Returning Things to Their Original Place

After giving it some thought, Shen Luo wrapped the Jade Pillow in cotton cloth and entered a nearby Lin grove. He gathered dry grass, deadwood, and branches among Lin, built a large pile of firewood, and cleared the surrounding ground of grass and plants before placing the cloth-wrapped Jade Pillow on top.

His idea was simple. Since the Jade Pillow could not be broken with an axe, he would try burning it with a large fire.

The fire starter he had used last time had been too weak, and the burning time had been too short.

This time, he would burn it fiercely, as though boiling a huge cauldron. Gu books said that sinister things generally feared flames. If there truly was something strange within it, perhaps prolonged burning could destroy it.

Shen Luo took a fire starter from his robes, removed its cap, and blew on it a few times. Tiny crimson sparks immediately flared within, followed by a wisp of blue smoke.

Just as he bent down to light the firewood, he suddenly recalled something and took a small porcelain bottle from his sleeve pouch.

"If something evil is truly hiding inside, it would be safer to use some Cinnabar..." Shen Luo muttered. He pulled out the stopper, poured some red powder from the bottle, and sprinkled it over the cloth bundle through the gaps in the firewood.

Only then did he use the fire starter to ignite the pile.

As waves of smoke rose, flames gradually sprang up around the Jade Pillow, sending out bursts of heat.

Shen Luo looked up at the sky. The surrounding trees were thick enough to conceal the fire, and although the flames were fierce, little smoke escaped. There was no need to worry about drawing the attention of the senior brothers in the temple.

Most of the firewood was made of pine branches, which contained plenty of resin and crackled as they burned. Shen Luo squatted nearby with his arms around his knees, constantly feeding wood into the fire, afraid the flames might not be strong enough.

Before long, the layer of cotton cloth burned to ashes, exposing the Jade Pillow inside. Yet it bore no scorch marks whatsoever—not even a trace of soot—and still retained its original dark yellow hue.

Shen Luo was not in a hurry. As he continued adding wood, he carefully recalled what had happened in his dream, trying to find further clues, such as whether the place in the dream might correspond to some real location.

However, after turning that experience over in his mind several times, he ultimately discovered no valuable clues.

After a full half hour, Shen Luo's entire face felt dry from the heat. He had used up all the firewood he could gather within several dozen yards, and only then did he finally extinguish the fire.

He took a reserved poker and pushed aside the ashes still glowing with embers. The exposed Jade Pillow was covered in ash, its original appearance completely obscured.

Seeing this, Shen Luo felt a little more hopeful. He picked up the axe again and smashed it down on the Jade Pillow.

Bang!

He struck with considerable force, enough to numb his arm from the recoil, yet the Jade Pillow remained completely unharmed. Only some ash on its surface was knocked away, revealing its original color again.

Shen Luo sighed. By now, he no longer found this surprising.

He used the poker to pry the Jade Pillow out bit by bit, then blew the ash off it forcefully. Compared to before, the Jade Pillow had not changed in the slightest, and not even the faintest burn mark remained on its surface.

Shen Luo frowned. After a brief pause, he cautiously prodded the Jade Pillow with his fingertip.

It was still cold? After being burned by flames for half an hour, the Jade Pillow was still as cool as before, without the slightest rise in temperature.

Even a stubborn rock could not possibly remain so cold after being roasted for so long. This was truly far too strange.

As Shen Luo thought of this, a chill crept up his back, and he could not help looking up at the sky.

The blazing sun shone overhead, calming him a little.

He circled the Jade Pillow several times, then tried touching its center and the edges of several sides. The sensation was exactly the same as before.

"Neither knife nor axe can break it, and even blazing fire cannot heat it... Could it be a magical artifact, like the one Bai Xiaotian mentioned after getting drunk that time?" Shen Luo muttered, his expression shifting uncertainly.

If this Jade Pillow could truly make people have such realistic nightmares, perhaps it was one of the objects described in Gu books, imbued with strange magical power. Perhaps the Yuan Stone could cause it to change.

As for the Minor Thunder Talisman that had led him to the Jade Pillow in the first place, he had run out of materials and had no time to make more in the next few days.

With that thought, Shen Luo seemed to make up his mind. He rummaged through his sleeve pouch and took out his only remaining Yuan Stone.

But when he held the Yuan Stone in his palm, he hesitated again. It was quite valuable and had not been easy to obtain. With only this one left, was he really going to use it here?

"Forget it. It is only a Yuan Stone. No matter how precious it is, it cannot be more precious than my own life."

Having made up his mind, Shen Luo placed the Yuan Stone on the Jade Pillow, adjusted his breathing, and silently began circulating the Minor Transforming Yang Art.

A moment later, threads of warmth flowed through his arm and slowly gathered in his palm. At last, they gradually condensed into a faint red thread less than three inches long, emerging from his palm.

As his hand slowly drew closer, the faint red thread flowed bit by bit into the Yuan Stone atop the Jade Pillow.

A faint red glow immediately lit up around the Yuan Stone, giving it a somewhat crystalline appearance. The cluster of white mist inside began to churn violently as well.

Shen Luo retreated a few steps, swallowed, and stared tensely at the Yuan Stone and Jade Pillow.

With a crack, the Yuan Stone shattered. A mass of white light emerged from within and enveloped the entire Jade Pillow, blurring its outline.

However, the change lasted only a moment. The white light flickered, scattered, and vanished, while the Jade Pillow remained entirely unchanged.

Shen Luo was completely out of ideas.

Distractedly, he buried the remaining embers and cleared away all traces nearby. After hesitating there for a long while, he finally sighed, picked up the Jade Pillow, and left Lin.

Half an hour later.

Shen Luo appeared before the mountain wall where he had once discovered the Jade Pillow. He reopened the small cave entrance.

"No matter what Gu oddity you possess, consider my ignorance an intrusion upon your peace. Now I will send you back. Let us part ways here, and never disturb one another again." Shen Luo muttered as he placed the Jade Pillow back inside the cave.

It was not that he had not considered simply finding a deep pool or cliff and throwing the Jade Pillow away. But a saying he had often read in Gu books came to mind: "Respect ghosts and gods, but keep your distance."

Shen Luo feared that if this truly involved something beyond explanation, rashly throwing it away might instead bring about an even greater disaster.

The Jade Pillow had originally been dug out from this place. Now, it had been returned to where it belonged.

He gathered the surrounding stones and buried the cave entrance again. Seeing that the traces were still obvious, he pulled more vines from beneath the shade of distant trees and covered the entrance once more.

After finishing everything, he stood and patted the dirt from his hands. He let out a deep breath, as though a heavy burden had been lifted, then turned and headed back.

That night.

Although Shen Luo was still somewhat worried, he had exhausted himself all day and grew sleepy early. Before going to bed, he took out all the talismans he had previously written and pasted them throughout the room.

Once he lay down on the bed, he had not even had time to indulge in wild thoughts before falling into a deep sleep.