24 Chapter 23 Return to Original Place

After some deliberation, Shen Luo wrapped the jade pillow in a cotton cloth and walked into a nearby grove. He started to gather dried grass and dead tree branches among the trees, setting up a large stack of firewood. After clearing the surrounding ground of any plants, he placed the jade pillow, still wrapped in cotton, atop the pile.

His thought was straightforward: since the jade pillow couldn't be broken with an ax, he would try burning it with a large fire.

The fire he used last time was not strong enough and didn't burn long enough.

This time, he was determined to burn it harshly, just like boiling in a large pot. The ancient book mentioned that most of the ominous objects were afraid of flames. If there was anything unusual in it, perhaps burning it for a more extended period could destroy it.

Shen Luo took out a flint from his bosom, removed the lid, blew on it a few times, and immediately, tiny threads of fiery red sparks along with a wisp of blue smoke wafted out.

Just as he was about to light the firewood, he thought of something and pulled out a small porcelain bottle from his sleeve pocket.

"If there truly is any evil hidden in it, it would be safer to use some cinnabar…" Shen Luo muttered, pulled out the bottle stopper, and poured out some red powder from the bottle onto the cotton cloth wrapped around the firewood stack along the gaps.

Then he used the flint to light the firewood stack.

As the smoke rose, flames gradually surrounded the jade pillow, radiating intense heat.

Shen Luo looked up at the sky seeing the thickly enclosed trees and the vigorous fire, hardly any smoke was emitted, he didn't have to worry about catching the attention of his Senior Brothers.

The firewood he was using, mostly pine branches, were rich in oil. They crackled as they burned. Shen Luo squatted down by the fire, continually adding wood to the fire, fearing the flames wouldn't be strong enough.

Soon, the cotton cloth was reduced to ashes, revealing the jade pillow inside. There was no sign of scorching on it, not even a blackening. It still maintained its original dark yellow color.

Shen Luo was not in a hurry, he continued adding firewood while recalling the events in his dream. He intended to find some clues, such as the location in his dream, and whether he had been to that place before.

However, after pondering multiple times, he still couldn't find any valuable leads.

After burning for half an hour, Shen Luo, feeling his face drying from the heat of the flame and having used up all the firewood within a ten-foot radius, finally put out the fire.

He picked up a fire-burning stick he had set aside, pushed away the glowing embers and burned grass, revealing the jade pillow covered in ashes, its original appearance hidden completely.

Seeing this, Shen Luo's heart filled with anticipation. He picked up the axe and struck the jade pillow again.

'Thud!' The mute echo echoed.

The force of the blow was not light, and his arm was numb from the impact. Yet the jade pillow was unscathed. Only some of the ashes on its surface were brushed off, revealing its original color again.

Shen Luo sighed. He was not surprised anymore.

He used a fire-burning stick to nudge the jade pillow bit by bit, blowing off the ashes on it. The jade pillow still looked the same as before; there was no sign of burn marks.

Shen Luo furrowed his eyebrows, slightly pondering before experimenting by poking the jade pillow with his fingertips.

As expected, it was still cold? Even after being torched by such intense flames for half an hour, the jade pillow was still as cool as before, showing no signs of heating up.

Even a stubborn stone exposed to such prolonged heat wouldn't be this cool. It was truly too strange.

A chill ran down Shen Luo's spine as he thought about this, prompting him to look up at the sky.

He saw the dazzling sunlight, which comforted him slightly.

He circled around the jade pillow a few times, then tried tapping the middle and the edges of the jade pillow, but the feel was identical to what it was before.

"Impossible to cut with a knife or axe, and unaffected by intense heat. Could this be the magical instrument Bai Xiaotian mentioned when he was drunk?" Shen Luo muttered, his face filled with uncertainty.

If indeed the jade pillow can induce such realistic nightmares, it may itself be the enigmatic magic weapon spoken of in the ancient book, possessing unusual supernatural power. Perhaps the Yuan Stone could cause some changes in it.

As for the "Small Thunder Talisman" that originally led him to the jade pillow, due to the exhaustion of the materials, it was impossible to create another in the last few days.

At this thought, Shen Luo felt as if he had made a certain decision. He rummaged in his sleeve pocket and took out the only remaining Yuan Stone.

But when he held the Yuan Stone in his hand, he hesitated. This Yuan Stone was of great value and not easy to come by. He only had this one left, should he really use it here?

"Forget it, it's just a Yuan Stone. No matter how precious it is, it is still not as precious as my life."

Having made up his mind, Shen Luo placed the Yuan Stone on the jade pillow, adjusted his breath, and began to silently circulate the Small Transformation Yang Skill.

A moment later, a hot current flowed along his arm and slowly gathered in his palm, finally condensing into a faint red thread less than three inches long, seeping through the palm of his hand.

As his hand slowly approached, the faint red threads flowed into the Yuan Stone on the jade pillow dot by dot.

A faint red glow immediately lit up on the Yuan Stone, revealing a translucent crystallinity. The white qi inside it also began to churn violently.

Shen Luo took a few steps back, swallowed, and watched the Yuan Stone and the jade pillow nervously.

A "cracking" sound was heard, and the Yuan Stone shattered, a white light burst out from the inside, enveloping the entire jade pillow, making its outline a bit blurry.

However, this change only lasted for a moment. The white light collapsed and extinguished in a flash, and the jade pillow remained the same without any noticeable changes.

Shen Luo was completely out of ideas.

He distractedly buried the remaining embers of the fire, cleaned up the other remnants nearby, hesitated for a long while, then sighed, picked up the jade pillow, and left the grove.

Half an hour later.

Shen Luo appeared in front of the mountain wall where he had found the jade pillow before. The small cave entrance was opened again.

"No matter what weirdness you possess, I apologize for disturbing your peace. Now I'll return you back. Let's part ways here and never interfere with each other again." Shen Luo muttered as he put the jade pillow back into the cave.

He didn't forget about finding a deep pool or throwing the jade pillow off a cliff to solve the problem. But in the ancient books he read in the past, there was always one sentence: "Respect the spirits from a distance."

Shen Luo was worried that if he hastily threw it away, it might cause bigger trouble, especially if it got tangled with such inexplicable things.

Since the jade pillow was originally dug out from here, it should be okay to return it to its original place.

He gathered rocks to cover the entrance of the cave. Seeing the marks were still visible, he pulled some vines from under a shady tree nearby and re-covered the entrance of the cave.

After doing all this, he got up, dusted the mud off his hands, and took a deep breath. He seemed to have unloaded a heavy burden and turned to leave.

Late at night.

Although Shen Luo was still somewhat worried, after all the running around of the day, he felt sleepy early. Before going to bed, he took out all the talismans he had written before and posted them around the house.

When he lay down on the bed, he didn't have time to ponder before he fell into a deep sleep.