CH 46

Chapter 46: Heart-Eating Nightmare



An Long opened the door and strode in. He saw women’s jewelry and an embroidered white fox fur littering the floor. Then he looked at the only place one could hide — the carved bed. How could he not guess what had happened? 



He knew that because of Song Qingshi’s frail body, he was particularly afraid of being said to be like a woman. He quickly covered his mouth and firmly held back the instinct to laugh, fearing that Song Qingshi would kill him if he couldn’t hold it back and he heard his laughter.



He held back for a long long time and finally managed to adjust his breathing. He said, “Qingshi? Where are you?”



Finally, an aggrieved voice came from under the bed, “An Long, go out first.”



An Long was almost dizzy from happiness. He wanted so much to see how he looked right now, it was almost unbearable. The only reason he wasn’t tearing the bed apart was because he was afraid of being added to the blacklist…He pondered for a moment and quietly summoned an Investigation Gu to keep a peek. But when he stretched out his hand, he found that he couldn’t summon it. He was extremely surprised, “This formation suppresses our powers. I can’t use my Gu’s.” 



“Huh?” Under the bed, Song Qingshi tried to mobilize the spiritual fire in his body but found that the Underworld Ghost Fire had disappeared, leaving only the Red Lotus Fire. He held the little red lotus and thought for a moment. He suddenly discovered something suspicious, “What are you summoning Gu’s here for? It can’t be that you were thinking of taking a peek?”



The Alaskan Malamute used to do bad things such as this a lot and was very proficient at it…



He was furious and the Red Lotus in his hand burned more and more vigorously.



An Long realized that things were turning bad and hurried out of the room, just in time to escape several lashes of alchemical fires that were about to attack him. He didn’t dare to be rash. He obediently ran to prepare water for Song Qingshi to wash his face and then stuffed his own black robe through the door and into the room. He then squatted in the corner and sighed, depressed by this missed opportunity.



Song Qingshi washed the makeup off his face and untied his hair bun. He then put on the men’s robe that was way too big on him. Finally he breathed a long sigh of relief and signaled to the Alaskan Malamute, who was squatting in the corner in introspection, that he could come in.



An Long walked into the room and glanced at him. He was instantly a little stunned.



He knew that Song Qingshi was pretty good-looking but in the many years he has known him, he has always worn light and plain colored clothes which he wrapped tightly around himself, creating a clean and holy aura, like glittering snow on the mountaintop. Song Qingshi right now seemed to have been sullied by the evil black color. The completely ill-fitting robe hung loose on him. Sitting obliquely on the edge of the carved bed, with his long hair draped over his shoulder and his collarbone faintly visible through the neckline, he now carried with him a lovable appearance of bewilderedly waking up from a dream of spring night.



This was exactly the scene he craved for so much that he even dreamt about it. Every point about it stabbed at his heart, stabbing open wounds that just barely healed, making them drip blood once again. It evoked the greed and desire within him, making him face his own unbearably hideous thoughts. 



I mustn’t think. I can’t make mistakes…



An Long closed his eyes and readjusted his breathing.



Song Qingshi raised his head from his contemplation and saw An Long’s strange expression, as if he carried a slightly dangerous aura. He asked worriedly, “What’s the matter with you?”



“It’s nothing, it’s just that it’s weird for you to wear this robe. It’s too big,” A wicked smile reappeared on An Long’s face and he casually changed the subject. “Have you guessed the origin of this formation?” 



He knew that Song Qingshi had done a lot of research on formations. He had read many ancient books and knew a lot about little known formations.



“En,” Song Qingshi said hesitantly, “I have come across a similar formation recorded in “Doaist Xunshan’s Record of Strange Stories”. That copy has parts and pages missing and the record is not very complete. It was said that there is a strange ancient formation in Mt. Yue. The formation is called the Heart-Eating Nightmare Formation and it belongs to the category of Heart Questioning formations. If a group of people enter the formation, it will choose one person to be the nightmare’s guide, weaving an interlocked fictional world. Afterwards, it will draw in everyone into that world. You need to find the dream’s emotional entanglement and completely wake the dreamer. Otherwise, you will all be trapped in the dream forever. However, I’m not sure what counts as being awake…”



He felt very much awake. 



Cc Obcu rjlv jcuglis, “Qtja atf rbga bo abs lr atlr? Glv kjafg ufa lcab Zb Tejc’r tfjv? Xblcu atgbeut rb wemt agbeyif ab wjxf atlr obgwjalbc pera ab wfrr klat qfbqif?”



“Gjblra Wecrtjc mjwf ogbw jc juf wemt fjgilfg atjc Vkbgv Zjrafg Zb Tejc. P atlcx atlr obgwjalbc wera tjnf cbatlcu ab vb klat Vkbgv Zjrafg Zb Tejc. Zjsyf tf mjwf tfgf obg rbwfatlcu jcv ifoa agjmfr ktfc tf ygbxf atf obgwjalbc.” Vbcu Hlcurtl lcofggfv jcv jcjishfv j ilaaif yla. “Ktja vlrmlqif ogbw atf Efv Ggjubc Vfma tjv rjlv atja atfgf kfgf rcjxfr yea atfgf kfgf cb rlucr bo jcs rcjxf ylafr bc tlr ybvs. Ktlr lrc’a gfjrbcjyif. Pa wera tjnf yffc j clutawjgf bo j ugbeq bo rcjxfr kbnfc ys atlr obgwjalbc atja mjerfv tlw ugfja qrsmtbibulmji agjewj.”



An Long asked, “Whose nightmare are we in?”



Song Qingshi said aggrieved, “Probably mine…” 



Being told that he looked like a girl was an extreme taboo for Song Qingshi and so, the formation made him dress up as a girl. Yue Wuhuan couldn’t be afraid of him turning into a girl, right? As for the Alaskan Malamute, there was no need to say any more. He was so happy watching him make a fool of himself that he could hardly restrain the corners of his lips from ticking up.



Song Qingshi flew into a rage from shame. The Red Lotus Fire in his hand flared out once again. He was going to press down those damn corners of his lips.



An Long realized the danger and immediately said with a serious expression, “Where is Wuhuan Xiaodi? What role will he play in your nightmare?”



Wuhuan? Fai-failure… 



Song Qingshi finally snapped out of his intellectual musings and realized that the situation was not good. His face changed in fright. He jumped off the bed and rushed out the door. The black robe was much too long and it hampered his movement. He stumbled every couple of steps. He was so anxious that he thought of just riding the Red Lotus Fire out of here. But, he was stopped by An Long, “There’s no Fire Resistance Formation on this robe. If you burn it, I won’t have a second one for you to change into.”



He had no choice but to run stumblingly outside the house.



Outside the house was a bustling street, with people of every description walking about. Everyone had normal facial features, but their faces were blurred and easily forgettable. Just like people in a dream, they didn’t leave any kind of impression.



An Long let out a whistle and praised, “Sure enough, it’s the Heart-Eating Nightmare Formation.” 



Song Qingshi was an erudite scholar. He would read any obscure, boring and useless book. His knowledge reserves were simply unmatched.



Song Qingshi grabbed a passers-by and stumblingly asked, “Is there a-a bad place around here?”



The passers-by was at a loss. “What is a bad place?”



An Long followed up and clarified his intention, helping him complete the conversation. “Like brothels or pleasure boats; places where men receive guests.” 



Song Qingshi’s face had long gone pale. His and An Long’s cultivation base were both Nascent Soul and the formation had suppressed it to Core Formation, sealing their most powerful abilities. Yue Wuhuan was only at Foundation Building. Wouldn’t his cultivation base be even more oppressively suppressed? If the Blood King Vine was also sealed, he would be no different from ordinary people.



The passer-by pointed to the east. “Cross this street and turn at the intersection and you’ll see Golden Phoenix Terrace, the largest brothel in the city. The person you want is there.”



Hearing this familiar name, Song Qingshi felt faint once again. He ran off at once. Just as the turned at the intersection, he saw a magnificent tower in the distance. The height of the building was several tens of meters. At the top stood a devastating beauty wearing a golden red feather skirt. It was Yue Wuhuan. He stared blankly at the sky, holding the jade flute tightly in his hands. It was as if he couldn’t see anything nor hear anything.



The wind rolled up the feather skirt, showing the scars on his body and the shackles on his feet… 



Song Qingshi frantically called his name.



However, he jumped off the tall building.



Song Qingshi couldn’t care less about his robes burning. He directly summoned the Red Lotus and rushed over with his body covered in flames. But he was still half a step too late.



The bird with its broken wings fell gently and a red flower burst forth on the ground. 



Life disappears so fast and so easily.



The ending was so fast that he was caught completely unprepared.



Song Qingshi’s eyes opened wide. Looking at the scene in front of him, he was almost unable to breathe. He slowly knelt in front of the blood on the ground. He picked up the unbreathing bird from the middle of the pool of blood, performing useless first aid over and over again as though he had gone crazy. “I won’t give up. I will never give up…”



This was the worst nightmare of his life. 



Wake up quickly!



His mind was overcome with dizziness and the world turned black.



…



There were 127 types of Heart-questioning formations recorded in the books in the Medicine King’s Valley. Twelve of them would kill the intruder after failing to solve the problem, eighteen would trap the intruder forever, and forty-six types would restart, torturing the intruder over and over again, until the problem was solved and they were able to break though the formation. The effects of the rest were unknown. 



Song Qingshi opened his eyes and found that he was once again wearing that ridiculous women’s clothing, sitting on the carved mahogany bed. He realized that he’d been lucky. This formation was the type where the entire sequence would restart upon failure. However, having a nightmare repeat over and over again was enough to wear down the willpower of any cultivator, until he suffered a nervous breakdown and turned into a madman.



He didn’t dare lose time bothering with his shameful dress anymore. He jumped out of bed and ran out the door, pushing away An Long, who wanted to ask about the situation. He frantically rushed towards Golden Phoenix Terrace, fearing that slowing down even half a step would result in Yue Wuhuan’s death.



An Long couldn’t help whistling when he saw him dressed up in women’s clothing. He said in a low voice, “So beautiful.”



He very happily believed that the formation placing them in the same house must be because in the dreamland, they were set as Doaist companions. 



That Yue Wuhuan, that damn evildoer, had been tortured to death by the nightmare, was something that he liked to hear.



He couldn’t wait to stay in this beautiful dream forever. Unfortunately, this was Song Qingshi’s nightmare. If he didn’t help save the evildoer and solve the nightmare puzzle, Qingshi would be constantly hurt by the nightmare and be made to suffer pain and torment.



The evildoer could die 10,000 times but his family’s little cutie must never be hurt…



An Long quickly made a decision and hurried after him to Golden Phoenix Terrace to rescue them. 



Song Qingshi rushed to Golden Phoenix Terrace, the Red Lotus opening up the way. He rushed directly in but saw Yue Wuhuan being entangled by several disgusting male cultivators. He disregarded everything else and raised his hand to make the Red Lotus Fire rise into a pillar. He turned it into a wall of fire, separating those pieces of trash.



He turned his head and asked worriedly, “Wuhuan, how are you doing?”



Yue Wuhuan sat on the ground, trembling all over, his eyes full of despair.



The wall of flame was broken open by a black blade. The strength of those cultivators was not weak; all of them were at Core Formation. They were armed with swords and blades and they charged at Song Qingshi. Song Qingshi was not good at close combat and with his Underworld Ghost Fire being suppressed, he could only try his best hold on. His body was slashed in several places. 



An Long broke in. When he saw the blood on his white clothes, he broke out in a towering rage. Right on the spot, he twisted one cultivator’s head off, joining the fight. He was a strong man brought up facing all kinds of fierce battles. He was good at all attack methods and so, losing use of his Gu’s had little effect. He directly resisted their offensive with his fists. He grabbed a black blade from one of the cultivators and sliced it against the opponent’s neck.



The pressure on Song Qingshi’s shoulders suddenly lightened. He turned his head and looked around for Yue Wuhuan, only to see Yue Wuhuan standing on the high platform once again. He was so frightened that he was about to break. He hurriedly approached, trying to soothe him, “Don-don’t jump…”



At a time like this, his stupid mouth couldn’t come up with anything to comfort him!



Song Qingshi was going to start crying from anxiety. He wanted to give his mouth several good slaps. 



“Master, I’m sorry,” Yue Wuhuan gave him a despairing look, “This world is too dirty, I can’t bear it any longer…”



Immediately afterwards, he took a half step back and jumped off the platform once again.



Song Qingshi couldn’t bother with much of anything else. He chased after him and jumped down without hesitation but only managed to catch his feathered skirt.



The two fell together… 



An Long turned his head and was stunned when he saw Song Qingshi jumping off the platform without any regard to whether he could survive.



He forgot to raise the black blade in his hand and a long sword ran through his abdomen…



However, he had already forgotten pain.



… 



When Song Qingshi woke up for the third time, he sat dazed by the bed for a while. His mind filled with what had just happened.



An Long appeared in front of him with a dark expression on his face. He grabbed his collar and asked fiercely, “Why?! Why would you go this far for him?!”



“Yes! It shouldn’t be like this. I lost my mind just now.” Song Qingshi recovered from the panic and gradually recovered his calm. “Some things must be proven first.”



Without waiting for An Long’s answer, he hurriedly jumped off the bed and ran to Golden Phoenix Terrace once again. 



An Long witnessed his stupidity. Full of anger with nowhere to vent, he slammed his fist into the wall, almost smashing a hole through it. But what could he do? This wasn’t the time to bicker. He couldn’t let this fool be bullied. He could only restrain his anger and keep up with him. He’ll set him straight later.



The events repeated, the fight repeated.



Song Qingshi once again appeared before the heavily injured Yue Wuhuan. This time he calmly asked a question, “There are both pheasants and rabbits in the same cage. With a total of 35 heads and 94 feet, how many pheasants and how many rabbits are there? Quickly calculate it in your head and give me the answer!”