Chapter 540 - Back to the Dream
Under normal circumstances, Shao Xuan rarely dreamed. Every time he dreamed, there would’ve been a reason, and sometimes the reason was related to something that might actually happen in real life.
When he thought about all the dreams he had before, he realized that all of them carried strong hints or warnings.
Sometimes, Shao Xuan wished he had more of these dreams, but it was beyond his control. He could only accept what came to him. It couldn’t be forced.
But this night, after he fell asleep, Shao Xuan entered a dream state he hadn’t attained before.
Shao Xuan knew that in the dream, he was in the forest, and he could hear the sound of the breeze blowing gently across the grassy field. The sound of grass and leaves rustling sounded like waves that rose and fell.
As he looked up, the moons had already begun to wane and were getting smaller and smaller. They were approaching the end of the year, so as the edges of the moons moved farther apart from each other. They were already becoming thin curves and were unable to provide enough light.
There were no stars and it was dark everywhere.
Shao Xuan wanted to scan the area around him with his special vision, but there was no use. Even after he switched to his special vision, all he could see was a thick layer of mist, and it was actually worse than his ordinary vision.
Besides his limited vision, Shao Xuan also felt very clear-headed and awake in the dream. His senses were sharp and he could sense all the tiniest movements around him. He somewhat knew that he was in a dream, but it felt so real.
Although his surroundings were very dark, Shao Xuan could still see the rough outlines of the surrounding trees, rocks, and mountains, but he could not see the details.
Shhhhh— Shhhhh—
A gentle breeze swept across the grassy fields. Amongst the sounds of grass and trees waving to the rhythm of the breeze, there was another sound that wasn’t obvious to the normal human ear. It was difficult to tell it apart from the other sounds. If you didn’t have such sensitive ears, you wouldn’t be able to hear it at all.
Within the thick grass, something was moving rapidly and started running. It was not far away from Shao Xuan. He only saw a blurry shadow that ran into the distance as fast as the wind. He could even feel the air being disturbed as the figure speeded into the distance.
Without much thought, Shao Xuan quickly followed the sound and wanted to catch up to it. His instincts told him that it was the target he had been searching for.
The figure ran very fast. In the thick woods and grass, it moved lightly with ease, without any restrictions in its movement.
As it ran out of the thick grass, it came across a rocky field. It passed through the stream and entered the forest. The trees at this part of the forest were very strange. They were twisted and crooked, like willows reshaped by the force of a strong wind. A little more force and they would have fallen.
Shao Xuan couldn’t see it clearly because all around him, it was too dark.
As Shao Xuan chased after the sound, he suddenly heard a rough “shhh” sound in front of him. It sounded like a creature was chewing something really fast. Occasionally there were sounds of grass and leaves being torn off.
Shao Xuan wanted to take a closer look, but the figure quickly escaped again and ran as fast as it could into the woods nearby. It took a rest from time to time, and as it rested, Shao Xuan could hear it chewing again.
Suddenly, Shaoxuan’s muscles tensed up as he sensed danger. In front of him where the chewing sound came from, a pair of green bright eyes looked directly at him..
He couldn’t determine how those eyes looked, but he sensed its murderous intention. Before Shao Xuan could think, the pair of eyes in the dark looked down, but the killing intent grew more intense
Shao Xuan realised he couldn’t move a muscle when he saw the figure charge in his direction.
Amidst the dark night, it felt as if something like a sharp sword was flying rapidly in his direction. It was as if he would be stabbed in the next moment.
Whoosh!
Shao Xuan sat up with his eyes open wide. He almost felt the pain of being stabbed by the sharp blade. The dream was still fresh in his mind, and it made his muscles stiff with tension.
“What’s wrong, Shao Xuan?” Mai, Duo Kang and others next to him asked as they heard his movements.
During the day, the assumptions Shao Xuan made after analyzing the trap made most of them unable to fall asleep. They were thinking of all sorts of things. Even the four other members from the Flaming Horn tribe couldn’t sleep. Even if they slept, they couldn’t sleep well.
Shao Xuan’s movements were too sudden, and everyone who was almost dozing off suddenly became alarmed. They thought they were being ambushed.
“It’s nothing,” Shao Xuan raised his hand and wiped away the cold sweat on his forehead. He was panting a little anxiously.
“It didn’t seem like it was nothing,” someone inside the cave said. It was a man from the Thousand Masks tribe.
Shao Xuan ignored him and said to Duo Kang, “It was just a dream.”
Other people in the cave heard Shao Xuan’s words and thought that Shao Xuan had probably thought too much in the day. Overthinking causes one to have dreams at night. He probably had a nightmare. They never knew Shao Xuan was such a coward.
Seeing Shao Xuan lying down again like he was going back to sleep, the others didn’t ask anymore. It was just a nightmare. Who never had one before? Especially after they entered Fearsome Beast Forest. Many of them dreamed about being eaten by a beast and swallowed by weird plants, but those dreams only lasted for a while. After some time, they got used to the forest and had fewer dreams. After all, all those who came were the stronger members of each tribe. Their mental strength was strong enough.
Knowing that Shao Xuan could be scared awake by nightmares, the other young warriors felt more at ease. Even Shao Xuan had these times, they thought happily.
However, the four others from the Flaming Horns were extremely worried.
They had been through enough to know that Shao Xuan’s dreams were not just any ordinary dreams.
That year when they followed the leading team on a hunt, Shao Xuan dreamt of the green thief. When they were at sea, Shao Xuan dreamt of his ancestors. He dreamt of where they could cross the sea. All those details in his dreams guided them and gave them many hints throughout their adventures together.
Now, when they heard Shao Xuan say that it was a dream, the four members from the Flaming Horn tribe wanted to ask about it, but they realised there were others in the cave, so they didn’t ask.
Because Shao Xuan did this, the four Flaming Horn members stayed wide awake that night. The others in the cave could sense that the Flaming Horns were feeling uneasy.
Under the earth in the cave, an unknown creature started moving. The sound passed through the rocks under the cave and came to their ears. Those creatures did not come close to them and weren’t a threat at all, yet they were perturbed.
In the forest outside the cave, a beast roared in the night. In the middle of the night, there were still creatures out preying and killing.
Shao Xuan opened his eyes and stared into the darkness of the cave. The woods at night were slightly cool, and the warmth that came from the stone ground inside the cave calmed him down. As he recalled every single detail in his dream and replayed it in his mind, he took a mental note.
The green-faced fanged beast? Was that creature in his dream the green-faced fanged beast?
It was just a pity that in the dream, not only could he not see clearly, but there was also a layer of mist surrounding him, so no matter what type of vision he used, he wouldn’t be able to see the details clearly. All he could see were the outlines of figures and his surroundings.
This place was clearly different from any other place he’d been to.
For the rest of the night, Shao Xuan kept recalling the details he saw in his dream. He also remembered the clear murderous intent that he sensed.
If it was really a green-faced fanged beast in his dream, then it was clear why they were so hard to catch. They moved way too fast and had powerful attacks. They were also extremely cautious. No wonder why they were so hard to catch.
Shao Xuan had already searched for this entire mountain where they were resting. Judging by memory, the place in his dream was not here.
If it wasn’t here, where was it?
The next day, after a simple breakfast, the tribes split up and started working again.
The five members of the Flaming Horn tribe didn’t talk much and just followed Shao Xuan. They knew that Shao Xuan must have discovered something.