My dreams can simulate the future.

[Day 10 of the Dream]

The Sun family has made progress; after refusing Sun Yunhe yesterday, they did not suffer any retaliation that night.

The next morning, Jiang Chen was still drawing talismans. Suddenly, someone knocked on the door. Jiang Chen used his divine sense to investigate and found that it was Sun Yunhe.

He sighed: "The Sun family only came to seek revenge this morning. Although it wasn't even a day ago, it's still an overnight grudge."

He welcomed Sun Yunhe in and asked directly, "May I ask what brings you here, Senior Sun?"

Sun Yunhe sneered: "Today, Sun Yunhai, a patrolman of my Sun family, discovered that a spy from the Demonic Sect had infiltrated the market and captured him alive."

That person has some connection with you, Master Jiang, so I came specifically to inquire about it.

Jiang Chen knew the Sun family was trying to frame him: "What does a spy from the Demonic Sect have to do with me?"

Sun Yunhe's face showed a smug expression: "That Demonic Sect spy is Hou Ming, your follower. How can you say there's no connection?"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Chen suddenly realized: 'So that's what the Sun family was planning—to frame Hou Ming and force me to submit.'

Thinking of this, he remained expressionless: "Since he is a suspect, then hand him over to the Garrison Command for interrogation. I believe the Garrison Command is fair and impartial."

We will not let a single cult spy escape, nor will we wrongly accuse an innocent person.

Upon hearing this, Sun Yunhe's smile froze.

He had expected Jiang Chen to panic and plead for Hou Ming, but to his surprise, Jiang Chen remained calm and indifferent.

"Hou Ming was caught by Sun Yunhai, a patrolman from my Sun family. The matter is still under investigation and has not yet reached the point of no return."

Jiang Chen looked at him with a mocking expression: "Senior Sun, do you think I'm a three-year-old child?"

"If I plead for him, you will use my place in the Golden Cauldron Sect to save Hou Ming's life."

"Even if I were willing to save Hou Ming, you wouldn't let me go. You would accuse me of colluding with a spies from the Demonic Cult and continue to cause me trouble."

"If I back down, both Hou Ming and I will die. But if we ignore him, your Sun family won't dare to directly touch me."

Hou Ming is dead. Once I break through to the Foundation Establishment realm, I'll slaughter the entire Sun family to avenge him.

Upon hearing his words, Sun Yunhe's lips twitched.

After holding it in for a long time, he finally blurted out, "We'll see!"

After he left, Jiang Chen lost his previous composure. He frowned and began to think of a solution.

"The Sun family is really ruthless; they actually framed Hou Ming as a spy for the Demonic Cult. I want to ask Li Cheng for help, but I'm afraid even he wouldn't dare take on this mess."

If it weren't for the precognitive power of the Butterfly Dream Diagram, I really wouldn't know what to do.

"There's no need to end the simulation now. I need to see what happens when I leave Blackrock Mountain Market."

He then took out the garrison commander's badge and sent a message to Li Cheng.

Before long, Li Cheng arrived at the Jiang family's courtyard.

Jiang Chen briefly recounted how Sun Yunhe framed Hou Ming.

Upon hearing this, Li Cheng frowned deeply.

"The Sun family's move was truly vicious; the blame for the Demonic Sect's spy has been placed on them far too heavily."

Over at Changyuan Mountain, the demon race and the Demonic Sect are jointly attacking. The Upper Sect is extremely strict in its dealings with Demonic Sect spies; if there's sufficient suspicion, they'd rather kill the innocent than let the guilty go free.

"You usually ask Hou Ming to help you gather information, which is typical of a spy. The Sun family's framing of you must have been pre-prepared with evidence to frame you. Overturning this case will definitely not be easy."

"I don't know what to do about this for the time being. I'd better go to the garrison headquarters to find out what's going on."

Afterwards, Li Cheng left the Jiang family's courtyard.

It wasn't until evening that Li Cheng returned to the Jiang family's courtyard.

Seeing him approach, Jiang Chen quickly asked, "Brother Li, how is Hou Ming's situation?"

Li Cheng shook his head: "There's nothing we can do. The Sun family was prepared in advance and used a demonic sect token to frame Hou Ming."

Furthermore, the Sun family bribed several of Hou Ming's informants, reporting that Hou Ming had used his status as a member of the Demonic Sect to threaten them. With witnesses and evidence, we have no way to overturn the case.

"Brother Jiang, I have the entire Li family behind me. If I get involved in the Demonic Sect, my whole family will be implicated. I dare not get involved anymore."

You'd better not get involved in this matter anymore, or you might lose your chance to join the Golden Cauldron Sect.

Jiang Chen showed no sign of panic, but calmly asked, "What was the token the Sun family used to frame Hou Ming?"

This is a dream simulation; he has no intention of confronting the Sun family head-on under such adverse circumstances.

I should take advantage of this dream to gather as much intelligence as possible in order to deal with the Sun family's underhanded tricks in advance.

Li Cheng sighed and said, "It's just a black token with a skull and a few inconspicuous ghost reliefs carved on it."

This is the token of the Ghostly Cult, a member of the demonic sect. It was found in his storage bag, and he has no way to deny it.

"Hou Ming is also a tough guy. That beast Sun Yunhai forced him to bite you, but even when he was beaten to a bloody pulp, he didn't let go."

After obtaining the specific information, Jiang Chen ended the dream simulation.

-----------------

Back in reality, Jiang Chen breathed a sigh of relief.

"Hou Ming helped me when I was in my most difficult time. Over the years, he has helped me purchase supplies and gather intelligence. He has worked hard, even if he hasn't done anything particularly meritorious."

After being arrested, he'd rather be beaten to death than confess to framing me. If I have the ability, I absolutely cannot let anything happen to him.

"The Sun family is determined to take away my spot to join the Golden Cauldron Sect. I really don't understand what's wrong with the Sun family."

That idiot Sun Yulin has already made many enemies in Black Stone Mountain Market. The Sun family can barely keep them in check because of his status as a Foundation Establishment son-in-law.

Once he joins the Golden Cauldron Sect, he will easily offend the relatives and friends of any Core Formation Elder there.

At that time, not only will Sun Yulin himself die, but the entire Sun family will suffer.

"The Sun family has targeted Hou Ming, forcing me to submit. This matter isn't difficult to handle. All we need to do is keep Hou Ming indoors for the next few days, and this problem will be perfectly resolved."

After all, the Southwest Ward was under Li Cheng's control; if Hou Ming didn't leave, the Sun family wouldn't dare to cause trouble.

"But this passive defense is ultimately useless. I can't be without weaknesses. If the Sun family can't take down Hou Ming, they'll find other ways to attack."

"You can be a thief for a thousand days, but you can't guard against thieves for a thousand days. I need to find a way to cause trouble for the Sun family, so they'll be too busy dealing with their own problems to bother me."

"That Ghostly Cult token must have been sold to Hou Ming by someone sent by the Sun family."

Now that I know the Sun family's tactics in advance, I can remind Hou Ming and give Li Cheng a heads-up.

When Hou Ming was offered a token, he immediately notified Li Cheng. Li Cheng then apprehended the person selling the Ghost Soul Cult token, making everything much easier.

The garrison command has countless ways to get the Sun family's bribed lackeys to talk.

Normally, the garrison commander would try to keep the peace, and even if the Sun family colluded with the Black Stone Society, the garrison commander would turn a blind eye.

But once they get involved with the Ghost Cult, things will never end well. Even if the Sun family doesn't die, they'll be severely punished.

"By then, the Sun family will have been dealt with by the garrison command, and they will certainly not have time to cause me any more trouble in the short term."

Once I join the Golden Cauldron Sect, even if the Sun family wanted to cause me trouble, it would be very difficult for them.