Chapter 501: Appearing in Dreams

Chapter 501: Seeing a Dream

“Senior Brother Li? Senior Brother Li?”

Bai Lingmiao called softly, and before her, Li Huowang’s chopsticks hovered in midair. He had been staring blankly at the now-cold bowl of noodles for quite some time.

“Senior Brother Li, what’s wrong?” Bai Lingmiao finally prompted him by gently placing her hand on his wrist. Only then did Li Huowang snap back to reality with a start.

“Nothing. Just thinking about that dream from yesterday.” Li Huowang handed over the bowl and chopsticks.

“That bad dream? Don’t worry, Mother said dreams are always reversed,” Bai Lingmiao said, taking the bowl and chopsticks and walking toward the riverside.

“Reversed?” Li Huowang stared into the distance at Zhu Ge Yuan in silence.

When he saw Bai Lingmiao return with the washed dishes, Li Huowang shook his head hard and stood up. “Forget it. It was just a dream after all. Maybe it’s true—what we think during the day, we dream about at night.”

Just as he was about to continue walking, he suddenly noticed someone was missing. “Miaomiao, where is Li Sui?”

“He’s playing in the water about ten zhang ahead,” she replied.

Li Huowang shook his head helplessly. “He’s no different from a child of three or four years old.” He turned and walked along the riverbank toward where Li Sui was.

When he spotted the large straw raincoat of Li Sui, he didn’t see him playing in the water.

At that moment, Li Sui lay like a dog beside the riverbank, guarding several leaping carp.

“Why don’t you eat the fish you caught? Just watching?” Li Huowang asked as he approached.

“I ate my portion. This is Second Aunt’s share. I’m waiting for her,” Li Sui replied. His words caused Li Huowang’s hand, which had reached out to pat his head, to slowly retract.

Li Huowang looked at Li Sui with a complex expression. Had she still not realized that the Second Spirit had vanished?

Suddenly, there was a rustle from the bushes to his left. Li Sui sat up abruptly, but when a gray rabbit darted out, he slumped dejectedly, resting his head on his crossed forelimbs.

“Li Sui, stop waiting. Second Aunt has gone and will never come back,” Li Huowang said.

For the first time, Li Sui didn’t believe him. “Second Aunt will come back. She told me so.”

“Li Sui!”

Li Huowang’s sharp tone brought a trace of hurt to Li Sui’s face. “Why won’t you let me wait for Second Aunt? She promised she’d come back!”

Li Huowang sighed deeply, then lifted her and held her close, gently stroking the writhing tentacles on her back. “Everything is over now. We must look forward.”

As he spoke, Li Huowang felt a familiar chewing sound coming from behind him.

“Second Aunt!” Li Sui broke free from his embrace and rushed forward excitedly. “I knew you’d come back!”

When Li Huowang turned around, he was stunned to see the Second Spirit, still wearing her red veil, picking up the leaping carp and stuffing them into her veil.

“This… this is impossible! It can’t be!” Li Huowang lunged forward and yanked off the red veil.

“Drink!” The sight inside startled him awake with a start. Cold sweat poured down his forehead as he sat in the carriage, gasping for breath.

Bai Lingmiao took out a white handkerchief and gently wiped the dense sweat from his brow. “Senior Brother Li, you’ve been having bad dreams these past few days.”

Li Huowang didn’t answer immediately. First, he looked at her with unfamiliar eyes, then at everything around him.

He quickly pulled out a dagger from beneath his robes and plunged it into his left forearm.

The sharp pain made his voice tremble as he exhaled deeply. That was only a dream. What he had just experienced wasn’t real.

“Ahh! Senior Brother Li, what are you doing!” Bai Lingmiao quickly changed from sitting to kneeling, frantically searching for thread and needle to sew up the wound.

“Nothing. I’m fine. I just need to be more alert!” Li Huowang said, slowly twisting the handle of the dagger in his hand.

“Senior Brother Li, maybe you shouldn’t be training day and night like this. There’s no rush,” Bai Lingmiao suggested.

“No! I have only two years left. I must seize every moment! And I feel this has nothing to do with cultivation! I sense something’s off with these dreams!”

His expression grew grave. “Could it be the Dice? Since he cannot find a gap in reality, he resorts to sending me dreams to deceive me?”

It might be mere speculation, but Li Huowang couldn’t afford to ignore it. With the Dice, one could never be too cautious.

“Miaomiao, Li Sui, have either of you had strange dreams lately?” Li Huowang asked the two who were traveling with him.

“No, Senior Brother,” Bai Lingmiao replied.

“Father, what does it mean to dream?” Li Sui asked.

This brought a slight relief to Li Huowang. At least this phenomenon was only affecting him and not them.

Li Huowang pulled back the curtain and shouted into the misty forest shrouded in rain: “Dice! Stop playing games! I can’t help you anymore! Go find someone else!”

His shout echoed through the woods, disturbing only a few birds, but no other movement followed.

Li Huowang coldly drew the curtain closed and said to Bai Lingmiao, who was wiping his blood: “We’re not going anywhere. Let’s settle somewhere for a while. Wait a year or two, then we’ll go back. We’ll keep fighting him!”

The carriage stopped wandering aimlessly and began heading toward distant green mountains.

Once they reached the mountain, Li Huowang found a solid rock wall and began wielding his spine sword.

The hard stone of Dali was carved into neat blocks and transported to the Qi region. Soon, a clean and tidy cave appeared before Li Huowang.

As the carriage blocked the entrance like a door, the cave fell into silence.

A bonfire rose, casting orange-red light onto the rock walls, making the space feel warm and cozy.

They had roasted crispy flatbreads for dinner, and it was time once again for Li Huowang to cultivate.

He wasn’t afraid of the Dice daring to do anything while he was cultivating. In the realm of cultivation, even he himself dared not approach the inner essence of the mind.

Li Huowang simply blocked the cave entrance like a guardian god, sat cross-legged with his eyes closed, and took a deep breath. Using the so-called “Divine Light” from his own eyes, he guided the innate energy within his body toward the second chakra—the abdominal wheel.

Gradually, Li Huowang entered a state of transcendence. He forgot the rain, forgot the Dice, forgot everything. In his mind, only two things moved slowly closer.

One was the inexpressible, wrapped innate energy; the other was his empty abdominal chakra.

Lost in his cultivation, Li Huowang didn’t know how long had passed. Suddenly, the innate energy seemed drawn by something, its pace quickening.

When it crashed heavily into the abdominal chakra, it swiftly swept over it and finally circled it slowly at a steady pace.

A pale yellow glow gradually seeped into the chakra, and six petals of the same color began to appear and disappear around it.

(End of Chapter)