Three Reflections Seek a Favorable Opportunity

Li Shun's physical body had already been buried beneath the cataclysm of collapsing mountains and splitting earth.

But his consciousness remained.

His main consciousness cowered within the Square Inch space, while a small portion lay dormant within the midges he had raised.

The midges had originally numbered forty-seven, but more than half had been lost in the Cold Mountain disaster for various reasons.

Only twenty-one remained now.

They gathered in the darkness as Li Shun's consciousness began to awaken, reading through all they had seen and heard that day.

Beyond the deaths of Cold Mountain's people in the disaster, there was the sight of Zhou Xunzhen walking through the air, ascending toward the heavens step by step.

"Breaking through the Celestial Phenomenon Realm to enter Creation, borrowing another lifetime from Heaven?"

Li Shun's mind shook violently. "Could it be that this was all a scheme laid by Zhou Xunzhen, all to borrow more years from Heaven?"

Remembering the decrepit, aging Zhou Xunzhen he had seen before, Li Shun felt a bone-deep chill.

Again and again, scenes of his encounters with Zhou Xunzhen replayed in his mind.

When he had first purchased the Book of Imperial Exegesis, there had been nothing unusual about the man.

At the time, he had merely been an ordinary owner of a bookshop.

Only later, when Zhou Xunzhen's age had begun to show, had there been something mysterious about him.

Li Shun repeatedly recalled Zhou Xunzhen's words: "When one stays in a bookshop, one sees only this tranquil little world no larger than a square inch. What one cares about is no more than the buying and selling of a few damaged volumes, and a few paltry profits. Though the days are somewhat dull and dreary, at least the soul is free. But once you leave this bookshop, the worldly dust swirls and rolls without end. Greed throws the heart into chaos and takes lives."

"Greed throws the heart into chaos and takes lives..."

Thinking back on every little thing he had experienced in Cold Mountain County these past years, Li Shun was even more horrified.

He suddenly realized that Feng Guan had so easily been bewitched by him time and again. It was likely not entirely due to Feng Guan's character or Li Shun's eloquence.

The strange scheme Zhou Xunzhen had cast over Cold Mountain County might have been the true root cause.

Perhaps even...

"I've been transported here for twenty-six years. Though I possessed a supreme treasure, under Great Qian's brutal system, I had never found a place to put my abilities to use. As I grew old and frail, my lofty ambitions gradually faded. I had every intention of living peacefully through the rest of my days."

"But over the past few years, unwillingness and ambition have suddenly risen in my heart once more."

"Could it be that Zhou Xunzhen's scheme was at work on me as well?"

Li Shun's heart turned icy as he reflected on his changes.

"I'm afraid that's truly the case."

The colder his heart grew, the more terrified he became. "When a mighty being lays out a scheme, those within it are like ants. One misstep, and body and soul are extinguished."

"Even with the Square Inch's protection, I must tread as though walking on thin ice."

Li Shun felt an even greater lingering fear. "Fortunately, I thought Zhou Xunzhen had already died, so after borrowing lifespan, I never returned to the bookshop. Otherwise, the matter of my borrowing two hundred years of life would certainly have been exposed..."

The midges' wings quivered ceaselessly, like Li Shun's unsettled state of mind.

The night deepened. This day was about to end.

"I've lost my physical body now, with only my consciousness remaining. I definitely have to activate Threefold Self-Reflection."

"The question is, what exactly should I do after activating it?"

"Should I simply flee in panic, or..."

"I still have one chance to make a mistake. The good news is that, though Zhou Xunzhen is powerful, he cannot detect or resist Threefold Self-Reflection's reversal of time. My previous experience buying the Book of Imperial Exegesis has already proven that."

Li Shun gradually calmed himself.

The heavy snow finally stopped, and all was silent.

Li Shun carefully considered his strategy for "tomorrow."

"Blindly running away is not an option. Who knows whose scheme I might stumble into next?"

"Cold Mountain may be dangerous, but the scheme has already been broken. That gives even an ant like me a chance to see it clearly."

"Snatching chestnuts from the fire..."

A plan slowly took shape in Li Shun's mind.

"Three Reflections Upon Myself!"

As that vast voice resounded between heaven and earth, time reversed.

The first day of the first month, Year 573 of the New Calendar.

The second reflection.

Under cover of night, forty-seven midges scattered and flew to every corner of the city.

At first light, Li Shun discovered Fang Xun leaving the city gates alone.

Not long afterward, County Commandant Cheng Yishu, with Yu Niang in tow, pursued Fang Xun.

"The three of them must have died in this disaster as well."

With a thought, Li Shun dispatched half the midges to follow them from afar.

Then he summoned the puppet [Li Shun] and waited for the right moment.

When the laborers headed for Cold Mountain Mine Cave, he blended into the crowd and left the city.

He then changed direction and hurried toward Fang Xun's location.

Fortunately, the first stretch of the journey followed Great Qian's official road, so he made good speed.

"And along this route, it seems I haven't encountered any obstruction."

"So Zhou Xunzhen's scheme has no tangible barrier. If one wants to leave, one can depart at any time."

Li Shun suddenly thought of the Changle Marquis who had once visited Cold Mountain.

Enlightenment suddenly dawned on him. "Perhaps she chose not to silence everyone because she had noticed the scheme here. Those trapped within it could not escape the disaster. There was naturally no need to silence people who were already doomed to die."

Around noon, the tracking midges lost Cheng Yishu and Yu Niang's trail.

"They left the official road, and their speed suddenly exploded."

"But it should roughly be in this direction."

With a thought, Li Shun scattered more than twenty midges to search.

Unfortunately, there were still too few midges, and their search coverage was limited.

After searching for quite some time, they still failed to find Fang Xun and the others.

Just as Li Shun inwardly lamented the missed chance, faint waves of rumbling from afar suddenly pointed him in the right direction.

The midges beat their wings and flew swiftly toward the source of the sound.

From a distance, they saw Fang Xun and Cheng Yishu fighting desperately.

"So they must have killed each other yesterday. Then how did Yu Niang die?"

The midges did not approach, merely observing from afar.

Li Shun could vaguely make out what was happening.

In terms of sheer strength, Cheng Yishu was likely superior.

But Fang Xun had launched a sneak attack first, and his higher official rank also bolstered him. Thus, he had remained in the upper hand throughout.

Cheng Yishu gradually failed to hold out and was ultimately killed miserably.

After Fang Xun burned Cheng Yishu's body to ashes, he faced Yu Niang.

"Yu Niang, listen to my explanation..."

Watching Yu Niang's swelling body clamp Fang Xun tightly in its grasp before exploding with a bloody boom, even Li Shun's heart skipped a beat.

"Her intelligence was clouded by greed. As expected, she cannot be judged by ordinary reason."

Fang Xun was left with only half a body, barely clinging to life.

Only then did the twenty-odd midges slowly approach.

Fang Xun's consciousness began to blur. On the brink of death, he vaguely saw a swarm of flying insects descend before him.

"I never thought that I, Fang Xun, would be buried in the mouths of insects after death."

Grief welled up within Fang Xun. Then his mind abruptly cleared, and he glared at the sky, his eyes filled with hatred.

His breath grew weaker and weaker, and death was imminent.

At that moment, Fang Xun suddenly felt an insect crawl into his mouth.

"Even ants dare bully me!"

Fang Xun felt even more desolate.

Yet...

After the midge entered his stomach, he felt no discomfort whatsoever.

Instead, a cool breath spread through him, temporarily clearing his mind.