Chapter 1893: "Delirium"
"Ah!" Sensing his movement, a woman's surprised cry rang out: "Husband, you're awake!"
Yun Che lifted his eyes, and Su Linger's pretty face was right before him. Cai Zhi and Xiao Yaohou were also nearby, clearly having kept watch for a long time without daring to leave.
Everything he had experienced in the dream was still excessively clear, leaving him momentarily uncertain whether he had truly woken up.
"What happened?" Cai Zhi asked. "Why did you suddenly seal your five senses for so long?"
"It's nothing, just a special state of enlightenment." Yun Che looked ahead, a trace of lingering disorientation in his heart. "By the way, how long... was I asleep this time?"
"Seven days," Su Linger replied.
Compared to the last time when he had suddenly 'fallen asleep' for half a month while comprehending the Heaven-Defying World Scripture, this time was much shorter.
"Husband, you should go see Sister Lingxi right away." Su Linger quickly added, her voice tinged with panic.
"Lingxi?" Su Linger's tone made Yun Che's heart jolt, and he shot to his feet. "What's wrong with her?"
"When you sealed your five senses, she also fainted. No matter what method I tried, I couldn't wake her... Even now, she hasn't come to."
Before Su Linger even finished speaking, Yun Che's figure had already vanished from the spot.
Xiao Lingxi lay quietly on the bed, breathing evenly. Her face was slightly pale, but not too drained of color.
However, as she slept, her delicate brows remained slightly furrowed, as if intangible threads were constantly pulling at her heartstrings even in her dreams.
Yun Che reached out both hands, one grasping her right wrist, the other pressing a finger to her heart. Vast amounts of profound energy flowed gently into her in the mildest manner.
After a thorough examination, his furrowed brow relaxed somewhat, but a hint of confusion appeared.
Xiao Lingxi's vital energy and soul sea were both exceptionally calm and normal, with no internal or external injuries found. For anyone else, he would have immediately concluded she was feigning unconsciousness, but how could Xiao Lingxi do such a thing?
"How is she?" Su Linger asked nervously.
Yun Che straightened up, thought for a moment, and said, "It's nothing serious. She should wake up soon."
Sensing the oddity in Yun Che's expression and words, Su Linger hesitated for a moment before speaking, "Actually, Sister Lingxi used to have episodes of inexplicable fainting before, but this time it's been so long—seven days and she still hasn't woken up."
"Before?" Yun Che's gaze sharpened. "When?"
"Right when you first set out for the God Realm," Su Linger said. "The day you left with Senior Mu Bingyun, she suddenly fell unconscious."
Yun Che: "..."
"That time, she woke up quickly. But her pulse and heartbeat became extremely fast—about a dozen times that of a normal person."
"What?!" Yun Che's heart jolted violently.
Back then, Xiao Lingxi had only a very low level of cultivation. Such an abnormal pulse and heartbeat should have been impossible for a living person!
Su Linger continued, "However, before long, she returned completely to normal. So I didn't think much of it, just assuming she was overly anxious, worried, and reluctant to let go."
"But after that, she would inexplicably fall asleep every so often, and each time she remained unconscious longer. I could never determine the cause... until the thirty-third time, after which she stopped having sudden fainting spells."
"And now it's suddenly happened again..."
Su Linger wrung her hands nervously.
"Why didn't you tell me about this before?" A strong sense of unease grew in Yun Che's heart.
Su Linger said, "You were gone for so many years, and when you returned, you had lost all your profound strength and were physically weak. We were only happy and concerned for you—how could we bring up something that would worry you?"
"Besides, Sister Lingxi had completely recovered by then, and she specifically told all of us not to mention it to you, so as not to add unnecessary concern."
Xiao Lingxi had never wanted to cause him any extra trouble or worry... ever since they were children, it had always been this way.
Yun Che's heart felt heavy and irritated. What was happening to Xiao Lingxi?
But no matter what it was, please... please don't let her suffer any harm.
No, nothing will happen.
I am the Divine Emperor of the God Realm, with everything in the world at my fingertips, and I also possess the Life Miracle... there is absolutely nothing I cannot solve!
Taking a slow breath, he forced his mind to remain as calm and clear as possible, and asked slowly, "During that time, besides the sudden fainting, were there any other unusual signs about her?"
Su Linger thought for a moment, then said, "A few times, after waking from her fainting, she would say some very strange things."
"What things?" Yun Che pressed urgently.
"For example, one time she said... that on the day she saw you off to the God Realm, she vaguely saw you turn to ashes amidst a cluster of starlight and flames." ①
"!!!!" Yun Che's expression remained unchanged, but inwardly, he was shaken to an immense degree.
The end of his first journey to the God Realm was his death in the Star God Realm.
The starlight of the Star God Realm...
The final flames of Nirvana...
...
An illusion?
A coincidence?
A prophecy...
...
"Xiao... Che..."
A soft call sounded in his ear. Yun Che, lost in thought, turned his head sharply and saw Xiao Lingxi on the bed slowly opening her eyes.
"Lingxi!"
Yun Che quickly moved forward, following her movement as she sat up, and gently leaned her frail shoulders against his chest.
"Sister Lingxi, are you alright? Do you feel any discomfort?" Su Linger asked, both concerned and uneasy.
Xiao Lingxi shook her head. "I'm fine, just... I had so many, many dreams."
"...Dreams?" Yun Che's expression shifted. He too had just woken from a "dream."
"So many, so long... too many and too long to describe." Xiao Lingxi murmured, a deep weariness in her voice. "But when I woke up, I couldn't remember any of it."
"What's wrong with me..."
"They're just dreams. It's normal not to remember them, and you don't need to remember them or dwell on them." Yun Che said with a smile. "If you still feel tired, sleep a little more."
"Xiao Che," Xiao Lingxi raised her hand and tightly gripped Yun Che's palm. "If one day you find out that I've done something to hurt you, would you... forgive me?"
Her fingers trembled slightly, carrying a faint chill.
"Why would you say that?" Yun Che held her hand back. "My Lingxi would never bear to do anything to hurt me."
The moment he said this, his vision blurred momentarily.
He had said similar words to another person.
And that person had become the one who hurt him the most, and the one he hated the most.
"I don't know." Xiao Lingxi's eyes were veiled with a heart-wrenching confusion. "It seems... there has always been a voice telling me... that I once did something terribly wrong because of willfulness... and it ultimately led to a very cruel... irreversible consequence..."
"How could that be." Yun Che smiled and gently shook her wrist. "You aren't taking the things in your dreams seriously, are you? Sleep a little more. Once you've fully shaken off the drowsiness, these strange thoughts will disappear."
"Dreams..." Xiao Lingxi whispered. "They're clearly just dreams, so why do I always... can't help but believe them?"
"..." Yun Che said nothing more, simply holding her quietly without pressing further.
Yes, it was all just a dream.
Nothing else. There was nothing else, and let there be nothing more.
————
After waking from her slumber and shaking off the initial daze, Xiao Lingxi returned completely to normal, with no unusual symptoms anywhere on her body.
But when she was alone, a hint of unfathomable bewilderment lingered between her brows, as if she were trying very hard to recall what she had seen in her dreams.
The three volumes of the Heaven-Defying World Scripture were now clearly and completely imprinted in Yun Che's mind.
Just like the previous two times, he seemed to have entered a strange state of enlightenment, yet he had no idea what he had comprehended.
The complete Heaven-Defying World Scripture, the complete Ancestral Divine Art... That was the legacy of the Ancestral God, the starting divine technique of the Profound Way recorded in ancient texts, existing above even the Creation God and Demon Emperors!
Even though Yun Che was already invincible, he couldn't help but feel a deep curiosity about it.
But he sensed no change in his body or soul.
Perhaps, as before, the power of "nothingness," which was entirely beyond cognition and common sense, would naturally manifest at some future moment.
Now, he had come to a place he had never thought he would deliberately visit.
Liu Yun City, City Lord's Mansion.
"Le... Le... Le... Le... Le... Let me, Situ Nan, pay... p... p... pay my respects to the True Man Yun!"
Seeing Yun Che suddenly appear above his residence, Situ Nan was stunned for a full three breaths before snapping out of it like waking from a dream.
In that short sentence, every word trembled, and he barely managed to finish using all his strength and will.
It wasn't until he finished the last word that he remembered he had forgotten to kneel, and hurriedly dropped to his knees.
As his body shook, a large stream of cold sweat splattered onto the ground.
Everyone around him knelt prostrate, heads lowered, silent as cicadas in winter.
As the City Lord of Liu Yun City, Situ Nan naturally held power. Though he couldn't understand the level of realm Yun Che occupied, he clearly knew that the other party could crush him without even needing to exhale.
Though he lived in Liu Yun City, he never dared to hope for the honor of meeting Yun Che in person. Now that Yun Che had appeared before him, he didn't know whether to feel honored or terrified.
"City Lord Situ," Yun Che looked down from above, his tone indifferent. "It's been quite a few years since we last met."
Situ Nan quickly replied, "That the True Man Yun still remembers me is an honor I could only dream of for a hundred lifetimes. The glory of Liu Yun City and the peace of the world are all gifts from the True Man Yun. I gaze up and pay homage to the divine bearing of the True Man Yun day and night... never missing a single day."
"Your daughter, Situ Xuan—where is she?" Yun Che suddenly asked.
This abrupt question left Situ Nan frozen in place. Another three breaths passed before he hurriedly turned and barked, "Hurry! Go call Xuan'er! Quickly!"
Yun Che: "..."
"A... ah, yes!" A servant of the city lord's mansion scrambled away.
Situ Nan lowered his head again, not daring to speak or ask rashly, but his mind was churning.
What kind of figure was Yun Che? And he had personally come here... to see his daughter!?
Could it be... No! Impossible!
Although rumors said Yun Che was extremely fond of women, the women by his side were of what caliber? Whether in birth or appearance, they surpassed Situ Xuan by tens of millions of times.
His daughter Situ Xuan, though somewhat attractive, could never catch his eye.
Had Situ Xuan offended him?
Even more impossible!
Not to mention that Situ Xuan had no qualifications or ability to offend him. Even if she had, he only needed to say one word, and countless people in the world would rush to slice her into pieces. There was no need for him to descend personally.
Soon, that servant returned hurriedly. Beside him, a maid supported a frail woman as she walked out from the inner chambers.
"Your humble daughter, Situ Xuan, pays respects to the True Man Yun."
She wore a relatively ornate outer garment, around thirty to forty years old, her body thin, her life aura and profound aura exceptionally weak. Thus, she looked much older than other women her age.
Her tone was quite feeble as she spoke. Based on Yun Che's judgment, even if she relied on the abundant resources of the city lord's mansion to prolong her life, she would not live past a hundred years.
His gaze rested on her briefly.
Though she had clearly aged, he could still see the outline of what she had looked like back then.
This was the very Situ Xuan who had appeared in his dreams time and time again.
——————
[①]: Chapter 944, "Goodbye, Blue Pole Star"