Yet beneath the peace of their daily journey, Ye Chen had also noticed two factors that made him uneasy.
The first unsettling factor was that ever since entering the second layer of the dream, Ye Chen had constantly felt as though some presence had been watching him over the past few days.
Especially whenever he woke at daybreak, the feeling became particularly pronounced in his heart, yet the youth could never find the source of that gaze.
Ye Chen had discussed this matter with Mu several times, afraid that the Abyss might be somehow sensing him from afar.
"Grandpa Mu, is this strange feeling of being watched really not a sign that something bad is about to happen?"
However, Mu's answer was much the same every time, and he appeared exceedingly calm.
"It's all right, child. You needn't worry about anything. Just calm your mind. If any danger truly appears, I will sense it at once."
Because he trusted both Mu's strength and character, Ye Chen did not dwell too stubbornly on the matter, treating the sense of being watched as nothing more than some vague, intangible illusion.
After all, his teacher had once told him that the power of dreams could make people see "illusions" they had never been able to see before, so Ye Chen felt that perhaps there was nothing strange about it. Perhaps.
The second unsettling factor, however, was Mu's problem.
Ever since telling Ye Chen about his congenital asthma, Mu's coughing had not worsened, but neither had it stopped or improved.
Every day, he had to rely on the medicinal properties of tea brewed from "green spleen tea leaves" to completely suppress the symptoms. As a result, the supply in the tea box grew thinner and thinner. As the days passed, Mu could only begin