“I even saw a post that was especially interesting. It talked about someone who was incredibly similar to you in the last dream. And not only that, he even solved it.”
Amber, probably. She had read about Aspen in those posts in the first place, so she must have opened up her own. She wanted to share the way to survive the dreams, surely, and talk about her experiences with “River and Aspen”. He was a bit curious about what she wrote.
“You were in the last dream?”
Ling Xian was dangerously quiet, but lying wasn’t going to help here.
The post must have told the truth about most things anyway. He’d admit what he was asked. The time for lies was over.
“Yes.”
“And you solved it?”
“I did what I believe is necessary to survive the dreams, yes.”
How much had Amber written about Aspen and Deer? It was hard to guess what she had focused on.
“Why don’t you tell us about what happened?”
It was Nan Yu speaking, in place of his sister. She leaned back comfortably on the sofa, thick eyelashes hiding her dark eyes.
So Tian Zhu narrated as he was ordered to, in the blandest and shortest way possible. It was more of a boring summary than the exciting tale he could have told.
He didn’t name anyone. He had worked together with “others”, and “everyone” did things. Whoever did what, who had which idea, he conveniently skipped it over. He knew how sensitive Ling Xian was to any sign of his intelligence.
However, he kept his story about not doing anything with Aspen in the school game. There were no witnesses for that.
“Who were you with?” Shu Yun didn’t let him escape that easily.
“Six others”, Tian Zhu answered correctly. “Two girls and four guys.”
“The author of the post was a girl. It was very interesting because she mentioned that there was a murderer following you around like an obedient guard dog.”
The word “murderer” was the key point.
It had Ling Xian’s already narrow eyes lower even further, his fingers curling on his lap into fists.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Ca atlr qblca, tf kjr rajgalcu ab ecvfgrajcv.
This wasn’t a simple misfortune. Shu Yun was doing all of this on purpose, right in front of Ling Xian, because she was angry.
Dfmjerf Kljc Ite tjv cba byfsfv tfg, tjv cba jqqgbjmtfv tfg jr rtf tjv jrxfv ab afii tfg fnfgsatlcu jybea atf vgfjwr. Lf tjvc’a ilrafcfv ab tfg kbgvr, rb cbk rtf kjr qeclrtlcu tlw, “glutaoeiis” jr atf oeaegf wlragfrr bo atf tberf.
All of these people had a serious god complex, and it felt so much more ridiculous now that Tian Zhu had met the Gamblers, who were so much closer to gods than any human could be.
I don’t want to deal with this.
Shu Yun was angry, so Ling Xian would be angry. But a happy Shu Yun meant a Shu Yun he talked to, which also made Ling Xian angry.
So what was he to do, when there was not a single right option?
Tian Zhu closed his eyes behind his glasses for a second. Then he lifted a hand to cover his mouth.
He allowed his senses to focus on the constant nausea that the withdrawal was enveloping him in and led his thoughts to the look, smell and taste of some greasy meals.
“I apologize”, he forced out, feeling the pressure on his stomach intensify. “I’m not feeling well.”
And with that he ran to the nearest bathroom, throwing up what little he had managed to eat today.
What a beautiful excuse to leave this was.
The twins stayed for several hours, not forcing Tian Zhu to stay, more out of respect for the family rather than because they were being nice.
When they left, Ling Xian ascended the stairs, entering Tian Zhu’s room without knocking.
The younger man was slouching in an armchair, half dozing and forcing down tiny sips of water while a random movie was playing on a quiet volume.
The door fell shut behind Ling Xian, his steps heavy as he approached. His shadow loomed over Tian Zhu, who barely managed to keep his eyes open due to how heavy his eyelids felt.
“You met the man from last time.”
“I did.” Tian Zhu’s mutter was slurred.
“You didn’t tell me? He was listening to you?”
The younger brother moved his arms to sit himself up a bit straighter. He sighed at the pounding in his head that the movement caused. “I don’t know how to find him. He just played along with the others in us trying to solve the game.”
Ling Xian crossed his arms. He leaned against the desk, assuming a position that made him seem like he was interrogating Tian Zhu.
At least he didn’t ask more about Aspen. Maybe by now he had realized that something was off about the guy – if even he couldn’t find him, how would Tian Zhu be able to?
“Solve the game, you say. How did you get that idea?”
Tian Zhu’s consciousness was slipping.
It was because of this that he was unable to control himself well, his head tilting to the side and slumping against the chair.
“They’re levels”, he mumbled, half asleep. “Different game maps with fixed NPCs… There’s a spawn point in a safe zone and if you fail the level, you return to it. Every time you fail, you lose a life, and if you have none left, the game ends. If it’s so similar, I don’t know why no one ever noticed…”
“Even if someone had that idea, how would they dare try? They’d be risking their life for a guess. You… How did a coward like you try this?”
“It wouldn’t be any worse than here…”
The sentence was half swallowed up by Tian Zhu’s deep breathing.
Ling Xian didn’t move for quite some time, just observing his younger brother who was succumbing to the exhaustion of the withdrawal that he was causing.
So many years of complete control and Tian Zhu still wasn’t broken.
How? How could this guy be so resilient?
He knew that Tian Zhu thought of his apathetic behavior as a weakness, but Ling Xian didn’t agree. Sure, he was one of the people who always whispered into Tian Zhu’s ears that his behavior was weak, but…
He knew it wasn’t true. Tian Zhu’s silence, his adaption to the circumstances, his obedience – they weren’t mindless. He wasn’t a slave without a will, no, he was actively doing all these things in order to pacify everyone around him as best as possible.
That wasn’t the behavior of someone who had given up completely.
This wasn’t what surrender looked like.
Ling Xian left the room quietly, taking a swerve down the hallway to enter his mother’s room.
“Mom”, he called out gently and Yang Mi raised her head from her documents to smile at him.
“Darling! How did it go with Shu Yun today? Is everything alright?”
“Yes. There’s no problem with the engagement.” Ling Xian took a seat on the chair right next to his mother. His expression was one of childish grievance, and it always made the older woman soften up. “Mom… Tian Zhu has found a way to survive the dreams. He’s… solving them, like a puzzle.”
The smile on Yang Mi’s face stiffened for a split second. She immediately corrected it, brushing a hand through her son’s hair. “Don’t think so much about him. I’ve talked to your father, we are already preparing a house for him. He will move out as soon as possible and you won’t have to think about him anymore.”
Ling Xian didn’t think that that was a good idea. Allowing Tian Zhu to be away from them might just backfire, even though it was supposed to be imprisonment. “Mom… Can’t we do something?”
“Oh darling…” Yang Mi cupped her son’s face. She smiled oh so sweetly, her words not matching her tone. “Don’t forget your status. Why bother with him, hm? Just ignore him. He can’t do anything to you. We don’t want you to dirty your hands.”
Ling Xian deflated.
Despite everything, he was very obedient to his parents… or his mother, mostly. She was excellent at dealing with high society, so he always took her words seriously.
If she said he couldn’t kill Tian Zhu, then he wouldn’t.
“He’s been rather sickly recently. Moving out might do him good, don’t you think so?”
The comment hid several questions that Ling Xian immediately recognized. He cocked his head, thinking. Since the Deer had died, he would have to find another dealer to work with. As fun as it was to watch Tian Zhu suffer, the side-effect of him being unable to eat could kill him via malnutrition.
He’d ask his friends who could recommend him someone. He only needed a small dosis, just enough that Tian Zhu could survive so that his mother would be happy.
“Yes, you’re right. I’m sure he will feel better”, Ling Xian replied with a perfect smile.
Pleased, Yang Mi nodded. Her son caught up fast. They could have talked more openly, but you never knew who might be listening in and it was a good practice for him to get used to this style of speaking. Once more, she rubbed his head. “Always remember you’re our pride and joy. Your father and I will make sure that you have a beautiful wedding with nothing else to worry about.”
Ling Xian’s cheeks didn’t show his blush, but they did heat up.
He’d been looking forward to marrying Shu Yun for a long time and now he was finally reaching his goal.
A beautiful and strong woman, elegant and proud, with a great background and a lot of skills. She’d be the ideal partner both at home and at work.
With his rosy future in sight, Ling Xian relaxed.
Right, there was nothing that could go wrong.
Jesus christ that brother’s a dick
I agree, he and his stupid wife are a perfect match.
At the last sentence I just said to myself: if you only knew!
It hurts to eat shit after a sugar like “the game”, =_=”.
Thank you very much for the chapter, I can’t wait to read the rest ^^.
When the “horror game” is less terrifying than reality…
Well, the horror is clearly present, but I find myself quite well in the reality of River. I did not suffer the same kind of trauma, and fortunately; but this feeling of abandoning oneself, I know it too well. It reminds me of a sentence I had read: “the dead are less scary than the living.”
(That said, I’m talking about sugar because I like the dynamics of River and Aspen, with the horror-themed puzzles. kiss chief 👌.)
I just feel the hate and the disgust coming up in my throat… the game feel much more like freedom than reality…
At this point, I want River to be Aspen so bad. Just finally turning off the annoying flies around him xD
There will go LX , lot of things are going to go wrong for you guys. Aspen and River they both gonna crush you! Beware!!!