Hugging the plush Dream Pillow, Xia Zhi fell into a deep slumber.
Moments later, he opened his eyes—and found himself standing beneath a colossal cherry blossom tree.
A gust of wind swept by, sending thousands of pink petals cascading from its branches, forming a dreamlike scene of breathtaking beauty.
"This is..."
Looking up, Xia Zhi noticed the tree's branches and trunk had been carefully pruned into the silhouette of a fox.
"The Sacred Sakura at Grand Narukami Shrine, Inazuma..."
Xia Zhi gazed at the familiar landscape, brow slightly furrowed.
This Sacred Sakura tree looked quite similar to the one he'd seen inside the [Phantom Mirror].
But somehow… more radiant and lively.
Standing beneath its canopy, he glanced around.
Nothing else existed in this dream.
Just this magnificent cherry tree.
No people, no objects.
"Is this the so-called Special Dream?"
Thinking aloud, Xia Zhi stepped forward and placed his hand against the trunk.
He had learned from his cousin how to communicate with all forms of flora.
The Sacred Sakura, at its core, was still a kind of plant.
The next moment, an unknown woman's voice echoed in his mind—
"You... who are you?"
"How rude... barging in like that, disturbing my slumber, and using that tone..."
The woman's voice seemed accusatory, but Xia Zhi didn't hear any true anger or annoyance in her tone—instead, he caught a trace of curiosity, and the emotion of someone who hadn't seen another soul in a long time.
He stared at the tree trunk, thinking to himself.
A dream cannot exist without a sustainer.
And in this dream, there was nothing aside from the Sacred Sakura and himself.
He was an outsider.
So the sustainer could only be this gloriously blooming Sacred Sakura.
Logically speaking, it was a bit strange for a tree to have dreams.
But then again, his cousin was also the embodiment of the Irminsul, wielding dream-related powers. So this… was quite plausible.
"You have a scent that feels familiar to me..."
"Oh?"
"Not just cherry blossoms... there's a unique fragrance... What's your relationship with the Dendro Sovereign?"
"Greater Lord Rukkhadevata?"
"Mhm."
"She's my cousin."
"Liar. The Dendro Sovereign doesn't have a cousin."
"Recently recognized."
"?"
Xia Zhi continued gazing at the tree trunk, his expression curious.
"You actually know the Dendro Sovereign. And based on how you sound, you seem quite familiar with her. That means you're not just a consciousness formed by the Sacred Sakura tree. After all, if you were merely a spirit trapped within the tree, unable to travel, at best you'd have heard of her name."
"..."
"But to be familiar enough to remember her scent… That suggests close contact. Most likely, you're one of her old friends."
"..."
"My cousin doesn't have many female friends. For various reasons, I've seen glimpses of all of them. Let me guess—Goddess of Flowers, Malikata? Hydro Archon, Egeria? Or... Raiden Baal?"
"..."
Xia Zhi looked up toward the sky of the dream world, as if checking something.
"I felt a small fluctuation in the dream just now. Since you're the sustainer of this dream, that must've come from you—your spiritual state wavered. And that happened right when I said the name Raiden Baal. Unless you're deliberately misleading me, that's a subconscious reaction..."
"..."
"Perhaps the name Raiden Baal holds special meaning for you. Or… perhaps you are Raiden Baal."
"..."
"I recall you previously mentioned I disturbed your 'slumber'. You said 'slumber', not 'sleep' or 'rest'. Morax once told me: back in the day, Beelzebul brought her sister's 'realm of consciousness' back to Inazuma. The Sacred Sakura stands there… For a God like Raiden Baal who died in battle, eternally resting beneath the cherry blossoms of their homeland is a fitting place."
"..."
"So then… you're what remains of Raiden Baal's soul, aren't you?"
Xia Zhi stared at the Sacred Sakura.
The voice within fell silent.
She clearly hadn't expected that her single sentence had already given away so much.
A while later, she repeated the same question she asked at the start.
"Who are you?"
"You didn't deny my guess—so that's your admission, isn't it?"
"Who. Are. You?"
"I'm the Dendro Sovereign's cousin."
"Recently recognized?"
"Mhm."
"So you've seen her lately?"
"I have."
"Is she... doing well?"
"She's great. Eating well, sleeping well. Recently, she even hit a growth spurt."
"...?"
Xia Zhi paused for a moment.
"Do you want to see her?"
"I... of course I do."
"Got it."
Xia Zhi nodded.
"I'll go bring my cousin over. Just stay here. Don't wander off."
"...Huh?"
He lifted his hand from the tree trunk and left a mark within the dream.
Then, his figure slowly faded amidst the soft fall of countless cherry blossoms.
—
Back in the real world, Xia Zhi sat up from his bed.
A quick glance at the time—only a few minutes had passed.
The [Luck Potion] was still active.
He looked down at the soft body pillow in his arms.
That dream… must've been the [Dream Pillow]'s hidden effect—that "Special Dream".
How fascinating.
He'd just met a long-fallen former Electro Archon.
But something seemed off about her.
He didn't see a progress bar on the Sacred Sakura.
And it wasn't a dreamworld issue—he'd seen Yun Jin's progress bar inside a dream before.
Nor was it due to being a spirit—Chi Yu had a visible progress bar too, even in ghost form.
"Was that really Baal?"
Xia Zhi pondered.
"Or… is the Sacred Sakura not actually her vessel?"
He suddenly missed his now-broken [Phantom Mirror].
Still, with luck this high, this probably wasn't going to turn out poorly.
Xia Zhi got out of bed, smoothed out his messy sleepwear, and cast [Instant Teleportation] to appear outside his cousin's bedroom door.
He gently knocked.
"Ying'er?"
"Nope, it's me."
"...Cousin?"
"Can I come in?"
"Mhm. Door's unlocked."
Xia Zhi pushed the door open and stepped in. A whiff of spices filled the room.
Xia Ci was sitting at a table, seemingly extracting something from alchemical equipment.
She turned and smiled. "What brings you here, cousin?"
"I need to talk to you."
"Oh? About what?"
"I think I saw your bestie just now."
"...Bestie? What bestie?"
"Baal."
"Makoto?"
Xia Ci blinked in surprise.
"Where'd you see her?"
"In a dream."
Xia Zhi explained everything that had happened in the dream world.
"What do you think?" he asked.
Xia Ci frowned in thought.
"When a god dies, the laws they governed become unstable. Disasters follow. Their physical remains rarely remain whole. That Sacred Sakura might not be her true vessel... but it must be deeply connected to her."
"She didn't totally believe me."
"Then I'll go see her myself."
"I left a marker in that dream."
"Let's go, then."
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