Chapter Forty-Four: The Return of the Moon Spirit Jade

The night was silent, and new leaves quietly sprouted, cloaking the branches in green. A gentle breeze stirred, creating a soft rustling sound and stirring dream spirits that rippled through the forest canopy, transforming into a sea of stars, brilliant yet unreachable. The sky, previously shrouded in darkness, slowly revealed the moon, like jade or ice, but solitary. The moon's appearance seemed to make the stars disappear.

The moon hung in the sky, its light cool and lonely. It seemed destined to be this way. I reached out to touch it, but it was out of reach. The moonlight felt surprisingly cold on my hand.

I wasn't sure where I was, floating as if in water, or perhaps standing on a high cliff. Looking down, I saw my shadow, as lonely as the moon. For a moment, my soul was drawn into the cold, pale blue light of the moon. But instead of rising, my body felt like it was plummeting. Falling into a bottomless abyss.

"Ugh…" I struggled to sit up, the nightmare lingering in my heart as a faint shadow.

That strange dream left me feeling unprecedentedly flustered and helpless, filled with loneliness and desolation.

"If you're scared like this now, what will you do when you face it for real?" A voice spoke beside my ear. Startled from my nightmare, I instinctively pushed in the direction of the voice and huddled into the corner.

Shaken by the nightmare and this sudden scare, my vision wavered. I closed my eyes to calm myself and heard someone making self-deprecating comments about their appearance. Recognizing the familiar voice, I opened my eyes, still shaken.

It was the dream immortal, Qingwu, from my previous dreams.

"Why is it you, Dream Immortal? Am I still dreaming?" I pinched my cheek, feeling a sharp pain.

Could the Dream Immortal have manifested in reality? Wait, didn't that Taoist Lingyun "borrow" my Moon Spirit Jade? Could he have accidentally summoned the Dream Immortal?

"I don't have the power to make you feel pain in a dream," he said, resolving my confusion, and held out a shining object. "Did you casually give away this Moon Spirit Jade?"

"That deceitful Taoist tricked me, saying he needed it for a few days to handle some matters. In the end, he caught neither a rabbit nor a pheasant. I was planning to retrieve it from him tomorrow." I smiled at him and looked at the Moon Spirit Jade, adding, "I didn't expect you to have the ability to bring it back so easily. Thank you, Dream Immortal!" I reached out to take it, but he suddenly pulled it back.

Could it be that the Dream Immortal no longer trusted me to keep the Moon Spirit Jade safe and didn't plan to return it to me? Just as I was pondering this, he spoke, "Have you thought about what you'll do tomorrow? Or do you plan to repeat the same mistake, handing over this Moon Spirit Jade again?"

"Da Xian said he will have a solution tomorrow. I trust him," I replied, meeting his gaze, which was as cold as ice.

"Why don't you choose to trust yourself? If you don't plan ahead this time, you'll only be led by the nose again. The Moon Spirit Jade is your possession, and if you're tricked again or pay a higher price, that's your own choice. It has nothing to do with me," the Dream Immortal admonished me, his tone both serious and indifferent. He extended the Moon Spirit Jade towards me.

His words had a point, but I wasn't entirely without a plan. I didn't have to rely solely on others to resolve my problems.

"Dream Immortal, since you know so much, can I ask you to confirm something for me, to put my mind at ease?"

I believed the Dream Immortal's visit wasn't just to return the jade. Either he had important information to convey, or he was angered by being accidentally summoned by Taoist Lingyun and wanted to vent his frustration using me as a proxy.

He appeared calm, looking down at the jade in his hand. "Speak."

Seeing his consent, I asked directly, "Was the place where I was trapped under Lingyun Temple?"

"Oh? What makes you think that?" He raised his eyes, looking at me with interest.

I coughed lightly, feeling a bit embarrassed by the short bed, which always made facing his gaze uncomfortable.

"What's the matter?"

"Nothing, I have a fear of heights." I gave him an awkward smile, internally berating myself for such a nonsensical response.

"Not answering the question," he said, looking down at the Moon Spirit Jade again.

I quickly explained my reasoning, "Isn't Taoist Lingyun connected with the Xinghuo Sect? And Linglu recently hastily tried to exonerate him. Coupled with Yier's warnings and previous events, it's not hard to deduce. The Xinghuo Sect's control over so many demons can't simply be through evil suppressing evil; they must use some righteous force to achieve that goal. So the exit shouldn't be within Lingyun Temple. The incense and offerings in the main hall, no, the entire Lingyun Temple, seem more like tools to suppress whatever is below from breaking out."

After I finished my lengthy explanation, he finally looked at me directly. "Reasonable, but you'll have to verify it yourself tomorrow." Placing the Moon Spirit Jade on my bedside, he stood and walked a few steps away, his back to me. "Take good care of this jade. If you lose it again, you might as well hand it over willingly."

With that, he flicked his sleeve and vanished into a blur of green light.