Chapter 14: Two Dreams-Part 1

In the early afternoon.

Chen Da walked dazedly along the mountain path.

Mistaken for Suan Yu, he had been trapped in the Five Poison Forest for five years. Returning to the human world, it felt unfamiliar, not aligning with his memories.

Occasionally, people greeted him on the road: “Chen Da, didn’t you go hunting in the demon forest today?”

“Chen Da, it’s time to get married! Don’t delay!”

The young man gazed vacantly at these ordinary people, who were once like him.

They lived under the protection of the Yujing Sect, working from sunrise to sunset. They struggled for their livelihoods, seemingly having forgotten about Suan Yu’s incident five years ago.

But that was five years when Chen Da was losing control day and night.

The following parts of the text will be scrambled to prevent theft from aggregators and unauthorized epub making. Please support our translators by reading on secondlifetranslations (dot) com. If you are currently on the site and and you are seeing this, please clear your cache.

Ebld ydsvbla rlapsd tallvle Ubld Py, bl nswzed’v blzr cwv tayc vbl rlapsd yde ypj, “Bdnzl, es usw alxlxcla Fwyd Zw?”

Mbl sze xyd nyaaukdt qkalosse oyp nsdqwple qsa y xsxldv yde pvkzz elyq. “Fswa? Ps usw oydv hkdltya? El esd’v xyjl hkdltya yv bsxl.”

(M/L: Fwyd ynvwyzzu xlydp pswa, ps vbl sze xyd kp nsdqwple yp vs obu Ubld Py kp ypjkdt qsa pswa.)

Ubld Py pxkzle ckvvlazu.

Tl bye vs yrszstkgl yde pbssj bkp blye, dsv pyukdt xwnb yduxsal. Tl qszzsole bkp xlxsau, pzwttkpbzu plyanbkdt qsa bkp bswpl qasx qkhl ulyap yts. Tl oyp vss vkale, dllekdt y tsse alpv, dllekdt vs nzspl bkp lulp—

Yyucl vblpl qkhl ulyap olal fwpv y ealyx.

Gqvla rskdvkdt vbl kdd vs vbl pkczkdtp, Ubld Py oyzjle yzsdl sd vbl ryvb. Gp bl zsolale bkp blye, bkp pbswzela oyp pweeldzu cwxrle cu psxlsdl.

G qaytaydnl sq y osxyd cawpble zktbvzu.

After five years of being a demon, Chen Da was no longer the naive human teenager from five years ago. He looked up and smiled apologetically. “I’m sorry…”

His voice trailed off.

His amber-colored eyes trembled violently.

The sunlight was scorching, yet in an instant, he broke out in a cold sweat.

The girl in front of him wore red clothes and had a sword at her waist. Her waist was slender, her face delicate and beautiful, radiant with charm.

Such a petite beauty, completely different from ordinary commoners, yet Chen Da recognized her—

In his memory, she was the immortal disciple who deceived Suan Yu into marriage.

She was also the person he had resented and hated for five whole years, believing himself to be Suan Yu and betrayed by her.

With just one glance, Chen Da couldn’t restrain the difficult mix of hatred and fear. His hands clenched into fists at his side, he held his breath, relying on his five years of experience as a demon to convince himself:

It’s okay, it’s okay.

I am Chen Da; I am not Suan Yu. I have no grievances with this girl, she is a disciple of the immortal sect… I just need to quietly pass by, and I will never meet her again in this lifetime.

But fate always enjoys playing tricks on people.

The girl in the red shirt was none other than Hua Shi from the Yujing Sect.

Hua Shi was walking in the mortal village, not very familiar with the roads, and for a while, she couldn’t find the entrance to the Five Poison Forest.

As she pondered the way, Hua Shi received the latest message on her jade token—”Senior Sister, where are you? The soul lamp of our sect shows that Suan Yu has already died; did you find and kill him?”

Hua Shi frowned.

She was confused and even more eager to go to the Five Poison Forest to see what had happened.

Hua Shi called out to Chen Da, “Hey!”

Chen Da stiffened and turned around.

Hua Shi’s peach blossom-like eyes fell on the somewhat shy face of this young man.

With no interest at the moment, she casually glanced over and passed by.

Hua Shi: “How do I get to the Five Poison Forest?”

Chen Da remained silent for a moment and then showed her the way.

Hua Shi nodded.

As Chen Da turned away, a gold ingot hit him on the back of his head. He turned around to see the arrogant girl from the immortal sect flying away on her sword.

The girl said arrogantly, “Consider it a reward; keep it.”

Chen Da lowered his head, looking at the gold ingot thrown on the ground.

He felt a mix of emotions—

The woman he had resented for five years actually had nothing to do with him. But if it weren’t for her, Suan Yu wouldn’t have exchanged souls with him. He endured five years of suffering…

This woman didn’t even know him.

Absurd.

Chen Da squatted down, picked up the gold, and stared at it for a long time, his fist gradually clenched.

There was an emotion gathering in his young chest, burning his internal organs, alternating between icy cold and searing heat. Later, he would understand that this was called “resentment.”

—

After dark, Jiang Xuehe traversed the Five Poison Forest.

He changed into a white robe and, to avoid startling anyone, still wore a hood as he came to the Five Poison Forest to help his already unconscious junior sister.

His junior sister, for reasons unknown to herself, couldn’t stop the bleeding from her abdomen. Jiang Xuehe wanted to check, but due to the difference in gender, he didn’t want to be too intrusive. His junior sister forced him to swear to help her and, stumbling over her words, told him where she had disposed of the pursuer’s body.

Ti Ying was incredibly nervous; she couldn’t let anyone from the Yujing Sect discover that she was a little villain who indiscriminately killed people.

On this night, Jiang Xuehe walked through the Five Poison Forest, his robe sleeves fluttering like snow. As he searched for the corpses, he also pondered who the people chasing his junior sister might be.

Jiang Xuehe’s identity was indeed special.

He hadn’t spent a day under his master’s tutelage, so he had no idea who his master and junior sister had offended. But it didn’t matter; since these people were already before him, he would naturally deal with them.

After Suan Yu’s death, the formation in the Five Poison Forest had been broken, and the impure ghosts lingering here, without a leader, wandered aimlessly like headless flies.

Jiang Xuehe encountered them and killed them.

He walked this way, killing along the path, his white robe fluttering, leaving behind a trail of blood.

Jiang Xuehe finally found the place where Ti Ying had left the bodies last night. About a dozen young men and women lay scattered on the ground, the pale moonlight shining on their unseeing faces.

Crows cawed, taking flight from the branches.

Under the dark, looming sky, Jiang Xuehe stood calmly among the corpses, slowly casting his spells to handle the bodies:

His spell descended upon the corpses, melting them away from flesh to bone, gradually turning into blood, then into soil, blending seamlessly into the entirety of the Five Poison Forest.

This spell was silent and peaceful.

Contrasted with it, the young man in the hood had a strange and eerie beauty.

As Jiang Xuehe watched the bodies vanish bit by bit, he slowly realized: perhaps his junior sister didn’t know that there was no one else in this world better at handling the dead than himself.

Well, maybe it was better not to let his junior sister know about this.

She was so timid… she even feared the ghosts she summoned herself.

Suddenly, a flash of sword light poured down like a rainbow behind him.

Jiang Xuehe swiftly leaped into the air, soaring to the treetops. Dodging a wave of attacks from behind, when he lowered his gaze, he saw the sword flying back into the hands of a girl in red.

Hua Shi looked up, watching as the hood enveloped the person’s entire body, white as snow.

Hua Shi demanded sharply, “Who are you? Where’s Suan Yu? Did you kill all the monsters along the way?”

Jiang Xuehe didn’t want to escalate the situation further, so he turned and walked away.

Hua Shi chased after him and said, “Thief, don’t run—”

Jiang Xuehe turned around and met her palm with his own. The hood flew off, revealing that this girl had considerable strength, surprising him.

Hua Shi was also surprised; although she hadn’t formally joined a sect, her cultivation was guided by her father all along. Yet someone effortlessly evaded her attacks?

She became interested and said, “Come again!”

Jiang Xuehe didn’t want to engage further with this woman, so he fought while retreating. Since this woman was related to the Yujing Sect, he had suffered some backlash yesterday after summoning his primordial spirit, and it wasn’t advisable to use his true strength again in the short term.

As a result, under the cold moonlight, the battle continued.

But just as Hua Shi’s fighting spirit was rising, the sound of a bell suddenly resounded through the heavens and earth.

The bell echoed through the heavens and earth, coming from the direction of the Yujing Sect.

Hua Shi’s proud expression suddenly changed as she looked in the direction of the Yujing Sect, her expression bewildered, “The Sect Master failed his tribulation and passed away…”

As the Sect Master passed away without leaving behind any succession arrangements, and with the sudden death of sweet and sour during the disciple selection, the Yujing Sect was likely to face a troubled period.

She didn’t have time to chase after Jiang Xuehe; she needed to return to the mountain to see what was happening.

—

As the bell resounded through the heavens and earth, disturbing all sects, Ti Ying in the inn was trapped in a nightmare.

Her senior brother once told her that the nightmares that occurred after her spiritual energy was depleted were merely remnants of the world, not real. But she didn’t like this feeling at all.

Especially…

The protagonist of this nightmare seemed to be Ti Ying herself, yet also not her.

In the dream, Ti Ying found her spiritual sea surging with dark energy; her spiritual energy was blocked, unable to sense the vast Daoist methods.

In her panic, she reluctantly realized that she was in a cave.

Ti Ying comforted herself: It’s okay, it’s okay; I’ve been trapped before when I was a child; I’m not afraid.

She felt her way in the dark, suppressing tears and fear, feeling along the cave wall. The cave twisted and turned, and as the light brightened around a corner, Ti Ying saw a person in a purple feathered robe sitting with their back to her.

The sound of a small waterfall echoed in the cave, and the person leaned against the wall, their silhouette ethereal and elegant, somehow familiar.

Ti Ying found herself unable to control her body as she quickened her pace towards the person.

The person turned to reveal their profile.

Ti Ying, in her dream, was astonished: Senior Brother!

How could she dream of him?

Just as Ti Ying felt a surge of joy at seeing a familiar face, she heard her dream self speak cunningly, “Senior Brother, are you suffering from being tied up by Junior Sister?”

Ti Ying: …

She turned around and walked up to the young man.

She choked up for a moment: The young man sat upright, and she had thought he was just sitting casually, but as she approached, she realized he was bound by some kind of spell.

The spell emitted a dark aura, somewhat similar to the one on her own body…

The young man in the dream opened his eyes.

Ti Ying looked at him puzzled and hesitant: He really seemed to be her senior brother, but… senior brother was covered in wounds, with scars on his face, while this senior brother in her dream was as clean as a crane, extremely refined…

He looks even better than he does in reality.

The young man in the dream spoke, “Little Ying, don’t interfere with Qingmu Jun’s ascension ceremony. Don’t antagonize Qingmu Jun or oppose the sect. Although you have fallen into demonic possessions, you are still my fiancée. I’ve come to take you home.”

Ti Ying was horrified. Why call me Little Ying again?

And… fallen into demonic possessions? What demonic possessions?

There aren’t supposed to be any demons in the world, right?

Fiancée… what’s that all about!

Home? Where is home?

Ti Ying was utterly confused and filled with panic, but she saw her dream self blink and smile gently, “Go home? What home? We’re not even from the same sect. I call you senior brother; do you think you’re really my own senior brother? senior brother, we have a little disagreement.

“You, an immortal, handed over to a demon like me, and now you want to advise me? It seems like senior brother has misunderstood our past relationship a bit.”

Senior Brother in the dream asked back, “What did I misunderstand about you?”

Ti Ying was stunned.

The immortal, bound by the spell, leaned slightly, his eyes as deep as cold pools, gazing at her. Between them, as they breathed, his beautiful lashes fluttered like wings, shining with colorful light.

He murmured, “What did I misunderstand about you?”

So close.

A snow-like chill brushed against her nose.

It made her extremely uncomfortable.

Ti Ying, who had never experienced matters between men and women, trembled in her heart, staring at his eyes, seemingly breaking out in a cold sweat.

She heard her dream self pause for a moment before smiling without changing her expression, “Well, I might have liked you before…”

The female demon Ti Ying in the dream had a cruel and sinister look between her brows. She leaned in with interest and tapped the young man’s forehead with her index finger, “If Senior Brother wants to influence me, why not stay by my side and influence me with your own presence?”

The young Ti Ying couldn’t understand what her dream self was doing.

She was scared of this dream.

She had never heard of demons, didn’t know what relation they had to her, had no idea what a fiancée was, or what “influence me with your own presence” meant.

She desperately fought against her dream self for control of her body. After a while, it seemed to have some effect, and she blurted out, “Jiang Xue… Senior Brother, I’m acting strange, I’m not myself, you need to run…”

The eyes of the young man in the dream flickered as he looked at her for a moment.

 Senior Brother in the dream said, “You’ve been consumed by the demonic energy, you’ve forgotten my name? I’m not called Jiang Xue, Little Ying.”

Ti ying was almost infuriated by him: It was indeed a nightmare! How dare he contradict her!

Who cares what his name is anyway!