Tome of Troubled Times

Chapter 35: This Heaven Has No Dao

“Whether I want to return or not is my business. Whether I can actually do it is another thing. Stop playing dumb with me!” Zhao Changhe could not be bothered arguing with her. He flew into a rage and rushed at her, wanting to grab her by the collar.

However, the space around him was incredibly strange. She was clearly standing right there beside the bed, but no matter how much he ran, there was always a bit of distance between them. Whatever he did, he could not touch her.

Finally, he realized that no matter how far he ran, he was still standing at his original location.

This mystery finally made Zhao Changhe realize he was in a dream and he calmed down somewhat. “Am I only dreaming about you, or did you use some divine power to make contact with me?”

“A man’s life is nothing but a grand dream in spring and autumn. Is there really any difference between the two?”

“You read the Spring and Autumn Annals as well?”

The blind woman: “?”

“Stop messing with me like this, bitch!” Zhao Changhe laughed coldly. “Things have already come to this and you still want to put on an air of mystery. Fuck you. Why don’t you just kill me and be done with it? I know you’re strong.”

The blind woman did not say anything and lightly shook her head. “It hasn’t been that long and you’ve already become like this... When you cursed at me back then, you only said I was crazy...”

“Isn’t all of this what you want to see?”

“What I want to see?”

“All those things that happened as if they were destined—if it wasn’t you pulling the strings, then what was it?” Zhao Changhe sneered. “Do you feel some sick pleasure seeing this so-called dao of heaven control the lives of the masses?”

The blind woman replied indifferently, “The dao of heaven? This heaven has no dao.”

This heaven has no dao... Zhao Changhe was at a loss and did not know how to interpret her words. Did she mean that these troubled times are brutal? Or is it that there is no supreme god or whatever in this world? If it was the former, he felt that the world had not yet devolved into complete lawlessness. The emperor had not fallen and there was still some basic order; if it was the latter and there was no supreme being, then how did the Tome of Troubled Times come about?

He intentionally talked back to her. “Why do you think I believe that heaven has a dao?”

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The blind woman calmly retorted with another question. “Is that so? Have you stayed in the mountain stronghold for too long and forgotten what was the first thing you saw in this world?”

Zhao Changhe’s expression warped slightly.

“For the time being, why don’t you look at what other bandits and demonic cults are like?” The blind woman waved her delicate hands.

The sky remained unchanged, but the scene around them began to change.

Zhao Changhe felt like he was floating in a void, high up above, looking down on the mortal world. As he gently floated up in the sky, all living things looked like ants to him.

At some mountain stronghold, torches were lighting the surroundings of a massive feast as a group of bandits laughed and drank. Numerous heads were impaled on wooden poles, all around the party grounds. At the center of it all, women were being brutally raped. Their cries and wails drifted slowly to the sky and disappeared like the wind.

Zhao Changhe became livid at the sight. “Save them!”

The blind woman did not answer.

Their perspective suddenly changed once more. This time, it was another mountain, and countless bandits were rushing a caravan like swarming bees. Pained screams resounded through the night and fresh blood drenched the mountain streams. After the bandits gleefully robbed even the last coin, they went back up the mountain, delighted with their loot.

Their perspective changed for a third time. It was somewhere in a hall belonging to the cult, a hall stained in a deep bloody red. A disciple with a malevolent gaze was skinning some innocent person alive as an offering to the Blood God as part of a sacrificial rite.

Zhao Changhe watched and gradually turned silent.

The blind woman asked, “Where is the dao of heaven?”

Zhao Changhe said coldly, “What are you trying to say? Are you saying that because I’ve become a stronghold master and have joined a demonic cult that I should be like these other bandits?”

“Whatever you do is your own business,” the blind woman replied indifferently. “I’m just answering that laughable question you had about who was controlling this world. I believe you already know who is controlling all these events; whatever becomes of the Beimang Mountain Stronghold and what you decide to do—are these not within your control? Has anyone ever controlled how you act?”

Zhao Changhe took a deep breath and immediately said, “I have absolutely no idea what will become of the Beimang Mountain Stronghold. This world has nothing to do with me! What do I have to do for you to send me back? State your demands.”

“I already said I’m not the dao of heaven. I don’t have the power to let people come and go as they wish.”

“?” Zhao Changhe said, “Then how am I supposed to go back? What a blatant lie... Eh...”

“I sent you here using the laws of the heavenly dao. It’s like... fulfilling a great ambition. That’s why, if you wish to return, then you must indeed complete your objective of killing that witch.” The blind woman tilted her head slightly after getting to this point. “Of course, there’s an even more dependable method. Once you grasp the laws of space and time, you can come and go as you wish.”

Zhao Changhe roared, “How fucking long will that take!? By the time I return, my name will have been wiped from the household register!”

“If you really reach that point, you’ll naturally be able to send yourself back to the time before you were transmigrated here. Your friends and family won’t even know you left,” the woman said slowly. “Of course, this must sound a little ridiculous to you. You might not necessarily be able to grasp the changes of space and time with your intellect.”

Zhao Changhe: “...?”

You started fucking making fun of me in the real world by calling me a single dog. You haven’t had enough of it even now, have you?! I’m not a single dog anymore! And about that other thing...you just wait!

The blind woman only sighed. “From the looks of it, killing that witch is probably the simpler choice.”

Zhao Changhe asked coldly, “How much simpler?”

“That will depend on how fast you can cultivate. Like today, for example. You’ve already reached the first heavenly layer both internally and externally, right?”

“Pretty much. I feel like a freaking god after breaking through. As for whether it was you who made contact with me, or I was the one who contacted you...whether this is all a dream or reality, who knows?”

As he said this, the blind woman’s figure slowly faded away. She was about to completely vanish.

Zhao Changhe still had a lot he wanted to say. How could he just let this strange young lady who said a few lines that hardly dispelled this mystery to just run away? He panicked and reached over without realizing it. “Wait!”

He did not know if the blind woman was being careless, or if it was because unintentional actions had more of an effect here, but he actually managed to grab her with his hand this time.

The blind woman was shocked but disappeared in an instant, leaving a lingering fragrance in the night sky.

Zhao Changhe looked down at his hands. He felt like he had touched a cool, white jade, tender and smooth. It was as if she did not even have bones.

Was that a dream?

He suddenly opened his eyes.

He was still inside his hut at the mountain stronghold lying on his bed. Everything just now, from the conversation to grabbing her, really just felt like a dream.

He flipped himself over, got up and looked out the window. The sky was already as white as a fish’s belly.

He looked down once more at his palms. They were now covered in tiny beads of sweat.

It was not completely accurate to say that this experience, whether it was a dream or not, did not help Zhao Changhe solve this mystery.

At the very least, he could be sure of a few things.

The higher my cultivation, the more likely it will be for me to be able to feel the presence of the blind woman, or for her to feel my presence. Maybe...she can actually feel my presence and enter my dream to speak with me. Or maybe it wasn’t due to my trivial breakthrough to the first layer, but because I entered the Tome of Troubled Times?

Previously, he had no way of knowing what her objective was. Now, though, he could make a guess... Maybe she’s cast a wide net and is raising venomous gu[1]?

Zhao Changhe suddenly thought that there was a chance that there were other people who invited her to enter their dreams with them, and those people could be in this world. Well, it was even more likely that they were already six feet under.

This heaven had no dao. This was not a civilized world where everyone could survive. This was what the blind woman alluded to.

“Stronghold master! Stronghold master! Things aren’t good!” A disciple rushed over anxiously from outside. “A few tough guys bumped into our brothers blocking two youths at a blockade we set up.”

Zhao Changhe wiped away his sweat and realized his voice was tired. “What? Have they met with a righteous hero...”

“No, it looked like they’re just some random people. They said there was nothing impressive about being the 250th Hidden Dragon and went to challenge the people of the stronghold.”

Zhao Changhe sneered.

He was not laughing at the ruffians, but at the spy.

With the Ranking of Hidden Dragons shining in the sky, it appeared like everyone would come and give trouble to Zhao Changhe. With that said, however, how would they know where to find him?

Even though Yue Hongling knew he was with the Blood God Cult, she had never thought he would be in Beimang, so she could only run to challenge the cult leader and wander everywhere for a month to search for him. Other people did not even have a single clue, yet someone had already arrived at his doorstep just one day later. How did they find him? There had to be a spy.

This spy isn’t necessarily Fang Buping... It could be anyone.

“Bandits of a demonic cult are really low-level.” Zhao Changhe picked up his steel saber and strode out the door. “It just so happens that I’m in a very bad mood today. These guys came at a good time. Let me see how many heroes have come to this trifling road at Beimang.”

1. The act of sealing multiple venomous creatures into a pot for them to devour each other. The last remaining creature is thought to possess the strongest venom. ☜