Nanke Dream Awakens

A pest is a rat. With Jiang She's confirmation that these dreamers truly couldn't see him, Li Bai's playful side emerged.

He picked up a jade chopstick from the table, dipped it in sauce, and began painting characters on Yuan Danqiu's face.

"The spirit of man delights in clarity, yet the mind disturbs it..."

When the "ink" faded, he dipped again in the shallow sauce dish.

Yuan Danqiu's face itched inexplicably. He reached up to scratch, but the itch wouldn't subside, his brows knitting tightly. Without knowing why, he glanced subconsciously toward the Right Chancellor not far away. His gaze caught the noble embroidery on the other's lapel, and he suddenly snapped awake.

Strange—why had he looked at that Right Chancellor?

The Right Chancellor looked back.

Yuan Danqiu poured wine, raised his cup, paused it in the air for a breath, apologizing for his earlier discourtesy.

Li Bai was also startled, staring at the crooked sauce characters on Yuan Danqiu's face.

They had long been friends from their shared pursuit of the Dao. Li Bai's bond with Yuan Danqiu was deep, and after befriending Meng Haoran, the three lived together in Xiangyang, lodging at the foot of Lumen Mountain, often gathering herbs on the mountain, singing on their return, carefree and at ease.

"They're in a dream, yet they still sense something?"

The Old Deer Mountain God also raised his wine cup.

He studied the official who had just come to his senses.

As a mountain god, he naturally knew where they were now, and that the dream-entering people outside were under his protection.

Because he understood somewhat.

He was all the more alarmed.

The mountain god said, "This is where your skill lies, sir."

The Old Deer Mountain God dipped his finger in wine and traced a water line on the table, watching the mark slowly vanish. The words that followed caught in his throat, impossible to speak.

Jiang She said, "Just a minor trick, hardly worth mentioning."

As they watched the wine dry, several days seemed to pass in the dream. Time moved swiftly, and it was already the auspicious day of Scholar Lu's wedding.

Lu the Eldest took a princess as his wife.

His glory blazed daily. His comings and goings, his carriages and robes, his feasts and retinue—all were second only to the king.

In the blink of an eye, years had passed. The dreamer had become a general and a minister, serving as a prefectural governor. He recommended the men who had been with him on that tower night for official posts. Yuan Danqiu thus became Minister of Agriculture, spending his days urging farming and sericulture, his head spinning from abacus calculations.

"If I'd known, I wouldn't have taken this damned post."

"I long to abandon office and wander..."

Scholar Lu's status grew increasingly noble. He was promoted often, granted fiefs, and had five sons and two daughters with his wife. His sons were appointed to office through patronage, and his daughters married into noble families. As time passed, he rivaled princes and dukes in the Ancient Locust Kingdom.

Twenty years later, a neighboring kingdom invaded, and troops pressed against the city walls.

Even the Minister of Agriculture had to mobilize grain and defend the isolated city. Yuan Danqiu stood on the city wall and died pierced by ten thousand arrows.

The fellow villagers who had become officials with him watched in terror. One night, they packed their bags and slipped out through a hidden gate, but the enemy detected them, ran them through with a single blade, and they died before the army.

Scholar Lu took personal command, suppressing the rebellion with such merit that the entire court was shaken. Impeachment memorials flew in like winter snow, and his rank was demoted again and again. His fiefs and titles were all reclaimed by the court.

For Scholar Lu, it was five years of hardship.

But in the eyes of Jiang She and the other two, it was merely the span of a morning.

Past glory vanished like smoke.

The king grew fearful and disgusted, summoning him to the palace under the pretense of an audience—but it was an ambush.

Jiang She and the others stayed in this dream for seven days.

It was Li Bai's first time seeing the king of the Ancient Locust Kingdom. He found the man's expression warm and solemn, approachable to the eye. Setting aside the complicated emotions of watching Yuan Danqiu die before him, he asked in wonder, "Isn't that the little medicine boy beside Physician Luo?"

"He's the emperor?"

"Where is Physician Luo?"

"Seven days ago, the one selling fortunes at the temple gate."

Li Bai savored the thought: "Those three swindlers became Daoists, while Physician Luo, this descendant of Immortal Sun, became a wanderer."

"Life and death."

"Glory and disgrace."

"Is it all decided in a single thought?"

Jiang She did not answer.

And the Old Deer Mountain God, lost in contemplating the mystery within his own heart, likewise did not answer for Li Bai.

Li Bai looked again.

What his eyes saw now was Scholar Lu's corpse.

A horse dragged a hearse, swaying as it made its way back to his hometown. Wheels pressed against the yellow earth, rolling out of the commandery city where Scholar Lu had served as governor. Rolling past the city gate where Yuan Danqiu had been shot through with arrows.

Rolling out of the Ancient Locust Kingdom.

It burst open abruptly.

The sky's light broke through the clouds, shining brilliantly onto the few people. First came the sounds of birds and insects, and as they looked up, the shapes of their surroundings suddenly grew larger. It was still the familiar courtyard walls.

Green tiles and white walls, moss creeping up the steps.

It gave one a feeling of having lived an entire lifetime apart.

Basking in the warm sunlight, for some reason, everyone felt a sudden urge to cry.

Li Bai stood dazed for a long time, then sneezed involuntarily.

Only then did he realize.

After being gone so long, dust had settled on his clothes.

He shook off the dust and saw it floating and drifting in the light. Beneath the locust tree still sat the basket he and Young Master Jiang had left there. The extraordinary gifts from Old Deer Mountain God—the spring bamboo shoots and wild berries—were still edible.

But the fish was already dead.

Its gills exposed, scales withered, mouth gaping dryly—it was thoroughly dead.

A faint look of surprise crossed Jiang She's face.

He sighed and apologized to Old Deer Mountain God: "I forgot about this fish. I've wasted the mountain god's kind intentions."

Old Deer Mountain God had just witnessed that dream and was still filled with awe.

"What does it matter? It's nothing."

"If the gentleman likes, I'll have them catch a few more. Whether boiled or grilled, both would be excellent."

Jiang She didn't refuse.

"Then I thank the mountain god."

Seven days in the mortal world.

And Meng Haoran, Yuan Danqiu, the six guests in the courtyard, three servants, one steward, Scholar Lu, Grand Matriarch Lu, the two Apothecary Boys, and the three swindlers posing as a false immortal master and his disciples.

Nineteen people in total.

Had lived an entire lifetime.

Now the nineteen woke up, saw the familiar courtyard before them, heard the birds and insects of this world, and only then slowly came back to their senses.

First, Physician Luo couldn't help but speak.

"This is..."

"Where's Yunniang? Has she been settled?"

"That incense guest just now hasn't paid yet. Qingyu, shut the door tight, don't let him leave... Huh? This is..."

Scholar Lu hadn't yet come to his senses, still feeling the shock of being stabbed to death. He had just had a dream, and everything in it was vivid. He still remembered every child's face and temperament, and how the king had ordered his execution.

"This is... a dream?"

So real, and yet it was a dream?

Forty years in the dream had passed in an instant.

He got up from the ground, swayed, and felt a bit lightheaded.

Yuan Danqiu clutched his chest, still feeling the palpitation of a blade piercing through. After a dozen breaths, he and Meng Haoran helped each other stand up.

For a moment, their emotions were too turbulent to put into words.

"You are..."

"You also...?"

They then looked at the young man in the courtyard, sitting by the table in a blue robe, with a leisurely expression.

Beneath the green shade, he rinsed a teacup and poured himself a cup of tea.

Took a sip.

Jiang She frowned, his tone helpless: "Steeped too long. It really is a bit bitter."

Then he looked at the people in the courtyard, seeing their strange expressions, some still savoring the dream, some dazed and distracted, some staring up at him.

He set down the teacup.

"Everyone, it's time to wake up."