Unfortunately for him, he had guessed wrong.
Chen Kuang might not know for certain whether the Pure Land truly had a "Pratyekabuddha Mountain," but he did know that Wei Yan was lying.
And it only took a moment's reflection to realize: Wei Yan must have been using the name of a place to test whether Chen Kuang was truly from the Pure Land.
Chen Kuang turned his head with a slightly puzzled expression. "Elder, perhaps you've misremembered? The Pure Land has no such place as Pratyekabuddha Mountain."
Wei Yan immediately covered it up with a forced chuckle.
"Perhaps so. I've never actually been to the Pure Land myself, it's easy to confuse things. I hope you'll forgive me."
Hm? That was a lie too.
This elder had been to the Pure Land before... but he clearly didn't want to talk about it.
To prevent the man from probing any further, Chen Kuang decided to strike first, cutting him off at the source.
He narrowed his eyes and said with a layered tone,
"Truly? That's strange... Elder, you look oddly familiar to me, as if I've seen you somewhere before, perhaps even in the Pure Land?"
Wei Yan's expression froze, but he quickly forced a fake smile.
"What an honor that would be, but surely, it's just your imagination. I've never set foot in the Pure Land."
In truth, of course, he had.
Back when he was young and arrogant, he thought all those bald-headed monks did nothing but chant scriptures and persuade people to drop their weapons, nothing worth fearing.
At the time, he'd even managed to qualify for the Canglang Evaluation, and the person ahead of him had been a monk.
So, on impulse, he entered the Pure Land and challenged the monk to a duel.
The monk agreed immediately... but once Wei Yan had beaten him, he realized too late that he was trapped in a golden-bowl illusion, exposing his every vicious impulse before an assembly of Buddhas.
Fortunately, the event had never been made public.
But to Wei Yan, it was the greatest humiliation of his life.
Ever since, he had behaved with great caution, hiding behind a mask of civility, and avoided any mention of the Pure Land.
Did he hate them? No, he didn't even dare to hate them.
They had already exposed his deepest ugliness for all to see.
All he could do was scurry away like a rat, for if anyone knew the truth, they'd realize his dao heart had long since shattered, and that he'd never progress in cultivation again.
Chen Kuang didn't actually care whether Wei Yan had been to the Pure Land.
But since the man had handed him this weakness on a platter, of course he was going to use it.
Sure enough, after that exchange, Wei Yan stopped probing.
Before long, the three of them arrived at the banks of the River of Death.
The river stretched out endlessly under the night sky. The gray waters surged with current, the wind raising layers of waves that lashed at the shore. Heavy mist drifted over the surface, cold enough to seep into the bones.
Vaguely visible in the mist was a small fishing boat, drifting along with a single lantern glowing faintly like a star.
For a moment, it seemed there was an old fisherman standing aboard with a straw cape and bamboo pole, and in the next blink, he was gone.
This was the River of Death... and the Ferry of Death.
That little boat was the Grandmaster-tier river demon.
In his earlier years, when Chen Kuang often left the capital to procure goods, he'd heard the same warning countless times:
"Never go near the River of Death. Never answer the call of the ferry."
The demon rarely caused storms or waves, but people would sometimes vanish, either dragged into the river or lured onto the ferry, only to be asked strange questions.
Get one wrong, and you would never return.
He was also said to be blind, with an exceptionally keen sense of hearing.
Locals always warned: if you passed near the river and heard someone calling your name, never answer.
And if you accidentally touched the water, the ferry would surely claim you.
However, Chen Kuang once met a merchant who claimed to be one of the few survivors of the Ferry of Death. He'd built a whole business around the story.
That merchant had said the ferry demon did indeed ask questions, but they were usually true-or-false statements. You simply had to determine whether what it said was correct or not.
As it happened, the merchant had traveled extensively and knew the right answers. After answering three questions, he escaped with his life.
That was why Chen Kuang had chosen this place as his breakthrough point.
Because the moment the demon voiced a question, it would be stating a proposition. And if it knew the truth of what it was saying, that meant Chen Kuang could tell whether it was lying.
And with his passive "Piercing Insight," determining truth from lies was practically cheating.
It would be like taking a test where the answers were printed on the back.
Wei Yan set him down and asked, "The River of Death is before us. So where is your fellow disciple?"
The River of Death spanned across two prefectures, eventually feeding into the East Court Lake.
One of those prefectures... was Jishao.
And its tributaries connected directly to the wild ferry port.
Hoo...
Chen Kuang stared out at the surging river and took a deep breath, then slowly exhaled.
The chill mist-laden wind cut through him, washing away every trace of weariness. His Spiritual Energy surged, stirring through his blood and meridians, and his body felt lighter than ever before.
He looked back once at the burning imperial city, like dying embers, slowly fading into the dark.
The tyrant of the old era had been beheaded.
The women were still fleeing. The future remained unseen.
Once he left... perhaps he'd visit that home he hadn't seen in ten years.
It wasn't far.
He thought to himself.
Jishao Prefecture. He remembered the terrible drought there, the poverty that had led his family to blind him and sell him to a passing musician.
Even after entering the palace and being assigned to procurement duty, he'd always declined any trips that passed through Jishao.
It was a knot in his heart.
Not his own, but that of the original Chen Kuang.
Zhao Lie grew impatient. Stepping forward, he asked:
"Well? When will your 'fellow disciple' arrive?"
Chen Kuang sighed.
"No need to be so anxious, Elders."
He smiled faintly and gestured. "Look."
"The good 'senior brother' who's here to fetch me... hasn't he just arrived?"
The two elders reflexively turned toward the river.
But there was nothing there, just that small, swaying lantern, bobbing on the waves.
Splash.
Wei Yan spun around in shock.
Chen Kuang had leapt forward like a released arrow, diving into the river like a dragon returning to the sea.
He vanished beneath the waves.
"You-!!!"
Zhao Lie and Wei Yan snapped to attention, striking out simultaneously, blade and sword flashing, their killing intent bursting forth.
BOOM!
The entire river exploded, sending shockwaves down both shores.
CRASH!
Waves surged skyward in a roaring cascade.
Chen Kuang's figure was seen for a moment, half-submerged, then cleaved apart by the frenzied strikes, shredded by blade and sword alike.
But in the next instant... he was whole again.
The pain only lasted for a moment.
He had just conned two Moon-Embracing Realm elders in one go.
It was too satisfying.
So much so that he couldn't help but burst into laughter.
"Hahaha, cough cough cough-"
Chen Kuang shook his head. Reaching backward, his fingers touched the wooden edge of a deck.
Water dripped in front of his eyes. A bright lamp glowed close by.
Ptuh! Ptuh!
He spat out the water in his throat and blinked, next to the lamp... stood a figure in a straw cape.
Beneath the cape were glimmering patches of fish scales.
"I have three questions for you."
A slimy, slurred voice rasped.
Beneath the straw hat, a massive, pale-white fish eye slowly turned to stare at him.