Chapter 235: Ordinary People Are Safer

Jiyuan enjoyed his dream-cultivation method, not only because cultivating within the manifested dreamscape was more comfortable and convenient, allowing him to grasp true meaning, but also because it nourished his spirit and magical powers.

Moreover, in this semi-dream state, Jiyuan’s spiritual senses seemed to reside within the dreamscape of mountains and rivers yet remained connected to the real world, sometimes allowing him to perceive unique things.

For instance, being in the same capital city and close enough, Jiyuan, though not seeing it firsthand in his dream, could to some extent sense the absurd ups and downs of the Chu family's entanglement.

The Chu family was indeed blessed. Apart from not holding high official positions in court, they lacked neither wealth nor renown and were on good terms with Prince Jin.

Even if most of the books in their magnificent library were covered in dust, and even if the decree was shelved because of it, it finally saw the light of day today, though not in an honorable way, having almost been misled by evil spirits.

After his chuckle, Jiyuan paid no more attention and continued cultivating on his bed, while the Chu family's residence was anything but calm.

Master Chu held the page-sized Xuan paper, and his eldest son brought the lantern closer, allowing all the Chu family members and servants to see more clearly.

"Father, did this character just glow?"

"Yes…"

"Who wrote this?"

Master Chu looked around, his gaze lingering on the servants. He knew no one in his family could write such exquisite characters, and he also knew these characters were not of mortal origin.

"By the way, who was the last person to finish reading this set of 'A Comprehensive Guide to a Hundred Prefectures'?"

Master Chu looked around and asked, naturally receiving no response. Many had even forgotten the existence of this set of books. Indeed, the library had too many books; unless one spent a lot of time there, it was impossible to remember them all.

After a moment of thought, Master Chu changed his approach.

"Who is responsible for cleaning this part of the library? Uncle Xu, do you know?"

As the most trusted steward in the manor, Old Xu naturally knew which people cleaned the library. He looked left and right; they weren't in the main hall on the first floor of the library.

"Go find Qian De and Sun Fugui!"

After shouting to the servants outside, it wasn't long before the two servants, who had been preparing for bed, rushed over.

To be precise, they weren't just cleaners; they were also responsible for organizing books, so they needed to be literate.

Seeing them arrive, Master Chu, who had already moved to a table in the library, pointed at "A Comprehensive Guide to a Hundred Prefectures" and the calligraphy sheet he still held.

"Do you recall this set of books and this calligraphy sheet?"

How could the two servants not recall "A Comprehensive Guide to a Hundred Prefectures" and this calligraphy sheet? The calligraphy was simply too beautiful. Since they put it away, every time they cleaned the bookshelf, they couldn't help but take it out for a closer look.

"To answer Master, yes, we remember them."

The Chu family's spirits lifted.

"Do you know which guest of the manor wrote or left them?"

"This... this humble one doesn't know. We found this set of 'A Comprehensive Guide to a Hundred Prefectures' on a desk on the third floor of the library, and this calligraphy sheet was also placed on top of the book. We thought a young master or Master Chu wanted to read them, but after half a month, no one touched them, so we tidied up the book and the calligraphy sheet and returned them to their original place."

They knew their own affairs; indeed, few people went to the third floor of the library. So Master Chu asked another question.

"When did this happen?"

"Uh... I don't quite remember, but it must have been a few years ago..."

The servants' answer made the Chu family members look at each other, feeling inexplicably guilty.

The origin of this matter could not be traced, but it was clear that the person who left the writing was no ordinary individual; "master" was indeed the appropriate term for them.

Old Xu, however, vaguely recalled something: that year, during a winter snowfall, when the auspicious event at Prince Jin's Residence caused a stir, he had sensed some unusual movement in the library. He went up to investigate but found nothing...

But this was less than a rumor, more like his own paranoia, so Old Xu didn't mention it.

At this moment, the two "masters" who had fled in a panic from the Chu residence were running without any regard for their image, only wanting to get away from the Chu family quickly. They ran through the long Yongning Street, across two districts, and only dared to stop and catch their breath in a dilapidated woodshed in some unknown corner.

"Huff... huff... huff... T-too terrifying..."

"Gasp... gasp... Y-yeah, I almost thought I was going to die!"

The two elderly individuals, appearing to be in their sixties or seventies, were now disheveled and drenched in sweat, completely devoid of their earlier ethereal demeanor. They looked neither human nor ghost.

After resting for a while, they finally caught their breath.

"When that white light swept by, I felt like my heart was hammered. What kind of divine ability was that? The Chu family didn't seem to know either."

"Oh dear, besides feeling like a terrifying gaze was on me, my body involuntarily started trembling and wanted to run outside, like it wasn't obeying me. Let's not try to figure out what kind of divine ability that was..."

"Yes, yes, let's not try to figure it out!"

As they spoke, they were still filled with lingering fear. After resting for a good while longer, they tidied themselves up and went out, heading back towards the guesthouse with a mix of apprehension and even more reluctance.

During their time in Da Zhen, they had been revered as masters, and they truly found it hard to part with that feeling—everything they wanted was prepared for them just by asking.

They only hoped the Chu family wouldn't expose their shortcomings. Then, once they reached the guesthouse, they would again be "masters" looking superior and proper.

It was dark by now. The two slipped stealthily out of the woodshed, intending to return to the guesthouse.

But after walking for a long time, turning this way and that, they still couldn't find a familiar path. They had run out of the Chu residence in such a hurry, focused only on fleeing in panic, that they didn't know where they had ended up.

The Imperial Capital was Da Zhen's foremost mighty city, with each district being quite large and densely built. It would be strange if the two, who had only been there for a short time, didn't get lost at night.

Due to their period of rest, it was already late, and this entire district was pitch black, as the residents had clearly all gone to bed.

"Hey, why don't we knock on a door and ask for directions?"

No sooner had the old woman suggested this than the person beside her pulled her back, hiding behind the shadow of a house.

"Shhh..."

As the old man hushed her with one hand, he pressed two talismans, one in each hand, onto their foreheads.

Then the two old people secretly crouched there, not daring to breathe loudly.

In their eyes, two blurry humanoid black shadows flashed by, moving from far to near. As they moved, they periodically scanned their surroundings. When their gaze passed over the shadow where the two were hiding, their pace visibly slowed, causing the two hidden individuals to hold their breath.

Fortunately, it seemed to have been merely their illusion. The two blurry black shadows continued without stopping, quickly disappearing at the end of the alley.

After a good while longer, they finally dared to believe the black figures had gone far away and would no longer sense their presence.

"Phew... It's a Night Roaming God!"

"Yes, such strong Yin energy. As expected of a Roaming God in Da Zhen's capital. I feel like even if we fought with all our might, we couldn't beat them, could we?"

"Fight?"

The old man, who had just removed the talismans to minimize spiritual energy loss from them, looked strangely at the old woman.

"Don't joke. Let's talk about standing tall in Da Zhen with our backs straight after we've secured the Celestial Master position."

As the two had just gotten up from the ground and hadn't walked many steps, they heard a long, chilling scream from afar, "Waaah!"

'Is there really an idiot who doesn't value their life?'

The first thought that popped into the "masters'" minds was that someone foolish might be using evil magic to harm people in the capital, given the variety of individuals attending the convention.

Their second reaction was to quickly distance themselves. If they alarmed the underworld officials, having their souls extracted was no laughing matter.

The two quickly ran in the opposite direction from where the underworld officials had left, but after only a couple of steps, another sound came from ahead.

"Waaah-woooh, waaah-woooh"

Compared to the previous scream, this sound was like the sharp crying of a child, sending shivers down the spines of these two evil cultivators.

"It's not human!"

"Let's go!"

Having been startled repeatedly tonight, the two finally reacted. They circulated all their spiritual energy and meager magical power, and again applied talismans, but still wandered aimlessly through the district, being lost.

As they walked, the path ahead widened considerably, as if there was a brightly moonlit avenue. Overjoyed, they quickly hurried forward.

"Splash... splash..."

Their feet tripped on stone steps, and they lost their balance, falling forward.

"Plop plop"

A large splash of water erupted. What they thought was an avenue was actually a small river running through the city.

"Ah wuu wuu wuu plop... ah plop plop... uh wuu plop... wuu wuu wuu plop plop..."

The two "masters" were now face down in the water, flailing their limbs and blowing bubbles, splashing water everywhere in the small river. Yet, strangely, they didn't turn over or show any signs of swimming.

After a long while, the two "masters" only twitched occasionally on the surface of the water, then their movements grew fainter until they stopped moving entirely...

A gray cat leaped a few times across nearby rooftops before finally landing on the backs of the bodies in the river.

"Meow woooh... woooh..."

The cat's cry sounded like a child's wail, chillingly eerie. Its body was pressed low against the two corpses, drawing out wisps of grayish-white energy.

After sucking the grayish-white energy dry, the gray cat stretched its body front and back, luxuriating in a full stretch.

In the moonlight, the shadow cast by its tail behind it split into five.

At this juncture, ordinary people wouldn't dare to act rashly, but these evil cultivators were easier and safer targets. While staying in guesthouses or similar places was fine, since they were wandering outside, their deaths were simply deaths. The realms of Yin and Yang would most likely not interfere, or even if they did, there would be no way to investigate.