Chapter 320 – Do You Like Me?

“The results of a Level 1 basic professional skills divination may not be accurate. When my level is higher, I’ll divine it a few more times to see…”

Lu Yuan stood up from his seat and walked to the Library entrance.

He borrowed the mythology book he had in his hand and exited the Library.

At the end of December, Jiaoyan had fully entered winter.

Yesterday’s weather forecast predicted rain mixed with snow today. It was now 9:35 in the morning, and sure enough, thin rain started to fall from the sky.

Rain mixed with bean-sized snowflakes fell on his face, cold and prickly.

Passersby around him either huddled tightly in their down jackets or hurried past with umbrellas. Lu Yuan, holding his book, strolled leisurely down the long street. His previously pale face, a result of overusing his mental power in divination, gradually regained its color.

The grey streets under his feet began to look fresh and clean with the washing of rain and snow, revealing red and green sidewalk bricks.

Neatly trimmed dark green bushes in the roadside flower beds had a thin layer of snow on them.

Lu Yuan reached out his hand and grabbed some snow, feeling the ice quickly melt in his fingers.

By the time he reached a milk tea shop, Lu Yuan felt that his mental power had almost fully recovered.

He stopped, ordered two cups of hot milk tea, and then walked to the entrance of a nearby convenience store. While sipping his milk tea, he waited quietly.

Today, he had arranged to meet Xia Zhiqing.

“Daughter of the nightmare…”

Lu Yuan watched the fine rain and snowflakes falling in front of him. Sparks of light danced in his eyes.

He had found some information about the daughter of the nightmare through Yellow Bear. Other people had experienced situations similar to Xia Zhiqing’s.

In the other cases involving the daughter of the nightmare, the victims slept longer and longer until they could never wake up.

Xia Zhiqing was the complete opposite; she slept less and less.

“Is it possible that Xia Zhiqing is actually the same, but she just hasn’t realized it yet? In other words…”

Lu Yuan sipped his milk tea with a “slurp” and lightly chewed the soft, chewy pearls, thinking to himself, “Xia Zhiqing has actually been living in a dream for over a decade.”

This might sound like an insult, but it’s not entirely implausible.

Involvement with an Ancient Evil Deity can make the most bizarre things possible.

“Let’s wait until I see her and assess the situation.”

Lu Yuan tossed his empty milk tea cup into a distant trash can. He held the remaining cup, which he had bought for Xia Zhiqing, in his hands to keep it warm with his body heat.

The rain was getting heavier, the sky growing darker, as if it were evening.

He glanced at his watch-9:45 AM.

He and Xia Zhiqing had arranged to meet at 10 AM, giving him another fifteen minutes to wait.

Lu Yuan continued his wait.

Watching the rain pouring down on the street and the flashing traffic lights at the intersection, Lu Yuan couldn’t help but recall the first time he met Xia Zhiqing.

He remembered it was not long after he had unlocked the [martial artist] panel and learned some basic martial arts techniques. His sense of justice was overwhelming.

Seeing what seemed to be a kidnapping case happening on the street, he acted impulsively and charged in.

Fortunately, it was just some hooligans, and in the end, he managed to save the victim by sheer luck.

It was this rescue that later granted him the opportunity to participate in the Crane Style direct disciple assessment…

Looking back, life sure is full of surprises.

Lu Yuan mused idly.

Unbeknownst to him, it was now 9:55 AM.

Suddenly, his expression shifted slightly, and he turned to look to his right.

A round little red umbrella was slowly approaching from the end of the street.

Under the umbrella was a girl.

Since the umbrella was held rather low, he couldn’t see the girl’s face.

He could only see the hem of a white down jacket, black tights covering her slender legs, and deep brown women’s Martin boots.

The boots made a clear “patter patter” sound as they stepped on the water-covered sidewalk bricks.

Lu Yuan blinked and started walking toward the little red umbrella.

Now with heavy rain and snow, the weather was terrible, and the girl under the little red umbrella walked with difficulty.

She stumbled with every step, almost slipping at any moment.

Lu Yuan wanted to go and support her, but he felt that it might not be appropriate given his identity. So, he patiently waited under the eaves of the nearest shop.

The shaky little red umbrella finally made its way to Lu Yuan and stopped beside him.

Lu Yuan let out a small sigh of relief and handed over the cup of milk tea he had been keeping warm.

“I bought this for you to warm your hands.”

The girl under the little red umbrella shyly responded with an “Mm”.

A small, pale hand extended from beneath the umbrella and took the milk tea from Lu Yuan.

As he handed it over, their fingers inadvertently touched. Her skin was ice-cold, likely chilled by her journey in the bad weather.

“The Xia Family is extremely wealthy in Jiaoyan, so why doesn’t Xia Zhiqing have a driver to pick her up? Why did she walk here…?”

Lu Yuan pondered for a moment and then said to Xia Zhiqing, “Let’s find a warm place to sit.”

“Mm.”

Lu Yuan didn’t say much more and planned to lead Xia Zhiqing to the milk tea shop he had visited earlier.

They walked a few steps forward.

Then Lu Yuan stopped and turned around, hesitantly saying, “Aren’t you going to put the umbrella away?”

Up until now, Xia Zhiqing was still holding up her little red umbrella.

Most of her body was hidden underneath, and Lu Yuan could only see her legs from the knees down.

He knew that Xia Zhiqing was introverted and even had a degree of social anxiety.

But he didn’t expect her to be so shy.

The little red umbrella remained motionless.

Finally, under Lu Yuan’s slightly exasperated gaze, came a soft, shy voice from under the umbrella.

“I… I’m afraid I’ll scare you with how I look right now.”

Lu Yuan was taken aback, his first thought being-Is the daughter of the nightmare’s strength starting to have more of an impact on Xia Zhiqing?!

His expression grew serious, but he tried to keep his tone light and cheerful as he shook his head, “How could that be… Among the girls I know, you’re one of the prettiest…”

Before he could finish his sentence, the little red umbrella suddenly flipped backward.

It revealed a girl in a white down jacket, wearing a red hairpin, with her face turned downward.

“Really?”

The girl murmured softly, then slowly lifted her face towards Lu Yuan.

At the moment he saw her face clearly, Lu Yuan’s heart stopped, and his pupils shrank sharply.

Under the neatly trimmed black bangs, what appeared was… a smooth, flat face without any features!

“Really?”

“Are you telling the truth?”

“Am I pretty?”

“Do you like me?”

“Lu Yuan, answer me quickly!”

Each sharp female voice in his ear was more urgent than the previous.

Lu Yuan’s eyes widened as he stood frozen in place.

Amidst the sound of pouring rain, he suddenly realized-

The streets around him had become eerily empty, with not a single soul in sight.

Not only that, the sidewalks, the trees, the shops, the traffic lights on the road… the entire world had turned gray.

The only thing that still retained color was the girl in front of him who kept questioning him, and the tightly held little red umbrella in her hand.

It was a glaring red.

“Who are you?!”

Lu Yuan roared while throwing a punch forward.

But just as his fist was about to strike, he forcibly halted.

No, if this really was Xia Zhiqing, merely under the influence of the daughter’s strength of the nightmare, this punch might accidentally kill her…

“Get lost!”

Lu Yuan shouted fiercely at the girl.

The girl seemed to be frightened by his shout, and she staggered backward, the Martin boots on her feet producing a chaotic pattern of footsteps.

But a second later-

The “frightened” faceless girl lightly rested the little red umbrella on her shoulder, tilted her head, and began to laugh, with a sound crisp like silver bells.

“You like me! You really like me! Ha ha ha…”

Lu Yuan clenched his jaw, a fierce, murderous glint flashing in his eyes. He then spread his fingers wide and fiercely grabbed forward.

“Divine Elephant. Capture Dragon!”

Intense platinum Qi flowed from Lu Yuan’s fingertips, with his claw-like hand motion spreading distorted platinum ripples through the air.

The terrifying force of his grasp created a small, blurry indentation in the area in front of him.

But the girl within that terrifying grasping range didn’t dodge or flinch; she tilted her head and let out a light laugh…

Then her entire being shattered like a bubble and vanished.

…

“Hey, handsome! Hey, handsome!…”

A series of calls pulled Lu Yuan back to reality from his daze.

Snapping back to his senses, he found a masked female attendant in a “Milk Tea Shop” uniform looking at him with concern.

“Your milk tea.”

The lady handed over two packed cups of hot milk tea, then casually added, “Did you not sleep well last night?”

“Uh… yeah.”

Lu Yuan replied vaguely, picking up the two cups of milk tea and quickly walking away.

“What just happened?!”

Lu Yuan halted a few meters away from the milk tea shop, eyes scanning the increasingly heavy rain and snow on the street, his facial expressions constantly changing.

“Was everything just now a dream?”

Lu Yuan’s eyes flickered as he suddenly grabbed one of the milk teas, roughly tore off the packaging, and started gulping it down.

His unrestrained posture drew curious looks from two passersby.

“Gulp, gulp-“

Lu Yuan swallowed the milk tea in big gulps, chewing on the pearls inside.

The familiar taste, texture, and even the temperature.

Just ten minutes ago, he distinctly remembered drinking an identical cup!

“This isn’t a dream; there’s no way to feel temperature and taste in a dream…”

Placing the milk tea cup down, Lu Yuan gently wiped away the milk tea residue at the corner of his mouth, his expression growing serious.

“But if it wasn’t a dream, how do I explain all this? What did I just experience?”

Lu Yuan pulled out his mobile phone, quickly checking his chat history with “Quiet Bamboo Treasure.”

The last message was from 9:40, right before he had gone to buy the milk tea.

Xia Zhiqing had told him that she had already set off and was on her way.

Lu Yuan’s eyes flickered rapidly as he quickly began typing a message to “Quiet Bamboo Treasure.” However, halfway through, he deleted all the content.

“Hu-“

He exhaled deeply, closed his eyes, and then opened them again.

His face had returned to a state of complete calm.

He did nothing further, just as before, holding the cup of milk tea he had bought for Xia Zhiqing and quietly waiting in place.

“Tick-tock-tick-tock-“

The time reached 9:55.

Lu Yuan turned his head and looked in a certain direction.

A familiar little red umbrella appeared in his field of vision.

Under the umbrella were dark brown ladies’ Martin boots, stepping “splash splash” through the water.

With a blank expression, Lu Yuan quickly walked toward the red umbrella, moving faster and faster.

A few breaths later, he reached the red umbrella and suddenly lifted it with a swift motion…

“Ah!”

The girl under the umbrella was clearly startled, staring at Lu Yuan in shock.

A red hairpin, straight bangs, big eyes, a small face, delicate features with a natural hint of shyness and timidity…

It was Xia Zhiqing!

“Hu-“

Lu Yuan felt a sudden wave of relief wash over him.

“You…”

Steadying his emotions, Lu Yuan was about to softly explain.

However, at that moment, all the colors around them began to fade rapidly.

The world looked as if it had been washed by rain, turning more and more gray.

Xia Zhiqing in front of him suddenly began to tremble, her eyes filling with large, tearful drops.

She reached out her hands as if wanting to embrace Lu Yuan.

Yet her entire being quickly shattered like a bubble and disappeared.

Lu Yuan instinctively reached out to grab her, but could only watch helplessly as Xia Zhiqing vanished before his eyes, full of sorrow and helplessness.

“You… must… go…”

…

“Hey, handsome! Hey, handsome!…”

In front of the milk tea shop counter, he hesitated, accompanied by the female attendant’s repeated calls.

The young male customer slowly returned from his dazed state.

“Your milk tea.”

The female attendant handed the two freshly made hot milk teas to the boy.

“I don’t want them anymore.”

In a strained voice, he shook his head.

Turning, his handsome face was filled with an indescribable, intense, and complex expression…