Chapter 197 Dream Appearance: A Give and Take, You Must Give Me Again Next Time

The next morning, Lin Feiran woke up in bed, but instead of getting up to practice her swordsmanship, she stayed under the covers, gazing absently at the willow branches tied to the bed railing.

She painted a picture of a sleeping woman yesterday, and it has already been collected like snowflakes.

It was dusk when the two finished their intimacy and rested. He thought about returning the favor with this painting, and after much deliberation, he broke off a piece of willow branch.

Its branches are as tough as slender bamboo, and its leaves are as silvery-white as a mirror. As if taking a dagger, it quickly cut a mirror leaf into the shape of a butterfly, using the leaf stem as the butterfly's body and the curled leaf tail as the butterfly's wings. The mirror surface reflects the surrounding colors, and at first glance, it looks like a lifelike butterfly.

There are eighteen leaves on one branch. He cut and rolled them into twelve butterflies, pinched six flower buds, raised his hand and flicked them. The butterfly wings fluttered up and down, colorful and vibrant.

"Take it."

He leaned against the table, handed over what he was holding, and gently swayed his long leg that was resting on Lin Feiran's lap. His eyes were slightly closed, and although the redness under his eyes had not yet faded, they were already tinged with a sense of satisfaction.

He was quite clear-headed: "It's a give-and-take situation; you have to give me a ride next time too."

He rarely concealed his intentions from Lin Feiran; he would directly state what he wanted.

Lin Feiran was quite surprised. She took it and looked at it for a long time before exclaiming, "You can actually do this?"

Ru Xian crossed her arms and raised her eyebrows slightly: "After traveling for so many years, you can't have come up empty-handed. You're not the only one who loves to learn."

The willow branches are supple, but the leaves are very fragile. Lin Feiran carefully took them, and her surprised eyes were reflected in each piece of the lens.

She was also an eighteen or nineteen-year-old girl with a tender heart, and naturally she liked such beautiful and exquisite objects.

She looked at Ru Xian, and before she could thank him, he said matter-of-factly, "Hang it above your bed, so you can see it when you open your eyes and when you close them to sleep."

Lin Feiran, of course, would not refuse.

So this willow branch with butterflies hung here, and you can see it as soon as you open your eyes.

Every time she looks at it, she is reminded of that dusk when the ink was thick and the eyes were slightly red.

Lin Feiran pursed her lips, huddled under the covers to regulate her breathing for a moment, then, as if unable to bear it any longer, suddenly threw off the covers, got out of bed to wash up, and went to the courtyard to practice swordsmanship and calm her mind.

She was very excited and her mind was unsettled, so she practiced for an extra half hour.

During this time, the Golden Wave Sword Spirit sat on the rooftop watching, and the seniors also came out one after another to offer their guidance.

Lin Feiran has made rapid progress. To this day, they only need to mention her occasionally. The rest of the time, everyone is talking about what happened during her trip to the human world.

They were merely divine consciousnesses, unlike their master, and thus could only remain within the Iron Khitan Book, unable to know what was happening outside.

Surrounded by the crowd, the Grandmaster sighed as he listened to their questions.

"The reasons why you all agreed to stay in the Sword Realm and wait with me for the person who would take the Iron Khitan Book are very clear to everyone."

The world is no longer what you and I imagine. What's so strange about a disgraceful descendant of the Emperor's lineage?

He turned to look at Lin Feiran, his expression gentle and loving. Then he pointed to the book "Immortal True Man Scripture" and said, "Now that the matter of the spiritual veins has been exposed, go to the book and make another ink pill. I will teach you how to use it."

Seeing that he didn't seem as surprised as the others, Lin Feiran understood: "Grandmaster, could it be that this spiritual vein was entrusted to me by the saint of Pilgrimage Valley?"

Grandmaster smiled gently: "How could I possibly have such face? While you were attending the Flying Flower Gathering, we were already discussing this spiritual vein. We proposed many locations and considered many methods, but there were still disagreements. In the end, we decided to give it to you."

This is something everyone believes.

As soon as he finished speaking, the Iron Khitan Book turned its pages, and the divine senses of all the ancestors entered into it, leaving only Lin Feiran, the sword spirit, and the grandmaster in the courtyard.

As usual, Lin Feiran opened the "Immortal True Man Scripture," skillfully unfolded the last page, and carefully began to rub the ink stain on it.

She had used it to paint faces before, but now there wasn't much ink left, and she was afraid of damaging the relic left by her master.

If Zhang Chunhe found out, wouldn't he...?

Lin Feiran paused, then wondered if he would be so jealous he wanted to grind his teeth in resentment.

While her thoughts were racing, Lin Feiran had already rolled out an ink pellet, about the size of a grain of rice. She carefully melted it into the inkstone, and in an instant, it turned into a patch of ink with a faint glow.

"Pick up your brush and dip it in ink." The grandmaster said, gathering his sleeves, and slowly walked to her side. "I see that your portraits are quite well-rounded, and your technique is not bad. I think you can also paint a lifelike spiritual vein."

Lin Feiran clenched her pen slightly, opened her mouth as if to ask something, but her heart trembled and she couldn't bring herself to speak.

“That’s right.” The grandmaster, with his keen insight into people’s hearts, remarked with a touch of humor, “I’ve seen that painting. It truly shows that when the mind is focused, the brush moves with divine inspiration.”

Lin Feiran hesitated for a moment before speaking softly, "Grandmaster, let's talk about the matter of the Spirit Vein."

The grandmaster laughed for a few moments, then decided to let the junior go, coughing lightly and saying, "However, I closed the book to the outside world long ago, so I know nothing about what happened after that."

Just before Lin Feiran was about to become so famous that she was about to boil over, the grandmaster immediately changed the subject to something more serious.

"When you left the valley, the saints placed a restriction on this spiritual vein to prevent the secret sect from finding out, which is why they have been unable to determine the location of the spiritual vein."

The grandmaster raised his hand, and a glimmer of light appeared at his fingertips. He vaguely drew a few small wooden figures, representing the esoteric sect, and then snapped his fingers. The figures he had drawn with a few strokes began to run around, looking majestic, as if they were digging for something.

"According to my information, they searched the Valley of the Pilgrims from top to bottom, but as you can imagine, they came back empty-handed."

He added a few more strokes, and flames appeared above the little man's head, making him look extremely angry.

A chubby-faced figure appeared among the wooden figures, standing above all the others, looking quite wise. Beside it, another wooden figure appeared, its face veiled and draped in a shawl.

"So the Holy Maiden stepped forward and informed all the followers to thoroughly investigate all the cultivators who had entered the Pilgrimage Valley. At the same time, she used the Spirit Treasure Dragon-Seeking Flag to conduct a large-scale search in the human realm."

Among a pile of hastily made wooden figures, five banners were raised. The grandmaster went over and blew on them, and a cloud of dust immediately rose behind the group. Only then did he nod in satisfaction.

The scene was actually a bit comical, but Lin Feiran watched it very attentively.

She stared intently, and suddenly remembered that when she went to the southern part of the demon realm, she had heard the demons there say that most of the esoteric sect members had gone out. At the time, she was puzzled, but now she realized that it was to thoroughly investigate those cultivators.

And that flag...

When she and Xuanzhen returned from the south, they encountered Chiya on the way. During the fight, he seemed to be carrying a flag.

What they were originally going to do there.

do what?

Could it be that they couldn't find any traces in the human realm, so they turned to the demon realm?

Lin Feiran did not interrupt her grandmaster, but continued to watch quietly.

Banners were planted in the five directions of east, south, west, north, and center. After searching for a long time, all the little wooden figures were dejected. The grandmaster waved his hand, and another person appeared in the middle of the crowd.

He was also a simple wooden figure, only half the height of the others, but with two heads.

He swayed his head as he stepped forward and pounded the heads of the other wooden figures, hands on his hips, as if he were cursing something.

"The Holy Maiden has nine capable lieutenants under her command, and this man is one of them. He led his esoteric followers to nothing, so he was furious and slapped one of them."

At this point, the grandmaster couldn't help but gasp in astonishment.

"He looks so small, yet he has such a fiery temper. He hasn't cultivated his mind enough."

Lin Feiran was pressing his fist to his lips, his mind racing along with the stick figures.

This person does resemble that Taoist boy with a cinnabar mole between his eyebrows.

The master made another move, and all the stick figures scattered, surrounding one bun after another.

"The Dragon-Seeking Flag has been missing for a long time. After searching the human realm, the search has been moved to the demon realm."

Meanwhile, one after another, cultivators who had entered the Pilgrimage Valley were inexplicably surrounded and searched from head to toe. During that period, rumors spread like wildfire, and many disciples dared not go out casually, for fear of getting involved with these strange people.

Lin Feiran stood in the courtyard, holding a long pen, his expression calm, like a dignified, gleaming longsword.

She continued, "Until the very end, only 'Lin Feiran' remained."

The grandmaster nodded, raised his hand to wipe everything away, and with a flick of his finger, a high wall was erected, on which stood a stick figure with his arms crossed and a disdainful expression.

"There is only one person left on the list, and 'Lin Feiran' has gone to the demon realm. Therefore, the Dragon-Seeking Flag could not be found in the human realm. It is not surprising that suspicion is placed on you."

But the tricky part is that you are in the demon capital of Lan City, in the Xingzhi Palace.

After a moment's thought, Lin Feiran lifted her robe, sat down on the stone bench, put down her brush, and pointed to add several more stick figures in the background. Her movements were so fast that they almost depicted the changes and experiences she had had during her journey in the human world.

"So, they wanted to lure me out of the demon capital and into the human world. They didn't even need to entice me; I was going there anyway."

The Emperor and Ding Yi were acquainted with my mother and knew about the sealing, so it wasn't difficult for them to deduce this.

So they set a trap, hoping to catch a turtle in a jar.

She raised her hand and pointed, and several peonies bloomed among them.

"But a change occurred in the situation. Bai Lu had long intended to withdraw. At that time, the book 'The Great Sound is Silent' was completed. She had no worries and was determined to die, which brought the most important change to the situation."

Lin Feiran paused, then looked up at his grandmaster.

"My master resides in the book, yet he remains well-informed. Why didn't he tell me sooner?"

The grandmaster sighed softly and sat down opposite her. A rare look of guilt appeared on her gentle face: "It's not that I intentionally concealed anything. These things happened at the same time, and the sources of information were very fragmented. I only pieced together the whole picture a couple of days ago. The truth may be even more treacherous than this."

Lin Feiran asked in surprise, "I didn't expect my master to have informants. Could it be Zhang Siwo and his group?"

Although the Grandmaster is a Holy Spirit, he can only stay in places as spiritually rich as the Pilgrimage Valley for a long time. Once outside the outside world, he can only reside in places like the Iron Khitan Book for temporary recuperation.

Lin Feiran really couldn't imagine how he managed to gather so much information.

The grandmaster, being an experienced person, was not as thin-skinned as Lin Feiran. He quickly regained his composure and smiled kindly.

"I've been dead for a long time, where would I find any informants?"

It was just a phantom appearance in everyone's dreams while they were fast asleep, asking a question.

The disciples and cultivators who were being investigated, though not all from the Daohe Palace, still gave me, an old man, some face. Seeing me enter their dreams, they all poured out their grievances to me, piecing together a rough outline of what had happened.

Lin Feiran looked at him in surprise, recalling the giant eye that her master had transformed into when he entered her dream. Her heart trembled, and she couldn't help but ask, "How did they recognize you?"

The grandmaster sighed, "I used some spiritual power to condense the image of the offering into the same form. After asking several people, I had to rest for a while, which is why it was much slower."

But it was precisely this short time difference that led you into the trap, making you a victim of someone's schemes, which is truly regrettable.

Lin Feiran shook his head, his voice steady: "Even if I knew the whole story, I would still go. Perhaps that's why the Emperor and his people are so fearless and unafraid of leaks. They even dared to 'invite the enemy into a trap' with such a crude welcoming banquet."

However, I don't regret what I did.

"No regrets..." The Grandmaster looked up at the sky and said meaningfully, "In this world, how many people can be without regrets? Well, I have told you the cause and effect I deduced, but I am only 80% sure whether the truth is as it is."

“Eighty percent is enough.” She picked up her pen, lowered her eyes to look at the white paper, and said, “Grandmaster, you asked me to draw the spiritual veins, do you mean to make them look real?”

The Grandmaster nodded: "The spiritual vein is stubborn and special. You should have experienced this before. If you put it somewhere or bury it in the ground, it will definitely not be able to resist and will wander out. At that time, even we may not be able to find its trace."

It can only stay by your side.

Now that they know the spiritual vein is on you, they'll make several fakes, creating chaos as they go, to buy some time while I think of the best way to settle it.

Lin Feiran could only nod.

She picked up her brush and drew five spiritual veins on the paper, only stopping when the ink was almost gone.

As the hand fell, the veins on the paper turned from ink to gold, shimmering and gleaming, like snakes slithering across the surface. The next moment, they burst forth from the paper, running around as if they were real objects.

Lin Feiran immediately turned over and stood up, his body moving like a shadow as he peeled them off one by one.

The grandmaster immediately said, "Put the first one into the ground, set up a magic array on its body to pretend to protect it, and nurture it in the earth veins of the back mountain of the demon capital. Before long, it will wander away."

The second one was placed in the Jade Belt Stream to absorb the essence of the water veins, and then left to its own devices.

The third one is hidden in the treasure vault, and the fourth one is given to Zhang Siwo, asking him to find a way to hide it for you.

The fifth item should be placed in your mustard seed bag.

Lin Feiran paused, then asked, "So where is the real one?"

The grandmaster smiled mysteriously and tapped Lin Feiran's storage pouch. The spiritual vein then emerged, as if finally free, and darted around wildly. Just before it was about to run away, Lin Feiran swiftly stopped it.

The grandmaster immediately took up his brush, no longer relying on Lin Feiran's hand, but instead using his own spiritual power to draw on the spiritual vein.

...

After a long while, he nodded in satisfaction and said, "Let's just stay here and drag this out for a while, for a while."

Lin Feiran was silent for a moment: "Really, no one will notice?"

The grandmaster shook his head: "At least not in the short term."

Lin Feiran naturally had no objection. After accepting the offer, she calculated the time and prepared to leave the palace. Before leaving, she suddenly asked a question.

"Grandmaster, who is this Dao Lord you just mentioned?"

The Grandmaster said, "A sect has a leader, and the two realms have a Human Emperor and a Demon Lord. The Secret Sect is no exception. The Dao Master is the master of the Secret Sect, above the Holy Maiden, and is the true source of the Secret Sect's faith."

Lin Feiran's expression softened: "I understand."

She didn't linger any longer, stuffed all the fake spiritual veins into her mustard seed bag, and got up to walk out of the palace.

"What are you going to do?" the grandmaster asked.

"I cannot spread the 'Great Sound is Silent' throughout the human world by myself alone; I need to find some people to help me."

Lin Feiran arrived in the city quickly, but when he looked around, he couldn't help but be a little surprised.

It was noon, and the once bustling streets of the city were completely deserted.

Author's Note: At this moment, Ru Xian is still savoring a sweet dream.