Chapter 4: A Dream of Nanke
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Shen Fengxue’s Fanjiang Residence is located beside towering Bodhi trees.
The courtyard is elegant, and secluded from the hustle and bustle. From the high mountain behind the house, a waterfall cascades down like a satin ribbon.
As night fell, the darkness enveloped, and the night mist hung under the bright lights. Shen Gurong, draped in a flowing green robe, pushed open the door and stepped into Fanjiang Residence.
The two bold cursive calligraphy characters “Fan Jiang” inscribed on the door plaque at the courtyard entrance, are illuminated by two bright lanterns. Faintly exposed intricate talismans that can ward off prying eyes.
With no outsiders around, Shen Gurong revealed his true self, appearing utterly boneless. He untied the outer robe of his green garment, casually glanced at the simple layout of Fanjiang Residence, and tossed his clothes onto a bamboo couch.
“I really want to go home.”
Shen Gurong murmured softly, languidly lying on the small couch. He rolled around at the window like a lazy cat and the ice silk on his eyes loosened a bit.
He replayed the people and events he encountered today in his mind, finally sighed softly, fully accepting the fact that he wouldn’t easily return home.
Staring at the bamboo flute hanging by the window, Shen Gurong thought with a touch of self-amusement, “This book is quite entertaining.” Although Shen Fengxue had thoroughly offended the protagonist, it wasn’t a hopeless situation. With a little clever maneuvering, there was still room for a turnaround.
After a day of being mentally tense, as soon as he relaxed, he quickly fell into a deep sleep.
The courtyard was filled with evening mist flowers. A round chubby bird spread its wings and landed on the window sill, tilting its head to gaze at Shen Gurong.
As dawn broke on the horizon, the bird on the window sill spread its wings and flew out of Fanjiang Residence.
The morning classes at the Three Gates of Liren Peak start from the Chenshi hour (7-9am). Disciples gather in small groups, playfully making their way from the suspension bridge connecting the three peaks to the Zhibai Hall on Changying Mountain for the early class.
The black mist crawled slowly up the mountain steps throughout the entire night, finally reaching the halfway point of Liren Peak on Changying Mountain just before daybreak.
The mist struggled in place for a while before laboriously transforming into an ethereal humanoid figure. A black line seemed to be blown by the wind, drifting forward from its fingertips.
The Epidemic Demon, pursued by the group of Zhu Xie from Youzhou, was chased all the way to Liren Peak. It was injured by magical tools along the way, causing significant damage to its vitality. Yesterday, it could no longer sustain its spiritual power. Fortunately, it managed to escape in time, dizzily finding refuge deep within the mountains.
Weakly following the black line, it staggered forward.
As long as it could possess a new body…
Even if it were an ordinary person, it could surely accumulate strength, reshaping its spiritual form.
With its last bit of strength, it moved for a while and finally, before its spiritual power completely dissipated, pushed through the dense trees.
On the blue stone ground in front of Changying Mountain’s Zhibai Hall, a group of disciples dressed in colorful clothes sat cross-legged with closed eyes. An illusory talisman floated above each of their foreheads as if they were practicing cultivation.
The Epidemic Demon was momentarily stunned. Wasn’t there a complete absence of spiritual energy on this mountain? How could there still be disciples practicing cultivation?
It stood frozen in place. If it were an ordinary person, it could easily possess them. However, if it tried to possess someone with even a trace of spiritual energy, there was a risk of having its soul shattered by that energy.
Epidemic Demon: “…”
It had climbed all night.
Before it could contemplate further, the leading disciple suddenly opened his eyes without making a sound, staring directly in the direction of the Epidemic Demon.
Epidemic Demon: “…”
Suddenly drenched in cold sweat, the Epidemic Demon swiftly transformed, shrinking into a palm-sized black mist in the grass, not daring to move at all.
Because, as Li Suo opened his eyes halfway, the tranquil talisman on his forehead suddenly exploded and dissipated.
Li Suo didn’t alert the others. With a light tap of his toe, he soared three steps towards the black mist.
Yu Xinghe, sitting by the window of Zhibai Hall practicing calligraphy, glanced at Li Suo. He raised his hand and poked Mu Zhe, whispering, “Senior Brother Li Suo’s tranquil talisman exploded again. Is he going to get scolded by Sect Leader during this class?”
Mu Zhe, focused on copying the Tranquil Heart Sutra, spoke in a gentle tone, “Focus on your calligraphy.”
Yu Xinghe, with a mouthful of candied fruit, mumbled, “But look, he’s such a grown-up, and he’s still poking ants.”
Mu Zhe raised his head for a moment and, sure enough, saw Li Suo in his yellow robe crouching there, holding a small piece of dried branch, gently poking at a small black mass on the ground.
A gust of wind blew, and Mu Zhe noticed a trace of ash on the Tranquil Heart Sutra. He lifted his small hand to wipe it away and inadvertently saw what seemed to be a faint black line wafting on his pinky finger.
He was momentarily stunned, focused his gaze, and the black line instantly disappeared.
Raising his hand again, the dust disappeared.
He was slightly puzzled, flipping his palm back and forth but couldn’t find a trace of dust.
Yu Xinghe, biting the pen stem, asked, “What’s wrong?”
Mu Zhe shook his head. Just as he was about to speak, an earth-shattering sound rang out not far away.
Everyone was startled. The disciples practicing the Tranquil Heart talisman were disrupted by the loud noise, and the talismans in front of them exploded one by one.
“What’s happening?”
“Is it an earthquake?!”
“…”
Li Suo crouched nearby, in front of a hole that had exploded, emitting a faint black smoke.
He turned back and smiled at his bewildered junior disciples. “Don’t panic.”
The junior disciples gathered around, curious. “Senior Brother, what’s that?”
Li Suo fanned the air with his fan, squinting as he said, “Nothing much. I just happened to get rid of the Epidemic Demon that those Zhu Xie were chasing yesterday.”
As soon as he mentioned the words “Epidemic Demon,” the younger disciples were startled, taking a step back.
The library on Liren Peak once recorded an incident from a hundred years ago. Fengdu City, a secluded city with thousands of residents, was massacred by a ghost cultivator who had possessed a body. It shocked the Three Realms. Since then, ghost cultivators have been universally condemned.
Li Suo stretched lazily and gently reassured his junior disciples, “I’ve already said not to be afraid. It’s gone in a puff of smoke. Besides, Liren Peak has the Boundary Spirit Stele. Ordinary ghost cultivators and demon cultivators won’t easily come in.”
At that moment, Xi Guxing arrived in a dark robe, holding a sword. He coldly said, “Are you planning a rebellion?!” The crowd was startled, quickly lowering their heads in submission.
“Good morning, Sect Leader.”
Xi Guxing looked at the apparent troublemaker, “Li Suo, what mischief are you causing with them again?”
Li Suo hurriedly explained, “Master, with all due respect, we were not slacking off. Just now, an Epidemic Demon intruded into Liren Peak. As we couldn’t reach you in time, I took action to subdue it. I hope Master will understand!”
Xi Guxing didn’t fully trust his disciple’s skillful tongue that often distorted the truth. He coldly scanned the surroundings and detected the lingering aura of the Epidemic Demon. His expression improved slightly.
Originally thinking it was an outrageous ghost cultivator, he didn’t expect that it couldn’t even enter Liren Peak with its Boundary Spirit Stele.
Seeing Xi Guxing’s expression ease a bit, Li Suo silently breathed a sigh of relief.
However, he didn’t anticipate that Xi Guxing would cast a cold glance at him and say, “Show me the Tranquil Heart talisman.” Li Suo was momentarily stunned before hesitantly extending his palm, revealing a shattered illusionary talisman inside.
Xi Guxing sneered, “How many times is this now?”
Li Suo fell silent like a cicada in winter, “S-Six times.”
After saying this, feeling the displeasure emanating from his master, he directly knelt down, and the disciples behind him followed suit.
Xi Guxing’s eyes were filled with coldness, “Since you think I’m too lenient, next time I’ll let Shen Fengxue teach you this Tranquil Heart class.”
The moment the name “Shen Fengxue” was mentioned, all the disciples, including Li Suo, turned pale.
Li Suo’s already sickly complexion became even paler. “Master, I acknowledge my mistake…”
Xi Guxing saw that Shen Fengxue could intimidate them, and regardless of the disciples’ mournful expressions, he swept his sleeves and left.
Trembling, Li Suo said, “Senior Brother… Senior Brother wants to leave the sect. Is there anyone willing to join me?”
The disciples: “…”
Oh no, Senior Brother has been scared silly.
***
Perhaps due to Shen Gurong flipping through Shen Fengxue’s memories too many times, the ice-covered Shen Fengxue entered Shen Gurong’s dream.
[In a vast expanse of snow, Shen Fengxue stands, with traces of red stains slowly seeping through the ice covering his eyes, like two lines of blood and tears. He wears thin blue clothes, standing in the snowstorm, slowly reaching out towards Shen Gurong.
Shen Gurong looks at him in confusion, instinctively wanting to grasp his hand.
Shen Fengxue’s voice seems to scatter with the blowing snow.
“Must save him…”
“Shen Gurong… Save him.”
“Fengxue…”
Shen Gurong staggers toward him, suddenly a gust of wind carrying snow swirls around. After the wind subsides, Shen Fengxue’s figure has already disappeared in the snowstorm.]
Shen Gurong abruptly opens his eyes, standing still in a daze for a long time before snapping back to reality. He realizes that his face is wet with tears.
Shen Gurong, looking disheveled, wipes his face with his sleeve and mutters, “If I just have to save him then I will, what am I crying for?”
Originally, he was still unsure of the reason he came here, but this dream made it clear—he came to prevent Yu Xinghe from falling into demonic cultivation, and then he could go back home.
Under the warm rays of the rising sun, Shen Gurong wiped away his tears, only then realizing that the ice covering his eyes was nowhere to be found.
Shen Gurong, like a blind person, fumbled around on himself. Along the way, he tried using hairbands, belts, testing them one by one on his eyes until he finally found the bundled ice silk on the window sill.
The ice silk is exceptionally light and thin, resembling a layer of mist.
He unraveled the crumpled ice silk and tied it back over his eyes. After restoring his vision, he lifted his head slightly and, along the window sill, saw two figures with peculiar expressions standing in the courtyard.
Shen Gurong: “???”
Yu Xinghe and Mu Zhe don’t know how long they’ve been standing there or how much they’ve seen.
Mu Zhe remained indifferent, showing no signs of surprise. Yu Xinghe, on the other hand, was utterly unfamiliar with the world and couldn’t conceal the shock on his face. His expression seemed to say, “Did Master go blind, or am I hallucinating? Is what I’m seeing real?”
Shen Gurong: “…”
Mu Zhe remained expressionless, but his lips subtly pursed.
*Scoff.*
Shen Gurong: “…”
How audacious!
This little protagonist is laughing again, right?!
Don’t think I haven’t noticed you’re mocking your Master with that expressionless face!
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