“My spirit stones! My spirit stones are still inside!”
Lu Fengmian grabbed him by the collar, forced him to the ground, and continued dragging him.
The man kept struggling, muttering, “Senior Brother, let me go! I really saw spirit stones! So many spirit stones!”
Lu Fengmian ignored him.
He dragged the man to the edge of the mist, set him down, and turned back into the forest.
As he hauled people out one by one, he silently made a mental note.
After they returned to the sect, should he arrange psychological counseling for them?
By the time he dragged the twenty-second person out of the forest, those outside were already waiting anxiously.
Seeing him emerge, Zhou Wu hurried forward.
“Senior Brother, are you alright?”
Lu Fengmian tossed the man onto the ground and dusted off his hands.
“I’m fine.”
He glanced back at the mist-shrouded forest, then at the disciples lying on the ground, still dreaming.
“When they wake up, count everyone,” he said. “Not a single one is missing.”
Zhou Wu reacted swiftly.
Almost as soon as Lu Fengmian finished speaking, Zhou Wu had already taken out a handful of Mingdan from his storage ring and called over several conscious disciples to help.
“One for each. Pry open their mouths and feed it to them. Don’t let them choke.”
The disciples lying on the ground were still lost in dreams. Their mouths were pried open, pills stuffed inside; before long, the dazed expressions on their faces gradually faded.
The first to wake was the one who had dreamed of becoming sect master.
He opened his eyes and looked around blankly. After a long moment, he squeezed out a sentence: “I… where is this?”
The person beside him patted him. “You’re awake? Weren’t you just dragged out of the forest by Senior Brother? Don’t you remember?”
“Dragged out?” He froze, then suddenly remembered something, his face flushing red.
In his dream, he had been sect master, lecturing the people below him…
The person beside him saw his expression and burst out laughing. “We all heard you shouting, ‘Today this seat shall ascend the throne!’”
“…Shut up.”
The second to wake was the one who had been calling for his wife.
After she awoke, she first looked around in confusion. Then her gaze landed on Lu Fengmian, and the expression on her face instantly became colorful.
She remembered.
She had hugged Senior Brother and called him “Husband.”
She covered her face with both hands and curled into a ball, wishing she could dig a hole and crawl into it right then and there.
Lu Fengmian pretended not to see.
When the last disciple woke, Zhou Wu finished counting and walked over.
“Senior Brother, everyone’s here. One hundred people. Not a single one missing.”
Lu Fengmian nodded and looked up at the sky.
It was still gray and hazy, the mist lingering, time impossible to determine.
But from the moment they had entered the secret realm, crossed that vast wasteland, and passed through the illusion forest, at least half a day had gone by.
He glanced at the disciples who had just woken from the illusions, their faces still pale.
“That’s enough for today,” he said. “Set up camp. Rest for the night. We continue tomorrow.”
Hearing this, everyone let out a sigh of relief.
The disciples from the General Affairs Hall finally had their chance to be useful.
They quickly opened their storage bags, took out tents, frames, and ropes, and got to work.
Li Qing worked the hardest.
He was the one who had shouted in the forest, “This general will follow the great king until death.”
He ran around carrying tent poles, his excitement undiminished.
Someone beside him asked if he was tired. He patted his chest and said, “Not tired, not tired! Setting up tents for everyone is only natural!”
Xiao Jin quietly helped from the side.
As he secured one corner of a tent to the ground, he could not help but glance at Lu Fengmian.
Then he saw Lu Fengmian set up a tent in just a few movements.
His actions were clean and efficient, clearly practiced.
Xiao Jin paused, then silently looked away.
Alright.
Senior Brother truly could do everything.
He lowered his head and continued hammering stakes, letting out a faint sigh.
The tents were soon finished.
The General Affairs Hall disciples lit a bonfire in the center of the camp.
The flames flickered, casting the surrounding tents in a warm yellow glow.
The disciples from Tianyan Peak did not idle either. They set up a simple defensive formation around the camp.
A faint layer of light enveloped the camp’s edge; if anything unusual approached, they would sense it immediately.
At last, they could breathe.
Everyone sat around the bonfire and took out what they had brought.
Some produced beast meat, others spirit herbs.
Items piled up in a chaotic heap, all sorts of things mixed together.
Lu Fengmian looked at the pile and the corner of his mouth twitched.
Was this a trial, or a camping trip?
Just as he was thinking that, he saw Wang Shun from the General Affairs Hall pull out an entire set of equipment from his large bundle—grill rack, iron skewers, brushes, and seven or eight jars, all spices he had brought himself.
Professional.
Lu Fengmian silently looked away.
Wang Shun had already started working.
He cut the beast meat into small pieces, skewered them on iron rods, brushed them with oil, sprinkled a handful of seasoning, and placed them over the fire. The meat sizzled.
The aroma quickly spread.
Everyone gathered around, eyes shining.
“Wang Shun, you’re amazing!”
“This smells incredible!”
“Is there more? I want some too!”
As Wang Shun turned the skewers, he laughed. “There’s enough for everyone. Don’t rush.”
Lu Fengmian sat not far away, watching the scene.
Firelight illuminated those young faces, their smiles bright and dazzling.
The dizziness and exhaustion brought on by the illusions earlier seemed to have completely dispersed.
These hundred people had been daydreaming wildly in the forest during the day, acting crazed, and now at night they were sitting around a bonfire, eating meat and chatting.
That was not bad at all.
He leaned against a tent and closed his eyes to rest for a while.
After they returned, he would have to ask Wang Shun if he was willing to go to the dining hall.
With such refined cooking skills, he was wasted in the outer sect.
When the meat was done, everyone ate and chatted.
Some spoke about what they had seen in their illusions, drawing bursts of laughter.
Some said they had dreamed of becoming an elder’s direct disciple. Others said they had dreamed of getting married. Still others said they had dreamed of being chased by a group of spirit beasts.
Li Qing, his mouth greasy, scratched his head when someone asked what he had dreamed of. “I dreamed I became a great general. The king appointed me Grand General Who Suppresses Demons and sent me to war…”
The person beside him burst out laughing. “So when you were shouting ‘This general will follow the great king until death’ in the forest, that was the great king you meant?”
Li Qing chuckled. “I suppose so.”
Another round of laughter followed.
Xiao Jin sat in a corner, quietly eating his meat.
He listened to the laughter, the corners of his mouth occasionally lifting slightly.
Then he looked up at Lu Fengmian.
That person leaned against a tent, eyes half-closed. Firelight shone on his face, softening his features.
Night deepened.
One by one, everyone returned to their tents, and the camp gradually fell quiet.
Lu Fengmian stood and walked to the camp’s edge, confirming the shift schedule with the disciples on night watch.
“Rotate every hour,” he said. “If there’s anything unusual, notify me.”
The disciples on duty nodded. “Understood.”
Lu Fengmian returned to his tent, lifted the flap, and glanced inside.
The tent was small, but enough for one person to lie down.
He lay down and closed his eyes.
Outside, the bonfire still burned, crackling from time to time.
He had walked the entire day and gone through such illusions; he was indeed tired.
Yet he did not fall asleep immediately.
He was still thinking about that forest, that stone gate, and the clues concerning the Chaos Sky Crystal.
Tomorrow, they had to continue deeper inside.