The wooden roof greeted Leng Qing's bleary sight as he woke up.
"...How come I fell asleep when the sun's up and above?"
Feeling strongly that something was off, he jumped to his feet and took a look around the bedroom.
He had fallen asleep on the recliner, as usual. The serving table in front of him held a flask of tea and two cups, one filled, one empty.
His head cleared up. Of course, today, he was supposed to have a frontal confrontation with one of his deadliest obstacles– Han Xuhan's attempt to enslave him into becoming another Nightmare Knight, a vanguard for the Nocturna forces.
He had ended up sleeping just before a moment so crucial to the future of this planet?
Impossible! Leng Qing's blood turned cold as the oddity of the situation finally set in.
He quickly turned to look at the small hourglass on the wall. He had calculated the range of time within which Han Xuhan would arrive and attack him. If his calculation wasn't wrong...
The attack had happened already! At least an hour had passed since the attack!
Gaze glued to the hourglass, Leng Qing began to calculate once more. Qi moved inside his meridians, complex patterns formed in the air, and numerous formulas flitted through his mind one after another as he tried to peek into the abstract realm of causes and their effects. What made the calculation this time easier was the supposition that his feared outcome had already found its first stepping stone. He had not managed to stop their momentum up the stairway to the destruction of the planet. He had become another tread on that stair!
The result made itself known to him fast, as fast as he had feared it might.
The attack had been a success for Han Xuhan's side!
He, Leng Qing, was already under the enslavement spell!
Quick as lightning, he sat back on the recliner and sank into his consciousness, seeking out his dao foundation. In no time, he was standing on the bottom floor of a narrow pagoda, looking up at the seemingly infinite stretch of darkness formed by the towering walls, at the very top of which blinked a round, white ball of light.
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Like a frog in a well, casting their sight upon the sun of wisdom through a narrow perspective– this was the truth of human consciousness.
What put the stargazers on a different seat compared to the ordinary humans was the uniqueness of this pagoda, this foundation of their cultivation route.
The higher they could climb, the wider this pagoda would become, revealing more and more of the spectacular sun of knowledge and wisdom. The darkness would recede inch by inch, showing one what history he had left behind, what chances he had around him, and what wonders lay ahead.
Leng Qing, a novice stargazer, was still in the midst of clearing away the darkness on the first floor of his pagoda. Almost half of the black mist on the floor had been cleared up, creating a large, empty space that was a testament to his attainments as a stargazer.
But today, that area of the first floor was no longer empty.
A lone young man stood there, arms crossed, seemingly waiting for Leng Qing to arrive.
For a long time, Leng Qing floated outside his dao tower, trying to think of possible scenarios that might take place once he voluntarily stepped inside the tower. But no idea he could conceive seemed enough to counter whatever it was occupying his dao tower. In the end, Leng Qing chose to relent and floated in, coming face to face with the entity.
The first thing he realized was the fact that this young man had the same features as him. Same face, same torso, and the exact same limbs. Even the way this guy was standing made Leng Qing feel like he was in front of a mirror.
"You've been puppetized," was the first sentence this entity said to him.
"Evidently," Leng Qing replied. "Are you... the instrument that's being used to accomplish the task of enslaving me?"
The other Leng Qing blinked, looking somewhat confused.
"No, YOU are the instrument that's being used to puppetize ME! With great success too, it seems. You appear convinced of your sense of self, not realizing the truth. In this body, I'm the imprisoned one, the original owner. You're the invader who's in control."
Leng Qing's head went blank for a moment before he burst out in anger.
"That's impossible! My memories, my personality, my habits, my cultivation...Everything about myself is still the same. How could I be an outsider? Is that how you plan to take over my body? By convincing me that I'm the occupier in my own body?"
He didn't know much about the Nocturna rebels. If this was how they invaded planet after planet, then it made sense why even the Overlords of the Macrocosm were having trouble countering them!
"Exactly!" the other Leng Qing said. "We are so alike that it's impossible for either of us to even conceive the idea that we're not the original owner of this body. So no matter how hard I try to convince you, you won't believe me. You'll continue to live as I had planned to, interact with the outside world as I had planned to, and then just at a crucial pivot point during the invasion of Nocturna Vanguards, you'll show your true colors when your current master orders it. For now, both of us can only continue living in a cycle of conflict and confusion, just as intended by your master."
The more he said, the more the seeds of fear in Leng Qing's heart grew. In all the futures he had envisioned, this outcome was set in stone. Fang Xie, the madman, would use his army of puppetized disciples to assist the Nocturna Forces.
Since the first vision he had received from his mysterious benefactor, he had been looking for ways to topple this horrific destiny. Yet here he stood after his years of struggle, just another piece to be used to bring about the very cause he fought against.
And he wasn't even sure if he was still himself.
An overwhelming mixture of fury and frustration coursed through his heart as the absurdity of the situation finally set in.
Suddenly, a strange expression appeared on the other Leng Qing's face. Leng Qing himself felt an irresistible tug on his consciousness. Unable to fight back, he was dragged away from the tower, and sunk into a stream of chaotic darkness that gave him a familiar feeling.
He had been in this state before.
His mysterious benefactor was about to send him another vision of the future! He couldn't guess what it might be, but he understood that this would probably be the final weapon for him to rely on if he wanted to land a fatal blow to the vanguards of the Nocturna Rebels.
This time, Leng Qing was determined to carry out his mission, no matter how much collateral damage he caused on that course.
The first step on that path would be, of course, to kill Han Xuhan.