Hearing this, Uncle Gen's eyes glared with rage, and he barked, "What nonsense are you spewing, you scoundrel? Out with it, then—how did I get it wrong?"
The traveler smiled and said, "A female corpse truly did reanimate at Changle Inn, but it wasn't the scholar sending a dream to the Daoist priest for help. Here is how it really went..."
As the traveler spoke, an entirely different tale unfolded.
The Daoist burst into the room alone. With a single slash of his sword, he severed the female corpse's head, and immediately raised his blade to thrust it toward the bed at the scholar surnamed Song.
Hearing this, one of the youths beneath the banyan tree at the village entrance cried out in alarm, "Why did the Daoist stab the scholar?"
Uncle Gen snorted furiously. "Insolent wretch! Making up wild fabrications and slandering the Daoist masters of the abbey—aren't you afraid of divine retribution?"
As the traveling man spoke, his voice subtly drifted over the crowd with a calming power, calm and measured. "Calm down, everyone, and hear me out..."
As the Daoist thrust his sword toward the scholar, the scholar scrambled back in fright. Meanwhile, the other three corpses on the bed—the ones freshly mauled by the female corpse—abruptly sprang up and lunged at the Daoist.
Amid flashes of surging swordlight, the three male corpses were decapitated, thudding stiffly to the floor.
Scholar Song seized the chance to flee out the door, only for the Daoist to run him down, pierce his heart with a single thrust, and leave him dead on the ground.
The Daoist reported the matter to the county magistrate's office. The magistrate personally led constables to investigate, only to find the scholar's face cast in an iron-green hue and his flesh as hard as ironwood; even four or five constables together could not budge the body. The same was true for the female corpse and the three merchants inside the room.
Later, a search of the premises uncovered a hoard of incense, paper funeral offerings, and several volumes of cult scriptures. It turned out that the scholar had been practicing black arts, manipulating the female corpse to murder the three merchants.
When the magistrate asked the Daoist how he had discovered this, the Daoist answered, "It was reflected in a dream."
Having concluded the tale, the traveler explained, "You see, that night the Daoist caught sight of an evil cultist in a dream, and only then drew his sword to slay the demon and execute the fiend. No one ever sent him a dream plea. Subsequent investigations revealed that both the scholar and the innkeeper were fiends of Shenxian Dao. Their sole business was luring traveling merchants into the inn to murder them and refine their bodies into walking corpses for foul sacrificial rites."
The traveler sighed. "I often hear it said that what occupies the mind by day enters dreams by night. Yet who would have thought that in humble Boxing County, an adept could reflect upon the void in a dream and see across distant lands? This is the very state that countless cultivators across the world pursue through day-and-night meditation and bitter practice."
Uncle Gen hurriedly countered, "Pure rubbish! Scholar Song was devoted to the Dao and moved Lord Xuanyuan to manifest, which was how he could send a dream plea to another. How could he possibly turn into an evil cultist in your mouth..."
The man looked at the glaring Uncle Gen and chuckled as he rose to his feet. "Why must everyone take offense? Whether Scholar Song was devoted to the Dao and blessed by Lord Xuanyuan, or secretly practicing dark arts to butcher passing merchants; whether he was a good man or an evil fiend; whether Lord Xuanyuan truly manifested—save for the Daoist who met him in that dream, perhaps no one can ever truly know. What the real truth is depends entirely on which version you choose to believe."
Seeing that the traveler was still prattling on with such absurdities, the villagers began crowding around him, looking ready to strike.
The man gave a chuckle and stepped backward. "It seems I have disturbed you folks, so I shall take my leave. Yet in this world today, demons run rampant and evil cults flourish. Times are perilous, so when you travel abroad in the future, remember to look before you leap..."
Even as he spoke, the man darted away in merely two or three strides, vanishing as if folding the earth beneath his feet, leaving the assembled young and old utterly astonished.
'Two truths?' Chu Qiguang turned the man's words over in his mind, staring at the empty space where the figure had disappeared, his heart skipping a beat. 'That was no ordinary man. But how did he move so fast? Does martial arts or supernatural power really exist here?'
Beside him, Uncle Gen grumbled indignantly, "Don't listen to that scoundrel's drivel. Praying often to Daoist Lord Xuanyuan is the best way to keep your household safe—it is the foundation of any family."
Another elder chimed in, "What rotten luck, running into a rogue so disrespectful to Lord Xuanyuan. Mark my words, before you go home, burn some mugwort to cleanse yourselves. Sweep up the ashes and throw them into the river—don't bring that foul luck inside and offend Lord Xuanyuan."
The youths nodded in agreement and thanked the elder for the advice.
After listening to the old men shoot the breeze for a while longer, Chu Qiguang felt his stomach churn as intense hunger washed over him.
"Time to eat. Doing so much hard labor every day on only two meals... it's enough to starve a man to death."
Recalling all the delicious food he had enjoyed on Earth, Chu Qiguang grew all the hungrier, his mouth involuntarily watering.
Yet glancing down at his short, scrawny frame, he could only let out a helpless sigh. He had lost count of how many times he had sighed since coming to this world.
Ergou's body was only around fourteen or fifteen, but it was far thinner than anyone of that age in modern society. Toiling in the fields every day on severe malnutrition had left him stunted, skinny, and underdeveloped.
Patting the dirt off his backside, he stood up and headed toward home, his mind replaying Uncle Gen's tale and the traveler's mysterious figure along the way.
'Does this world truly have supernatural forces?'
Thinking of the purple light that had brought him through his transmigration, Chu Qiguang felt there must be.
As he walked along the countryside path, his curiosity toward that bald traveler only deepened.
"Meow!"
Right then, accompanied by a mew, a long-haired orange cat with a sleek, glossy coat and lively spirit trotted up to Chu Qiguang's side and flopped straight down in front of him.
The cat was very familiar with the original Ergou, often running over to play with him. Ergou had seemed quite fond of the cat, occasionally even tossing it scraps of leftovers.
Looking at the orange cat by his feet, Chu Qiguang thought, 'Did you follow me home looking for a free meal? To think there are orange cats in this world too...'
He gazed down at the cat, reaching out to stroke its head.
"How curious. A different planet, maybe even an entirely different world, yet both cats and humans exist here. Could cats hold some vital significance in our universe? Or is this a parallel universe with an environment very similar to Earth's...?"
Watching the orange cat bask in blissful enjoyment beneath his touch, Chu Qiguang felt another pang of hunger in his belly and mused inwardly, 'I've heard cat meat tastes sour, haven't I? No, no, cats are too cute to eat... unless it smells irresistibly delicious.'
At that thought, he couldn't help wiping a bit of drool from the corner of his mouth.
The orange cat looked up at Chu Qiguang, who was stroking it nonstop. It raised its head high, scrutinized Chu Qiguang from head to toe several times, and finally gave a nod. Its whiskers twitched, and it let out a soft "tsk."
Chu Qiguang froze, confusion rising in his chest. 'Did I just... hear someone tsk?'
Just as he was staring at the cat in bewilderment, the creature suddenly spoke:
"After waiting all these years, you've finally had your wits awakened."
Chapter 2