Chapter 46 – Many Dreams

Upon hearing this, Zhan Changfeng asked, “What is the reason for it this time — is it the work of a deviant cultivator?”

“Most likely.” The linen-robed elder thought it over and felt something was wrong. “But how could mere flute music control us all? I fear we were already bewitched by something back at the inn.”

The others naturally arrived at the same conclusion, and they turned to the two Bureau of Patrol cultivators who had remained behind, saying: “What are we still waiting here for? Go back to the inn and arrest the accomplices!”

“We cannot,” the two said, unease written between their brows. “The situation is still unclear. Do not act rashly — wait here for Overseer Lu Shen to return.”

This was truly unlike the Bureau of Patrol’s usual style. Unless the adversaries they had encountered this time were ones even they found difficult to handle.

The linen-robed elder stepped forward and said, “I am the Daoist Shanshi. Greetings to you both.”

The two cultivators, whose expressions had been taut, relaxed slightly, and there even appeared a trace of respect on their faces. “So it is a senior — we have been discourteous.”

The two clasped their fists in salute. “I am Zhang Hu.”

“I am Zhao Long.”

The linen-robed elder waved his hand. “Your appearance here is surely no coincidence. May I ask who exactly abducted us, and to what purpose?”

Others chimed in: “We suffered this ordeal for no reason — we deserve to know the full story.”

“It is not something I cannot speak of.” After a moment of deliberation, Zhang Hu’s expression grew grave and somewhat awkward. “Over this past year, cultivators have been disappearing one after another. We have investigated for a long time without any leads — until tonight, when we happened to lodge at the inn, and even we fell into the same trap.”

The Bureau of Patrol had nearly lost all face. How could they not want to find a clue? Yet they had not anticipated finding it under these circumstances. No wonder Overseer Lu Shen had flown into a rage and charged off to make arrests without even setting a proper plan of action.

Just as everyone’s hearts were trembling with unease, the flute music suddenly shifted — sharp and piercing, drilling straight into their minds.

“This is bad — they must have encountered the mastermind!”

“My head — I can’t take it, I can’t stay here!”

The Bureau of Patrol had not anticipated the flute music to be so formidable. “Retreat quickly — retreat from the forest first!”

“The inn is dangerous — do not return there for now,” Daoist Shanshi warned quickly, scooping up the young child and pulling the youth along.

“Go that way — past there is Xiaohan Town.”

The group pushed through brambles and ran forward, their clothes soaked through with frost and dew. But the moment they burst out of the forest, they all froze — in the darkness, the silhouette of the inn stood there, vague yet unmistakably real.

That vagueness and realness, seen through their eyes, was utterly uncanny.

“How is this possible? We were clearly running in the direction of Xiaohan Town — how did we end up back at the inn?!”

A ghost wall? An array formation?

This time, they had truly encountered a troublesome figure.

Zhan Changfeng also found it unbelievable — but not because they had returned to the inn. Rather, it was because they had clearly been running toward the inn all along. How could anyone say this whole journey had been heading to Xiaohan Town?

When she had followed the others who were bewitched by the flute music, she had already memorized every detail of the route. There was no way she could be wrong.

Was it her error, or theirs?

Zhan Changfeng took a step back and felt a violent pain in her ankle. She looked down — a rotting hand was gripping her ankle tightly.

She stomped down and crushed the decayed hand, but more hands began to push up from the earth — some bare white bone, some still clinging to tendons and skin, some withered and claw-like.

“What is this?! Hmph — demons and evil things dare to run amok!” One person pulled out a talisman and unleashed a sweeping inferno.

But the burning did not cleanse them — it was as though a spring wind had roused withered grass. One rotting corpse after another broke through the soil and lunged at the group.

“Aah!”

Arcane cultivators could only practice spells upon reaching the Prenatal realm. Among those present, aside from Daoist Shanshi, the two Bureau of Patrol cultivators, and a cold-browed woman — all the rest were Postnatal realm qi cultivators: they had qi but no power, and could not resist at all. They were even worse off than Postnatal realm martial cultivators.

Unfortunately, those at the Prenatal realm were already hard-pressed to protect themselves and had no time to save others. In an instant, screams of anguish rang out one after another.

Zhan Changfeng swung her sword and split apart a rotting corpse, but more and more bodies kept surging forth. The hundred-li radius around the inn had seemingly become a burial ground.

She extended her Six Senses outward, sweeping through every blade of grass and tree, every gust of wind and returning current. The discrepancy between her perceptions and those of the others felt like a wrinkled corner she had found — with every inch she searched, a piece of that corner was torn away. She suddenly cried out: “Illusion shattered, truth from false!”

Before the words had even faded, she spun and in a ringing clash of steel, blocked a slashing blade with her sword.

“I did not expect you to be the first to break free from the dream.” A face lurked in the shadows — unmistakably the voice of the inn’s waiter.

Gone was the waiter’s former obsequious manner. His words were now sinister and arrogant.

Zhan Changfeng swept her gaze around them. They were indeed outside the inn. Daoist Shanshi and the others were slashing at empty air, spending their abilities in vain.

But where had these corpses and bones come from? There was only the waiter and the innkeeper here.

The innkeeper stood at the inn’s entrance, watching her with a dark and sunken expression. His mouth did not move, yet waves of flute music emanated from his body.

A flash of cold light — the waiter came at her with a knife, the gale of the slash carrying a vicious, blood-soaked murderous aura.

Zhan Changfeng traced a flower with her sword, sending several crossing streaks of sword light slashing toward him. Knife and sword clashed in the air, sparks flying between them.

The waiter had not expected this person’s swordsmanship to be so exquisite — relying on sword technique alone, they were nearly his equal. He absolutely could not let this one live!

Zhan Changfeng’s mind grew sharp with alarm. If this continued, her physical body would truly collapse entirely.

Suddenly, the waiter spat a mouthful of essence blood onto the blade of his knife. A blazing blood-light erupted from the knife — wicked and vile.

She furrowed her brow. Hmph — a collapse was preferable to certain death.

Pure Yin power released itself from the marrow of her bones. Another crack appeared on the Ink-Jade Archer’s Ring.

The waiter suddenly felt an icy dread that seemed to reach into his very soul. In his shock and confusion, a talisman slammed into his back and exploded in a shower of blood!

“Scoundrel — receive your death!”

It was Daoist Shanshi — he had awakened!

Daoist Shanshi quickly looked toward Zhan Changfeng. “Are you alright, young friend?”

Zhan Changfeng instantly withdrew her Pure Yin power. The crimson hue flashed past in the darkness, unseen by anyone. “I am fine. Be careful — he is trying to flee.”

Daoist Shanshi drew out his horsetail whisk and lashed it at the innkeeper. The innkeeper could not dodge in time — with a crack, the whisk struck him like an iron whip and sent him tumbling to the ground.

The flute music ceased. The two Bureau of Patrol cultivators were the first to wake. Daoist Shanshi called out: “You two — help me capture these two criminals!”

“Damn it.” The waiter cursed under his breath and turned to run.

The two Bureau of Patrol cultivators had worked so hard to find the lead behind the disappearances of so many cultivators — how could they let him go? Together they cut off his escape route. One pulled out an iron claw, surging with true qi, and instantly pierced through the waiter’s collarbone. With a fierce yank, he hauled the man back. The other used a move called Black Tiger Digs the Heart, striking straight for his dantian and crippling his cultivation.

Seeing that things had gone badly, the innkeeper hitched up his robes and fled into the forest. Daoist Shanshi covered ten meters in a single step, raised his palm, and brought it down upon the innkeeper’s crown.

The innkeeper’s body went limp and he fell to the ground.

“Hmm, how is he so…” While Daoist Shanshi was still puzzling over why the man had been so weak, the innkeeper’s body suddenly shriveled up — nothing left but a hollow skin.

From beneath the skin, an animal that resembled a sable yet also a weasel burrowed out. It leaped swiftly into the underbrush. Daoist Shanshi was caught off guard for a moment, and by then he could no longer keep up with it — the creature had escaped.

“What on earth was that thing?!” Not only the Bureau of Patrol, but Zhan Changfeng too was bewildered. She was certain of one thing: from the time they arrived at the inn until she hurled pebbles at the bewitched crowd, she had been clear-headed. She just did not know at which point she had entered the illusion.

The ability to bewitch people without their knowing left a lingering chill in everyone’s hearts. And the one behind such methods was that creature without a name she could put to it.

Daoist Shanshi’s pupils contracted. He shook his head and sighed. “I was wrong — it was not bewitchment. It was sleepwalking!”

“Sleepwalking?!” Zhang Hu exclaimed loudly.

“I once heard tell of a spirit beast called the Dream Marten, which can lure people into acting within their dreams.” He still felt a lingering chill. “But for an entire group to enter a dream together and sleepwalk together — I have never heard of such a thing. This must be a demon with great cultivation!”

A demon?!

The difference between a demon and a spirit beast or ethereal creature was enormous. A demon was essentially an evolved form of a spirit beast or ethereal creature. An ordinary spirit beast or ethereal creature would need to cultivate for hundreds or thousands of years to become a demon.