"It's about to rain. Hurry inside."
Ai Enma waved to Jiu Ming from inside the house. Even though there was not a single trace of rain on him, the torrential downpour outside, accompanied by crashing thunder, still made her call out to him.
"Oh... okay."
Jiu Ming looked up at the sky, shook his head, and headed toward the little house. It really was a dream. Even this kind of rainstorm was only this much—there was none of that overwhelming force of heaven and earth. Or perhaps he had surpassed the limits of this dream by too much to feel it?
"Hey... do you hate me?"
Sitting inside the little house, Jiu Ming stared at the firelight on the low table and asked.
Ai Enma's hand paused slightly as she poured the water. After her parents had been rescued that day, she had not experienced the joy of a reunited family. Instead, she had received only their rejection and fear. The reason was simple: Jiu Ming was a monster, and she was together with him.
Perhaps in her parents' eyes, she had long since become one of the monsters as well, rather than their daughter.
"No." She shook her head. "As long as my parents are safe and well, that is enough. I am also deeply grateful for the care you've shown me all these years."
"With you here, I feel safe."
"Is that so?"
Jiu Ming raised an eyebrow slightly and parted his lips, but did not say what he had been about to say. The atmosphere in the house fell silent, save for the increasingly violent thunder outside.
The world outside the little house looked as though it were collapsing. The clouds pressed down, growing heavier and heavier, while the little house seemed like a barrier separating it