Chapter 43

Chapter 43: Dream of Despair
“Yu Zhao, your heart is vicious. You keep making things hard for Junior Sister. You are not worthy to be my junior sister, and you are even less worthy to be someone of Lone Moon Peak!”

Half asleep, half awake, Fang Cheng Lang heard someone talking right by his ear.

The voice was not loud, but it was full of endless anger.

He froze for quite a while before he realized that it sounded like his own voice.

As he was still thinking, the voice became clearer.

“Yu Zhao, I really regret it. From now on, you are not allowed to call me First Senior Brother. If you do, don’t blame me for being merciless with my sword!”

Those cold, heartless words echoed in Fang Cheng Lang’s sea of consciousness.

Fang Cheng Lang could not believe it. [No, I never said that! How could I say such cruel words to Little Six? The thing I regret the least is becoming Little Six’s Senior Brother. Even if there is now a gap between us that cannot be erased, Little Six is still my Junior Sister. That will never change!]

“Shut up! Junior Sister’s heart is pure and kind. How could I let you slander her! This sword is Senior Brother’s last lesson to you!”

[No! No! What are you doing! Stop! Stop right now!]

Fang Cheng Lang wanted to stop all of this, but his consciousness seemed to be locked inside a closed space. He could not find an exit, nor could he see any light.

He was like a headless fly, crashing around inside that space again and again, but he still could not find a way out or break the hard shackles.

Just as he was burning with anxiety, he heard the grinding sound of a sharp sword piercing into flesh, followed by Yu Zhao’s painful whimper.

No –

…

At this time, it was their rest period.

Lan Zi Yu sat leaning against a tree. To make it easier to take care of him, he had placed Fang Cheng Lang on the grass on his right side.

He took a drink of water and was about to close his eyes and rest when he suddenly saw, from the corner of his eye, that cold sweat was pouring from Fang Cheng Lang’s forehead. Fang’s brows were tightly knitted, and he looked restless and uneasy.

“First Senior Brother, First Senior Brother!”

“First Senior Brother, wake up!”

Lan Zi Yu jumped in fright.

While he tried to shout Fang Cheng Lang awake, he also told someone to go and call Senior Sister Zhou for help.

Zhou Jin Yue and Zhang Jun came over quickly.

Fang Cheng Lang had already been injured, so his face was bloodless to begin with. Now, who knew what he was dreaming of, but his teeth were biting firmly on his lower lip. Thin lines of bright red blood flowed out and dyed his pale lips a strange, bewitching red.

“What’s wrong with him?” Zhou Jin Yue asked with a frown.

Lan Zi Yu shook his head: “I don’t know. He just suddenly became like this.”

Zhang Jun rubbed his chin and said: “Senior Brother Fang is probably having a nightmare.”

Cultivators usually had firm hearts and were rarely bothered by dreams, but that did not mean they were never affected.

Besides, they had gone through too many accidents recently, and Fang Cheng Lang was already injured. His mind was unsettled. It was very possible for him to be troubled by a nightmare.

Zhou Jin Yue agreed with Zhang Jun’s guess: “Let’s wake Junior Brother Fang up first.”

“Alright!”

This time, Lan Zi Yu not only used his voice but also his hands.

However, Fang Cheng Lang still did not react at all and was trapped in his dream, unable to pull himself out.

Lan Zi Yu had no idea what to do. He was so anxious that even his lips were trembling.

“Move.”

Zhou Jin Yue really could not keep watching. She pushed Lan Zi Yu aside, gathered her strength, and slapped Fang Cheng Lang hard across the face.

Smack!

The slap was very loud. Zhou Jin Yue shook out her hand and thought to herself: [What a pity Junior Sister Yu is not here. She would have loved to see this satisfying scene.]

Lan Zi Yu and Zhang Jun stood frozen like wooden chickens.

[Senior Sister Zhou is so scary.]

“Mm…”

At this moment, Fang Cheng Lang groaned softly and struggled to open his eyes.

Lan Zi Yu was overjoyed. He rushed over and asked with concern: “First Senior Brother, are you feeling better now? You really scared me just now.”

“Zi… Yu…”

Fang Cheng Lang had not yet escaped from that desperate state. He stared blankly at Lan Zi Yu for a long moment before slowly speaking.

“It’s me, First Senior Brother. You just had a nightmare, did you know that?”

“It was only a dream…”

Fang Cheng Lang looked absent.

[Was it really just a nightmare?]

He did not dare believe it, because the voice in the dream was too real, too familiar, as if he had personally lived through it.

Suddenly, his eyes flew wide open. He struggled to sit up: “Little Six? Where is Little Six? Little Six! I want to see Little Six!”

Lan Zi Yu hurried forward to steady him: “First Senior Brother, please calm down first.”

“I want to see Little Six! Let me see Little Six! Little Six!”

Fang Cheng Lang was like someone suffering from Qi deviation. He could not hear Lan Zi Yu’s words at all and only kept shouting hoarsely.

The other disciples heard the commotion and looked over, all of them shocked.

In the Five Elements Dao Sect, Fang Cheng Lang was known as the Gentleman Sword. Everyone praised his upright nature and gentle, jade-like temperament. No one had ever seen him this crazed and out of control.

“Yu Zhao, Yu Zhao, she…” Lan Zi Yu stumbled over his words.

Just now, he had checked with his divine sense and found that Yu Zhao was not nearby. He did not know where she had gone, and he could not find her even if he wanted to.

“Second Junior Brother, Yu Zhao is our Junior Sister. You should call her Sixth Junior Sister, not by her name,” Fang Cheng Lang said to Lan Zi Yu in displeasure.

Seeing this, Zhou Jin Yue suddenly felt that it was funny.

When Junior Sister Yu liked them, they treated her like worn-out shoes. Now that Junior Sister Yu was completely disappointed in them, they finally woke up.

They did not understand that spilled water cannot be gathered back, and a broken mirror cannot be made whole again.

“Junior Brother Fang, Junior Sister Yu is not here right now. When she comes back, I will tell her that you want to see her. As for whether she will agree or not, that depends on Junior Sister Yu. What you need to do is focus on healing and stop making everyone worry about you.”

Now that Fang Cheng Lang was awake, Zhou Jin Yue had no reason to stay.

She turned and left neatly.

Zhang Jun, as Senior Sister Zhou’s most loyal follower, immediately went after her.

Fang Cheng Lang finally calmed down. He stopped shouting and lay back down with his eyes closed.

Lan Zi Yu let out a long sigh of relief.

He had never been someone with a delicate mind who was good at taking care of others. With Junior Sister not here, he really could not handle it.

He quietly glanced again at First Senior Brother’s expression.

He had no idea what First Senior Brother had seen in his dream to lose control like that. Was it related to Yu Zhao?

“Where did Junior Sister go?” Fang Cheng Lang asked in a hoarse voice.

Lan Zi Yu answered: “Junior Sister said she wanted to walk around nearby. She said she was feeling a bit unwell.”

Ye Cong Xin’s illness had been with her since she was in the womb. She could not handle cold in winter or heat in summer. She could not get too tired. If her emotions fluctuated too much, she would have trouble breathing.

So when Ye Cong Xin asked to go out and clear her mind, Lan Zi Yu thought for a moment and agreed.

All the demonic beasts in Dragon Roar Valley that could run had already been scared away by the Scarlet Flame Lion. It would probably take at least four or five years before Dragon Roar Valley returned to its former bustle.

Besides, the disciples of the Five Elements Dao Sect were all in this area, and Ye Cong Xin would not go far. That made Lan Zi Yu even less worried that Ye Cong Xin would run into danger.

“Mm.”

After getting his answer, Fang Cheng Lang gave a soft reply and did not ask anything more.

The two senior brothers fell silent and did not speak again. No one knew what each of them was thinking.