Chapter 18 His Wrath

Su Su explained, “There are only two types of dreamlands that a nightmare devil will set up. The first one is a nightmare, where one needs to overcome the fears in their heart and eliminate their obsessions and timidity.”

“The other type is a good dream. It will make the person indulge in it, unwilling to wake up, falling deeper and deeper into it.  This is the case for Ye Bing Shang now.”

Xiao Lin nodded his head.

Su Su then continued to speak, “To wake her up from a good dream, you need to make her feel that this is not a good dream, but a nightmare that she needs to escape from. However, this method is rather cruel, so you need to consider it properly.”

Xiao Lin waved his hand, and a butterfly suddenly appeared in the air.

Most of the butterfly’s body was coloured red, with only its wings left in their original white color.

“We don’t have much time left.” Xiao Lin looked at the butterfly and said, “When the butterfly turns entirely red, it will already be dawn. We will do as you say and end this dreamland.”

Su Su glanced at the illusory butterfly. It was obviously given by a demon slayer to show him the way. She didn’t expect Xiao Lin to be acquainted with a demon slayer.

The clever Xiao Lin was able to understand Su Su’s strategy. Without needing Su Su to come up with an idea, he said, “At night, I will disguise myself as an assassin and bring a keepsake to assassinate Bing Shang. I have been here for some time, and my current identity is the Emperor’s maidservant.”

Upon mentioning the word “maidservant,” Xiao Lin seemed to feel helpless, but he had a gentle nature, so he could quickly adjust his state of mind. “I will pretend to miss, then expose my identity to let her think that the Emperor wants to kill her.”

Su Su nodded. This was what she meant. The reason why Ye Bing Shang was unwilling to leave must be because she thought that the Emperor, “Xiao Lin”, in the dream, still loved her and would return to her side. To make Ye Bing Shang leave the dreamland, they must make her despair and give up.

Su Su couldn’t help but ask curiously, “Your Highness, are you really a woman now?”

Don’t blame her for being skeptical. Xiao Lin looked too “tall,” and all of his movements and gestures didn’t match this beautiful face. Su Su suspected that he was disguised as a woman.

Xiao Lin saw her bright eyes looking at him curiously. In those eyes, there was no longer the admiration from the past. Instead, they had a mischievous glint of a smile.

Xiao Lin suddenly felt somewhat flustered. “The body that I’m possessing is indeed a woman,” he truthfully said. 

It can’t be helped. After all, you can’t choose your own identity when you are in someone else’s dream. If possible, Xiao Lin would have preferred to possess the “Emperor” who looked exactly like him and directly told Ye Bing Shang to wake up from her dream.

Su Su nodded in understanding. She had also possessed a kitten and a female physician, which was even more messed up.

As soon as the sky turned dark, Xiao Lin changed into black clothes.

The body that he possessed was tall and skinny. With a masked face, he had become a brave “swordswoman”. Su Su also swiftly changed her clothes, “I’ll go with you. If anything happens, I can still assist you.”

“But you’re already injured.”

Su Su moved her back and said with a serious tone, “It doesn’t hurt anymore! After all, this is another person’s body, so I don’t feel much pain.”

Hearing her words, Xiao Lin nodded. The dreamland was unpredictable. At times like these, having a companion was better than nothing. After he turned around, Su Su grimaced in pain.

She covered her back and hurriedly followed him. She couldn’t afford to drag him down in such crucial moments.

When they reached the front of the Empress’s palace, Xiao Lin suddenly turned around. “What happened?” Su Su asked, confused.

Xiao Lin said, “Third Young Lady, you’re in such severe pain,  don’t force yourself.”

Su Su shook her head, “It doesn’t hurt. It really doesn’t hurt. If you don’t believe me, let me show you……”

Xiao Lin softly sighed. “In that case, stay outside the palace and keep watch for me. If anything unexpected happens, you must inform me immediately. Can you do that?”

His tone was gentle, but it did not allow any opposition. Su Su seemed to see her Eldest Senior Brother from a hundred years ago ¹ Su Su recalled the time before she transmigrated . He had said that as long as he was still around, he wouldn’t let his little Junior Sister fight to survive. After that, he had indeed fallen in order to protect them. Su Su rubbed the rim of her eyes and said, “Alright.”

Xiao Lin quietly headed to Ye Bing Shang’s palace.

Su Su was puzzled. What gave her away? Once she looked down, she saw her shadow under the moonlight and understood what she had overlooked. Xiao Lin was as attentive as a strand of hair ² To describe Xiao Lin as a person that could see even the tiniest detail , Su Su didn’t expect that he would even notice this.

Luckily, Xiao Lin was a gentleman and did not expose her to avoid her embarrassment.

Su Su resigned herself to her fate and crouched in the haystack, concentrating on keeping watch.

She had initially thought that the dreamland would be full of loopholes and their plan would be successful. However, seeing a silhouette approaching, alarm bells went off in Su Su’s head.

The person who came was tall, with thin and slightly sunken cheeks. He had applied a very thick layer of powder on his face, which made his lips look extremely red, and his whole body exuded a feminine aura.

Su Su recognized this guy! In reality, he was the Chief of the Western Depot ³ Title from the source: www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Terms/changwei.html , Jia Chun! Father Ye had often mocked him, calling him a treacherous castrated court official!

But why would a Depot Chief be here in the middle of the night?

Remembering Xiao Lin who was still inside, Su Su’s heart thumped. Just as she was about to signal Xiao Lin, Jia Chun’s narrow eyes looked towards her.

Su Su silently cursed. She swiftly reacted and nimbly dodged, just in time to avoid a palm from Jia Chun.

The tree behind Su Su shook and even almost fell over. Jia Chun was highly skilled in martial arts, while Su Su was injured and knew in her heart that she wasn’t his match, so she made the split-second decision to throw a few tiny stones in front of the window to inform Xiao Lin that the situation had changed.

Noticing this opening, Jia Chun turned his palm into a claw stance and grabbed Su Su’s shoulder.

As nimble as a dragonfly, with a reverse leg kick, she swiftly escaped from his grip. She originally thought that an escape with this feint move wouldn’t work, but she didn’t expect that the Depot Chief in front of her didn’t seem to have much experience in actually fighting against an enemy. The moment she subconsciously dodged and struck back, she actually managed to break free.

The Depot Chief’s eyes slightly narrowed, his killing intent rising.

This time, instead of trying to capture Su Su, he shot a concealed spring-loaded arrow from his sleeve at her.

It was too late for Su Su to dodge, she could only helplessly watch as the spring-loaded arrow flew towards her shoulder. But suddenly, a hand caught the arrow.

Su Su looked over and saw Xiao Lin, dressed in black, who had retreated from the palace at some point, holding the spring-loaded arrow and protecting her.

Su Su let out a sigh of relief. “Hurry up and leave!”

“Want to leave?” a feminine yet chilly voice rang out, then Jia Chun smiled maliciously and clapped his hands.

Many shadows silently appeared under the moonlight.

Jia Chun took a glance at Su Su and said, “Capture her.”

*****

Su Su was tightly tied up and thrown on the ground.

The good thing was that Xiao Lin had managed to escape from the encirclement. Initially, he wanted to save Su Su, but she had decisively pushed him away. If he had remained there, none of them would have been able to leave. It was better for Xiao Lin to think of a way to break the dreamland than be imprisoned together.

Jia Chun was drinking tea at the table. His voice had a sharpness that only a castrated person would have, but it wasn’t that obvious when he spoke in a low voice. “Tell me, what were you two planning to do to the Empress?”

Su Su angrily glared at him.

He held Su Su up by her neck and said with an expressionless face, “You wanted to kill her?”

He was almost right, but they weren’t really going to kill her, they just wanted to frighten her.

Su Su was unable to breathe, so she simply bit the web between the thumb and forefinger of his hand. Jia Chun didn’t release his hand and let her keep biting.

Just when she felt like she was about to suffocate to death, Jia Chun suddenly released his hand. Su Su slid down to his feet and coughed violently.

In front of her eyes was a pair of boots embroidered with cloud patterns ⁴ .

Su Su managed to catch her breath. She couldn’t help but directly point out his identity, “Tantai Jin! If we don’t wake her up, we won’t be able to leave.”

The “Jia Chun” in front of her seemed to have heard some kind of joke. “No, it’s you both that can’t get out.”

He could get out of such a sinister place if he wanted to.

Hearing his words, Su Su was positive that the person in front of her was undoubtedly Tantai Jin, and he had somehow managed to recognise her and Xiao Lin. And from what he said, he was planning to trap her and Xiao Lin in the dreamland and bring Ye Bing Shang out.

What kind of terrible situation was this? Su Su and Xiao Lin had become allies, but Tantai Jin planned to trap them to death.

The wounds on Su Su’s back had not yet recovered. The rope binding her had made them extremely painful. She couldn’t help but curl up her body, trying to reduce the pain.

Without looking at her, Tantai Jin knocked his knuckles on the table, and several shadowy figures came in. “Go, find the other assassin and kill him.”

After they had received their order, the men quickly disappeared.

Soon after, the pair of boots slowly walked up to her and paused for a long time. Su Su even wondered if his next move was to personally kill her?

Her chin was lifted by someone.

A magnified and ghastly face suddenly appeared in front of her eyes. “Aren’t you angry that he abandoned you?” said Tantai Jin cynically.

Su Su sneered as he pinched her cheek and said, “He was better than you, freak.”

After she spoke, she distinctly felt the atmosphere around Tantai Jin turn icy cold. “I’m not as good as him,” he said in a voice so soft that it was almost inaudible. A moment later, he tugged his lips and said, “It’s unlikely.”

“You will see,” he said emotionlessly.

Su Su was picked up by him and the rope binding her made her groan in pain. The footsteps of the person who carried her paused. After a moment, he brought a knife and cut off the rope, leaving just a section to bind her hands.

Then Su Su’s clothes followed. He used the knife to cut off the back of Su Su’s clothes. “Tantai Jin! What are you doing?”

Tantai Jin observed the crisscrossing cuts on her back, blood was already sticking to her clothes. She seemed to feel extraordinarily ashamed to expose her skin in front of him, and her face turned red with anger.

Tantai Jin gripped the knife while looking at her bloodied back.

Su Su took advantage of his inattention and secretly mumbled an incantation. A yellow talisman quickly appeared in the air, and she commanded, “Freeze!”

As the yellow talisman stuck on Tantai Jin’s face, Su Su rolled over and got up.

She straddled him from above and ruthlessly choked his neck. “You want to kill me? Do you think you’re amazing now that you’ve possessed Jia Chun’s body? You’re just scum with the fighting strength of five, and you still can’t defeat the enemy!”

He looked at her coldly, his dark eyes tinged with a hint of anger. The bottle of medicine in his hand suddenly made him feel extremely humiliated. It was a good thing that she couldn’t see what was in his other hand in this position. He wanted to crush it, but unfortunately, he could no longer move.

The girl’s eyes were exceptionally bright as she leaned closer as if to mock his sudden absent-minded just now.

Her amber eyes were blazing to the point of burning. Her successful sneak attack had pleased her so much that both of her eyes curved into beautiful crescents. Su Su took revenge by gritting her teeth and choking Tantai Jin, ready to choke him back for her own pleasure.

His face turned red, his breath quickened, and he looked at her without blinking. He did not say a word nor beg for mercy. When he was nearing death, his chest rose and fell violently, but his eyes were still fixed on her, refusing to look away even for a second.

Su Su inexplicably got goosebumps when she met his gaze. Thinking that this madman was probably not afraid of pain, she stopped choking him and simply grabbed his dagger and pointed it at him.

Luckily, the yellow talisman that was supposed to restrain evil creatures had surprisingly followed Su Su to the dreamland. Otherwise, she was afraid that this incident would have ended with disaster. Su Su patted his face and said, “Hey, speak. I only immobilised you, it’s not like you aren’t allowed to talk.”

“I want to kill you.” he coldly said.

She smiled and said, “Alright, come on then.”

He didn’t talk anymore, and his expression looked gloomy. Su Su keenly sensed that he was furious, but didn’t this madman always have an exceptionally good mental fortitude? He hadn’t been this angry when Tantai Minglang stepped on his face, so what was he angry about now?

Edited by: Gaze