But when he closely observed the drawing paper, it was indeed genuine xuan paper. Its structure, texture, and the details visible to the naked eye were indistinguishable from common xuan paper.

"Just like the flaws within the storyteller's dream, the appearance and texture of things are inconsistent with their actual essence."

Zhou Xuan said,

Zhao Wuya also went to feel the xuan paper, touching the entire drawing, but he couldn't discern any difference.

"That's not right, Brother Xuan, I can't perceive any difference?"

"Because you are not a storyteller, your tactile and perceptual ability regarding the dream are not profound; besides, your perception is not as strong as mine. This dream is very realistic and cannot be perceived without long immersion in it."

Zhou Xuan's words slightly hurt Ya Zi's self-esteem,

but after thinking it over, Ya Zi found it sensible.

Discerning dreams is the craft of the storyteller. If the people from other tangkou could easily distinguish dreams, then how could storytellers remain among the nine ancient temples?

Suddenly, Zhou Xuan approached Xu Jingshan and asked, "This place is a dream, and you are a person within the dream."

"I am a person within the dream?"

Xu Jingshan was taken aback, and an imperceptible gray-white spot appeared on his forehead.

The color of this spot was already very familiar to Zhou Xuan, who had seen countless instances of life and death.

It was the color of bones.

"How many years have you resided in the dream? Are your experiences real or illusory?"

"Real... no... it doesn't seem real... I'm struggling to remember."

"You can remember, just think about it, think again."

Seeing Xu Jingshan's white spots spreading more and more on his face, Zhou Xuan found that pressing Xu Boss to remember his past life was quite effective.

This man, who had lived unknowably long within the dream, was alive as human, yet once the dream faded, he would realize... he had long been a skeleton.

"Boss Xu, are you truly a Literary Saint Destiny? And was your destiny taken by West Valley True Monarch?"

"Yes, I was a Great Saint of Literature... West Valley True Monarch lamented me, criticized me, resented me... it was Master Zheng who altered my fate... I remembered..."

At that moment, Xu Jingshan's face mostly became bone, the flesh already decayed.

His voice was sonorous as he said, "Daoist, what I applied for was not Hui Feng Medical College, I applied for the imperial examination,

I harmed nine wives to death, all killed by me... my family held grand celebrations every year... for nine consecutive years..."

As he spoke these words, his whole body lost skin, leaving only empty bones.

As the frame fell to the ground with a crash,

he uttered one last sentence: "Great Dream of Thousands of Years, I only ask Daoist to remove the souls of those nine wives, they are binding me, preventing my reincarnation, trapping me forever..."

At this moment, Xu Jingshan finally expressed his true plea.

The appearance of the shop also altered completely.

The sophisticated fur shop turned into ruins, beneath cracked green tiles rested dozens of human skins.

On the plaque in the hall, there was pasted a word "Double Happiness."

Normally, people write "Double Happiness" in joyous occasions with red characters, but this "Double Happiness" was black on white, resembling a funeral hall.

"Boss Xu's nine grand marriages probably were all entwined with evil spirits."

Zhao Wuya just felt the atmosphere in the shop was too chilling, suggesting Zhou Xuan to step outside before speaking further.

"Hmm."

Zhou Xuan agreed; it was indeed too eerie here, the gloom like tides covering him, bringing about an indescribable discomfort.

After leaving the shop,

Zhou Xuan entered the Secret Realm.

This Yama's Trigram had made considerable progress, as Xu Jingshan, realizing he was a person of the dream, remembered his past affairs.

During his lifetime, there were still imperial examinations, indicating he was a person from relatively ancient times.

His fate was altered by Master Zheng and then taken by West Valley True Monarch, after which he began to doom wives,

killing nine in succession. The souls of deceased wives entrapped his soul, hindering his reincarnation.

His wish was simple: to detach his soul from those of his nine wives, enabling smooth reincarnation.

Once reincarnated,

the divination would be completed, leaving Zhou Xuan a substantial amount of incense offerings and certain unspecified benefits.

From here, matters would proceed smoothly.

"To separate his wives' souls, we need to find the soul of Boss Xu."

In the shop with the "Double Happiness" word pasted, Boss Xu was merely a walking corpse, his soul unseen, his skeletal frame dispersed, and his life essence entirely withdrawn.

"However, finding him should be quite easy."

Zhou Xuan proceeded to the Daoist Temple within the Secret Realm, opened the door, and shouted: "Well, initiate divination."

Zhou Xuan had reserves in the City God Taoist Temple,

A six-incense sacrificed Peng Hou sitting eight facing nine sacrifices had been consumed by the Blood Well, but Zhou Xuan had yet to employ two sacrifices for divination; both were credited to the Blood Well.

Now, these two sacrifices were usable.

"Well, divine the exact location of Boss Xu's soul for me."

Zhou Xuan said.

Upon hearing this, the Blood Well caused heavy snowfall in the City God Taoist Temple.

The snow outlined a character "nine."

"Did you write the wrong character?"

Zhou Xuan was very surprised: "I just want to ask where Boss Xu's soul is, does it require nine incense sacrifices?"

He originally thought, for a person like Boss Xu, divining for his soul might at most entail offering six incense sacrifices,

yet nine incense sacrifices?

What kind of joke is this?

The Blood Well had no intention of alterations, keeping the original character—finding a soul requires nine incense sacrifices.

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