Nahida 3 (Please Keep Reading)

Nahida 3 (Please Keep Reading)

Because of Lin Feng's silence, Nahida also realized that she had lost control of her emotions. She tried to wipe away the tears spilling from her eyes, only for them to flow even more fiercely.

"Don't look at me."

Realizing that she could not let anyone see her like this, Nahida lowered her head again, her voice thick with tears.

Like a child who had been bullied, wanted to cry to her parents, only to be scolded by them instead, Nahida trembled as tears streamed down her face. In the end, it turned into soft, aggrieved sobbing.

Lin Feng, who usually loved teasing Nahida, did not interrupt her this time. He simply sat beside the crying little girl in silence, quietly keeping her company.

After a while, Nahida gradually stopped trembling.

"Am I really that useless?" Nahida looked up. Her face was still filled with sorrow, but a hint of color had returned to her empty eyes.

"No. You've already done more than enough. Even gods and dragons have acknowledged your accomplishments." Lin Feng looked at Nahida, placed a hand atop her head, and spoke softly.

"Really? You're not lying to me?" Like a child, Nahida desperately sought Lin Feng's approval.

"Really. I swear it in the name of the God of Contracts," Lin Feng said with unprecedented seriousness.

"Mhm... I believe you." Feeling the warmth from his palm, Nahida did not pull away. Instead, she rubbed against Lin Feng's chest like a cat.

Looking at his clothes dampened by tears, Lin Feng suddenly realized the mistake he had been making all along.

—Could a mere description from a game really encompass the tiny god before him, who had struggled bitterly in a cage between her sense of responsibility and her nature for five hundred years?

If the real Nahida were a movie, then the information from the game might only have been scattered fragments.

Seeing that the girl was still trembling slightly, Lin Feng gently pulled the little girl, who only reached his chest, into his arms. Nahida did not resist and quietly leaned against him.

A long time passed.

Nahida suddenly pushed Lin Feng away shyly, seeming to return to her usual bright and optimistic self.

"Thank you for comforting me, and... I'm really sorry!" Her face bright red, Nahida awkwardly looked toward the patch of Lin Feng's chest that she had soaked.

"It's nothing. It's good to let out emotions that have been bottled up. But if you have troubles in the future, don't be sad by yourself anymore. Share them with me, okay?"

Lin Feng rubbed Nahida's head as though asking for her opinion.

"Mhm."

Frankly enjoying the warmth from him, Nahida answered softly.

"Um... how did you bring real food into a dream?"

Now that she had recovered, Nahida could no longer suppress her thirst for knowledge and looked curiously at Lin Feng.

"I'm not entirely sure either, but I can do it. Within a limited range, I can use myself as an anchor to turn part of a dream into something like Vanarana, existing between reality and illusion."

Lin Feng himself only had a vague understanding of his ability.

"Is this the special quality of a Descender? It's really unreasonable." Nahida sincerely envied that uniqueness.

"After this, I won't be able to put on airs as a god in front of you anymore, will I?"

"—Though a certain bad guy never treated me like a god from the very beginning."

Nahida shot Lin Feng a fierce glare. Though she said that, she still did not shake off the hand resting on her head.

"I rather like how straightforward you are now. Even gods should have the right to cry." Seeing that Nahida no longer avoided him at all, Lin Feng could not help feeling that Padisarah Pudding had been an exceptionally worthwhile purchase.

"Back to business, I came to ask you for leave."

"For the next few weeks, I need to search the ley lines for some answers. I might not be able to come keep you company every night."

After spending quite some time fussing around in the dream, Lin Feng finally had a chance to mention why he had come.

"Mhm, I know. Laramoth already told me, which is why I prepared so many Snacks for you. I just didn't expect that I would be the one enjoying them the most."

Nahida secretly glanced at the pudding cup on the table, so clean that even the spoon had been licked spotless, and felt an urge to cover her face with both hands.

"If it's for defeating the Withering, do you still need my power?"

"This time, I can give you a little more."

Lesser Lord Kusanali had clearly chosen to selectively forget the terms of their previous deal.

"No, no. It wasn't easy for you to save up that little divine power to begin with, and it gets drained every day for all sorts of research. I don't want the next time I see you to be when you've turned into a baby."

Looking at Nahida, who was obviously being far too accommodating, Lin Feng felt both touched and speechless.

—She became like this over one little pudding. If this were his previous life, Lin Feng would have taken her around a dessert exhibition at least a few times.

Nahida: "..." If you know how to talk, then talk more.

"I'll be leaving first, then. The next time I come, I'll bring you even more gifts. You can look forward to it a little."

Lin Feng waved, rose from his seat, and prepared to leave.

"Wait!"

Nahida hurriedly stood up, quickly caught up to Lin Feng, pulled open his hand, and forcefully stuffed a leaf into it.

"Take this. If you truly encounter any danger, tear it apart, and I'll come help you."

Nahida stared firmly into the eyes of Lin Feng, whose face was full of refusal.

"Fine, fine, I'll take it, okay? Stop glaring at me." Discovering that Nahida had a stubborn side as well, Lin Feng could only put away the palm-sized emerald leaf.

"Oh, and if you have nothing to do, go out and wander around more. You can also find some Aranara to play with. Before long, you won't have so much free time."

Before disappearing, Lin Feng suddenly turned back and said something cryptic to Nahida, then vanished from the dream completely.

With Lin Feng's departure, the emerald dream returned to silence.

The scenery she had seen hundreds and thousands of times held no appeal for Nahida anymore.

Slowly walking back to the table where Lin Feng had sat, Nahida looked at the crystal-clear glass cup on it and suddenly realized that she no longer feared falling asleep as she usually did—today would surely bring a rare, wonderful dream.

Back inside his little box, Lin Feng sensed the emerald leaf that existed between reality and illusion within his Storage Space and let out a long breath. Who could have imagined that a small cup of Padisarah Pudding would provoke such a tremendous reaction from Nahida?

Then what would have happened if he had given her such a gift from the very beginning?

Would it have been the same as now?

No.

Lin Feng already had the answer in his heart.

Without their previous interactions, he would have been just like the countless people Nahida had helped before. Let alone becoming someone she could rely on, even getting to meet her once would probably have been extremely difficult.

Rather than being caused by that small pudding, Nahida's behavior today was the result of countless recent incidents piling up, creating a crack in the mask she used to protect herself. In the end, this unexpected gift had finally broken through her defenses.