Chapter 56
In fact, this dream was not very complete. Sometimes they couldn't see the faces of the two boys in the courtyard, and sometimes they couldn't hear what they were saying.
The two of them stood guard outside the courtyard for several days, but nothing happened. Lin Jichen asked impatiently, "How long have you been guarding here?"
"About a month." Shi Yunzhou was a little uncertain. It had happened a long time ago. If it weren't for this dream, he would have forgotten the mistake they had made unintentionally.
"A month?" Lin Jichen couldn't help but sigh. They had been guarding this place for seven days, just watching, and the key was that there was nothing interesting to see, so it was very... boring.
Shi Yunzhou looks good in women's clothing, but he has a bad temper. That alone makes people lose the desire to continue watching. "But Senior Brother Zhou has a really good temper." If it were me, I might have already started a fight.
Looking at Zhou Xuanzhi, who was comforting a frightened baby in the courtyard, he said sarcastically, "Then do you know why we came down the mountain?"
"Wasn't it a punishment?"
"Why were you punished?"
Did you mention that? I'm not a disciple of Ling Qiufeng, so how would I know?
"Because we got into a fight while Master was in seclusion. When Master came out, she was very angry to see that all the green plants in her garden on the back mountain had been killed." He smiled as if he remembered something interesting. "Before that, we were already worried that Master would be angry when she came out, so we went to Uncle Shi's Yangjia Peak and picked some spiritual herbs to plant. Who would have thought that those herbs would die as soon as they were pulled out, and we couldn't even wait to plant them."
Lin Jichen felt that things weren't as simple as he made them out to be.
“We pulled up one plant and it died. At first, we didn’t realize that we couldn’t pull them up by the roots, so we thought we were doing it wrong.”
This straightforward manner really doesn't show any remorse on your part.
"By the time we finally realized that this medicinal herb couldn't be uprooted, we had already pulled out nearly a hundred plants," Shi Yunzhou recalled with a smile.
When it doesn't concern him, Shi Jueming, the senior master, has a very good temper. But when it comes to saving lives, practicing medicine, and his mountain of medicinal herbs, even the sect leader doesn't dare to offend him. She gave Shi Yunzhou a thumbs up, "You guys are really amazing, I admire you."
"So, the plants from the back mountain, plus the herbs from Yangjia Peak, are what got you sent down the mountain for training?" That punishment is a bit too simplistic.
"My master is very protective of his own."
...
"Don't talk about this kind of thing. It's not good for Junior Martial Aunt's reputation." She's not even two hundred years old. Let's not have any stains on her reputation. Wouldn't it be better to let her remain a hero in people's hearts?
"Isn't there anything you can't let go of?" We've been going on for so long, might as well chat; it's so boring. He was genuinely curious how Lin Jichen had woken up so quickly.
She glanced at him casually and said, "I was abandoned as a child and was picked up by the outer sect of Tianyu Mountain when I was about the same age as her." She pointed to the baby in the courtyard and continued, "Then I just cultivated, which was very boring."
"Isn't he my master?"
Lin Jichen laughed out loud as if she had heard a joke. "I was too young back then. Actually, my master was very good to me too. For my junior uncle, it was just like a child not getting a certain toy..." She carefully chose her words and finally came up with "obsession".
At this moment, the surrounding scenery changed; the sky darkened, and thunder rumbled, as if a heavy rain was about to fall.
"They're here." Even though he knew it was a dream, he became alert.
So, they underestimated the enemy in their youth, causing the death of that baby, or rather, Gu Qingci's past life. Lin Jichen knew it was a dream and didn't show much reaction; she simply crossed her arms and watched everything before her.
The two boys, unaware of what was about to happen, genuinely believed it was going to rain and even started bringing in the laundry. But the next moment, they both pulled out talismans and began throwing them forward.
There were several dark figures, so dark that their genders were indistinguishable, but their human shapes could be vaguely discerned.
"Their ability to summon vengeful spirits shows they are no ordinary people."
"We almost lost our lives too."
The two boys in the courtyard threw several talismans at the shadowy figure, only one of which hit. The shadowy figure struck by the talisman ignited with green flames, the fire not hot but rather chilling. Seeing this, the surrounding shadowy figures swarmed forward. Although these two had been practicing on the mountain for over a decade, their skills weren't particularly impressive.
The two of them threw out a thick stack of talismans, but they only managed to kill three shadowy figures.
The next attack was about to begin. Knowing they were outmatched, the two brothers summoned their peach wood swords, stood back to back, and fought with their swords drawn.
The shadowy figures were unharmed, but the two youths were covered in wounds. Several clashes separated them, and the number of sword strikes they wielded was a fraction of the number of times the shadowy figures attacked.
Lin Jichen sighed as he watched, "You guys are really pathetic." No sooner had he spoken than the two collapsed to the ground. "They didn't even intend to kill you."
“Their target was always the children. We only survived because our master arrived.”
No wonder Shi Yunzhou's temper improved a lot after entering this dream world; it turns out it was because of his master. But her physical condition isn't much better right now!
While the two boys lay motionless on the ground, the children inside the house were snatched away. The two teenagers didn't even have the strength to stand up, let alone stop it.
Seeing that their mission was accomplished, the shadowy figures put away their playful nature and prepared to kill the two boys. At the crucial moment, red and blue swords flew out and blocked the two boys' path.
The two swords, one red and one blue, were of the same length. They were Shi Wanqing's personal swords, named "Sunset Worshiping the Moon," and were hers from her youth, accompanying her as she stood at the pinnacle of the cultivation world. Therefore, "Sunset Worshiping the Moon" was among the most famous swords; even those who hadn't seen it had heard of it. Later, after the passing of her Martial Aunt Wanqing, the red sword "Sunset Worshiping the Moon" was given to Zhou Xuanzhi, and the blue sword "Sunset Worshiping the Moon" to Shi Yunzhou.
Considering their current strength, everyone said that they hadn't disgraced the two swords.
As expected, the shadowy figure reacted to the sight of the red and blue swords by disappearing in a flash.
When Shi Wanqing appeared in front of the two, they looked at each other like children seeing their mother, holding back their tears but continuing to complain.
He talked for a long time, only stopping when he saw Shi Wanqing's face turn dark. At the same time, he thought of the child who had been taken away.
However, with their master there, everything was alright. They followed Shi Wanqing's lead to find the child and to slay the demons that had harmed people. But by the time they found the demon's lair, it was too late.
In that cave, only the souls of the baby girl and other infants could be seen...
The demons had been slain, and the revenge had been taken, but the two boys still felt uneasy.
"This life is your fault. If it weren't for your arrogance, she wouldn't have died. She would have been adopted by a kind person and had a bright future. You ruined all of that."
Shi Wanqing looked at her two disciples and said, "Remember the resentment and pain of today. You must not repeat this kind of mistake on your future path of cultivation."
Lin Jichen had attended a few of Shi Wanqing's classes before, but he hadn't realized she was such a strict person.
She asked Shi Yunzhou beside her, "Is that really what you said back then?"
"More or less!" Shi Yunzhou looked at the surrounding scene with a strange expression. "Don't you find it odd?"
"It's strange that someone who's not even a year old can remember so many things." She got angry thinking about how she had been forcibly dragged into this situation.
"So, are we going to wait for this child, who is not even a year old and has already entered a soul state, to wake up on his own?"
Outside the dream, Zhou Xuanzhi was about to lose his composure. Looking at Lin Jichen and Shi Yunzhou lying on the ground, he felt helpless and wanted to beat up his junior brother.
Those who were supposed to wake up have already woken up. Everyone has witnessed the tricks of the Illusion Demon several times. Each sect has its own unique methods for dealing with the Illusion Demon, and they have all learned them during this time. Moreover, the inner demons of cultivators are not particularly strong to begin with.
Shen Junning, the head disciple of the Qingxu Sect, woke up early. While discussing solutions with others, he witnessed the entire process of Shi Yunzhou pulling Lin Jichen into Gu Qingci's dream. They haven't woken up yet after so long; it seems something is wrong with Gu Qingci.
Seeing Zhou Xuanzhi's helplessness, he stepped forward and said, "The fact that she hasn't woken up yet might mean something is wrong inside. After all, Miss Gu is just a mortal."
With the help of the Qingxu Sect disciples, the noble ladies who were with Gu Qingci all showed signs of waking up.
“Our Qingxu Sect has a way to contact the people in the Dream Realm. Junior Brother Zhou, you are familiar with the people inside, and we need your help.”
"What do you need me to do? If you can only bring one person out, then bring Junior Sister Lin out." She had been deliberately pulled in.
...Wasn't Zhou Xuanzhi supposed to be well-mannered and polite? He seems different today.
Having a junior brother who doesn't play by the rules gives you an idea of how I feel. The image I've built up over nearly two hundred years has completely collapsed because of this troublesome junior brother. Oh well, what can I do? I just hope Junior Sister Lin is in a better mood today and doesn't hold it against her junior brother.
While Shi Yunzhou and Lin Jichen were still pondering why Gu Qingci had memories of her past life when she was less than a year old, they suddenly heard Zhou Xuanzhi's voice: "We will wake Gu Qingci up in a moment. Everyone is awake."
"So, waking up Gu Qingci requires Gu Qingci to be present, right?" Lin Jichen looked at the empty courtyard and had an ominous premonition.
"Junior Sister Lin, we will place talismans next to Miss Gu in a moment to awaken her. You can get out by following Miss Gu." It was an unfamiliar voice.
Who is this? Shi Yunzhou was not very familiar with this voice.
"Qingxu Sect, Shen Junning," Lin Jichen said in a low voice.
"Senior Brother Shen, I'm afraid we can't get out of here. Gu Qingci here was a child less than a year old, who died not long ago." Shi Yunzhou found a clean place to sit down, but found that he could only "float" in this world, which made him somewhat angry.
Zhou Xuanzhi and Shen Junning, who were outside, were stunned for a moment, and hurriedly asked for details. After Lin Jichen told them everything he had seen, the two fell silent.
Zhou Xuanzhi was filled with guilt, feeling that his past mistakes were finally being punished, yet innocent people had also been implicated. Shen Junning, however, thought that if the people in the dream "died," then the people in reality would wake up, and those implicated would also awaken. There would be no situation where no one died, yet some remained trapped in the dream.
"Perhaps this is the first layer of illusion, and the people in the illusion have not yet truly 'died.' You will wait for the second layer of illusion to appear."
"What do you mean by that?" Shi Yunzhou had never heard of such a thing.
Faced with this question, Shen Junning replied good-naturedly, "Your Tianyu Mountain can use music to break the illusion arrays left by the Illusion Demon, including the Illusion Dream. Although our Qingxu Sect does not have such a method to break the array, we have some research. Some people have special physiques, and even if they enter the Illusion Dream, they will not easily reveal their inner thoughts. In order to hide their truest thoughts, their Illusion Dream is divided into several layers."
"What you are encountering now is likely the first layer of deception; the second and even the third layer will come soon."
"So you don't know how many levels Gu Qingci has?"
Shen Junning said, "I really don't know, but... people who can have multiple layers of illusions are not just ordinary mortals."
"You want us to investigate Gu Qingci's true identity here?" We're at their mercy now, so even if we can't do anything, we should at least have some verbal advantage.
"It was my idea. Aren't you curious about her true identity?" For a master to lower himself to seek help from the underworld officials, it couldn't just be a disaster caused by his own disciple!
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