Immortal Sword Master

Chapter 560: Chapter 555: The Truth of Mist Island

After Ning Jiang cut down the numerous Guards, no blood appeared. Instead, just like the White Whales from before, they turned into clouds of white mist.

The scene was astonishing. They had looked completely real, made of flesh and blood and utterly indistinguishable from living people.

No one would have believed they were illusory.

”What are you doing? Didn’t I already warn you not to cause trouble? It’s over, it’s all over! The Island Master and the others won’t let you go, and we’ll be dragged down with you.”

Wang Heng was still standing there, his face filled with remorse for having brought Ning Jiang to this place.

”Ning Jiang, you can still escape if you run now,” said the girl in green, Wang Qingyi.

’Still trying to delude me? You might fool others, but how could you possibly hide the truth from my eyes?’

With a soft sigh, Ning Jiang slashed his sword toward the crowd. Countless people turned into white mist and vanished.

BOOM!

At that moment, a tyrannical aura descended.

”Who dares cause trouble here?”

It was an old man with white eyebrows. His aura was astonishing, no weaker than that of Liu Yama, whom Ning Jiang had met before. He was powerful enough to be on equal footing with the Ten Great Earth Martial Realms.

Ning Jiang glanced at him and, without a second thought, activated his Sun and Moon Divine Eye. Golden Taiyang Divine Fire surged madly from his pupils.

”How audacious.”

The white-browed elder was furious and was about to use his own techniques to counter these Flames.

But the Taiyang Divine Fire possessed the might to incinerate all things. It enveloped the white-browed elder, and within a few breaths, he turned into white mist amidst agonizing screams.

’Everything is fake.’

Ning Jiang’s figure slowly rose into the air. His right eye grew increasingly incandescent, like a small sun, releasing a blinding divine radiance.

Endless Flames surged forth, burning fiercely. They eventually swept across the land in every direction, and wherever they passed, everyone turned into a cloud of mist.

A single glance incinerated the very heavens!

”No! Stop! Stop it, now!”

Just then, a heart-wrenching cry echoed out. It was none other than the girl, Wang Qingyi.

Her expression was one of extreme anguish. Tears streamed down her face, and she looked utterly heartbroken.

Ning Jiang ignored her, his heart as hard as iron. As countless people dissolved into mist, the island’s true appearance was revealed before his eyes.

It was a city of the dead. Everything was in ruins, and the city itself had long been deserted. There were no living figures to be seen—only skeletons.

It was a horrifying sight. At a glance, there were hundreds of thousands of skeletons.

Evidently, many Martial Artists had indeed lived on Mist Island in the past, but they had all died, fallen in this very place.

Who had massacred all these people?

At this moment, only Wang Qingyi and her grandfather, Wang Heng, were left.

Wang Qingyi was kneeling on the ground, watching the scene in agony. She turned to Ning Jiang in a fury and screamed, ”You killed them all! Why did you do this? You fiend! Give them back to me!”

Her eyes were bloodshot, and tears streamed down her face unceasingly.

Ning Jiang didn’t answer her. His gaze fell upon Wang Heng, and with a complex look in his eyes, he said, ”You are the only living person here, yet you were willing to be trapped in this illusion. Why put yourself through that?”

”Because I couldn’t let go. My family was here, everything I ever cherished.” A tragic smile appeared on Wang Heng’s face. ”Are you willing to hear this place’s story?”

”Go on. I’ll listen,” Ning Jiang said without refusing. He knew Wang Heng would likely tell him everything that had happened here.

”Everyone you saw... they were all people who once lived on Mist Island. It’s just that... they have all passed away...”

With a pained expression, Wang Heng slowly began to recount the tale.

According to him, this had all happened ten years ago.

Ten years ago, a great number of Martial Artists had indeed lived here, and Wang Heng was one of them. Although Mist Island was shrouded in fog, it was, on the whole, a very peaceful place. There was little conflict, and it could be considered a hidden paradise.

But ten years ago, a cataclysmic event took place.

”She was very gentle. For thousands of years, she guarded Mist Island and lived in peace with its people. Sometimes, when Martial Artists from Mist Island encountered danger while traveling, she would send the White Whales to rescue them if she found out.”

”In the past, when Heaven-Reaching Realm experts came here, intending to rule Mist Island and go on a killing spree, it was she who acted, killing those experts and protecting us.”

”She was the Guardian of Mist Island. For generations, the people of Mist Island were under her protection.”

As Wang Heng spoke to this point, his voice suddenly began to tremble. ”But ten years ago, her temperament changed drastically. She attacked this place. She killed everyone on the island she had guarded for generations, everyone she had always protected. My family, everything I held dear—they all died!”

”In the end, it was she who protected me.”

Wang Heng’s gaze was complicated as he looked at Wang Qingyi beside him...

As he continued his story, the full history of Mist Island unfolded before Ning Jiang’s eyes.

In the past, Mist Island had been under a benevolent protectorate, and the White Whales would appear to save its people when they were in danger. But ten years ago, the cataclysm occurred.

The White Whales that had always protected them suddenly became their enemies.

On that day, roiling white mist surged onto Mist Island, engulfing the entire place. Then, the horned White Whales swam through the mist, cruelly reaping one vibrant life after another.

The former Guardian had instantly transformed into a merciless reaper of souls.

By the end, hundreds of thousands had been killed. In a single day, Mist Island was turned into an island of the dead.

The reason Wang Heng managed to survive was his sheer Luck. At the critical moment, the girl in green at his side had appeared and saved him from the jaws of a horned White Whale.

This girl in green was not his granddaughter.

The real Wang Qingyi had died in the slaughter ten years ago. He had given this girl her name because he missed his own granddaughter.

”She saved me, and she re-created everything...”

Wang Heng looked at Wang Qingyi, and a flicker of hatred appeared in his eyes, yet it was mixed with pity.

All the illusions on this island were her creation. At first, Wang Heng couldn’t accept any of it, but slowly, unable to bear the longing in his heart, he allowed himself to sink into this false reality.

He couldn’t let go!

He couldn’t let go of everything he cherished.

And so, for ten years, he knew it was all fake, yet he remained unwilling to wake up. Day after day, his subconscious gradually began to accept it all as real.

It wasn’t until Ning Jiang’s arrival, when he mercilessly shattered the illusion, that Wang Heng was forced to confront this cruel reality.

”She doesn’t remember either, does she?” Ning Jiang said, looking at Wang Qingyi.

”She remembers nothing. She thinks she’s Qingyi, my granddaughter. I understand that she’s trying to atone, and I’ve thought about killing her for revenge. But... if she dies, all the illusions on Mist Island will vanish again. I don’t want to wake up...”