"This is..." Wu Xingxue's gaze fell on the box. He watched it for a while, then suddenly spoke.

Yi Wusheng was taken aback, then let out a sound of understanding, "Oh, this is a Dream Bell."

Dream Bells were not uncommon in the Mortal Realm.

There used to be an extremely lively market in the Southwest Wildland. Every year on the third day of the third month, the lamps were lit and the market opened. The lights stretched for twelve miles, illuminating the mountain range. At a glance, it looked as if heavenly fire had fallen into the mortal world, burning for three days and three nights.

That mountain range was called Fallen Flower Terrace, and the market was called Fallen Flower Mountain Market. It sold all sorts of strange and curious things. The Dream Bell originally came from there, and later became fashionable in Meng Capital and Langzhou for a time.

This item was actually just small and cute, meant to bring good luck—it was said that wearing it on one's person could ensure safety and ward off evil demons. Hanging it by a bedroom window could grant a person peaceful sleep and good dreams.

Later, the Fallen Flower Mountain Market disappeared, and Fallen Flower Terrace became the entrance to Zhaoye City, the Demon's Lair. The Dream Bell was also used by fewer and fewer people. As rumors twisted and turned, its purpose changed from giving people peaceful sleep to being able to create dreams for them.

But this one from the Hua Family was different. It was not a mortal object from the Mountain Market, but an immortal treasure.

It could indeed make a person fall into a dream instantly.

It was said that once one entered the dream, all past events would turn to ash, and waking up would not be easy, unless the Dream Bell was used again to break the spell.

Hua Zhaoting had once tried to activate it, but no matter how much immortal power he used, the clapper of the Dream Bell would not move an inch, so he could only give up. He was also afraid that this immortal treasure would fall into the hands of an Evil Demon, so he hid it away carefully.

But now, Hua Zhaoting himself had become an Evil Demon. So this immortal treasure...

Yi Wusheng hesitated for a moment, then picked up the Dream Bell and tried to shake it.

Clang—

The Dream Bell rang twice.

Yi Wusheng: "..."

This was utterly preposterous.

Something that Hua Zhaoting couldn't activate despite exhausting all his strength, he had made it ring with a casual shake. It couldn't be that the Dream Bell found him affable and decided to give him face, right?

That left only one explanation—the Dream Bell in the box was a fake.

The hand Yi Wusheng used to hold the paper was trembling. "This Dream Bell... this Dream Bell has been swapped with a fake!"

Who could have done it?

And when was it done?

Yi Wusheng tried to recall, but he had spent the last twenty-odd years in a muddle, no different from being dead, so he couldn't sort out his thoughts at all. He was practically spouting nonsense.

"Could it be..." Yi Wusheng slammed his fist into his palm. "It was Wu Xingxue?!"

After he said it, he looked up and saw that Young Master Cheng was staring at him with a very peculiar gaze.

Yi Wusheng: "..."

Yi Wusheng: "?"

He tried hard to recall the fragmented memories from twenty-five years ago, but he couldn't remember everything, muttering, "Actually, this Dream Bell was lost once, right when Wu Xingxue came to Peach Blossom Isle. It was later found again. Could it be... that Wu Xingxue swapped it back then?"

As Yi Wusheng spoke, his voice grew weaker under Young Master Cheng's gaze.

Young Master Cheng looked at him and suddenly smiled. "Why have you gone silent? Did the paper break?"

Yi Wusheng: "..."

He actually didn't know who this Young Master Cheng was. When his body was possessed by the Evil Demon, his consciousness had been muddled and unclear. He only remembered that he wanted to find someone to ask for the release of death, and in his desperation, he had grabbed this very young master.

At that time, he could vaguely sense an invisible pressure from this young master, but it seemed to have disappeared now. It was like the fog at night, faint and elusive, impossible to grasp.

But no matter what, he was definitely not a simple person. To be able to travel with Xiao Fuxuan, he might also be some former High Immortal.

Yi Wusheng mused randomly and looked down at the treasure box in his hand again.

"No, that's still not right. Wu Xingxue is perverse in his actions. With his usual temperament, if he took the immortal treasure, he took it. If he didn't want to return it, he wouldn't have. He wouldn't have gone to the trouble of putting a fake back to deceive people."

Yi Wusheng mumbled, and gradually, it became clear.

"So this Dream Bell was still real when it was recovered. It was only replaced with a fake during these years."

And in all these years, Hua Zhaoting kept no one by his side. The only one who could get close to the Dream Bell at any time was himself.

Or rather... the Evil Demon inside his body.

In other words, the one who wanted the Dream Bell was the source that had turned them into Evil Demons.

Yi Wusheng raised his hand to touch the back of his neck.

The scar there was still present, as was the mark beneath it that resembled a Puppet Seal. His condition was exactly the same as those who had been afflicted in Great Sorrow Valley back then. But this matter itself was very strange—because he had never even been to Great Sorrow Valley.

Not only him, but Yi Wuqi and Hua Zhaoting hadn't gone either.

So how did they get afflicted?

"If I may ask the High Immortal," Yi Wusheng suddenly gave Xiao Fuxuan a deep bow, then asked while holding the paper, "how many more days can this remnant soul of mine last?"

Xiao Fuxuan: "Hard to say. Three to five days, ten at most."

"Good, good," Yi Wusheng repeated.

Xiao Fuxuan: "What is it?"

Yi Wusheng said in a low voice, "I want to make a trip to Great Sorrow Valley."

"I can't understand why the Hua Family ended up like this, and I don't want to descend to the Yellow Springs in this state of confusion," Yi Wusheng said. "In the past, guarding this Peach Blossom Isle, I had a thousand worries. Now, I'm just a remnant soul with nothing left to fear. It's better to go to the source, Great Sorrow Valley, and investigate."

"Firstly, I want to find out why these things happened to the Hua Family. When I see my old friends in the underworld, I can still explain it to them. I can't bear for them to have died in vain."

"Secondly, I also want to search for traces of the real Dream Bell."

At the mention of traces of the "Dream Bell," both Xiao Fuxuan and that Young Master Cheng looked up.

A moment later, Young Master Cheng nodded and let out a soft "oh."

The night on Peach Blossom Isle was thrilling and perilous. The disciples had to be placated for a good while before they calmed down. Yi Wusheng sent the pinned Hua Zhaoting into the Hua Family's Demon-Sealing Hall, summoned the elders of the other three halls, and roughly explained what had happened.

After entrusting all matters, he requested a convenient carriage from the Horse-Running Hall the next day, tucked two bottles of medicine under his arm, and picked up his sword.

Before leaving, he bade farewell to Xiao Fuxuan and that Young Master Cheng, expressing his profuse gratitude over and over for nearly an hour.

A long time later, on the carriage to Great Sorrow Valley.

Yi Wusheng hugged his medicine bottles and sword, sitting in silence opposite the two people he had just bid farewell to.

Yi Wusheng: "..."

That hour of farewells was a complete waste.

This carriage was specially made by the Hua Family, tall and spacious. The horses were also spirit steeds raised on medicinal pills. They didn't need a whip to be driven, could traverse mountains and recognize roads, and the ride wasn't bumpy. It should have been comfortable.

But at this moment, that Young Master Cheng was sitting opposite him across a small table. The one whose honorable surname was Xiao probably didn't like to sit by nature, so he stood beside him with his sword in his arms, leaning against the carriage door.

In short, he was squeezed in the middle, feeling utterly suffocated, and couldn't run away.

Of course, Yi Wusheng had no intention of running. He just felt that the atmosphere inside the carriage was a bit delicate, and his wisp of a remnant soul could not bear the weight of two great mountains.

And he was extremely puzzled, why did these two want to go to Great Sorrow Valley with him???

It couldn't be out of concern for the Hua Family, could it?

If they didn't have their own business to attend to, then it could only be because of the Dream Bell...

Yi Wusheng glanced at the side of the table.

Just in case, he had also brought the fake Dream Bell, the box placed to one side. The last wisp of residual immortal energy in the box had already dissipated, making it look completely ordinary.

He wondered what sound the real Dream Bell would make when shaken, and what the person who entered the dream would feel.

Yi Wusheng tried to let his mind wander for a while, but failed.

He finally couldn't help but break the strange silence in the carriage. "Um..."

The head-propping Young Master Cheng looked up at him, and Xiao Fuxuan, who had been looking out of the carriage with his sword in his arms, also turned his head.

Yi Wusheng thought for a moment and finally found a topic. "Right, the High Immortal previously asked me if I could still perform the Soul Dream Technique?"

As soon as these words were spoken, Young Master Cheng was no longer in his lazy posture and straightened up slightly. He was still propping his head up, and his pair of dark eyes glanced at Xiao Fuxuan.