Chapter 18: Narrow Sea Azure (Part 1): That Tooth Mark Wound Was Gone Part 2

“‘Besides, you don’t need to do this, right? Don’t you look down on paper figurines? What’s the point of living in a fake world? Why not just complete the tasks properly, claim your big reward when you return, and live freely? Isn’t that happiness?'”

The eye on the Black Hand blinked repeatedly, brimming with confidence that she could sway her. But after talking herself dry-mouthed, she got no reply.

Li Biyuan stopped. Only then did she realize her vision had gone dark for a while.

“Are you asleep?” she probed. “Or passed out? Hey! Sister Tan!”

The woman leaned against the carriage wall, a thin sheen of sweat on her forehead, her chest rising and falling slowly with shallow, even breaths.

In the darkness, Mu Qian Tan surveyed her surroundings and understood this was likely another nightmare.

Knowing the terror was coming made her less afraid. She stood quietly, waiting.

Moments later, the distance suddenly lit up. A little girl walked over from the brightness.

She wore ill-fitting clothes: pant legs bunched at her ankles, sleeves flapping about, collar stretched out of shape. Yet her face beamed with joy as she skipped over, grabbed Mu Qian Tan’s hand, and tilted her head. “Are you my big sister?”

“Mm.” Mu Qian Tan lowered her head, letting the girl pull her along.

The little girl tugged her forward. “I knew it! We look exactly alike—both super pretty!”

A soft warmth rose in her gaze as Mu Qian Tan smiled lightly. “Do we?”

The girl fluttered like a happy flower butterfly. “Yeah! I stared in the mirror for ages—no mistake.”

“Mm.” Mu Qian Tan gazed at the illusion and tugged her hand. “What did you eat today?”

The girl stopped, rubbed her chin, thought hard, and said, “Something called steak, I think.”

She gestured a big circle with her hand. “A super huge slab of meat, fried in a pan. So fragrant, tasted great too. Would’ve been even better with you.”

Mu Qian Tan said, “It wasn’t that big.”

“In my eyes, it was!” The girl drew more circles and asked, “Have you had steak, Sis?”

Mu Qian Tan said, “I have, once.”

“Did you like it?”

“Not anymore.”

“Why not?”

Mu Qian Tan brushed the stray hairs from her face. “You can make it for me later.”

The girl laughed. “Sure! Cooking’s kinda hard, though. I’ve tried lots—failed every time. I’m not dumb! It’s just those tools are tricky. I’ve never used them before; back then, we just dumped stuff in a basin. But my aunt said…”

Mu Qian Tan listened to her babbling on about random bits and pieces as she slowly walked forward.

The light screen in the distance grew closer and closer. Just as she was about to step into it, she felt an iron-like pull on her ankle. The grip dug so deeply that it nearly pierced her flesh, making it impossible for her to take another step.

She looked down. Beneath her feet was the icy snow-covered ground, with dark red spreading outward. The woman’s skinny, eagle-claw-like hand clutched her tightly. Those turbid eyes were filled with unwillingness and resentment, unable to close, locked in an unyielding death grip.

“Sister,” the girl called out to her again. She turned around and tugged at her hand, trying to drag her into the light screen together. “I missed you. Can’t we live together?”

Mu Qian Tan’s throat bobbed up and down. She lifted her head extremely slowly and rasped, “No.”

The girl sighed. “Alright then. When will you come see me next time?”

Mu Qian Tan let go of her hand and gave her a push forward. The girl gradually vanished into the light screen.

“Until I dream of you next time.”

She opened her eyes and heard laughter from outside. The carriage had already stopped, and the aroma of food wafted in through the window cracks, making her hunger-panged stomach rumble in complaint.

She rubbed her brow hard and murmured, “Not a nightmare, huh.”

She had slept groggily for several days and had no idea what time it was now. She propped herself up on the soft couch, steadied her breathing, then lifted the curtain and stepped out of the carriage.

It was noon outside, with bright sunlight. She squinted to adjust for a moment before seeing that they were in a bamboo grove.

The coachman and Shang Shan were not far away, starting a fire to cook. To prevent any fire from spreading, they had cleared away a circle of dry grass nearby. The horse had been unhitched and was munching grass beside them, its tail swishing back and forth.

Though her back was turned to this side, Shang Shan seemed to have eyes in the back of her head. She quickly turned around, spat out the spoon from her mouth, and called, “You’re awake!”

Mu Qian Tan didn’t get off the carriage. Instead, she sat on the shaft, leaning half her body against the carriage compartment, and tilted her head back to gaze at the sunlight filtering through the leaves.

The coachman said, “Perfect timing—you woke up just as lunch is ready. Would the immortal lady like some?”

Something was bubbling in the pot, its fragrance overwhelming. Mu Qian Tan said, “A bit.”

The coachman set down the large iron ladle and rummaged through his bundle, pulling out several stacked bowls in various colors, painted with all sorts of little animals. They looked like ones prepared for his own children.

He said, “Does the immortal lady have a favorite?”

“I’ll do it, I’ll do it!” Shang Shan set down her little cat bowl and jumped up first. She scanned from left to right and picked out the plainest one. She flipped it over—no little animals on the bottom either. She was very satisfied.

She ladled soup into the bowl with the iron spoon and said, “She’s such a mean person. She doesn’t like kittens, puppies, chicks, or little fish. This pretty bowl? No way she’s using it.”

Mu Qian Tan watched her quietly, pondering how best to give her a beating.

The coachman carefully wrapped up the other bowls and put them away, chuckling. “They’re all painted by my daughter. Nothing precious about them.”

“No, sincerity is the most precious thing!”

After declaring her bold statement, Shang Shan set down the iron ladle, carried the soup bowl to the front of the carriage, and plunked it down on the shaft. “No pickiness allowed. You wouldn’t eat back in Prosperous Joy, so now you can only have this.”

The bowl held millet porridge with a few edamame beans. It shouldn’t have smelled this intensely fragrant, but since Mu Qian Tan hadn’t eaten a proper meal in days, it tasted exceptionally delicious to her.

She picked up the bowl and sipped slowly. Warmth finally filled her stomach.

Peering over the rim of the bowl, she saw that the beggar rags on this Brain-Damaged Dragon had been burned in many places, and much of her long, wavy hair was singed too. But her face was washed clean.

Too clean—it was irritating to look at.

She spoke up. “Where’s that demon core I gave you?”

Shang Shan pulled it out from her bosom and held it out in her palm. “Right here.”

Mu Qian Tan said, “Do you know how to use it?”

She really didn’t. Shang Shan switched to holding it with both hands and shook her head.

Mu Qian Tan said, “Just eat it. It’ll make your ears clear and eyes sharp.”

Even without seeing it herself, she could guess this thing had been dug out of a demon’s body. The moment she heard she had to eat it, Shang Shan felt the demon core heat up in her hand. “This…”

“Demons with demon cores are rare. Cherish the opportunity.” Mu Qian Tan set down her porridge bowl and rested her hand on her knee. “I’ll be right beside you. Nothing will go wrong.”

Her ethereal, exiled-immortal demeanor was so convincing that, even after being tricked many times before, Shang Shan subconsciously believed her. She pinched her nose, grimaced miserably, and popped the demon core into her mouth.

A sound like shattering glass rang in her ears. She chewed with great difficulty—the noise alone made one’s teeth ache just listening.

Finally, after chewing it enough, she gulped it down. Heat exploded from her stomach, surging through her entire body in an instant. Shang Shan cried out in shock, clutched her belly, and collapsed to the ground, rolling around.

The coachman jumped in fright. “What’s wrong with her? Did she eat something bad?”

Mu Qian Tan lifted her porridge bowl, her lips curving slightly. “What could upset her stomach? Don’t worry—she’ll be fine soon.”

Whenever she saw this Brain-Damaged Dragon, she recalled last night’s uncontrolled behavior. She couldn’t say she didn’t regret it, but sadly, time couldn’t be rewound.

Still, she would always think of ways to vent her frustrations.

A demon core was a good thing. It had a chance of helping the user open a qi aperture, but the process was slow: the demonic power needed to be gradually converted into spiritual power, then repeatedly probed to break through.

Eating it directly wasn’t impossible, but the body had to endure more pain from the demonic power rampaging inside.

Mu Qian Tan eyed the girl rolling on the ground and leisurely finished her entire bowl of porridge. Only then did the girl gradually calm down.

She lay flat on the ground in a spread-eagle position, covered in sand, dirt, and leaves, drenched in sweat, panting heavily.

A faint blue light flickered between her eyelashes. Her already clear eyes became even purer and more lustrous.

The verdant bamboo stalks connected root to stalk, forming a sea of green. A clear breeze blew continuously, making the leaves rustle like ocean waves. Birdsong echoed from afar, high and clear. Even farther off, a river roared as it rushed over mossy stones, fish leaping from the water to nip at the dangling willows.

The sky had never been so blue, the clouds stretching and curling lazily. The porridge in the pot bubbled with about half left. Beside her, the soil emitted the scent of fresh grass, an ant crawling past her ear.

Shang Shan hadn’t moved, yet everything around her felt clearer, more detailed. She immersed herself in this perception, feeling as if her body and mind had tumbled into the bamboo sea, drifting and soaring with it.

Unfortunately, this state required spiritual power to maintain. Once the faint blue light faded, everything around her returned to normal, the world pulling away once more.

The coachman walked over, bent down to look at her, and asked worriedly, “You okay, little miss?”

Shang Shan flipped over and sat up. Even the feel of her clothes rubbing against her skin was sharper. She exclaimed joyfully, “My senses! I get it!”

She scrambled to her feet and ran to the woman. “Is this cultivation? You didn’t trick me!”

An ordinary person eating a demon core raw would probably be bedridden for days, but she recovered in such a short time. This heaven-given constitution was hard not to envy.

Mu Qian Tan’s expression didn’t change. “Mm, I didn’t trick you.”

“Awesome! So amazing!” Shang Shan danced around excitedly. “When can I cultivate spiritual power? I want that feeling again! Besides my senses, are there others? What do we hunt next?”

“Next time, we’ll open the qi apertures in your hands.” At the mention, Mu Qian Tan’s gaze shifted. She glanced at her own hands too but noticed something off.

She set down the porridge bowl and held her hand up to the sunlight, examining it closely.

The hand was fair and slender, fingertips pale pink, joints delicate. Every bone was perfectly proportioned—anyone who saw it would praise it as more beautiful than jade.

But it seemed… like something was missing?

Shang Shan was still lost in her own excitement, fantasizing about what it would feel like to open the qi apertures in her hands. She had no idea what the person beside her was doing—or that disaster loomed.

After a moment, Mu Qian Tan pinpointed the issue, and her brow twitched.

That tooth mark wound was gone.