Chapter 258: A Dream Awakens to Enemies on All Sides

"Long Qi, the fate between you and me has ended; from now on, we have no more ties!" Lingxiang said, turning half of her face back. Her hood obscured her eyes, revealing only her delicate features. After finishing this sentence, she resolutely turned her head away and left with the person beside her.

At this moment, Long Qi lay prone on the ground, seemingly having lost all strength in his body, yet he still desperately propped himself up, reaching out his hand as if he could keep Lingxiang by doing so.

"Lingxiang!" Long Qi shouted loudly, but it was all in vain; he could only watch helplessly as Lingxiang was taken away, unable to do anything at all.

The trembling arm supporting his body finally could not bear the weight, and Long Qi collapsed to the ground with a thud. Having exhausted every ounce of his strength, he could no longer move.

Even so, he kept his eyes fixed on Lingxiang's gradually receding figure, muttering incessantly:

"Lingxiang... Lingxiang..."

"Lingxiang... Lingxiang..."

Long Qi's chest heaved as he rambled. He felt an unbearable discomfort throughout his body, as if he were falling into the clouds, unable to muster a shred of strength.

Just as he was drenched in sweat and filled with anxiety, he suddenly heard a series of noisy sounds, accompanied by an inexplicable sense of oppression.

"Lingxiang!"

Long Qi sat up in a start, eyes wide open, gasping for air. It took him a long while to regain his senses.

"It was a dream..."

A sigh allowed Long Qi to relax. He felt secretly relieved, telling himself it was fortunate that it had been a dream. But just as he let his guard down, pain struck him suddenly, so intense that he fell back onto the bed.

Only then did Long Qi discover that his entire body was wrapped in fine cloth, though it did not look like Lingxiang's handiwork.

How to put it? Perhaps he understood Lingxiang too well. According to her, as long as the cloth stayed wrapped, that was enough. Therefore, every time Lingxiang bandaged his wounds, there were knots everywhere, whereas the cloth on his body now was wrapped with perfect tension, without any sense of clutter.

But when did he pass out? Where did Lingxiang go?

Long Qi tried hard to recall, but only felt dizzy and parched. He wanted to drink some water, but he was completely powerless, lying paralyzed on the bed, feeling extremely miserable.

At this moment, Long Qi grew puzzled again. Why would he have such a dream out of nowhere? Who was the person who took Lingxiang away in the dream?

All dreams are the opposite! Lingxiang would never go with anyone else!

Long Qi comforted himself this way and secretly blamed himself for worrying needlessly. But just then, he felt that same sense of oppression from the dream again.

Somehow, ever since coming out of the Yunmeng Shuijing, Long Qi's five senses had become very sharp. Even when Huiwu had launched a sneak attack earlier, it was he who reacted first, blocking a claw for Lingxiang.

That was the same feeling as back then! Could it be...

Long Qi hurriedly sat up again. He remembered that they had encountered Bai Wuchang earlier. If that was the case, how could he be here? Where was everyone else?

Just as Long Qi was puzzled, he suddenly heard a "clattering" sound outside the room, as if something had been knocked over, followed by a series of tremors.

Could there be danger nearby?

Long Qi became alert immediately. Even though his wounds were still throbbing and his body felt uncomfortably hot, he forced himself to get up, threw on his clothes, and stumbled to open the door.

Long Qi naturally did not know where this strange courtyard was, but he saw Zhao Wuyang at the courtyard gate. What was strange was why Zhao Wuyang was staring outside the gate without moving.

What was outside the gate? Why was it so noisy?

Long Qi let out a long breath, adjusted his breathing, and approached quietly. What he saw shocked him—the area just a short distance outside the gate was packed with demonic creatures!

No wonder he had that feeling earlier; there really was danger!

However, thinking that a Dharma Array must have been cast here, which was why the demonic creatures could not get close, Long Qi sighed when he saw Zhao Wuyang's bewildered expression. He forced himself to gather his strength and moved slowly toward him, then suddenly reached out and covered his mouth when he got close.

Feeling Zhao Wuyang jump in his arms, Long Qi couldn't help but feel a pang of pity. Zhao Wuyang was still young; seeing so many ferocious and evil things must have terrified him.

"Shh! Don't be afraid, it's me. Don't make a sound!" Long Qi comforted him.

Hearing it was Long Qi, Zhao Wuyang finally felt a little relieved, but upon feeling the intense heat from his hand, he became nervous again.

Before Chengxin Zhenren went into seclusion, he had said that it would be troublesome if Long Qi developed a fever. Wasn't that exactly what was happening now?

It was all his own fault. He had panicked over just a few demonic monsters and completely forgotten to feed Long Qi water and change his medicine. Now look, he had caused Long Qi to develop a fever.

His master had never taught him the medical arts! If only Lingxiang were here, but...

Looking at Long Qi, who was covered in fine beads of sweat, Zhao Wuyang felt deeply self-reproachful, but he didn't know what to do at the moment.

Seeing Zhao Wuyang's concerned and nervous expression, Long Qi just smiled and said it was nothing.

"I have wounds on my body, and they aren't shallow. Even with medicine applied, a fever is normal. As long as the wounds don't fester or ooze, there's no need to worry." Long Qi comforted Zhao Wuyang this way, feeling a sense of pride—this was something Lingxiang had taught him!

Speaking of which, where was Lingxiang? With such an upheaval outside, it wasn't like her character to not come out and watch the excitement!

Hearing Long Qi ask this, Zhao Wuyang briefly recounted the sequence of events, but Long Qi frowned as he listened.

They had encountered Bai Wuchang several times on this journey. Although they had escaped by luck, it was dangerous nonetheless. What could be so important that it had to be dealt with right now?

Zhao Wuyang felt that Long Qi was a bit different. In the past, whenever he heard anything related to Lingxiang, he would be very concerned, perhaps even jump up, but the current Long Qi looked very calm.

Long Qi was naturally worried; one could say he was burning with anxiety. But with demonic creatures surrounding them outside, given his current condition, being anxious was of no use. Rather than worrying in vain, it was better to calm down and think of a solution.

With demonic creatures surrounding the courtyard and Chengxin Zhenren in seclusion, this was the time when someone needed to guard the formation. If the monsters really broke through the array, the only ones who could move in this courtyard were Zhao Wuyang and his own half-crippled self.

But fortunately, it was Chengxin Zhenren who had come, which made Long Qi heave a huge sigh of relief.

Lingxiang had once told him that although the Yuanqing Sect was led by Shangqing Zhenren and managed by Qianyuan Zhenren, if one were to truly discuss the depth of their Daoist cultivation, only this Senior Uncle Chengxin was the most formidable.

The reason Chengxin Zhenren rarely concerned himself with sect affairs and only held the position of teaching was so that he could devote his heart and soul to cultivation, thus being able to confront danger when it arrived.

And according to Lingxiang, Chengxin Zhenren was the one with the most outstanding Spirit Root aptitude among her several senior brothers. If he had another hundred years or so, he might even catch up to the previous Sect Leader.

Therefore, even though Chengxin Zhenren was in seclusion, this Dharma Array must be extremely solid, not something that could be compared to the half-baked Array Formations of Lingxiang.

But for Chengxin Zhenren to personally take action this time, could it be that some major event was about to happen?