A Fleeting Dream (4)

Jiang Xue He said he would let Di Ying leave, and Di Ying remained silent. But overnight, the next day, when Jiang Xue He discussed taking her away, she was overly quiet. Based on Jiang Xue He's understanding of her, she seemed to be having second thoughts. Perhaps after the initial fright passed, her conscience stirred, remembering he was her senior brother, and felt it was wrong for her to leave like that. Jiang Xue He felt a slight comfort in his heart.

But he still arranged for her to leave—he didn't need her by his side. Since someone wanted Di Ying to come down the mountain to him, he had to do the opposite. Moreover, he understood Di Ying: she was very timid, and her slight hesitation towards him could not overcome her own self-preservation instinct.

At dusk, Di Ying followed Jiang Xue He back to his room. On the way, they met Daoists and rogue cultivators invited by the Liu Clan to hunt demons; they all warmly greeted Jiang Xue He, and for Di Ying, it was merely a matter of loving the master, loving the dog, without any genuine warmth. If it were any other day, Di Ying would certainly be displeased. But today, her mind was unsettled, and she had no time to care whether others liked her or not. Because her senior brother wanted her to return to his room with him, to help him leave some marks on his body to facilitate his entry into dreams.

Di Ying almost stepped on his heels: "You said before you wanted me to convey a message to Young Miss Liu. If I leave, won't there be no one to help you convey messages? You'll get to spend more time with her." She said indignantly, "She's not nice to me, you shouldn't pay attention to her!"

Jiang Xue He gently said, "If there's nothing, I naturally won't speak to her, keeping three feet of distance."

Di Ying choked for a moment, then said, "But if you lie to me, I won't know. I won't allow you to play with people I don't like!"

Jiang Xue He: "Then every time I want to find her, I'll use a sound transmission talisman to ask for your opinion, alright?"

Di Ying said, "Sound transmission talismans aren't safe! Whether the person talking to me is you or not, I don't dare to trust now. Can't you just, just…" She wanted to say, use direct soul communication.

But Jiang Xue He said, "With a Snow Charm accompanying it, plus a sound transmission talisman. Others don't know how to draw a Snow Charm; if they see this charm, it proves the person speaking is me." He thought for a moment: "However, you have a point, this isn't entirely safe… How about this, the person who chats with you will definitely be me. If it's someone asking for help, saying I'm about to die and need you to save me, then it's definitely fake."

Hearing this, Di Ying's face darkened: "What do you mean? Are you saying I'm a burden, a hindrance, that you don't need me at all, that I can't help you with anything?" Her voice couldn't help but rise: "You previously asked me about Ye Cheng's lingering aura in Old Madam Ye's house, to see if it matched the demonic qi on your body. Now you're saying you don't need me anymore?"

When she got angry, she lost all reason, yelling at him, but Jiang Xue He had long been prepared. The moment her tone rose, Jiang Xue He turned around, covering her mouth with one hand, making her scream as small as a cat's meow. He hugged her waist, lifting her up. Only then did Di Ying realize that during their conversation, they had already entered the courtyard, arriving at the door of his room. He directly carried her into the room. With one hand covering her mouth, the light and shadow shifted before her eyes, and immediately after, Di Ying noticed the candlelight gently flickering; she was leaning against the wooden door, pulled into the room by him.

Her senior brother pressed one hand on her waist, the other covering her mouth. He softly said, "It was I who spoke wrongly." Di Ying's eyes subtly glanced downwards. He silently released the hand around her waist, and the other hand also left her lips. The little girl quietly leaned against the wooden door, head bowed. A hint of anger still lingered on her face, but her eyelashes trembled, and her lips were slightly pursed, clearly a little distracted.

After a moment of silence. Jiang Xue He explained, "I just hugged you because I was afraid you'd trip on the threshold, I didn't mean to be abrupt."

Di Ying suddenly looked up, glaring fiercely at him: "Who knows if you're coveting my beauty!"

Jiang Xue He: "…" His eyes flickered, his eyelashes trembling slightly. He found it both amusing and touched by her temperament. Inside his sleeve, the hand that had just held her tingled slightly; he turned his face and gently coughed.

Jiang Xue He asked, "So, are they similar or not?" Di Ying was confused. He reminded her, "The aura in Old Madam Ye's house and the talisman on my Divine Soul, are they similar?"

Di Ying remained silent for a long time, then nodded. Jiang Xue He's brows relaxed slightly, but a hint of doubt appeared. It seemed he felt something was amiss. Di Ying observed him: What's wrong, is it that the auras being similar is not supposed to happen? Jiang Xue He clearly didn't want to say much to her, only nodding: "Understood. You have done me a great favor; that is enough, thank you."

Di Ying felt the word "thank" was jarring. She grew angry again, pushing him away, not wanting to look up at him in this posture. As she tried to run off, Jiang Xue He reached out and grabbed her wrist. His voice remained gentle: "Have I done something wrong again?"

Di Ying ignored him, struggling to pull her hand away. Jiang Xue He said, "Xiao Ying, do you perhaps want to stay?"

Di Ying immediately retorted, "How could I!" She was startled, as if trying to convince herself, murmuring, "You said it's all troublesome, I certainly can't do anything. The bad guy wants to harm me, and there's a bunch of incomprehensible ghosts; I definitely don't want to stay."

Jiang Xue He: "En."

Di Ying then said, "Your cultivation is high, your abilities are great, you definitely won't die, right?"

Jiang Xue He gently said, "That's right."

She then said, "But with an extra burden, you'd have to worry about protecting me, and that burden would implicate you, which isn't good, right?"

Jiang Xue He chuckled softly: "I never said you were a burden. How long do you plan to hold a grudge against me?" Her hand, held by her senior brother, trembled slightly; he gently touched her pulse. Di Ying's heart stirred at the touch, but his hand had already withdrawn, gathering all ambiguity.

Jiang Xue He said, "You help me leave a charm; I'll see if it works. If it's useful, you won't have to worry about me after you leave."

Di Ying retorted, "I don't worry about you."

Jiang Xue He: "I worry that you worry about me, alright?"

Di Ying: "What kind of nonsense is this!" She grumbled resentfully, but her expression had softened. She turned around; though still a bit troubled and melancholic, when Jiang Xue He pulled her, she no longer resisted.

The two sat cross-legged on the bed, facing each other, entering meditation together for Di Ying to enter Jiang Xue He's Sea of Consciousness. Jiang Xue He said he had to lock himself, changing to a different kind of suggestion. Di Ying drew a "Snow Charm" on his Divine Soul, to see if it could help him remember it was a dream realm when he entered a dream, so he wouldn't lose his mind.

Di Ying agreed. This was her first time in her senior brother's Sea of Consciousness, facing the dark qi on his Divine Soul, enough to suffocate her, to draw a charm. Jiang Xue He comforted her, saying that the Jing Ren Curse and he were one; if he didn't lose control, the curse wouldn't backfire, nor would it harm her.

Drawing a charm on her senior brother's Divine Soul, Di Ying felt a little strange—she knelt before him, borrowing the endless spiritual power in his spiritual pool to draw a charm on him. He sat in meditation amidst the spiritual pool, dark qi swirling around him, his eyelashes long and straight, his features rich and striking, yet clean and sharp. Di Ying's talisman flowed across his brow, emitting a faint blue light, merging with the dark qi on his body. He was unaccustomed to it, his eyelashes trembling continuously, causing Di Ying's hand to tremble as well.

Di Ying knew it was wrong, but a few ripples appeared in her heart. Jiang Xue He looked at her, and Di Ying's fingers trembled. Although her spiritual energy was abundant, she failed several times. Her complexion was poor, and just as Jiang Xue He was about to speak, he heard Di Ying snap, "Close your eyes, don't look at me!"

He was startled, then closed his eyes without a word. Only then did Di Ying breathe a sigh of relief. She tried to dismiss distracting thoughts, carefully drawing the charm for him, praying that the Snow Charm would work after being planted on his Divine Soul. Then came the tense wait. As agreed, after drawing the charm, Di Ying left and returned to her own room. If anything happened, Jiang Xue He would find her. He did not allow her to stay in his room overnight. Although Di Ying felt he was being overly cautious, she thought that this place was eerie, and her senior brother had arrived half a year earlier, so obeying him was fine. Besides, what was the point of staying in his room… he would be sending her away tomorrow anyway.

Jiang Xue He entered the dream as desired. Upon entering the dream realm, his consciousness was slightly muddled; he initially believed himself to be Ye Sha, a mortal in Liu City for fifteen years.

"Young master, it's Mao hour and one quarter, you should go out." The guards outside said. The youth in the room immediately stood up. But as he took two steps, his heart suddenly ached, leaving his mind blank for a moment.

He heard the guards outside exclaim in surprise, "Who lit a lantern so early in the morning?" The young general in the room pushed open the window, casually glancing at the gray sky. The horizon was dim, the sun hidden behind thick clouds, only a reddish glow. In the distance, a sky lantern floated up, its light like a falling star. The sky lantern caught the young general's eye. In an instant, a bolt of lightning streaked across the horizon, his hand clutching the white window sill, he suddenly closed his eyes, his eyelashes trembling violently, remembering everything.

The young girl knelt in his Sea of Consciousness, her fingertips touching his brow, drawing the charm stroke by stroke. She didn't know how much that active touch stimulated his Divine Soul. He had endured with all his might, suppressing his emotions, controlling the Jing Ren Curse so as not to lose composure in front of her, not to startle her. The power of the "Snow Charm" had changed Ye Sha's commands. The young girl's sulky face, the image of her sobbing in his arms, mistaking him for Ye Sha… He remembered it all. He was Jiang Xue He; he had actively entered the dream to investigate the strangeness of this place.

The cold sword was drawn from its sheath. The guards outside waited a long time, not seeing Young General Ye come out, and worriedly pushed open the door to look. They saw the youth standing by the bed, sword in hand, his back tall and slender. Though still as usual, there was something very different about him. Remembering the recent rumors of monsters, they uneasily called out, "Young master…"

The youth suddenly turned, his eyes calm as if nothing mattered. Immediately after, the long sword flew out, killing one guard amidst the other's horror. The two guards fell in a pool of blood, their eyes wide open in death. Jiang Xue He glanced at them, then withdrew his gaze. It was just a dream. If there was a puzzle, he would solve it, and a path of slaughter was also a way to break the deadlock. He was curious, if he killed everyone in the dream, would the Meng Mo Pearl appear?

Father Ye and Mother Ye heard that their son had gone mad and rushed over. What awaited them was a sword through the chest. The two old people stared blankly at the youth standing in a pool of blood before they died. He killed his way through, killing everyone he met; the servants and guards in the Ye family were all slaughtered. He showed no mercy to anyone. Passing by the corpses, he merely glanced at Father Ye and Mother Ye. His eyes were indifferent. These fake parents were identical to his real parents. When he killed his entire family at fourteen, his parents also fell in a pool of blood, cursing him as worse than pigs and dogs.

His parents died with wide-open eyes: "You are a demon of the Duan Sheng Dao! Who are your parents? My child died at birth!" That year, Ye Sha had killed until his eyes were red amidst the blood. He bore many evils alone. Ye Sha that year chuckled, "If they're not my parents, killing them is no big deal." And now in the illusion, Jiang Xue He smiled: "If they are my parents, it is only natural for them to pay the price for me."

He was gentle and indifferent, seeing blood and blades without a hint of mercy. The Meng Mo Pearl peeked into his inner heart, creating an illusion to tempt his weakness, wanting him to fall apart silently? What did he care? He had nothing to care about. Everything that could threaten him had already been killed by him. The obsessions that arose later—those were merely called "Greed."

Xiao Ying thought this dream realm was not scary. She was wrong. The dream realm silently wove a dense net, taking a part of people when they were unaware. What that lost part was, the person themselves did not know. Xiao Ying entered Ye Sha's dream realm; Ye Sha had two choices—either cultivate together with Liu Qing Mi, or become a sacrifice. But in reality, there should not have been this choice, otherwise, the sacrifice of a hundred thousand people in Liu City would not have happened. So, whose will did this choice in the dream come from? How much difference there was between the dream realm and the reality of that year was hard to say. Jiang Xue He just wanted to know what the Meng Mo Pearl truly wanted to take. He would just kill his way through and see—see if the Meng Mo Pearl targeted everyone, or only Jiang Xue He.

In the illusion, everyone was terrified, feeling that Young General Ye had gone mad. From main streets to small alleys, he killed old and young, men and women alike. He showed no mercy, no pity, like a demon. Jiang Xue He slowly drew his sword, walking down the long street, covered in blood, yet his expression was elegant and gentle, as if he were admiring flowers and the moon. The city lord heard of his madness, tried to persuade him with people but failed, tried with soldiers but also failed. Jiang Xue He said nothing, still resolving matters with force. His memories awakened but without cultivation or spiritual power; he was a little unaccustomed at first but quickly adjusted his rhythm, becoming a murderous demon with ease. Perhaps this was his true nature. He bore heavy pressure, pretending to be gentle and harmless, but the feeling of his hands stained with blood, of crushing others' bones, excited him.

In his heart, a voice seemed to tempt him: "Kill, keep killing. Return to your true form. Doesn't Xiao Ying like Ye Sha? She might not be afraid to see your true form, she might even like it. You're so skilled at killing, so natural at harming others; you never cared about their lives or deaths, why pretend to be a good person normally? Anyway, you won't become an immortal in this life, why not become a great demon lord…"

The Snow Charm caught something, and once again glowed in his heart. At the same time, a sky lantern rose in the sky. Everyone was shocked by the demon's terror, bringing countless soldiers to surround Young General Ye, only to see him gently look up at the sky lantern. Jiang Xue He chuckled, blood splattered on his eyelashes, his pupils dark. He gently said to the voice in his heart, "Meng Mo Pearl?"

The voice paused, hoarsely saying, "I am your Heart Demon…"

Jiang Xue He chuckled softly: "I have no Heart Demon." His tone was gentle: "Do you think someone like me would allow myself to lose control, allow myself to have a Heart Demon? Do you want to lure out my uncontrolled side? If I truly had a Heart Demon, what do you think it would look like?" Several figures ambushed him from behind; Jiang Xue He turned to face them. The tempting voice, perhaps fearing his sharpness, dared not speak again.

Jiang Xue He chuckled softly. Coward. So afraid of him? How interesting.

Without restraint, without pretense, Jiang Xue He killed with leisure and elegance. Unafraid of startling anyone, he could fully display his true self. He entered the royal palace, killing the city lord. As everyone trembled and fled, he plunged his sword into the frail Liu Qing Mi. Liu Qing Mi recoiled, tears streaming down her face: "No, you are not like this, what kind of monster are you…"

Jiang Xue He blinked. As the sword pierced through her clothes and into the young girl's chest, a ray of light suddenly shone from behind Liu Qing Mi, tightly wrapping around her body. Liu Qing Mi shrieked, pulled by that force and slammed against a nearby pillar, falling unconscious. Jiang Xue He's sword pursued that invisible spiritual power. The opponent did not flee but revealed their form. Appearing amidst the corpse-strewn palace to protect Liu Qing Mi was none other than—

Jiang Xue He slowly said, "So it's Young Li Bu, long time no see." The black-clad youth who appeared was Li Bu. Li Bu glanced at the unconscious Liu Qing Mi, then provocatively looked at Jiang Xue He: "You actually woke up in the illusion? What a pity, I didn't get to see you being tricked and manipulated."

Jiang Xue He was indifferent, his tall figure moved, his sword pointing at Li Bu. Li Bu immediately retreated, angrily saying, "Who do you think you are? You've lost your spiritual power, yet you dare to oppose me? I can kill you anytime!"

Jiang Xue He: "It seems you entered this illusion realm early, and even made a deal with the master of the illusion realm. Let me guess, you went to such great lengths not to wait for me, or have you already obtained the Meng Mo Pearl?"

Li Bu smiled: "You guess."

Jiang Xue He: "I'll know once I kill you."

Li Bu: "You are just a mortal now, what will you use to kill me!"

Jiang Xue He raised an eyebrow: "Let's see."

While the great demon lord Jiang Xue He was slaughtering everywhere in the dream, Di Ying yawned on her bed. She dared not sleep, having promised her senior brother to meditate and cultivate. But she restlessly sighed, feeling unsettled at the thought of being sent away tomorrow. Di Ying murmured, "I wonder if the Snow Charm will help senior brother; if he doesn't wake up, what will happen to the dream realm?" She tilted her head, offering herself a suggestion: "Should I go in and take a look?"

No sooner said than done, Di Ying jumped out of bed and ran to Jiang Xue He's room. While Jiang Xue He was killing without mercy in the dream, in reality, Di Ying stealthily climbed onto his bed, softly calling, "Senior Brother? I think I'm sleepwalking. I'll just look at you for a moment… I won't do anything else."