In truth, Xu Zichang had indeed experienced something akin to a dream, but that dream was connected to reality, brought into being by a strand of Yi Shuyuan's divine sense.
Yet compared with the incident in Zhuo Qing's courtyard long ago, and the more recent one in Xu Zichang's meditation chamber, this manifestation was different again.
More than two hours earlier, Yi Shuyuan had still been high in the sky, riding a cloud with Stoneborn.
But Stoneborn was terribly nervous atop the cloud now, because his master lay asleep on the cloud behind him, while Senior Gray sprawled on his head without offering much help.
The heavy responsibility of steering the cloud rested entirely on Stoneborn, a small child.
Winds howled past him high in the sky. Stoneborn concentrated intensely, forming hand seals and stilling his mind, not daring to relax for an instant as he did his best to keep the cloud beneath him flying steadily.
"Senior Gray, am I going the right way?"
"Yes, yes."
"Senior Gray, I-I think the cloud has thinned a little."
Hui Mian raised himself from Stoneborn's head to look behind them. It had indeed thinned a little.
"It's fine. Not much has dispersed."
With a woebegone expression, Stoneborn changed his hand seal, gathering the surrounding spiritual energy behind him and guiding it into the cloud, but the cloud began to bob unsteadily.
"Master..."
Yi Shuyuan rolled over behind him, apparently sleeping soundly.
In fact, when Xu Zichang had pursued his demonic thought to the Moon Province Academy earlier, Yi Shuyuan's divine sense had already been connected to it before Xu Zichang acted.
Yi Shuyuan had merely watched the demonic thought gather spiritual energy and manifest, without intervening. Instead, another insight had arisen within him.
His brief appearance beside the pond in the city