ATAVID CH53

Hearing this, Liang Yun looked toward Jiang Qunyu and asked with a chuckle, “Is this your first time in this secret realm?”

Jiang Qunyu nodded.

“Oh, no wonder.” Liang Yun added a dry branch to the campfire; the flames licked at it, crackling. “This place is called ‘One Pillow of Yellow Springs.’ It’s normal you haven’t heard of it. This realm is only known to those who frequently wander the Nine Netherworlds of the ghost realm. The weather in the Great Desert is fickle, so getting swept in happens often.”

“This realm isn’t particularly dangerous; if you can endure for a month, you’ll be able to leave. It’s just that looking at your brother’s condition—” He glanced at Wei Xun, “it seems he has fallen into a ‘nightmare.’ That is troublesome.”

Jiang Qunyu’s heart tightened, and he turned his head to look at Wei Xun.

The youth had his eyes closed, his breathing so faint it was almost imperceptible, his complexion as pale as paper.

Liang Yun followed his gaze, his tone carrying a touch of sympathy. “I wonder if you’ve heard of the ‘Phantom Nightmare.’ It is an intangible creature that exists within this realm. It has no physical form and feeds on the desires of living beings. The more intense and obsessive the emotion, the more delicious it is to them.”

“Therefore, if someone with a clear mind and no attachments enters, the ‘One Pillow of Yellow Springs’ will dissipate after a month, and they will leave on their own.”

“But if one is full of desires, it becomes a perilous trap. Once the Phantom Nightmare enters the body, it weaves an extremely realistic scene for the dreamer. Many demonic beings, whether high or low in rank, often become lost in it and refuse to wake up. Once the month passes, if they haven’t woken up, death is the only outcome.”

He laughed suddenly, still in the mood for a joke: “Dying in a dream—that certainly lives up to the name ‘One Pillow of Yellow Springs’.”

Jiang Qunyu’s face darkened instantly.

Mo Wudu sighed and kicked Liang Yun. “Enough, stop scaring people.”

“How is this scaring? Everything I said is true.” Liang Yun muttered, then turned to Jiang Qunyu with a grin. “My goodness, little friend, your face is looking even worse than your brother’s now.”

Jiang Qunyu looked wooden: “…Is that a compliment?”

Liang Yun froze, then grabbed his stomach and laughed: “Hahahaha—”

He laughed until tears welled up at the corners of his eyes, taking a long time to straighten up. “Little friend, you are truly amusing. Naturally, it was not a compliment.”

“Oh.” Jiang Qunyu knew as much. He asked, “Then, has he fallen into a nightmare?”

Liang Yun nodded: “Most likely.”

He looked at Wei Xun with curiosity: “This young friend doesn’t look very old. How did he fall into such a nightmare? Truly strange.”

Jiang Qunyu was silent.

Before he could speak, Liang Yun continued: “But it’s normal. Which demon isn’t full of desires? If not, where would the demonic energy come from? You two brothers are just suffering because you haven’t been to this realm before and didn’t know to carry anti-nightmare sachets.”

He reached into his robe, pulled something out, and tossed it to Jiang Qunyu.

Jiang Qunyu caught it subconsciously and looked down. It was a palm-sized sachet, poorly embroidered with crooked stitching.

“Here, keep this.” Liang Yun said. “Otherwise, even if you aren’t in a nightmare now, who knows if you will be in a few days. Carrying this will save you some suffering.”

Jiang Qunyu gripped the sachet tightly and thanked Liang Yun.

Faint wisps of scent drifted from the seams of the fabric. Jiang Qunyu was startled: “It smells like Manjusaka flowers.”

“Ah, your nose is sharp!” Liang Yun gave him a thumbs-up.

Jiang Qunyu put the sachet away before asking, “Then, Brother Liang, do you know how to resolve this current situation?”

“Hmm…” Liang Yun pondered. “If he can wake up on his own, that is best. If he cannot, the only way is to enter the nightmare with your soul and wake him up from the inside.”

“But his breathing is growing weaker, and I don’t know how many days have passed. Can I enter the nightmare now?”

“You can, but it is best not to.” Liang Yun paused as he tossed a branch into the fire; the light danced on his face.

His voice dropped, losing its earlier playful tone. “Although you are entering his dream with your soul, everything that happens in the dream is real. You are very likely to die inside.”

His expression turned serious: “Even so, do you still want to go in?”

Jiang Qunyu’s face darkened further, thinking to himself that he truly must owe Wei Xun a debt.

“I’ll go.”

Liang Yun was stunned, then showed a look of shock: “Wow, you two brothers have such a deep bond.”

He pointed to Mo Wudu beside him, his tone tinged with reflection. “Not like us. When we were first swept into this realm, he fell into a nightmare, too. But I didn’t go in to fish him out; I just stayed outside and waited for him to wake up.”

“Actually, if he had really died, I probably would have just found a spot to bury him. Fortunately, he had a tough life and woke up on the last day.”

Mo Wudu said, “If you fell into a nightmare, I would wait for you just the same. No need to blame yourself.”

Liang Yun: “I’ve never blamed myself. Demons are selfish. Waiting for you to wake up before leaving is enough of a favor.”

Jiang Qunyu was noncommittal about the “bond” Liang Yun spoke of.

But he still silently retorted in his heart: from Liang Yun’s perspective, dying in a dream is a net loss, but for Jiang Qunyu, it would be a wish fulfilled.

Liang Yun tried to persuade him a few more times, but seeing Jiang Qunyu’s resolve, he didn’t insist.

“This secret realm has no day or night, so we bought an hourglass to keep track of time when we were in the Nine Nether City.”

He bent down and fished something from his Qiankun bag, shaking it. “It’s only been ten days since ‘One Pillow of Yellow Springs’ began. There are still twenty days left of the month.”

He put the hourglass away and looked at Jiang Qunyu. “We’ve met by fate. This is not a good place to enter a nightmare, so if you don’t mind, you can travel with us.”

“Not far from here is the Yellow Springs City. You can enter the nightmare once we reach the city. It also gives you a few more days to see if your brother can wake up on his own. That would be ideal.”

“Thank you.” Jiang Qunyu replied politely.

“No need for formalities,” Liang Yun waved his hand dismissively and stood up. “Then, without further delay, let’s go.”

Mo Wudu stood up as well.

Jiang Qunyu bent down to hoist Wei Xun back onto his back. The youth pressed heavily against him.

He cursed him a few more times in his heart.

He didn’t know where this guy got so many desires; otherwise, he wouldn’t have fallen into this nightmare.

Also, what did he eat growing up?! Why was he so heavy?

He felt a bit lucky that his current body was a replica of Wei Xun’s; otherwise, with his own previous build, Wei Xun could have crushed him with one hand, let alone being carried for such a long distance.

Thinking of this, Jiang Qunyu hesitated and asked, “Brother Liang, apart from weaving dreams, is there anything else these Phantom Nightmares can do?”

“Do?” Liang Yun adjusted the curved blade at his waist and said offhandedly, “Haven’t heard of anything else.”

Just as Jiang Qunyu was considering how to ask without sounding abrupt, Mo Wudu suddenly spoke: “I did hear of one thing before.”

Liang Yun turned his head instantly, his face full of shock: “Wow, you knew that but never told me?”

Mo Wudu gave him a speechless glance, ignored him, and continued to Jiang Qunyu: “Originally, there was no Yellow Springs City in this realm. But when a young demon passed through here and fell into a nightmare, that Yellow Springs City was formed from his obsession.”

Jiang Qunyu’s heart stirred.

He bit his lip and asked the question that had been weighing on his mind: “Then, if I have an obsession now, could it also come true?”

Otherwise, why did he have a physical body?

He had thought it over and could only think of one explanation.

For the past few days, day and night, he had been thinking about how great it would be if he could possess Wei Xun’s body, thinking about it until he felt like he was going mad.

Perhaps that was why he had briefly gained a physical form.

If not that, there was only one other possibility.

This physical form was a manifestation of Wei Xun’s obsession.

But Wei Xun had already fallen into the nightmare. It was true that he was full of obsessions, but how could his obsessions have anything to do with Jiang Qunyu?

If there really were a connection, it could only be that Wei Xun wanted to kill him.

Mo Wudu paused and slowly nodded: “Someone trapped in a nightmare can manifest a city in the outside world. Someone who is awake… should also be able to.”

Hearing this, Jiang Qunyu felt a sense of certainty, confirming his guess. He felt inexplicably relieved, and his footsteps became a little lighter.

The three of them walked for another two days in the desert.

Yellow sand drifted, the sky was grey, and as far as the eye could see, it was the same view. Just as Jiang Qunyu was about to exhaust his last ounce of patience, a city finally slammed into his line of sight.

The city was vast, the imposing city gate stood wide open, and those coming and going were either evil ghosts with blue faces and fangs or demons wreathed in demonic energy.

The River of Forgetfulness was near the Nine Netherworlds, and since the Nine Netherworlds were at odds with the cultivation world, few cultivators ever stepped foot here.

Therefore, even if he walked into the city brazenly wearing Wei Xun’s face, he didn’t need to worry about being recognized by people from the cultivation world.

Liang Yun and Mo Wudu stopped at the gate and bid him farewell with a salute: “Mo Wudu and I have business to attend to, so you will have to walk the rest of the way alone, little friend. If fate allows, we shall meet again in the Demon Realm.”

Jiang Qunyu returned the salute solemnly: “Thank you both for looking after us along the way.”

Yellow Springs City was merely a temporary stop for those swept into the secret realm, not a true city, so naturally, one didn’t need to spend magic beads or spirit stones to stay. As long as one could find a vacant house, they could settle in.

After parting with them, Jiang Qunyu chose a quiet alley and walked in, pushing open a wooden door that had been left ajar. The courtyard was overgrown with weeds, but the house was relatively intact.

He placed Wei Xun on the inner side of the bed, resisted the urge to punch the man in the face, turned over to lie on the outer side, and stared at the rafters and ceiling, panting.

“Wei Xun, when you wake up, you must serve as my beast of burden.” Jiang Qunyu swore viciously.

Once his breathing leveled out, he suddenly remembered the man’s outrageous germaphobia.

Jiang Qunyu struggled to get up and boiled some water to take a bath. After washing up and spacing out in front of Wei Xun for a while, he resigned himself to fetching a basin of water and wiping Wei Xun down as well.

Although Jiang Qunyu was used to possessing Wei Xun’s body, it still felt incredibly awkward in his heart to touch Wei Xun using another body, quite suddenly.

Especially when he wiped the man’s lower half, his gaze uncontrollably drifted downward, and he felt a surge of jealousy.

But then he remembered that the last time Wei Xun had masturbated was ten years ago, when he had accidentally taken the wrong pill, and the sour, jealous feeling in his heart dissipated by more than half.

He moved Wei Xun back onto the bed, lowered his eyes, and said with a bit of malicious, schadenfreude-filled sarcasm: “Good to look at, but useless.”

After saying this, he felt a bit guilty, fearing that Wei Xun might be able to hear him.

He held his breath and observed for a while; Wei Xun remained with his eyes closed, his face pale, his breathing weak, unmoving.

Jiang Qunyu’s suspended heart dropped a little, and he immediately resumed his brazen demeanor.

His long hair draped loosely behind him, and he sat cross-legged by the side of the bed, one hand propping up his knee, the other supporting his chin, quietly watching Wei Xun’s pale profile.

After a while, he bit his fingertip, and a bright red bead of blood spilled from the wound. Jiang Qunyu lowered his eyes and smeared the blood onto Wei Xun’s pale lips.

The moment the blood touched Wei Xun’s lips, it instantly seeped in.

Almost at the same instant, a violent wave of dizziness smashed into Jiang Qunyu.

His body went limp, and a vast, white light exploded before his eyes, his spiritual sense feeling as if it were being forcibly dragged in by an invisible hand.

A second before his consciousness sank completely into darkness, he only felt himself wrapped in a familiar, cold, and clear aura.

When he opened his eyes again, the scene before him was entirely different.

Snow filled the sky, white jade stairs stretched out, and the bells of Lingxiao Sect rang out from afar, clear and empty.

He was standing in a room with the window shutters half-open. Fine snowflakes drifted in, landing on the blue brick floor and melting into small, wet marks.

On the other side of the room, a young man sat alone by the window.

He looked no more than sixteen or seventeen years old, with a white silk veil covering his eyes, as if a snow that never melted throughout the years had fallen upon him.