Chapter 548: Cheng Yu’s Instructions

“It’s been six or seven years since I last visited Lingxu, and I really miss it.” He rubbed his hands together with enthusiasm, as if genuinely full of anticipation. “When do we leave?”

“Soon.” Bai Ziqi also put away his surprise, smiled at the two of them, and stood up, saying, “I’m still waiting for a few messages, so I’ll head back first.”

The two escorted Bai Ziqi to the inn’s entrance and watched his figure disappear around the street corner.

The Imperial Envoy refused to take a carriage, insisting on walking back, saying that walking helped him think.

He Lingchuan finally let out a long sigh of relief: “Just as I thought, he wants me to return to Lingxu with him.”

This person is truly difficult to fool.

“Don’t worry, with me by your side, he won’t be able to make things difficult for you!” Fu Shanyue patted his shoulder. “Isn’t this good? You were going to Lingxu City anyway. Now you don’t have to travel with a merchant caravan or worry about customs clearance. The Cloud Envoy himself will escort you.”

He Lingchuan gave a wry smile. What good intentions could Bai Ziqi have, wanting him to go to Lingxu City?

Fortunately, with Fu Shanyue accompanying him, Bai Ziqi couldn't openly deal with him on the way.

As they walked back, Fu Shanyue saw him deep in thought: “What are you thinking about now?”

He Lingchuan was pondering the Gu worm breeder’s bamboo tube. Hearing this, he shook his head: “I’m wondering if those treasures the Green Palace lost more than ten years ago were really stolen?”

Fu Shanyue could only shrug: “If they say so, then of course it is.”

What good would it do to say otherwise?

He Lingchuan recalled the portrait of Imperial Preceptor Qingyang. Mai Xuewen had spoken of Imperial Preceptor Qingyang very casually, but He Lingchuan’s intuition told him there was likely some connection between them.

“From the portrait to the snail toad, everything is connected to the Green Palace.” He Lingchuan let out a breath. “The clues Mai Xuewen left are very strong; Bai Ziqi couldn’t possibly have missed them.”

Although the Elixir of Immortality case had been taken over by Bai Ziqi, and most of the pressure was off He Lingchuan, he could still feel that the path ahead was truly fraught with thorns.

From this point on, this case was beyond his ability to investigate. It wasn't even something Fu Shanyue or the nation of Chiyan could investigate.

“The Green Palace, huh?” Fu Shanyue also let out a long sigh. “This fellow has quite the nerve. Maybe he even has someone backing him.”

Dawn finally broke.

Cheng Yu felt warmth spreading through his body.

As soon as he opened his eyes, the morning light streamed through the door and shone on his face, still a bit dazzling.

This was a request he had made last night: to sleep with his head facing the door.

The golden, warm morning sun made him feel relaxed from the bottom of his heart.

Bai Ziqi was sitting in a chair in the corner. Seeing him stir, he said, “Ho, I thought you wouldn’t wake up.”

“Cen Boqing and I merely had an employer-employee relationship. He paid me to kill, and I didn’t even succeed.” Cheng Yu looked at the warm light streaming through the door, let out a sigh of relief, and stated decisively, “As for the Cen family’s other messes, I had absolutely no involvement.”

Bai Ziqi smiled.

Cheng Yu pressed on: “I’m not a major criminal in Cen Boqing’s case, am I?”

“You conspired to harm the Crown Prince’s special envoy from Chiyan. If this were handed over to the local magistrate for trial, it would be a major case.” Bai Ziqi said leisurely, “But with me, it depends on the circumstances.”

“What circumstances?”

“What method did you use to deal with the Chiyan Crown Prince’s special envoy?”

Cheng Yu hesitated for a moment: “A dream demon.”

Bai Ziqi raised his chin slightly, understanding: “So, you signed a contract with a dream demon?”

Some spellcasters can form contracts with dream demons, using their power to kill in dreams. Nightmares leave no traces; victims have no physical injuries in reality, leaving no useful clues, making them untraceable.

But such things are extremely rare. Dream demons themselves are few, and most of them can only create minor nightmares for people, subsisting by absorbing a bit of fear.

Dream demons also devour each other.

Truly powerful dream demons capable of killing in dreams are few and far between.

How could such dream overlords obey humans? To sign a contract with them, you’d have to offer significant benefits.

Cheng Yu nodded, a resonate understanding in his heart.

“Did Cen Boqing and Wu Kai know?”

“They only knew I could secretly take lives, but not that it was a dream demon doing the killing. I haven't told anyone about this.”

“Why did you suffer a backlash?” Bai Ziqi asked him. “Did the dream demon fail?”

“Not only did it fail, but it was likely severely wounded by the other party, otherwise its golden form wouldn’t have suddenly shattered.” Cheng Yu gave a wry smile. “I never imagined it would turn out this way.”

“Wu Kai confessed that you could curse a monarch to death.” Bai Ziqi added, “Was that also by borrowing the dream demon’s power?”

“Yes.” At this point, Cheng Yu had nothing to deny. He had previously maintained an air of mystery to inflate his value.

“Hmm, did you perhaps invite a Dream Lord?”

The most powerful dream demons are revered as Dream Lords.

“…Yes.” Cheng Yu was a little surprised that Bai Ziqi knew that title.

“What’s its revered title?”

Cheng Yu said in a low voice: “If one dwells on something, it will respond. I cannot openly speak its name.”

“With my protection, are you still afraid of it?”

“It was originally an immortal, but it fell into dreams and became a Dream Lord, having devoured countless dream demons itself.” Fear still lingered in Cheng Yu’s eyes. “It can enter dreams even in broad daylight, and ordinary exorcism methods are utterly useless against it.”

“You dare call a god’s method ‘ordinary’?” Bai Ziqi pointed to the candle burning in the corner of the room. “With the eternal lamp before the Saint-Venerable’s seat protecting you, you’ll be fine. Now, tell me, what is its revered title?”

The Saint-Venerable’s eternal lamp? Cheng Yu looked at the candle and indeed felt a calming and tranquilizing power emanating from the flame. He gritted his teeth and finally divulged: “It is the Hundred-Faced Dream Demon. It once told me personally that its current spiritual attainment has surpassed its power when it was an immortal.”

“Hundred-Faced, huh?” Bai Ziqi stroked his chin. “How did you manage to avoid it before?”

“I originally had a ‘Dreamland in a Bottle,’ which I used up in the Cen residence. My spirit was hidden inside, being nourished, but Cen Boqing awakened it prematurely, and the spiritual injury is difficult to heal.”

As he spoke, the candlelight in the corner suddenly flickered.

The warm sun illuminated half the partitioned room, and this flicker was very subtle, but it happened directly opposite Cheng Yu, so he still caught it.

Bai Ziqi also glanced back, frowning. “If Hundred-Faced is so powerful, how could it be defeated by He Xiao?”

“The power of Hundred-Faced is not something an ordinary youth can contend with.” Cheng Yu took a breath. “I’ve always suspected he received extremely powerful protection for Hundred-Faced to suddenly be defeated.”

“Perhaps he has some protective magical artifact?”

“Magical artifact?” Cheng Yu couldn’t help but laugh aloud. “If a mere few magical artifacts could block Hundred-Faced, then it wouldn’t be worthy of being called a ‘Dream Lord.’ That would at least meet the threshold of a divine artifact!”

“A divine artifact…” Bai Ziqi was thoughtful. “What kind of divine artifact could it be?”

“It can dissolve into the azure void, suppress evil and ward off malevolence, protect He Xiao’s spirit, and severely wound Hundred-Faced.” Cheng Yu felt a little dizzy, likely due to his unhealed spiritual injury; he would pant after just a few words, and his mind felt murky. “Such a treasure, I don’t think there are many of its kind in the current world, are there? And I also believe that Hundred-Faced’s subsequent attack on me is not unrelated to He Xiao.”

“Oh?” Bai Ziqi mused, “Are you saying He Xiao could turn and command a dream demon to attack you?”

What caliber of monster is Hundred-Faced? That’s not something an ordinary person could achieve.

“Highly likely!” Cheng Yu pressed his head. “I’ve never heard of Hundred-Faced ever suffering a setback from anyone.”

At this moment, the flame of the eternal lamp flickered again, then extinguished.

Cheng Yu pointed at it, suddenly growing tense: “This…”

“There is indeed something looking for you, completely unrestrained even in broad daylight.” Bai Ziqi scattered a handful of incense ash towards the foot of the bed.

The incense ash floated down, but it seemed to cling to something and wouldn't fall further.

The object was originally transparent, but the ash outlined its rough shape—

It seemed humanoid, with a body, legs, and hands, yet not entirely, as its neck and hands were too long, like a tree monster.

And it had two heads.

It was right by the bed, stretching its heads to look at Cheng Yu.

Had Bai Ziqi not thrown the incense ash, no one would have known it was there.

Such malevolent, hidden surveillance was truly chilling. Even Cheng Yu shivered, his scalp prickling.

Once discovered, the dream demon transformed into a strange gust of wind and swept towards the door.

The incense ash marked its path. Just as it neared the door, Bai Ziqi struck with his sword, and incredibly, sliced the gust of wind cleanly in half.

The sword glowed with a faint golden light.

Both heard a faint, ethereal shriek, full of anger and misery.

Immediately after, the strange wind spontaneously combusted, and pale flames engulfed the entire partitioned room. However, neither of the two people in the room felt the heat of the flames.

The strange wind tried to escape, but four candles in the corners of the room formed a barrier, trapping it in the middle. The candle flames flickered precariously, dimming and brightening.

It repeatedly slammed against the barrier, like a fly hitting a window.

Bai Ziqi scoffed: “So this is the Dream Lord? Not nearly as impressive as its reputation suggests.”

Cheng Yu was a little stunned: “It, it…” How could Hundred-Faced be so weak?

As the two spoke, the strange wind, exerting all its might, finally extinguished one candle flame. The invisible barrier immediately dissolved, and it finally escaped.

Bai Ziqi made no move to stop it.

“Perhaps it doesn’t wish to linger during the day. Or perhaps…” Cheng Yu pondered to himself, his eyes lighting up, “After it was defeated by He Xiao, its power greatly diminished, and it’s no longer a Dream Lord!”

Bai Ziqi couldn’t help but laugh: “You’ve been hiding from something like this for days, and you even used up a precious ‘Dreamland in a Bottle’?”

Cheng Yu was speechless.

He only remembered the Dream Lord’s might, but he forgot that if he, the summoner, suffered a backlash, then the dream demon itself must have endured many times more damage than him.

It was also severely wounded; how could it still possess its former glory?

Understanding this, he completely relaxed, and the heavy burden on his mind vanished.

Bai Ziqi then asked him: “Is the contract you made with Hundred-Faced still active?”

Cheng Yu shook his head: “The contract seemed to have automatically dissolved after I returned to the Cen residence.”

That’s why he had been in such a panic then.

“It’s better that it’s dissolved; you can deal with it freely now.” Bai Ziqi asked him, “Can you stand up? I need you to go to the county dungeon and corroborate your statements with Cen Boqing. I gave you a lot of good medicine earlier; you should be able to get up now.”

Cheng Yu tried to sit up and found that his ailing body was indeed no longer heavy.

“Will you truly help me deal with Hundred-Faced?”

“Of course.” Bai Ziqi said sincerely, “I’ll need your help with my next case.”

Cheng Yu was curious: “What is it?”

Bai Ziqi smiled: “You’ll know once Cen Boqing’s case is concluded.”