Chapter 679: Watching from the Other Side

"Liuzhen is just ahead," Chen Ling said calmly, looking at the familiar silhouettes of houses in the distance.

"We're finally almost there," Jian Changsheng stretched his shoulders. "We've crossed most of the Mortal Realm, haven't we? If we don't arrive soon, I'll be too tired to walk."

"But Liuzhen doesn't look much different from other towns..." Meihua squinted slightly, her gaze fixed on the nearest withered tree. Upon closer inspection, one could discern extremely fine threads swaying on its surface in the wind."Although the illusion of the Mortal Realm here has been shattered, it seems something is still hidden beneath its surface."

Bai Ye nodded slightly. "These threads carry traces of the Azure God Path Chief's aura. They must have been hidden here centuries ago, before the Floating Life Painting began creating illusions... It seems that Chief held this place in high regard."

"What's special about this place that would make the Chief leave something behind?" Jian Changsheng frowned slightly. "And we won't be treated as enemies and attacked directly if we go in, will we?"

"Probably not. These threads seem to have a special trigger mechanism. As long as we don't act rashly, we'll be fine."

"It seems Hearts 6 was right; this truly is the safest place."

The group slowly advanced along the dim bluestone path. The surrounding houses were empty, and the entire town felt lifeless.

Chen Ling's gaze swept around, his expression complex.

This was his third time entering Liuzhen.

His first visit was after escaping the Aurora Domain, a human purgatory. He had been astonished to find such a peaceful sanctuary with beautiful scenery in the midst of the chaotic wasteland. His second visit found him a prisoner of the Floating Life Painting; though the beauty remained, it was now shrouded in mystery. Now, on his third visit, everything was completely unrecognizable.

Chen Ling had personally witnessed the blade of time peel away the masks of the Mortal Realm layer by layer, ultimately revealing the cruel truth beneath the beautiful facade... In a sense, he was a witness to it all.

"Things aren't looking good in the Mortal Realm capital," Chu Muyun said, frowning slightly as he looked at the soaring flames in the distance.

"The Floating Life Painting only has so many people. How can they withstand attacks from the Sorcery Association and those silver monsters?" Bai Ye shook his head. "Even if they gather all their might and use the city's terrain to defend, it will be hard for them to hold out for long... Unless the Floating Life Painting Chief suddenly unleashes their power and defeats Lord Wuji, the destruction of the Mortal Realm Domain is already a certainty."

"This Domain Funeral is going to be a big undertaking..."

"Let's find somewhere to rest first. Once things settle down in the capital, it will be time for us to get to work."

The group found an unoccupied house with an open gate and settled there to rest. Compared to the capital, ablaze in the distance, this place was as quiet as an isolated island.

Liu Qingyan did not enter the house. She glanced in a certain direction in Liuzhen, her face filled with worry and unease. After a temporary farewell to Chen Ling, she hurried off in that direction.

Chen Ling knew something about Liu Qingyan's background: her family had gone bankrupt years ago due to mismanagement, incurring huge debts. Her parents fell ill and were unable to repay them, so Liu Qingyan's income in the Mortal Realm capital was primarily used to settle her father's debts. Her reason for following the Twilight Society members all the way to Liuzhen was that her home was located there.

With Meihua 8, Hearts 9, and Liu Qingyan having successively left, the once substantial Twilight Society group felt somewhat desolate. Chen Ling, however, had no intention of simply waiting.

Dressed in his large red opera robe, he stood at the house's entrance, his gaze drifting towards Li Qingshan's home.

Chen Ling and his companions had spent a lot of time traveling. Assuming no unforeseen circumstances, Li Qingshan, Huang Suyue, Kong Baosheng, and the others should have already arrived in Liuzhen and gathered at Li Qingshan's house.

"I'm going out for a bit." Chen Ling stepped into the misty drizzle.

Chen Ling walked alone along the familiar bluestone path.

He remembered this path; it was where the creaking cart had passed when Li Qingshan rescued him after he fainted in the mountains... The casual rendition of "Red Mane Fierce Horse" sung by the man in green seemed to still echo in his memory, but now, only desolation and silence remained.

The Mortal Realm was gone, never to return.

As Bai Ye had said, the destruction of the Mortal Realm was almost a certainty. From Chen Ling's perspective, this made Meihua 8's intervention at this moment seem even more pointless.

Knowing a war was nearly impossible to win, knowing that even interfering would change nothing, why would one still rush into it? As the foremost genius of the Azure God Path, with a clearly straightforward future ahead, why risk his life? Chen Ling truly didn't understand.

The most efficient, direct, and secure approach was to watch the Mortal Realm's demise, retrieve the Nine Monarchs' bodies, complete the tasks methodically, and finally reverse the era...

Chen Ling didn't care about the lives of those in the Mortal Realm, nor did he want to be bound by emotions like Meihua 8...

He simply wanted to advance towards his ultimate goal in the most efficient way possible.

Drip—drip—

Fine rain rolled off the withered treetops, creating ripples in the puddles.

Chen Ling stopped at the doorway of Li Qingshan's house.

He looked around, his brows furrowing unconsciously.

"What's going on... Hasn't Huang Suyue arrived yet?"

As the chairwoman of the Huang Corporation, Huang Suyue wouldn't flee alone. She should at least have brought Uncle Quan, a few bodyguards, and some assets... Chen Ling assumed she would travel by car, but there wasn't a single vehicle to be seen in Liuzhen now.

He temporarily suppressed his doubts, lightly knocked on the door. The crisp sound echoed within the courtyard, dislodging a withered branch next to the door.

One second, two seconds, three seconds...

After waiting for half a minute, there was still no movement from behind the door.

Chen Ling's brows furrowed tighter. He pushed the door open forcefully, and with a low creaking sound, an empty, deserted courtyard appeared before him.

"...No one?" Chen Ling was stunned.

Chen Ling subconsciously looked up at the sky. By his estimation, even if Li Qingshan and the others were slow, they should have arrived by now... How could there be no one?

Li Qingshan had already embarked on the Opera God Path, so escaping with Kong Baosheng shouldn't have been an issue. Huang Suyue should also have had Divine Path bodyguards protecting her; she shouldn't have met with disaster...

Had something happened on the way that delayed them?

Chen Ling hesitated for a moment before sitting on a wooden chair in the courtyard, gazing out the gate, and beginning to wait.

Chen Ling felt that since he had told them Liuzhen was the safest place, and with the capital currently engulfed in warfare, there was no reason for them not to come.

One minute, five minutes, ten minutes...

The distant sky burned with the fires of war.

The fine rain of Liuzhen fell in silence.

A large red opera robe swayed soundlessly beneath a withered tree branch. He had walked from Jinghong Tower to Liuzhen, moving step by step from a stage actor to an observer watching the flames from afar. He had always maintained absolute rationality.

But imperceptibly...

He was now alone.