Chapter 34 Painful Consolation
Chapter 34: Painful Consolation
“This is a dream, little one, so you can do anything you want.”
“Everything began with this girl—your fate, your pain, your struggle. In this dream, you can take it all back from her.”
“And the real her won’t be harmed one bit. Don’t you think this is a good opportunity to ‘relax’?”
Huoxin’s seductive words continued to echo around him.
Her voice contained snickers, mockery, and coldness.
“You needn’t worry about going too far. This dream is woven from my glimpses into their memories, and it will automatically repair itself according to those memories.”
“It will then return to this day, opening a new round of the game for you.”
“You can enjoy it to your heart’s content.”
Huoxin was highly empathetic, not in a derogatory sense.
Precisely because she could savor the wonder of various emotions, she could apply them so masterfully.
After casting her technique and glimpsing a corner of Luo Hongyu and Gu Jing’s true hearts, she created this absurd grand dream.
This dream targeted at Luo He—warm, yet filled with malice.
Look at him in their memories—soul stolen, leashed like a dog to the instigator’s side.
The source of his pain was right beside him, enjoying what was his, yet shamelessly unaware of everything, treating him with cold indifference.
And throughout this long, painful time, the only one who showed him any kindness was, hilariously, the person who most needed him dead.
Huoxin was truly curious—from Luo He’s perspective, what did all of Gu Jing’s actions amount to?
The observing Huoxin only sensed bone-chilling irony from Gu Jing, an irony that made her laugh.
He endured pain not his own, carried expectations not meant for him, living like mud, as if born to be trampled under Luo Hongyu’s feet.
With such experiences, Huoxin couldn’t believe there was no hatred in his heart, no thoughts of returning everything with interest.
If there wasn’t, then the hatred wasn’t deep enough. No matter—Huoxin would draw out his hatred in this dream.
Once successful, this dream would never end.
And Luo Hongyu would never reach her breakthrough day.
Huoxin still didn’t understand why Luo He would fight so desperately for Luo Hongyu, but she had no energy to concern herself with that now.
She hid outside the dream, waiting for Luo He’s actions.
But Luo He responded to neither Huoxin nor the dream Luo Hongyu, instead walking silently to the small garden’s pond to gaze at his reflection.
He wasn’t wearing his mask, but he couldn’t see his face clearly.
He tried saying a few phrases—he could feel himself speaking, but couldn’t hear clearly.
This made sense, since neither Luo Hongyu nor Gu Jing had memories of his true appearance or voice.
“How do I leave this dream?”
Luo He splashed some water on his face, stood up, and asked in the direction of Huoxin’s voice.
“Hey, who are you talking to?”
Luo Hongyu’s dissatisfied voice rang out, but Luo He didn’t acknowledge her.
“Heh… do you think I would tell you?”
“Since this is a dream woven from memories, I imagine once the memories reach their end, the dream can no longer continue.”
“…Do you know, your comprehension is good enough to make me sick.”
Luo He understood Huoxin’s intentions.
Luo Hongyu and Gu Jing now likely had scripts written by Huoxin in their hands.
Once he deviated from the character of Luo He in this script, the dream would, as Huoxin said, simply restart.
And Huoxin clearly had no true control over this dream, otherwise she could have trapped them forever—why waste words?
So all he needed to do was be an actor.
Playing a role—a self he didn’t recognize.
A Luo He who might have once lived in Gu Jing and Luo Hongyu’s hearts.
This must be an extremely unfriendly script toward him, Luo He could imagine.
Because Huoxin’s voice was confident—she was absolutely certain he would be completely provoked in the dream, going mad and destroying everything, wandering endlessly in the dream.
Well, let’s see about that.
Directly ignoring Huoxin’s endless chatter, Luo He shook his head and wiped the water drops from his face.
It was a beautiful spring morning, with lush greenery covering Zhishui Peak.
Luo He turned around to face the pretty, spirited girl standing before him, just as she had been when they first met.
Luo He actually understood Luo Hongyu very well—he had accompanied her throughout her life so far, seen her good side as well as her less admirable side that she never showed to others.
So he had a fair idea of what was in Luo Hongyu’s mind.
Though he had long forgotten how it felt to make expressions, the smile that appeared on his face came so naturally that even he was surprised.
“Hello, Young Mistress Luo.”
He fluently pieced together five words he would probably never say in his real life.
Luo Hongyu leaned on her sword, looking at this strange child who had just been talking to himself.
The moment he turned to face her, for some reason, she suddenly felt that his eyes were… so beautiful…
As if to hide her embarrassment, her cheeks tinged pink and she turned her head slightly.
“Wh-what ‘Young Mistress’? That sounds weird.”
“Others say you’re Senior Sister Gu’s child. Senior Sister Gu is my father’s disciple, so by seniority, you should call me Aunt.”
“Then, Aunt Luo.”
“Waaah… you’d better call me Young Mistress after all!”
This should have been a beautiful scene of innocent childhood sweethearts.
In early spring, a girl encounters a boy she doesn’t yet know will accompany her for life.
But after speaking these words, the boy no longer looked at the person before him, instead habitually lowering his gaze.
Settled in those pupils was something unchanged through all these years—a detachment from the world.
A stillness like an ancient well, or rather…
Complete indifference.
…
“You’re back!”
Starlight flowed through the night, outside the window was a sea of twilight stillness.
Gu Jing saw that thin figure push open the door and enter. Her already gentle brows immediately brightened with joy.
As her young, delicate face changed with this expression, hints of a virtuous wife and loving mother emerged.
She put down her needlework and immediately went to welcome him, gently taking him into her embrace.
She looked at the boy before her, carefully stroking his hair.
This boy was called Luo He, a name she had asked the Sect Master to help choose.
In her memory, three years ago, she was ordered to hunt down a demonic sword cultivator who had fled from the Sword Sect.
Unexpectedly, as she pressed hard on his heels, the traitor chose to massacre an entire village to gather blood power for a desperate final battle against her.
Though she ultimately defeated the traitor, facing the village strewn with corpses, her heart still bore immense torment.
Fortunately, amid the ruins, she discovered the infant Luo He, still clinging to a thread of life.
She brought him back to the Sword Sect and raised him under her own peak.
Everyone joked that she had brought home a son. At first Gu Jing would refute this, but gradually, she felt that this… might not be so bad.
She had an obligation to care for him this way, didn’t she?
Moreover, for some unknown reason, Gu Jing always felt she could find a certain heartbreaking consolation in him.
Vaguely, she believed it was something she needed.