Chapter 31: Chapter 28 Zhuang Zhou Dreams of Butterfly_1
The man on the altar was long dead, standing upright, his fresh blood trickling down his body and seeping into the altar.
This sight did not instill fear amongst the crowd surrounding the altar. Instead, they wore bizarre smiles on their faces.
Two figures rose from the crowd at the rims of the altar, wearing the same chilling grins. They proceeded step by step towards the altar, joining the corpses already there. Painstakingly, they gouged their own eyeballs out.
The sight was chilling, causing onlookers to gasp in horror.
Lu Yan’s complexion turned pale. This scene was all too familiar to him.
Martial Spirits!
This was exactly how the villagers of Kaoshan Village had behaved.
But back then, there were only a few individuals. Now, there were more than a hundred.
Roars...
The eyeballs rolled off and fell beneath the altar, followed by deep cries from below. It was an expression of suppressed excitement.
"This is not good. It’s a Martial Spirit. It’s conducting a ’Demonizing Ceremony’. This Martial Spirit is seeping into the bones. Intruders will be killed. We need to leave quickly."
The complexion of a retainer from the Liu Family changed drastically. He pulled Liu Xingren and fled.
The others were chilled to the bone, with not a trace of their initial intent to quash the marauders. All they wanted was to leave this frightful place.
Even in its first occurrence, a Martial Spirit performing a ’Demonizing Ceremony’ is beyond their capacity to handle. It would require the intervention of a Martial Marquis from the Feudal Lords to handle this monster.
Lu Yan was faster in his retreat than the others.
However, after only a few steps, he began to experience dizzy spells, his eyelids fluttered and his consciousness blurred.
Within a few breaths, he was enveloped in darkness, slipping into unconsciousness.
After an unknown period, Lu Yan opened his eyes.
What greeted him was a white limestone wall, white quilt, and a peculiar, unsettling smell.
"Hospital, ward."
Gripped by confusion, Lu Yan thought of these words.
"Lu Yan, you’re finally awake. You gave mom quite a scare."
A gentle voice came from his side.
Lu Yan turned to see three familiar faces, filled with concern for him.
"Dad, mom, sister, why are they here? That’s wrong, this isn’t Da Chu, this isn’t Changfeng City, this is Earth..."
Lu Yan was mystified, unable to understand what was happening.
The parents he was thinking of were not Lu Qingshan and Wang Cui, but his parents on Earth, Lu Jianguo and Li Lanxiang.
"You’ve been unconscious for two days and nights, Lu Yan. You had us so worried."
A woman in her thirties, filled with worry and a tinge of complaint, said this to him.
It was Lu Yan’s sister, Lu Zhi.
Suddenly, Lu Yan’s forehead spasmed, followed by an excruciating headache.
"What’s going on? Wasn’t I in Changfeng City? Wasn’t I fighting the bandits with the Liu family? Right, I saw a Martial Spirit and was about to escape. How did I end up back on Earth?"
Lu Yan’s mind was in turmoil.
"Lu Yan, the doctor said you were overworked. Working at your daytime job and staying up late writing... You should not continue to do this." Lu Zhi advised him continuously.
"Lu Yan, your sister is right. I’ve already requested for you to take a long leave from your company, you should rest and recuperate." Li Lanxiang chimed in.
"You all stop nagging. Lu Yan just woke up, let him rest properly."
Li Jianguo interrupted them.
"I remember that back then, I fainted from staying up late. When I woke up, my soul was transferred to Da Chu. Was all of that just a dream, a fantasy?"
"If it was just a dream, it was too real - the Feudal Lords, Martial Arts, Martial Food, mom and dad..."
All these memories were vivid as if they just happened.
Particularly the days spent with Lu Qingshan and Wang Cui, so vivid they were indistinguishable from reality.
Can a dream be that real?
Lu Yan reached under the covers and pinched himself hard on the thigh. The severe pain made him take a sharp intake of breath.
It seems like, it was just a dream after all.
He fainted for two days and nights and had a massive dream.
"Lu Yan, are you alright? Don’t scare your mother, I will call the doctor."
Worry was etched all over Li Lanxiang’s face.
"Mom, I am okay."
Lu Yan smiled.
Li Lanxiang had deep dark circles under her eyes and looked worn-out. It was clear she’d been tremendously worried these past few days, undoubtedly staying by his side the entire time.
Lu Jianguo and Lu Zhi were in similar conditions.
Seeing these faces so close to him, familiar and comforting, Lu Yan felt warmth in his heart.
This was nice.
In his dreams, hadn’t he always wanted to come back, to return to the side of his parents and family?
Speaking of which, Lu Qingshan and Wang Cui bore a striking resemblance to Lu Jianguo and Li Lanxiang, not in appearance but in personality and their feelings for him.
Perhaps his subconscious mind had projected Lu Jianguo and Li Lanxiang into his dreams, which is why it felt so real.
At this time, a nurse came in to change Lu Yan’s IV. She told him to eat something but avoid greasy and hard-to-digest foods, recommending that he start with liquid foods to settle his stomach.
Lu Zhi immediately took out her phone and placed an order.
Half an hour later, a piping hot bowl of white rice porridge arrived. After consuming half a bowl, Lu Yan felt a significant boost in his strength, enough to sit up on his bed.
"Dad, Mom, Sis, I’ve missed you so much. I thought I would never see you again."
Lu Yan said.
"What nonsense! You’ve got to take care of yourself and get some rest. You don’t have to push yourself so hard. Your father and I have some savings for you, including money for you to get married in the future," Li Lanxiang chided him gently.
A warmth spread through Lu Yan’s heart, bringing tears to his eyes. Here was where he belonged; he didn’t have to fight or worry about the danger of losing his life at any time.
Time passed by and, seven days later, Lu Yan had largely recovered. He was discharged from the hospital and returned to his home.
From the balcony of the 22nd floor, Lu Yan stared blankly at the cars whizzing by on the street below.
These days, images of Changfeng City from his dreams would occasionally blend with his reality. It was sometimes hard for him to discern the difference.
"The martial arts in my dreams, which involve moving Qi-blood, refining my physical body, overcoming the Sealed Door, would make me like a Superman in this world. I’ll try it out."
With the house empty, Lu Yan went through the movements of the Iron Thread Fist, but failed to feel any connection to his Qi-blood.
"Of course. It was only a dream. How could I possibly cultivate it in reality? Maybe it was just an intense moment of inspiration when writing my novel..."
Lu Yan laughed at himself.
Speaking of novels, an idea suddenly struck Lu Yan: "Why not create a novel from my dream? Da Chu, the Feudal Lords, Martial Food, Qi-blood, Sealed Door, Martial Body... All of these form a self-consistent, logical system. It’s like a real world, not a figment of my imagination. If I were to write this as a book, would my readers elevate me to a god-like status?"
Lu Yan was rejuvenated with excitement, immediately switched on his computer and started brainstorming.
"Where should I begin? The half-month exile after my soul transmigrated into the dream? That doesn’t really make for a good start. I’ll start from Changfeng City."
Once he had planned it out, Lu Yan started to type the first sentence: "Finally arrived in Changfeng City..."
Because his dreams felt so real, inspiration came to Lu Yan in uninterrupted waves. He began to type out lines at a blistering pace, quickly racking up thousands of words.
From being first arriving in Changfeng City, to the Liu Family distributing porridge, the Martial Soldiers killing people, being allocated to Kaoshan Village, the madwoman’s shouts, and the bullies stealing food, to his father teaching him archery....
Writing up to the part about the archery lesson, Lu Yan paused, a puzzled expression on his face.
Because he couldn’t remember what his dream’s cheat code was.
All he could recall was that in his dream, his martial art skills improved rapidly due to the cheat code. But what the cheat code was, he now had no impression whatsoever.
In fact, whenever scenes from his dream surfaced these days, they would automatically bypass any mention of the cheat code.
What was going on?
Lu Yan furrowed his brow in deep thought.
He had a vague sense that the cheat code was somewhere in his mind, but why was it completely blank, with no recollection at all?
Suddenly, a searing, splitting headache hit Lu Yan, something in his head bursting open, releasing a blinding light, as if a sun was suspended in his mind.
Gradually, the light dimmed and a book appeared.
"Dao Book, yes, it’s the Dao Book."
Lu Yan was overjoyed, but immediately noticed that his surroundings were distorting, then shattering like glass.
He felt as if he had fallen into a whirlpool, sinking deeper and deeper into darkness.
But the darkness didn’t last long, and soon a light appeared in front of him.
The night, the mountain stronghold, the altar, the eerie bandits, and... the people from the Liu Family and Wu Family who had gone mad.
"Am I dreaming again? No, this isn’t a dream, this is real. What about the time before in the hospital? What’s the reality? What’s the dream? Which is true? Which is false?"
Lu Yan held his head, his eyes full of bewilderment.
