There is a beast in the bright morning.

Hao Chen lay on the hospital bed with a blank look in his eyes, muttering to himself, "Was it all a dream? Tianlu and the Qilin were just things I imagined? Did they really not exist?"

After a long while, he slowly stretched out his arm, which had become slender due to his vegetative state, and quietly looked at his human arm.

"Snapped!"

Suddenly, Hao Chen slapped himself hard across the face. The burning pain on his cheek instantly reminded him that this was reality.

"Why, why was that beautiful side just a dream?"

"Why did you wake me up? Wouldn't it have been better to let me stay asleep forever?"

"Waaaaah~ I've always been all alone. I finally found someone to connect with, but why are you telling me it's all just a dream? Don't I deserve friendship?"

"Damn it, God, tell me! Hahaha~"

Hao Chen frantically pulled at his hair, kicked off the blanket covering him, pounded his thighs, and threw whatever he could grab at him.

In the silent ward, Hao Chen's hoarse cries, maniacal laughter, and unrestrained curses rang out incessantly.

The commotion was so loud that it alerted the nurses who were caring for Haochen. When the nurses saw Haochen's frantic state, they were startled and immediately shouted, "Director, the patient has gone mad!"

"Give them a sedative immediately."

After administering a sedative to Haochen, the director examined Haochen's body again and concluded that Haochen had probably had an incredibly vivid dream during his vegetative state. Now that he had woken up, he was unable to accept reality and was still immersed in the dream he had woven for himself.

Therefore, considering that Haochen is not suitable to be further stimulated, and that Haochen is now all alone, the hospital specially reduced Haochen's medical expenses and provided psychological counseling to help Haochen integrate into society as soon as possible.

Of course, it's not entirely accurate to say that all of this is free. Although Haochen no longer needs to pay medical expenses, he still needs to be interviewed as the first vegetative patient cured by the hospital to increase the hospital's reputation.

This might not be what Hao Chen wanted, but after lying in bed for a year, he had no income and couldn't afford the expensive medical bills. This indirectly relieved Hao Chen's financial difficulties.

After spending half a month in psychological counseling, Haochen accepted reality and even found a job delivering food in order to reintegrate into human society.

Hao Chen would look up at the sky from time to time every day, and the white clouds would always remind him of Tian Lu's figure. He couldn't help but sigh, "If only that weren't a dream!"

Meanwhile, at the Deer Man Shop, Tianlu was sleeping soundly at the entrance when Walnut suddenly rushed over and kept shaking Tianlu's body: "Pipi, something's wrong, wake up!"

"Uh-huh!" Tianlu opened his sleepy eyes and saw that it was Walnut who had woken him up. He silently withdrew his claws that were about to slap Walnut's face.

"What's all the noise about, Walnut? I finally managed to fall asleep."

Walnut didn't know how to explain for a moment, so he said, "Pipi, someone's here to cause trouble."

"What? Who dares to be so bold? Don't they know this place is under my protection?!" Tianlu shouted angrily as he jumped up from the ground upon hearing that someone had come to cause trouble.

Walnut didn't say much, and immediately led Tianlu towards Xiezhi: "Pipi, hurry up, or I'm afraid Teacher Xiezhi will be bullied."

"Don't worry, I'm here."

Tianlu said confidently, and just like that, Tianlu was unwittingly dragged into the battle between Xie Zhi and Qiongqi by Walnut.

When Walnut brought Tianlu to Xiezhi's side, Qiongqi had not yet left and was still lecturing Xiezhi incessantly. Taotie was also stirring things up, which made Xiezhi very angry.

Walnut pointed at the Qiongqi, which looked like a troublesome creature, and said, "Pipi, this is the bad guy who's been harassing Teacher Xie."

Tianlu looked in the direction the walnut claw was pointing and found that it was someone he recognized—the ferocious beast Qiongqi, one of the Four Fiends along with Taotie.

Whether Tianlu was out of his mind or truly lacked common sense, upon seeing Qiongqi's enormous size, he actually dared to run up and shout, "Who do we have here? Isn't this Qiongqi? What brings you to my territory to cause trouble? You're showing no respect to this Pixiu!"

When Qiongqi saw Tianlu, his eyelids twitched. He knew how troublesome Tianlu was. He had dealt with Tianlu before, but he was always at a disadvantage.

Qiongqi was initially startled by the sudden appearance of Tianlu, but then it realized that Tianlu was still in its energy-saving growth stage, and immediately perked up again.

Qiongqi grabbed Tianlu by the back of the neck, lifted him up, and then played with him, occasionally poking Tianlu's chubby cheeks and tossing him in the air a few times.

"Hey, keep yelling for me! The louder you yell, the happier I'll be."

While teasing Tianlu, Qiongqi looked at Xiezhi with a wicked glint in his eyes: "It's really unexpected, Xiezhi, that you would stay in the mountains and live a leisurely life."

"You're still hanging out with things like Pixiu, which are neither black nor white. Aren't you supposed to be able to distinguish right from wrong? When did you change your ways?"

Tianlu was held in Qiongqi's hand and struggled incessantly, but how could a child in his growth stage break free from the control of a mature Qiongqi? He could only threaten, "Let me go, or I'll make you regret it."

However, Qiongqi's main target was Xie Zhi, and he didn't hear Tianlu's words at all. He just kept talking to Xie Zhi.

"Xiezhi, don't think I can't find you just because you're hiding in the mountains. My eyes are as bright as day and as clear as the starry sky. You can't escape my eyes no matter where you hide."

As he spoke, Qiongqi pulled out a duel book and continued, "Our previous eighteen thousand duels have not yet been decided. Let me tell you, don't even think about getting rid of me, Lord Qiongqi, before we settle this once and for all."

"Although you are a hypocrite, never following the rules in a duel, I, Lord Qiongqi, am magnanimous and will not hold it against you..."

Just as Qiongqi was still talking non-stop, a red figure suddenly appeared in Qiongqi's eyes. It was none other than Little Fire Dragon.

The little dragon originally planned to go home to check on its harvest, but when it passed by, it heard Tianlu's voice and, out of curiosity, came over to see what was going on.

The little dragon stared at Qiongqi for a long time before recognizing him: "Hey, aren't you that talkative guy who's always with my big brother?"

Qiongqi stared at the little fire dragon for a long time but didn't recognize it. He frowned and said, "Who do you think you are? What, are you looking for a fight?"

"Tsk tsk tsk! With such a fiery temper, anyone who didn't know better would think you were that durian-headed guy!"

"Hot wind." The little dragon said, and a pair of energy wings suddenly appeared on its back. Then the wings slowly flapped, and a scorching wind blew towards Qiongqi.

The little dragon proudly raised its head and said, "Do you recognize it now?"

After sensing the little dragon's abilities, Qiongqi recognized its identity and subconsciously said, "Aren't you that stinky lizard who likes to pester the boss? You're not dead yet."

However, Qiongqi realized his mistake as soon as he said it. After hearing Qiongqi's words, the little fire dragon's face darkened, and he said in a gloomy tone, "Fine, fine, Qiongqi, you really don't learn your lesson."

Seeing the little fire dragon approaching him with an unfriendly look, Qiongqi panicked instantly. He quickly dropped the Tianlu in his hand and said in a feigned calm tone, "Don't try to scare me. I'm not afraid of you."

"Really? Then why are your legs shaking?"

"I was just standing for too long, so I was stretching a bit."

"Really? How about I help you stretch your muscles?"

With that, the little fire dragon took a running start and instantly appeared in front of Qiongqi. Under Qiongqi's terrified gaze, it punched him in the right eye socket.

Qiongqi was stunned by the little fire dragon's blow, and then said angrily, "Damn it, you shouldn't hit someone in the face. I was going to let you off the hook because of our boss, but you ungrateful bastard, I'm going to teach you a lesson today."

"I can't ask for it."

The little fire dragon seemed to have had a conflict with Qiongqi. At this moment, the two beasts were fighting hand-to-hand without using their divine power, exchanging punches and kicks.

However, Qiongqi quickly gained the upper hand, after all, its size was undeniable. After sending the little fire dragon flying with a single claw, Qiongqi grinned wickedly and said, "Hehe, why don't you just give up..."

"Hey, why are you attacking me again? Can't you let me finish speaking before you start fighting?"

Before Qiongqi could finish speaking, the Xiezhi seized the opportunity and unleashed a Thousand Years of Kill on Qiongqi, causing Qiongqi to howl in pain.

Little Fire Dragon, Tianlu, Walnut, and Taotie stared in horror at the Xie Zhi's nearly half-meter-long horn, which instantly disappeared into Qiongqi's rear end. Their expressions turned unnatural, and they silently lowered their tails.

Walnut, clutching its rear end, rolled away into the distance, saying, "I don't know that talkative beast, don't look for me!"

The Xie Zhi said to Qiong Qi indifferently, "Annoying thing."

Even though Qiongqi had been gored by Xie Zhi many times, it still couldn't help but shed tears of frustration and shame: "Ouch, it hurts so much! Xie Zhi, I'm not done with you yet! One day I'll make you taste the pain of a thousand years of death!"

Qiongqi tucked its tail between its legs and limped away. Even though it was seriously injured, Qiongqi kept saying, "You won this time, but you won't be so lucky next time."

"And you little fire dragon, you stinky lizard, I'm going to beat your ass to a pulp too."

……

Tianlu looked at the incessantly chattering Qiongqi and couldn't help but say, "So he's a talkative villain."

Just as the little dragon was watching with great interest, he suddenly sensed something, took out a black mirror with gold trim from his body, and looked at it.

Upon seeing this, the little fire dragon's expression changed drastically, and he exclaimed in shock, "How is this possible? Big brother actually encountered a divine dream?"