Volume 6, Chapter 343 – Dream Within a Dream—Cheng Ling’s Dream

When Qi Huang opened her eyes, she saw the ceiling of a cultivation chamber. She seemed to be lying on the floor. Instinctively, she tried to turn over, but it was as if a ghost were pressing down on her, she couldn’t move at all. Only then did her mind catch up: she was dreaming. What she was seeing were Cheng Ling’s memories. Naturally, she couldn’t traverse time and space to control someone else’s “body”. It had been so long since she last dreamed that she had forgotten this detail.

The next moment, Cheng Ling used her divine sense to lift her own body upright, then floated in midair. Her gaze turned toward the corner, where Cheng Hongling had already collapsed from exhaustion. Barely surviving after attempting to cultivate a doppelgänger at the Unity Realm was nothing short of a miracle.

Cheng Ling then examined herself with her divine sense and discovered, to her shock, that her “body” was nothing more than a face mask, thin as a cicada’s wing, yet unnervingly intact. The dark red patch on her right cheek stood out starkly.

“Heaven truly favors me!”

Cheng Ling thought to herself.

Since Qi Huang was witnessing Cheng Ling’s memories, she could hear the woman’s thoughts as clearly as if they were her own.

Cheng Ling then clumsily maneuvered the face mask toward the stone door. Why clumsily? Simple—even Cheng Hongling, the original body, only had divine sense strength at the late-stage Unity Realm. As a mere doppelgänger, Cheng Ling was even weaker.

‘How did she even get out?’

Qi Huang’s mind buzzed with the same question. The stone door of the cultivation chamber weighed thousands of pounds. With Cheng Ling’s current divine sense, opening it was impossible.

Cheng Ling guided the face mask to the door, scanning it meticulously—up, down, left, right—until, after a short while, she found a narrow gap at the very bottom.

“Heaven truly favors me!”

Delight flickered across Cheng Ling’s face.

‘So that’s how!’

The mystery in Qi Huang’s mind finally unraveled. Though the gap was tiny, less than a centimeter wide, it was more than enough for a face mask to slip through. Most people’s skin was only about half a centimeter thick, let alone a delicate girl like Cheng Hongling. Thin as a cicada’s wing wasn’t an exaggeration.

Knowing that delays bred trouble, Cheng Ling prepared to escape through the gap. But before she did, she turned back to look at her original body.

“I’ve borne this ugly face for you. In return, you’ll give me my freedom. That’s fair. Let’s hope we never meet again.”

With that, she forced the face mask through the gap beneath the door. The effort drained her completely, the narrow space, combined with her weak divine sense, made it an ordeal.

By the time Cheng Ling escaped to the outside world, her consciousness was already fading. But she didn’t dare linger. She pushed forward, controlling the face mask as it fluttered out of the Honghua Sect. If her original body woke up before she got away, she’d be doomed.

Staggering through the night sky like a toddler taking its first steps, Cheng Ling expended every last shred of strength just to escape the sect’s territory. Then, darkness swallowed her.

In that final moment, the face mask, thin as a cicada’s wing, drifted like a kite with a severed string, a lone boat on a vast sea, at the mercy of the night wind as it carried her away.

Rеаԁ on КatReaⅾіոɡСаfе

Qi Huang, too, lost consciousness. She had imagined countless scenarios for what she might see when she next opened her eyes, but what followed shattered all her expectations.

The next dream began.

Qi Huang opened her eyes again. This time, a dilapidated roof stretched above her—sparse thatch, occasional droplets of rain, and beams rotting from prolonged dampness. The saying “The roof leaks during an endless downpour” fit perfectly. The only upside was the natural lighting” even on cloudy days, the interior was clearly visible.

Instinctively, Qi Huang tried to move her body.

‘Why do I keep forgetting? This is Cheng Ling’s memory, how could I possibly control her body?’

She inwardly mocked herself. Having experienced this countless times before, she quickly calmed down.

‘If we’re indoors, then someone must have found that face mask.’

Qi Huang made a reasonable deduction.

Just as she thought she had a grasp on the situation, the body she was observing sat up. A glance revealed arms, legs, hair, everything a normal person would have. Aside from being unusually small, this was a complete little girl.

‘This… this can’t be!’

Qi Huang’s mind trembled violently. If this were reality, she’d be drenched in cold sweat. None of this made sense. By her logic, she should have woken up still viewing the Human Skin Mask. So why was there now a fully intact body? These two dreams clearly weren’t connected.

‘Am I dreaming of something else entirely?’

After some thought, Qi Huang considered this possibility. After all, no one had decreed that her dreams had to be solely about Cheng Ling.

The more she reasoned, the more sense it made. Her mind gradually settled. Even if this dream was a waste of time, it wasn’t like she could control it.

And so, Qi Huang watched as the three or four year old girl clumsily dressed herself in tattered clothes and shoes, then stumbled outside, her left foot tripping over her right.

The little girl pushed open the door, revealing a similarly crude courtyard. A few worn-out hoes lay in the corner. There were no livestock, not even a chicken.

‘Even poorer than my home in Huatian Village!’

Even in a dream, Qi Huang couldn’t help but sigh.

“Yao Yao, you’re awake?”

A woman’s voice called out.

Rеаd оո КαtReаⅾіngСаfe

The little girl, Yao Yao ¹ 瑶瑶 (Yáo Yáo), in order to not confuse her with Yaoyao 妖妖 (Yāo Yāo) the catgirl, I will put a space in her name , turned to see a woman in her fifties stepping out from a side room. Though not elderly, her face was lined with wrinkles, her skin slightly darkened, her spirit weary.

“Grandma, where are Mom and Dad?”

Yao Yao’s voice was sweet and childish.

“Oh, they’re still in the fields. They should be back soon.”

The grandmother replied.

“I want Mom and Dad! I want Mom and Dad! Waaah…”

Too young to understand, Yao Yao burst into tears.

“Alright, alright! Don’t cry, my dear. Grandma will take you to them.”

The woman hurried over to comfort her, her tone warm and affectionate. Clearly, they were grandmother and granddaughter.

Then, the grandmother carried Yao Yao on her back and headed out.

‘A frail old woman and a child daring to go out like this? They might as well be delivering themselves to wandering ghosts!’

Qi Huang’s instinctive reaction betrayed how real this dream felt.

The two followed a dirt path leading out of the village.

“Grandma, what’s he eating?”

Yao Yao pointed at a little boy passing by, happily munching on a candied hawthorn stick.

‘She doesn’t even know what a sugar-coated haw is?’

Qi Huang was stunned.

“Yao Yao, that’s candied hawthorn. Grandma will buy you one next time we go to town.”

The grandmother paused, then smiled brightly, her expression free of sorrow, as if this were completely normal.

“Okay!”

Rеаd οո ΚαtReаdiոɡСαfе

Yao Yao swallowed hard, then stuck her tiny fingers in her mouth.

The two soon reached the fields. The grass was thick, and before they saw anyone, they overheard a young couple talking.

“W-wife… I need to tell you something.”

The man’s voice was hesitant.

“Husband, just say it.”

The woman replied.

“Remember when I took Mother to town for her illness the other day? It wasn’t just stomach pain… She has a tumor disease. Sigh.”

The man exhaled heavily.

“What?! Tumor disease? The same one Father-in-law had?”

The wife’s voice trembled with shock.

Hearing this, Qi Huang, through Yao Yao’s body, felt the grandmother shudder violently. Her arms went limp, as if all strength had left her.

Yao Yao began slipping down, so she quickly grabbed her grandmother’s shoulders.

The grandmother snapped back to reality, tightening her grip.

“Quiet! I didn’t tell her because I didn’t want her to know.”

The young man hushed his wife.

“Husband… why is this happening? Father-in-law hasn’t even been gone two years. How could Mother also…”

The wife began to sob quietly.

‘Two family members with terminal illnesses in a row?’

Qi Huang’s heart grew heavy. Even in a dream, she couldn’t remain indifferent.

“Sigh. Maybe it’s fate.”

Rеаԁ οո ΚаtRеαdingСafе

The man sighed deeply. “Wife… you should go back to your parents’ home.”

“Wh-what nonsense are you saying?! If I left you just because Mother is sick, what kind of person would I be?”

The wife’s voice was firm.

“Wife, think carefully. I won’t abandon Mother. If you stay with me, you’ll never have a good life.”

The man’s warning only made his wife more resolute.

Qi Huang’s emotions surged. Just as she was moved by their devotion—

Darkness swallowed her vision. The dream ended.

When Qi Huang opened her eyes again, she found herself in a familiar forest—likely near the Honghua Sect.

‘Another dream of Cheng Ling’s memories!’

She immediately focused.

Then, Cheng Ling’s inner voice echoed:

“A dream? What a strange one… Two elders in a family struck by terminal illness. How tragic.”

‘What?! That was Cheng Ling’s dream? So what I saw was a dream within a dream?!’

Qi Huang was utterly stunned. She never expected her memory-reading ability to produce such a bizarre experience.

But upon reflection, it made sense. Cheng Ling’s memories wouldn’t just be of real events, they’d also include dreams that left a deep impression.

Still near the Honghua Sect, Cheng Ling dared not delay. She continued controlling the face mask to flee. But then, she noticed something horrifying—

The red patch on her “body” had faded slightly… but its area had grown larger.

‘What’s happening?!’

Cheng Ling’s mind went blank.