Chen Jing stayed at his teacher's house, waiting for news from his teacher.
Finally, he could no longer hold on. The thrilling escape from the slave spirits, the loneliness and terror of traversing the fog alone, the anxiety upon receiving the news, and the sparring with his teacher had exhausted all his mental and physical strength.
He was asleep, leaning against the wall.
Chen Jing had a dream.
In his dream, he seemed to return to another memory. He lived in a peaceful and stable country. Wan Tong and Li Huaxing were his classmates and friends. They were in the same group at school and walked home together after school.
Li Huaxing is a quiet, shy, and timid little brother. His favorite thing to do is to wear glasses, sit alone in the park, and draw lakes, swans, and people under the shade of trees.
Under his brush, the things under the sunlight seem to be replicated from the present moment and preserved forever in the river of time.
Wan Tong sat alone on the bench next to Li Huaxing, reading a book. She wore an oversized school uniform and black school pants, and her hairstyle was a classic mushroom cut. She was a very serious and earnest girl in general. Wan Tong loved reading many novels and literary classics. Beneath her serious and unsmiling exterior was a kind, warm, and sensitive heart, and she was always considerate of others' feelings.
She put down the book she was reading, which was titled "Growth." Judging from the cover, it contained lofty discussions about young people.
"What's wrong?" she asked softly, as if noticing Chen Jing's unease and pain.
Chen Jingzheng stared at his teacher, the strict yet caring "expert." He was wearing a large vest, holding a wooden Tai Chi sword, and slowly dancing around a flock of pigeons. Children surrounded him, their eyes filled with curiosity, without fear or numbness.
Chen Jingzheng saw Aunt Su Yuan, the owner of a tavern he frequented in the Eggshell District of Ash City, hawking her freshly made cold noodles. She pushed her cart, surrounded by several adults and children bathed in sunlight; her apron was stained with grease and chili. Chen Jingzheng also saw Uncle Zhang, the guard captain of the high-walled district of Ash City, dressed in a police uniform, maintaining order among the nearby crowd. Uncle Zhang wiped the sweat from his brow, picked up a bottle of mineral water, and drank it heartily. In the sunlight, he looked exceptionally handsome and reassuring.
Chen Jing saw many, many people: Auntie "Treasure Bag" was sitting behind her toy stall, inserting batteries into a doll that was making a noisy, cheerful sound; his comrades from the hunting party; and people he knew and didn't know from Ash City...
Chen Jing's perspective seemed to take flight, soaring above the city, or like an omnipresent deity. His eyes could pierce through time and space, swimming freely among the fragments of events.
Finally, he returned to the park bench and heard "Wantong's" voice. She was sitting on the bench, calmly gazing at Chen Jing, with soft and warm sunlight shining between them.
Chen Jing followed the sunlight downwards and saw that she was sitting on a black hole that looked like an abyss. Countless black hands reached out from the black hole, hugged her waist and legs, and then pressed down on her shoulders, dragging her deeper into the darkness.
Chen Jing subconsciously reached out, wanting to grab her, but grasped only empty air.
She remained calm and serious until darkness engulfed her neck, her expression unchanged, as if she were simply waiting for Chen Jing's answer to a casual question she had asked earlier.
Then she disappeared completely, without even saying goodbye.
Chen Jing was stunned. Before he could even feel sadness, he turned around and found that the whole world was shrouded in darkness.
Countless dark hands reached out from the ground, grabbing everything Chen Jing was familiar with or unfamiliar with and pulling it down. Chen Jing was like an isolated island on a river during a flood, only able to watch helplessly.
Chen Jing looked up at the sky. The sun was gone, and a cold, pure white human figure stood in the sky.
The pure white humanoid creature looked down at all the people falling, as if they were pebbles on the roadside, which it subconsciously ignored.
Don't you want to be a pebble?
It seemed as if someone was speaking softly. At first, Chen Jing thought it was the pure white human figure, but later he realized that the voice was coming from his own heart.
Chen Jing woke up.
He woke up, as if he had burst out of the water, gasping for breath.
Before him stood the hut of the teacher "expert" in Ash City, shrouded in thick fog, obscuring the sunlight.
"You're awake."
Hearing the "expert's" voice, Chen Jing propped himself up on the floor and sat up. Before he could catch his breath, he saw the "expert" sitting next to him, his sword placed aside, and a box in his hand.
"Teacher..." Chen Jing was about to speak when he was interrupted again.
"I haven't found your sister," the expert said. "But there are other ways."
Chen Jing quickly asked, "What method?"
He felt a chill run down his spine when he heard the first part of the sentence, wishing he were in reality instead of a dream that could vanish at any moment.
“I once killed a ghost and got this from it.” The expert waved the box in his hand: “That ghost had the ability to hide, bypassed the outpost, and caught us off guard.”
The expert opened the box, and inside was a small, black pill.
The pill was not a perfectly round sphere; instead, it was pitted and uneven, and its overall shape was oval and irregular.
"Theoretically speaking, if you refine several pills of this type into an edible pill and then digest it with a special ritual, you can become a cultivator," the expert said. "But this pill has a problem; it has been contaminated. The cost of purifying it is greater than buying a complete pill, so I kept it."
"If you eat it, there's a certain probability that you can become a person with extraordinary abilities, and you'll likely possess the hidden abilities of that wandering spirit," the expert said. "I've heard that your sister is being held in the ship area and will be sent away soon."
Chen Jing understood his teacher's hint.
If the rules don't work, try the unwritten ones. If I had the ability to conceal myself, I could easily rescue Wan Tong myself.
He stared intently at the small black pill, unable to suppress swallowing hard.
"Another probability is that you will become a monster, or in cultivation terms, you will go mad," the expert said. "I don't know what the cultivation method or ritual is associated with this black pill, so if you choose this method, you can only gamble with your life. If you go mad, I will kill you immediately to prevent you from harming others in the city."
Chen Jing swallowed another mouthful of saliva.
When the black pill was taken out of the small box, Chen Jing felt a strong urge to eat it and devour it, as if it were the most delicious food in the world.
Chen Jing had seen demon cores like this before, but he had never felt this urge to devour them before.
"I have to give it a try," Chen Jing told the expert without any hesitation. Pollution and risks were no longer important to him.
He didn't thank him; such a great favor needs no words of thanks! Even a black pill like this, which carries such a high risk, must be incredibly valuable!
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