Xiao Wu: I Think I Had a Dream

Tang San had forgotten that wild boars were goddamn herd animals.

Where one wild boar appeared, there were bound to be others nearby.

And sure enough, he had run straight into a whole herd.

He could have handled one or two, but more than a dozen were charging at him as if they had no regard for their lives.

Tang San had no choice but to run.

The sight of the herd behind Tang San instantly shattered Yu Xiaogang's composure.

"Those are Gale Wild Boars, and every last one is over ten years old."

"No, the one leading them is over a hundred years old."

Tang San shouted, "Teacher, stop spacing out! Run!"

Only then did Yu Xiaogang snap out of it. Without time to gather their things from the ground, he turned and ran.

After running for who knew how long, Yu Xiaogang collapsed onto the ground, looking as though he had nothing left to live for.

"I can't, little San. I really can't run anymore."

Tang San looked back at the boars still chasing them and gritted his teeth.

He scooped Yu Xiaogang up and summoned his Blue Silver Grass.

"Blue Silver Pole Vault!"

Watching himself slowly soar into the air, Yu Xiaogang finally breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness, little San. With this Soul Skill of yours, even running away is so much easier."

Elsewhere.

Su Mo was watering the Blue Silver Grass by his bed.

He poked one of its leaves. "Hey, I wonder if you really are Ah Yin."

"Seriously, why won't you react at all?"

He studied the Blue Silver Emperor he had drawn. No matter how he looked at her, she seemed no different from ordinary Blue Silver Grass.

Perhaps the only unusual thing was that every morning when he woke up, he could sense an exceedingly faint trace of Soul Power circulating through this Blue Silver Grass.

It was so faint it was almost negligible.

Had his Eye of Thunder not been extraordinarily sensitive to energy, he would never have noticed.

"Huh? Little one, are you absorbing my Soul Power?"

Su Mo felt a faint wisp of Soul Power flow from his finger toward the Blue Silver Grass, and surprise immediately crossed his face.

He had never expected the Blue Silver Grass to absorb his Soul Power on her own.

It was only a tiny amount, but she was indeed absorbing it.

The Blue Silver Grass's leaves swayed, seemingly answering him.

Su Mo was rather astonished. He hadn't expected her to actually respond.

Come to think of it, if this really is Ah Yin, is she conscious right now?

Can she still remember who she is? Does she remember Tang San? What about Tang Hao?

And now that she's bound to me, have her memories been altered?

Or have her memories of Tang Hao and the others simply been erased?

Su Mo shook his head. "Forget it. Why think so much? I'll find out eventually."

There was no point thinking about it now anyway. All the Blue Silver Emperor could do at present was move her leaves a little.

In the original story, Ah Yin had only recovered so quickly after being transplanted to the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.

There was no way he could go to the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well right now.

So he could only keep her planted in a flowerpot like this.

He fertilized her occasionally, though he had no idea whether fertilizer did anything for the Blue Silver Emperor.

Still, if this really is Ah Yin, I wonder what expression Tang Hao would make if he discovered his wife was missing.

Well, well, well. He shook his head and lay down on the bed, putting it out of his mind.

"Su Mo." Xiao Wu poked her head out from under the covers, her eyes unfocused.

Su Mo looked puzzled. "What is it?"

"I think I had a dream..." Xiao Wu said uncertainly, still looking dazed.

Su Mo was curious. "Really? What kind of dream? What did you dream about?"

Xiao Wu frowned and thought back carefully before saying uncertainly, "I think I dreamed about a tree, or maybe a blade of grass. It was huge, and really blue and really bright."

"And you were standing under that tree. I couldn't see your face clearly. I reached out to grab you, but my hand closed on empty air."

Su Mo froze for a moment. Could she be talking about the Blue Silver Emperor?

He instinctively glanced up at the Blue Silver Grass by the bed.

She looked exactly the same as before, with no apparent change.

He looked down at Xiao Wu and asked curiously, "And then?"

Xiao Wu rubbed her eyes and yawned. "Then I woke up."

"Now that I think about it, it's kind of strange. I think I've had this dream more than once."

"Su Mo, have you been influencing me somehow?"

Su Mo was speechless. "You sleep like a dead pig every day. How could I influence you?"

Xiao Wu kicked at him. "You're the dead pig!"

Su Mo deftly caught Xiao Wu's little pink foot and toyed with it in his hand.

He gazed at her small, delicate foot, its rounded toes wiggling a few times.

"You jerk, Su Mo! Let go!" Xiao Wu cried, embarrassed and angry.

Su Mo chuckled. "Nope."

Flustered and furious, Xiao Wu kicked at him with her other foot.

Su Mo caught that one too.

"Let go!" Xiao Wu said, her face red.

"Not happening. First tell me, was I the one influencing you?" Su Mo refused to let go.

"No, you weren't! Happy now? Hurry up and let go!" Xiao Wu said, blushing scarlet.

Su Mo smiled, but instead of releasing her right away, he toyed with her feet for a while.

"All right, go to sleep. We have class tomorrow."

"It was just a dream. Why think so much about it?"

"Hmph!" Xiao Wu snorted, pulled both legs back, and burrowed under the covers again.

Before long, Xiao Wu was asleep again, her tender little face flushed pink.

Watching her fall asleep again, Su Mo shook his head, speechless. He truly envied how quickly she could drift off.

Being able to fall asleep so quickly, without a care in the world-wasn't that a talent in itself?

At any rate, Su Mo couldn't do it.

He reached out and pinched Xiao Wu's plump cheek. It really did feel nice.

"Stop it!" Xiao Wu reached out and swatted his hand away.

At the same time, she mumbled, "Su Mo, eat... eat this... I want this..."

"Mmm... this is yummy... You have some too, Su Mo."

Su Mo was speechless. "You're thinking about food even in your sleep. Just how much do you love eating?"

Forget it, forget it. Time to sleep.

Su Mo lay down too.

"Little San, it looks like our dry rations are gone. Why don't you go hunt some game?"

Yu Xiaogang and Tang San were sitting beneath a tree.

Their pole vault earlier had successfully carried them away from the pursuing boars.

However, they had left all their luggage and belongings behind.

Now both Yu Xiaogang and Tang San were thirsty and hungry.

Tang San had even sprawled out on the ground, staring up at the sky.

He really didn't want to move anymore.

What even was this day?

Why did I have to go through so much at my age?

Having an unreliable father back in the village was bad enough.

Now that I've left, I've ended up with an unreliable teacher too.

Tang San felt as though he had been reborn just to suffer.

He suddenly found himself missing his time at the academy. He wondered how Xiao Wu was doing.

Ah, I wonder if Xiao Wu misses me, Tang San thought.

"Teacher, I really don't want to move. Why don't we get some sleep? We won't feel hungry once we're asleep."

He glanced at his unreliable teacher.

Well, what he didn't mention was that he actually still had a few flatbreads tucked inside his clothes.

Let Gangzi go hungry for a while. That's what he gets for talking so much all day, especially when it's all nonsense.