At last, You Su had dispelled many of the doubts in his heart.
"How did Junior Sister know I had encountered a bad person?"
This was the root of how Junior Sister had learned that he had witnessed the might of that piece of rotten flesh.
"Mistress told me... including the time she stabbed you before. She wasn't trying to kill you either. She had discovered long ago that there was another evil presence around your neck."
"Mm, I figured as much." You Su nodded.
"Will Senior Brother blame us? We clearly knew you were in danger, yet we didn't tell you, and we didn't dare help you?"
"I believe that you and Mistress must have had your reasons for doing this."
You Su was always this gentle when speaking to those close to him. As he looked at the monster version of Junior Sister, there was no trace of anything unusual left in his eyes:
"Besides, one of you helped me cut away the hidden danger, while the other gave me a spirit pill. You both helped me tremendously."
"Senior Brother, you're so kind." Junior Sister's voice was gentle and graceful. From her voice alone, one could almost see a shy young girl with lush green hair lowering her head. "It's not that we didn't want to help you. We simply couldn't."
"Couldn't?"
"Mistress told me that consciousness couldn't exist elsewhere for long, because it was like a wanderer far from home—it would instinctively return to the main consciousness. And the best way to delay its reunification was to keep the separated consciousness from intersecting with reality.
"In other words, we should make the separated consciousness play the role of an independent individual as much as possible, preferably one that differed somewhat from its real-world self. Actually, Senior Brother, you noticed long ago that Mistress and I were a little different from our real selves, didn't you?"
No wonder he had long felt that the monster version of Junior Sister was less tsundere than her real self and more frank. Mistress had always been taciturn, but in his dreams, she was even colder.
The Junior Sister and Mistress he had seen in his dreams were like their real selves' clones, residing in his dreams just as an old grandfather lived inside the protagonist's ring.
After hearing this, You Su felt that Mistress truly was an extraordinary woman. Even in the despair of being possessed, she had actually borrowed the evil presence's power to accomplish such a heaven-defying feat.
"But Junior Sister, if you explain all this to me now, won't that also hasten your return?"
"Return" sounded like a warm and comforting word, but to the dream versions of Junior Sister and Mistress, it meant a cold disappearance. To their real-world selves, it meant an even more terrifying disaster.
"Since I decided that I would be honest with Senior Brother during this meeting, I won't regret it. After this, I may fall asleep for a while and seal away my consciousness. Likewise, Senior Brother, don't mention anything about the evil presence to our real selves. After all, from their perspective—that is, the perspective of the main consciousness—you don't know that they've been possessed. If you let them realize they've been possessed, it will only cause them more pain.
"If the main consciousness realizes that something is missing, it will accelerate our return. You have to keep pretending, just as you've always done, that you know nothing. Only then can we delay things until Senior Brother finds a way to save us. But you mustn't be impatient, either. Healing your injuries and becoming stronger should be the things you focus on first."
Hearing this, You Su felt a heart-wrenching pain. He knew full well what suffering the other person was enduring, yet could only pretend not to know and watch coldly from the sidelines. The only thing he could do was search for a way to save her behind her back, even though the hope was incredibly faint.
"I will." You Su's voice was heavy and firm.
Junior Sister rose again and said sadly, "This burden of a junior sister will feel so lonely knowing I won't see Senior Brother for some time. But I can't bear to see Senior Brother remain so confused, either, so there's nothing I can do."
The candlelight swayed in the breeze, and the monster's shadow trembled. On that grotesque body, You Su could see no evil or wickedness—only a warm and sensitive heart hidden beneath the sticky lumps of flesh.
Could one cry in a dream?
You Su tasted the salty wetness on his lips and found his answer.
When Junior Sister saw that You Su's eyes had actually reddened, she paced around twice in confusion. She wanted to reach out and wipe away his tears, but she didn't dare touch him with this body of hers, so she could only stand there stiffly, dumbstruck.
You Su wiped his eyes with his forearm, and his resolute expression returned. He wasn't afraid of the hand Junior Sister had stopped in midair; instead, he gently leaned toward it.
The fleshy arm covered in tiny tentacles trembled faintly. Junior Sister's hand was cold and wet with slime, but You Su savored the sensation and felt no disgust whatsoever.
He reached out and clasped Junior Sister's hand from behind. Completely disregarding the ghastly sores and slippery fluid, he said in the most solemn voice:
"Junior Sister, believe me. I will definitely save you all."
This was an oath the youth had made to himself countless times in his heart. This time, he finally made the promise aloud to her.
Beneath the candle and the moon, he had personally sworn an oath of undying devotion.
"I believe you."
Junior Sister no longer resisted his touch. Her spiral-shaped mouthpart rotated faintly, as if she were smiling—or crying.
Time seemed to freeze at that moment. The candlelight slanted gently, and the two shadows pressed tightly together.
In the end, Junior Sister was the first to pull away. She took an awkward step back, then clumsily raised her right hand. Just as she had earlier forced herself to laboriously raise her sword, she was saying goodbye.
"Junior Sister..."
"Senior Brother, you should wake up now."
Before he could say no, the colors in You Su's eyes began swirling together again until they turned murky. A powerful sensation of falling woke him, and the world he saw once more was still that familiar chaos.
You Su pushed aside the thin quilt and sat up, intending to rise and breathe the cool air outside.
He suddenly realized something was wrong. Before falling unconscious, he had clearly been leaning against the bed. Why had he awakened lying down, with the quilt neatly covering him?
Ji Lingruo's even breathing gave him the answer.
It turned out she still couldn't put her mind at ease. She had secretly come to You Su's room, intending to keep watch over him through the night, but in the end, she couldn't withstand her body's exhaustion and had already fallen asleep sprawled over the wooden table.
The shadows of the forest leaves swayed, while the night mist veiled the bright moon and scattered patches of dappled radiance.
A white-clad Fairy stood on the branch of an ancient tree, her graceful figure tall and slender.
Her face seemed veiled by a layer of mist as well, making it impossible to see clearly. She brought to mind a distant solitary mountain, yet also the lively waters of autumn.
Three thousand strands of black hair were gathered into an elegant bun, but even the azure jade hairpin set within it could not stop them from drifting and falling over her shoulders. Just as her plain, lotus-like dress, unadorned and tranquil, could not conceal the astonishing curves beneath it.
The moonlight did not make her more beautiful; rather, the moonlight became more beautiful because of her.
Elegance and nobility surrounded her. She was like the first snowflake to fall into the mortal world. Merely looking at her made one feel that she shouldn't be here, that she belonged on an immortal mountain wrapped in clouds and mist.
Fairy quietly gazed in one direction, a jade piece suffused with emerald light and already cooled clasped in her hand. Her delicate brows, like distant mountains, furrowed slightly.
The elegant and luxurious sword at her waist began trembling strangely at that very moment, its frequency growing faster and faster.
Fairy held it in her hand and examined it. This sword had no scabbard.
Suddenly, a deafening roar erupted from within the sword, shattering the tranquility:
"He Shutong, what the hell are you doing? My disciple nearly died—do you know that?"
Before you continue