Chapter 40 Li Xiao's Independent Side Story - Obsession (Twenty-Five)
An undeniable nightmare.
Li Xiao suddenly woke up, the pain from the long sword piercing his body was crystal clear.
He wanted to scream, he wanted to shout.
The sound was stuck in his heart, as if the sharp blade was still stuck in his flesh and blood and had never been removed.
—The pain is secondary.
What truly stunned the boy was that he clearly saw the person who had killed him with his own hands—that person was clearly... clearly Yu Qingzhou!
The sky had darkened without anyone noticing.
The slight flickering of the candlelight gradually pulled Li Xiao back from the lingering effects of the nightmare.
The boy looked in the direction of the sound and indeed saw Yu Qingzhou hunched over his desk under the lamp.
The same figure, the same profile, even the lines of their necks are so similar.
But ultimately, they are still different.
This isn't the damned Hidden Immortal Sect from my dream, and the man before me isn't some virtuous disciple of an immortal sect. He's just... a shameless, greedy businessman obsessed with money.
Thinking of this, Li Xiao finally felt a little more relaxed.
Seeing that the other person was so engrossed in their work of accounting that they didn't even notice him approaching from behind.
For the first time, Li Xiao felt that being greedy for money wasn't such a bad thing after all.
Although the boy had been ignored more than once because of this, he harbored a lot of resentment and even grievances in his heart.
But at this moment, it seems like a distinct marker, instantly separating the two people, who are extremely similar yet not entirely the same, in the dream and in reality.
Li Xiao confirmed with this that this was the Yu Qingzhou who belonged to him.
He wasn't some Taoist priest, nor was he anyone's senior or junior brother, and he certainly wouldn't be like a fool, eagerly chasing after a human woman...
Okay, Li Xiao admits that he was still jealous.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to resist suddenly grabbing Yu Qingzhou's shoulder from behind, and for a moment he couldn't even control his strength.
Even though he knew it was just a dream.
A dream that felt too real.
Li Xiao thought that the reason for launching the surprise attack was probably just to get further confirmation.
Or you might simply want to hug the other person, want to be embraced by them, whatever...
However, the moment he truly grasped Yu Qingzhou, the instant he held her warm flesh and fragile neck in his palm, an indescribable and intense turmoil suddenly welled up in his heart.
(Kill him...)
(Pinch hard...)
Li Xiao's remaining rationality told him that this was impossible, because of the contract between them, and even more so because he had never intended to kill Yu Qingzhou.
He is—
She loved Yu Qingzhou, so why... how could she have harbored murderous thoughts towards her?
But... but the voice in my heart lingered like a demonic chant.
(It's precisely because I love this person that I can't bear the feeling of betrayal...)
(Do you really want to die at the hands of the person you love again...?)
Betrayal... all the time...
The boy subconsciously repeated the words, and the pain in his dream swept over him as if it were real, almost engulfing him completely.
(Yes, if that's the case, it's better to perish together from the start than to do it later...)
Better than the future...
(I've done all the work for someone else...)
As if out of control, his hands began to exert force little by little, his fingers gradually closing towards the center.
A stinging sensation, accompanied by the metallic taste of blood, spread through my mouth. That nightmarish, uncontrollable feeling vanished instantly.
Once he regained consciousness, Li Xiao silently swallowed all the blood in his mouth.
It was blood, but it didn't taste as sweet as I remembered.
—Because it's my own?
Li Xiao frowned. The taste wasn't exactly awful, but it was rather bland.
He could only stare intently at the patch of skin exposed by Yu Qingzhou's collar. There's an idiom that goes something like that... something like "quelling thirst by looking at plums."
Of course, the most important thing is to wait for the cut surface of the tongue to heal completely before you can start speaking.
Otherwise, how should I explain myself?
If I were to take a nap and then open my eyes to find I'd bitten my tongue, I can imagine the merciless ridicule I'd receive.
Li Xiao couldn't stand that.
However, once you relax, all sorts of messy thoughts start to resurface.
So much so that the first thing he uttered was, "Will you kill me?"
This is a problem that has no beginning or end.
Li Xiao noticed Yu Qingzhou's confusion, but he couldn't help asking her the same question repeatedly, because it was indeed a major problem he urgently needed to solve.
Please, say no, say you would never do that.
Even if it is, even if it's just a lie to me, I'll accept it.
The boy silently prayed this in the depths of his heart, while simultaneously hearing disdainful laughter coming from elsewhere, as if mocking his humility and futility.
Yu Qingzhou simply refused to answer the question directly.
They even immediately guessed that the boy might be having a nightmare.
Finally, as if he was being annoyed to no end, he managed to utter, "I don't know."
This perfunctory response lacked any firmness and seemed like something casually offered to appease the boy so he could get away as quickly as possible.
Undeterred, Li Xiao demanded proof from the other party.
However, this was met with a counter-question.
Why would I have any reason to kill you?
There should always be a reason for doing something as thankless as murder, right?
Faced with Yu Qingzhou's frank attitude, Li Xiao still wavered somewhat.
And of course, there's one more thing...
That is, Li Xiao didn't want to tell the other person about his dream, as if as long as he didn't say it, it was just an absurd dream belonging only to a young man.
A secret unknown to others only tormented his restless heart.
But if spoken aloud, it would cast a shadow over them... a prophecy yet to be proven.
But just at that moment, that woman appeared outside the door.
And because of that woman, Yu Qingzhou abandoned herself and left without hesitation.
Dim sunlight streamed in from outside, vaguely illuminating a pair of overlapping figures.
That scene seemed familiar...
Ah, I remember now, it was in that dream.
It was the same in that dream.
In my dreams, I'm always chasing after Yu Qingzhou, but Yu Qingzhou's gaze is always fixed on someone else—
He heard Yu Qingzhou call the human woman dressed in black "senior sister".
Senior sister... Senior sister... I'm sick and hot from hearing it. Li Xiao practically wants to kill her with her own hands.
If he kills that woman, will Yu Qingzhou only care about him?
Li Xiao wasn't entirely sure, but he was still waiting in his heart for the right opportunity.
Then one day, the woman suddenly disappeared.
Later, the man in my dream died by Yu Qingzhou's sword.
Thinking of this, Li Xiao felt as if he had been struck by lightning—could this be the cause of his death?
The sky grew darker, and the woman outside the door was still entangled with Yu Qingzhou, her face blurred into a hazy black shadow by the night.
In that void of blackness, Li Xiao seemed to catch a glimpse of a face as blurry and repulsive as the human woman whom Yu Qingzhou called "senior sister" in the dream.
(Kill her...)
The voice in my heart rose again.
This time, Li Xiao simply clenched his fist silently and did not refute.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
