Chapter 70#

When the Dream Wakes#

When Yin Yuheng woke up, flickering candlelight was reflected on the gold-red curtains. Tassels swayed gently in the fragrant mist, and Yin Yuheng stared at them for a long while before gradually regaining a trace of consciousness.

My head hurts so much.

This was a pain directly added to the soul, and Yin Yuheng tried to tilt his head, only to gasp for breath. His mind was in chaos, and he was weak all over. After quite a while, Yin Yuheng finally moved his finger slightly.

“…A-Heng?” A dry voice immediately sounded beside him, very tired and with a trace of vacancy. Yin Yuheng felt something warm deathly gripping his hand, took a deep breath, and struggled to turn his head.

He saw the figure leaning by the bed, black hair falling down, one or two strands intertwined with his own hair. The youth’s face was pale, his usually bright and clear eyes now closed, and there were abnormal dark circles under his eyes. His right hand was tightly locked with his own ten fingers, and he had not let go for even a moment. His palm was sweaty, and it was unknown how long he had been guarding by the bed.

Lu Yan? Yin Yuheng felt a dull ache in his heart and opened his mouth to call him, but was too weak and only made a small vocal sound.

In Yin Yuheng’s impression, even when Lu Yan was so down and out when pursued to Chaoge, he was still firm, resolute, and bright as the blazing Golden Crow Divine Fire. He could fearlessly raise his sword without bowing his head and could hold his hand and promise to lead him out of the darkness of fate. But at this moment, Yin Yuheng felt that he had become a piece of burnt-out deadwood, with deep bitterness flowing from his whole person, and there seemed to be traces of tears at the corners of his eyes.

What happened while he was in a coma?

Lu Yan did not wake up. That call of “A-Heng” just now was just a subconscious call in his dream. Lu Yan was too tired, and his spiritual power was over-exhausted. But Yin Yuheng felt his hand slowly tightening, as if he perceived Yin Yuheng’s wakefulness, or as if he were having an uneasy dream.

“A-Heng.”

Lu Yan frowned deeply, letting out an apprehensive low murmur.

Yin Yuheng wanted to say “I’m here,” but failed. He had to struggle to hold Lu Yan’s hand.

Yin Yuheng remembered everything.

He remembered his identity, where he came from, everything that happened during this period, remembered Chaoge, and remembered Lu Yan.

Lu Yan…

Yin Yuheng felt the burning temperature of the other’s palm, which followed the veins and scorched into his heart.

He lightened his breathing and suddenly wanted to rub the youth’s hair. He thought: why did he make himself like this? He’s not that old, but he looks like he’s at the end of his rope.

“Heng-ge!”

A familiar voice sounded in his mind, and Xiao Bai’s voice had a crying tone: “Heng-ge! I almost thought I would never see you again! Waaaah…”

Yin Yuheng coughed and said softly: “Good boy, don’t be afraid, I’m back.”

“Waah—” hearing Yin Yuheng’s words, Xiao Bai instead cried even more painfully.

Yin Yuheng: “…”

After Xiao Bai finally stopped crying and sobbing, Yin Yuheng sighed: “I made you worry, sorry.”

“I… I’m fine,” Xiao Bai said in a low voice, embarrassed. “At that time things happened too suddenly. You said there would be trouble, but I didn’t expect a part of your soul to be drawn out. I was startled and couldn’t keep up in time. There were still one soul and one spirit left in your original body, and I was afraid something would happen to your soul, yet I didn’t dare to leave… You never woke up, and I was so scared… also afraid you’d encounter danger outside… afraid you’d suffer when playing out the plot…”

Xiao Bai didn’t have a physical body but was attached to a person’s soul. At that time, when things happened suddenly, neither Xiao Bai nor Yin Yuheng had time to react.

Yin Yuheng smiled: “It’s okay, it’s all in the past. It was heaven’s will, just forcing me to follow the plot. I’ve already remembered, don’t be afraid.”

Xiao Bai fell silent for a moment and hesitated: “Heng-ge, during this time… how have you been?”

“Hmm,” Yin Yuheng didn’t know what he thought of, but the corners of his mouth actually hooked up, “Pretty good.”

Xiao Bai hesitated to speak but finally said stutteringly: “But… Lu Yan… I sensed you as soon as you stepped into Chaoge, and he didn’t recognize you… He… Heng-ge, aren’t you angry?”

Without waiting for Yin Yuheng’s answer, Xiao Bai hurriedly said: “Don’t blame him, it wasn’t his fault, actually…”

Yin Yuheng blinked and said leisurely: “I know, something deliberately hindered him so he wouldn’t recognize me.”

Xiao Bai: “You know?”

“He treated my injuries and touched my sea of consciousness; he should have recognized me, but he didn’t. Not only him, but the people and things I encountered when I lost my memory… were all premeditated.” Yin Yuheng smiled, gathered some strength, and raised his hand to brush over Lu Yan’s furrowed brow.

“Fortunately, he didn’t let me down.”

The will of the nine heavens intervened, and the sudden change caused him to leave his soul and lose his memory; he unknowingly became a puppet, weak and easily bullied. A pair of invisible hands tried to control his life’s trajectory, making him become the so-called body double, making him meet Xue Ciling, meet Li Guanghan and Zhu Anning, and meet Lu Yan, yet meeting each other without recognition.

If he had never recovered his memory, if he were seen by everyone, including Lu Yan, as a body double for the “Crown Prince of the Li Dynasty,” perhaps he would have indeed reached the same destination as the original plot, being imprisoned and abused, tortured and humiliated, and finally closing his eyes unwillingly in some corner.

But… he met Lu Yan.

Even if he lost his memory, even if they missed each other because of a misunderstanding by chance, Lu Yan would not hurt others. Lu Yan’s feelings were very pure; he was not Xue Ciling and would not play those body double games.

Yin Yuheng couldn’t help but smile. His head still hurt a lot, and his soul still hadn’t completely recovered, but he felt very at ease. He closed his eyes, half-awake and half-dreaming, and gripped Lu Yan’s hand even more forcefully, as if a drowning person were grabbing a piece of driftwood.

*

As soon as the matter of the Fox tribe rebels came out, the entire Three Desolate Mountains were under martial law. Therefore, it was quite difficult for Xue Ciling to go up the mountain to see Yin Yuheng.

He grit his teeth and returned to the Demon Realm to pay a visit to the Demon Lord.

The Demon Lord had been in seclusion for a long time and was not surprised to hear that someone requested an audience. When Xue Ciling came in, he saw the Demon Lord fishing by the Wanyou Lake.

The Wanyou Lake was connected to the Ghost River, and remnants of souls fluctuated in the lake, yet they could not stir up a single ripple. There was no wind on the lake’s surface, as deep as the Yellow Springs. The Demon Lord’s fishing rod was very long, and the hook was submerged in the water, as if waiting for something to take the bait.

Xue Ciling was a city lord of the Demon Realm, a local overlord, yet he did not dare to act presumptuously before the Demon Lord. He lowered his eyes and said his purpose for coming.

The Demon Lord still stared at his fishing rod without looking up. When Xue Ciling was so anxious that he couldn’t help but speak again, the Demon Lord finally sighed softly.

“You were already on the edge of breaking through the Soul Transformation stage; wanting to reach another level is not impossible, it’s just a matter of one last step,” the Demon Lord was motionless. “But your cultivation followed a side path, your foundation is unstable, your demonic energy is in turmoil, and attempting to advance rashly might be dangerous. I heard you once made a deal with the Demon Emperor and got spiritual pills from him. As long as you practice slowly, there will be a day when your cultivation improves, and it will be more stable and beneficial for your old wounds. Why come to me and try a method that seeks quick success?”

“…I ask the Demon Lord to grant my request.” Xue Ciling lowered his head, hiding his trembling fingers in his sleeves.

Xue Ciling couldn’t bear to hear about that deal now, and even more so was unwilling to recall over and over how he had given Yin Yuheng to someone else.

He regretted it so much he was going insane. If it could be undone, he wouldn’t care about any spiritual pills or levels. Things he once considered important now seemed not worth mentioning; only the person he lost instead became his unwillingness and obsession.

He wanted to go up the Three Desolate Mountains, find where Yin Yuheng was, and bring him home. He didn’t have time to slowly regulate his demonic energy or slowly improve his level; he was afraid he wouldn’t make it in time.

“Sigh.” The Demon Lord sighed, “Such is fate, why bother.”

Xue Ciling remained silent. He looked at the Demon Lord and suddenly asked: “Back then, why did you suddenly host a banquet for all under heaven at Kunwu Mountain and give out that piece of Biluo Yin?”

In an instant, a gust of wind rose on Wanyou Lake, blowing a gloomy ghostly aura. The silent screams of fierce ghosts and the ripples on the lake’s surface made Xue Ciling suddenly lower his head, coughing blood incessantly.

The Demon Lord raised a hand and tapped Xue Ciling on the forehead.

“I can help you with what you want. Don’t ask what shouldn’t be asked; perhaps when the time comes, you will naturally have an answer.”

Demonic energy surged into Xue Ciling’s meridians. Xue Ciling’s expression was distorted with pain, every inch of his bones seemed to be crushed and reshaped, even more painful than the countless times his old wounds broke out. He couldn’t hold on and knelt on one knee on the ground, murmuring Yin Yuheng’s name in his heart and gritting his teeth to persist.

At the moment the demonic energy subsided, Xue Ciling didn’t have time to hook a smile before he fainted.

Xue Ciling was carried away by an attendant and therefore didn’t hear another sigh from the Demon Lord.

The Demon Lord looked at the fishing rod in his hand and suddenly remembered that Yin Yuheng had once represented the Li Dynasty as an envoy to the Demon Realm. At that time, when he saw the child for the first time in the great hall, his heart was full of astonishment.

Some things could only be seen clearly once the cultivation level reached a certain stage. Li Guanghan couldn’t do it; he still lacked a clear Daoist heart. Lu Yan couldn’t do it; although he received the inheritance, he was after all too young. The old Demon Emperor might have been able to, so he died; that emperor of the Human race might be able to, so he remained in seclusion. And the Demon Lord chose to live in seclusion as an observer.

*

Lu Yan had a dream, dreaming that he was in Chaoge, holding an umbrella with Yin Yuheng and walking on a bluestone road. The road was so long, the mist and rain were hazy, and moss grew in the cracks of the bricks. They chatted and laughed, walking all the way while holding hands. The clear breeze blew the willow branches, and a puddle reflected the shadows of two people leaning against each other.

Lu Yan felt very happy and at ease. But the voice beside him grew smaller and smaller. He turned his head, only to find the side was empty; the person he had carefully held on to throughout the journey for fear of losing had still disappeared.

Lu Yan was stunned on the spot. He looked around in panic, shouting Yin Yuheng’s name, but no one answered. He moved forward blankly, stumbling along the way, not daring to stop his search. He didn’t know when he lost the umbrella; the surrounding breeze began to grow violent, and bean-sized raindrops fell from the sky, all hitting his body.

The chill seeped into his bones and became cold. His eyes were sore and his heart was lost. The wind was so cold, and when Lu Yan woke up, he was still trembling involuntarily.

Lu Yan subconsciously gripped Yin Yuheng’s hand tightly, but soon he realized that the surrounding temperature was indeed dropping.

There was demonic energy.

Lu Yan stood up from the bed in an instant, and suddenly his fingertips flickered with Golden Crow fire. Dazzling gold bloomed throughout the room, reflecting the trajectory of the demonic energy. Lu Yan’s face turned cold, and he turned and walked quickly out of the room.

“Come out.”

Lu Yan stood in the golden flames, his tone very cold.

A shadow gradually emerged in the air.

“…City Lord Xue.” Lu Yan had almost forgotten the name of the person before him; his face was expressionless, “What is your business, surreptitiously entering my Three Desolate Mountains?”

Xue Ciling thought to himself that he was indeed discovered after all. Even if he had forcibly broken through to the Soul Transformation stage, the current Lu Yan was still stronger than him.

Lu Yan’s voice had no ups and downs, but Xue Ciling felt a intense killing intent. Yet Xue Ciling had no intention of retreating; he hooked his lips sarcastically: “I’ve come for my puppet—since the Demon Emperor has already found his love, then the body double can be returned, right?”