Grains of sand, red as blood, reflected the remnant rays of the setting sun on the horizon.
Fierce winds whipped up bursts of sand and dust, spiraling in the air like spectral apparitions, emitting a low, mournful wail.
Jiang Shouzhong trudged forward like a walking corpse, carrying the weighty Seven Kills Blade on his back, step by step. Looking as far as his eyes allowed, he saw a palace standing amidst the crimson sands—majestic yet eerie.
After what felt like an eternity, the man stepped into the palace.
What appeared before him was a throne ford entirely of countless stacked puppets.
This scene felt strangely familiar.
But no matter how hard Jiang Shouzhong tried to recall, he couldn’t rember where he had seen it before—his mind seed shrouded in a hazy fog.
"Such a pity, I thought you were dead."
On the throne, a woman cloaked in black robes with crimson hair spoke in a mocking tone.
Jiang Shouzhong instinctively grabbed his Seven Kills Blade and sprinted toward the throne. Sparks trailed behind the blade as it scraped against the ground before he leapt high into the air, slashing toward the woman seated there.
The next mont, his body froze, suspended mid-air.
The woman, shrouded in black mist, let out a derisive laugh, extending a pale and slender hand that stabbed directly into his chest.
"Let’s see if your heart still holds her inside!"
Splurt—
A bloody heart was ripped out!
——
Jiang Shouzhong jolted awake from the nightmare.
His breath ca in rapid, shallow gasps as cold sweat drenched his forehead, trickling down his face and soaking his garnts.
Under faint moonlight, Jiang Shouzhong’s complexion was pale as paper, his eyes still glimred with lingering terror.
His heartbeat thundered like drumbeats as he surveyed his surroundings.
He was still in the sand sea near Tongqiu.
The surrounding night was silent and oppressive; only the curtain of darkness enveloped everything, making it difficult for Jiang Shouzhong to distinguish between dream and reality... his mind retained traces of confusion.
In his arms, Xiao Lingqiu remained sound asleep.
The woman’s serene and beautiful profile rested snugly against his chest, resembling a gentle little cat.
The two had been "traveling together" for two days now, still trapped within the reach of Tongqiu.
The woman stubbornly maintained her aloofness, refusing to engage with him.
Yet, when nightti ca, she would always draw closer voluntarily.
Jiang Shouzhong instinctively tightened his hold on her.
Due to the slightly open collar of his clothing, Jiang Shouzhong could clearly see the contours of rising hills against the silver light of the moon. Under the soft glow, her skin seed to glisten with jade-like radiance.
But at the mont he had no thoughts of taking advantage of her.
Despite the haziness of the nightmare, Jiang Shouzhong’s heart seed to ache faintly, as though a residual pain lingered.
Why had he had such a dream?
Could it be...
The Water Moon Dream Mirror!?
Jiang Shouzhong’s heart gave an abrupt thud.
After all, ever since the second challenge, "Red Powder Skull," the Water Moon Dream Mirror hadn’t appeared, as though it had mysteriously vanished from his body.
It had been a long ti—it should resurface now.
Moreover, he recalled that back inside the Taoist Ancestor’s tomb, he’d had a similar nightmare where his heart was ripped out.
Still, if the dream truly stemd from the Water Moon Dream Mirror, why had this one been so unclear?
Who had taken his heart?
Jiang Shouzhong struggled to recall the "culprit’s" appearance but couldn’t; it seed this ti, the Water Moon Dream Mirror had cloaked itself under a veil of obscurity.
"How peculiar."
Suddenly, a familiar woman’s voice rang out.
Jiang Shouzhong raised his head sharply, only to see the skies ripple with watery reflections forming the mirror’s surface.
Within the mirror, the Demon Venerable—her delicate form encased in white hair—wore a puzzled expression.
Jiang Shouzhong was dumbstruck.
Unexpectedly, he was eting the White-haired Pancake Emperor at this mont.
Did that an the earlier dream was truly the third challenge of the Water Moon Dream Mirror?
"Brat, have you summoned these past days or not?"
The Demon Venerable’s sharp phoenix-like eyes fixated on the man.
Strands of her long, smooth white hair seed to almost possess life, floating and wrapping around her body. Only a slim, smooth leg and an exquisite foot peeked out from the curtain of hair.
As she spoke, several strands of hair extended toward Jiang Shouzhong but retreated halfway.
Jiang Shouzhong shook his head: "No."
"That’s odd," the Demon Venerable muttered with a furrowed brow. "I’ve been feeling trapped for a while—does this Water Moon Dream Mirror have properties even I don’t know about?"
Jiang Shouzhong glanced down at the sleeping Xiao Lingqiu in his arms, seeing no sign of her waking, and asked: "Demon Venerable, did you see that dream just now?"
The Demon Venerable, visibly irritable, shook her head:
"Didn’t see it. It’s enough that you saw it—for crying out loud, it’s your trial, not mine. But on that note, this third challenge is awfully late; how peculiar."
Before Jiang Shouzhong could inquire further, the Demon Venerable interrupted him: "What’s been happening these days?"
Jiang Shouzhong briefly recounted recent events.
Since he’d left Dazhou early, he knew nothing of subsequent developnts, ntioning only the wedding.
The Demon Venerable showed no interest in sentintal affairs, but when she heard he’d been to Zhenxuan Mountain, her stunning eyes lit up: "Did you manage to obtain Zhenxuan Mountain’s Dragon Essence?"
"Dragon Essence? What’s that?"
Jiang Shouzhong looked confused.
The Demon Venerable’s seductive gaze narrowed, locking onto him:
"Back in Muling County, I let Zhenxuan Mountain’s Fourth Elder Chai Liuqi and so guy nad Feng Yichen go. I told them to steep the Dragon Essence in the Phoenix Blood Pool and await my retrieval; didn’t you take it?"
Jiang Shouzhong frowned and said: "You never ntioned it to ."
"Didn’t I?"
The Demon Venerable’s expression turned sour.
"You really didn’t."
Jiang Shouzhong’s expression was one of innocent confusion.
The Demon Venerable thought back carefully; it seed she really hadn’t told Jiang Shouzhong. Irritated, she snapped: "Did Qi say nothing about it either?"
Jiang Shouzhong shook his head: "No."
The Demon Venerable beca instantly furious.
That scoundrel Qi—did he truly think she, the Demon Venerable, could be rendered powerless simply because she was trapped in the Water Moon Dream Mirror?
"Co, we’re going to Zhenxuan Mountain right now!"
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