Chapter 37: The Echo of Dreamfall

“Wait!!!”

Bai Jiujiu nearly sprang up, staring dumbfounded at the elderly man kneeling before her.

More importantly, who did he say she was?

Bai Jiu’er?

Huh?

She had considered a possible connection between Bai Jiu’er and herself while watching the memories.

After all, for a human to suddenly appear on Cloudfall Mountain, knowing so much about her, it would be strange if there wasn’t some relation between them.

However, it absolutely could not be a past life and present life connection!

That Bai Jiu’er had only appeared two hundred years ago, yet the Serpent was a powerful demon that had existed for eight thousand years!

How could a two-hundred-year-old soul reincarnate into an eight-thousand-year-old being? It was unthinkable!

Even Bai Jiujiu, as naive as she was, understood that two hundred was less than eight thousand.

Not to mention, in the memories of Bai Jiu’er, the Serpent had still been comfortably sleeping on the mountain!

The Serpent was merely asleep! Not dead and stewed into snake soup!

Su Ling’er had even gone down the mountain with Bai Jiu’er, hiding it from the Serpent, all to cure her own narcolepsy.

Considering all these circumstances, it was impossible for Bai Jiujiu to be Bai Jiu’er’s reincarnation!

“You’ve got the wrong person! The Serpent is an eight-thousand-year-old great demon! How could I be the reincarnation of a cultivator who lived only two hundred years?”

Bai Jiujiu immediately declared her demonic identity to Mr. Song, presenting irrefutable evidence.

It wasn’t that she hadn’t doubted her own identity, but the idea of being Bai Jiu’er’s reincarnation was simply too preposterous and utterly impossible!

Tong Qiu also recovered from her surprise, promptly helping Mr. Song to his feet. At the same time, she subtly indicated to Bai Jiujiu that she, too, was certain Bai Jiujiu couldn’t possibly be the reincarnation of the Supreme Purity Celestial Venerable.

Mr. Song, still trembling slightly, slowly raised his head and carefully scrutinized Bai Jiujiu.

As a Core Formation stage cultivator, he could still sense the surging demonic energy within Bai Jiujiu.

“…This old man may have truly made a mistake. You bear too striking a resemblance to Senior Bai Jiu’er. Forgive this old man’s presumptuousness, Senior.”

“Wait, why are you calling me ‘Senior’ too?”

Why did all these cultivators insist on calling demons ‘Senior’?

Bai Jiujiu felt strange being called ‘Senior’ by a man who looked old enough to be her grandfather, even though, in terms of actual age, she could probably be his ancestor.

But judging purely by appearance, it still felt very odd!

Tong Qiu had a transitional period before calling her ‘Senior,’ but what was this old man’s reason?

And she was a demon! A demon!

Normally, shouldn’t cultivators, upon seeing a demon, act like starving ghosts reborn, eager to skin them alive and pull out their tendons?

This respectful attitude, was it truly just because she was an ancient beautiful girl?

“Haha, in this era, humans and demons coexist peacefully. And this old man has always followed Senior Bai Jiu’er’s path of coexistence since childhood, so naturally, I wouldn’t harbor any discriminatory feelings towards demons.”

Mr. Song showed no trace of his previous humble demeanor. Instead, he chuckled good-naturedly, stroked his small mustache, and then patted Tong Qiu’s shoulder as he continued.

“This old man merely brought the academy’s apprentices here for experience, to broaden their horizons. I simply came to check on the supervisor who hired me but then failed to pay my salary for a month!”

As Mr. Song spoke the latter half of his sentence, he couldn’t help but turn to look at Tong Qiu, who averted her gaze and awkwardly scratched her face.

Bai Jiujiu’s eyes followed his to Tong Qiu, feeling a slight complaint that her partner had revealed their collaboration so quickly.

“How much did you tell them?”

Bai Jiujiu used her demonic energy to transmit her words directly into Tong Qiu’s ear.

“Don’t worry, I only mentioned the collaboration. I didn’t reveal any details.”

“You still owe people money?”

“That’s called a temporary cash flow issue, a temporary delay in payment!”

“No wonder you were so desperate for money…”

A knowing smile played on Bai Jiujiu’s lips, and her eyes gleamed mischievously as she looked at Tong Qiu.

“Mind your own business!”

Tong Qiu’s ears flushed crimson. Unable to endure Bai Jiujiu’s teasing gaze any longer, she shook her head, choosing to ignore the Serpent beside her, and turned to Mr. Song.

“Mr. Song, tonight, she and I will leave Ripplewood City. If the constables come asking, I hope you can cover for the children at the orphanage.”

Tong Qiu had called Mr. Song because she hoped to use his connections to protect the orphanage children after she and Bai Jiujiu left.

Mr. Song had once been an instructor for junior cultivators in the Demon Suppression Department. Almost all constables who entered the Demon Suppression Department for training had him as their basic teacher. Even after he left, he still commanded respect from most constables.

When Tong Qiu joined the Demon Suppression Department, Mr. Song had already resigned, so he had not been her teacher. This was why Tong Qiu always addressed him as ‘Mr. Song’ rather than ‘Teacher.’

There was an unwritten rule in the cultivation world: if there was no teaching relationship, one could not be called ‘Teacher’ or ‘Master.’

“But…”

“Don’t worry, with Mr. Song here,”

At this moment, Bai Jiujiu, who had been watching the show, suddenly spoke.

“Old… Sir, do I really resemble Bai Jiu’er that much?”

Bai Jiujiu hesitated for a moment, ultimately deciding to address him based on appearance rather than age.

That cultivator named Bai Jiu’er definitely had an intricate connection with her.

“Senior, please don’t humble this old man so… But you and Senior Bai Jiu’er do indeed look alike, especially when you wear this outfit. Otherwise, this old man would never have made such a mistake.”

Upon hearing the mention of the clothes, Tong Qiu and Bai Jiujiu simultaneously turned their gazes to the worried Xia Ya.

“Big Sister, Brother-in-law, why are you looking at me?”

Ah, Bai Jiujiu no longer had the energy to correct that address.

“Xia Ya, where did you get this outfit?”

“This outfit?” Xia Ya thought for a moment, then began to speak. “I originally took the thousand silver coins Big Sister gave me to the night market to pick out clothes. Then, in a corner, a fox demon walked up to me and asked if I wanted to buy clothes. She sold me these two outfits, and then she touched my forehead.”

As she spoke, Xia Ya’s eyes gradually lost their luster, like a puppet uttering emotionless words.

“’Old friend, Su Ling’er is about to become a sacrifice for Dreamfall. This humble one sincerely invites you, as her master, to personally witness the advent of Dreamfall. After all, as a special guest for revenge, the more, the merrier!’”

After speaking, Xia Ya’s eyes rolled back, and she fainted.

Mr. Song promptly activated his spiritual energy, conjuring a gentle breeze to support Xia Ya’s body, preventing her from falling to the ground.

“How should I put it… it feels so cliché…”

Bai Jiujiu’s mouth twitched involuntarily. This kind of trap was practically screaming, with a sign, that it was a huge pit.

Cliché as it was, it was quite effective.

Bai Jiujiu had heard the term ‘Dreamfall’ before. It was apparently called the ‘Dreamfall Incident,’ which Bai Jiu’er had successfully resolved.

Tong Qiu, who had been listening, fell into deep thought.

Mr. Song, however, was far from calm. His body trembled slightly, completely losing his previous dignified and sagely demeanor.

“Scarlet Soul…” Mr. Song slowly uttered the two words, then gasped for air. Through his eyes, Bai Jiujiu could only see a fear that had seeped into his very bones.

“The demon who just controlled Xia Ya’s body was Scarlet Soul, the mastermind behind the Dreamfall Incident two hundred years ago! And the instigator of the Human-Demon War one hundred years ago!”

As a cultivator who had lived for a hundred years, Mr. Song had naturally experienced past conflicts and personally witnessed Scarlet Soul’s terror.

“Has she returned to Qingqiu to restart Dreamfall?”

Qingqiu…

Bai Jiujiu knew this place. According to the brief descriptions from the mountain demons, Su Ling’er’s mother was a fox demon from the Qingqiu region, with a distinct gradient-colored tail.

So, Su Ling’er had gone to Qingqiu?

“What exactly is Dreamfall? And what was the Dreamfall Incident about?”

Two hundred years ago, she had been in a state of sleep, and no little demons had told her about it when she woke up.

She had vaguely heard about the Human-Demon War, though.

“No one knows exactly what Dreamfall is. Legend has it that two hundred years ago, Scarlet Soul used the karmic power of the entire Qingqiu Fox Clan in Qingqiu to create a formation that enveloped the southern lands.”

“Within the formation, both cultivators and common folk alike fell into deep dreams. Even the ninety-eighth generation head of the Demon Suppression Department at the time could not escape it.”

“No one knows what they experienced in their dreams. We only know that Senior Bai Jiu’er led a small fox demon into it and destroyed the Dreamfall Formation.”

“But when everyone awoke from their dreams, they found that their temperaments had drastically changed. Many forgot their memories or conjured new ones, some even completely transformed into different people, unable to distinguish reality from dreams. As a result, the southern region of the Eastern Radiant Immortal Continent fell into great chaos…”

“People called it ‘Dreamfall’ because they had ‘fallen’ in their dreams, and what returned was no longer their original self.”

Hiss

If asked what Bai Jiujiu was thinking now…

She just wanted to shout one thing.

‘This troublesome disciple of mine!

Always causing trouble for the Serpent!’