After Yun Ye drank the medicinal decoction, he fell into unconsciousness again. He broke out in a sweat and seemed to improve somewhat. But before the fourth watch, his body became scorching hot once more. This time it came even more fiercely than the first. Xinyue listened to her husband’s heavy breathing, constantly applying ice water compresses to his forehead. Na Rimu and Lingdang also used cotton cloth dipped in strong alcohol to wipe Yun Ye’s groin and armpits. They used every cooling method available, yet Yun Ye’s body temperature didn’t drop much.

Xinyue clenched her hands tightly, biting them in her mouth. Tears flowed freely, but she didn’t dare make a sound. Little Lingdang had already been chased out by the Old Madam. Only Na Rimu wore a smile on her face, unhurriedly caring for her husband.

“Don’t you dare harbor strange thoughts. Husband said that if something happened to him, we must all live well and raise the children. The Yun family is destined to become a great powerful household.” Xinyue withdrew her bleeding hand from her mouth and said calmly to Na Rimu.

“I don’t care. Anyway, Yun Mu likes you more than me. You can raise her. If something happens to husband, I’ll go accompany him. You just live well. Without husband, living has no meaning for me. Husband knows I’m foolish and willful—he won’t blame me.”

The Old Madam slapped Na Rimu across the face, saying viciously: “If you dare curse my grandson again, you won’t need to commit suicide—I’ll beat you to death right now.”

Sun Simiao paced back and forth on the floor, desperately seeking a solution. Yun Ye rarely fell ill—in fact, he practically never got sick. Who would have thought that when illness came, it would be so dangerous? One wave was beaten back, then another came, as if all the illnesses he’d never had before wanted to strike at once.

Cheng Yaojin, Niu Jinda, Qin Qiong, and Yuchi Gong arrived before daybreak. After seeing Yun Ye, each rubbed their hands helplessly, able only to beg Sun Simiao to think of a solution.

When such an important minister as Yun Ye fell gravely ill, naturally the Emperor had to be informed. After the Yun family’s people left, a black-clothed man entered and said: “Reporting to Your Majesty, Marquis Lantian Yun Ye is indeed gravely ill. The illness is very dangerous—high fever that won’t subside. His concubine has already prepared for burial sacrifice. This has been verified without error.”

Li Er irritably dismissed the black-clothed man and paced back and forth in the great hall like a caged beast. Just as he was about to have someone prepare the imperial procession to personally visit, he saw Zhangsun emerge in formal attire, saying: “Your Majesty, it’s improper for you to go. Yun Ye is only gravely ill now—life and death unknown. If you go, others will panic even more. It’s more appropriate for this subject-consort to go.”

Li Er sighed and went to the rear palace on his own, saying irritably to the palace attendants: “Cancel court for today.”

Li Chengqian was already at the Yun residence. After hearing the news, he felt waves of fear for no reason. His body was terribly cold. Trembling, he climbed onto a horse without even donning his cloak and raced like lightning toward the Yun residence. Just arriving at the Yun residence, he saw Li Tai, wearing a tattered hemp garment used for experiments, also hurrying over. Cheng Chumo sat on the steps with a dark face, saying nothing.

More and more people gathered at the Yun residence. When Yun Ye’s subordinates stood in full armor at the front and back gates, the atmosphere of mourning throughout the Yun household reached its peak. They were imitating Qin Qiong and Yuchi Gong, standing there full of killing intent to prevent any unclean things from entering.

Zhangsun’s imperial carriage stopped at the bottom of the Yun family’s memorial arch. She walked on foot through the entire marketplace. Today there were still many people in the marketplace. Everyone kept their hands tucked in their sleeves, waiting for news from the Yun family that the Marquis had improved.

Today, even the most diligent shop assistants couldn’t call out their wares. Everyone silently conducted transactions, like ghosts. Old Qin welcomed Zhangsun in, quietly introducing the illness situation.

“Master Sun said Yun Ye suffered excessive worry, allowing external pathogenic influences to invade. Combined with never truly resting, that’s why the illness became so dangerous.”

Zhangsun nodded, sat on the stool beside the bed, and had everyone withdraw, keeping only Xinyue nearby. She took out a phoenix pendant from her bosom and handed it to Xinyue, saying: “This is my token, given by His Majesty when he established me as Empress. I’ve always kept it. Now I give it to you. With this object, you can make three requests of the imperial family. As long as they’re not excessive, His Majesty will certainly agree, and the Crown Prince will also agree.”

Xinyue grasped the phoenix pendant and nodded through her sobs. Her tears flowed even more torrentially. Even the Empress wasn’t optimistic about her husband’s condition—how could one bear this?

Zhangsun lowered her head to look at the rapidly breathing Yun Ye, gently caressing his forehead, saying softly: “I still remember the first time I saw you. You rushed out from the Niu family, wearing a green robe, your hair not even tied up, just floating behind you like a horse’s tail. You looked very nervous, with a trace of pride, just like a child succeeding in mischief. In confusion, you plunged headfirst into the guards, were captured by them, and constantly begged for mercy. I saw very clearly—the first time I saw you, I felt we were very compatible. Indeed, my premonition wasn’t wrong. Later, as master and disciple, we’ve always gotten along well.”

“His Majesty wanted to adopt you as a foster son, but you actually refused. At that time, you puffed out your chest and said: You wanted to make the Yun family into a great family, lasting ten thousand generations. His Majesty and I both laughed at you. Little Ye, establishing a great family isn’t easy—it requires doing many things. You also understand this, so all these years you’ve never slacked off. You’re too tired, Little Ye.”

“You’re a very good child. We all know that sometimes you’d rather wrong yourself than let those you love be sad. The Grand Emperor, His Majesty, me, Chengqian, Qingque, Li Ke, Gaoyang, Lanling, and now we must add Jinyang—caring for so many people, yet you yourself have never rested properly.”

“Thank you, Little Ye. His Majesty and I are both very grateful to you.”

After speaking, Zhangsun took out her handkerchief to dab the tears at the corners of her eyes, instructed Xinyue to care well for Yun Ye, then rose and departed. It wasn’t good for her to linger too long at the Yun residence.

Yun Ye knew nothing of what was happening outside. He was living with great difficulty in his dreamscape. This was almost a world of monsters. Everywhere were creatures with long legs, long feet, and long arms trying to entangle him. Cut off one and another came—endlessly, as if they wanted to strangle him alive. Those damned arms were like leather straps, curling snake-like across the ground, grasping his ankles and not letting go.

He’d been hacking and slashing for a long time without finishing them off. Looking down, he saw his feet already dragging countless severed hands. Every step was extremely difficult. While the arms hadn’t crawled over yet, Yun Ye used his knife to hack off the severed arms on his legs one by one. One stroke actually cut himself—very painful. Yun Ye couldn’t help but cry out loudly.

After crying out, he discovered that those creatures with long arms, long legs, and long feet had been frightened away by him. Now he felt pleased, dragging his knife along the uneven road. This damned place actually had no sun and no moon. The entire sky was just that touch of fish-belly white from dawn. You couldn’t tell if it was morning or dusk.

Wei Zheng sat in a hall full of televisions, eloquently introducing the merits and flaws of various television sets to Yun Ye. Not only did he himself speak, but the fuzzy big mouth in the television also chattered incessantly with nonsense. Even covering his ears, he could hear it.

Silver coins wouldn’t do, gold coins wouldn’t do, bright red hundred-yuan bills still wouldn’t do. Yun Ye angrily shouted loudly: “What the hell do you want?”

The world suddenly became quiet. Yun Ye thought his voice seemed very effective at dealing with these chaotic things, so he decided to sing. He’d already forgotten many songs, so he started with Little Bee, singing all the way to “I’m a Little Little Bird.” When singing this song, he found it very moving—that heart-wrenching kind of refreshing feeling made his whole body feel comfortable. Unfortunately, he only remembered four lines: “I’m a little little little bird, I want to fly but can never fly high, I search and search for a warm embrace—is such a request too much to ask?”

Tired of singing, only then did he remember he was dreaming. No good—he had to go back. Before losing consciousness, he remembered he seemed to be running a fever. From the looks of it, the illness wasn’t light. This place wasn’t very large, but he’d walked for a long time without finding an exit. Damn it, what kind of place was this? At least give some direction!

Really didn’t have the strength to walk anymore. His legs were terribly weak. If only Wang Cai were here—that lazy thing would definitely be able to carry him out. They said warhorses could find their own way home, but unfortunately, Wang Cai wasn’t here.

This was sleep paralysis. Yun Ye understood—he was trapped in his dream. Damn it, the knife was useless, so it had already become a wooden stick, very similar to the wooden stick he’d held when he first arrived in Great Tang and wandered in the Longyou wilderness. He sighed. He could only hold the wooden stick and sit on the sandy ground to rest a while.

Rain fell from the sky, drenching his face wetly, but his clothes weren’t wet. Most importantly, there was the smell of fermented wine. Damn it, this was Wang Cai’s drool. Yun Ye had experienced this smell more than once or twice. After drinking fermented wine, it never knew to rinse its mouth. That osmanthus flavor was nauseating.

“Get away, Wang Cai! Take your stinking mouth away!” Yun Ye suddenly opened his eyes. His vision was blurry. After blinking several times, his sight gradually cleared. Sure enough, Wang Cai’s long face appeared before him. Seeing Yun Ye looking at it, it happily called out, spraying Yun Ye’s entire head and face with drool.

His ears also seemed to gradually recover function. Yun Ye heard Xinyue’s heart-wrenching cry. He could tell that wild joy had instantly filled Xinyue’s heart because the sound was very loud.

Sun Simiao walked in, once again grasping Yun Ye’s arm. After feeling his pulse for a while, he smiled and released it. His wrinkled old face was filled with relief. How long had it been since the old fellow had smiled?

Chengqian’s face, Li Tai’s pig head, Old Cheng’s stubbled face, Old Niu’s face with red eyes—each passed by overhead one by one. Old Qin deflated as he sat in his chair, saying: “Heaven be praised, he’s finally come back to life.”

Looking at the roomful of people, Yun Ye suddenly said to Xinyue: “The old ancestor has arrived…”