Chapter 1241: Entering A Dream

“I didn’t know. I just guessed.”

Ye Qing invited Taba Xuanwu back into his room and poured him a cup of tea. He answered, “Cloud Hue Pass is definitely a tiger’s den to those people, but it’s not like it’s perfectly secure, especially since there is no better time than now to act.”

“One, I am severely injured and incapable of wielding most of my powers. Two, you are so famous in the region that for the longest time, no one dared to start trouble in Cloud Hue Pass. You know this, I know this, everyone knows about this. This is even truer after you became a Half-Sage today. That was why they believed you would assume that no one would dare to infiltrate Cloud Hue Pass to kill me. They believed that you would grow careless and not guard me as zealously as you should.”

“Long story short, various factors convinced them now was the best time to act, and they would be remiss to miss this chance.”

“Is that... all?” Taba Xuanwu asked, “Don’t they realize how insanely risky this decision is? That the price of failure is death?”

“You truly are a man of the army, brother. You do not understand the hell that is a

jianghu

person’s heart.”

Ye Qing smiled. “A

jianghu

person is like a beast, cruel and merciless. They are vicious toward themselves and others, and they are audacious like a gambler. They enjoy gambling not just with other people’s lives, but also their own.”

“When their self-interest and opportunity are on the line, a thirty percent chance of success or twenty percent hope to succeed is usually enough to convince them to take a gamble.”

“It is based on this belief that I assumed that someone would show up tonight, and what did you know? I was right.”

“Those who gamble with lives treat both other people’s lives and their own like a child’s game—worthless.”

Taba Xuanwu sighed. “This is why I don’t like being a man of the

jianghu

. How can someone who doesn’t value their own life value another person’s life?”

“How tragic and lamentable this state of things is.”

“That is why you’re a general, and we are just

jianghu

people.” Ye Qing looked at Taba Xuanwu with deep respect. “And we will never be anything more than that.”

The general was a weapon that kills, but he was also a weapon who protects. His edge might be cold, but his heart wasn’t.

A

jianghu

person was a weapon that kills, and the large majority of them only killed for themselves. Their blood was hot, but their hearts were cold.

That was why Ye Qing respected Taba Xuanwu. The general was a man who truly held great benevolence and justice in his heart.

It wasn’t like he couldn’t be a kind or benevolent man if he chose to, but his kindness was strictly limited to friends and family only. He did not have a big enough heart to accommodate the entire world.

That was why he could never be more than a man of the

jianghu

.

“You are mistaken. I desire influence, and you freedom. That is the only thing that separates the two of us.”

Taba Xuanwu waved Ye Qing off. “Anyway, let’s talk about something else. Now that I’ve made an example out of these five, no one else should be stupid enough to tempt fate, right?”

“I think so. Tonight’s failure made it crystal clear that it is impossible to assassinate me under your nose. No one else should show up, at least not in the short term.”

Ye Qing smiled. “They’re greedy, but they’re not stupid.”

“Good.”

Taba Xuanwu gave Ye Qing a clap on the shoulder. “If there is nothing else, then I’m going to bed now. I’m sleepy as all hell. You should catch some rest as well.”

“Yeah. I am feeling quite tired.” A tired-looking Ye Qing massaged his own forehead and said, “Do as you will, brother. I’ll drink with you tomorrow when we’re both free.”

“Sure, but there won’t be anymore Nine Suns Brew.”

Taba Xuanwu had walked to the exit at this point. He looked back at Ye Qing with a chuckle. “There isn’t much left. I gotta save some for myself, right?”

Taba Xuanwu gave him one final wave before leaving.

After Taba Xuanwu was gone, Ye Qing rubbed his forehead again and returned to his room. He then muttered regretfully, “A shame.”

He was missing the Nine Suns Brew, of course. In order to deal with his would-be assassins with a clear head, he had dispelled the Nine Suns Brew’s tipsy effects. Unfortunately, that meant that its recovery potency was much weakened.

He was hoping to acquire more Nine Suns Brew from Taba Xuanwu after it was morning, but alas, it was not meant to be.

Now that the threat was dealt with, Ye Qing could finally relax. After he returned to his room, he sat cross-legged on his bed, relaxed his mind, and began circulating the “Earthly Sovereign Scripture”. At the same time, he visualized the “Records of Laojun Studying The Dao On A Bull” to achieve resonance between his body and his spirit. It was yet another round of meditation.

While Ye Qing was meditating, a soldier was slowly making his way to Maple Leaf Courtyard.

Most of the soldiers guarding Maple Leaf Courtyard had evacuated the area, leaving only nine people behind. However, they were all Taba Xuanwu’s bodyguards and veteran Spirit Masters. When they were working together, they could fight even a Trueman or a Grandmaster.

However, after the ordinary soldier walked into the courtyard, he saw that the nine bodyguards were yawning like crazy and looking incredibly drowsy. No one noticed the ordinary soldier at all.

The ordinary soldier stopped moving after he reached the center of the courtyard. Then, he slowly opened his mouth. The next moment, multiple dust-sized Sleep Zhis flew into the open.

The bodyguards grew even sleepier the moment the Sleep Zhis appeared. In the end, they succumbed to the impulse and fell aslumber.

Next, the Sleep Zhis flew through the gaps in the door and the windows and into Ye Qing’s room.

A moment later, snoring came from inside the room.

“It’s done!”

The ordinary soldier’s lips curled into an odd smile. After letting out a long yawn, he shambled his way to Ye Qing’s doorsteps and put his ear against the wood, listening. After confirming that Ye Qing was indeed asleep, he pushed the door open and stepped inside.

After he entered the room, he saw that Ye Qing was maintaining the same meditative posture as before. However, his head was slumped forward, and light snoring could be heard exiting his mouth.

“A weak aura and a frail mind. Wonderful. Just wonderful.”

The soldier’s lips curled into a mad, eerie smile again as he watched Ye Qing.

The smile remained plastered on the soldier’s face until a ray of light flew out of his forehead. It looked colorful and fantastical like a dream.

The next moment, the light sank into Ye Qing’s forehead.

After flying into Ye Qing’s headspace, the light transformed into a Taoist. The taoist was wearing a crown of yin and yang and a Taoist robe of five colors. Colorful, profound light adorned his appearance, and countless layers of dreams were stacked throughout his body, painting him in mystery and fantasy. Anyone who looked at him could succumb into eternal sleep just like that.

“What a humongous headspace! The rumors are true. The Mad Lord really is an accomplished practitioner of both the body and the mind! What kind of opportunities did he run into?”

The Taoist looked stunned even as he examined Ye Qing’s headspace. It was vast but not disorderly, boundless but not plain, innumerable but not inert.

Such a headspace could not be found even among the warriors who specifically cultivated the mind and the spirit. In terms of vastness and mystery alone, even he, the Taoist, must admit that he was inferior.

“Incredible. Truly incredible!” The Taoist praised. “It looks like the Earthly Sovereign Bell isn’t the only opportunity the Mad Lord obtained. Truly wonderful!”

“This is all mine now. Mine!”

The Taoist laughed at the top of his lungs. Maybe it was because he was feeling ecstatic right now, but the dreams surrounding his body were also shaking and emitting endless rays of profound light.