Chapter 140 And I am the only prey among them...
Dark-black plum blossoms bloom against a backdrop of crimson.
There were no names of the newlyweds, nor of the invited guests.
The date and time, along with an address, were clearly written in sharp penmanship.
Surprisingly, the address on it wasn't the Shen family's old residence, but rather the former princess's mansion...
—What's going on?
Why was the wedding banquet held elsewhere when Shen Yun got married?
And what about the Princess's residence? Wasn't it already reduced to ruins?
What exactly is this...?
Pipa pressed her temples and leaned back in her armchair.
He didn't know how long it would take for all of this to come to an end, but he was indeed exhausted.
Maybe I should take a nap.
He thought that the scene before him was also subtly and slowly rotating.
He didn't know how much time had passed when a hazy darkness appeared in his vision, gently engulfing him little by little like a rising tide.
Half-asleep, Pipa felt herself floating.
It swayed and bounced in the water.
A sense of unease made the boy reach out, instinctively wanting to grab something. After passing through the supple, slightly cool, long water plants, a hand grasped his and gently pulled his arm back to his side.
Then the feeling of floating disappeared, and he was placed in a safe place, sinking into a soft place with a pleasant scent, and gradually lost consciousness.
In the brief moment of disorientation before plunging into utter darkness, he seemed to feel a gentle gaze upon him.
A pure gaze, devoid of any ulterior motive, evokes the warm, comforting sunlight streaming in on a drowsy spring afternoon.
The weather was so mild and bright that it seemed like people would never have to worry about getting burned.
"Go to sleep..."
He seemed to hear Young Master Lan's voice, but it was more distant and hazy, filled with concern tinged with a sense of helplessness.
It was at that moment that he realized he had not touched water plants, but a person's thick, long hair.
Just like... just like what was seen in that house that never saw the dawn.
Therefore, the person watching him from the side was clearly—
"orchid--"
The moment the words left her mouth, Pipa opened her eyes in her dream.
It was still the same dark and quiet house he remembered. He sat up from the blanket he was lying on.
Looking around, the owner of the house was nowhere to be seen.
"Lan, are you there?"
The incense in the burner had gone out sometime ago, leaving only a faint, almost imperceptible scent in the air.
smell……
To Pipa's surprise, she discovered that she had regained her sense of smell in this dream, a first for her.
But Pipa didn't have time to be surprised; he just wanted to know where Lan had gone.
It was at this time that Pipa discovered something even more incredible.
—It's dawn.
A faint ray of daylight peeked in through the cracks in the window; it wasn't particularly bright, but it certainly felt like dawn.
The eternal night that I once thought I knew has vanished without warning.
Like Lan who suddenly disappeared...
Pipa stared at the scene in a daze for a moment, then suddenly pushed open the tightly closed door.
With a creak, some white things fluttered down and landed at his feet.
It seemed that some tiny particles were stuck to his face, cold and stinging, as if they were about to pierce his flesh.
When he actually touched it, it seemed like his imagination.
—That was snow that had fallen from the eaves.
It turned out that it did snow that night.
Actually, for the person in the dream, it should just be something that happened last night.
However, this applies to loquats in reality.
In his dream, this night spanned almost his entire childhood and adolescence.
The loquat didn't know where it was going.
I can only follow the path that Li Nian walked on in my memory, and walk in the opposite direction.
The forest was still covered in snow, and it was extremely quiet. The only sound was the crunching of shoes on the snow.
One after another.
Stumbling along, sometimes in deep water, sometimes in shallow water.
Just like in reality, his unsteady gait.
After walking for an unknown amount of time, Pipa finally emerged from the deserted forest path.
What comes into view is a vibrant, almost blinding, bright red against the backdrop of pure white snow.
Red silk, red lanterns, and an endless red carpet stretching out beneath your feet, like a winding blood-stained path spread across the snow.
The loquat looked at the ubiquitous red.
Then I remembered that today is the wedding date on the invitation, the wedding of myself and Li Nian in my past life.
Could it be that Lan, who disappeared without a trace since waking up, actually went to attend a wedding banquet?
The more he thought about it, the more likely it seemed... As for why he wasn't invited, it was probably because he had been sleeping the whole time.
Pipa once thought that if she fell asleep in her dream, she would wake up in reality.
So when he's awake in reality, he might be sleeping in a dream the whole time.
Pipa felt a pang of resentment when she recalled the strange things Lan had said during their last meeting, as if they would never see each other again.
I thought I would never return to this dream again.
But now that I'm back, I absolutely must see Lan.
Pipa wondered what Lan's expression would be if she saw her.
—Surprised? Unexpected? Or perhaps a little disappointed or unhappy because things didn't go as planned?
In any case, it's impossible to remain indifferent.
With a faint sense of anticipation.
Pipa wandered aimlessly along the palace road for a while before realizing that there wasn't a single person on the road.
—Isn't this a wedding celebration?
Why is it so quiet?
A strange feeling arose in Pipa's heart.
Just a moment ago it was a bustling scene with people coming and going, but overnight it suddenly became deserted. Yet, right before my eyes, it is now a brightly decorated and colorful sight.
The extremely festive decorations stand in stark contrast to the extreme quietness of the surroundings.
This further enhances the indescribable eerie atmosphere.
The footsteps were muffled by the blanket beneath their feet, and so even that last sound was lost.
Between heaven and earth, it seemed that only his own breathing and heartbeat could be heard.
Looking up, the clear, azure sky couldn't hide a lone wild goose.
The sky seemed not to be the sky at all, but rather a huge, inverted, transparent dome.
And I am the only prey among them...
The moment that terrifying thought popped into her mind, Pipa trembled all over, and then she started running like a madwoman.
It was as if some ferocious, giant monster was chasing after them.
But in fact, there was nothing behind the loquat.
The only thing closely following the boy was his shadow.
He ran, and his shadow ran too.
He ran, stumbling and falling, his shadow swaying with him.
Finally, he stopped, exhausted, and his shadow stopped at his feet, bending over and panting.
Something fell into the shadow.
The pages were open, like a dark red butterfly that had suddenly collapsed and died while fluttering about.
The wings have dark patterns, and a name is written on one side.
Yu Qingzhou —
It was his name in his past life, and also the name he never had the chance to use in this one. On the other side, the ink was smudged and faded, seemingly deliberately erased, making the original name completely unrecognizable.
I don't know whose prank it was, but it feels really ominous.
While Pipa was picking something up, she looked up and unexpectedly saw the gate of the princess's mansion.
However, something seems different.
I couldn't quite name the loquat, but without much hesitation, I pushed open the door and went inside.
With a creak, the door was pushed open, and an incredibly foul, burnt smell hit him, making it almost impossible for him to open his eyes.
It was also a ruin after a fire, but it was different from the desolate scene of broken walls and rubble that I remembered.
This time, after pushing open the door, he saw charred and twisted corpses scattered everywhere...
Pipa finally knew the source of that strange, foul smell.
It wasn't just the smell of burning wood, but also the stench of corpses...
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