Huang Rang’s life force gradually ebbed away. She raised her hand and gently pulled out the transparent tea needle from her head.

The water droplets from the melting tea needle mixed with the blood on her hand.

By her ear was a chaos of sounds. Xie Lingbi’s miserable howls were heart-stopping.

Huang Rang’s gaze moved over and saw that half of the vajra demon-subduing staff in the combat puppet’s hand had already pierced into the top of his head. Blood flowed down, mixed with white brain matter. This made him look like an evil ghost, unspeakably terrifying.

Though anxious in his heart, Xie Hongchen remained calm in the face of danger.

He said, “Where is Senior Miao Yunzhi?”

From within the crowd, without him saying more, Miao Yunzhi had already come forward. He crouched before Xie Lingbi and drew out silver needles, wanting to first ease Xie Lingbi’s pain.

Huang Rang nestled in Di Yiqiu’s embrace. The more blood she lost, the colder she became. She began to tremble.

“Senior Miao!” Di Yiqiu didn’t dare move Huang Rang either, only saying, “Please help me look at Ah Rang.”

But there was only one Miao Yunzhi after all. He looked back at Huang Rang and also found it troublesome.

Instead, Huang Rang smiled and said, “No need.” She pressed her face against Di Yiqiu’s chest and suddenly said, “I’ll tell you something. Even after you wake from the dream, you must remember.”

“What waking from a dream?” Di Yiqiu didn’t understand.

Huang Rang said, “There’s a problem with Xie Hongchen’s background. He isn’t… isn’t someone Xie Lingbi picked up. Back then, to better understand him, I investigated his birthplace, but I discovered… Xie Lingbi was lying.”

The surrounding world, like ice and wax, began to slowly distort and melt.

Mountain ranges flowed, palaces softened, all things gradually merging into one.

So Huang Rang pressed down all her words. She gripped tightly the front of Di Yiqiu’s robe, then raised her head and kissed his chin.

White Bone Cliff.

When Huang Rang awoke, she was still sitting facing the window.

Outside the window was a ten-thousand-zhang precipice. Only occasionally could she see birds passing by. Even birds could fly away in pursuit of freedom, yet for her, even moving was an extravagant hope. Huang Rang even felt that in the dream, even though grievously injured, even though suffering myriad pains, it was still better than this prison-like existence as a dead thing.

She had fallen from the clouds. All the blood and grievances in the dream only added to the pain after waking.

Behind her, the sound of water suddenly rang out. Huang Rang couldn’t turn her head, but she knew it was Di Yiqiu awakening.

Ah, before entering the dream, Di Yiqiu had been taking a medicinal bath in the tub behind her.

Sure enough, behind her came the sound of bare feet touching the ground. Clearly, Di Yiqiu had jumped out of the bath.

Huang Rang only felt a gust of wind sweep past her back, and the wheelchair had already been turned around by someone.

Before she could see clearly who was in front of her, a hand gently pressed on her chest, as if confirming whether the injury from the dream was real.

Huang Rang finally saw clearly the person before her.

Di Yiqiu’s black hair hung loose, his body only hastily wrapped in purple official robes, clearly extremely rushed.

He crouched before her. The outer robe hung open, and Huang Rang could see more.

Di Yiqiu’s skin was actually quite fair, but from his left shoulder down, half his body was covered in striking green-blue serpent scales. His build was lean and strong, his waist firm.

Hmm, although his natural endowment was acceptable, there was no treasure wrapped around his waist whatsoever.

—Could it be that those twelve flower girls were actually shills he hired?!

Rumors truly couldn’t be trusted.

Huang Rang was diligently debunking rumors when suddenly Di Yiqiu asked, “What are you looking at?” His voice came from above, carrying some suspicion and inquiry.

My heavens! Who knows what I’m looking at!

Huang Rang instantly came back to her senses. Immediately her expression became dull, and she simply emptied her gaze as well, striving to pretend she didn’t understand.

Di Yiqiu held his robe closed with one hand and gently lifted her chin with the other, meeting her eyes. Just in that moment, he suspected Huang Rang was conscious!

Her gaze was too bright and clear.

But if she truly was conscious, what had she been looking at just now?

This really… couldn’t be thought about in detail.

Jianzheng quickly pulled his robe tight, his eyes scrutinizing. Huang Rang worked hard to blur her pupils, her gaze scattered, looking like a well-behaved, delicate fake doll.

Just at this moment, the door was kicked open with a bang!

Miao Yunzhi practically flew in!

He saw at a glance that both Di Yiqiu and Huang Rang were present. Only then did his anxious heart settle back in his stomach.

“What just happened?!” He rushed to Huang Rang’s side. Because the dream had been so realistic, he had difficulty distinguishing true from false. But seeing Huang Rang unharmed, Miao Yunzhi finally breathed a long sigh of relief.

“Did we dream again?” he asked.

Jianzheng held his outer robe closed and was about to answer when suddenly a group of medical women and medicine boys gathered at the door outside.

Miao Yunzhi’s eldest disciple, He Shouwu, said, “Master, just now we all fell into another dream realm. And the dream lasted over a hundred years.”

It seemed this dream was no different from before.

Miao Yunzhi made a sound of acknowledgment but said to Di Yiqiu, “She isn’t injured!”

Di Yiqiu held his robe closed, his face expressionless as he said, “Mm.”

Miao Yunzhi’s expression was grave as he said, “In the previous dream, this old man heard that after waking, Xie Lingbi, Xie Yuanshu, and even Xie Hongchen all had various injuries! If the dream was accurate, Huang Rang was also injured back then. Why is she unharmed after waking?”

Di Yiqiu tightly held his outer robe closed and answered, “Don’t know.”

Miao Yunzhi immediately blew his beard and glared, grabbing his collar in one handful. “Don’t know?! You’re the Jianzheng of Si Tianjian, and you don’t know and don’t investigate?!”

Di Yiqiu finally said, “This seat is the Jianzheng of Si Tianjian. Even if I must investigate, I should at least properly dress first.”

“…” Miao Yunzhi looked down from the collar he’d grabbed and only then discovered he had bare legs and bare feet, with nothing on under his purple robe.

Meanwhile, outside, a crowd of medical women had eyes like tigers and wolves, staring into the room.

“Ahem.” Miao Yunzhi released his hand and said, “Quickly get dressed. What kind of appearance is this!”

Finishing, he withdrew outside and was about to close the door. Di Yiqiu put his hand into the bath tub and suddenly said, “Something’s wrong!”

Miao Yunzhi asked, “What?”

Di Yiqiu tested the water temperature with his hand again and asked, “What hour is it now?”

After asking, without waiting for Miao Yunzhi to answer, he turned and went out the door, running all the way to the sundial at White Bone Cliff.

Miao Yunzhi and the others followed and were all shocked—they had dreamed a very long dream, yet time still remained at the origin point, unmoved.

The dream realm might not be the same as real-world time, but it still required time.

Di Yiqiu said in a deep voice, “Just now the water temperature in the bath hasn’t decreased at all. This proves the sundial isn’t wrong.”

Miao Yunzhi’s expression was grave. Just at this moment, someone came in a panic to report, “Master, there are ghosts!”

“What ghosts!” Miao Yunzhi scolded. “In broad daylight, panicking like this!”

But that disciple said, “In reply to Master, it truly is seeing ghosts! Just now this disciple was cleaning rooms with a puppet and saw several patients. But they clearly already died of illness!”

To the side, He Shouwu suddenly asked, “The ones who came from Shu region?”

“Exactly, exactly!” That disciple said hastily.

He Shouwu looked at Miao Yunzhi and said, “These people indeed died before entering the dream. But Master, do you still remember? In the dream you tried different medicines for them, and they… survived.”

Miao Yunzhi rushed over to check, and Di Yiqiu also quickly dressed. When about to go out, he fetched a cloak for Huang Rang and pushed her along as well.

Those three patients who had returned from death were indeed in the room.

Everyone could clearly see their appearance.

These three seemed not to remember that outside the dream they had already died of illness. They smiled and said to He Shouwu, “These days, our three brothers’ illnesses have truly troubled the physician.”

He Shouwu stepped back several paces until he was shoulder to shoulder with Di Yiqiu. He said, “How do you… feel now?”

The three brothers moved their limbs and said, “Much better already. Only when night falls, there’s still some headache…”

They clearly described their symptoms. Miao Yunzhi and the others were secretly alarmed!

Di Yiqiu asked in a low voice, “How were these three brothers’ corpses disposed of?”

“They had no family or friends, so they were just buried randomly in the mass grave.” Miao Yunzhi also reacted and immediately called a disciple. “Cang Zhu, go find these three brothers’ corpses.”

The mass grave wasn’t far from here. Before long, a disciple came to report, “Master, the corpses are still there. Except for some decay, not one is missing.”

What on earth had happened? Even Miao Yunzhi’s heart shook.

Di Yiqiu said, “Bring the bodies over.”

Those bodies had been there for some time, so naturally they didn’t smell pleasant. But everyone had no choice. They could only cover their noses and dig out the three corpses again, carrying them back to White Bone Cliff.

Seeing the corpses laid out at the door, Di Yiqiu called the three men and asked, “Do you recognize what these are?”

The three walked to the corpses and looked for a long while, their eyes showing incomprehension.

“These… why do these garments look so familiar?” One of them reached out, wanting to examine the clothing on the corpses. However, the moment his fingertips touched, the expressions of all three suddenly froze. Then they melted like wax.

Soon they dissolved into nothing.

Everyone came to their senses. Only the three rotting corpses on the ground still emitted a foul stench.

This scene inevitably reminded people of the situation upon waking from dreams.

Miao Yunzhi quickly said, “When this dream ends, I’m afraid everyone will suspect the origin is related to Huang Rang. White Bone Cliff can’t protect her.” His mind was clear, and he immediately began planning countermeasures. “You must take her back to Si Tianjian and guard her strictly!”

Di Yiqiu made a sound of acknowledgment and suddenly said, “I wonder if this humble one may invite Senior to come to the capital and stay for a few days?”

Miao Yunzhi was slightly stunned, then sighed and said, “Let’s go.”

Di Yiqiu hadn’t expected him to agree so easily and had prepared a set of arguments. But Miao Yunzhi waved his hand and said, “This dream is so strange, the key lies entirely with this woman. A hundred years in the dream—now I’m afraid the world is in great chaos. Though White Bone Cliff is a place of seclusion from the world, how can one truly avoid the world while living in it?”

At this time, the entire world awakened from the dream.

If in the first dream people were merely surprised, then this dream made people feel fear.

Because this dream lasted a hundred years, many people and things differed from outside the dream.

So those who should have died outside the dream now appeared one after another.

But their memories were entirely memories from within the dream. They didn’t even know that in the world outside the dream, they had already died.

Yuhu Xuanzong.

Xie Hongchen awoke in Yeyun Hall. His eyes were still wrapped in plain silk. The emotions from the dream came overwhelming.

The hundred years spent with Huang Rang seemed right before his eyes.

He got out of bed and walked all the way to the rear hall.

But the martial arts field was empty.

There was no Huang Rang.

Xie Hongchen passed the writing desk and suddenly discovered there actually was a pot of orchids on the desk!

His heartbeat immediately quickened. His entire person almost stumbled forward.

However, just as his hand touched the orchid, it suddenly melted. It slowly flowed and transformed, finally dissolving into nothing.

The writing desk was empty. What he’d seen just now was like an illusion.

Xie Hongchen withdrew his hand. He summoned his heart sword and directly flew on his sword to Luofu Hall!

In Luofu Hall, Xie Lingbi held his head in both hands, howling incessantly.

Xie Hongchen strode forward quickly. Because he had the experience of the first dream entry, he wasn’t even surprised.

Sure enough, Xie Lingbi’s power was greatly damaged, and his skull injury was severe.

But this was probably not the most serious matter.

—In the dream, Xie Lingbi had not only used his heart sword to battle Huang Rang before countless immortal sect fellows, but he had also lost.

Lost was one thing, but he had even broken the martial arts field’s limiting barrier, wanting to kill Huang Rang at full power.

A dignified Ancestor, defeated by a junior disciple of the sect. After defeat, flying into a rage from humiliation, breaking the barrier to strike a killing blow. Finally counter-injured by Si Tianjian’s combat puppet.

Any one of these statements would be a devastating blow to Xie Lingbi’s reputation.

“Capture that cheap slave!” Xie Lingbi grabbed Xie Hongchen’s wrist, his manner fierce as an evil ghost. “I want to cut her to pieces slowly, to resolve the hatred in my heart!”

He had already become like this. Looking at the person before him, Xie Hongchen only felt unfamiliar.

Xie Lingbi had always been very concerned with status. When had he ever lost composure like this?

“I will find her,” Xie Hongchen said.

Because of the hundred years of cultivation in the dream, the power he lost in the first dream had been replenished. But with Xie Lingbi’s current situation, the prestige of all Yuhu Xuanzong would probably be greatly affected.

“Not find her! Capture her, capture her!” Xie Lingbi held his head in both hands, as if a vajra demon-subduing staff had truly been inserted inside.

Xie Hongchen actually had many questions he wanted to ask him.

—What deep hatred did Huang Rang have with him? Why, after entering the dreams, did she continuously seek revenge against him?

Yes, revenge.

By now, Xie Hongchen had understood that everything in the first dream was directed by Huang Rang.

In the second dream, her revenge was even more direct—she chose to study the arts and publicly defeated Xie Lingbi.

Recalling inside and outside the dreams, Xie Hongchen discovered for the first time that he didn’t understand her either.

Were her words in the dream true?

He had to find Huang Rang, but actually, after these two dream entries, he already had a direction to search.

The capital.

Both the imperial palace and the court were in complete chaos.

A hundred years in the dream—how many who shouldn’t have died had died, while those who should have died had lived again.

Especially in the imperial palace, the imperial princes and princesses who had been used to test the serpent blood originally had nine survivors.

But now, a full eighty-plus people had survived!

These originally dead people all followed the memories from within the dream, not feeling anything was wrong.

The court had never encountered such a strange matter. Immediately, letters requesting help flew like snowflakes to Si Tianjian.

Li Lu and Bao Wu’s hair turned white with worry.

—Di Yiqiu hadn’t returned yet.

At this time, in Xiancha Town, the Huang family.

Huang Shu was also in a great rage.

—In the dream, he had been schemed against by Huang Rang. Not only was his cultivation abolished, he had even farmed the land for Huang Rang for an entire lifetime in vain.

Xi Rang Run Tu required expending one’s own cultivation.

That cheap slave—she hoped he would never be able to cultivate human form again!

Huang Shu, furious in his heart, personally rushed to Yuhu Xuanzong, clamoring to see the Sect Master’s wife.

But Yuhu Xuanzong was also in the midst of chaos, and Huang Rang had long since disappeared. Who had time to deal with him?

Huang Shu could only make a great fuss at the mountain gate.

Huandie Gate.

Dai Yue had married into a good family and originally her life was very comfortable.

—She came from being Huang Rang’s personal maid, and was personally recommended by Xie Hongchen. How could her sect or her husband’s family not treat her well?

But in this dream, she had betrayed her master and forgotten righteousness, falsely claiming her master’s achievements, and was exposed by Sect Master Xie Hongchen, who punished her publicly.

Such matters undoubtedly stripped away a layer of her skin.

The way everyone around her looked at her became strange.

Her husband’s family was originally an upright household. How could they tolerate such things?

So together with Huandie Gate, they sent letters to Yuhu Xuanzong, asking Xie Hongchen and Huang Rang to re-verify the matters from the dream.

But Yuhu Xuanzong couldn’t even manage its own affairs. How could it deal with such trivial matters?

The disciples of Baicao Peak were busy caring for Xie Lingbi. Xie Shaochong, Nie Qinglan, and others had to explain the Ancestor’s base behavior in the dream. Even more severe was that He Xijin, Wu Zichou, Zhang Shujiu, and others simultaneously rushed to Yuhu Xuanzong.

The three great immortal sect powers demanded to see Sect Master’s wife, Huang Rang.

Where could Xie Shaochong produce Huang Rang from?

The world had fallen into chaos. Xie Jiu’er still remained at Baicao Peak.

At this moment, who could spare attention for a little insect like her?

In this dream, she had met Huang Rang just as outside the dream. But Huang Rang had let her go.

Xie Jiu’er had complained countless times before. She felt that if Huang Rang hadn’t recognized her as an adopted daughter back then, she wouldn’t have suffered years of cold treatment from her adoptive father.

But in this dream, Huang Rang indeed hadn’t adopted her again.

So in the dream, she didn’t exist. She was just a golden cicada. Because she had some spiritual energy, she lived quietly for over ten years. In the end, she couldn’t achieve proper fruition and died of old age in the soil.

She’ll never acknowledge me again. Xie Jiu’er suddenly understood this matter. Only at this moment did she fall into inescapable sorrow.

At this time, a green tussock moth flew to Si Tianjian.

Familiar with the route, it found Jianzheng’s writing desk, landing breathlessly on the window frame.

—Sure enough, not his real child. No one even looked for her.

Hmph.