Chapter 090
Chapter 90: Who Is She, Really?
Lin Qing Xuan looked at her bloodless face, his brows drawing together, then said: “You’re not in good shape; why don’t you take the day off.”
He paused, considering, then asked: “From now on, should I call you Jiang Yi Yi, or Yao Xiao Man.”
Xiao Man felt a sharp, splitting pain in her head. [What the heck! What did I say in that dream yesterday? What did I do? I was only copying a sutra and nodded off, right? So why do I feel like I’ve been hungover for three days and nights? My whole body hurts!]
Seeing her confusion, Lin Qing Xuan explained: “You were infected by the demonic qi that the black cat brought back. Yesterday I had you do sutra copying to purify it, but you fell asleep midway, and that power took its chance and rushed straight into your sea of consciousness.”
He gave a light cough, his gaze turning a little evasive, then added: “So, in the dream, you did things you most wanted to do but didn’t dare. You also made up for your biggest regret. For example, that promotion you kept thinking about in that other world.”
Xiao Man’s eyes snapped to his neck. A suggestive red mark kept drifting in and out of view. It was hard to miss.
She pointed at that patch of skin and asked in a dry voice: “That… was that me in the dream too?”
Lin Qing Xuan nodded evenly: “Not only there.”
He reached out his arm and calmly rolled up his sleeve, then said: “Also here.”
A line of fresh bite marks stood out on his firm forearm, the impressions deep and clear, even with a hint of blood.
Xiao Man wanted to slap herself right then and there. [Am I out of my mind!]
Her brain went blank, and she blurted: “How could me going crazy in a dream bite you like that? That’s not scientific!”
Lowering his eyes to the circle of tooth marks, Lin Qing Xuan’s ears flushed with the faintest red, but his tone stayed steady and thoughtful as he said: “In an ordinary dream, it couldn’t.”
He looked up, his gaze quiet and steady, then continued: “Last night wasn’t ordinary dreamwalking. The demonic qi disturbed you and made your consciousness unstable. I forced my own consciousness into the depths of your dream to pull you back. As a result, two forces collided fiercely in your sea of consciousness: the raging obsession of demonic qi inside you and my Buddhist power.”
He paused, searching for the right words, then said: “At that time, your thoughts, driven by the demonic qi, turned highly aggressive and almost became solid. These bite marks are wounds left by your ‘resentment’ and ‘unwillingness’ when they were strong enough to take shape.”
He summed up, a bit helplessly: “In other words, it wasn’t empty illusion. Your mind-voice pierced the dream and acted directly on my body, because our consciousnesses were linked.”
He slowly pulled the sleeve back down, covering those marks that were both suggestive and fierce, then said: “Clashes of consciousness are dangerous. If you slip even a little, the damage can be far worse than skin-deep.”
Xiao Man stared, speechless. She touched her own lips without thinking. [So the red mark on his neck came from that too? Was my resentment really that wild?]
Seeing through her thoughts, Lin Qing Xuan’s fingers brushed his neck as he said lightly: “It’s fine. Using this chance to draw out the blockage in your heart is a blessing too.”
He didn’t add that the way it came out was far beyond anything he had known.
“Meow! Meoow!” Tuan Tuan had crept over at some point and was now yowling in pure anger because he’d missed last night’s thrilling, steamy dream, bouncing up and down like a spring.
Xiao Man drew a deep breath and forced herself to calm down. [What’s done is done; being shocked is useless.]
She lifted her head and met Lin Qing Xuan’s eyes, then said clearly, one word at a time: “Call me Xiao Man. Here, I am only Xiao Man, not Jiang Yi Yi.”
This wasn’t giving in; it was a cut. Until she had real freedom, the Jiang Yi Yi who could laugh loud, get promoted, get a raise, and own a free soul would have to be sealed away. For now, she was only Xiao Man.
She pointed at the door, her tone firmer than ever, and said: “Lin Qing Xuan, go out and close the door. I’m not serving you today. I’m going to rest.”
She used his full name, not that title that meant identity and chains, the Eldest Grandson Young Master. Today, she didn’t want to be the bowing maid who served others. She just wanted to lie quietly and be herself for a day.
The black cat suddenly yowled even louder, practically picking a fight with them both as he shouted: “Xiao Man! I want you to pat my butt! Right now!”
Pointing at the leaping black shadow, Xiao Man lost her last shred of patience and said: “Lin Qing Xuan! Take this thing away! I don’t want to see it today!”
Without a word, Lin Qing Xuan bent, pinched Tuan Tuan by the scruff of the neck, and lifted him. The black cat fought hard in his grip, all four paws flailing. Carrying the cat, Lin Qing Xuan turned and left, gently closing the door behind him.
At last, the world was quiet.
Leaning into her pillow, Xiao Man felt her thoughts return, though a faint strangeness still curled in her chest. She sat up and checked herself carefully from head to toe. Her skin was smooth, without a single mark. Not even a mosquito bite.
So only Lin Qing Xuan’s body was hurt?
A rush of secret joy rose first. [Yes! The Chastity Defense Campaign held the line!]
But that thought was quickly pressed down by another feeling. If only Lin Qing Xuan got hurt… [Does thinking that make me a terrible person?]
Forget it.
Xiao Man flopped back onto the bed. Whatever. Her heavy body and the crash of her emotions made her eyelids weigh a ton. Her mind slid back into darkness.
In the dream, a wasteland stretched after a battle. Broken walls. Wails everywhere. The stench of blood mixed with dust, heavy enough to choke.
The groans of the wounded and the sobs of the bereaved cut at her heart like a thousand dull knives. She wore plain white, now covered with ash. Barefoot on ground full of shards and rubble, she felt the earth cry under every step.
Looking at the ruin before her, her chest ached. A deep, instinctive compassion surged up from her core. She didn’t know who she was. She only knew she had to do something.
She slowly lifted both hands. Her fingers formed a complex, graceful seal as her lips chanted low, old syllables no one now used. A soft, holy glow rose around her, gentle but impossible to ignore.
As she chanted, a light, clean lotus fragrance spread, pushing away the sickening smell of blood. Pure white motes drifted from her fingertips and from her whole body, like fireflies, like fallen stars.
The white light fell on scorched ground, on open wounds, on cold bodies. The next instant, there was sprouting, budding, leafing, blooming.
One flower. Ten flowers. A hundred.
In a blink, pure lotus blossoms layered across the land as far as she could see, dew shining on their petals, calm and healing in the air. Petals stroked the injured, and deep wounds knit together fast enough to see. The fragrance soothed the living, and ripping grief slowly eased.
A thousand lotuses bloomed in the land of death, bringing life and peace.
She stood at the center of a sea of blossoms, eyes lowered, solemn and compassionate. She was meant to be like this.
Outside the door, Lin Qing Xuan had not gone far. He stood still under the eaves. Even Tuan Tuan calmed, lying quietly in the crook of his arm, golden eyes narrowing at the closed door in confusion.
Suddenly, a faint, unbelievably pure breath slipped out through the crack below the door. It wasn’t spiritual power. It wasn’t Buddhist power. It wasn’t demonic qi. It was something older, gentler, closer to the source, full of compassion and healing, with a hint of lotus on the air.
Lin Qing Xuan turned sharply. For the first time, shock rippled his cool eyes as he stared at the door and said under his breath: “This is…”
He felt the sarira relic he wore close to his chest grow warm. Tuan Tuan’s tail shot up as he let out a tiny, puzzled gurgle.
Inside, sleeping Xiao Man knew nothing of this. She curled a little, brow faintly knotted, carrying the crushing compassion of the dream. A tear slid from the corner of her eye and sank into the pillow without a sound. A holy light flashed around her and was gone so fast it could have been a trick of the eye. Only the thin lotus fragrance lingered and lingered.