Chapter 68: A Mother’s Anxious Heart

Chen Ji felt as though he had fallen into some bizarre world. Every finger, every strand of hair, seemed trapped in an invisible slime that wrapped around him densely, making even the movement of his eyeballs incredibly difficult.

An icy finger—or something resembling a finger—traced slowly along the line of his jaw, inch by inch. Chen Ji’s body began to tremble instinctively as a primal fear buried deep in his very being seized control bit by bit.

“Chen Ji…” A low murmur sounded right by his ear. He suddenly realized this wasn’t a voice echoing in his mind but one that his ears had actually heard. The moment that realization hit, his right ear buzzed violently, a piercing ring flooding his world.

His right ear throbbed with agony.

A drop of vivid red blood trickled slowly from his ear canal, sliding down the side of his neck in a shocking crimson trail. Chen Ji let out a muffled grunt. His ear hurt, but more than that, his eyes felt exhausted—as if he had been desperately trying to close them all along.

The black mist coalesced beside his neck into a cold, slick entity that pressed against his skin. When the drop of blood reached it, the mist’s tip shot upward in a heavy lick, erasing the blood trail in an instant. The soft mist then wormed into his ear canal. His right ear, already numb from the pain, registered nothing.

Chen Ji’s head felt like it was splitting apart.

Close your eyes! Close your eyes! Close your eyes! Don’t look! Don’t listen! Don’t look! Don’t listen… his body screamed.

His body and his mind seemed split into two entirely separate entities. Even as his body struggled, his rational thoughts raced:

—This doesn’t make sense. The Mountain Lord shouldn’t be this powerful. What the hell is this thing?

—No, that’s not important. I’ve been injured. My body feels like it’s breaking down. I need to escape this “person” fast. How do I get out? How do I wake from this dream?

The black mist, shaped like a humanoid creature, cradled the motionless Chen Ji like a fascinating new toy, gently wiping away the occasional blood that seeped from him.

Suddenly, something clamped his chin. A cold, slick tendril forced its way into his mouth. In that instant, streams of blood poured silently from his mouth and nose, staining the lower half of his face crimson in moments. The black mist enveloped it tenderly, wiping across his skin as if it were solid.

Chen Ji suddenly regained control. His first instinct was to slam his eyes shut. His body managed only a brief twitch before control was wrenched away again.

He lay like a prisoner in a cage pieced together from the black mist, utterly immobile. The hem of his shirt had ridden up from the struggle, exposing a strip of pale skin. The next moment, it cracked open without reason, blood seeping from the wounds.

The black mist blocked the exposed skin as if staunching the flow, and the blood vanished.

Thanks to his lost sight and hearing—and setting aside the immense pain—Chen Ji remained startlingly clear-headed.

What should he do?

Have the System Cat wake him… Or maybe, before it could, he should say something to evoke pity or mercy from this “person,” prompting it to release him voluntarily—or anything to buy time.

But his sixth sense screamed otherwise—Don’t speak! Don’t make any expression or movement, or something utterly terrible will happen!

Which should he listen to?

Unbeknownst to Chen Ji, the black mist had wrapped him tightly like a silkworm cocoon, trapping him without even a gap for breath. His skin bruised purple in stripes, and his bones creaked under the pressure.

Yet the one trapped inside remained utterly still, as if his soul had long fled.

Abruptly, everything vanished as suddenly as it had appeared. Chen Ji plummeted from midair to the ground. He showed no reaction. Master Chen and the red-clothed ghost in the courtyard had disappeared too.

Chen Ji’s eyes snapped open. Blood poured from his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth all at once. Fresh gashes split open across his limbs, a wave of pain so excruciating it could shatter anyone’s will crashing through every nerve!

A white shadow leaped onto Chen Ji’s bed in a flash. The White Tiger gazed down at him, then pressed his forehead to Chen Ji’s brow. At the same time, the horrific wounds on Chen Ji’s body vanished at a visible speed—only to reappear on the White Tiger!

The White Tiger grew visibly weaker by the second, his body covered in wounds. His eyes squeezed shut as bloody tears rolled from the corners, soaking his pristine white fur.

Still lost in the agony, Chen Ji lay silent for nearly five full minutes before snapping back to awareness. He gasped rapidly, struggling to sit up and staring at what looked like a lifeless White Tiger. “…Xiangxiang?!”

“Xiangxiang?! What’s wrong?!” he shouted.

He knew jostling him was the stupidest thing to do, but Chen Ji couldn’t help shoving gently, desperate for any response.

The White Tiger laboriously opened his eyes. Those azure-blue, gem-like orbs met Chen Ji’s gaze. His bloodied tongue gave Chen Ji’s hand a weak lick.

【He won’t die.】 Second Master Huang bounded in from outside. 【Grandpa White Tiger has taken your injuries. Those wounds would have killed you.】

Second Master Huang’s body swelled rapidly, manifesting his two-meter-eight dharma image. He scooped Chen Ji onto his back in one bite, then swatted the White Tiger with a paw. Amid a glow, the White Tiger transformed into a broad-shouldered, long-legged youth. Second Master Huang grabbed him too and bolted from the Mountain Lord Temple like the wind.

The agony left Chen Ji too tormented to speak. Knowing Xiangxiang was safe sapped any urge to talk. But Second Master Huang said, 【Don’t make a sound. Stay like this and follow me.】

Second Master Huang carried Chen Ji to the mountainside, to that Toona tree Chen Ji had ravaged many times. He circled it left three times, then right three times. As the final circle ended, a path appeared behind the tree. Second Master Huang dashed along it with Chen Ji and the White Tiger in tow.

Chen Ji had long known Xiangxiang was Chang Xu. He hugged Chang Xu as tightly as he could, bracing against his arm to keep from tumbling off. Soon, he heard voices—chattering like many people, or perhaps not people at all. He and Chang Xu were tossed into a nest that smelled of warm sunlight, then left alone.

He didn’t know how much time passed before someone nudged him awake. 【Chen Ji, Chen Ji, get up and take your medicine!】

Chen Ji opened his eyes to a world of gray-white blur. Second Master Huang tsked, tried checking if he could hear—which he probably couldn’t—then pinched his chin and forced a big bowl of bitter herbal decoction down his throat.

Chen Ji showed no sign of vomiting, so Second Master Huang let him sleep on.

Chen Ji had blacked out for maybe two hours. He woke early, but everything around him was pitch dark, his ears deaf to sound. He could smell faint blood and feel someone beside him.

In this state—blind, deaf, voiceless—Chen Ji sat quietly for about half an hour until faint noises filtered in.

The place seemed full of small animals; he kept hearing tiny paws pattering by. He groped toward the person beside him, drawing close until he heard the faint, almost nonexistent breaths. Only then did he relax.

He recalled Second Master Huang saying Chang Xu had taken his injuries—so in that previous dream, he’d been horribly burned, body charred beyond recognition. But he’d woken with mere qi depletion, while the White Tiger bore burn scars… Had Chang Xu taken those too?

Suddenly, something fuzzy and wriggling filled Chen Ji’s palm. It rubbed against him, soon nudging a familiar rectangular block—a phone—into his hand. Tiny paws pattered away, and the phone spoke in standard synthesis: “You’re safe. Don’t be scared. Eat. Drink water.”

The fuzzy thing vanished from his palm, replaced by something round. Chen Ji squeezed: soft, springy in the middle, with the unmistakable aroma of cheeseburger. McDonald’s.

The fuzzy guide led his hand to a paper cup nearby, its sides beaded with icy droplets. Chen Ji leaned to sniff but nearly skewered his nostril on the straw… Coke.

The phone chimed again: “Tasty. Eat!”

Chen Ji took a bite. Ah, the McDonald’s cheapskate meal. The nearest McDonald’s was at least eighty kilometers away—who knew how they’d delivered it hot right to his mouth.

After eating, Chen Ji felt his way back to Chang Xu, took his hand, and lay down.

The next day, Chen Ji’s hearing and throat fully recovered, though darkness still shrouded his vision. He woke and touched his eyes. “Am I blind now?”

【Nope.】 A human hand reached out—clearly human. Chen Ji felt it and heard the voice: Second Master Huang? He snorted coldly. 【Don’t get the wrong idea. This form’s just convenient for handling stuff for you. I don’t like looking human!】

Chen Ji nodded, arms wide toward what he guessed was Second Master Huang’s direction. “Second Grandpa, what the hell is going on?”

Second Master Huang eyed Chen Ji hugging the wall and rolled his eyes. He shifted to his true form and hopped onto those arms. Chen Ji instinctively cradled him. Second Master Huang huffed, 【You delivered yourself right to His door, so of course He wanted to see you!】

Chen Ji tilted his head. “Huh? I don’t get it.”

Second Master Huang’s tail wagged back and forth, though he glanced around evasively. 【When’s that temple of yours finally getting repaired? It’s been ages now—everyone’s waiting on pins and needles! You showed up right at the door, so of course It had to crack it open and ask when you’re planning to wrap things up!】

Second Master Huang’s eyes flicked sideways, and he suddenly chuckled with a hey-hey. 【There was once a little girl whose mom strictly told her not to bring random friends home. But today she hauls in a sworn enemy, tomorrow a big-shot gang boss, and they just hole up there refusing to leave. If you were that mom, wouldn’t you be tearing your hair out?】

Chen Ji laughed right along with him. “That all depends on whether she’s really my mom, doesn’t it?”

Second Master Huang: 【Now that, I wouldn’t know. After all, I’m just an ordinary yellow weasel.】