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Chapter 385 Awakening
The old man was somewhat flustered, and it took Zhu Yu and Yan Daoxin quite a while to calm him down so they could properly ask him about his situation.

It was only after asking that they learned that although the old man was from Lan Kingdom, he did not come from the Xianrenbao area. He had come here with his wife, two sons and daughters-in-law, a family of six, in their own horse-drawn carriage to celebrate the birthday of a relative.

He vaguely remembered that the carriage had been tripped by something on the way, or it had accidentally fallen into a large puddle and gotten stuck. In short, something went wrong, but he couldn't remember anything after that.

His mind had been poisoned by the fake lord's medicinal soup for a long time, and he would feel dizzy from time to time, unable to distinguish between dreams and reality. His memories were somewhat incoherent and even contradictory.

It took the old man quite a while to roughly explain where he came from, and then he panicked and started trying to find his son and wife.

But no one knew if his wife, son, or daughter-in-law were among the others, so they could only offer him some temporary comfort.

Yan Daoxin took his pulse again and confirmed that there was nothing seriously wrong with him except that he was very weak. He then hurriedly asked someone to watch over the old man while he and Zhu Yu took talismans and incantations to various places to give people the antidote.

As more and more people took the antidote, they gradually woke up. Like the old man, they were initially confused, unable to distinguish between reality and illusion, and unsure whether they were awake or still dreaming.

After a while, some of the younger, stronger people gradually regained their senses. After a brief period of confusion, they were finally able to clearly describe their experiences to Yan Daoxin, Zhu Yu, and the others.

They were similar to the old man; some lived in nearby villages, while others were simply travelers or merchants passing through. Some were just passing through when they encountered bandits blocking their way, while others came because of its reputation, wanting to purchase the fine dyes and silks of Xianrenbao. However, once they were taken into the fortress, they never had the chance to leave.

None of them could remember how they were detained. They only felt that they had fallen into a long dream. Sometimes they were in a daze and had no consciousness. Sometimes they dreamed that they were in a paradise where everyone was very happy. They sang songs together and did farm work. They also had a strange feeling of bliss.

So after being awakened, they were all confused, unable to distinguish between reality and dreams. It took them a long time to remember their names, where they lived, and why they had ended up in this fairy castle.

Judging from what these people said, the old steward wasn't lying.

Yan Dao thought for a moment and then had Fu Lu bring over a bowl of porridge with more soup than rice, and fed it to the old steward as a reward for not lying.

As for why there was more soup than rice, Yan Daoxin would not admit that he deliberately made sure the old steward neither starved nor had enough to eat.

"He's been starving for so long. If you give him a pancake, he'll wolf it down and choke on it. That would be great; he'd be heading straight to the underworld, and I wouldn't be able to pull him back!" he declared confidently.

Of course, no one objected to his arrangement. In fact, everyone felt that since the old steward was so accomplice to evil, it would be too good for him to starve to death by accident. The best course of action was for him to suffer in this half-dead state.

After half a day of fussing, everyone who had taken the antidote woke up, including the cook in the fortress.

After the cook regained consciousness, he looked at his reflection in the well and was so shocked that he took several steps back and fell flat on his face.

This was also the first time Zhu Yu and the others had seen the cook. They were all quite surprised to see the tall, thin man pointing at the well with a look of terror and asking who the person in the water was.

After asking, I realized that this cook was indeed the head chef who used to cook for the Jiang family at Fairy Castle. He used to be a big, fat man whose face was ruddy and whose arms and legs were thick. But now he had become a tall and thin man.

Yan Daoxin chatted with him for a while and roughly figured out why, apart from the fake fortress lord Jiang Hong, who deliberately didn't let the real fortress lord die, only this cook was able to survive in the entire fortress.

On the one hand, the cook was originally very strong, so even though he was under the influence of a drug and was in a daze every day, he could last longer than the average person.

In addition, even after he fell into a dream, his daily task was still to cook for everyone in the fortress. And this chef had a very interesting habit: ever since he was a young apprentice, he liked to taste the saltiness and intensity of the flavors while cooking.

It was precisely because this habit of his had been carried over into his dreams that he was able to unconsciously eat a little something every day.

After these people gradually regained full consciousness, more and more people remembered their names, where they lived, and who they had been with.

As a result, the entire Fairy Castle became more lively than ever before.

Once they regained consciousness, people began searching for their relatives and friends. Some found them, while others could not find them no matter what they did.

Zhu Yu and the others naturally knew perfectly well where the missing people had gone.

The first elderly man to be revived was relatively lucky; his two sons and daughters-in-law were both safe and sound. However, the old woman was quite old and had not survived for some time, so she could no longer be found.

The family, which had grown from six to five, hugged each other and cried for a while, but managed to cheer up.

Many others were not so lucky.

Some of them had traveled in groups of four or five, but now they were all alone. Their companions had all been killed, and now they felt completely lost and alone, not even knowing where they were.

Some, though they regained consciousness, became mentally impaired, unable to even remember who they were. They could only sit there with blank stares, neither truly dead nor truly alive.

Let alone Zhu Yu and the others who had experienced more in the Immortal Fortress, even Lu Yan's subordinates who were stationed there later, some of whom were soldiers who had their hands stained with blood every day, couldn't help but show a sad expression when they saw the appearance of these people, feeling very sorry for them.

Lu Qing gathered the "farmers" who had regained their senses and allowed them to leave Fairy Castle in small groups after dark to return to their hometowns.

Alternatively, if you feel physically weak, you can stay and rest for a few more days to recharge before leaving.

He had barely finished making his suggestion when a man's voice rang out from the crowd: "No way!"

(End of this chapter)