Chapter 68

Chapter 68

Chen Ji felt as if he had plunged into a bizarre world. Every finger, every strand of his hair, seemed ensnared in an invisible, viscous fluid, enveloping him so tightly that even the slightest movement of his eyeballs felt incredibly difficult.

Cold fingers—or something akin to them—slowly caressed his jawline, inch by inch. Chen Ji’s body instinctively began to tremble, as a primal fear, buried deep within his being, gradually usurped control.

"Chen Ji..." A low whisper reached his ear. Chen Ji suddenly realized this wasn't a thought transmitted to his mind, but a sound his ears actually perceived. The moment this dawned on him, his right ear buzzed loudly, a fierce ringing drowning out his entire world.

His right ear throbbed with excruciating pain.

A drop of intensely red blood slowly seeped from his ear canal, tracing a startlingly vivid crimson path down the side of his neck. Chen Ji groaned. Not only did his ear ache, but his eyes also felt profoundly weary—as if he had been struggling to keep them closed all along.

Black mist condensed beside Chen Ji’s neck, forming a cold, slick entity that pressed against his skin. When the drop of blood slid onto the black mist, its tip abruptly licked upward, consuming the bloodstain instantly. The smooth, greasy black mist then burrowed into Chen Ji’s ear canal. His right ear, already numb from the pain, registered nothing.

Chen Ji’s head was splitting.

*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 mind seemed cleaved into two distinct entities. While his body struggled desperately, his rational mind pondered:

—*This is illogical. Mountain Lord shouldn't possess such power. What exactly is this thing?*

—*No, none of that matters. What matters is that I'm injured. My body feels like it's collapsing. I must escape this 'person' as quickly as possible. How do I get out of this place? How do I wake up from this dream?*

The black mist, now shaped like a human, cradled the motionless Chen Ji as if he were a fascinating new toy, gently wiping away the blood that occasionally trickled from him.

Suddenly, something clamped onto Chen Ji’s chin. A cold, slippery entity forced its way into his mouth. In that instant, silent streams of blood poured from Chen Ji’s nose and mouth, almost instantly staining the lower half of his face crimson. The black mist then enveloped the blood with eerie tenderness, wiping it away as if it were a tangible substance on his skin.

Chen Ji abruptly regained his freedom. His first instinct was to squeeze his eyes shut. His body managed only a feeble struggle before he lost control once again.

He was like a prisoner, trapped in a cell woven from black mist, unable to move. The hem of his clothes, ruffled from his struggle, revealed a patch of pale skin. In the next moment, his flesh inexplicably split open, revealing bloody gashes.

As if to staunch the bleeding, the black mist sealed the wounded skin, and the blood vanished.

Thanks to his lost vision and already impaired hearing, and despite the excruciating pain, Chen Ji felt remarkably clear-headed.

What should he do?

Should he ask System Cat to wake him up? Or perhaps, before System Cat could rouse him, he should say something to win the sympathy or pity of this 'person' before him, hoping it would release him voluntarily—or do something else. Anything to buy a little more time.

Yet his sixth sense screamed frantically—*Don’t speak! Don’t make any expression or movement, or something terrible will surely happen!*

Which side should he heed?

Unbeknownst to Chen Ji, the black mist had wrapped him as tightly as a silkworm cocoon, trapping him so completely that not even a sliver of space was left for breathing. His skin was marked with blue and purple bruises, and his bones creaked under the pressure.

But the protagonist, encased within the cocoon, remained motionless, as if his soul had long since departed.

Suddenly, just as abruptly as it had begun, everything vanished. Chen Ji plummeted from mid-air to the ground, showing no reaction. The courtyard, along with Mr. Shen and the woman in red, had disappeared.

Chen Ji’s eyes snapped open. Blood poured simultaneously from his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. Gashes split open across his limbs, and an agony capable of crushing anyone’s will surged through every nerve in his body!

The white tiger grew visibly weaker before his eyes, its body covered in wounds. Its eyes were tightly shut, and trails of bloody tears rolled down, staining its pure white fur.

Chen Ji remained trapped in that agony, lying in silence for nearly five minutes before he suddenly snapped back to reality, gasping for breath. Struggling to his feet, he looked at the white tiger that appeared dead and cried out, "...Xiangxiang?!"

"Xiangxiang?! What’s wrong with you?!" he shouted.

Though he knew pushing was the most foolish method, Chen Ji still couldn't help but nudge it, hoping for some reaction.

The White Tiger struggled to open its eyes, its sapphire-blue, gem-like eyes meeting his gaze. Its blood-stained tongue licked the back of Chen Ji’s hand.

“He won’t die,” Second Master Huang leaped in from outside. “White Tiger Grandpa inherited your injuries. If those wounds had stayed on you, you wouldn’t have survived.”

Second Master Huang’s body rapidly expanded, transforming into a 2.8-meter-tall Dharma Form. He scooped Chen Ji up in his mouth and placed him on his back, then swiped a paw at the White Tiger. In a flash of light, the tiger transformed into a tall, broad-shouldered young man. Second Master Huang carried him onto his back as well and bolted out of the Mountain Lord’s temple like the wind.

Chen Ji, tormented by excruciating pain, had no energy to speak. Knowing Xiangxiang was safe, he had even less desire to talk. But Second Master Huang said, “Don’t make a sound. Stay like this and follow me.”

Second Master Huang brought Chen Ji to the mountainside, near the Chinese mahogany tree that Chen Ji had damaged many times before. He circled the tree three times to the left, then three times to the right. As the last circle ended, a path suddenly appeared behind the tree. Second Master Huang led Chen Ji and the White Tiger along it.

Chen Ji had long known that Xiangxiang was Chang Xu. He held onto Chang Xu as tightly as he could, pressing against his arm to prevent either of them from falling off Second Master Huang’s back. Soon, he heard voices—chattering as if many people were talking, though they didn’t sound entirely human. He and Chang Xu were tossed into a nest that smelled of warm sunlight and then left alone.

Some time later, someone shook him awake: “Chen Ji, Chen Ji, wake up and take your medicine!”

Chen Ji opened his eyes, but everything was a blur of gray and white. Second Master Huang tsked in annoyance and, realizing Chen Ji probably couldn’t hear, held his chin and poured a large bowl of bitter medicine down his throat.

Seeing that Chen Ji showed no signs of vomiting, Second Master Huang let him go back to sleep.

***

Chen Ji had only been unconscious for about two hours. He woke up early but found himself surrounded by darkness, unable to hear anything clearly. Yet, he could detect a faint smell of blood and feel someone beside him.

For about half an hour, Chen Ji sat quietly, unable to see, hear, or speak, until he began to pick up faint, scattered sounds.

There seemed to be many small animals around, their tiny paws pattering past. He reached for the person beside him, moving closer until he could hear the faint, almost imperceptible sound of breathing, which brought him some comfort.

He remembered Second Master Huang saying that Chang Xu had taken on his injuries—so during his last dream, when he had been severely burned, he should have been covered in wounds. But when he woke up, he was only weakened, while the White Tiger bore many burns… Had Chang Xu taken on his injuries again?

Suddenly, something soft and furry wriggled into Chen Ji’s palm. The little creature nuzzled against his hand and soon pushed a very familiar object—a phone—into his grasp. With a few taps of its tiny paws, the phone spoke in an automated voice: “Safe. Don’t be afraid. Eat. Drink.”

The furry creature slipped out of Chen Ji’s hand and replaced itself with something round. Chen Ji squeezed it—soft, with a springy center and the distinct smell of a cheeseburger. It must be a hamburger.

The furry creature then helped him feel around nearby, where he found a paper cup with cold droplets clinging to its sides. Chen Ji leaned down to sniff it but nearly poked his nose with a straw… It was Coke.

The phone sounded again: “It's good. Eat up!”

Chen Ji took a bite. Ah, it was McDonald’s value meal—the nearest McDonald’s was at least 80 kilometers away. He had no idea how it had arrived warm at his lips.

After eating, Chen Ji felt his way back to Chang Xu’s side, took his hand, and lay down beside him.

A day later, Chen Ji’s hearing and voice had fully recovered, but his vision remained completely dark. When he woke up, he touched his eyes and asked, “Am I blind?”

“No,” a pair of hands reached out—clearly human hands. Chen Ji felt them and recognized the voice as Second Master Huang’s. Second Master Huang snorted, “Don’t get the wrong idea. It’s just easier to handle things for you this way. I don’t actually like human forms!”

Chen Ji nodded and held out his arms toward what he assumed was Second Master Huang’s direction. “Second Grandpa, what’s going on?”

Seeing Chen Ji facing the wall with open arms, Second Master Huang smirked, transformed back into his original form, and leaped into Chen Ji’s arms. Chen Ji instinctively tightened his hold, cradling him. Second Master Huang grumbled, “You showed up on your own, and He wanted to see you!”

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

Second Master Huang’s tail swished as he changed the subject. “When will your temple be repaired? It’s been so long—people are getting impatient! Since you came to His door, of course He’d open it to ask you when it’ll be finished!”

Second Master Huang’s eyes flickered, and he suddenly chuckled. “Once upon a time, there was a kid whose mother told him not to bring friends home randomly. But he brought an archnemesis one day, a mob boss the next, and they even overstayed their welcome. If you were that mother, wouldn’t you be anxious?”

Chen Ji laughed along. “The premise is, is she really my mother?”

Second Master Huang replied, “That, I don’t know. After all, I’m just an ordinary weasel.”