do this herself. Therefore, she needs a confidant, a trustworthy person to help her do this. This person will send Jue Wuchen's body to the ghost ship, open the coffin of the empress, and put Jue Wuchen into the coffin. However, this person cannot leave the ghost ship either, he must still be on the ship. In order to protect this secret, he needs to ensure that all those on board cannot leave."

The village chief said, "He must be the most active person on this ship. When new people come on board, he will be the first to jump out and kill them one by one, or make them never leave this ship to accompany him."

"The first one who jumped out and found me based on the military token was you." Qin Mu said.

The little man in the lamp sighed: "How can such a smart person have such a stupid mount? It is because of this stupid dragon that I underestimated you. You are stupid too."

He said coldly: "When you had doubts, you should have attacked me instead of speaking them out. If you had attacked me by surprise, you might have had a chance to survive. But now, you have no choice but to die."

At this moment, suddenly the light burst out again, and Qin Mu and others saw nothing in front of their eyes!

This ghost ship resets time and space again!

"You are right. I was the one who brought Jue Wuchen into this ship and buried him together with the emperor and empress. I was also the one who opened the coffin of the emperor and empress. However, you don't know that people who enter this ship will experience time and space resets again and again, and their physical bodies and souls will gradually become empty and become nothing."

In the bright light, the village chief’s sword pattern burst out. This is the sword art that the village chief comprehended after becoming a god. As the old sword god of Yankang Kingdom, he has gone further in the sword art. He is also the first true sword god of Yankang Kingdom!

His swordsmanship is not as good as Qin Mu's, but in terms of sword power, even National Master Yankang is inferior to him!

The power of the sword exploded in the bright light. Even in the light, the vision formed by the twelfth sword diagram was clearly visible.

That is the blue sky tourmaline, the sword pattern is like a seal, the seal is like the sky, the sword light is like the moral principles of heaven, with rays of heavenly power crisscrossing across it, covering the lamp within and interweaving and interweaving!

In the lantern, the little sun exploded with a bang, and the sun's firepower was vented wantonly, melting the sword light, and the light shone through, burning a big hole in the sword image.

"Yankang Sword God, it's not that I'm not your opponent. In fact, I'm so powerful that you can't even imagine!"

The lantern flew away quickly, and the voice of the little man in the lantern came from afar, laughing: "But in this place, the stronger the strength, the faster the speed of becoming a virtual being! When I sent Jue Wuchen here, I discovered this, and immediately killed the companions who came with me, and then cut off my own cultivation! The sun in my lantern is the cultivation that I cut off. Hehe, if you want to survive, you also need to kill the other people who boarded the ship with you like me, and cut off your own cultivation, otherwise, you will also become a virtual being..."

The light disappeared.

The village chief put away his sword and handed the hilt to Qin Mu, and his fluttering clothes smoothed out.

Qin Mu did not take the sword, and said in a deep voice: "Village Chief, what Lin Xiao said is probably not true. He might be setting a trap to harm us and make us fight to the death with other strong men."

"It should be true." The village chief raised his hand and looked at his skin. His flesh had become much lighter.

Qin Mu's heart trembled.

The village chief sighed, "The stronger the strength, the faster the virtualization. So the first one to be virtualized should be the corpse of the emperor carried by Feng Qiuyun. After that, it will be the followers of Zulong King, Feng Qiuyun, Chi Ming Shen Zi, Luo Wushuang and Prince Qiu Ming. After that, it will be my turn and that of Huanlong Jun. This ship and Ling Tianzun's magical power should have come alive and will weaken the most threatening strongman. The greater the threat, the faster it will turn into virtuality. Let's go back to the hall where the emperor and empress's coffins are parked and take a look!"

Qin Mu felt heavy-hearted, and the three of them immediately returned to the main hall.

In the main hall, eight dragons surrounded the coffins of the emperor and empress, but the emperor's body in the coffin of the emperor had disappeared, leaving only an empty coffin!

In the mural, Feng Qiuyun's figure became increasingly dim, but the Earth Mother Kunyuan Sword was still normal.

"I have already started to fade away, and I am afraid that the other people on board will also begin to fade away."

The village chief said: "Mu'er, there is a very strong power hidden in your brows. You need to seal it up, otherwise you will become a void! You can only save your life if you are weak enough to pose no threat to this ship! I am an old hand, believe me!"

Qin Mu took out the willow leaf, sealed the third eye between his eyebrows, and said: "Village Chief, you also cut off your own cultivation..."

"Need not!"

The village chief shook his head and smiled: "If I cut off my own cultivation, who will protect you? Moreover, only one person can survive each reincarnation. I need to keep my cultivation, and I must make sure that the one who survives is you."

Qin Mu's mind went blank.

The village chief patted him on the shoulder and said with a smile: "If Lin Xiao's identity is exposed by us, he will probably tell others about it and let us kill each other. In order to avoid becoming virtual, others will attack us. If I cut off my own cultivation, you will not be able to escape death. You are the smartest person in our village. Only if you become the last survivor can you crack the strange magic of this ship and save us from becoming virtual. Lord Huanlong."

He turned to look at Huanlongjun and said calmly: "You also need to remember that becoming a virtual being is not scary. As long as your lord is still alive, he can rescue you and me! Don't have any rebellious thoughts, or I will be the first to take your life! If you want to survive, the easiest way is to keep your lord alive! After I become a virtual being, you will do your best to protect your lord's life, understand?"

Huan Long Jun was solemn, clasped his fists and bowed: "Understood! Huan Long Jun swears to follow the lord until death!"

The village chief walked forward and said in a deep voice: "Let's continue to explore this ship and find more clues before it disappears!"

They walked forward, passed the training ground, and came to the barracks, where there were palaces of various sizes where the Yulin Army lived.

The Yulin Army were the most powerful gods and demons in the Longhan era, so their treatment was naturally extremely high.

The village chief took them straight to the most magnificent main hall, which should be where Wei Suifeng lived.

As the Zuo Lang Jiang of the Yulin Army, Wei Suifeng had the highest status and he should live in the most luxurious place.

Someone had written a few lines of poetry on the pillars in front of the main hall. The handwriting was divine and very beautiful, as if it was written by a woman.

Qin Mu read it and said softly: "The flower is not a flower, the fog is not a fog. It comes at midnight and leaves at dawn. It comes like a spring dream that lasts only a short time, and leaves like a morning cloud that is nowhere to be found." Note①

"Isn't this poem talking about crossing the fog?" Qin Mu was stunned.

Come at midnight and leave at dawn, the same is true for crossing Yongjiang River. The crossing only takes half a day. Cross at night and return during the day, cross during the day and return at night.

"This writing was left by Ling Tianzun! She has been to this ship! The mystery of her magical power is in this poem!"

Note 1: A poem by Bai Juyi, “Flowers Are Not Flowers”.