Chapter Ninety-Six: Mother of the Black Goat

After ensuring proper insulation, Qi Xiao focused his mind and activated the energy within the Dragonflame Staff. At the tip of the staff, crackling electricity gathered into a ball of shimmering lightning. Qi Xiao carefully controlled the release of energy—being in the middle of the lake, there was no need for excessive current.

Guided by his will, the current surged from the staff’s tip, striking the ram-headed creature directly. The lake water became a conductor, and electric arcs spread swiftly through the water, forming a flickering net of light. The spectacle was breathtaking: the lake illuminated, countless electric serpents weaving through the depths.

The ram-headed beast, struck in its slumber, convulsed violently. Its tightly shut eyes snapped open, revealing shock and pain. The powerful current coursed through its massive form, making its body jerk uncontrollably. The electrical surge disrupted its nervous system, rendering it unable to control itself.

After a few seconds of spasms, the creature’s movements ceased. Its eyes closed once more, and it collapsed heavily onto the lakebed, stirring up a cloud of silt. The current had successfully stunned it.

As the beast fell silent, the lightning faded from the water and the surrounding gloom and stillness returned. There were no other creatures in the lake—not a single fish or shrimp.

Qi Xiao remained vigilant, watching the creature to ensure it would not awaken soon. Once certain it had lost consciousness entirely, he swam over and prepared to cast the Soul Calming Guide.

The spell was cast without a hitch, and in an instant, Qi Xiao found himself within the beast’s dream.

The creature’s dream was a mysterious underwater realm, similar in form to the real lakebed but imbued with the peculiar distortions and exaggerations of dreams. Here, the ram-headed beast resided in a grand underwater palace, built from coral and pearls that glowed softly. Vast waters surrounded the palace, filled with vibrant fish and exotic sea life, all swimming freely in the dream.

The beast appeared more divine and majestic in its dream, sitting upright upon a throne in the great hall. Graceful jellyfish danced before it, and a giant turtle lay by its right side, pounding its legs in service. Clearly, unlike Qingzhou, this creature had come to accept its current form from deep within its soul—whether the effects of biological alteration had erased its memory of its original state, or whether it had always been this way from birth, one could not say.

Either way, there was much to discuss. Yet the beast was not lucid within its dream; Qi Xiao’s first task was to restore its awareness, to make it realize it was dreaming.

This was no difficult matter. All it required was to make the creature aware it was within a dream. Such was the purpose of the Soul Calming Guide: to gain trust and draw out information while the subject drifted between sleep and wakefulness.

Qi Xiao exuded a powerful aura of tranquility, soothing to the soul. He drifted gently before the beast. Gazing into its muddled, bewildered eyes, he spoke softly, “Can you feel the flow of this water? Listen to the sounds around you—they are both distant and near. This is your dream, child.”

A haze of confusion flickered in the creature’s gaze. It looked about, as if searching for something, and asked, “A dream? Why am I here?”

“Because deep within, you seek release. Your consciousness has crossed from reality to this place. I am but a traveler, meaning no harm to your rest. I wish only to ease the unrest and pain in your soul.”

Qi Xiao’s expression was one of profound compassion; the creature seemed to recognize and trust this look, believing him in an instant—much to Qi Xiao’s surprise and delight.

“So how do I resolve my unrest...traveler?”

“Yes, I understand your confusion, and I mean no harm. I only wish to know your story, and perhaps I can help. You can sense the difference here—pain and restraint from the real world do not exist in this place.” Qi Xiao’s voice grew low and rough, laced with a subtle magical resonance. Ever since seeing Qi Xiao’s compassionate face, the beast had not doubted him for a moment—its innocence was almost frightening.

The creature began to touch the surrounding coral and currents, curiosity and recognition dawning in its eyes. “This place...it truly is unlike reality.”

“Exactly. Here, you can express yourself freely, unburdened by the world outside. Tell me, what is your true desire?”

The beast fell silent for a moment, then spoke slowly, “I...I long for freedom. I long for my kin to have a true future, for my elders to be freed from the limits placed on their bodies by the alterations.”

A gleam flashed in Qi Xiao’s eyes. As he suspected, this was a being born after the flock underwent biological modification. He schooled his tone to patience and gently prompted, “Is your freedom so constrained? Young one, it sounds as though misfortune has befallen your people.”

“Our kind was cursed...unable to bear offspring, doomed to live forever in endless desire. Later, when my elders were desperate, they sought out a sorcerer for help... There were some results. I was born after that help. For a time, they saw me as hope...but I disappointed them.”

The beast’s eyes dimmed. “My elders named me ‘Hope,’ wishing I would bring a future to our kind. But I have never left even these small lakes. Should I try, I am overcome by uncontrollable desire and driven to do unspeakable things.”

Hope’s expression was anguished, and he seemed on the verge of waking. Qi Xiao quickly shifted the topic, asking softly, “Though you have not escaped the curse, your people must have more than just you as offspring, now that you can reproduce. What about the other sheep? Are they like you?”

At this, Hope’s pain eased somewhat, and his expression became complex and conflicted. “I have a few siblings, a dozen or so. My sister...she seems able to control this power, or perhaps her power is drawn from that desire itself.”

Hope’s words grew muddled—it was clearly too much to ask him to process such things in a dream. Qi Xiao understood and offered comfort:

“From the way you speak, even if your sister possesses the power of desire, she has not given in to it. Yet there is still a knot in your heart, isn’t there?”

Hope sighed, “Yes... She is stronger than I. The hope of our kind surely rests with her. But most of our elders loathe this power, and their feelings toward her are complicated. Even I sometimes have unkind thoughts.

Thankfully, except for a few elders driven mad by torment, most of our ancestors are reasonable.”

Qi Xiao seized the moment: “What is your sister’s name? Do you have a way to contact your elders?”

“Her name is Shub. When I need to reach the elders, I use the trees. Once they receive my message...”

At the mention of this name, Qi Xiao’s pupils contracted sharply. Shub-Nicholas—the central figure in the film’s narrative, the ‘protagonist,’ and the greatest enemy of the northern wizarding world at the time. Even by the film’s conclusion, she remained undefeated, a step away from legendary status.

Qi Xiao had never expected to hear this name here. He doubted it was a coincidence; the Black Goat Mother’s greatest power had always been “birth”—it was perfectly logical for her to arise from the flock’s obsession.

A chill ran down Qi Xiao’s spine. He wanted nothing more than to leave. Even if the Black Goat Mother was now harmless, any interaction would surely create a butterfly effect, drastically altering the future. It was only natural—she was the single greatest source of upheaval in the northern wizarding world for millennia to come.

But could he simply walk away? Should he inform his teacher? How could he explain? He hadn’t even learned the simplest divination or pathfinding spells yet...

Qi Xiao was truly at a loss, frozen in place, missing the rest of Hope’s words.

“Traveler? Are you...listening?”

Hope timidly prodded him, snapping Qi Xiao back to the present. He answered in a low voice, “I was thinking... I seem to have heard that name in another dream before. Does your people bear the surname Nicholas?”

Hope shook his head in confusion. “Of course not. Our kind has no surnames—we’re not human, after all.”

Qi Xiao frowned. The film never explained the Black Goat Mother’s name, nor did it reveal much about her at all. But whether or not the present Shub was the same as the Black Goat Mother, they were surely connected.

“I can sense this is a grave matter... Hope, I feel this concerns not just your people’s safety, but perhaps the fate of the entire wizarding world. I will meet with you in reality. Wait for me, child.”

“In reality?! Traveler, I... I think I was attacked in the real world... Wait—”

The dream began to shudder and collapse, huge fragments falling away. Hope clutched his head, on the verge of waking. Qi Xiao quickly withdrew his consciousness and rose swiftly to the lake’s surface.

Since the moment the electricity had flashed through the lake, the six-hooved beasts had been in a panic, kneeling by the shore. The leader wailed unceasingly. Qi Xiao spared them only a glance and hurried away.

Within a quarter of an hour, he had put more than ten kilometers between himself and the lake. To his surprise, Hope had not gone berserk after the encounter, nor alerted the elders—Qi Xiao knew how their messages were sent, and the ancient trees bore no new wrinkles.

Now, at last, Qi Xiao could rest and reflect.

His expression shifted as he weighed the crisis and opportunity before him. What he thought would be an ordinary trial had become something momentous.

The dangers were obvious—the Black Goat Mother was a calamity unto herself. Even his teacher would be no match for her, and the consequences of their contact could change the future in unimaginable ways. If destiny altered, Qi Xiao would lose the advantage of foresight, for he had not truly lived two centuries—he’d only seen a movie, with limited content. If he muddled things further, he’d know even less.

Yet the opportunities were equally vast. If the Black Goat Mother was still in her infancy, and he could befriend or even control this power, the rewards would be beyond imagining. Even her offspring had left deep impressions on him in the film.

Qi Xiao exhaled slowly and decided to first learn where Shub lived, so he could observe her from afar before taking action.

Observation, though still an influence, was more subtle than direct contact—at least until he understood the situation better.

He made sure the ring his teacher had given him was firmly on his finger, ready to call for help at the first sign of trouble.

For a moment, Qi Xiao even wondered if his teacher had a hidden motive in sending him here. Given the flock’s current state, his teacher must have played a major part. Yet in the film’s timeline, no one had heard of Midiel or the Black Goat Mother. Though both were villains from the protagonist’s point of view, there was no clear connection between them.

Qi Xiao had never met the disciple killed by the protagonist, but judging by that fellow’s mediocre abilities and questionable character, he likely had not yet been born. If Qi Xiao had the chance, he would try to dissuade his teacher from accepting him. After all, the teacher’s conflict with the protagonist stemmed from that disciple’s reckless provocations—at the cost of his own life.

He looked to the silver moon overhead, its pure radiance spilling across the forest. The mark on his left arm glowed with the same argent hue.

Qi Xiao decided to wait two days before contacting Hope again as the traveler. Any sooner, and even that naive creature would sense something amiss.

In the meantime, inspiration struck. He took out two dragonblood fruits, crushed them—peel and all—into a cup, then added salamander blood, springwater of life, bloodthorn berries, magma marrow, darkblood crystal, bloodspirit grass, and other ingredients, blending them together. A heavy, blood-rich aroma filled the air. To avoid attracting other creatures, he tossed the wooden chest from before overhead to cover himself, creating a makeshift alchemical chamber.

Each of these ingredients enhanced constitution and vitality; the magma marrow was as valuable as the dragonblood fruit itself. On a whim, Qi Xiao began drafting a new potion recipe.