Bamboo Case Chapter Forty-One: Four Dreams

The Ten Thousand Mountains lay to the west of the White Plains Kingdom. Neither far nor near, Lu Yun and Song Lian had traveled for several months, stopping and starting along the way, until they finally reached the borders of the vast mountain range.

"Senior, should we enter now?"

In the distance, the endless, towering mountain peaks were already faintly visible. Song Lian had never seen such a sight; his mouth agape, he gazed into the distance. Lu Yun narrowed his eyes and shook his head. At his waist, his long sword was vibrating with a soft hum.

"Help! Someone, help!"

Suddenly, a woman’s cry for help echoed from afar. Song Lian looked toward the sound and vaguely made out a massive figure in hot pursuit of a lone person.

"Senior, she..."

Before Song Lian could finish, Lu Yun clamped a hand over his mouth. Silently, Lu Yun pulled Song Lian into hiding, his eyes fixed intently on the area they had just passed. Soon, Lu Yun saw a blood-stained woman collapse to the ground, her expression one of pitiful helplessness. A giant, bipedal tiger demon slowly approached her, its eyes filled with greed, its presence terrifying.

"No, don't come any closer!"

The woman scrambled backward with all her might, but the tiger demon continued to press in until she was backed into a dead end. Song Lian was deeply confused. Whenever they had encountered others in danger before, Lu Yun would always intervene if he could. Why was he hiding this time?

Lu Yun watched the scene with a placid expression, using moonlight to shroud himself and Song Lian, keeping them hidden. The woman trembled, pleading incessantly with the tiger demon, but the creature seemed unable to understand the language of the savage tribes, only roaring as it opened its jaws wide. Faced with the gore-stained maw and those chilling, sharp fangs, the desperate woman screamed in total collapse.

Lu Yun still did not move. Finally, the tiger demon grabbed the woman’s arm and hoisted her into the air. She struggled in vain. Lu Yun reached up and covered Song Lian’s eyes. The tiger demon released its grip, and the woman fell instantly, straight into its blood-red maw. Lu Yun narrowed his eyes and began to retreat.

...

"Refusing to save a life when you see it—I truly wonder what kind of state such a person would turn the Savage World into," a young man in green robes remarked, sitting at a chessboard. He looked at the person opposite him and asked, "Is this the disciple you chose, old sir?"

The blind old man chuckled. "A common glamour would naturally not deceive him. But even if it were just this, you still cannot change my mind about taking him as my disciple."

The young man in green frowned. "Then let us continue. We shall wait and see."

"Hey, has anyone ever told you that when coming to the Ten Thousand Mountains, you must learn one thing?" the blind old man said suddenly.

The young man in green was stunned. "What thing?"

"How to keep me, this old man, from tossing you off to move mountains," the blind old man said indifferently.

The next moment, before the young man in green could react, he vanished from where he sat. The blind old man looked at the endgame on the board. There were five black stones and two white stones.

"The young people of today are all impossibly arrogant," the blind old man muttered. "Or have I not taken action for so long that they think themselves of great consequence?"

Not far away, Tao Ting, who was lying flat on the ground, did not dare to move a muscle. This master seemed to be in a foul mood lately; it was best not to provoke him! Unexpectedly, the blind old man turned his gaze toward Tao Ting and raised an eyebrow.

"Master, I..." Before Tao Ting could finish his sycophantic words, his figure also vanished. On the board, which previously held only two white stones, a third one had appeared.

"Except for me, no one is allowed to sit and watch the show," the blind old man said to himself. "Including you."

With that, he reached out and waved toward the sky. Above Mount Tuoyue, Zhou Mi frowned.

...

"Senior, why didn't you intervene?" Song Lian, who was being carried away at high speed by Lu Yun, could not help but ask. This was not at all Lu Yun’s style. Could there be something wrong here?

"It was all an illusion," Lu Yun replied. "I don't know when it happened, but we were already caught in an illusion cast by someone."

As for the reason, Lu Yun did not know. After all, there were too many people behind the scenes in the Savage World who inexplicably wanted him dead. Just then, a woman’s voice rang out from behind them.

"Help! Someone, help!"

Along with the woman’s voice came the roar of a tiger. Song Lian felt his hair stand on end. What kind of joke was this?!

Lu Yun remained expressionless. He glanced at the distant Ten Thousand Mountains, and the next moment, he charged toward them with Song Lian in tow. Once their figures had disappeared into the mountains, the woman strolled to the spot where Lu Yun had stood. The tiger demon was now exceptionally docile, lying beside her. Neither beast nor human showed any trace of the desperate, life-or-death pursuit from moments ago.

"Xiao Bai, can you feel it? Two more traces of presence. Although they are very faint, we recognize one of them."

The tiger demon let out a long howl.

The woman curled her lips. "Although I don't know why, this is our only chance to escape this place."

It was a game of chess with four layers of dreams, yet because the master had inadvertently been tossed inside, some unexpected variables had emerged.

...

At the border of the White Plains Kingdom—or rather, the border just recently conquered by it—a hero with thick sideburns and a bamboo hat was walking slowly.

"Senior, please stop." An Luo, who had just rushed to the border, exhaled and blocked the path of the hero.

Liu Cha, the hero with the sideburns, looked up at the hundreds of soldiers behind An Luo and said calmly, "You cannot stop me."

An Luo chuckled. "How would I dare to block your path, Senior?"

"And I will not help the White Plains Kingdom either," Liu Cha continued.

"If you don't want to, then you don't have to," An Luo said, rubbing his hands together with a flattering smile. Liu Cha watched him quietly, waiting for him to state his purpose. But after a moment, An Luo remained in that infuriatingly obsequious pose.

Liu Cha lost his patience. Frowning, he said, "If you have something to say, spit it out."

An Luo grinned. "Oh, Senior, that won't do. I fear you may have no fate with fishing in the future..."

Liu Cha’s gaze grew colder. An Luo bowed and said, "This junior comes for no other reason than to ask that, one day in the future, you do not take action against our White Plains Kingdom."

Liu Cha glanced at the city wall behind An Luo. There, a particularly exceptional Immortal Realm cultivator stood alongside a Nascent Soul practitioner.

"What if I don't agree?" Liu Cha suddenly asked.

An Luo smiled and said nothing. In truth, if Liu Cha truly refused, what could the White Plains Kingdom possibly do? It was all just for show. An Luo was now breaking out in a cold sweat.

Fortunately, Liu Cha finally said coolly, "I have no interest in the affairs of your White Plains Kingdom, so you may rest easy."

An Luo breathed a sigh of relief, bowed once more, and took his leave. At last, he had obtained a promise. The word of this hero with the thick sideburns still carried significant weight in the Savage World.

"May I ask where you are going, Senior?" An Luo asked casually.

Liu Cha was silent for a moment before saying, "The Ten Thousand Mountains."