Chu Yin lay down in his room, feeling a headache just thinking about how Master’s wife wanted him to get close to Zhang Wei.
He had no experience with this kind of thing—he hadn’t even dated anyone back at school.
Although during those two years of adolescence when feelings between boys and girls were most likely to stir, Chu Yin had admired the school’s so-called campus beauty, as soon as he saw how his male classmates were tormented by their girlfriends’ demands for “emotional value” and “I want an attitude,” all his longing vanished.
“By the way, what does Zhang Wei look like? Could she possibly look like Ling Qi?” Chu Yin wondered.
He tried to search his “past memories” within this dreamscape to picture the city lord’s daughter.
Finally, he found her in a corner of his memory.
He hadn’t even spoken to Zhang Wei before; they’d only crossed paths a few times while wandering around Luoshui City.
Her appearance bore no resemblance to Yan Ling Qi at all—at best, she was of above-average looks.
Zhang Wei’s beauty was largely supported by money: fine clothes, exquisite jewelry, and a pampered diet all artificially boosted her to a “not bad” level.
“…That’s such a huge gap compared to Master’s wife.”
Chu Yin couldn’t help but sweat nervously, sighing as a familiar wave of sleepiness washed over him.
It was time to “save progress.”
“The timing is about right. I’ve been in the dream for nearly two months.”
Just the recent training—catching thieves and gathering wealth—had taken over a month, making good use of his time.
It was time to check the results.
With that thought, a strong anticipation grew in Chu Yin’s heart.
He closed his eyes and let his consciousness fall deeper into sleep.
When Chu Yin opened his eyes again, his senses slowly began receiving information from around him.
A faint scent of a girl’s perfume lingered near his nose, and there was a warm, delicate touch beside him.
He turned his head and, sure enough, it was Yan Ling Qi, the girl, holding onto his arm as she slept.
Her soft breath from her dainty nose tickled his arm rhythmically like feathers.
“What the hell, why is she still holding her phone next to me recording? Is she trying to secretly gather evidence to make things difficult for me later?”
Chu Yin noticed the phone stand by the bed and the video being recorded on the screen, which startled him.
Looking closer, the screen showed another bedroom—the image of his guardian, Wen Chunhan.
Aunt Wen was sound asleep, her silk nightgown’s straps had slipped down to her arms, and the main part of the dress had probably slipped to her waist.
Thankfully, the bedding covered her, or else the scene would be quite inappropriate.
Even so, the silk quilt was so thin and light it was like a veil.
Aunt Wen’s perfect figure was hidden beneath the covers yet still clearly outlined like a beautiful sculpture.
Chu Yin momentarily got distracted, but not by those improper details; he was captivated by Aunt Wen’s peaceful sleeping face and thought of the Mrs. Chunhan in the dream…
He felt a strange blur, unable to tell if he was truly awake.
“Better not stare…”
Chu Yin closed his eyes and averted his gaze, pulling his arm from the girl’s embrace before getting out of bed to wash up.
It was five o’clock in the morning, and the world outside was still and quiet.
While washing up, he made a sword finger gesture, locking onto the heavy cabinet, which slowly floated up.
“As expected, practicing the [Cloud Water Sutra] has increased this ability’s limit!”
Chu Yin was thrilled.
He then controlled a fruit knife to peel an apple, handling it with ease.
Before, his telekinesis had a high delay; even using chopsticks to pick things up was unstable, like he had polio.
Now this could truly be called [Cloud Water Flying Sword Technique]!
He self-assessed his strength based on Luoshui City’s power ranking system.
Hmm, he was probably good enough to be an outer disciple.
“Already strong enough to use as an offensive ability. Next time in the dream, I’ll work hard to cultivate the [Cloud Water Sutra] to perfection. Then my strength in reality might just reach the inner disciple level.”
Chu Yin smiled wryly at the thought.
He had been training hard in the dream, using every possible method to improve himself, but in reality, he barely reached the level of an “outer disciple gatekeeper”—still below the level of training with Master’s wife.
It was as if all his blood and sweat had only brought him back to “the starting point of the dream.”
Yet Chu Yin had no complaints.
In just two nights, he had gone from an ordinary person to someone with abilities, with room to grow.
He reminded himself that the Ability Guild maintained control over ability users by monopolizing methods of Ability Breakthrough.
Chu Yin quickly calmed down from his excitement:
“This can’t get out, or the trouble will be far worse than losing original shares in T Corporation…”
Just the breakthrough method alone could cause a huge stir.
Chu Yin’s situation was almost like “causing ordinary people to awaken abilities.”
With this clear in mind, he didn’t dwell on excitement anymore.
Suddenly, his phone rang—Aunt Wen sent a video call invitation.
The moment the screen lit up with a hint of fair skin, Chu Yin immediately turned the screen away.
“Aunt Wen, why are you video calling… You should lift your phone higher or else it’ll show something it shouldn’t.”
Still half asleep, Wen Chunhan’s voice was lazy and a little breathy, making one feel all tingly inside.
She smiled teasingly:
“Lifting the phone and adjusting the angle is too tiring. Chu Yin, you can just cover the screen with your hand~ Just now, Aunt Wen saw you weren’t in the video and figured you were up.”
Chu Yin covered the lower half of the video screen with his hand, helpless:
“I was so startled when I woke up, wondering why I was being livestreamed while sleeping…”
Aunt Wen seemed to imagine his scared and confused expression and chuckled as she explained:
“Didn’t see you all summer vacation, right? It’s almost over—when are you coming home?”
“Tomorrow or the day after. Once I finish handing over my work, I’ll bring Ling Qi back. Aunt Wen, how have you been sleeping these past few days?”
Chu Yin’s excuse was that he was working a summer job, organizing old books in a library several dozen kilometers away.
Without this proper reason, Aunt Wen wouldn’t easily let him move out.
The beautiful woman in the nightgown yawned and tried to recall something:
“I’ve been sleeping pretty well these last few nights. Oh, by the way… open your shirt at the chest so Aunt Wen can take a look.”
“What’s wrong?” Chu Yin asked in confusion.
“Just want to see if you hurt yourself. I don’t know why, but I have this impression. Don’t be shy, or I’ll come over to check in person!” she warned.
Chu Yin’s mouth twitched as he helplessly pulled open his collar for his guardian to inspect.
His chest was fine—no wounds.
The scars had vanished.
“Looks like I was overthinking. Aunt Wen’s going back to sleep now. When you have time, take Ling Qi out shopping.”
She was so sleepy she didn’t even hang up the call, tossing the phone aside and going back to sleep.
Chu Yin sighed with relief.
The disappearance of his scars was thanks to the medicinal bath’s effects—he hadn’t expected his physical body in reality to be influenced.
“If Aunt Wen had seen the scars, she probably would have come rushing over within an hour demanding answers.”
Feeling thankful, Chu Yin recalled Aunt Wen’s sudden questioning.
No one had known about his scars before; Aunt Wen hadn’t seen him all summer vacation, so she couldn’t have known.
“Master’s wife discovered my chest injury during the medicinal bath. Now Aunt Wen is suddenly asking about it… this is getting complicated…”
As daylight gradually brightened, Chu Yin took his younger sister out for breakfast, then strolled to the library together.
While Chu Yin handed over his work, Yan Ling Qi went off to find books to read on her own so she wouldn’t be bored.
Chu Yin’s job at the library was to scan the old folk books the owner bought or borrowed into digital files.
The handover was mainly to verify his actual workload and log it in the volunteer system.
“I wonder if this digital library has any books on fortune-telling or divination.”
Chu Yin searched and was surprised to find quite a few!
Though the folk versions varied, there was plenty of material to skim through once, then return to the dream to study more deeply.
The old books he had bought from the trading company before were mostly incomplete fragments; he’d already devoured them thoroughly, leaving no more room for brain strain and further exhausting his kidney energy.
Now he could finally speed up his cultivation of the [Cloud Water Sutra]!
Chu Yin’s feelings were mixed:
“I never expected that after the trading company’s old book acquisition stalled, the library would have so many when I searched here…”
Evening came quickly.
After returning home with his sister, Chu Yin immediately took a shower and prepared to sleep early again.
“Brother, didn’t you just adjust your schedule yesterday? Why are you going to bed early again? Are you feeling unwell?” the girl asked, concerned, touching his forehead.
“Forming a good habit takes seven days. I’m just consolidating. I’m not sick.”
“Will I disturb you if I video chat with Mom tonight?”
“No, you just chat with Aunt Wen. Even if you sing karaoke, it’s fine. I’ve been sleeping well lately—once I fall asleep, it’s like I’m dead. Awesome!”
Chu Yin gave a thumbs-up and demonstrated his sleep skills—falling asleep as soon as he lay down.
Yan Ling Qi blinked in surprise, reached out a delicate finger to confirm his breathing, then lifted his eyelids to check if he was actually dead.
“Your eyes are in rapid eye movement, how do you go straight to deep sleep?”
Luoshui City.
Chu Yin opened his eyes again and tried to recall the contents of the old books he’d noted in the library, hastily grabbing paper and pen to write it down, afraid he might forget later.
Once done, Chu Yin laughed heartily, like a villain:
“Hope I don’t finish reading these old books too fast, or else I’ll really have to consume kidney energy through the bridal chamber!”