Ding Baiying brushed past Gary, saber in hand. "Just this one strike. Remember your promise."
With that, she prepared to leave the back courtyard.
Gary turned to watch her dashing figure retreat, his mind filled with the image of her mangled remains after the Emperor Chongzhen betrayed her and she died beneath a flurry of blades.
Perhaps he could not bear it, or perhaps he wanted to make up for that small regret in his heart.
On impulse, he called out to Ding Baiying as she was leaving. "Miss Ding, please wait!"
Ding Baiying stopped and turned back, saying coldly, "You have already achieved your purpose, Eunuch. Please leave."
"I have something important to discuss with you. Please send the others away, Miss Ding," Gary said at once.
After a moment's hesitation, Ding Baiying said, "There is a secluded private room upstairs. Please follow me, Eunuch."
They went up to the teahouse's second floor, one behind the other, and Ding Baiying led Gary into a room in the corner.
Without standing on ceremony, she sat down at the table first and asked suspiciously, "What else do you have to say, Eunuch?"
Gary stood awkwardly in the doorway. He snapped his fingers and altered the dream.
"Pfft!"
Once the alteration was complete, Gary spat out a mouthful of blood. He felt so dizzy that he could not remain standing.
Ding Baiying had no idea what was happening. All she saw was Gary suddenly producing a small box out of thin air, as though performing a magic trick. Then this Eunuch Xi inexplicably vomited blood and collapsed to the floor.
"Eunuch Xi? With such a frail constitution, you should go home and recuperate."
Gary struggled to get up but had no strength at all. He thought, Damn, I think I overdid it.
"Miss Ding, could you help me up?"
Ding Baiying glanced at Gary in disgust. "Men and women must not touch. Even if you have been castrated, Eunuch, it would still be highly improper."
Gary sighed and held out the tablet computer in his hand to Ding Baiying. "Take this, Miss Ding. Your future survival depends on it."
Puzzled, Ding Baiying rose and took the tablet from Gary. She examined it from every angle and exclaimed, "What an unusual mirror. Could this be your gift in return, Eunuch?"
"This isn't a mirror... I mean, it isn't an ordinary mirror. This is the Mirror of Rebirth. Through it, you can see the future of you and your senior fellow disciple."
Ding Baiying could not help sneering. "Do you take me for a three-year-old, Eunuch? If you possessed such immortal arts, would you still need to seek me out to learn martial arts?"
Gary weakly raised his hand and pointed to the side of the tablet. "There is a small button on the side of the mirror. Press it gently, and the Mirror of Rebirth will turn on."
Ding Baiying felt around with her fingers and did indeed find a rather inconspicuous button.
Dubiously, she pressed it. The tablet's screen instantly lit up, and the speaker on its side began making sounds.
Ding Baiying was so startled that she nearly threw the tablet away.
Gary hurriedly warned her, "Careful. The Mirror of Rebirth can't withstand a fall."
He had custom-made this tablet. It contained no complicated operating system, only a single movie playing.
To avoid trouble, he had even specifically cut out the opening and closing credits and the title.
"Th-this is my senior fellow disciple?" Ding Baiying stared fixedly at the tablet, both hands trembling.
Gary had assumed she would keep watching, but to his surprise, after only a few minutes, Ding Baiying came over holding the tablet to ask him a question.
"Eunuch, how do I turn off this Mirror of Rebirth?"
"You're not watching anymore? The footage that comes later is what matters. That's your future."
Ding Baiying's voice was trembling too. "I want to fetch my senior fellow disciple and watch this Mirror of Rebirth with him..."
Gary sighed inwardly. This foolish woman really did love her senior fellow disciple deeply. He wondered whether he would be fortunate enough to meet a woman who treated him this way someday.
"All right. Just press the button again, and the Mirror of Rebirth will go into sleep mode. But remember, the Mirror of Rebirth will only play once. You must make the most of this opportunity."
Ding Baiying bent into a deep bow. "Thank you for granting me this immortal blessing, Eunuch. I am anxious to find my senior fellow disciple. Forgive my discourtesy."
In such a hurry that she ignored the door and stairs, she actually used her lightness skill and leaped straight out the window.
"What's the rush? At least send someone to take me back first!"
Gripping the doorframe, Gary shakily hauled himself up from the floor.
No good deed goes unpunished. Morals are declining, and people aren't what they used to be.
"When it comes down to it, what am I even thinking? They're all fake. When the dream dissipates, they'll disappear along with it. Why did I suddenly start taking this seriously?"
He now felt like a gamer who had just spent money on gacha pulls, left feeling both empty and deeply regretful. Huh? How many pounds of pork could I have bought with 648 yuan? What's the point of pulling? At its core, isn't it all just a string of code?
After venting his complaints, he began shuffling along, slowly making his way down the corridor and stairs.
Seeing how much trouble he had walking, the teahouse attendants assumed Ding Baiying had beaten him up. Rather than coming forward to help, they all wore gloating expressions.
Gary remained unperturbed. As he slowly headed toward the inn where Arya was staying, he replayed Ding Baiying's saber strike in his mind.
Inside the inn.
Although two days and two nights had passed outside, Arya felt she had spent less than three hours in the room.
She was not a character created by the dream, so naturally she was unaffected by the accelerated time.
"Oh my, I haven't seen you for two days, my lord! How did you get hurt so badly? Someone, come quickly! Help his lordship back to his room!"
The innkeeper's shouts rang out downstairs, and then two burly attendants carried the weakened Gary back to his room.
"Luke, Luke, what's wrong?" Arya was almost in tears with worry.
The two attendants looked as though they had seen a ghost when they spotted her. After putting Gary on the bed, they ran out of the room without looking back. "Innkeeper! That little foreigner suddenly appeared again!"
Because Gary had frequently accelerated time, Arya had vanished for a long stretch in the eyes of everyone else at the inn.
Gary could not be bothered with any of that. He was in terrible shape now, his body feeling on the verge of collapse. Who could have imagined that walking a mere few hundred meters would take him almost two hours!
He leaned weakly against the head of the bed and held out his right hand. "Arya, come hold my hand. We're leaving this dream."
Arya nodded vigorously. "Yes, let's hurry back. We won't take revenge anymore."
Just then, however, a man and a woman suddenly leaped in through the window.
The newcomers were Lu Wenzhao and Ding Baiying. They surveyed the people in the room. Ding Baiying went to shut the door, while Lu Wenzhao approached Gary's bedside.
"Immortal master, how did you become so weak?"
Gary coughed a few times. "I have revealed too many heavenly secrets. I do not have long to live. I'm afraid I can no longer help you. Please leave, both of you."
Lu Wenzhao and Ding Baiying knelt and kowtowed. "Immortal master, you have helped us fellow disciples so much, yet we have no way to repay you. We are deeply ashamed! We came only to repay your kindness and ask for nothing else."
"Do you have any wishes, immortal master? We will do everything in our power to fulfill them for you."
Gary's eyes lit up, and he blurted out, "Why don't the two of you demonstrate all your Qi Family Martial Arts for me?"
Before you continue