Bai Hetai remembered this face – it belonged to the man with the Buddhist staff whom she had met when leaving the Medicine Manor. But in the dream, he was younger, his features originally handsome but gaunt to the point of appearing haggard. He set down his pipe.

“Su Zhe, let me make you a promise. If we survive this, you can leave Dark River to see your wife and daughter,” the Patriarch said slowly.

“No need. My existence is their life’s greatest trouble. After this, whether I live or die, just send them word that I died here,” the man took a drag from his pipe.

“Wife and daughter…” Bai Hetai murmured, then slowly walked toward the man, bending down to grab his collar.

But the dream world suddenly began to spin, throwing Bai Hetai to the ground and sliding her into a corner. The Patriarch drew the Sleeping Dragon Sword and rushed forward, while Su Zhe grabbed his Buddhist staff. The scene shifted, and they found themselves amid a fire. The Patriarch’s sword was covered in blood, corpses lay everywhere, and Su Zhe had a blade embedded in his shoulder. Blood slowly seeped down, staining his robes crimson. He reached for his pipe from his breast pocket, but his hand trembled, and the pipe fell to the ground.

“How useless… my handshakes at such a minor scene,” Su Zhe looked down with a self-mocking smile.

Bai Hetai rushed toward Su Zhe through the corpses. Su Zhe slowly turned his head, his gaze slightly unfocused before completely dispersing. Just before losing consciousness, he softly called out: “A’He.” Then his head fell back.

That “A’He” was spoken directly toward Bai Hetai’s direction, but she knew that in the Patriarch’s consciousness, none of the people here could see her. Bai Hetai rushed to Su Zhe’s side and bent down, finally seeing a small claw mark below his neck.

The Wen family’s deadly poison, Life’s Claw. Even after healing, this claw mark would remain forever on the body, impossible to remove no matter what.

“This is the mark I left on him. Even if he flees to the ends of the earth, even if he never dares to see me again in this life, he can never forget me.”

These were the words Bai Hetai’s mother had spoken to her before dying.

“It is him! He’s still alive!” Bai Hetai smiled.

“Who are you?” The Patriarch suddenly spoke from behind.

Bai Hetai froze. While nobody in the dream could see her since these were past scenes, there was a rare exception – when the subject of the Soul Transfer Technique became self-aware within the dream, they could see her!

“Who are you?” the Patriarch asked again.

Bai Hetai’s body stiffened as she slowly turned to face the Patriarch, deliberately lowering her voice. “This is a dream.”

“A dream?” The Patriarch frowned.

“Yes. I’m just a passerby in your dream.” Bai Hetai backed away step by step. If she could leave his sight in time, the consequences might not be too severe.

But things didn’t go as she wished. The Patriarch quickly stood up, raising his sword. “Who sent you here!” He leaped forward, bringing his sword down in a slash. Bai Hetai quickly dodged.

“Ghost Trace Steps – you’re from the Su family. The Su family has betrayed me!” The Patriarch thrust his sword forward again.

Bai Hetai leaned back, the sword passing before her chest. Her foot slipped, and she fell completely to the ground. Damn… if she died in this dream world, would she die? Her master had never mentioned this… These thoughts flashed through Bai Hetai’s mind, but her feet wouldn’t obey her, feeling as heavy as lead.

“No, the Su family already betrayed me long ago.” The Patriarch held his sword aloft, muttering, “Why am I still so surprised…”

Bai Hetai’s mouth twitched slightly. She knew the Patriarch’s current memories were affecting his past self in this dream world. Memory confusion meant the Soul Transfer Technique had encountered a major problem, most likely resulting in the dream Patriarch committing suicide with his sword.

Unless his will was as solid as rock, as strong as steel.

How many people in the world could reach such a state?

But the Patriarch’s eyes gradually changed from confusion to ferocity. He looked down at Bai Hetai beneath him and said heavily, “Who exactly are you?”

“I-I’m Bai Hetai, the Divine Physician treating you,” Bai Hetai hurriedly said. “I came here to find a way to cure you.”

“Then why do you know the Su family’s martial arts?” The Patriarch shouted, bringing his sword down without hesitation.

“Ah!” Bai Hetai screamed, instantly breaking free from the dream. She opened her eyes, looked at the sweat on her palms, and let out a light breath. At least she was still alive – it seemed being killed in the dream world only meant being ejected from it. But she suddenly realized something and quickly raised her head, only to find her throat seized by an old but powerful hand.

“I’ll ask you again what I asked before. Who. Are. You!” the Patriarch growled.

Bai Hetai grabbed the Patriarch’s wrist but couldn’t pull it away. She struggled to speak: “Patriarch, I mean no harm!”

“I saw just now – you know the Su family’s martial arts. And you used this Soul Transfer Technique not to find a cure for the poison as you claimed, but to search for secrets in my mind.” The Patriarch increased his grip.

“Misunderstanding…” Bai Hetai said with difficulty. “Patriarch, let go, and I’ll tell you everything.”

“No need. You all want to know Dark River’s secrets, but those fools from the three families never considered that some secrets – the more you know, the faster you die.” After speaking these words, the Patriarch suddenly began coughing violently. He released Bai Hetai’s throat and braced himself against the ground with both hands, coughing up blood.

Bai Hetai fell to the ground, breathing heavily, but still tried to explain: “Patriarch, I…”

But after coughing up blood, the Patriarch drew the Sleeping Dragon Sword at his side. Bai Hetai finally realized that after facing successive betrayals, the Patriarch could no longer trust those around him – his previous kindness toward her had been forced! Now that his mental state had collapsed, all his actions would tend toward the extreme.

“Die!” The Patriarch swung his sword.