After accompanying Shangguan Ru for most of the night, Gu Shenwei received nothing more than a word of praise.
When he returned to the stone hut, he found that Old Zhang had gone out to feed the horses before dawn. He climbed onto the kang without taking off his clothes, his mind a muddy mess, and soon sank into a deep sleep, where he had a series of dreams.
In the dream, two Great Peng Birds spread their wings with all their might and stretched their necks toward the sky, just as they had in the instant before they died, yet they could never take flight. Not far away, Shangguan Ru pointed at Huan Nu, her face full of anger, then burst into a mad, bone-chilling laugh. At Gu Shenwei's feet, the ugly fledgling pecked at him viciously.
Gu Shenwei was frantic with worry. He struggled desperately to wake, but was trapped deep in the dream and could not break free. He begged someone for help. The person's face was blurry, but gradually came into focus, revealing Snow Niang. She sat in a chair as she usually did, coldly silent.
Gu Shenwei abruptly sat up, finally escaping the dream. There had been nothing frightening in it, yet he was drenched in cold sweat, his heart pounding wildly.
He raised his head and saw Snow Niang sitting on the edge of the kang, her expression almost identical to the one in his dream. Reality and illusion mingled, and his racing heart nearly stopped.
"Had a nightmare?"
"Mm."
"There's nothing to be afraid of. Things are the same when you're awake, anyway."
Gu Shenwei stared at her, speechless. With someone as inscrutable as Snow Niang, it was hard to tell whether her words were casual remarks or carried some hidden meaning. But