The Empress's No.1 Lackey

Ma Yan pondered for a moment and said, "That may not necessarily be the case."

"Oh?" The crowd looked over.

Ma Yan explained, "The nature of this Demon Art practitioner, as you all should know better than I, is that in his earlier years in the Capital, he was flamboyant and defiant, lawless and vengeful.

Initially when he was 'killed,' even if he didn't die completely and somehow escaped, any Magic used would likely have caused him severe injuries. His disappearance for nearly three years without a trace also supports this judgment.

Given his temperament, if he weren't hiding to heal, why would he only now reappear?

If that's truly the case... his return now must imply he has harbored resentment, and his publicly declared actions indeed match his character.

So, in my view, his declaration seems more like a forewarning of revenge, driven more by personal motives than the interests of the Kuangfu Society.

Or to put it another way, in your opinion, with his past behavior, does he seem like someone meticulous and committed enough to serve as a Squad Leader, caring about others?"

Lawless and vengeful... why do I feel like you're describing me... Zhao Douan inwardly raged, feeling as though he was being mirrored!

As Ma Yan finished speaking, the ministers nodded in agreement:

"That makes sense."

"With the Demon Art practitioner's nature being extremely selfish, it indeed seems more likely driven by revenge."

Quickly, the group reached an almost unanimous opinion.

It was believed that the return of the State Preceptor of Great Yu was likely aimed at seeking revenge against the court.

Xu Zhenguan nodded lightly in agreement, stating, "That's what I thought too, which is why I called you all here today to discuss a solution."

Though it was said to be a discussion, Zhao Douan, observing carefully, always felt that Zhenbao already had a plan in mind.

Today's meeting, rather than a discussion, seemed more about aligning opinions and soothing hearts.

He hesitated, then tried to speak:

"Your Majesty, may I inquire, what capabilities does this Demon Art possess? Are they formidable? I am but shallow in my understanding of him and would humbly request further insight."

...

...

Just as the small council meeting of the Imperial Faction started in the Imperial Palace.

Capital.

Outside a tailor shop, a Daoist slowly approached in the bustling crowd.

The Daoist, appearing to be over fifty years old, wore a black-and-white patched monk's robe, his hair secured with a peach wood hairpin, and a black peach wood sword slung across his back.

His face, slightly marked by the ravages of time and somewhat sculpted features, was adorned with two yellowed eyebrows.

The old Taoist, appearing travel-worn, walked neither quickly nor slowly among the crowd.

His deep-set eyes seemed to casually sweep over the faces of the citizens bustling along the street.

Yet barely anyone noticed that within the depths of his pupils, a vortex was slowly contracting.

Moreover, invisible streams of air flowed out from between his forehead, sucked in by the Daoist with each breath.

Consuming all the way, his face showed a bit of flush as he murmured dreamily,

"In the vast Jianghu, this remains a place of great desires, truly intoxicating."

He stopped walking.

Turning around, he looked towards a ready-made clothing shop on the street.

As it was morning and the shop had just opened, there weren't many customers.

The middle-aged shopkeeper was holding a feather duster, gently patting down the clothes hanging in the shop to remove dust.

Seeing the travel-worn, yet somewhat chilling old Daoist step into the shop, the shopkeeper forced a smile:

"Would you like to buy some clothes, Taoist Master?"

The former State Preceptor of Great Yu, now the bewitching Demon Art practitioner, gazed at him silently, smiling, "I'm looking for someone."

The shopkeeper startled, replied cautiously, "Who are you looking for?"

The Demon Art practitioner's eyes suddenly turned into pitch-black "eyes of deception," his voice echoing like a sound from a valley, reverberating from all directions:

"I need information on a few old acquaintances, oh and also that Zhao Douan, the State Preceptor is very interested in him."

The middle-aged man, who was a contact person of the Kuangfu Society sub-branch, had a blank look as if his soul had been hooked away.

He mechanically walked to the shop door and closed it for the day.

...

...

Upon hearing this, everyone looked over, and Xu Zhenguan was not surprised as he nodded and said,

"Good question, my dear ministers. I believe some among you may not understand either. Mo Chou, please explain."

Beside him, acting as the "recorder," Mo Zhaorong spoke softly,

"This Demon Path practitioner claims to have no name or surname, and is now referred to simply as 'Gu Huo.' This person's Demon Art centers on 'Gu Huo' which is extremely adept at bewildering people's hearts.

There are basically two abilities, one is conversing with someone, by which he can manipulate their thoughts and intentions for his own use. However, this ability works best on ordinary people; the more someone's cultivation or martial power, the more difficult it is.

Moreover, this bewitchment has a time limit; once a person is bewitched, if the bewitchment is not maintained, it will fade after about three days, and the person will come to their senses."

Through chatting, he could control people to serve his purposes?

An ancient version of a hypnotist... Zhao Douan was secretly amazed.

This kind of Magic is virtually invincible; if it gets out of hand, wouldn't any official who's bewitched turn into a spy?

Yes, although it's short-term... it's still deadly.

Mo Chou continued,

"However, this verbal bewitchment can still be guarded against to some extent, and outsiders could partially discern changes in those bewitched. The truly formidable one is the latter type, 'entering dreams.'"

"Entering dreams?"

"Yes," Mo Chou glanced at Zhao Douan and said,

"After some preparations, as long as he is close enough to his target, he can silently enter the dream of the person under the spell, and make the person recall their most profound and significant memories... and then devour the target's dream."

Zhao Douan was startled, "Devour? What do you mean?"

Mo Chou sighed and said,

"This Demon Path practitioner, even 'after his death,' His Majesty also diligently studied his line of Magic, discovering that his way of increasing his cultivation was more like absorbing people's 'desires.' Everyone has desires, but when awake, they restrain and suppress them, knowing what they can and cannot do.

But in dreams, one's defenses lower, and this Demon Path practitioner would induce dreams, invoking all kinds of life memories.

Those memories contain a person's 'emotions and desires,' which he then consumes to strengthen himself.

The result of this act is the devouring of dreams... or more accurately, the devouring of a person's memories."

Can it really work like this... wait, is this even a legitimate Magic?

The more I hear, the more bizarre it seems... Ah, this person must be an Evil Mage, right? So that's why he's called "Demon Path"... Did the Old Emperor really hire an Evil Mage as the State Preceptor? Incredible...

Zhao Douan opened his mouth, swallowed, and ventured, "Isn't there any way to counteract it?"

He was somewhat worried; how could one fight back while sleeping?

Mo Chou looked at him again and slowly said,

"There are ways, the simplest being that if your cultivation is much stronger than his, you'll be fine. Besides that, if you have a strong enough will, you could also try to forcefully wake up from the dream, at the cost of losing some memories, leading to forgetting some things...

Oh, another method is if your Divine Soul's strength or memories are more extensive than his.

Yes, theoretically, the amount of dreams he can devour is limited, so if you have enough memories and a vast enough dreamscape, it might even be possible to burst him."

There was a hint of teasing mockery in her last sentence.

How could a young man in his twenties, with a not so complicated life experience, compete with a Demon Path practitioner who had lived for years uncounted, accumulated rich life experiences, and digested who knows how many others' dreams and memories?

Thus, the final method Mo Chou mentioned was purely in jest.

The other attendees didn't take it seriously either; after all, the phrase "theoretically" practically negated its feasibility.

However, Zhao Douan remained silent and seemed a bit distracted.

Having lived two lifetimes, Zhao Douan, in his previous life as a modern man, had amassed how much information throughout the decades?

In an era of information explosion, the voluminous and bloated memories he accumulated from the internet and real life... were unimaginable to ancient people.

Ancient people hardly ever left their county, spending their lives circling in one place, but he had seen more landscapes than just one region?

Ancient people who read through five cartloads of bamboo slips dared to claim they were as learned as five carts' worth, but Zhao Douan could surpass that amount of content just by casually watching a few short videos.

Well, don't mind if it's garbage or not, just think about how much there is...

So, if it's said:

If you have enough memories and a large enough dreamscape, could you actually... burst him... well, it seems...

It might actually be possible...

—

ps: A bit of a struggle with writing, setting a flag to write more tomorrow, shamelessly asking for monthly passes~