Smack, smack.
A little while later, Zhao Xing'er, who had been sleeping soundly, heard another knock. Someone was knocking on the door of her storage room.
"Who is it?" she mumbled, getting up and opening the door. At first, she didn't see anyone.
Only when she looked down did her bleary eyes make out a little boy dressed in ancient-style clothing. He wore a neat white scholar's robe with red trim. His face was fair and delicate, like a doll's, and his big, bright black eyes were gazing up at Zhao Xing'er.
"Whose kid is this?"
Zhao Xing'er squinted, a strand of her long hair sticking up. Her teddy-bear pajamas were rumpled, and because her legs were so long, the fabric bunched up a little around her ankles. She looked completely out of it.
The little boy met her gaze, then suddenly called out in a clear, bright voice, "Mom."
"I'm dreaming."
With a bang, Zhao Xing'er shut the door.
The little boy blinked in bewilderment, looked around, then walked steadily upstairs and knocked on Yue Wen's second-floor door.
Yue Wen was still awake. He was currently working hard to comprehend the Visualization Diagram of the Dragon Snake Evasion Method.
Setting aside the True Dragon Breath Method, which was an introductory Cultivation Method and the foundation of his practice, this was the first True Dragon wondrous art he had cultivated. As soon as he entered the Visualization Diagram, he immediately felt something different.
The area around him was filled with obscure Daoist resonance. It was as though he were inside a chaotic mountain of rock. Looking closely, he could see countless tiny holes, some large and some small, with liquid-like golden light flowing back and forth through them.
It whistled and hissed.
He felt as though his physical body were