156 - Stranded Outside the Bounds

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Qin Yun gasped as he opened his eyes. Added to the ache of his body, he felt a splitting headache as two new sets of memories streamed into his mind simultaneously. He took a few moments to compose himself, separating those memories from his own as he recalled the last images that flashed before his eyes as he was struck by the tribulation.

Why... Why did it expend all that energy?

Qin Yun wasn't shocked or outraged by how the Heavenly Dao treated him. He didn't feel any kind of burning desire for revenge nor wish for some kind of payback. If anything, he felt more confused than anything else.

For Heavenly Thunder to appear this far at the edge of the Deep Desert required massive amounts of energy—energy which could have been used to slow down Corruption's encroachment on this land, buying them some more time. Instead, it had targeted him for some reason.

If it truly wanted me dead, I wouldn't be alive right now. Besides, it had more than ample opportunity. No... this was done with a purpose, but for what?

Despite Qin Yun's mind racing, he couldn't pinpoint a single valid reason. Oh, he had many hypotheses, but these were only that: hypotheses. There was no concrete evidence of anything except for that feeling rising in his heart. He was stuck amid a scheme much greater than himself and could only go along with it.

First thing first... Where am I?

Qin Yun looked around, his vision blurry, still dazed from the many memories rushing through his mind. So very rarely had two different sets of them appeared simultaneously, and he couldn’t help but sigh at the absurdity of it all.

For two of them to die to each other without even knowing... that’s a first.

Still, something weighed heavily on his mind. It had only been a few months since the last time it happened, and even far less from that point to the nearest one. Despite the breath of all realities existing parallel to each other, Qin Yun couldn't conceive that their demise wouldn't be related to how close they were in the time frame.

Forget it... With my current strength, there’s no way to truly investigate. Maybe if I were to find one of them...

Qin Yun shook his head. There was no point in considering this. He could only leave it for later, but then, something caught his eye. He was lying on his stomach, perched on a large mountain of books that may have broken his fall, but what truly concerned him was what lay in his hand.

It was a firearm, an old antique barely fit to see battle, one of those you would see in a museum where history nerds would gush over it, saying they were engineering works of art instead of deadly instruments meant to take lives at a distance. In Qin Yun's case, he much preferred swords, or even his fists, as they were much more personal. If he wished someone dead, he at least wanted to work for it, feel the life draining from them. It made him feel much less callous about taking a life.

As for this antique, Qin Yun recognized it, for he had seen it just moments before. The blood on the bayonet was still fresh, staining this bed of books as it dripped from the point.

He frowned, unable to remember why it would lie in his hands instead of deep within his storage. To his surprise, his other hand contained a small pistol, another weapon he recognized. The feel of the small grip fitting snugly in his hand brought forth vivid memories of that bayonet ripping through his throat. He remembered gagging on his own blood, disbelief striking in his heart as his vision began to fade.

But simultaneously, he also saw himself from an outside perspective. His chest was hot as the rest of his body became freezing, watching the smoke escape the muzzle of that pistol as the man before him drowned in his own blood. He remembered the sergeant screaming his lungs out as he pressed his whole weight against the wound. Yet, no matter how he tried, he couldn’t remember the words the man had said, nor the last ones to escape his mouth.

He only remembered being shocked as the man with the pistol's memories flooded into his mind mere moments before he closed his eyes for the last time.

That’s one hell of a way to die... Qin Yun thought, gasping as he tried to regain his calm. No matter how many times, I just can’t seem to get used to traumatic deaths. Calm yourself and focus... You don’t have time for this!

Qin Yun quickly stored both weapons in the black box, for the mere sight of them brought memories of two lifetimes flooding back into his mind despite his desperately trying to keep them compartmentalized. He couldn't help but wonder when he had retrieved them from storage, for this was highly unusual. As far as he knew, the black box wasn't something that could be used unconsciously.

Let's not dwell on this. Qin Yun took a deep breath. I don't remember what happened after the tribulation struck, but this isn't the Deep Desert. Did I fall into the Abyss? If so, it's not what I expected.

Indeed, it wasn't, for Qin Yun's world wasn't filled with unending darkness or Corruption as far as the eye could see. Instead, he found himself in a large open room and, judging by the countless bookcases, all mostly empty, this was once a library.

Of the books that remained, many were beyond saving. Just by opening the nearest book that had served to cushion his fall, it crumbled into dust, leaving nothing behind but a small amount of grey powder.

There were many more books to be found—countless even—yet each of them crumbled as soon as he opened them, despite being fine holding the weight of his body on top or even being picked up.

How interesting... Something seems to be preserving them.

Fearing they might disappear entirely before he had the chance to peruse through them, Qin Yun put those countless books straight into his storage. Only when he was finally on his feet, rummaging through the many bookcases, he noticed how bright his current world was.

There were no more signs of the all-encompassing darkness. It wasn't bright by any means, yet he could easily see in front of him without using an external light. While some light seemed to be reflected by the structure, most entered the building through a giant gaping hole at the top.

Well... that explains how I found myself here.

This was the most likely entry point, for the roof of this structure was broken, with shards of wood and stone scattered around the floor. Qin Yun even found splinters and dust attached to his robes. But surprisingly, he only now realized that he wasn't as injured as he should have been.

There were the occasional bruises and the wear and tear of his robes, as well as scorch marks near the trim, but otherwise, he was fine—too fine. He remembered the tribulation striking him square in the chest. There should have been a burn mark or at least some sort of trauma, yet most of his robes remained intact. Something didn't seem right.

Qin Yun quickly removed his clothes, stripping down to his bare chest, only to be stunned by what he saw. It wasn't so much that something seemed off but that nothing was. There was absolutely no wound anywhere on his skin, nor any traces of blood on the inside of his clothes.

That shouldn’t be possible! A strike strong enough to make me pass out should have left some marks. How long have I been unconscious?

With no familiar stellar landmark, such as the sun or even stars, Qin Yun couldn't estimate the passage of time. He also couldn't rely on his bone age, for there was no telling if he was or had passed through some time dilation field. Usually, a cultivator could estimate the time by calculating the decay rate of qi stored in the qi centre, but with no qi of his own, Qin Yun had no hope of being precise.

Calm down... Let’s just tackle one mystery at a time. Let’s start with the light. Where is it coming from?

Qin Yun raised his gaze, looking past the giant hole in the ceiling, yet all he saw was to be expected. There were no stars in the sky; how could there be? If this was as he thought, and he had fallen to a lower leaf of this lotus, then it was only reasonable to believe the light of the stars—whatever they were—couldn’t reach this plane.

Instead, Qin Yun noticed a shimmering barrier slightly above the roof. The light seemed to come directly from it before being transmitted throughout the structure by seeping into the stone itself. It strangely resembled the rune markings the Qin clan used themselves back in Jin City, yet Qin Yun saw no such markings on the stone. He was at a loss as to the mechanisms of this.

Judging by the structure itself and the scattered books, this place is old—ancient. In fact, if we take into account its location, it may be one of the oldest structures to ever be discovered on this plane. It seems to even dwarf some of the records of now-collapsed sub-dimensions that once existed in the Western Regions.

Qin Yun had always been interested in the history of this world. He immersed himself in his clan's great library, mainly to find records of his former lives. While he found no such thing, the Qin clan was worthy of its reputation as possessing a wealth of knowledge.

Qin Yun found many books dating back to time immemorial, when their immortal ancestor still resided within the clan. While the timeline was muddled, making Qin Yun unable to decide on a precise date, he estimated that he might date back several tens of thousands of years. And yet, this place was even older than that—much older.

Qin Yun couldn't give a proper estimate, for this didn't come from evidence but from a feeling. He didn't know where that feeling originated, yet he knew it to be the truth deep in his core. He simply couldn't think of it as false, despite trying not to give credence to it.

I'd be tempted to say it is a miracle this place still stands, but obviously not. This place was built to last a long time, to flow through the ages unscathed by time. Either someone had too many resources on his hands, or this was built to be an ark, only to be found after all this time... What were the chances?

Qin Yun scoffed. This was obviously no coincidence. He was meant to find this place—forced, most likely. The Heavenly Dao wanted him here so bad that it went through all that trouble to cast him into the Abyss.

To what purpose?

Qin Yun could only think of one. It believed Qin Yun being here would solve the current war between it and the Corruption. As for what he was meant to find here, Qin Yun had no idea, except for the countless tomes he couldn't even open.

“It could have simply asked..." Qin Yun sighed but held no delusions.

He knew that given the choice and the current state of this world, Qin Yun would have never chosen to leap into this unknown world, leaving his wife alone, knowing there might not be any way to return. The Heavenly Dao knew this and gave him no choice.

"So be it," Qin Yun said as he looked toward a darkened corridor leading further into the structure. "Let's see what else this place has to offer. It's not like I have much else to lose."

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