Chapter 502: Reality and Magic

That's right, Sun Fuping died in the Great Fang Hu's illusion, so his soul was naturally very likely to be detained in the Soul Village.

It looked like he would never get liberation.

At this time, He Lingchuan began to feel his breath running out.

Holding his breath for too long, if he didn't return to the water surface, he would be kicked out of the dream.

The red giant shadow at the bottom of the water moved with ease, but in reality, every swing advanced it dozens of zhang.

In just two breaths, it disappeared into the extreme deep cold.

He Lingchuan also tried his best to swim back to the surface, exposing his head to take big breaths.

Just a little bit more, and he would have suffocated in the deep water, creating a new way to die for himself in Panlongcheng.

The spider web net was still hanging on the stalactite, but the unknown roots had actually reached here, wrapping the head inside several times, and sucking its power like it was drinking jelly, so the strange head hadn't been able to grow a body yet.

Fortunately, these roots were very thin and didn't suck it dry.

He Lingchuan grabbed the net and pulled, and the roots snapped in response, with only a few still wrapped around the strange head.

These fine roots seemed to only be tough against the strange head.

It was shivering, and seeing He Lingchuan appear, it loudly questioned him:

"What happened below, my main body, why can't I sense my main body!"

It would be strange if He Lingchuan paid attention to it. He looked up at the rock wall again; the monster's body had completely become an empty bag, but the root system was still there.

He thought for a moment, simply swam to the edge of the rock wall, and climbed up along the roots.

What kind of plant was this, eating even monsters? He wanted to find out.

Interestingly, he climbed up and discovered that the crack the root system penetrated was very large, enough for a person to drill through.

Climbing up along the increasingly thick and tangled root system, and then crawling parallel for a short distance, he actually saw light!

Almost at the ground? No, ahead was water again, and the water was clear, feeling warm when soaked in it.

Hot, hot spring? He Lingchuan swam out of this cave, and saw creek fish playing and water lilies in full bloom.

He even heard the laughter of children.

Floating to the surface and looking, familiar scenery jumped into his eyes—

The small bridge and stone railing by the lake, the wide square opposite, the shops on both sides of the street.

He turned his head and saw a green tree growing by the water, lush and green.

This wasn't, this wasn't—

Panlongcheng South Gate Square?! He had clearly been fighting monsters in the underwater cave on the northwest side of the Chipa Plateau earlier; how did he climb up along the tree roots and return to Panlongcheng? He Lingchuan wiped the water off his face, countless question marks popping up in his heart.

The children on the shore ran over to watch him, and an old man also strolled over, extending a helping hand: "Come up quickly, did you drink too much?"

If not for being drunk, who would jump into the river here?

He Lingchuan thanked him for his kindness and jumped onto the shore himself.

"Bat, bat!" A boy pointed at his net and shouted, "This bat looks like a monkey."

"What else?" The strange head's appearance was even more terrifying and eye-catching; why didn't these children mention it?

The boy asked him: "Can they fly?"

"Yes." He Lingchuan moved the net in front of him. "Besides the bat, what else do you see?"

"Nothing. Hmm, why do you put a big rock in the net?"

"Rock?" There was no rock in his net.

"How could it be the Soul Village!" The strange head in the net also spoke, its tone shocked. "You were clearly sleeping, why aren't you in the dreamland?"

"My fault?" He Lingchuan was also very surprised. This creature could accurately say the two words "Soul Village," which meant it wasn't a native of the Panlong world.

Was this guy an invasive alien species? No wonder the red giant shadow drifting outside the Soul Village would take action; it seemed to have always acted as the guardian of this Soul Village.

The surrounding children were chattering, and He Lingchuan handed them a few copper coins: "Go buy candy."

The children ran away happily.

He Lingchuan got some peace and quiet, and only then had time to carefully examine the green tree in front.

The tree roots penetrating the rock wall, was it this Jula tree? At least from the position, it should be it.

He Lingchuan looked down from the railing and discovered that the cave underwater was gone.

That's right, he had come and gone here no less than dozens of times, the riverbank stone corridor was very neat, when had there ever been a rock cave? Did this tree break through time and space, bringing him directly here from the northwest of the Chipa Plateau? Hmm, or conversely, did it extend its roots directly from here to the cave in the northwest of Chipa, in order to catch a monster for a gluttonous feast? Looking at the small Jula tree again, the originally thin trunk had become thick, enough for him to wrap his hands around; its height had also jumped up a bit, now one and a half zhang from the ground, and the tree crown had begun to spread, only then having a little bit of the ancestor's bearing.

This Jula tree was different from all other plants in Panlongcheng; it grew from the seed of the Treasure Tree King he brought from the outside world, and itself possessed the power to span the blue sky, so it could sense external intrusion?

Did it eating the monster mean that the nutrition it needed to grow was also... underworldly? The questions in He Lingchuan's heart rose and fell, but he had the most important thing to do now.

Picking up the net, he rushed to a shop on the street and said to the old man guarding inside: "Uncle Li, lend me your backyard!"

Uncle Li was weaving things with grass, not even lifting his head: "Go ahead."

This was where Sun Fuling bought mourning ice lanterns in winter; since she couldn't make ice lanterns in summer, the old man would weave grasshoppers, small horses, and other handicrafts with bamboo and grass to sell, which were very popular with children.

His backyard was empty, with only bamboo strips, rattan grass, and various sundries placed there.

He Lingchuan lifted the monster's head to face himself: "What are you?"

"What exactly happened to my main body?" Since being chopped off, the strange head had been in shock.

Everything within sight was already beyond the scope of its imagination.

"Gone." He Lingchuan said concisely. "If you want to follow in your main body's footsteps, I'll fulfill your wish right now."

Interestingly, the roots he had torn off inside the cave were now tightly wrapped around the strange head, neither sucking it dry nor leaving it.

The three-eyed human head, still tightly wrapped by several tree roots—this look was hard to describe even with the word "eerie."

But this strange head hadn't grown a body again, and He Lingchuan intuitively felt it had to do with the Jula tree roots.

"No, no!" The strange head reacted strongly. "I don't want to die."

"Why did you look for me?"

"Someone marked you as an offering." The strange head confessed. "We like young and strong divine souls. Delicious!"

"Who?"

"I don't know who he is." The strange head still carried its former arrogance. "We don't care."

"Where is this person?" He Lingchuan's brows twitched. "I want the specific location, and his appearance!"

This ghost thing came from the real world, which meant there was someone outside dealing with him!

Good, very good.

The clue had delivered itself to his door.

"You won't kill us, right?"

"Depends on how you cooperate."

"Three hundred zhang to your west, Tongfu Inn; looks thin and gaunt, face very long, the kind that would fall over in a gust of wind."

He Lingchuan picked up the net and slipped back to the street, meeting two patrol guards passing by.

He separated the monkey-bats and handed them to the patrol guards, asking them to take them to the Dan Office and give them to A-Luo.

As for the head wrapped in tree roots, He Lingchuan jumped onto the Jula tree and wedged it into a tree fork.

Anyway, in the eyes of the Panlongcheng natives, this was just a big rock. As long as no one was interested and the children couldn't reach it, it would be fine.

"No no no, don't put me here!" The strange head felt the Jula tree's aura and was terrified.

Wasn't this the tree demon that had sucked it into a dried corpse earlier?

"Help me watch it." He Lingchuan patted the Jula tree trunk. "Don't eat it yet, I still have use for it."

The Jula tree's wisdom was fully reflected in the Treasure Tree King; although this one was still in its juvenile stage, when He Lingchuan was grabbing the net in the cave, it didn't fight him for it, showing that this little guy was very spiritual.

Afterward, He Lingchuan found an empty corner, sat down, closed his eyes to rest, and relaxed his whole body: "Wake up, wake up, wake..."

He used to think that actively leaving the dreamland could only be done by suicide, but the feeling wasn't very pleasant; later he thought it wasn't right, he was the owner of the broken blade, why couldn't he come and go freely? He tried a few more times, and sure enough, by concentrating his spirit and demanding to log off like this, he could quickly return to reality.

When the Hundred-Faced Nightmare was dragged into the deep sea by the red giant shadow outside the Soul Village, almost no one noticed that a star in the eastern night sky suddenly shone brightly in reality, flashing rapidly a few times.

Just those few times.

Then, everything seemed to return to normal.

￥￥￥￥￥

Tongfu Inn.

With a "click," the idol on the table suddenly broke into several pieces.

The curse master, who had been chanting with his eyes closed, suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood, unable to believe: "Lord Hundred-Faces? How is this possible!"

Answering him was the sound of the idol fragments shattering all over the table.

Nightmares also had strengths and weaknesses. The Hundred-Faced Nightmare's predecessor was an immortal soul; its power was undeniable, whether by its own kind or by humans.

This nightmare rarely attacked, but never failed. It was precisely because he firmly believed in the power of Hundred-Faces that he couldn't believe what he saw.

Even the monarch of the Mang Kingdom, a generation of heroic rulers, died under its hands. This He fellow was just a commoner, completely without Yuan power to protect his body; why did he defeat Hundred-Faces? This was as absurd as a six-year-old child defeating a boxing champion in the ring.

But facts speak louder than words. No matter how shocked the curse master was, he had to plan his next step.

The room door was kicked open with a bang, scaring the curse master greatly, and he saw a guest from the next room step in and say: "You failed?"

The curse master was furious: "You, why didn't you ask before entering?"

This person stared at him and asked: "Did it succeed, or not?"

"It didn't succeed, it was broken. The other party is very fierce, I'm afraid, I'm afraid they will chase after us." The curse master felt short of breath and could only stand up unsteadily. "Do you want to stay?"

There were fragments in the spat-out blood; his heart pulse was already injured. The best thing he should do was lie down and recuperate, and he wouldn't be able to get up for at least half a month, otherwise, it would leave future troubles.

This was a curse backlash; light would lead to injury and disability, heavy would lead to death. But the curse master couldn't care about this. Fierce as Hundred-Faces was, it had gone and not returned; if he stayed, he would likely be in great danger.

"You bunch of sorcerers are really unreliable." The other party propped one hand against the wall, and a giant shadow moved in the darkness behind him, with a fishy wind blowing in his face. "You go, leave this place to me."

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 503 =====