Meng Qiuzhen shook his head and said deliberately, with an anxious tone: "Brother Xiaomi is a good person..."
Before he could finish, the bald youth cut him off, raising his voice urgently: "As expected, that Mushroom Person scoundrel kidnapped Miss Fang Tu. Let's go to the stockade right now and report to the Elders. Move!"
Under the watchful eyes of everyone, Meng Qiuzhen went along with the flow and followed the bald youth and Huang Xiaomi deeper into the Tu Family Stockade.
Along the way, the bald youth lowered his voice and kept coaching Meng Qiuzhen: "Sister Fang, you need to give a proper report later, or even you'll be dragged into this. Mushroom People are异族 who are nothing but trouble — he's as good as dead!"
Meng Qiuzhen said nothing.
The bound and immobilized Huang Xiaomi, meanwhile, shouted: "That's right! I deceived Fang Tu and forced her into compliance. You've caught me, but you're bringing a huge disaster on the Tu Family! Someone will definitely come to rescue me!"
Huang Xiaomi had been saved by Fang Tu, and clearly didn't want to implicate his lifesaver, so he deliberately said this.
The bald youth ultimately locked Huang Xiaomi up in the Tu Family Stockade's prison and earned the praise and encouragement of the Tu Family Elder.
After everyone dispersed, the bald youth invited Meng Qiuzhen to his home: "It's getting late, Sister Fang. Why don't you come to our place for dinner and stay the night? We used to be neighbors and played together all the time. And my mother would be so happy to see you!"
"So this 'Blue Beast' had this kind of connection with Fang Tu?" Meng Qiuzhen nodded, playing along with how the dream was unfolding.
Before long, Meng Qiuzhen followed the bald youth to his home.
It was an ordinary two-story bamboo house.
Only the bald youth and his mother lived there.
Pushing open the kitchen door, the bald youth called out: "Mom, guess who I brought back for you?"
"Oh, it's you, Miss Fang Tu. Haven't seen you in days. How are your parents?" The bald youth's mother was very warm and welcoming.
"They're both fine, thank you, Auntie." Meng Qiuzhen answered perfunctorily.
The bald youth's mother nodded, beaming: "Since little Fang is visiting, you two go sit down. I'll stir-fry a few more dishes."
The bald youth couldn't wait to show off: "Mom, you really need to make a lot of good food today. This dinner is also a celebration feast for your son!"
"You brat, what kind of trouble are you stirring up now?" The bald youth's mother immediately furrowed her brow.
The bald youth thumped his chest: "Mom, your son really did a great deed this time! I caught a Mushroom Person right in the middle of the street and locked him up in the clan's prison!"
"What?" The bald youth's mother paused in her movements.
The bald youth hurriedly explained the whole story.
But the bald youth's mother frowned and looked at Meng Qiuzhen: "Little Fang, this rascal of mine has always loved to spin tall tales. Is what he's saying actually true?"
"It's true." Meng Qiuzhen nodded, then added: "But Brother Mushroom Person Huang Xiaomi is really a good person. I—"
Before he could finish, the bald youth cut him off again: "Alright, Sister Fang, I've warned you several times already. Keep this sort of talk at home, and absolutely don't go muttering it outside."
"Fine, fine." The bald youth's mother waved her hand. "Brat, we're out of soy sauce. Go to the shop on the corner and buy some."
"Huh?"
"Go on! How can I cook without soy sauce?"
"Oh, okay, okay."
After the bald youth left, the auntie walked up to Meng Qiuzhen: "Come, little Fang, tell Auntie properly — what exactly happened?"
And so, the third act of the dream came to an end.
The fourth act arrived.
Late night. The underground dungeon.
"A new identity?" Meng Qiuzhen came to his senses and immediately noticed the change.
He had shed the identity of the mortal Fang Tu and once again become a Gu Master — and his cultivation was at the Fourth Transformation!
"It was the bald youth's mother?" Meng Qiuzhen then realized that the bald youth's mother was in fact a Mushroom Person.
Meng Qiuzhen immediately made a guess: "The identity I have right now is probably that Huang Wan."
This dream originated from Le Tu, and one unique aspect was that the identity one assumed could change between the dream's different acts.
"Maybe in the next act, I'll even get to play the role of Immortal Venerable Le Tu." Meng Qiuzhen chuckled.
So far, he had not yet seen any trace of Immortal Venerable Le Tu within the dream.
In the first act of the dream, Meng Qiuzhen had learned that within the Mushroom Person tribe where Huang Xiaomi belonged, there was a former witch doctor named Huang Wan. She possessed great strength and was the only one who had any hope of finding a cure for the Mushroom People's racial plague.
However, from the Mushroom Person old woman's words, it seemed this former witch doctor Huang Wan had been expelled from the tribe for some reason.
"This Mushroom Person Huang Wan has been living under an assumed name, hiding within the human势力 of the Tu Family Stockade. To perfectly conceal her identity, she even adopted a human boy. If that bald youth found out that his 'mother' was actually a Mushroom Person too, I wonder what expression he'd make?"
Meng Qiuzhen smiled.
He spent only a brief amount of time quickly familiarizing himself with the Gu Insects on his person.
The Gu Insects were comprehensive, covering offense, defense, mobility, healing, and every other aspect. From some of the auxiliary Gu Insects, Meng Qiuzhen keenly sensed that these Gu could very likely be combined and paired with each other to form mortal-path killing moves.
Unfortunately, the current situation did not allow it, and Meng Qiuzhen had no way to experiment with the combinations.
"The third act already gave very clear clues. This Mushroom Person Huang Wan, though expelled from the tribe, is clearly still devoted to the Mushroom People. She came that very night to rescue Huang Xiaomi."
"I need to act quickly!"
Meng Qiuzhen immediately set off, heading deep into the dungeon.
The dungeon's structure was quite simple — at a glance, one could see everything.
Before long, he found Huang Xiaomi locked to the wall at the very deepest point of the dungeon.