He Lingchuan watched dumbfounded as it receded into the distance, regaining his senses only when that last wisp of red mist dissolved back into the giant silhouette.
Of course. Sun Fuping had died within the illusion of the Dafang Pot, so his soul could very well have been confined to the realm of souls.
From the look of it, he would never find release.
Right then, He Lingchuan began to feel his air giving out.
He had held his breath for too long; if he didn't return to the surface now, he would be kicked out of the dream.
Down in the depths, the giant crimson silhouette had seemed leisurely and unhurried, yet each flick of its body carried it dozens of zhang forward. In merely two breaths, it vanished into the piercing, abyssal chill.
He Lingchuan kicked with all his might toward the surface and broke through, gasping in great gulps of air.
Just a little longer, and he would have suffocated in the deep water, creating yet another novel way to die in Panlong City.
The mesh bag still hung from the stalactite, but the unknown roots had somehow reached it, wrapping several coils around the severed head inside and drawing out its power like sucking jelly. Because of this, the monstrosity's head had still been unable to grow back a body.
Fortunately, these rootlets were very thin and hadn't sucked it dry in a single gulp.
He Lingchuan snatched the net and gave it a yank. The rootlets snapped at once, leaving only a few strands clinging to the bizarre head.
These fine roots seemed harsh only toward the monster.
Shivering violently, the severed head spotted He Lingchuan and shouted at him:
"..."
As if He Lingchuan would pay it any mind. Glancing up at the rock wall, he saw that the monster's body had been reduced entirely to an empty husk, though the root system remained.
After a moment's thought, he simply swam over to the rock face and began climbing up along the roots.
What kind of plant was this that even ate monsters? He wanted to find out.
Strangely enough, once he climbed up, he discovered that the fissure penetrated by the root system was quite large—more than wide enough for a person to squeeze through.
Scrambling upward along the increasingly thick and tangled roots, then crawling on his belly through a short horizontal stretch, he caught sight of light!
Was he nearing the surface?
No, ahead lay another body of water, and it was crystal clear, pleasantly warm as he soaked in it.
A... hot spring?
He Lingchuan swam out from the hollow and saw river fish frolicking amidst blooming water lilies.
He could even hear children laughing.
Breaking the surface, a familiar scene greeted his eyes—
A small bridge and stone balustrades along the lake, an expansive square across the way, and bustling shops lining both sides of the street.
Turning his head, he saw a lush, verdant tree growing by the water's edge.
Isn't this... isn't this—
Panlong City's South Gate Square?!
Just a moment ago, he had clearly been fighting monsters in a submerged cavern northwest of the Chipa Plateau. How had climbing up along tree roots brought him straight back to Panlong City?
He Lingchuan wiped the water from his face, a myriad of questions bubbling up in his mind.
Children on the bank ran over to gawk at him, and an elderly man ambled forward, offering a hand: "Hurry on up! Did you have too much to drink?"
Who else would go jumping into the water here if not a drunkard?
He Lingchuan thanked him for the kindness and vaulted onto the bank on his own.
"Bats! Bats!" a young boy shouted, pointing at his mesh net. "Those bats look like monkeys!"
"What else?" He Lingchuan asked. The monstrous head was far more horrifying and eye-catching; why weren't the children mentioning it?
The boy asked, "Can they fly?"
"They can." He Lingchuan held the net closer to him. "What else do you see besides the bats?"
"Nothing else. Wait, why did you put a big rock in the net?"
"A rock?" There was no rock in his net.
"How can this be the realm of souls!" The severed head inside the net spoke, its tone laden with shock. "You're clearly asleep, so why aren't you in the realm of dreams?"
"Blame me, then?" He Lingchuan was equally surprised. That this creature could accurately name the "realm of souls" proved it was no native of the Panlong world.
Was this thing an invasive species from the outside?
No wonder that colossal crimson shadow roaming outside the realm of souls had intervened; it seemed to act as the guardian of this realm.
With the children chattering around him, He Lingchuan casually handed them a few copper coins. "Go buy some sweets."
The children scampered off delighted.
With peace restored, He Lingchuan finally had the chance to examine the green tree before him.
Were the roots piercing through the rock wall from this Juluo tree?
Judging by its position, it certainly seemed so.
He Lingchuan leaned against the railing and looked down into the water, only to find that the submerged opening had vanished.
Indeed, he had passed by here dozens of times; the stone corridor along the bank was neat and orderly, with never any cavern beneath.
Had this tree pierced through space and time, bringing him directly here from the northwestern Chipa Plateau?
Or looked at the other way around, had it extended its roots from here all the way to the submerged cavern in the northwest, purely to catch the monster for a feast?
Looking at the young Juluo tree now, its once spindly trunk had thickened until it took both arms to encircle it. It had also shot up considerably, reaching a zhang and a half in height, its crown spreading outward, finally taking on a fraction of its progenitor's grandeur.
This Juluo tree was unlike any other plant in Panlong City. It had grown from the seed of the Jeweled Tree King that he had brought in from the outside world, inherently possessing the power to span the Azure Void. Was that how it sensed the foreign intrusion?
And since it had devoured the monster, did that mean the nutrients it required for growth were also rather... sinister?
Questions arose one after another in He Lingchuan's mind, but he had a far more pressing matter to attend to.
Hoisting the mesh bag, he hurried into a street shop and called out to the old man inside, "Uncle Li, mind if I borrow your backyard?"
Uncle Li was busy weaving grass handicrafts and didn't even look up. "Go ahead."
This was the very shop where Sun Fuling used to buy mourning ice lanterns during the winter. In the summer, ice lanterns couldn't be made, so the old man wove grasshoppers, little horses, and other crafts out of bamboo and grass to sell, making him quite popular with the neighborhood children.
The backyard was empty, cluttered only with strips of bamboo, vines, and various odds and ends.
He Lingchuan held the monster's severed head up before him. "What are you?"
"What happened to my true body?" Ever since its head had been chopped off, the creature had remained in a state of utter shock.
Everything it saw was completely beyond its comprehension.
"Gone," He Lingchuan answered succinctly. "If you want to follow in its footsteps, I can grant your wish right now."
Curiously, the roots he had snapped back in the cavern were still tightly wrapped around the bizarre head, neither sucking it dry nor letting go.
A three-eyed human head wrapped securely in tree roots—a sight that defied description even with the word "grotesque."
Yet the head had failed to regenerate a body, a fact He Lingchuan intuitively credited to the Juluo tree roots.
"No, no!" the severed head reacted frantically. "I don't want to die!"
"Why did you target me?"
"Someone marked you as an offering," the head confessed. "We love young, robust spirits. Delicious!"
"Who was it?"
"I don't know who he is," the head replied, retaining a hint of its former arrogance. "We don't care."
"Where is this person?" He Lingchuan's brow twitched. "I want an exact location, and his appearance!"
This monstrosity came from the real world, which meant someone out there was moving against him!
Good. Very good.
The clue had delivered itself right to his doorstep.
"You won't kill us, will you?"
"Depends on your cooperation."
"Three hundred zhang to your west, Tongfu Inn. He's scrawny and gaunt, with an elongated face—looks like a gust of wind could blow him over."
He Lingchuan scooped up the net and slipped back onto the street, where two patrol guards happened to pass by.
He sorted out the monkey bats, handed them to the guards, and asked them to deliver the creatures to A'luo at the Elixir Office.
As for the root-wrapped head, He Lingchuan leapt into the branches of the Juluo tree and wedged it firmly into a fork.
In the eyes of the Panlong locals, it looked merely like a large rock. No one would take an interest in it, and as long as it was out of reach of the children, it would be fine.
"No, no, no, don't leave me here!" Sensing the aura of the Juluo tree, the bizarre head panicked.
Wasn't this the very tree demon that had sucked it dry earlier?
"Keep an eye on it for me," He Lingchuan patted the trunk of the Juluo tree. "Don't eat it yet. I still have a use for it."
The Juluo tree's intellect had been fully demonstrated in the Jeweled Tree King. Though this one was still in its infancy, it hadn't fought him when he snatched the net in the cavern, showing that the little sapling was remarkably intelligent.
He Lingchuan then found an empty corner, sat down, closed his eyes to rest his mind, and relaxed his entire body:
"Wake up, wake up, wake..."
Previously, he had assumed that the only way to voluntarily leave the dream was to commit suicide, a far from pleasant experience. Later, he realized that made no sense—he was the master of the broken saber, so why shouldn't he be able to come and go as he pleased?
After trying a few times, he found that by focusing his mind and willing himself to log off, he could quickly return to reality.
***
When the Hundred Faces Nightmare was dragged into the deep sea by the colossal crimson silhouette outside the realm of souls, hardly anyone noticed that a star in the eastern night sky of the real world suddenly flared with brilliant light, flashing rapidly several times.
Just those few flashes.
And then, everything seemed to return to normal.
Tongfu Inn.
With a sharp crack, the idol upon the table suddenly fractured into several pieces.
The curse master, who had been chanting incantations with closed eyes, abruptly coughed up a mouthful of blood and gasped in disbelief, "Lord Hundred Faces? How could this be!"
His only answer was the clatter of the idol shattering into fragments across the tabletop.
Nightmares came in different strengths. The Hundred Faces Nightmare had originated from an immortal's soul; its formidable power was something neither its kin nor mortal men dared deny.
This nightmare rarely made a move, but it had never failed. It was precisely because the curse master placed absolute faith in its might that he could not believe his own eyes.
Even an illustrious ruler like the king of the Mang Kingdom had died at its hands. This He fellow was nothing more than a commoner with no origin power to protect himself—by what right could he defeat Lord Hundred Faces?
It was as absurd as a six-year-old child knocking out a boxing champion in the ring.
Yet facts spoke louder than words. No matter how terrified the curse master was, he had to plan his next move.
The room door banged open, startling the curse master half to death. The guest from the adjacent room stepped inside and demanded, "You failed?"
The curse master flew into a rage. "Y-You... What gives you the right to barge in uninvited?"
The man glared at him. "Did it succeed or not?"
"It failed. Broken. The other side is fiercely formidable—I fear, I fear he will trace his way here." Short of breath, the curse master could only stagger to his feet. "Are you staying?"
Fragments were mixed in the blood he had coughed up; his heart meridians were damaged. The best thing for him would be to lie down and rest for at least half a month before getting out of bed, lest it cause permanent harm.
This was the backlash of a curse—maiming at best, fatal at worst. But the curse master had no time to worry about that. If an entity as powerful as Lord Hundred Faces had met its end, staying here meant he would almost certainly share the same fate.
"You bunch of spellcasters are truly useless after all." The man braced one hand against the wall. In the darkness behind him, a colossal silhouette shifted, accompanied by a blast of reeking wind. "Get out of here. Leave this place to me."
Chapter 490