Chapter 63 [Extra] Lantern Festival 4
In the sea of consciousness of Reina Asai Zoe.
It was a vast, dark, deep swamp, with countless narrow paths crisscrossing it. It was impossible to tell the direction, and there was no exit or end.
Su Xi opened his eyes. This was the place where all the top spiritual counselors sent by the empire had failed.
A maze deliberately created by other people's consciousness, a malicious entrance to the spiritual world.
"Leila Asay——"
Facing this endless malice, she called out loudly, and over and over again, the name of the master of this spiritual world echoed in the sky above this evil swamp.
'Who?' The noisy whispers echoed from deep in the earth, with a sleepy feeling that seemed to be about to fall into eternal sleep, 'Who is calling my past name.'
Su Xi felt troubled and did not respond to the consciousness's question immediately. She was thinking about why the ignorant but innocent boy had become like this.
"It's me." She responded hesitantly, and as if recognizing her, the gloomy sky suddenly cracked open, leaking a few rays of orange light.
'Tell me your name!' the voice said anxiously, 'if it is right, I will open the door for you. Otherwise, you will die here!'
Su Xi sighed softly. This was truly his style.
'Su Xi.' With just two simple words, the mysterious door of personal consciousness suddenly descended from the sky and opened completely before her without any warning.
Su Xi once again entered Reina Assayi's spiritual world.
*
In the long descending passage.
She endured the most violent storms on the 'surface consciousness sea' and experienced the extreme coldness of the 'peak of the manifest consciousness',
Until she followed the undercurrent and came to the deepest part of the darkest swamp of human nature.
Originally, this place should have been filled with evil intentions, but unexpectedly, because of her arrival, the dangerous swamp was paved with fragrant and fluttering white flowers, and she had to walk through it barefoot.
Finally, Su Xi came to the 'real' vision that represents psychological reflection, the mirror lake that reflects everything.
She looked down, and Cheng Liang's liquid mirror reflected her in his mind...
In the vast and boundless "psychological mirror lake" in Leila Assay's heart, she returned to the time when she first landed in this interstellar era, the first time the two met, and the ferocious look of their first confrontation.
She was wearing a simple white dress and her honey brown curly hair just reached her shoulders.
The only difference was that there was no blood or stains on her body from the confrontation; everything was as new as before.
"You're finally here." When she was unaware, a pair of strong arms appeared behind her and held her waist tightly. The hot temperature passed through the thin clothes, and it felt like the real thing.
The tall blond alpha hugged her from behind.
He sighed in her ear.
The voice was somewhere between that of a teenager and an adult, and he murmured with a hint of grievance, "Why didn't you come to see me for so long?"
Su Xi couldn't turn around or move. In the other person's sea of consciousness, the other person was the supreme ruler. Other invaders, if they didn't fight, could only be puppets to be manipulated.
But she was stronger than him, even much stronger.
Strong enough to ignore the rules.
Su Xi moved, but she just gently patted the hands around her waist and said, "Let me go, Asay, let me see what happened to you."
The iron arms loosened, but did not let go. The big leopard behind her threw his messy golden hair on her shoulders like a scoundrel.
"No!" came the muffled but clear voice of a very aggrieved young man.
Su Xi lowered her head, and the pair of adult male arms gradually turned into a pair of young beastman arms as the other party acted coquettishly, with leopard fur faintly extending at the wrists...
She sighed and continued to nag like an old mother: "You! Leveling up is a good thing, but you can't rush it, it will be unstable. Besides, you have S-level orc genes, and your mental development is not stable..."
"Stop! You nagging Su Xi!" The arm let go of her, and her messy blond hair brushed against her cheek. A loud and dissatisfied complaint came from behind: "Here you go again!"
She was about to turn around and look back.
However, in just a blink of an eye, she was standing on the playground of a middle school.
"Hey!" The leopard-eared boy in junior high school uniform turned his back to him and threw two schoolbags on his back. "What are you still dawdling about? Hurry up and follow me!"
Su Xi was stunned for a moment, recalling the illusory past that happened before this scene. She could only helplessly follow the young man's back, who was as thin as a bamboo pole, and walk slowly.
Classrooms, students playing, sports games going on in the playground...
On the boundless "psychological mirror lake", they pass through paper-like fragments of memory one by one.
Then more memories passed by, scattered across the sky like a paper shredder, and these fragments floated past one by one without wind.
Some of the pictures include her, and some do not.
Finally.
Many years later, Su Xi stood on the charred land again.
Hunger. Poverty. The scramble for scarce resources.
Although this was just a memory that Asai had long forgotten, for some unknown reason, the fragments of his childhood suffering were resurrected one by one.
Then they stopped in front of the most damaged fragment, and the leopard-eared boy walked straight in without looking back.
Alas! Asay!
Su Xi quickly followed him. Of course she knew! The memory fragment was——
*
After a slight dizziness from the scene change.
Su Xi caught up with the young boy's frail back and stood side by side with him in silence.
Accompany him to review those unbearable past.
In the simple kennel, a five or six-year-old dirty cat-eared long-tailed loli with a broken tail was hugging a boy with a high fever and crying loudly!
"Asay, don't leave me! Leila is scared!"
"Don't leave me! Leila promises to be good! I don't want anything else!"
Little Loli choked with sobs. With her trembling skinny little hands, she struggled to take out a wrinkled candy wrapper from her pocket, opened it, and passed it to the unconscious boy, crying softly, "Asay, the candy beans are gone, but I secretly picked up the candy wrapper. Lick it, it's very sweet!"
"I promise I won't cheat! Please wake up! Leila is so scared!"
The young orc Loli was weak and malnourished. She cried so much that she fell asleep while holding the unconscious boy in her arms.
Next to the two of them, there was a shadow standing in a torn white dress. It was Su Xi at that time.
The ferocious brown-haired girl, half covered in blood, was entering another person's spiritual world for the first time, and it was by accident.
However, seeing this unexpected scene, she was obviously at a loss. She had never thought that she, who had been wandering in this spiritual world for so long, would see such a situation.
The brown-haired girl's empathy allowed her to resonate emotionally with the crying little cat-eared girl, but as an alien invader, she could only watch as a phantom eye, and more cruel things happened one after another.
The leopard-eared boy, whose body was almost like a tattered rag doll, opened his eyes slightly, and obviously noticed the shadow of the outsider. The brown-haired girl knew that the little girl Leila could not hear words or see people, but she was still busy in vain.
"How stupid." He closed his eyes tiredly and lifelessly.
Give up hope and wait for death quietly.
The boy and girl continued to be bullied on the straw mat in the shed. Finally, one day, they could no longer keep their shed and were driven out. They could only find a dry stone under the dark and damp bridge tunnel and rest temporarily.
But what's the point of settling down here? Just waiting to die.
However, the orc's genes caused the dying boy to regretfully miss the sweet eternal sleep at the 'critical point of death' time and time again.
Reina Asai, who stood side by side with Su Xi, recalled what he felt at that time. There was nothing to regret about dying, but there was nothing to be happy about living.
At that time, he was filled with only violence and world-weariness, like a rotten swamp that filled him completely.
"Look," Reina Asai, who was standing next to Su Xi, suddenly said, "He wouldn't have died without you."
"And what you did is really annoying!" The boy's clear voice gradually turned into the deep voice of an adult alpha. He leaned close to her ear and whispered, "Isn't it? It's hypocritical and unnecessary..."
As he was speaking, the rainy and humid scene in the memory fragments changed. The originally gloomy sky was still gloomy, but in this dim dusk, lights were lit up.
At the end of the light, the original virtual shadow gradually solidified. The former Su Xi was holding a simple rabbit lantern and standing at the end of the light.
She said, "Leila, bring Asay here."
The brown-haired girl leaned slightly to the side, revealing a verdant path where the hem of her white skirt lifted. The winding path was dotted with tiny white and fragrant flowers, swaying softly in the wind.
For Su Xi, the girl who had just traveled to this era, she could not get close to them in her memory, nor could she change the collapsed past. But in this chaotic and empty space, she could rebuild her ideal country.
However, this ideal country is to serve others.
Although, she was ignorant at that time and did not know how dangerous her decision was.
There have been cases where a kingdom of illusion was created in the master's memory. Either one is trapped in the brain of another person until the invading mental energy is exhausted, resulting in brain death of the main body. Or one is completely lost in the other's memory maze, and even if lucky enough to survive, one will lose one's independent will.
But the ignorant and reckless girl happened to meet another ignorant and naive boy.
"I built a home for you."
A girl with long honey-brown hair stood at the end of the passage and smiled at them.
"Come on, I'm Su Xi," she extended an inviting hand, "Let me take care of you until you reach adulthood, okay?"
*
The two people standing at the edge of the screen watched the three people's backs gradually disappear. The screen then disappeared without a trace like melting snow under the scorching sun.
"You liar." Reina Asai turned to look at Su Xi. He was half a head taller than her, his golden eyes were lowered, and there was a hint of hatred in his tone.
Su Xi had no choice but to let him pinch her neck and passively endure the pressure from him.
Fortunately, as a spiritual being much stronger than him, she was not actually injured. She was just concerned about Asai's unstable state and did not dare to struggle hard.
"You created an illusion for me that never happened..."
"You know, when I broke through 4S and finally gained control of my own spiritual world, I discovered," he suddenly sneered, "that death is real death, and what is broken has never been complete..."
"This world is still so hateful that I want to destroy it..."
He approached her, foreheads touching, speaking hateful words, but his golden eyes flashed with another emotion.
"But you..."
He suppressed himself and breathed heavily. The world around him was in turmoil due to his emotions. There was a violent scene with flying sand and dark clouds.
"Asay!" Su Xi sighed, carefully controlling her strength and gently but firmly pushing him away: "This is your 'absolute domain', I won't do anything here, if there is anything, let's talk about it after we get out, okay?"
This behavior is too ambiguous. He is no longer the ignorant leopard-eared boy from that year.
Maybe after this incident is resolved, she should stay away from him a little bit, so that the one at home won't always get angry with her because of this incident.
Su Xi started to have a headache thinking about how she would have to completely appease that lover who seemed rational and calm, reasonable and easy to talk to, but was actually the most difficult type to deal with.
*
And for Reina Asay, yes! This is his personal spiritual realm that he absolutely dominates.
So he clearly felt Su Xi's emotions and the intentions she expressed. The adult Reina Asai dimmed his eyes, slowly loosened his hand, and stood a little further away from her.
He didn't really mean to hurt her.
He just habitually adopted the previous mode of getting along with each other, although, that kind of getting along was just an illusory interaction in the land of illusion.
Such unconditional doting and wholehearted care.
Neither of them had ever existed, making his feelings for her in reality suddenly meaningless.
The calm Mirror Lake beneath their feet gradually began to rise with gloomy dust.
She said nothing, just looked at him.
As a guest, her presence clearly expressed her intention. As for when and how to leave, of course, everything depended on the host's wishes.
"Come on," Reina Assayi quickly adjusted his mood. He held out his hand to her and said, "Go finish what you didn't do last time, and we'll go out."
Um?
Su Xi was stunned for a moment, then she reacted very quickly. She had helped him last time when he was promoted to 3S. However, the promotion to 3S-level beastman did not unlock the virtual memory lock she left in his spiritual realm.
And now he rushed to 4S, as the master of his own spiritual realm, just to find the key hidden by others in his own home.
But what did she do?
As if it was just a matter of one step at a time, they arrived at the cozy three-story cabin on the mountainside.
Su Xi was distracted for a moment and walked into the house, probably towards the kitchen.
"Hurry up and cook Yuanxiao!"
The handsome boy with leopard ears sat on the sofa and urged her impatiently.
"I'm hungry!"
Su Xi looked down and saw that she was wearing an apron, with glutinous rice dumpling flour on her hands. In the round bowl on the counter beside her was the glutinous rice dumpling filling that had just been prepared.
The cat-eared girl who was watching TV on the sofa turned around and exclaimed happily: "Leila is hungry too! Aunt Suxi, please cook some sweet Yuanxiao. Leila has been waiting for a long time!"
"Call me sister!" Su Xi smiled, and suddenly recalled those experiences here that seemed real and fake.
She quickly entered the role she had set for herself and scolded with a smile: "No! Leila, you have to eat it quickly, let Asay move first, you two haven't done your housework yet!"
Then the clingy Loli started to pester the leopard-eared boy dressed in a Killer costume.
The boy who had returned to the role of Leila Asay happily picked up the little Lolita and tossed her around teasingly, "Fat cat! If you keep eating and growing, no one will want you!"
Su Xi resigned herself to her fate as she added water and wrapped Yuanxiao while watching them fight.
There is a happy atmosphere in the semi-old and cozy cabin.
*
Outpost. Third floor administration area. Infirmary.
Fitzgerald sat expressionlessly not far from the mental interface, looking at his omega's white hand, which was linked to the incandescent U-link, and was making a neural connection at the deepest level of consciousness with another alpha through the frosted mental interface.
After Su Xi entered the U-quality docking, only ten minutes had passed, but for him——
It's too long.
He said nothing, his mental power and pheromones were perfectly restrained, but even so, the atmosphere in the entire infirmary was as cold and solemn as the top of the Arctic. The staff of the infirmary had already left, and Foxtail Sasaki, as the person in charge, could not leave his post without permission, so he could only grit his teeth and endure.
At this moment, Su Xi, who had closed her eyes and was immersed in a spiritual link, suddenly relaxed her slightly wrinkled brows, and her girlish face suddenly and slowly revealed a happy smile.
The red-haired alpha who was quietly waiting on the side had a visibly gloomy expression. His already cold and powerful aura was now like an Arctic ice sheet, chilling him to the bone.
As an alpha with sensitive physical senses, Fitzgerald certainly did not miss the joyful emotions emanating from his omega's pheromones.
Something happy had happened to her, beyond his reach.
The undercurrent in my heart began to surge violently.
*
Foxtail Sasaki couldn't bear the pheromone pressure suddenly released by Fitzgerald at the first moment. Even if it was just a slight fluctuation that was leaked unintentionally, it was definitely a crushing and absolute suppression for him.
He was sweating profusely and quickly left the medical room, standing in front of the surveillance screen to observe what was happening.
With Su Xi here, he no longer worries about Asai's unstable condition, but he worries about what will happen when he recovers. Oh! Thinking about the chaotic scene that will happen later, Foxtail starts to get a migraine.
As a 4S-level alpha elite, Guard Captain Gary was also complaining in his heart. He had a hard time bearing the huge pheromone level pressure. Cold sweat dripped down his forehead.
Because of his job responsibilities, he couldn't be as cunning as Foxtail and slip away at the first opportunity.
Gary couldn't help mumbling to himself to divert his attention, hoping to hold on a little longer.
Back then, I thought Chris had given him a good job to retire, but now it seems that Chris had no choice but to do so. Gary cried silently in his heart.
Fortunately, this situation did not last long. Su Xi opened her eyes and let go of the cyan USB link interface.
She stood up and waited for the medical pod to open.
The moment Fitzgerald opened her eyes, he controlled his previous emotional fluctuations, and within a few breaths, he had recovered to be the current ruler of the empire with a cold expression and perfect manners.
He walked over and stood beside her. He first lowered his eyes to observe the changes in her expression, and asked with concern: "Are you okay?"
Su Xi was clearly still in a happy mood. She smiled and shook her head, "It didn't take much for me. Everything went smoothly."
Fitz held her face and rubbed the swirls of her smile with his thumb. He was so carefree and intimate that he didn't care at all that Gary was standing next to her, and that Foxtail Sasaki and other staff were behind the monitor.
Such behavior was extremely inappropriate for a public figure from the aristocratic class, but he didn't care.
Su Xi responded with understanding. She smiled slightly and followed his strength, letting her delicate face rub against his rough palm.
In her focused and smiling eyes, the undercurrent surging in Fitzgerald's heart was slowly tamed and calmed down.
"Do you want me to wait here with you?"
He asked for her opinion very considerately and democratically.
"No need," Su Xi shook her head. She felt his inappropriate pheromone fluctuations and hurriedly withdrew from the mental communication with Reina Asai.
As they had been in love for many years, she of course understood his thoughts, so Su Xi grabbed his hand, gently pinched his palm where no one else could see, and then smiled at the man whose expression remained expressionless, pretending to be cool and aloof.
She said, "Let's go out and wait until Asai wakes up, says hello and then we leave."
Fitzgerald agreed readily, no longer in his previous slow and leisurely attitude.
On the way back to the Sun Swallow, he held her hands tightly. Although their steps were not hurried, they took less time than the way there.
Yet, when the two were alone again, Fitzgerald did not dwell on the specific details of what had happened during the counseling session.
He trusted her, but was too proud to ask for details; that was not his style.
He held her in his arms, resting his chin on her hair and rubbing it gently, without saying a word. Su Xi was tickled and laughed out loud, then patted his firm chest and asked him to be honest with her, "Just ask! I know you must have something to ask! Hurry, don't waste time."
The man, who always had a cold and hard face, was silent for a while, and asked: "May I know what 'Lantern Festival' is?"
Huh?!
Su Xi's eyes widened. How did he know?
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