Inside the spacious stone cavern, Xie Chenzhou blinked open his eyes, his heart still hammering frantically within his chest.
He stared blankly at the rock ceiling overhead. After a long moment, he turned his stiff neck and swept his gaze across his surroundings.
Then, he froze.
Right beside him, the slumbering young woman was curled up into a tiny, compact ball.
The soft, gentle radiance of the unknown mineral crystals illuminated the crown of her head, catching on a cute little cowlick.
The moment her face came into focus, the hazy blur in Xie Chenzhou’s eyes vanished into stark clarity, and a faint, chilling frost spread through the depths of his gaze.
【Ding~ Xie Chenzhou’s current favorability: -100,000】
【Mission evaluation: Unsuccessful. Host, please keep up the good work】
On the bed, Xie Chenzhou had just moved to roll over and sit up when he suddenly sensed something amiss.
—Beneath the wide, soft folds of green drapery, two slender hands were tightly clutching his fingertips, her palms warm and dry.
Xie Chenzhou’s breath hitched.
The next second, Sang Nian’s eyelashes fluttered, on the verge of waking up.
Snapping back to his senses, he yanked his hand back violently and pushed himself into a sitting position.
Following his abrupt movement, the defensive magical artifacts Sang Nian had stuffed into his arms earlier tumbled down in a cascade, landing silently across the soft animal-skin blanket with a faint, shimmering glow.
Xie Chenzhou froze.
“You’re finally awake!”
Sang Nian bolted upright. Seeing that he seemed unharmed, her eyes lit up instantly. Leaning forward to peer at him, she asked in a bright, cheerful tone:
“Does anything else still hurt?”
The distance between them was remarkably close, allowing Xie Chenzhou to clearly make out the tiny mole between her eyebrows.
A long, crimson hair ribbon brushed against the side of the girl’s cheek as she tilted her face up to look at him, flashing him a wide, bright smile with crescent-shaped eyes.
Her appearance was an exact mirror of the person in his dream.
The youth’s fingertips twitched, his hand subconsciously curling into the soft animal pelt beneath him.
【Ding~ Xie Chenzhou’s favorability +100】
Tilting her head, Sang Nian caught sight of the flashy array of protective treasures out of the corner of her eye, and sudden realization dawned on her.
“You don’t have to look so grateful. After all, you’re practically half a member of the City Lord’s estate. Protecting you is only what a future City Lord like me is supposed to do.”
Gathering them up one by one, she casually plucked an exquisite jade die from the pile, tossed it across to him, and with a carefree wave of her hand, generously declared:
“This one looks hideous. I’m bestowing it upon you.”
She deliberately avoided any mention of the dreamscape. Hesitating for a moment, Xie Chenzhou asked in a rigid tone:
“Did you enter my dream?”
“You mean that illusion generated by the demonic poison?” Sang Nian feigned a look of lingering dread. “I was actually just about to tell you—that place was terrifying.”
Xie Chenzhou’s palms clenched tightly, his knuckles turning stark white.
Sang Nian continued complaining:
“It was pitch black in there, and I couldn’t see anything. I had to feel my way around in the dark for ages before I finally found you.”
With that, she shrank back slightly. “I’ve been terrified of the dark ever since I was a kid.”
Xie Chenzhou: “…Aside from that, nothing else?”
Sang Nian: “Nope, that’s it.”
Xie Chenzhou stared intently at Sang Nian, while the latter maintained an expression of absolute, unflustered calm.
After a long beat, he let out an imperceptible sigh of relief.
Dusting herself off and putting herself back together, Sang Nian asked him:
“People from the City Lord’s estate should be here to rescue us soon. Should we just wait here?”
“Mhm.”
Inside her sea of consciousness, Liuli anxiously argued: “Why didn’t you finish what happened? Your mission was this close to succeeding just now.”
Falling silent for a few seconds, Sang Nian countered:
“Why would I rip open a scar that has finally managed to scab over, even if the inside is still festering?”
The moment the dream ended, her consciousness had been pulled away, wiping out the negative emotions generated within it along the way.
Yet those images remained vividly etched in her mind, making her shiver every single time she recalled them.
If a mere bystander felt that way, what kind of headspace must Xie Chenzhou, the one who lived through it firsthand, be in?
Liuli protested: “How can you call that ripping open a scar?”
Completely bewildered, Sang Nian asked: “Then what do you want me to say to him?”
“Tell him you saw him abandoned by his mother? Or that you saw him sliced piece by piece like a lab experiment by a pervert? That you saw him suffering every single second wishing he were dead, chained up in total darkness like a dog? That you bravely rescued him, aren’t you just amazing, so he should thank you and fall in love with you—is that it?”
Lacking confidence, Liuli muttered: “Well… you could have just mentioned a little bit of it, highlighting the part where you saved him.”
Sang Nian: “I did mention the highlight. I told him I saved him.”
“Oh right…” Liuli was almost convinced, before quickly doubling back. “No, wait, something about that still feels wrong.”
Sang Nian sighed:
“You said it yourself, that was a past dream. In reality, the person who rescues Xie Chenzhou isn’t me.”
“Since that’s the case, other than letting him know that the person he hates the most just happened to witness him at his most wretched and pathetic, what possible point is there in bringing it up?”
Besides, once certain things were brought to light, they would pull on a single thread and drag down the entire web.
Memory was like a tangled vine; you could always trace it all the way from the root to the tip.
Those fragments of pain and despair were still waiting for him right there.
Whenever he remembered.
Waiting only to be remembered.
And she had no desire to be the catalyst for that.
Liu-liu couldn’t quite grasp the subtext of her words, but rather than arguing further, it simply stated, “I can’t talk any sense into you, but either way, you only have seven months left. You better weigh your options carefully.”
Sang Nian glanced ahead at Xie Chenzhou, her expression listless. “What can I do when the game is rigged right from the start?”
Sensing her gaze, Xie Chenzhou turned his head to look at her. His eyes swept over the damp hem of her skirt, paused for a brief second, and quickly looked away.
Sang Nian’s eyes rolled as she figured she might as well try one more time.
She told Xie Chenzhou flatly, “That monster looks terrifying.”
As expected, Xie Chenzhou ignored her.
Lowering her voice, Sang Nian continued, “Who knows if we’ll even make it back alive? We might just die down here.”
Xie Chenzhou’s brow twitched faintly.
She reached out, carefully pinching a tiny corner of his sleeve, and pleaded, “Seeing as I saved your life, if we manage to get out of here alive, could you promise me one thing?”
Xie Chenzhou lifted his eyelids.
“Let’s have a meal together.”
Pulling back her hand, she rested her chin in her palms and looked up at him. “Every time I wanted to grab breakfast with you, you always looked so miserable. We haven’t even shared a single meal together.”
She added, “How about it, Xie Chenzhou?”
The soft, bright glow of crystal-like ore spilled silently from the high dome, casting a tiny shadow beneath the girl’s thick lashes as they fluttered gently with every movement of her gaze.
Like a butterfly about to take flight.
Xie Chenzhou’s eyes lingered for a moment. Instead of answering her, he turned on his heel and walked away. “I’m going to look for the exit.”
“Hey, wait for me!” Sang Nian hurriedly scrambled off the bed to chase after him. “I’m coming too!”
The subterranean caves connected one after another, yet they all looked frustratingly alike—making it easy to get lost without even realizing it.
The two wandered in circles for the better part of the day. Sang Nian’s stamina was completely drained, yet there was still no sign of the female protagonist.
Not only was the heroine missing, but the monster that had captured them was also nowhere to be found.
“I really can’t walk another step,” she issued an ultimatum to Liu-liu. “Drag this out any longer and it’s a dead end. If the heroine doesn’t show up soon, I’m turning on GPS and walking myself home.”
Liu-liu looked so stressed it was about to molt. “This makes no sense. The heroine should have arrived ages ago. Exactly where did things go wrong?”
Meanwhile, in the dense forest near Qingzhou City.
The young woman in white looked vacant-eyed. “First Senior Brother, I think we took the wrong turn again.”
The young woman in red wore a blank stare. “Senior Brother, we’ve been walking in circles through this forest for three days and three nights.”
The youth they addressed as Senior Brother rubbed the bridge of his nose, looking rather sheepish. “Flying swords are restricted in this area, making reconnaissance rather inconvenient.”
Just as his voice fell, a figure in pink drifted past him like a stealthy ghost.
The youth’s eyes instantly lit up. Reaching out, he grabbed the figure by the collar. Noticing the person was a man, he asked with utmost politeness, “Excuse me, friendly demon sir, would you be so kind as to point me in the right direction?”
The man in pink struggled frantically. “Who the hell do you think you are? Let go of me right now! Or else I’ll call for backup!”
The youth replied, “I am Wen Buyu, senior disciple of the Xiaoyao Sect.”
The girl in white offered a polite bow alongside him. “Su Xueyin of the Xiaoyao Sect.”
The girl in red rolled her eyes. “Chu Yao of the Xiaoyao Sect.”
The man in pink rolled his eyes even harder. “I don’t give a damn which sect you’re from. I don’t have time for you people—now get lost.”
Wen Buyu rolled up his flowing sleeves, revealing a pair of muscular, well-toned forearms, and said mildly, “I happen to know a thing or two about martial arts.”
The man in pink instantly switched to a standard smile revealing eight teeth. “Which direction would you like to ask about?”
Wen Buyu inquired, “Where is the exit to this dense forest?”
“Go straight west,” the man replied.
“Many thanks.”
“You can let go of me now,” the man in pink said.
Wen Buyu released his grip and turned to leave with his junior sisters.
He hadn’t walked two steps before he abruptly spun back around. “By the way, which way is west?”
The man in pink: “……”
He silently raised his left hand.
A look of immense gratitude washed over Wen Buyu’s face as he smiled warmly. “Many thanks, brother! However, observing your shifty demeanor, unsightly countenance, and panicked expression, I wonder if you might be facing some trouble? If you need assistance, the three of us—”
Before he could finish, the man in pink roared, “You’re the one who’s shifty! You’re the one who’s unsightly! Your entire family is shifty and unsightly!”
With that, he threw his arms wide as billowing black mists surged forth to cover the sky. “I’m going to fight you to the death today! Over my dead body!!!”