Page 5

Lin Ling was so startled he nearly shattered his own flowerpot. He searched the entire Imperial Garden and realized Old Tortoise had truly vanished without a trace, so he hurried off to find Shi Changyuan.

"Something's wrong! Something in your Imperial Garden has been stolen again!"

Lin Ling timed it perfectly and entered Shi Changyuan's dream the moment he lay down.

Though the dreamscape was still barren at the start this time, the courtyard was no longer dilapidated, nor were there any terrifying noises.

Still, Lin Ling preferred the resplendent Imperial Study.

The moment the dream changed, Shi Changyuan knew that ungrateful Mushroom had arrived.

Before he saw the mushroom, he heard him first.

Listening to those repeated cries that something was wrong, Shi Changyuan pinched the space between his brows, suddenly unsure why he had deliberately lured him out.

"Old Tortoise was taken away again!"

The mushroom before him looked genuinely anxious. Before he had even caught his breath from running over, he began chattering away, recounting how he had discovered Old Tortoise's disappearance as though pouring out beans.

"What does your friend's business have to do with Us?"

In contrast to Lin Ling's urgency, the emperor, leisurely playing chess, appeared exceptionally composed—so composed that he seemed downright indifferent.

Lin Ling froze for a moment and stammered, "B-but you said before..."

"Those who show disrespect will naturally be supervised and dealt with. Must We personally attend to every turtle?"

"It's a tortoise, not a turtle," Lin Ling softly reminded him.

"But what if the people supervising and dealing with it are a little too slow, and Old Tortoise gets turned into turtle soup?" He blinked. Shi Changyuan's words had persuaded him, but he was still worried about Old Tortoise's life.

"Fine, I actually wanted to ask you to help fish Old Tortoise out."

Lin Ling grabbed Shi Changyuan's sleeve, trying to plead with him. But he did not know the human ruler's name, so he thought about how the people in the palace addressed him and pitifully imitated them—

"Your Majesty."

"Please, save Old Tortoise."

Shi Changyuan lowered his eyes to stare at the hand clutching his sleeve. Only after a moment did he look away, letting out a cold snort. "Now you remember Us?"

Lin Ling felt that there was a hint of resentment in those words, but he did not understand why. Mushroom only understood that sincerity was the ultimate trump card.

He tugged Shi Changyuan's sleeve and gave it another shake. "I've always remembered you. It would be even better if you could tell me your name."

"An emperor's personal name is not something..." Shi Changyuan frowned, but before he could finish, the Mushroom in front of him seemed to remember something and added—

"My name is Lin Ling. Lin as in forest, Ling as in cold water. Dark, damp soil is a Mushroom's favorite."

When Lin Ling looked up after speaking, he saw that Shi Changyuan's expression seemed much better, and even his request now had room for negotiation.

Shi Changyuan pondered. "Saving that Old Tortoise is not difficult."

"We need you to alter Our dreams and give Us a proper environment for rest."

The moment Lin Ling heard that, he nodded almost without hesitation and patted his chest in assurance. "That's easy! I also thought the dreams you had before were way too scary. They were practically nightmares."

If someone could not sleep well, their temper would become irritable. Perhaps that was why this tyrant, whom people always called excessively cruel, was like this.

"Leave it to me. Then remember our agreement, okay? Go save Old Tortoise soon," Lin Ling softly reminded him again.

Lin Ling had secured the human ruler's protection for Old Tortoise as well. The next day, he heard that Old Tortoise had returned and rushed to the Imperial Garden to check whether he had been hurt.

But Old Tortoise said that not only had he not been injured, he had even been taken to a magnificent fish tank to broaden his horizons and eat plenty of good things. His words were full of longing.

"They were trying to fatten you up before stewing you! You can't let them fool you." Lin Ling picked up Old Tortoise and gave him a thorough lecture.

When it was nearly dark, Lin Ling returned to the Imperial Study to wait for the human ruler to rest.

All it took to change a dream was a tiny amount of hallucinogenic spores. For Lin Ling, it was merely a matter of waving his hand.

Thus, brimming with confidence, he fulfilled his promise.

And so Shi Changyuan waited in his dream all night.

There was only an empty Imperial Study in the dream, no Mushroom.

Shi Changyuan felt the annoyance of having been stood up, yet he also understood that the youth had kept his promise and had indeed given him a place to rest.

He waited another three days before Mushroom finally appeared again. Mushroom had excellent after-sales service and had come to ask for feedback.

Shi Changyuan glanced at the mushroom sitting opposite him, suppressed a trace of irritation, and spoke casually. "You seem to only appear in Our dreams. Why?"

Lin Ling was completely unguarded and answered as though it were obvious. "Because I'm a spirit creature. I'm supposed to avoid truly appearing before humans."

"That way, even if a human tells someone else, they'll only think it was a dream or a delusion."

"Of course, there are also some foolish spirit creatures who accidentally appear before humans and end up being written into Liaozhai storybooks."

At this point, Lin Ling glanced at Shi Changyuan and defended everyone's reputation. "But there are very few spirit creatures as foolish as that, so people also think those storybooks are simply made up by their authors."

Shi Changyuan could not help but laugh softly, drawing a strange, puzzled look from Lin Ling.

Seeing that Shi Changyuan had no intention of speaking, Lin Ling continued exposing his own secrets.

"That's also why I'm planning to go into the deep mountains and old forests. There are simply too many people in the palace."

As soon as Lin Ling finished speaking, Shi Changyuan immediately zeroed in on one key point. "You're going back to the deep mountains and old forests?"

"Yes."

"You can't—" Shi Changyuan had barely spoken when the Mushroom before him had already arranged everything.

"Don't worry. I'll do what I promised. Before I leave, I'll use my spores to grow a Little Mushroom. If you keep it by your bedside, you'll be able to have good dreams."