The one who sank the deepest into the nightmare was Bai Ke...

The Ice Soul was sealed, and everything should have been settled, returning to the peaceful and harmonious days in Yusheng Sect.

But because of Junxiao's interference, Bai Ke couldn't completely calm down.

He had absorbed most of the Ice Soul spiritual power, and he was affected by its evil energy. Even though he had been resting and recuperating during this time, his state of mind still hadn't returned to the calm, serene state it once had.

It wasn't just him; everyone who had participated in the battle, including Junxiao, Yu Xian, Wu Nan... even the new disciples, were experiencing the same problem.

Junxiao's recent behavior was also related to this.

Bai Ke and Junxiao both understood this point, but once a window paper is torn, it cannot be repaired.

So even though they had returned to Yusheng Sect, the most reassuring place for them in the world, neither of them could settle down; they remained in a standoff...

To be precise, Junxiao had already given up, while Bai Ke was the one holding on.

And this standoff itself indicated some issues—if there were truly no feelings at all, would there still be a standoff? He could have just dismissed Junxiao and been done with it.

Because of this, the matter became a burden in Bai Ke's heart—he clearly knew that his heart was not unaffected, but it was difficult for him to take another step forward.

Everything in Yusheng Sect was just like it had been in the past, with spiritual ponds and caves everywhere.

Everyone else recovered quickly, but Bai Ke was the exception.

An unsettled heart only leads to the invasion of evil energy and difficulty in controlling the mind.

He would often suddenly fall into some dreams during his rest. In the dreams, there were Yu Xian wandering around with a wine jug, a young Shen Han and Wu Nan, and Junxiao who was as mischievous as a monkey. Many small, almost forgotten things from years ago would resurface in the dream, blending with the present Yusheng Sect, making it hard to distinguish reality from illusion.

Every time he broke free from these uncontrollable dreams, it would take a long time to calm his breath, but on the outside, he remained indifferent, with a calmness that made it hard for others to tell anything was wrong.

But in fact, the dreams grew heavier each day, and each time it became harder to break free.

Time passed quietly, and two months went by in the blink of an eye.

On a certain morning, two months later, thin mist swirled in Yusheng Mountain, occasionally mixed with distant crane calls.

Yu Xian and Junxiao had been waiting by the boundary of Yusheng Sect early. Soon after, Bai Ke and Wu Nan flew over.

"Why did the ancestor summon us?" Wu Nan asked in a low voice, landing beside Junxiao.

"To take you to meet someone," Yu Xian said, dusting off his clothes, which didn't have any dirt. "I’ve calculated the time, it’s about right. Let’s go."

For some reason, Wu Nan’s left eyelid twitched twice.

He had just recovered from his madness and wasn’t aware of many things, but Bai Ke remembered something Yu Xian had said in Junxiao’s secret realm before—“When everything settles, it will be time to take you to meet someone.”

As he had guessed, the group followed Yu Xian out of Yusheng Sect's boundary, crossing several provinces and cities, and eventually arrived in front of an old residential area.

The buildings in this area were decades old, with narrow alleys winding and twisting, making it easy to get lost.

As Bai Ke and the others followed Yu Xian through several alleys deeper into the area, they heard him explain, "I calculated that today is the exact date of the girl Han’s full moon in this life, and I can see her here. So, I brought you all along. Let’s see how she’s doing. If she's well, we—"

Before he could finish speaking, they all stopped in their tracks.

From a nearby alley, the sound of hurried footsteps could be heard, light but quick, seeming flustered and disoriented.

The next moment, a woman, who looked quite young, turned the corner of the alley.

She was tall and thin, her complexion poor, as if she had just recovered from a serious illness. Her clothes were plain and simple, and she looked inconspicuous walking through the narrow streets.

In her arms, she was holding a swaddled bundle, inside which was a sleeping child.

She stopped in front of a secluded courtyard, glanced around hesitantly for a while, and then crouched down, gently placing the swaddled child at the entrance.

It was unclear whether she was too young to feel the sorrow of parting or if all her emotions were overwhelmed by panic... but after setting the bundle down, she hardly looked at it before quickly turning and leaving. She ran to the end of the alley, almost to the corner, before suddenly stopping, turning back to look at the bundle for a moment.

With Bai Ke and the others' sharp eyes, they could clearly see that, without warning, the woman’s eyes reddened, her face lost and confused as she stood there for a while.

For a brief moment, it seemed like she might turn back and walk toward the bundle again.

But just then, the sound of footsteps on the stone slabs snapped her out of her daze.

She shuddered, like a startled bird, and ran around the corner, disappearing from sight.

The group stood in place for a while, their gazes all drawn to the swaddled child on the ground.

Wu Nan’s voice was so soft it was almost inaudible. "Is this... Junior Sister?" As if speaking any louder might wake the baby in the bundle.

Yu Xian furrowed his brows and answered with a low "Mm."

None of them had expected to arrive, full of joy, only to find such a scene. Their minds, filled with many memories, left them frozen, unsure of how to react.

It was Junxiao, however, who didn’t hesitate. He raised his hand with a swift gesture, and the small swaddled bundle floated into his arms.

But when the tiny, soft infant actually landed in his hands, Junxiao found himself unsure of how to hold her, lacking any experience. It seemed like his over five thousand years of age had been wasted.

Seeing his awkward handling, Bai Ke couldn't bear it any longer. He patted Junxiao's hand, taking the child into his own arms.

But he, too, had forgotten that although Shen Han had been just as small when she first joined, Bai Ke, the hands-off leader, had never really held her much.

So, his grip wasn't much better than Junxiao's; his hands were stiff.

After being disturbed by these two, Yu Xian finally snapped out of it. He slapped Wu Nan’s hand away, reached over, and took the bundle from Bai Ke. "Not a single one of you is reliable!" he said with a sigh.

The little baby was so small, chubby, and soft, it was almost impossible to feel thrir bones. They were afraid to even touch them through the swaddle, fearing they might hurt her.

They all gathered around her and watched for a while. Then, Yu Xian smiled and said, "It seems this little girl is destined to return with us..."

At last, the whole family was reunited. After a millennium of life and death separations, they were finally together again, back at Yusheng Gate, without a single person missing.

In that moment, everyone felt as if an invisible weight had been lifted from their hearts, filled with immense comfort.

But it was precisely because the final burden that had been suppressed deep within their hearts was finally lifted that everyone became overly relaxed. The consequence of this was that they were affected by the remaining evil energy in their bodies, which hadn't been fully cleared, for an entire night.

Each person had their own nightmares, each carrying experiences they were unwilling to revisit.

Among them, the one who sank the deepest into the nightmare was Bai Ke...

 

Translator : DarNan