“Gods have dreams, sacrifice to them with dance; the living are paper cutouts, all beings are art.

“The skilled please gods, and are blessed forever; the unskilled are hated by the gods, and are destroyed eternally.”

That was the sacrificial dance.

As the old man in the twin peaks was destroyed via backlash, he faded from existence along with all of the failed dancing butterflies. After eating their fill of his flesh, they merged back into heaven and earth, leaving behind no trace of their existence. As a result, all living beings were able to see clearly again.

That said, to the beings in the Unfinished Mountains, being awake… wasn’t necessarily a blessing. Those for whom no special arrangements were made ended up extremely confused. The confusion started in the cities in the foothills, and spread rapidly from there. Mortals and cultivators alike suddenly regained clarity, and then looked around silently.

Husbands and wives. Friends. Loved ones. Masters and apprentices. In many cases, mixed emotions replaced the confusion on their faces as they struggled to reconcile the mix of familiarity and unfamiliarity. The unfamiliarity came because they didn’t know the other person. They had been assigned these roles regardless of their real identity. The familiarity came because they still had all their recent memories. Upon awakening, such people weren’t sure what to do with their lives.

The cities were like that, and it was the same with the sects and clans. A storm of confusion swept through the Unfinished Mountains, filling them completely. Some people chose to leave and never return to a place they now viewed with terror and incredulity. Most of those were outsiders.

However, the majority of people in the Unfinished Mountains had been born and raised there. From the moment they were born, their fates could be altered on a whim. In fact, if you went back in history, all of their ancestors had lived like this. Their lives were arranged for them. The tracks were all laid out. And thus, living in that manner had become an instinct for most such people. After all, before they woke up, they had no idea what was really happening. In that state, everything looked exactly the same as it always had to them. Normal. They were like pets in a cage. Even if that cage was somehow opened one day, they… would still choose to live in the cage.

Many of them, deep in their hearts, would foster the suspicion that the talk about the ‘dream’ was a sham. By doing that, they could reinforce the belief that they were always ‘awake.’ It was part blessing, part sorrow.

Xu Qing stood there in silence.

With the help of the ice coffin occupied by the Captain’s past-life body, plus the scepter, he was able to send his divine will throughout the Unfinished Mountains. As a result, he could sense what the living beings there were thinking.

In the end, Xu Qing and the Captain chose to leave. Before departing, the Captain sensed everything and sighed.

“For the people who have lived here from generation to generation, is there really a difference between being in the dream and being awake? They’ll keep on living, and things won’t be much different than before. Let’s go, little Ah Qing…. Perhaps to them, our presence really is an interruption.”

Shaking his head, he collected the ice coffin, then floated up into the air. A moment later, he stopped and looked back down at Xu Qing. Xu Qing took a deep breath, retracted his senses, and then followed the Captain. As they flew through the sky, they stopped to look down at the Yin-Yang Betwixt Flowers Sect.

Wu Jianwu was there.

The sect was largely empty. Many of the mountains in the sect had collapsed, and the spirit spring was choked with dust and sludge. More than half of the disciples had departed upon awakening. Local cultivators who had been born in the area sat around looking at the chaos and rubble, their hearts filled with mixed emotions.

Wu Jianwu stood at the base of the mountain as Mistress Rosyclouds slowly walked away from him.

The evening glow weighed down with oppressive weight that rivaled their heavy hearts. Mistress Rosyclouds obviously had some very conflicted emotions. .𝒎

Wu Jianwu stared at her blankly, not quite sure what he should say. The moment he sensed the change, he had raced back here and seen the dilapidated state of the sect. And he had spotted Mistress Rosyclouds almost immediately. A moment ago, he had spoken a few lines of poetry, only to find that she didn’t understand any of it. In fact, she’d hardly looked at him. .

It filled Wu Jianwu’s heart with bitter pain. As he looked at her walking away from him, he suddenly raised his voice and said, “The dark wind blows the mountain wasteland; though rain falls, I have an umbrella in hand!”

His words reached Mistress Rosyclouds, but she didn’t stop walking. She didn’t even turn around. She just kept going until she disappeared.

Dazed, Wu Jianwu took a few steps back and then sat down on the ground.

Xu Qing and the Captain approached silently. When Xu Qing saw the blank look on Wu Jianwu’s face, he held out a flagon of alcohol. It looked like Wu Jianwu needed a drink.

Wu Jianwu reached out with a trembling hand to take the flagon. He drank deeply. Eyes bloodshot, he murmured, “She never understood. It was all fake!”

The Captain sighed and clasped Wu Jianwu’s shoulder. He said nothing. Eventually, Wu Jianwu seemed to get his emotions under control, and they left together. The entire time, Wu Jianwu didn’t say anything.

At a certain point, the Captain dragged Ning Yan out of a ravine where he’d been hiding.

Ning Yan was still scared witless. What he had seen had left him with a feeling of extreme danger. After he saw Xu Qing and the others, his spirits lifted. Glaring at Wu Jianwu, he prepared to say something, only to notice that Wu Jianwu seemed to be in a very unusual state. Confused, Ning Yan thought to ask about what was going on. But in the end, he decided it didn’t seem like the right time, so he buried his curiosity.

And thus, they left the Unfinished Mountains. Eventually, the Captain brought out his artificial sun, and they entered it. It shot over the horizon.

Seven days passed.

Rumors began to spread about what had played out in the Unfinished Mountains. What was more, the death of the sacrificial dancer caused some waves in the Yin-Yang Betwixt Flowers Sect. The sect relied on the help of the Doorites to send top experts into the mountains to investigate. Eventually, wanted posters from the Yin-Yang Betwixt Flowers Sect started spreading through the Moonrite Region.

A bounty was being offered for a group of heathen blasphemers led by Master Unfinished and Master Heavengreen.

Anyone who offered useful tips or clues would earn the friendship of the Yin-Yang Betwixt Flowers Sect. And anyone who brought in the heads or souls of the culprit would be rewarded with a painquelling lozenge.

The bounty caused a big stir in the Moonrite Region. One reason was the general momentous nature of the event. The other reason was the painquelling lozenge. Such pills had only one use. They could relieve some of the bitter pain that resulted from the Moonrite Region curse. All cultivators in the Moonrite Region had to deal with the curse of the red moon. As their cultivation base improved and they grew stronger, the curse would inflict increasingly intense pain on their bodies and souls. That pain would eventually become pure torment. Few cultivators were willing to deal with such pain, and the only way to get rid of it was by using painquelling lozenges.

However, there were far too few pills to supply all living beings with them. As a result, they were exceedingly precious, to the point where you usually couldn’t even buy them with spirit stones. Even just one such pill could be considered a rare commodity worth hoarding. After all, the patriarchs of the Twofold Alliance had been hoping to turn Xu Qing over to the Red Moon Cathedral and get a reward of a painquelling lozenge. From that alone it was possible to imagine how enticing a bounty reward with painquelling lozenges could be. 1

Meanwhile, Xu Qing and the others were long gone from the Unfinished Mountains, and were now nearing the western part of the region. The Captain planned to lie low there until the fuss died down. And he had some work to do in that area anyway.

Xu Qing wasn’t planning to go with him. There was something else he needed to work on. He hadn’t been able to stop thinking about Duanmu Zang and his city of fireflies. There were over 100,000 humans from that city who were affected by the curse. He wanted to help them. However, it was going to take a lot of research, study, and hard work to figure out how to dispel the curse. And that meant he needed a quiet and peaceful location to work for a while.

Given the Captain’s frisky personality, it seemed better to part ways. What was more, there was a specific location that Xu Qing wanted to investigate. Eventually, he explained his plan to the Captain.

“You want to study the curse?” The Captain’s eyes lit up. Producing a peach, he took a bite. “Hahaha! This idea of yours is actually eighth on my list of tasks to handle. If you want to get to work now, it’ll save me a lot of time and effort down the road. I think that’s a great idea!”

Eyes shining with determination, the Captain handed Xu Qing an apple, then threw his arm around his neck and lowered his voice. “If you’re going to go off alone, little Ah Qing, just keep in mind to avoid the Yin-Yang Betwixt Flowers Sect. As for me, I have a small job to handle that shouldn’t take me more than about half a year.”

Xu Qing looked at the Captain. “What do you mean by ‘small’ job? How small?”

“Hahaha! Very small. Very, very small!” He put his thumb and index finger very close together to illustrate how small of a job he was talking about.

Xu Qing smiled. “In that case, take care of yourself.”

He wasn’t inclined to press for details.

The Captain laughed again and then looked off into the distance. “Alright, then. We’ll part here, and meet back up in half a year in the Bitter Life Mountains. Sound good? You listen to me, little Ah Qing. Don’t be late. In fact, it would be better to show up early. In half a year, your Eldest Brother is going to introduce you to a very badass organization! And that organization is going to play a very important role in dealing with the red moon!”

Xu Qing’s eyes glittered. He had first heard of the Bitter Life Mountains from Duanmu Zang, which was also when he learned that those mountains were related to the Moonrebel Congregation. 2

Xu Qing didn’t know much beyond that, but he had planned to go there at some point.

As Duanmu Zang had mentioned, the Moonrebel Congregation had done a lot of research into the curse. If he could get some good information from them, it might save a lot of time in his own study. Or he might even be able to take existing ideas and expand them in different directions.

Nodding, he discussed a few more details with the Captain. Then he stood to leave.

1. The patriarchs of the Twofold Alliance pondered the reward of a painquelling lozenge in chapter 565.2. ☜

2. Duanmu Zang told Xu Qing about the Bitter Life Mountains and the Moonrebel Congregation in chapter 567.1. ☜

𝘳𝑎.𝒸ℴ