Under the shroud of night, a chilling gust of wind swept in without warning, tearing through the stillness of the darkness and rustling the surrounding leaves and grass.
In the blink of an eye, a strange, white-haired woman materialized in the courtyard. Like He Junan, she possessed neither Qilin horns nor a Qilin tail.
Clad in a brown Western-style military uniform and a form-fitting skirt, she resembled a capable officer, her gaze sternly appraising everything before her.
“Target, locked…”
“Who’s there?!”
Wu Lingfeng, sensing an unusual disturbance, immediately snatched up the axe lying beside him. However, with just a snap of her fingers, she instantly deprived him of his consciousness.
“Yun Zhao was willing to risk danger to preserve your life…” She approached He Junan, knelt on one knee, and gently traced his cheek with a finger. “Just who are you? No, something about you seems… off. Could it be that…”
At that very moment, He Junan remained utterly oblivious to the external anomaly. Lost in a daze, he had already drifted into a deep slumber, returning to the boundless, eerie grasslands of his dream.
A desolate atmosphere, endless mists, a peculiar fragrance… everything here felt both familiar and foreign to him.
Glancing back, the great tree still stood, a loyal sentinel steadfastly guarding him with its shade.
“I’m back again…”
Before he could even finish his thought, a surge of killing intent washed over him. A strange man drew a greatsword from his back, lunged forward, and swung directly at He Junan. “This time, you won’t escape!”
‘This isn’t good. I can’t dodge it. I’m finished…’
Bang—
In the nick of time, an invisible force abruptly knocked him to the ground, and the greatsword plunged into the earth with a thud.
“What was that just now…”
The great tree behind He Junan emanated a peculiar, warm glow. Flower buds on its branches burst open, releasing a shimmering, faintly luminous pollen that hung suspended in the surrounding air, like countless God particles.
“I never would have thought that after conquering battlefields and living a heroic life, I’d fall to a mere greenhorn like you…” The strange man stood up, clutching his chin, and fixed He Junan with a fierce, beast-like gaze.
“You’ve got it wrong, I didn’t do that!”
“If not you, then who? Tell me, what demonic art did you use just now?”
“…”
“Why are you silent?”
“I…”
He Junan could distinctly feel a power surging wildly within his body, yet he had no idea of its origin. Puzzled, he instinctively looked down at his chest.
It was then that the strange man gripped his greatsword’s hilt with both hands, yanked it from the earth, and charged at him once more. “Today, I, your sovereign, will certainly cripple you, you demon!”
By the time he reacted, his assailant was already upon him. He Junan’s eyes widened, and he instinctively stumbled back a half-step, watching helplessly as the man brought his sword down.
Bang—
In a mere instant, the wondrous pollen, akin to God particles, rapidly coalesced into a force that struck the strange man’s jaw with uncanny speed, immediately knocking him to the ground.
In a flash, the pollen transformed into binding shackles, completely restraining him so that no matter how he struggled, he could not move.
“Demon—!!!”
“Stop!”
At He Junan’s command, the pollen shackles instantly dissolved into dust, and the strange man regained his freedom.
“Hmph,” the strange man scoffed, knowing his strength was limited and having no intention of attacking He Junan again. He sat down cross-legged, disgruntled. “Demon, you still dare to claim you don’t use demonic arts?”
“I genuinely don’t know any demonic arts. What happened just now was purely an accident.”
“Do you think this sovereign believes you?”
“Whether you believe it or not, I certainly do.”
“Hmph…”
“Instead of fighting, why don’t we sit down and talk properly? Perhaps there’s a way to get you out of my dream.”
To show goodwill, He Junan was the first to sit cross-legged, placing his hands on his knees, his expression as solemn and serious as if in meditation.
“A dream?”
“Yes,” He Junan nodded. “Every time I fall asleep, I return to this place. If it’s not a dream, what else could it be?”
“This…”
“My name is He Junan, and yours?”
“I, your sovereign…” He paused, then continued, “My surname is Gongsun, and my given name is Qi.”
“Then I’ll call you Uncle Gongsun,” He Junan said, deliberately smiling to lighten the mood. “By the way, where are you from?”
“Huangxia.”
“Huangxia?” He Junan blinked. “Don’t fool me. Everyone from Huangxia has horns and tails. How could you be like this…”
“Those with Qilin horns and Qilin tails are of the Huihua clan. However, there is one individual who does not possess them…”
“Alright,” He Junan shrugged. “I’ll assume you, like me, arrived here inexplicably… Anyway, tell me, how did you enter my dream?”
Gongsun Qi’s brows furrowed slightly as he pondered for a moment, then earnestly recalled the situation.
“This sovereign was originally reviewing documents when a wave of sleepiness suddenly overwhelmed me. The moment I closed my eyes, all thought vanished, and when I opened them again… I was already in this place.”
“That’s too strange…”
“Undoubtedly, this sovereign is trapped here. Clearly, someone is pulling strings behind the scenes.”
“The question is, who could possibly imprison someone within another’s dream? Do you have any ideas?”
Gongsun Qi’s face showed difficulty. “None…”
“Sigh, if you can’t think of anything, then I certainly can’t.”
“Are we truly to be trapped in your dream for the rest of our lives?”
He Junan scratched the back of his head, suggesting with a troubled expression, “Just the two of us thinking, we probably won’t come up with anything. How about I ask around after I wake up? Maybe someone else will know.”
“That’s a good idea…” Gongsun Qi nodded. “By the way, you can ask Xia Ji. She is very familiar with arcane arts.”
“Where is Xia Ji?”
“That goes without saying. As the Empress Dowager, Xia Ji naturally resides in the Imperial Palace of Dijin.”
‘Dijin… that place sounds familiar. Has someone mentioned it before?’
“By the way, young friend, being trapped here has bored this sovereign to death. Can you… conjure something to relieve my melancholy?”
“Something to relieve melancholy…” The image of beer flashed in He Junan’s mind, and lo and behold, a bottle of beer actually appeared before him.
“Whoa, it actually works…” Immediately after, he conjured wine, champagne, and baijiu one after another. In an instant, rich aromas of alcohol wafted around the two of them, discernible from several steps away.
“It truly is your dream; whatever you wish for appears…” Upon seeing the alcohol, Gongsun Qi couldn’t help but reveal two rows of slightly yellowed teeth. He eagerly snatched up a bottle of wine, used brute force to pull out the cork with his bare hands, and took a large swig. “Pah— Young friend, what kind of alcohol is this? It’s so terrible!”
“This one is made from grapes, and it’s quite popular. Perhaps you’re just not used to it?”
“Pah—” Gongsun Qi spat again. “It’s too astringent, truly difficult to swallow.”
“Uh…”
As the words ‘too astringent’ reached his ears, He Junan suddenly pictured Wu Xiyu in a sheer nightgown. In the blink of an eye, a young girl identical to her appeared before him, provocatively sitting on his lap.
“Junan, open wide, ah—”
“Ahhh! Ahhh! Ahhh—”
A beet-red He Junan quickly slapped his own head. In an instant, the vision of Wu Xiyu vanished, and even the alcohol in Gongsun Qi’s hand disappeared without a trace.
“What was that just now…”
“Uncle Gongsun, I’m begging you, can you pretend you didn’t see anything?”
Gongsun Qi stroked his chin, a grave expression on his face. “Well, well, your taste is quite good, young man. That girl just now was absolutely top-tier!”
“Ahhh! Ahhh! Ahhh— Stop talking about it! Please, I beg you, erase it from your memory!”
“Don’t worry, this sovereign knows his limits; I won’t go blabbing about it everywhere,” Gongsun Qi said, stroking his small beard. “By the way, Huihua clan girls aren’t easy to woo. Shall this sovereign offer you some advice?”
“No, thank you…” He Junan clutched his head in embarrassment, wishing he could burrow into a hole. “She only sees me as family. I can’t harbor impure thoughts towards her, or the feelings we’ve painstakingly built will be completely ruined.”
Gongsun Qi’s lips curled into a slight smile. “Isn’t the ultimate goal of cultivating feelings to *get down and dirty*, then *make passionate love*, and finally *claim* her?”
“How can you describe pure feelings in such a vulgar way!!!”
***
He Junan yelled, bolting upright into a half-sitting position, his forehead striking someone’s jaw like a hammer.
“Ahhh! Ahhh! Ahhh—!!!” Wu Lingfeng cried out, clutching his nose in agony. “You brat, once was bad enough, but you *f*cking* did it again?!”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to. I’ll definitely be careful next time…”
“There’s a next time?!”
“Uh…”
“You’re truly restless in your sleep, kid. I’m going to keep my distance from you from now on!”
As he got up, he couldn’t help but let out a sudden sneeze. “Achoo…”
“Caught a chill?”
“I should be fine…” He Junan turned his head to look at the empty room, finding no one there. “Has Xiyu gone out again?” he asked curiously.
“It’s Tianmen Village’s annual ancestral veneration ritual. Yao Tian invited Xiyu to help out, and she felt awkward refusing, so she went.”
He Junan mumbled under his breath, “Spending time with him every other day…”
Wu Lingfeng, with his sharp ears, happened to catch his words. As he chopped firewood, he replied, “They’re childhood sweethearts, having grown up together since they were little. Their bond is naturally extraordinary.”
With that, he placed a log on the chopping block, casually picked up the nearby axe, skillfully raised his arm, and brought it down forcefully. With a sharp crack, the log instantly split into two.
He Junan understood his implication and said no more. Just then, he suddenly remembered something, and like a dog whose tail had been stepped on, he shot up. “Oh no!”
“What’s wrong?”
“I was supposed to start work at the Linglong Bank in Moxuan Market Town today!”
“When?”
“Before noon!”
Wu Lingfeng looked up at the sun. “I think you’d better just stay put at home. Unless you ride a fast horse, you definitely won’t make it.”
“But Shopkeeper Lu and I already made an agreement…”
“Just pretend you never made one, then?”
“An agreement is an agreement. Even if I’m late, I have to show up at Linglong Bank. I can’t go back on my word!”
Upon hearing his words, Wu Lingfeng’s lips curled into a slight smile, and he nodded subtly. “Go ask Old Man Li at the village entrance to borrow his Four-legged Beast of Burden. Leave your cart with him and tell him I sent you to borrow it.”
“You mean that…”
‘What Four-legged Beast of Burden? It’s just a donkey. I might be faster running than riding it,’ He Junan thought.
“Here,” Wu Lingfeng said, taking something from a nearby basket and casually tossing it to He Junan. “Use it sparingly.”
He Junan looked closely; it was merely a few leftover fungi from making soup. What good could these be?
“Are you afraid I’ll starve?”
“I’m afraid the Four-legged Beast of Burden will starve.”
“Huh?”
“Why are you standing there dumbfounded?” Wu Lingfeng urged impatiently. “Do you have too much time?”
“Oh…” He Junan didn’t understand the purpose of the fungi. He casually tucked them into his sleeve and turned to sprint towards Tianmen Village.
Just then, Wu Lingfeng noticed a glowing mark on the back of his neck, which resembled both an eye and a balance scale.
For a moment, it was incredibly dazzling in the sunlight, but in the blink of an eye, it vanished as if it had never been there.