Chapter 15 Dreamlike Retribution: "Today I repay you with my life, and tomorrow will be the next life..."

Jiu Su disrupted the small formation, the temperature in the private room warmed up, and the bubbles in the sukiyaki finally began to rise, filling the room with a fragrant aroma.

Qi Yun picked up Niannian, stroked its fluffy head, and asked Jiu Su for the second time, "Sir... oh no, senior, could you add me as a contact? You didn't approve my application last time, but I have some questions I'd like to ask."

"You can ask now."

Shu Qing: "..."

She had to pester me for ages before she finally added me, which is truly a case of treating everyone the same and keeping everyone at arm's length.

Qi Yun didn't think much of it—like Shu Qing, she imagined Jiu Su as some kind of "heir of a reclusive family." It's understandable that a hermit wouldn't want to have too much contact with ordinary people.

She just wanted to know if Niannian could really be that amazing in the future. After receiving a straightforward and uncompromising "It's very difficult," she interpreted this conclusion as "There's a chance" and kept asking about a series of methods, channels, and approaches.

Shu Qing ate quietly beside her. She had a fever and no appetite, so she ate very little, but she didn't forget to pack fresh salmon sashimi for her little snake demon.

Although Jiu Su was dealing with Qi Yun's questions, her eyes were constantly fixed on Shu Qing. Watching her movements, a barely perceptible trace of sorrow appeared in her eyes.

Concerned that Shu Qing was ill, the three of them ate quickly, finishing their meals in no time, and then prepared to say goodbye.

Qi Yun held Niannian in his left arm and reached out with his right hand to help Shu Qing up, asking, "Where do you live? Do you want me to take you home? I have a driver."

"No need," Shu Qing accepted her kindness, using her help to stand up, and said with a smile, "My house is right across the street, Jia—"

Darkness suddenly enveloped her, and the rest of her "plus" was cut off between her lips, never to be uttered again.

Qi Yun screamed, "Ah Shu!"

In the last moment before losing consciousness, Shu Qing felt as if she had fallen into a slightly cool embrace. Before her vision went completely black, she seemed to see Jiu Su's face. His aloof and self-assured expression, which seemed to have everything under control, almost cracked like a mask, revealing the bewilderment of a mortal being.

She wasn't sure if she had seen it wrong.

“Ashu…”

When a person is unconscious, they are not completely unconscious. She vaguely heard someone asking, "Why?"

It was a very familiar voice, but Shu Qing couldn't recall where she had heard it before. The voice was clear and indifferent, and even if it were pressed down by a thousand feet of solid ice, it couldn't suppress the trace of despair that came from the bottom.

She was saddened by what she heard, so she laboriously reached out her hand, wanting to offer some comfort.

However, this slight movement seemed to have triggered something, and she suddenly felt a tearing pain in her chest and abdomen, as if a sharp weapon had pierced through her body.

"What's going on?" Shu Qing wondered in surprise. "Didn't I have a fever?"

Could it be that the fever caused her to develop some other illness?

“I am an extremely wicked demon,” it was as if someone gently held her hand and embraced her, but the voice was still cold and devoid of warmth. “I have prayed to all the gods and Buddhas with three bows and nine prostrations, but they have refused to answer me. Now I am all alone, and I can barely be of any use. Please do not blame me.”

"What nonsense is this?" With the man's embrace, the pain in her body seemed to disappear, but Shu Qing was even more confused. "What evil monsters, gods and Buddhas?"

Monsters are now protected animals, while gods and Buddhas are people's refuge when they are helpless. Is it a joke to expect gods and Buddhas to cure her?

Then she heard her own voice saying, "Fool."

The sound seemed to emanate not from the throat or tongue, but from the brain, as if it were merely a thought never spoken aloud.

She heard herself thinking again: "I used to be enslaved by my heart, but now I can finally do whatever I want. You should congratulate me."

"..."

This experience was very familiar; it was a nightmare she used to frequently encounter.

She thought in surprise, "What the heck, there's a sequel to that dream?"

She was eagerly anticipating what would happen next, just like watching a drama unfold, when she heard the person suddenly chuckle very softly, as if mocking themselves, "It doesn't matter if you blame me."

His voice grew increasingly cold and hard, a tone that could only come from the deepest resentment and despair.

"This is the last time. After you wake up, I will never see you again. By then, you will remember nothing, and you will certainly not remember me."

"The past is over. Today I repay you with my life, but in the next life, we will never meet again!"

Wait a minute, having more friends means having more options. What wicked things did the original owner do that warrants such a vicious oath to never see each other again?

Shu Qing wanted to make a joke like she used to, but she felt as if she had been infected by that person's despair, and her heart felt so heavy that she could hardly breathe.

In her short life of just over twenty years, she had never experienced such despair as if it had been accumulated over a hundred or a thousand years.

She was nearly suffocated by the pressure, and finally could hear nothing more, sinking into deeper darkness.

When Shu Qing woke up again, she stared at the snow-white ceiling for almost a quarter of an hour before she truly woke up from this bizarre dream.

After looking around, she realized she was in a hospital.

She was in a bed on the side of the road. It was already broad daylight outside, so it seemed she had slept soundly until the next morning. An IV drip was attached to her arm, only halfway through, and there was no one else around her bed. The patient in the bed next to her, a middle-aged woman, was chatting animatedly with two women, perhaps sisters or close friends.

"Oh dear, little girl, you're awake," the woman smiled warmly at her. "Your boyfriend went to get you something to eat, and he asked me to tell you."

Before Shu Qing's melancholy could even surface, it was extinguished by the words "boyfriend." She quickly said in a hoarse voice, "Thank you, but he's not my boyfriend."

"It must have been Jiu Su who brought me to the hospital," she thought to herself. "She has already helped me a lot. If she knew that I let others misunderstand my relationship with him, she would definitely turn against me."

Just then, Jiu Su came in carrying an insulated lunchbox. When she heard Shu Qing quickly distance herself from the situation, her eyes dimmed for a moment.

He was still dressed in spotless white, walking through the door, almost giving one the illusion of an angel descending.

When he arrived at Shu Qing's bedside, he had completely composed himself. He nodded to the lady in the next bed and said to Shu Qing, "Eat something first now that you're awake."

As soon as the lid of the lunchbox was lifted, a delicious aroma wafted out, revealing a bowl of chicken soup noodles inside.

Not to mention that Shu Qing had no appetite while she was sick, even if she wanted to eat, she was too shocked to eat—she remembered now that Jiu Su's voice was exactly the same as the person in her dream!

It was only because Jiu Su's voice was cold and calm, without the deep emotions and bitterness of the person in her dream, that she didn't immediately remember.

"I..." She struggled to sit up, feeling weak and limp all over. She cleared her throat and asked, "Have we met before?"

"..." Jiu Su paused for a moment, "I shouldn't be a kind passerby who picked up a girl who was unconscious on the roadside."

Shu Qing said in a low voice, finding it difficult to speak, "I mean... I mean my past life."

Jiu Su remained silent this time, giving her a confused yet loving look before pulling out her medical report, seemingly wanting to see if she had suffered brain damage from the fever.

Shu Qing was a little embarrassed, and even suspected that she was hallucinating due to her high fever. Taking advantage of the situation, she followed up on the diagnosis report and asked, "What's wrong with me?"

"It's nothing. You just caught a cold and were also stressed out, which is why you suddenly fainted. Rest well for a couple of days and you'll be fine," Jiu Su told her calmly. "I asked Miss Qi to deal with those people online, so I'm here to take care of you."

The way she said that... it's as if "those people online" are her and his problem, and Qi Yun is just an outsider.

That eerie feeling inexplicably returned, so Shu Qing quickly cleared her mind, thanked him, took the chicken soup he offered, and asked, "What about Xiao Hong? Is it alright for her to be home alone?"

Jiu Su seemed pleased that she asked Xiao Hong as soon as she opened her eyes, a smile appearing in her eyes: "It's alright. After the IV drip is finished, you can go home. It will take care of itself for the next few hours."

Shu Qing was finally relieved. She stirred the chicken soup with a spoon. She didn't really want to drink it, but she couldn't refuse Jiu Su's kindness, so she lowered her head and took a small sip.

Then she blinked and took a big gulp.

I don't know where Jiu Su got the chicken soup from, but it was incredibly flavorful and delicious. The slightly warm temperature felt wonderfully comforting in my stomach. Shu Qing was sick yesterday and slept all day. She barely ate anything at the Japanese restaurant last night. All in all, she hadn't eaten properly for a whole day and night. She didn't feel hungry, but the fever had affected her appetite.

Now, the soup had whetted her appetite, and she ate it all in one go, feeling as if her limbs and bones had been ironed and warmed.

She flipped through the lunchbox, looking for the brand name to enrich her food collection, only to be told by Jiu Su, "I made it."

Shu Qing: "..."

The atmosphere became even more subtly awkward...

"Your cooking is really good," she said, forcing herself to speak. "But I'm really sorry to trouble you like this. When I get home, I'll ask my best friend to come over and keep me company. I feel really bad for taking up so much of your time."

Jiu Su paused, glanced at her coolly, and said with a hint of mockery, "I never intended to go to your house to take care of you."

Just as Shu Qing was so embarrassed that she was about to fidget, the middle-aged woman next to her spoke up, "Oh dear, young man, you can't pursue a girl like that! You have to let her know that you're good to her. Who would turn their back on someone who's sick like that!"

Jiu Su: "…………"

He almost choked on his breath, and after a long pause, he said in a sinister tone, "I'm not pursuing her."

“Yes, yes.” Shu Qing quickly chimed in, “He’s doing a good deed, doing good deeds and accumulating merit.”