Chapter 107: 127, 128 The Tigers and Wolves of the North Land Finally Descend, the Dream Unintentionally Recreates the Calamity (Big

North Land, July.

The great river surged; Song Cheng strolled along the riverbank, with his sister-in-law at his side.

The two were still searching for Yun E, but it was as if Yun E had vanished, and no one knew where she had gone.

At this time, even though summer had arrived, the weather still lacked any sense of warmth, instead permeated by strands of eerie, chilling air.

Song Cheng closed his eyes; within his Heart Eye, those deep pits in the stark white world rose up like twisted deep-sea seaweed.

However, now that he knew the hierarchy of the Ghosts, the panic in his heart regarding these things had diminished significantly.

Another continent had once suffered destruction, and with that precedent, he, the one following behind, could see things more clearly.

In the blink of an eye, more than a month had passed since Su Mengzhen came to the An Mansion.

The two came here every day to search for Yun E, yet they never found any trace of her.

Su Mengzhen did not intend to wait any longer; today, while returning, she proposed her departure.

"If you, little Song, find Yun E's whereabouts, you can have Xiao Yu'er find me, and I will rush over as quickly as possible."

Song Cheng also knew that once the Yunhe opened, Yun E would be like a fish entering the vast sea, extremely difficult to find, so he said, "Many people in the Su Family want me to go to the Imperial Capital to handle matters."

Su Mengzhen said, "Except for me and Xiao Yu'er, no one in the Su Family knows your current level. Drag it out a bit longer; it won't be too late to go after we have passed the tribulation and consolidated our realms."

"The Imperial Capital..." Song Cheng hesitated for a moment and asked, "What is it actually like?"

Su Mengzhen said, "Prosperous, luxurious; compared to that place, the North Land is like a destitute village. My mortal descendants are all in the Imperial Capital..."

"Descendants?" Song Cheng was stunned for a moment.

Su Mengzhen stared at him.

Song Cheng explained, "I just didn't expect that Sister Su already had offspring."

Su Mengzhen said, "Every member of a noble family needs to leave behind descendants; otherwise, once one is forgotten, perhaps one can never return."

Song Cheng asked curiously, "Even if one is not contemplated, can't one walk into the prosperous world oneself and seek out some believers?"

Su Mengzhen gazed at a certain spot, slowly shook her head, and said, "Xiao Yu'er lied to you before, saying she swam over from the Ghost River. That is because she doesn't remember at all, nor does she know how she came here. But... I remember."

She sighed softly, and a complex emotion appeared in her eyes.

It was as if she were reminiscing, as if she still had lingering fears, as if she were terrified.

Song Cheng said, "The road to get here must have been very difficult."

Su Mengzhen said, "It wasn't difficult; rather, there was no road at all. This world is not flat, but more like it was stitched together from various rags amidst a mass of chaos."

"During the time of the great catastrophe, anyone who still had a glimmer of life did not want to take this path. But my Su Family had no way left to live... We carried the Ice Coffin and walked for a very, very long time, for over a dozen years, before we accidentally arrived here."

"But many, many clansmen were lost along the way... and others died, though I don't know how."

"At that time, Xiao Yu'er was almost always sleeping in the Ice Coffin and had completely forgotten, but I remember..."

Song Cheng was startled: "Is that destroyed continent of yours connected to our side?"

Su Mengzhen said, "Let's put it this way: even if there is a wasteland between continents, it cannot be connected; if you really want to walk it, you are completely gambling with your life."

"That is a road without direction, a boundless road, an absolutely fair road; anyone who enters it is gambling with their life just the same, and the success rate is perhaps not even one in ten thousand."

"In that place, all experience becomes invalid; my Su Family escaped to this side, but more noble families could only sleep in the depths of their original land."

"Many of the noble families in the Great Shang today are indigenous."

"As for whether they really escaped from that continent like us... I have never communicated with them, nor do I know."

"Noble families inherently lack trust in one another."

"However, leaving behind descendants, strengthening the family, and letting the families below connect with each other—this can also form a superficial peace."

"And the more people who remember you, the greater the possibility of your survival."

"Even if the Ice Coffin sleeps on the other shore, as long as one is contemplated by others, the Soul can come over."

"If the Soul can come over, there is no need to take risks... because even if it is just possession, one can still live on."

Song Cheng was silent.

Su Mengzhen said, "I am returning to the Ice Coffin first."

"Hmm." Song Cheng nodded; he truly did not know when he would be able to encounter Yun E.

Several days later... Su Mengzhen left behind many Pill formulas, gifted them to Tong Niangzi, and then drifted away.

Song Cheng saw her off to outside the city, watching the mist rising gloomily in all directions, and could not help but feel another surge of curiosity and fear toward the unknown in his heart.

Amidst the chaos, a world stitched together from various rags.

A road that never has a direction, where even if a powerful person enters, the survival rate is the same as that of a mortal.

A destroyed continent, powerful people buried and forgotten... This was just the world that his sister-in-law had seen.

What about the things she hadn't seen?

He looked up at the sky, and for the first time, a sense of insignificance at "gazing into the universe" arose in his heart, as well as a fear of "time."

What exactly was this land beneath his feet, what exactly had happened here, and what exactly had existed here? Was humanity truly the protagonist of this continent? Is this an Avici Hell? Was this originally a world of Ghosts?

A world of Ghosts, like the world of humans.

In the world of humans, humans are still insignificant.

In the world of Ghosts, are the Ghosts that can easily slaughter ordinary people actually also insignificant? Song Cheng discovered that he could not continue thinking about it.

The more he thought, the more afraid he became.

He turned back to the city, walked a few steps, and suddenly felt his eyes ache inexplicably.

But after a short while, they returned to normal.

A woman in green, with black hair hanging to the ground, walked along the eerie riverbank; she had been drawn here by a certain aura that attracted her.

She could faintly feel that the source of that aura could bring her great benefits.

Therefore, she wanted to come and annex it.

"Unification" and "merging with one another" are the instincts of a Ghost.

However, the source of the aura was interrupted right here.

As the woman in green was searching, she suddenly saw a village by the riverbank.

Subconsciously, she drifted into the village.

The next instant, the village burst into flames.

Amidst the raging red fire, a charred, carbonized corpse crawled out from within.

In a flash, the fire surrounded her.

The woman in green, however, did not care.

How could water fear fire?

She exerted her power to devour it, but immediately discovered that the power of this fire was actually stronger than her own.

And because of the relationship where water overcomes fire, a strange balance was achieved.

The woman in green stood in the great fire of the village.

Water and fire tugged at each other, the edges rippling, expanding and retracting, slowly balancing. The fire could not devour the woman in green, and the woman in green could not break free.

In the darkness.

Someone was whispering.

"When the northern Yunhe was being opened, a Ghost was accidentally released, and that Ghost is currently devouring the Earth-Bound Single Ghost we carefully prepared." A grim voice spoke, as solemn as cold frost and snow.

"And then."

Another voice, even more piercing than ice and frost, spoke; even though it was a question, it carried a tone devoid of any worldly warmth.

"I discovered that the Ghost is a water Ghost; she swallowed the ghost hair, so I... could lead her to the conflicting Double Ghost."

"The result."

"The result... the water Ghost and the fire Ghost are twisted together, and neither can run away."

"Dig the Yunhe first."

"Understood, this is a major project. Besides, no one can eat the Double Ghost now; they are all stuck together."

"The timing has not yet arrived."

"Hmm, in a few days, I must go to Jiangnan to take a look; the water there connects to the sea, and the situation is extremely complex."

The two voices stopped abruptly and urgently.

In the wind, there was still the sound of ghost weeping.

Several days later... Song Cheng sat in the main hall.

Today was already the twenty-sixth time his eyes had felt sore.

And every time the soreness occurred, a burning sensation would rise simultaneously.

This was not the first time he had encountered such a thing, and combined with the fact that he had searched the upper and lower reaches of the Yunhe for over a month without finding Yun E, he had a rough guess... Yun E had encountered another Ghost.

But last time, he was still able to dig through the waterway and help Yun E escape.

But this time, he didn't even know where Yun E was, so he could only pray that Yun E was alright.

Song Cheng had a good mindset.

At worst, he would go blind again.

Therefore, before going blind, he lived his life with even more enthusiasm.

Taking care of the children;

Going shopping with Xiao Yu'er and eating all kinds of delicious food; taking Ying'er to the training grounds, while also giving pointers to Zhao Hua, who had long been immersed in the training grounds, and the generals under his command;

Circulating the "Xinhu Danti Gong" and then clipping off some white hair to grind into medicinal powder, then handing it to Tong Niangzi and Zhao Hua, telling them this was "new White Medicine material," while also distributing his own portrait of the Youhu to his relatives... Zhushan Temple originally had a tradition of revering foxes, and the fox immortal Su Ningyu grandly introduced this new fox immortal.

Slowly, the portrait of Song Cheng's Two-Tail Youhu, as well as the "White Medicine," also spread out.

Because it was too shameful, and for other considerations, apart from Tong Niangzi, even Zhao Hua did not know that this white-furred fox was his big brother; however, Zhao Hua was already happy enough.

There seemed to be an upper limit to the amount of White Medicine a Xuan Realm expert could produce; once it exceeded the limit, the medicinal effect of the "white fur" would be much worse.

The effect of Su Ningyu's white fur was already quite poor, and she liked long hair and did not want to get a haircut anymore.

Zhao Hua suffered greatly from this.

Yet the new batch of "White Medicine" had excellent effects.

It was just that Zhao Hua began to unexpectedly discover that his big brother's hair was getting shorter.

But a normal person would not think that Song Cheng's hair was getting shorter because it was used to make "White Medicine."

Time flew by, and autumn arrived.

One day, Song Cheng did not go to the training grounds; his eyes finally went blind once again.

In those pitch-black eye sockets, it felt as if a mass of "ice and fire" had been stuffed, both cold and hot.

If his physique had not entered the Xuan Realm, this alone might have caused him severe injury.

The "ice and fire" could instantly "freeze" and "cook" the body of an ordinary Martial Artist, yet these two eyeballs remained in Song Cheng's eyes.

He could only keep them closed at all times, while once again wrapping his eyes with a black cloth.

He thought it was over, but after a few days, he actually started having nightmares... In the nightmare, he dreamed of returning to Tanghe Village, chopping firewood in the courtyard at sunset, suddenly feeling alert that the Young Mistress of the house had not returned home, so he shouted everywhere, "Mistress, Mistress," but no one responded.

He dropped the axe, left the courtyard, and walked everywhere, shouting.

The sunset was like blood, the village was deathly silent, not even the sound of chickens or dogs could be heard, the thatched roof ridges looked as if they had been brushed with scarlet blood; in the distance, there was a burnt smell, as if a fire was burning.

Song Cheng woke up with a start, gasping for air, which also woke up the wife who was sleeping with him.

Such days lasted for more than half a month.

Song Cheng thought it was nothing, but in fact... his nightmares had made him somewhat muddled, just like an "ordinary person running a high fever."

Consequently, he stopped going anywhere and just lay on the couch, not allowing A Ting or Xiao An to come near him, only letting Xiao Yu'er come to deliver some food to him every day.

【119】 He knew that Yun E must have inexplicably encountered big trouble.

He knew that Yun E must have inexplicably encountered major trouble.

And because he was also connected to Yun E, he was also dragged into it.

The powerful Mr. Song, the Blade King of the North Land, also became a patient because of this.

Zhao Hua placed some seasonal fruits in the Neizhai.

The An Family did not actually care for things like fruit, but what mattered was that Zhao Hua had come to visit.

In the main hall, it was An Chenyu who received Zhao Hua.

"Sister-in-law An, is Big Brother alright?"

"He's fine. You know what he's like; he has many secrets, but he will certainly turn danger into safety."

"That's true," Zhao Hua laughed, "Big Brother is always calm and composed; I really cannot compare to him."

He thought of how at the beginning of this year in that restaurant, Big Brother had actually gotten drunk and sang wildly... just to pursue a fox spirit; if it were him, he couldn't do it.

"You are a normal person, your Big Brother is not normal," An Chenyu remarked speechlessly.

Zhao Hua laughed aloud: "Sister-in-law, you are wrong. Big Brother is what you call extraordinary, not abnormal."

He shook his head slowly and sighed: "Some high towers, once you go up, you cannot come down. Some identities, once you put them on, you become a different person. Big Brother... he is not bound by these things; I truly admire him, and I also envy him."

"In this world, there is only one Big Brother; why belittle yourself?"

"Sister-in-law is right, there is only one Big Brother."

Zhao Hua lowered his head and said softly.

Afterwards, the two chatted for a while longer. Zhao Hua rose, about to leave, when he suddenly said again, "Sister-in-law, in a few days, I may have to lead troops to sweep the Ghost servants outside the city again. At that time, Chuchu will bring Ling Xue to disturb you again, Sister-in-law.

Sister-in-law, if you remember, tell Big Brother... my military strategy was all taught by him, and I reached where I am today because he led me. This kindness, I can remember for several lifetimes."

Having said this, he turned and left.

In the An Mansion, he was a smiling little brother, but upon walking out the gate of the An Mansion, his temperament changed completely—bloodthirsty and stern, cunning as a fox.

Zhao Hua vaulted onto his horse and headed toward Huahaifang.

Upon returning to the workshop, he walked straight into the depths of White Camel Manor.

A trusted aide stepped forward and said: "General, it is about time."

Zhao Hua gave a cold laugh and stepped into the inner room.

In the room, three people were tied up.

These three people had come from the south two months ago. One claimed to be Gao Xunle, a man from the Gao family of Shenwu Town of the Six Towns; the other two were named Zhao Han and Zhao Mian, who said they were from Dahuang Town of the Six Towns.

These three claimed that the southern Six Towns had actually already rebelled, but they looked down on the current leader, so they thought of Hanping Prefecture in the North Land, and having heard that Hanping Prefecture had an iron army sweeping away Ghost servants, they thought of coming to defect.

These three were very capable; Zhao Mian and Zhao Han said they could train the "Ghost-Faced Strange Cavalry."

And the "Ghost-Faced Strange Cavalry" was a terrifying cavalry unit that served as the sharp blade among the Six Towns; their collective charge was like a steel beast crushing the earth. Back when the Six Towns attacked Beixue Zhou, the Hall Master of the Six-and-a-Half Hall led a great army and was directly crushed by this cavalry.

At that time, if Song Cheng had been present, he would have discovered that the moment this "Ghost-Faced Strange Cavalry" charged, the military momentum was almost frozen, and the strongest momentum was concentrated at the very front of the charge.

Water has no constant shape, and an army has no constant momentum... yet the "Ghost-Faced Strange Cavalry" condensed a "constant momentum."

This was extremely terrifying.

And Zhao Hua's reaction was to give them three hundred Tiger Leopard Cavalry to see if they could train them.

As it turned out, they really did train them.

The Zhao brothers praised the Tiger Leopard Cavalry endlessly, saying that the cavalry's own stats were even stronger than the original cavalry of the Six Towns.

Once those three hundred Tiger Leopard Cavalry put on the ghost masks, their overall strength became even more terrifying.

Gao Xunle, on the other hand, unexpectedly possessed a complex network of interpersonal relationships and was extremely clever by nature. In Zhao Hua's view, although this man's use of troops was not as good as Big Brother's, it was also extremely strong. One night, he spoke with the three of them. These three urged him to go south.

They said that the troops of the southern lands were actually not much; those guarding the fertile lands were really just a group of sheep.

The North Land often encountered Ghost servants, and it was such a harsh environment that had tempered a true Tiger-Wolf Army.

The three also said that when clashing with the noble families, the noble families felt just like that; those experts were blown up to be flashy, but once charged by a great army, they died just the same. And the reason the Six Towns failed was because the Six Towns themselves had internal conflicts. Now, the Six Towns were plotting an uprising again, but they were unhappy with the current leader.

After hearing this news, Zhao Hua fell into hesitation.

He really wanted to tell Big Brother about these three, and then have Big Brother lead the iron cavalry south.

But at that time, Big Brother was busy with his own affairs every day.

Moreover, Zhao Hua could also guess Big Brother's attitude.

Big Brother would inevitably refuse.

But he really did not want to let this opportunity go.

If a life cannot be as brilliant as fireworks, isn't it a wasted existence? If a man does not engage in war, earning a name for himself before and after his death, isn't that living in vain? Zhao Hua hesitated repeatedly, and finally, this time when Big Brother's eyes were injured and winter was approaching, he made his decision.

Therefore, he sought out these three.

Then he had his father-in-law and the elders of White Camel Manor take action personally to secretly feed the "drugs for making medicine-men" to the three, and to prevent the three from resisting, he tied them up.

At this moment, he had just returned.

The three had already stopped struggling.

Zhao Hua pried open the cloth stuffed in the mouths of the three and chatted with them with a smile.

Once they became medicine-men, they would truly be his people.

Big Brother and the others only thought of using medicine-men to cultivate experts, but never thought of using this to control others.

And from now on, he, Zhao Hua, might have to walk a path completely different from Big Brother's.

When he achieved success and fame, he would definitely apologize to Big Brother in person. Then, no matter what Big Brother wanted to be, he, Zhao Hua, would let Big Brother do it, even if... it were Emperor.

"General."

"General."

"General."

Gao Xunle and the Zhao brothers actually still admired Zhao Hua.

Zhao Hua was born with a dark temperament, which was very capable of making people submit, and coupled with his own abilities, as well as Song Cheng's unreserved "guidance on military momentum" and the painstaking cultivation of White Camel Manor, he was now a terrifying battle general in name and reality.

Zhao Hua looked at the three of them, smiling as he draped his arms over their shoulders, and said, "From now on, we are brothers of the same family."

That night, Zhao Hua silently kowtowed three times toward the direction of the An Mansion in the east, then led twenty thousand troops out of the Prefecture City, bringing with him almost all the generals under his command, as well as Ouyang Sha, the Manor Master of White Camel Manor, the Snake-Handling Elder of White Camel Manor, and other experts; their iron cavalry galloped, dust rolling into the sky like a tsunami.

Heading south.

Never looking back again.

Even though Song Cheng was bedridden, he still had the habit of letting his Soul leave his body in the dead of night to wander about.

That formless Soul drifted quietly onto the battlements of Hanping Prefecture, watching the iron cavalry gallop like a torrent of steel, watching the vanguard, main force, and rearguard of the thousand-strong army move in perfect order.

He recalled what Zhao Hua had said during the Daytime about "leaving the city to slaughter Ghost servants," and suddenly let out a soft sigh.

Immediately after, however, he revealed a smile.

Situated within the Ghost Tide, Hanping Prefecture was, in truth, already an isolated city; aside from Ghost servants, there was little need to worry about others coming to attack.

With these twenty thousand troops left in this empty city, they would have no use other than to grow old.

"It is better that they are taken away."

He had always known Zhao Hua's wish.

Now that they had left.

Then, "Big Brother wishes you a triumphant start, and that you may ultimately achieve your desire."

After understanding the current state of the land, Song Cheng understood that Mysterious Grade Ding Quality was actually the current ceiling.

And if the Six Towns could use a chaotic army to charge and kill a scion of a great family at the Mysterious Grade Ding Quality, why couldn't Huazi? Furthermore, with Huazi's temperament, how could he possibly suffer a loss?

The next day, everyone assumed that General Zhao had once again left the city to slaughter Ghost servants.

Only Song Cheng knew that was not the case.

He had Ying'er call for the Big Hall Master, and then spoke to the Big Hall Master about these matters through the door.

"With Huazi's departure this time, he will not be coming back. Senior Brother, please reorganize the remaining people and rearrange the city defenses."

"I understand."

The Big Hall Master nodded.

After leaving the An Family.

Tie Zhenyi of the Mountain and River Martial Hall pondered for a moment, then actually selected three thousand elites from the Mountain and River Martial Hall, along with Martial Artists and disciples, and together they rode out of the city, quickly heading south.

The Big Hall Master pursued them for three days before finally finding the army on the bank of a river in a wilderness to the south.

The army was fully prepared, their Qi like a mountain, impossible to shake.

A Tiger-Wolf Army; even the Big Hall Master felt a tremor of fear just looking at them.

He shouted from afar, "I am Tie Zhenyi, let General Zhao come out to speak."

After a long while, he saw a line of steel monsters escorting a man in black armor to this place.

Zhao Hua looked coldly at Tie Zhenyi and said, "Big Hall Master, I am out to slaughter Ghost servants; what is your purpose in coming here?"

Tie Zhenyi said, "The southern lands are prosperous and hide many secrets; you are willing to take Laoduwu with you, so why are you unwilling to take this old man?"

Zhao Hua:??????

He had thought Tie Zhenyi was here to tell him to go back.

Hearing this now, Zhao Hua was also helpless.

But at the same time, he understood that he was truly not the only one thinking of walking out of that city.

If there had been no conditions in the past, that would be one thing, but now everyone could see the terror of the Tiger Leopard Cavalry; that was a true opportunity to vie for the Central Plains.

"Big Hall Master, the city still needs defense; you should go back," Zhao Hua said.

Tie Zhenyi said, "Defense? Mr. Song is enough. Besides, with the Fox Immortal there, nothing will go wrong!"

The two men's eyes met from afar.

Zhao Hua waved his hand.

Tie Zhenyi was overjoyed; he led his troops forward, merged into that torrent of steel, and went south together.

"Mr. Song! Mr. Song!"

Early in the morning, the area in front of the An Mansion was in an uproar.

Many disciples of the Mountain and River Martial Hall were pacing outside the gate in terror.

After a long while, the Steward of the courtyard pushed the door open and came out.

The leader among the Mountain and River Martial Hall disciples said, "Steward, we need to see Mr. Song; it is urgent, a major matter!"

The Steward said, "The Master-in-law already knows what you want to say. He told you to strengthen the city defenses; the Ghost Tide has not arrived yet, and everything is still fine."

"Mr. Song already knew?" the leader was stunned.

The Steward said proudly, "What is there that the Master-in-law does not know?"

The leader finally breathed a sigh of relief, then handed over a letter with both hands and said, "Then please pass this on to Mr. Song."

The Steward took it and nodded.

The group of Mountain and River Martial Hall disciples then left, but compared to the panic they felt when they arrived, they were clearly much more at ease when they left.

As long as Mr. Song was still in Hanping Prefecture, the backbone remained intact. Soon, the letter was presented to Song Cheng.

Xiao Yu'er brought it into the room.

Song Cheng opened the letter casually, scanned it, and couldn't help but laugh.

He had asked his Senior Brother to arrange the defenses, but his Senior Brother had actually led people to follow Zhao Hua.

Although he had known this for a long time, he still found it both laughable and annoying while looking at the letter his Senior Brother had left behind.

His Senior Brother was no longer young; seeing himself trapped in an isolated city, he appeared calm on the surface, but was anxious at heart. Especially after one visit, when he learned from him that "going beyond the Qi Realm requires a natural Soul," he became even more anxious.

Since he could not advance further, then... why not seek the status of princes and ministers, why not seek to hold power over the court? The words in the letter were sincere and heartfelt.

At this time, the "person in charge" of the "city wall defenses" had been replaced time and again, and now it had completely become Tong Niangzi.

Tong Niangzi gathered the remaining troops and began considering issuing a "call to arms," hoping to have everyone from the counties and villages of the North Land flee to Hanping Prefecture before the deep winter arrived this year.

Thanks to the Wood Crystal, the food supply in the prefecture was currently quite decent.

After Song Cheng finished laughing, he leaned back against the headboard and fell into thought.

The little fox spirit bared her teeth and said, "These people are truly detestable. You were the one who trained the soldiers and led the generals, yet they all ran off at a time like this."

Song Cheng said, "That is because they know I am unwilling to leave."

The little fox spirit gave a delicate huff and said, "Short-lived species are just like that; they can't live for many years, so they are especially impatient."

Having said that, she sucked on her finger again and mused, "Come to think of it, I still don't know what the chickens in the Imperial Capital taste like."

Song Cheng said, "Then you should count on Huazi to conquer the Imperial Capital."

What else could he say? He was an immortal, and he just wanted to live on in this place that had nearly become an isolated island, steadily improving himself. But his brothers and friends had all set their sights on the current opportunity, thinking of heading south.

It must be that turmoil had risen in the south again; otherwise, they wouldn't all be leaving so urgently.

The little fox spirit said disdainfully, "Zhao Hua? He could conquer the Imperial Capital?"

"Little Song, let me tell you, the relationships in the Imperial Capital are intricate and complex, especially among the various families. That place is a den of iniquity where everyone harbors their own ulterior motives. Once you get dragged into it, not even your bones will be left. It's like a ball of tangled hemp full of thorns; if you try to unravel it, you'll only end up with your hands covered in blood."

"Is that so."

Song Cheng responded.

Suddenly, a sharp pain struck his eyes again.

Fire like needles was constantly tearing at his Soul, while water like medicine was constantly repairing it.

An intense drowsiness washed over him.

"I'm so sleepy."

Song Cheng yawned, his head dropped, and he collapsed again.

The moment he collapsed, he sank back into that Dream, that silent Dream where flames were burning.

Creak, creak, creak, creak. On the autumn official road, many wheelbarrows, ox carts, and horse carriages were traveling.

The place they were heading to was the Prefecture City.

Considering the terror of the Ghost Tide and the difficulty of surviving in the county towns, Tong Niangzi had still issued the "Return to Prefecture Order."

Now, the eighteen counties under Hanping Prefecture, along with many villages and hamlets, were all heading toward the Prefecture City.

With Su Ningyu there, Manifestation Water was no longer needed.

This fox immortal Young Miss, wrapped in a cloak, sat on the city wall carrying a stool and yawning, looking down at the long line of commoners below who were discussing things in hushed tones, each of them both terrified and expectant.

"My family still has farmland, though."

"Mine too. But it's no longer safe over there; one's life is what matters most."

"I heard that Zhushan Temple is now incredibly powerful; the fields on their side can produce so much wheat."

"The one at Zhushan Temple is the Immortal Tong, so merciful and compassionate."

Listening to the discussion, the fox immortal Young Miss truly could not empathize.

If it weren't for Little Song, she would never come to do this kind of work.

She was helping Little Song with her life on the line; Little Song should be moved to tears, right? Just as she was thinking this, she suddenly saw two people emitting a cold, sinister aura appear among the commoners. The two were blending into the crowd, about to sneak through.

She analyzed them further and caught a whiff of a putrid stench that mortals could not smell, then immediately stood up, grabbed the large bow at her side, drew the bow and nocked an arrow, the arrow like a shooting star... Swoosh, swoosh!

Two arrows landed.

Two human skins exploded.

The nearby commoners screamed in terror, but calmed down under the order maintained by the Guard.

Everyone looked up at the mysterious figure shrouded in a black cloak on the city wall, filled with deep awe for the Prefecture City.

The dim red sunset.

Blood was already beginning to flow, curling and undulating on the yellow earth.

Song Cheng looked around.

This was Tanghe Village, and it was only Tanghe Village.

Because he could not walk out of the village.

Outside the village was a patch of darkness; as soon as he took two steps, he would have the feeling of stepping into something terrifying.

He walked further and further away, looked back at the only place with light, and decided it was better to return.

Before, he had always stayed at Huichun Hall, which was where he and Tong Niangzi lived.

But now, he had changed his mind; he had moved to Yun E's house.

An old wooden bed, a wooden table.

Outside the window, some kind of white flower seemed to be blooming, but stained by the sunset, it blurred into a bloody mess. Song Cheng was already used to such Dreams.

As long as he stayed here for a while longer, he would wake up.

Today, he sat as usual.

But the unexpected finally happened; without hearing any footsteps, "thump, thump, thump" knocking came from outside the door.

The knocking was exceptionally urgent. Song Cheng did not go to open the door, but just sat there.

The knocking grew more and more urgent.

However, this seemingly dilapidated wooden door was remarkably sturdy.

After a long while, the knocking slowed.

But the area outside the door suddenly became lively; noisy, chaotic sounds came from outside, shouting excitedly and twistedly: "Drown them in the pig cage, drown them in the pig cage, drown them in the pig cage!!"

Song Cheng looked out and saw the village chief, saw the Ding brothers, and saw the villagers of Tanghe Village.

This time, the door was slammed open all at once.

Yun E's mother-in-law also appeared, but she was facing him, speaking one after another, cursing, and venomously wishing him ill.

Then, Song Cheng only felt himself being roughly shoved into a bamboo basket with no power to resist, and was subsequently carried by a group of burly men to the banks of the Tanghe.

He struggled desperately, wanting to break free.

He had already forgotten who he was, but fear filled his heart.

And just at this moment, he suddenly heard a voice coming from above.

"Leave the person!!"

He hurriedly looked up, only to see a blind youth gripping a long blade, standing on high ground.

After the youth and the villagers had a standoff, the villagers quickly threw the bamboo basket into the river.

The youth ran over from afar, pushed through the villagers, jumped into the icy river water, and then opened the bamboo basket, reaching his hand out toward him.

(End of chapter)