Calamity Messenger

Chapter 380 - 311: Awakening from the Dream

Ying Rushi suddenly opened her eyes.

She was dazed for a moment, then her face changed suddenly: "Oh no, oh no, I’ve definitely overslept!"

Though in a hurry, she couldn’t rush; she had to wrap bandages around her hands first. Thankfully, while she was sleeping, the Blood Replenishing Pill had mostly healed her hand wounds, though the scars were as ugly as hundreds of centipedes crossing. She would be dining with everyone soon, naturally couldn’t let them see such unsightly scars.

She washed off the dirt on her body at the fastest speed, and changed into a set of relatively clean clothes. As for her hair, which was clumped with blood and rainwater, she could only tie it into a bun and cover it with a hood. She didn’t have a token to heat it up, washing hair was also a rather time-consuming chore for her.

Taking a look in the mirror, feeling there was no issue, just as Ying Rushi was about to go out, she suddenly remembered something, sniffed herself, and immediately smelled a stench like something fermenting for two or three days. These days she was either on the road or killing, and the only sleep she had was just now, naturally having no time for a bath. Even as the naturally beautiful member of the Ying Family Royal Family, rolling in the bloody storms for several days still made her dirty.

There was no time for a bath now, but Ying Rushi remembered Ying Le had once given her a bottle of Secret Realm Perfume, which she casually placed at the Thief’s House, and now it could be used just in time. She had never used it before, sprayed it randomly on herself more than ten times until it no longer smelled bad before stopping.

Everything ready, Ying Rushi gathered up her courage and pushed open the door. As soon as she walked out, she said: "Sorry, I slept—"

Her voice abruptly stopped because the Thief Hall was empty and there was nothing.

The eternal light source from the Glazed Sky Window in the ceiling cast a lonely shadow of Ying Rushi.

How long did I sleep?

Have they already finished eating and gone back?

What to do, their rare invitation, did I just break the promise like this?

Will they be disappointed in me?

Will they think I’m making fun of them?

Ying Rushi was overwhelmed with panic, spinning around in worry, suddenly remembering something, she returned to her room, rummaged through the boxes, and quickly found a pocket watch. It was one of the few ordinary items from the Secret Realm but extremely hard to replicate. It’s said craftsmen during the Great Profound Era were able to manually create pocket watches, but the technique had long been lost, and the Secret Realm that produced pocket watches had also been cut off for a long time. This pocket watch in Ying Rushi’s hand was a rare piece Ying Le had obtained from wiping out a family, and had casually given it to her.

It was just past 7:00 PM, Ying Rushi specifically went out to take a look; the sky wasn’t even dark yet. She touched the stone table at the Thief Hall, the surface was cold, it didn’t seem like it recently held hot dishes. Ying Rushi instantly breathed a sigh of relief, she hadn’t slept long, they likely hadn’t had dinner yet.

Given there was still time, Ying Rushi hurried to tidy up her look, simply washed her hair, even if wet, it was still better than being clumped. After tidying up, when she came out to take a look, the Thief Hall was still empty, Ying Rushi didn’t mind, she sat down to wait slowly.

A quarter of an hour passed.

Another quarter of an hour passed.

Half an hour passed, and when Ying Rushi pulled out the pocket watch to take a look, it was already 7:00 PM, and she couldn’t help but feel a bit anxious.

Could she have misheard, the appointed meal was not today’s dinner, but tomorrow’s lunch or tomorrow’s dinner?

She quickly denied this guess, because Red Snake had made it very clear that they were preparing for today’s dinner, it couldn’t be any other time, maybe they were just eating late.

Minute by minute passed, the Thief Hall was unusually quiet, with only the tick-tock of the pocket watch’s second hand rotating.

Half an hour passed.

An hour passed.

Ying Rushi couldn’t obediently sit on the stone chair waiting any longer, nor could she endure the quiet hall, she paced back and forth restlessly, continuously watching their three room doors, occasionally looking away but instantly looking back, as if she was the legendary Nine-Headed Candle Yin, when she didn’t look the world was night, but when she watched fate turned.

She unconsciously scratched at her hands until she broke them open, only the relentless pain of bleeding could slightly relieve her anxiety. But as time went by, the other room doors still didn’t move, Ying Rushi several times wanted to raise her hand to knock, yet several times put her hand back down.

The wet hair hanging on her face seemed to draw out the heat from her entire body, cooling her inch by inch. She could only repeatedly scratch at the scabs on her arms, but even if she broke open her hands and the white bandages became completely blood-red, the overwhelming emotions still turned into a beastly flood, devouring her rationality.

Bam! Ying Rushi suddenly rammed her head against the wall, very loudly, very forcefully, her forehead instantly split, blood trickled down, branching at her nostrils into two blood streaks, cutting Ying Rushi’s face into three parts: terror, disappointment, and despair.

They won’t be coming.

Ying Rushi wandered through the hall like a zombie, stooping over a stone chair, a violent impulse made her retch continuously, but nothing came out, the sounds emitted like the wails squeezed from the folds of her soul.

No dinner.

No help.

All the recognition, understanding, comfort were fake.

Fake!

Ying Rushi seemed to hear their snickering, both smug and contemptuous, mocking her weakness, her gullibility, her stupidity.

"She really thought we would help her."

"We don’t need her anyway."

"Squandering one’s life for so-called righteousness, only to end up like this. I have clones to act recklessly, but she has only one life and acts as she pleases. Truly insane."

"Thief’s House doesn’t need such naive fools."

"Indeed."

Ying Rushi covered her ears, shaking her head helplessly, begging the towering fate: "Please... please stop talking..."

"Say a few kind words later to trick her into giving up the Heaven-Swaying Sword."

"Yes, it’s a waste for the Heaven-Swaying Sword to be in her hands."

"I really don’t know why Thief’s House chose her to join, she told Ying Le everything, the next mission might have unexpected troubles."

"It would have been better if she wasn’t here from the start."

"Stop talking!"

Ying Rushi slammed the stone table fiercely, and all the auditory hallucinations vanished, but tears were already streaming down her face. She sat weakly on the ground, leaning against the stone chair, staring blankly at the glazed sky window on the ceiling, her pupils dim as if drenched charcoal.

"Why deceive me? Why deceive me!"

Ying Rushi murmured to herself, repeatedly saying the same yet different sentence, at first her face was filled with sorrow, then suddenly her eyes widened with anger, alternating back and forth between sadness and rage seamlessly. Eventually, she became half-sad, half-angry, her voice sounding like a duet, as if a god and a devil were residing in her heart, now merging into a cocoon, from which would emerge an unprecedented monster!

Her pupils unknowingly turned into crimson vertical eyes, eerie and noble.

Gradually, she stopped muttering and stood up expressionlessly, without sadness or despair, her brows and eyes revealed a lofty arrogance, exuding majesty without words.

At that moment, she seemed less like a betrayed patriot being hunted to the brink of death, and more like an Emperor beyond the earthly realm!

With a creak, Ying Rushi opened the door and returned to her room, holding her head high, walking as though a monarch returning to their palace. Suddenly, a snapping sound came from behind, Ying Rushi turned her head, seeing the door automatically closing, and the nobility and majesty on her face suddenly vanished like smoke.

All that remained was a hint of incredulous ecstasy.

She opened the door again and watched as it closed automatically without control, meaning even if Ying Rushi forgot to close it, no one could barge in.

Yellow Dog and the other two... never came at all.

The moment she realized this, Ying Rushi thought of more incongruous details. Even if Yellow Dog knew she was Ying Rushi, how could he know her relatives and friends were killed by Ying Le?

Black Wolf and Red Snake’s words seemed flawless, but they were too close to her, Ying Rushi did not doubt their character, yet their personal relationship wasn’t that deep.

More importantly, in that long conversation just now, there was no new information, only things Ying Rushi already knew. Even Yellow Dog mentioning his ’Teleportation Ability,’ had no name, no restrictions were stated, everything remained within Ying Rushi’s speculations.

So, was it a dream?

Ying Rushi wasn’t entirely sure, because she clearly pinched herself, if it was a dream she should have awakened, unless... it was a dream mixed with hallucinations.

A dream on the pillow, reflecting the Red Dust Eye.

A chill surged in Ying Rushi’s heart.

Although she had always been plagued by auditory and visual hallucinations before, they tended towards ’negative’ illusions. Now the hallucinations turned around, weaving her a beautiful dream, a dream where she gained Yellow Dog’s approval, Black Wolf’s friendship, Red Snake’s dinner invitation, their assistance... as if she truly became their friend.

So when Ying Rushi woke up and found reality differed from the dream, a strong hatred and despair surged in her heart, almost dragging her mind into the mire.

The greater the hope, the greater the disappointment.

Ying Rushi was lucky this time, realizing the flaw of the dream through the door mechanism, but what about next time? What about the time after next? The dream on the pillow was too real, so real that Ying Rushi couldn’t discern it, so real that Ying Rushi didn’t want to discern it.

Someday, because of dreams that didn’t happen, she would vent her hatred on real people.

Ying Rushi had no doubt she would fall into this future if even her extraordinarily talented aunt couldn’t escape, how could she possibly be spared?

This isn’t an illness, it’s fate.

It can’t go on like this.

And also she can’t continue.

Ying Le has already caught up from behind, she can’t shake off Ying Le, even if she hides in Thief’s House, her last disappearing point would be locked by Ying Le. She must find a place to rest quietly, and then before the next mission... walk the final stretch.

Ying Rushi walked to the desk, pulled out a scroll and unfolded it, which was the map of Qi Kingdom. She confirmed her position and looked to the nearest special location:

[Demon Gathering Land].