The moment the Wild Bull Demon saw that familiar thicket, the image of Old Pig’s head being lopped off by a single sword stroke flashed through his mind once more.
Like a nightmare, it flickered before his eyes again.
Now, which side was the dream?
Had he just been dreaming, or was he still trapped in one?
But whether it was a dream or not, the Wild Bull Demon still chose to reach out and grab the Weasel Demon, who was mid-sentence.
His tone was grave: “Captain! There’s an ambush ahead in that grass!”
The Weasel Demon, cut off mid-speech, stared blankly at the Wild Bull Demon, while the other lesser demons also turned to him with puzzled looks.
The Weasel Demon didn’t immediately dismiss him. It studied Bull Two for a moment.
Finally, it gave a slight nod and turned to the Rat Demon carrying the crossbow, barking an order: “Ready the crossbows!”
“No!” The Wild Bull Demon tightened his grip, making the Weasel Demon wince in pain.
His voice was urgent: “Run! We need to run now!”
The Weasel Demon gritted its teeth through the pain. “Bull Two! What’s gotten into you? Are the ambushers that strong?”
“There’s one who’s terrifying! Old Pig lost his head in a single strike!”
The Boar Demon’s eyes widened as it glared at the Wild Bull Demon.
“What nonsense are you spouting?! You think this brawn is just for show?”
Ignoring the Boar Demon’s protest, the Weasel Demon calmly asked,
“Bull Two, are you still half-asleep from a nightmare?”
The Wild Bull Demon insisted, “It’s not a nightmare. It’s real. Not only can’t we win, but if we engage, a ridiculously powerful Golden Core cultivator will swoop in and slaughter our entire outpost.”
After listening silently, the Dwarf Lizard finally spoke up:
“Bull Two, ever since you woke up, you’ve looked like you lost your parents. You’ve been spouting creepy nonsense during training, even going on about some ‘ridiculously strong Golden Core.’ If you’re not feeling well, just go back to sleep—”
“Enough!”
The Weasel Demon suddenly raised a hand, cutting off their argument. Its eyes locked onto the thicket as it hissed, “Trouble!”
“Fire?!”
“Volley!”
Before Bull Two could even try to stop them, the crossbow bolts were already loosed.
Two vaguely familiar figures darted out again.
Once more, a sword swept aside the bolts.
And once more, the Weasel Demon barked the same order: “Bull Two, Old Pig, Stinky Lizard, form the Triad Formation and charge!”
“Got it!”
The Boar Demon and the Dwarf Lizard charged forward as before—only this time, one of them stayed behind.
The Wild Bull Demon stood frozen in place.
This was exactly like the dream.
The man said the same line: “Told you. Why would there be an ambush here?”
The woman replied just as before: “Kill first, ask later!”
The Wild Bull Demon snapped back to reality and roared:
“Danger! Danger!”
But it was no use. He wasn’t the Weasel Demon, and the Boar Demon didn’t listen to him.
The Boar Demon’s head went flying once more!
“Danger!!”
The Weasel Demon’s furious shout echoed through the night again—its words carried weight.
The same escape route unfolded.
Though unharmed, the Wild Bull Demon felt agony wrack his body as if death were imminent. Gritting his teeth, he sprinted, bellowing:
“I told you! We can’t win against an ambush!”
The Weasel Demon didn’t dwell on it, snapping back:
“Fall back first! Warn the outpost—”
Remembering the terrifying Golden Core cultivator, the Wild Bull Demon shouted:
“We can’t go back! A Golden Core is tailing us! We can’t return!”
The Dwarf Lizard, though short-legged, ran on all fours and kept pace.
It shot the Wild Bull Demon a glare and snarled, “Cut the crap! If there really was a Golden Core, none of us would make it out alive!”
The Wild Bull Demon tried to argue, but nothing changed.
Maybe he was bad with words. Maybe he was powerless to change anything.
The patrol squad still dashed straight back to the outpost.
The moment they stepped inside, before anyone could react,
the Wild Bull Demon roared in desperation: “Run! The Golden Core cultivator is coming!”
But the reply wasn’t from his comrades. Instead, a chilling voice filled the air.
“No need to run. I’m already here.”
The Wild Bull Demon whirled around to see the absurdly powerful Golden Core cultivator hovering mid-air, eyes icy, a radiant sword unsheathed in hand.
His vision blurred with rage as the Golden Core cultivator raised his blade.
A single, effortless swing.
A flash of azure spiritual energy.
Then—silence.
“Run!”
The Wild Bull Demon’s eyes snapped open again.
“Bull Two, bad dream?”
The teasing voice of the Weasel Demon reached his ears. He turned to see it smirking at him.
“Old Pig was sleeping just fine till you scared the hell out of me with that shout.”
The Wild Bull Demon shifted his gaze to the disgruntled Boar Demon.
Its head was still firmly attached.
What was this… a dream within a dream?!
The Wild Bull Demon was drenched in cold sweat. He’d now witnessed that human girl’s earth-shattering sword strike twice.
Each time, he was left with nothing but overwhelming helplessness.
The Weasel Demon stood up, hand resting on the hilt of its blade, and said calmly:
"Alright, it's about time to patrol the eastern plains."
The Wild Bull Demon shuddered violently. "No! You can't go! There's an ambush set up by humans there!"
The Dwarf Lizard sneered mockingly, "Second Bull, you're so useless. Look at you, scared by a nightmare."
"Enough!" The Weasel Demon's expression turned cold as he snapped, then his voice softened as he looked at the Wild Bull Demon.
"Lately, the pressure has been getting to you. Skip patrol tonight and get some proper rest."
The Wild Bull Demon grew frantic. "We really can't go! Our entire outpost camp should relocate!"
But none of the demons paid him any heed.
The Weasel Demon said nothing more, simply calling the others to prepare for the patrol.
After waking this time, the Wild Bull Demon felt the tearing pain in his body grow unbearable, yet he forced himself to follow the patrol squad.
Teahouse.
A watery screen displayed the Wild Bull Demon's every move in the dream in real time.
This was one of Chen Baiqing's mystical techniques—Mirror Blossom, Water Moon.
The abilities granted to Chen Baiqing by the system hardly sounded like mystical arts at first glance, nor did they carry the seductive, alluring names one might expect.
Chen Baiqing's technique was called—Veil of Heaven.
Its name boasted the highest grandeur so far.
And its effects, at times, were absurdly formidable.
Chu Xingchen didn’t possess Chen Baiqing’s [Heaven-Swaying Enchantress] trait, yet his execution of it was remarkably effective.
Those watching weren’t just Chu Xingchen and his companions—the surviving Weasel Demon and the skinned Snake Demon were also observing.
Chu Xingchen took a slow sip of tea.
"I know this dumb ox has already revealed everything in just one dream. It truly knows nothing."
"But the rest of you aren’t fools."
"Is it really just this dumb ox that’s trapped?"
Chu Xingchen lifted the silencing spell from the two demons’ throats.
A brief silence fell.
The Snake Demon glanced at the Mirror Blossom, Water Moon, where the Wild Bull Demon, now on its fourth cycle, was descending into madness. Its mental defenses crumbled instantly.
"I’ll talk! I’ll tell you everything I can!"
Damn it all, death would’ve been easier!
Chu Xingchen immediately re-silenced the Weasel Demon, who hadn’t spoken, then nodded lightly. "Yingling, take notes."
Setting down his teacup, Chu Xingchen walked to the window, gazing at the ordinary mortals still hauling supplies at the frontlines despite the heavy rain.
No matter the scale of the conflict, mortals were always dragged into it without a choice.
But sometimes, being dragged in was the choice they wanted to make.
He had no interest in listening closely to the interrogation behind him.
Leaning against the windowsill, he waited quietly.
After a while, Li Yingling finished the questioning and hurried to Chu Xingchen’s side to report.
"Master—"
Before she could speak, a letter appeared in Chu Xingchen’s hand. He cut her off.
"Read this first."
Puzzled, Li Yingling took the letter and unfolded it.
Soon… she realized that the intelligence she had painstakingly extracted through interrogation was already written in far greater detail within this letter.
And in this letter, those details were but a trivial fraction of the information provided.
Chu Xingchen chuckled softly.
"Let me teach you another lesson—leave specialized tasks to the professionals."
"Even if you're a genius."
iving with nine beautiful women. [Ding! Welcome back to the Joyous Sect, Host…] Lin Yu: ??? I’m clearly in a shared rental, but you’re saying I’m in the Joyous Sect? Watering plants is now [Tending to Spiritual Flora]? Cooking becomes [Researching Elixirs]? Making the bed turns into [Setting Up Formations]? A gentle and innocent auntie, twin classmates, a mysterious hacker girl on leave, a severely socially anxious artist, an elementary school Chinese teacher, a community hospital nurse, a pet shop owner, an antique clock restorer… This system… is kinda interesting.
fe full of thrilling battles, ultimately sacrificing himself to protect his homeland and its people. Unexpectedly, he was reborn into his youth, where he encountered the campus ice queen, Ye Miyue, now working as a masseuse at his family's martial arts school. "How long have you been doing this?" "I-it's my first time..." the campus belle murmured, her head bowed. Wang Xian remembered clearly that back then, although Ye Miyue had not yet awakened her martial arts talent, her outstanding academic performance, breathtaking beauty, and icy demeanor had made her the moon goddess of every boy in school. He was no exception. In his previous life, they had no connection, never imagining they would meet under such circumstances. Sadly, today the city was attacked by an S-class beast, the 'Wind King Falcon,' destroying nearly half of the city streets. Ye Miyue had died on her way home during this disaster. Now, given a second chance, facing the campus goddess of his youth, Wang Xian resolutely decided to extend her session! And so. "My hands are tired..." the blushing campus belle whispered, relieved. Wang Xian pointed to her slender calves and said, "Who said only hands can massage? There are feet too!" "Extend the session, continue!"
m back to his original world. In the end, he realized he had overthought things. [Hey, why is Shen Manni, the female lead, acting strange? Shouldn't she be fawning over the male lead at this point?] [Zhou Qiaoqiao, are you sick? Weren't you supposed to break off your engagement today?] [Damn it! An Youyi, please do your job as an undercover agent and sell my information to the protagonist, you idiot!] ... At this moment, Xu Mo himself didn't know that these female leads had already heard his inner thoughts. Then they decided not to play by the rules. Xu Mo: Please respect my profession as the big villain!
lities. One day, Qi Yuan was buying groceries when he unfortunately came face-to-face with a monster. Just when he thought he was going to die on the spot, he suddenly heard the monster's thoughts... "This aura, he's definitely not an ordinary master!" "So terrifying, so terrifying." "A fight with my back against the wall, I can't take it anymore." Qi Yuan: Ah, no one told me that my awakened ability isn't telepathy, but rather the stronger my enemies imagine me to be, the stronger I truly become. PS: Zhou Hai in the first chapter is not the protagonist.
