Chapter 10: Strange Dreams

Chapter Ten

After starting the fire, the cave finally warmed up.

Chun Tao was drying her clothes by the fire, while Long Xiaoshan took out the small bottle to inspect it.

This peculiar little bottle had already piqued his curiosity, but no sooner had he looked at it than he uttered a surprised sound. He clearly remembered his blood sticking to the rim, yet now it seemed to have disappeared.

Could he have seen it wrong?

That wasn't likely; Long Xiaoshan was confident in his vision. Although the cave was dark, it wasn't to the extent that he couldn't see clearly.

"Little Xiaoshan, what are you looking at? Where did that pretty vase come from?" Chun Tao asked, seeing Long Xiaoshan staring at the bottle incessantly, somewhat curious.

"Oh, I found it here in the cave," Long Xiaoshan replied.

"There's such a beautiful vase in this cave?" Chun Tao looked somewhat incredulous.

"Do you like it? I could give it to you," Long Xiaoshan offered, picking up the vase.

"No, no, I don't want it." Chun Tao waved her hands repeatedly, then said cautiously after a while, "My grandfather used to say that you shouldn't just pick up jars and bottles in the mountains."

"Why?" Long Xiaoshan asked.

"Grandpa said they might be left by mountain demons or spirits, or they could be burial objects with heavy yin energy," Chun Tao explained with a hint of fear.

Long Xiaoshan burst into laughter.

"What are you laughing at?" Chun Tao bit her lip.

"Ghosts, mountain demons? I'm not afraid of them," Long Xiaoshan said disdainfully. Having spent time in Lingxi Prison, he knew the most terrifying things in the world were not ghosts, but people.

Seeing Long Xiaoshan's indifference, Chun Tao wanted to say something but refrained, not wanting to be laughed at, and fell silent.

Long Xiaoshan continued to study the small bottle.

For some reason, he felt groggy, his eyelids heavy and fighting to stay open.

Suddenly, he felt the light outside brighten dramatically and rushed to the entrance of the cave. He was somewhat shocked as he watched the horizon, where a giant silhouette, shrouded in light, stood tall. Its features were indiscernible, but to Long Xiaoshan's surprise, the silhouette seemed to be holding a bottle, similar to the one he had found in the cave, only much larger. The figure was so immense it appeared to hold up the sky and, by proportion, the bottle seemed larger than a mountain.

Long Xiaoshan felt the massive silhouette glance down at him briefly, as if piercing through him.

Then, the figure vanished.

The bottle alone remained in the sky, turning into a green beam of light that fell from the heavens, heading straight towards Long Xiaoshan.

Long Xiaoshan was taken aback and hurried to run.

But the bottle was moving too fast.

In the blink of an eye, it landed on him...

"Little Xiaoshan! Little Xiaoshan!" Chun Tao's voice, frantic, echoed in Long Xiaoshan's ears.

Long Xiaoshan abruptly sat up.

Drenched in cold sweat, he realized he had just been dreaming.

"Little Xiaoshan, what happened? I couldn't wake you up just now," Chun Tao asked anxiously.

"It's nothing, just a dream," Long Xiaoshan shook his head, trying to clear it, his mind puzzled. Since practicing the Longevity Art, his energy had always been abundant, and it was rare for him to fall asleep unconsciously like this.

He glanced outside the cave. The sky was overcast, and the rain had stopped. He hurriedly asked, "Chun Tao, how long have I been asleep?"

"I'm not sure either, it's been two or three hours." Chun Tao said, "I couldn't wake you up, and I didn't dare to leave."

"I'm really sorry, then let's hurry down the mountain." Long Xiaoshan found his clothes covering him, Chun Tao must have swapped their clothes back while he was asleep.

He hurriedly put on his T-shirt and stood up.

Chun Tao also quickly got to her feet, noticing that it was already getting dark. They needed to descend the mountain, which would take some time, and it would only get darker if they didn't leave soon.

Long Xiaoshan picked up his basket and grabbed the bucket.

He suddenly paused, set the bucket down, and began patting down his body, his eyes scanning the area.

"Little Xiaoshan, did you lose something?" Chun Tao asked.

"Strange, where's that bottle? Chun Tao, have you seen the bottle I found?" Long Xiaoshan asked.

"No, I haven't touched it, wasn't it on you all the time..." Chun Tao's pretty face suddenly turned pale, fear appearing in her eyes as she said, "Little Xiaoshan, I told you not to pick up random things in the mountains, but you didn't believe me. Let's leave quickly."

Chun Tao dragged Long Xiaoshan and ran off.

Long Xiaoshan quickly grabbed the bucket, being pulled along by Chun Tao. In truth, he still wanted to find the bottle, but seeing Chun Tao's panic and considering how he'd fallen asleep inexplicably and the bottle had mysteriously disappeared, he felt a chill down his spine and didn't insist on looking for it.

The two of them ran quickly to the base of the mountain. Chun Tao didn't even bother about the firewood she had gathered, continuously running down until they finally caught their breath, her heaving chest casting quite an enticing image.

"Little Xiaoshan, listen to me, don't just pick up things in the mountains anymore." Chun Tao admonished.

Long Xiaoshan smiled inwardly, but he knew Chun Tao cared about him, so he didn't say anything else and nodded, "Alright, I got it."

Seeing that Long Xiaoshan took her words to heart, Chun Tao also felt pleased.

The two of them walked back to the village together.

By the time they reached the entrance of the village, it was quite dark, even the stars had come out.

Chun Tao stopped and said hesitantly, "Little Xiaoshan, you go back first, I'll walk later."

"Why?" Long Xiaoshan stopped, his expression turning somewhat ugly as he quickly grasped the implication of Chun Tao's words. A surge of anger rose in him, and he said coldly, "Do you feel embarrassed to be seen walking with me?"

"It's not that, it's not like that, Little Xiaoshan." Chun Tao replied anxiously, her eyes reddening again.

Long Xiaoshan sighed inwardly; it was just an instinctive reaction. After calming down, he understood that for a widow like Chun Tao to return to the village with a convicted rapist like himself as darkness fell, it could indeed look bad.

He spoke softly, "I'm fine, I was wrong to blame you just now, I'll go ahead."

Long Xiaoshan, carrying his basket, walked quickly towards the village.

Chun Tao stood at the entrance of the village, watching Long Xiaoshan's lonely figure. She felt a pang of sorrow and wanted to rush to him, but Long Xiaoshan moved quickly and soon disappeared from sight.

Chun Tao sadly walked home alone.

Just after she left, a figure in green clothes emerged from an alley, spitting after watching Chun Tao's back, "Tch, she hooked up with the little widow so fast. He's no good for sure."

Long Xiaoshan returned home with his basket on his back.

There was candlelight inside the house. Long Xiaoshan walked in, somewhat puzzled, to find Long Dashan and Long Xiaoling in the main room. When Long Xiaoling saw Long Xiaoshan, she quickly ran out to greet her brother.

"Brother, why have you come back so late?"

"Oh, I got caught in heavy rain while in the mountains and took shelter, which delayed me till now. Little Ling, what's going on? Why is there a power outage in the house?" Long Xiaoshan asked.

"It's not just the house, the whole village has cut off our electricity." Long Xiaoling said with an uneasy expression.