CHAPTER 63: CHAPTER 63: LIFE IS BUT A DREAM

"Don’t worry, Junior Sister, I’m just going to verify something."

"You head back to the inn first, Li Yueqi and I will return soon."

"Alright, Senior Brother."

Mr. Wei and Li Yueqi listened beside them, completely puzzled, not knowing what Zhang Ze was up to.

Zhang Ze didn’t offer any explanation and patted Mr. Wei’s shoulder like a good brother.

"I am a disciple of the Sword Sect."

Zhang Ze showed Mr. Wei his Sword Sect token.

"Come with me for a bit, I need to ask a favor."

"Help me verify a guess."

Upon hearing this, Mr. Wei looked uneasy and hesitated to follow Zhang Ze.

After all, he’s just a mortal. Facing cultivators, who wouldn’t have some apprehension? Though being cautious wouldn’t help much.

Fortunately, Zhang Ze is also renowned as a Divine Doctor.

He understands one principle best.

Money cures all ailments.

A shiny gold ingot was stuffed into Mr. Wei’s hand.

Spirit Stones would be useless to him, nowhere to spend them, and could only invite deadly trouble.

Looking at the gold, Mr. Wei’s ailments seemed to vanish.

"Er’er, I have to go out for a bit, take my God of Wealth to find some women!"

"Speak for me in the book that’s behind. Oh, and help me call for a carriage, quickly!", Mr. Wei whispered to the apprentice called Er’er nearby.

With Zhang Ze’s hearing, he naturally overheard clearly, smirked slightly but said nothing.

"No need for a carriage."

"Senior Sister, can the Divine Movement Escape Technique carry mortals?", Zhang Ze turned to ask.

"Of course, I just need to go slower."

Upon verifying this, Zhang Ze patted Mr. Wei’s back, and the old man felt a burst of cyan energy lift him, following the two Immortal Seniors swiftly out of the teahouse.

Arriving at a quiet spot, Mr. Wei was enveloped in mist expelled by Qinghe, and before he could exclaim, his vision blurred, his pants tightened, and after a chilly pull, he found himself atop a mountain peak.

Looking out afar, he could faintly see the shadow of Cold City’s walls.

"Immortal... agh."

Mr. Wei couldn’t hold back and ran to the side to throw up.

Zhang Ze glanced at Li Yueqi, and Female Hero Li looked innocent.

"That was already the slowest speed; unhappy, then use your Divine Movement Sword Control instead."

Zhang Ze thought about it but decided against it.

Using Divine Movement Sword Control for real might kill this old man.

"Sir, take this."

Zhang Ze pulled out a Clear Heart Pill and handed it to Mr. Wei.

Pill medicine from the Qi Cultivation Stage, simple effects for clearing the mind and expelling impurities, calming and stabilizing, fortifying the foundation.

To Zhang Ze, it was essentially a motion sickness pill.

Having read all sorts of random books too much, Mr. Wei’s face changed when he saw this yellow-black pill, thinking of the loose cultivators’ fictionalized methods for refining Gu insects.

The old man’s face changed several times.

"This is a Clear Heart Pill, good for heart calmness and mental peace, oh, by the way.", Zhang Ze explained.

"It also has effects on prolonging life and boosting vitality."

The old man’s expression finally stabilized, grinned awkwardly, took the pill, and swallowed it.

"Thank you, Immortal, for the gift."

Once the old man was more spirited.

Zhang Ze asked the initial question again.

"Have you ever heard of Five Rams Slope in Cold City."

Mr. Wei paused for a moment, then instinctively began reciting.

Zhang Ze interrupted again, "Trouble you, Senior Sister, to move forward five more miles."

Before Mr. Wei could react, that breezy gust wrapped him again, but this time Mr. Wei felt no discomfort; the pill was indeed effective.

This time Zhang Ze not only asked questions but had Mr. Wei write down the answers.

Repeated several times, until they were five miles from Cold City.

Zhang Ze asked once more, but Mr. Wei showed a confused expression.

"There’s no one there?"

Handing the Jade Pendant to Spiritual Snake Qinghe, Zhang Ze whispered a few more words to it.

Once Qinghe disappeared in a blur, Zhang Ze asked again, and Mr. Wei still shook his head.

"Five Rams Slope, of course, heard of it; that place is empty; what’s the matter?"

Even Li Yueqi furrowed her brow, felt something was amiss but couldn’t pinpoint it, like forgetting something.

"What are we here for.", Zhang Ze asked the two.

"Immortal wants to explore the Secret Realm and invited me to guide.", Mr. Wei cautiously replied.

"Yes, aren’t we here to explore the Secret Realm?", Li Yueqi furrowed her brow, puzzled why Zhang Ze would ask such a thing.

"What’s written in the book?", Zhang Ze handed the notebook Mr. Wei previously wrote on to the two.

"Steamed Flower Duck, Steamed Bear Paw, Braised Fish..."

Zhang Ze nodded, and after a moment, waited for Qinghe, the Spiritual Snake, to return. He accepted the Jade Pendant and asked Li Yueqi again.

"What about now?"

Li Yueqi felt a headache, constantly sensing something was amiss but unable to pinpoint it, as if she had just woken from a hollow dream.

Zhang Ze glanced at Qinghe, "Trouble Qinghe to come a few more times to help treat your family’s Yueqi."

The Spiritual Snake Qinghe recognized something, grasped the Jade Pendant, and performed the Divine Movement Technique several times on the opposite mountain.

During this time, Zhang Ze kept repeatedly asking Li Yueqi the same question.

"What did we come to Cold City for?"

Mr. Wei did not react, while Li Yueqi felt an excruciating headache, eventually snapping into clarity.

The repeated stimulus had an effect.

"What demon technique is this!"

As if waking from a dream, the confusion in her memory left Li Yueqi incredulous.

"Do you remember the incident Sword Sect had eliminating the Spiritual Snake Helm a few months ago?"

"I remember. Ah, are you saying!" Li Yueqi suddenly understood the key to the matters of Cold City.

The Sword Sect was always close to the Beast Taming Sect, and after the matter was settled, the Seventh Sword Pavilion communicated with the Beast Taming Sect, revealing the detailed inside story.

And a disciple like Li Yueqi, who held a significant position, naturally knew the inside story.

Zhang Ze nodded.

"In the beginning, I hadn’t realized either until that little monk mentioned something, prompting me to think of this possibility."

"An Illusion Realm, or rather, a waking dream."

"Just like with the Spiritual Snake Helm before, it seems Aunt Niao used some technique, weaving this dream that envelops all of Cold City."

"She hid herself and her family."

Mr. Wei felt he couldn’t understand any of it, nor did it seem like he should be listening.

He found a shady spot to start playing with the piece of gold Zhang Ze had given him.

Zhang Ze held up the Jade Pendant.

"Aunt Niao should have no ill intent; she was merely compelled to do so."

"And this Jade Pendant she gave my Shishu years ago should be the key to breaking the Secret Realm."

"Aunt Niao is waiting for my Shishu to rescue her."

"As long as you carry the Jade Pendant, you won’t be affected."

"But for mortals, it shouldn’t have any effect.", Zhang Ze glanced at Mr. Wei squatting under the tree playing with gold.

"When I first entered Cold City, I kept this Jade Pendant with me, so back then, Chen Qin wasn’t affected."

"After the first day’s fruitless search, I put the Jade Pendant away, and we didn’t talk about it at the inn."

"When I went upstairs to inquire with the Fox Demon, I placed the Jade Pendant in the Hundred Treasures Bag."

"What about when we were at the City Lord’s Mansion?" Li Yueqi recalled she wasn’t affected by the Illusion Realm then.

"I took out the Jade Pendant at the time, wanting to see if I could find information about its origin in the library."

"So...", Li Yueqi looked puzzled.

"So it was sheer coincidence; had I spoken out but once, we would have solved the case sooner.", Zhang Ze shrugged.

"But wait a minute, why were you not affected just now even without the Jade Pendant." Li Yueqi suddenly noticed a blind spot.

As Qinghe flew back and forth with the Jade Pendant, Zhang Ze remained unaffected.

"I don’t know, but isn’t it normal for every genius destined to be legendary to have some special talents?"

Zhang Ze answered shamelessly.

Zhang Ze had actually thought about this question before, when he infiltrated the Spiritual Snake Helm with Lin Feng, they both were unaffected by the illusion from the Spiritual Snake statue.

But back then, Zhang Ze thought for a moment and attributed it to the special capabilities of someone with extraordinary fortune.

After all, he already had a system; having a bit more seemed normal.

As for Brother Feng.

Even if Lin Feng claimed to be Xiao Yan when they met next, Zhang Ze felt his eyebrows wouldn’t even twitch.

That’s Brother Feng, the man who could open a Storage Ring with his bare hands.

The protagonist’s fortune pierces the heavens; mere illusions were insignificant indeed.

Qinghe, who had been listening quietly, suddenly raised its snake head, its three eyes glaring at Zhang Ze, having noticed a blind spot.

"So you could’ve just put the Jade Pendant in the Hundred Treasures Bag and taken it out repeatedly for the same effect!"

"Why make this young lady run back and forth!"

The scene suddenly became silent, the exhilaration of cracking the enigma faded completely, and everyone, except Mr. Wei, felt somewhat embarrassed.

Zhang Ze scratched his face.

"I forgot."

"Wow!", Qinghe lunged and bit down on Zhang Ze’s head, not letting go.

...

Cold City.

Lily sat in the inn, stroking Hei Qu’s dog’s head, waiting for Zhang Ze and the others to return.

Just then, a middle-aged cultivator walked over.

He smiled at Lily, "Fellow Daoist, my master would like to invite you to the mansion for a chat."

"Which mansion?"

"The City Lord’s Mansion," the cultivator replied.