Bai Li’s Dream – Chapter 111

Chapter 111: Reaching Out

What happened?

Zhuang Li didn’t know where she had walked to, nor did she know why she had come here.

Tonight’s dreamscape was strangely unlike her dreams.

She looked around and saw that it was a street intersection. Inside, swallowed by the night, lay many people. Although separated by a layer of dreams, because Shangguan Yue had grabbed her foot, a strange smell faintly spread.

Zhuang Li raised her sleeve and waved it in front of her nose and mouth.

This smell was poison smoke.

It seemed that Shangguan Yue had been ambushed.

Who wanted to kill him? Zhuang Li looked down at the young man lying on the ground. There must be many people who wanted to kill him.

Princess Jinyu wouldn’t tolerate him, and both the losers and winners of the high-stakes gambling on the pleasure boat might want him dead.

But these grudges between the powerful had nothing to do with her.

Zhuang Li looked at the hand clutching her foot. The hand was gradually turning pale, perhaps life was ebbing away, and the burning sensation on her foot was also gradually fading.

As long as she exerted a little force, she could break free and throw it off. Then Shangguan Yue would return to reality, and she would continue her dream, each unaffected by the other.

It’s just…

Zhuang Li squatted down and reached out to hold Shangguan Yue’s wrist. A ball of fire immediately rose from her ankle, wrapping around her hand.

Her hand became transparent and then gradually showed white bones, very strange and terrifying.

She drew a line across her mouth with her other hand, opened her tightly closed lips, and softly called, “Shangguan Yue.”

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Shangguan Yue slowly regained consciousness. The fragrance in his breath was still there, not a hallucination. Moreover, he saw the girl’s clear face.

She was almost right in front of him.

Did she want to pinch his face again?

Shangguan Yue wanted to dodge back but found he had no strength, and he was lying on the ground with nowhere to hide.

“You, you really died.” He murmured.

Last time, he dreamt it in a dream, this time he was dying and would also become a ghost, so he saw her again.

There really were ghosts in the world.

“That’s great.” He said, a smile appearing on his face.

Then he could really see his father, mother, Ruibo…

Zhuang Li couldn’t understand what he was saying. Why did he think she was dead? What was so good about being dead? But she could also understand Shangguan Yue’s rambling. He was poisoned, dying, his mind was long gone.

She couldn’t delay any longer; she had to take him to detoxify quickly.

Zhuang Li looked at the hand holding Shangguan Yue, took a deep breath, closed her eyes. As she closed her eyes, the burning sensation, which had already dimmed, suddenly rose up, spreading from her ankle. She squatted on the ground, her whole body as if instantly engulfed in flames.

Shangguan Yue felt himself stand up and walk forward unsteadily.

How could he walk again?

He looked down and saw the woman leaning in his arms.

She seemed to be integrated with him, and seemed to have become his crutch.

His arm was draped over her shoulder, her hand around his waist.

Was a ghost’s body actually soft and warm? The thought flashed through Shangguan Yue’s mind. The hand resting on the woman’s shoulder couldn’t help but lift and pinch her face.

Zhuang Li hissed. Shangguan Yue didn’t use much force, he had almost no strength, but for her, the touch between reality and illusion was painful.

“Don’t move.” She glared at him.

In his blurry vision, the woman’s brows and eyes were lively and beautiful. It turned out that ghosts were not so scary. Shangguan Yue couldn’t help but smile.

“Ghosts really do float when they walk.” He said, looking down at his feet.

Although he had no strength at all, his steps were fast, floating and flickering, the stone road flew past.

But there was no need to walk after becoming a ghost.

“Why not fly?” He said.

Fly? He still wanted to fly? Zhuang Li looked at him, exasperated and amused. Did he know how much effort she was spending just holding him up and walking?

The night wind scraped her flesh, the hard ground rubbed against her foot bones.

She ignored him, focusing her energy on running wildly.

She couldn’t hold on much longer.

Shangguan Yue, however, became more and more talkative.

“Why aren’t you talking?”

“Can’t ghosts talk?”

“Bai Li, when did you come to the capital?”

Hearing this, Zhuang Li couldn’t help but look at him: “How do you know me?”

Shangguan Yue smiled: “I’ve seen you.”

Seen her? Zhuang Li thought, indeed they had met. She stood by the Jinshui River, watching the pleasure boat, meeting him through Hua Xiaoxian’s dream.

But what she meant was, how did he see this face of hers?

In the dream world, she appeared as whoever others wanted to see.

How could Shangguan Yue see her true appearance?

“I also know that you killed Zhu Shan…” Shangguan Yue’s voice came.

Zhuang Li was startled. How could he know! This was impossible!

For a moment, she almost wanted to let this person die.

It was too scary.

Shangguan Yue looked at the shocked expression of the girl in his arms and smiled triumphantly: “I guessed right, ha, I’m so smart.”

As his voice fell, he felt his body lose support and he fell to the ground.

The girl’s face in his vision also became farther and farther away.

Shangguan Yue’s consciousness sank into darkness.

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The butterfly remained motionless.

Shen Qing held the bamboo cage and gently shook it.

The butterfly was as steady as a stone carving.

“Is it, is it dead?” Madam Huang said with a trembling voice, tears already falling. She stretched out her hands, wanting to do something, but in vain. “What happened?”

Shen Qing said: “It’s not dead, it won’t die, it’s just that the dream was interrupted.”

He looked down at the guqin, reached out and plucked the strings. The strings vibrated, and the sound of the qin filled the room.

The sound of the qin that everyone could hear.

Madam Huang became even more nervous: “Then, what should we do? Her dream was interrupted, is she, is she alright?”

Shen Qing looked at the butterfly in the bamboo cage and plucked the strings again. The strings still made a sound, but the butterfly remained motionless.

“Maybe it’s really asleep.” He said.

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Zhang Shilin sat in the pharmacy, momentarily dazed.

“Use this herb.” Someone said, handing him an herb.

Zhang Shilin looked up and saw a woman standing in front of the medicine cabinet, picking out herbs.

This woman was…

“My medical skills are not as good as yours, Doctor Zhang, but the incense medicine I blend is very effective.” She handed him another herb and smiled at Zhang Shilin. “You know that.”

Incense medicine, Zhang Shilin smiled, looking at the Marchioness of Dongyang in front of him: “Yes, Madam’s incense medicine is indeed powerful.”

The Marchioness of Dongyang handed him another herb.

“Look, these three herbs together can detoxify poison smoke.” She said.

Poison smoke, Zhang Shilin looked at these herbs. He wasn’t very good at dealing with that.

“I wonder what kind…” He asked, just about to look up, when he saw the Marchioness of Dongyang grab the medicine pestle on the table and smash it towards him.

Zhang Shilin yelped and instinctively dodged. With a thump, he opened his eyes.

His vision was blurry. He was lying on the small bed in the pharmacy, the book in his hand had fallen to the floor.

Since his wife had passed away, he was too lazy to return to his old house and often lived in the pharmacy. A simple bed, he would fall asleep at night, smelling the fragrance of herbs and reading medical books.

It was a dream.

Zhang Shilin was stunned, then amused. He actually dreamt of the Marchioness of Dongyang. It seemed he was still thinking about her magical incense medicine.

It was still early. Zhang Shilin turned over, intending to sleep a little longer, but he heard a thump from outside the door, mixed with the sound of the door collapsing.

It seemed someone had broken down the door.

What was going on?

Zhang Shilin hurriedly got up and walked out. He saw at a glance that the door panel had indeed been knocked open, and a person was lying face down on the ground.

“Oh my, this young master—” Zhang Shilin hurriedly went to help, while calling out loudly to his apprentices.

The two apprentices who lived in the medical clinic were awakened, hurriedly tied their clothes and ran out. They saw that Zhang Shilin had already turned the person on the ground over and was checking him.

What a handsome young master!

Why was his face so pale!

“He’s poisoned.” Zhang Shilin said, instructing his two apprentices, “Hurry and prepare the antidote.”

The commonly used antidotes in the medical clinic were honeysuckle, mung beans, licorice, charcoal ash, alkali, etc., for rinsing, drinking, and bathing. The two apprentices answered and were about to go prepare them when Zhang Shilin called them back.

“And…” He said, his expression hesitant and strange. The names of three herbs appeared in his mind.

“Master?” The apprentices looked at him in confusion. “What else?”

Although it was absurd to dream of a prescription, perhaps it was also the experience he had accumulated over many years of practicing medicine. Sometimes he couldn’t remember things in reality, but in dreams, inspiration would strike. This kind of thing happened often.

Zhang Shilin looked at his apprentices: “Add three more herbs, use the incense burning method.”

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As if burned by fire, as if cut by a knife, and as if thrown into water, Shangguan Yue couldn’t help but gasp for breath. As he breathed, a fragrance hit his face, and he was choked and coughed.

This wasn’t Bai Li’s fragrance.

Bai Li.

He opened his eyes abruptly. The candlelight flickered before his eyes, his vision was blurry, and he vaguely saw a long-faced man’s face swaying in front of him.

“Master, he’s awake—”

With these words, another face appeared before his eyes.

Shangguan Yue’s vision gradually cleared, and he saw that it was an old man. Although he hadn’t interacted with him, he recognized him, Zhang Shilin from the Zhang Family Medical Clinic.

“Young Master, can you see clearly?” Zhang Shilin asked, waving his hand in front of his eyes.

Shangguan Yue didn’t look at his hand, but looked around.

“How did I get here?” He asked, his voice hoarse and weak.

One apprentice said: “You barged into our medical clinic.” Then he asked, “What happened to you? Did you encounter bandits?”

Shangguan Yue didn’t listen to his question, only thinking about the previous sentence. He barged in?

How come he remembered that he met a… ghost.

That ghost helped him walk and walk.

Could it be a hallucination he had when he was dying?