Chapter 678: Restlessness

“Save me, save me…”

“Save me, save me…”

Countless hands stretched out from the darkness like countless thorns and came toward Yan Liqiang from all directions. Yan Liqiang looked up. Within the dark mist where the hands came out from, there were sad and tear-streaked faces. There were men and women, old and young. These people were trying to grab him as they wailed and struggled in despair.

“How…?! How am I going to save you all…?!” Yan Liqiang yelled back at those people at the top of his lungs. “Tell me what happened…!”

The faces in the black mist seemed like they couldn’t hear Yan Liqiang as they continued repeating, “Save me, save me…”

Countless hands were flying toward Yan Liqiang. The lingering black mist gradually pushed up against Yan Liqiang and more hands grabbed onto his body, making him feel suffocated. Yan Liqiang roared, “Who are you?! What is going on?!”

The hands on his body turned into bones. Bloody tears streamed down those sad faces and turned into a rushing blood river that swept toward Yan Liqiang…

…..

“AH…!” Yan Liqiang shouted as he woke up with a start and instantly sat up.

In the dark room, only Yan Liqiang’s heavy panting could be heard. He touched his forehead to find that it was beaded by sweat. This wasn’t the first time he had this dream. He had the same exact dream thrice over the past three days. The same nightmare kept repeating in his dreams.

It was very rare for martial practitioners to have nightmares as they were full of Yang energy. At the same time, they usually fell into a deep sleep, so it was very rare for them to dream. Hence, in Yan Liqiang’s memories, he very rarely dreamed whenever he slept, especially after he started cultivating Muscle Tendon Changing and Marrow Cleansing. Whenever he laid down, his body would automatically enter a sleep state as though he was recharging, and it would be peaceful in his brain. How could he possibly have a dream like this? Not only that, but it also happened for three consecutive days.

Yan Liqiang sat on his bed for a while as he tried to calm down. Since he didn’t feel like sleeping anymore, he got out of bed and pushed open the windows in his room. As soon as he did, a fresh and cool night breeze came into the room, instantly drying the sweat on his forehead.

The eastern sky was still dark, filled by stars and the moon. It would seem like it wasn’t even three o’clock in the morning. It was the second lunar month, and the spring breeze was cool like scissors. The willows outside the courtyard had begun to sprout new shoots. Deer Villa was brimming with vitality, yet Yan Liqiang’s heart was frozen. The coldness he felt was bone-chilling.

Yan Liqiang wasn’t superstitious, but he knew that having the same nightmare for three consecutive days was definitely an omen. As the day for His Majesty to tour the south drew closer, an inexplicable sense of crisis made Yan Liqiang feel increasingly anxious and restless.

The White Lotus Society had been too quiet lately. They were so quiet that it scared Yan Liqiang. He would feel more at ease if they’d continued dumping blood corpses everywhere instead. Yet the White Lotus Society seemed to have suddenly stopped all their activities in the capital region recently, and this made Yan Liqiang feel that something was amiss. There were so many experts from the White Lotus Society gathered in the capital region. Did they stop working these days and go on a holiday?

Yan Liqiang couldn’t shake off the feeling that he had missed and neglected something important. Although he thought about it countless times over the past two days, he still failed to grasp anything. It was driving him nuts.

Despite forcing himself to perform two rounds of Muscle Tendon Changing and Marrow Cleansing, he still couldn’t calm himself down and felt even more irritable. After the two rounds, Yan Liqiang decided to stop. He changed his clothes, quickly washed up, and realized that the eastern sky was turning bright.

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He recalled that today was the 12th day of the second lunar month. Just the day before yesterday, he had contacted Fang Beidou. There were going to be some special arrangements today. He had to go out, so he left Deer Villa alone.

“Lord Yan, are you going out?” As soon as Yan Liqiang arrived at Deer Villa’s gate, an officer who was guarding the entrance quickly came over and bowed to him.

“Yes, I’m going out to meet two friends…”

The expression on the officer’s face was different from usual. He was smiling more broadly today, showing off his pearly whites to Yan Liqiang as soon as he saw him. Yet there was a trace of caution in his expression.

“Um… I’m just wondering what time will you be back, Lord Yan? It’s been so long since you returned to Deer Villa and it is rude of us to never come visit. If you are free tonight, we’ve prepared some entertainment and wish to pay you a visit if you don’t mind…”

The officer was merely a squad commander, so there was a large disparity between his position and Yan Liqiang’s position. Hence, telling Yan Liqiang that they would like to visit him was just sugarcoating things. In reality, they couldn’t even reach Yan Liqiang even if they were standing on their toes. As per the rules, none of them were even qualified to visit Yan Liqiang.

Yan Liqiang glanced at him and instantly stopped in his tracks. He pulled the squad commander to a tree by the entrance, then patted him on his shoulder and smiled, “No need to be so courteous. We’re brothers. What’s this about a visit? You’re really treating me like a grandpa. Just say whatever is on your mind. Don’t beat around the bushes. You’re treating me like a stranger!”

Yan Liqiang’s kindness was as refreshing as the spring breeze that the squad commander felt somewhat overwhelmed. He then spoke through his clenched teeth. “We… We heard that Lord Yan receives a few thousand travel passes every month from the imperial court. S-So…”

“Someone in your family wants to leave the capital region?” Yan Liqiang directly asked.

The squad commander nodded, then looked around before lowering his voice, “I shall speak my mind to you, Lord Yan. Although the imperial court says that the Heavenly Tribulation won’t come, I have my doubts. Just two days ago, I heard that an earthquake really occurred in Gong Province but it wasn’t reported in the court bulletin. It’ll be great if the Heavenly Tribulation doesn’t happen, but if it does, my parents, elder brother, niece, and nephew are all living in the outskirts of Imperial Capital. I feel quite uneasy in my heart and wish to move my family out for now to avert the disaster…”

“Your family couldn’t obtain the travel passes either?”

The squad commander smiled wryly. “The travel passes are now very tightly controlled by the imperial court. Even the Yingyang Commandant in Deer Villa is having problems obtaining a travel pass from the imperial court, let alone someone like me!”

“Is there anyone else who needs the travel passes besides you?”

“Yes, of course. Aside from people like Eunuch Li whose family isn’t in the capital region, the others in Deer Villa with family here are all secretly anxious right now. If there’s no Heaven Tribulation to worry about, then why is the Emperor leaving? Although they aren’t saying anything, no one is stupid…”

Yan Liqiang pondered for a moment before speaking. “Around how many travel passes do you all need?”

“Well… For my side and the family of another few brothers, we will need around forty in total. Including the others in Deer Villa, we may need more than a hundred… I’m wondering… if you can…”

At a time like this, one travel pass was considered a huge favor, let alone such a big number. So the squad commander felt guilty even as he was making the request. He didn’t even know how to ask for it. Almost everyone working in Deer Villa knew that Yan Liqiang had travel passes on hand.

They also knew Yan Liqiang had those due to his good relationship with Grand Secretary Sun and the fact that he had exchanged for those with the money Qiyun Prefecture earned from the Monopoly Bureau. It was rumored that it was several millions of silver every year, an astronomical amount of money. It was due to the strong reasons that Yan Liqiang managed to obtain many travel passes. It was impossible for just anyone to get one in their hands.

“You may inform your family today to pack up their belongings. Come to my courtyard tonight, and I will give the travel passes to all of you. Let’s be frank with each other here and listen to me. Make sure your family leaves the capital region as soon as possible. Even if the Heavenly Tribulation doesn’t come, they can always return next year and take this as a long trip…” Yan Liqiang spoke straightforwardly without any reluctance.

The squad commander’s eyes instantly reddened as tears were about to stream down his face. “T…T-Thank you, Lord Yan… I… I…”

“We’re family! Don’t mention it!” Yan Liqiang patted the squad commander’s shoulder again and the squad commander was moved beyond words.