Chapter 153: Tao Ming's Dream (Part 2)

Right before the woman in red, it was the first time she knelt before him. He ruthlessly gripped her chin and forced an abortifacient down her throat, while his mocking voice rang in her ears: "A lowly member of the demon race, and yet you dare to dream of bearing my offspring!"

The medicine might have been mixed with tears; she only felt an extraordinary bitterness in her mouth, desperately yearning to rinse it out and banish the taste.

Once the medicine was forced down, he released his grip. She knelt on the ground, curled into a ball, her whole body ice-cold, only to hear the coaxing voice of that woman from beside him: "Nan Xing, accompany me to admire the flowers."

It was only then that she learned his name was Nan Xing.

He left, walking away together with that woman. Their sweet, laughing banter pierced her eardrums, every single word carried on the wind mocking her pathetic plight.

She curled up on the ground, unmoving, as a few maidservants tremblingly helped her up. She demanded vast amounts of water, rinsing her mouth over and over again, yet the bitterness in her mouth stubbornly lingered.

Before long, fresh blood trickled down her legs, flowing past her knees and overwhelming her feet. She stood there quietly, feeling the departure of a life.

Pulling the hairpin from her hair, she touched her neck and, without a moment's hesitation, drove the hairpin into it.

Waking up once more, she found herself still lying on the familiar bed.

He stood by the bedside with an indifferent expression. Seeing her awake, he looked down at her from on high and spoke: "I will not let you die."

She closed her eyes, letting her tears slide down her cheeks.

She had plotted and schemed to seek death; a person who wished to die would always find a way.

She had starved herself, cut off water, hanged herself, crashed against walls, and slit her wrists, yet every time she woke up, she was still lying on that familiar bed.

From then on, there was always someone by her side, leaving no chance for solitude—only he was missing.

Until one day, that woman came. Dismissing everyone else, she handed her a small golden dagger, her voice laced with bewitchment: "This blade can help you achieve your wish."

She reached out and took the blade, noting its slender body and ornate hilt. She silently twitched the corners of her mouth, raised her hand, and drew the blade across her own neck.

She felt no pain; instead, there was the exhilarating sensation of release. Scenes flashed rapidly before her eyes, the only flaw being that his figure was everywhere.

It seemed his voice rang out in her ears once more: "No!!!"

She was finally dead.

Tao Ming, deep in slumber, shed tears as well.

The scene shifted, and Tao Ming appeared once again inside a dim cave. A man beside her said, "Xiao Meng, are you still hungry? I'll go get you something to eat."

"Brother, I'm not hungry. Don't go outside."

The outside was dangerous; they both knew it.

"Xiao Meng, if you eat too little, you won't grow up."

"Brother, I'm really not hungry."

Days passed by, the brother and sister hiding inside the cave, surviving most of the time on the black mist that drifted in. Every time, her brother would yield the vast majority of the black mist for her to eat.

She grew stronger and stronger, the eye on her forehead growing brighter and brighter, while her brother remained just as he had been before.

One day, she was sleeping against the stone wall of the cave when, in a haze, she felt her hand pass right through the stone wall. Opening her eyes, she saw that her right hand had indeed vanished into the stone wall.

Startled, she forcefully pulled her hand back. Fortunately, fortunately, her right hand was completely unharmed.

Examining the stone wall before her closely, she discovered that a door drawn in mud had appeared on it. Out of curiosity, she stretched out her arms and legs to test it; there was no danger at all.

Gathering her courage, she plunged headfirst through that door.

Outside the door was the territory of humans.

She had heard about humans from her brother's mouth, but she had never seen them.

Turning around, she found herself standing in front of a wall, with a matching door on the wall behind her.

Filled with joyful surprise, she returned to the cave and dragged her brother over to share her discovery with him.

Yet her brother could not step through that door, nor would he let her go.

She had no choice but to evade her brother and secretly slip away to the human realm.

So humans looked rather similar to her!

Human clothing looked truly gorgeous!

Human food looked truly delicious!

She reached out to take some, but someone stopped her, demanding she produce money.

What on earth was money?

Just as she stood there drooling with longing eyes at the delectable food, a pleasant male voice sounded in her ear: "Want to eat?"

"Want to."

The owner of the voice smiled. She looked toward the source of the sound—he was truly handsome, though not as handsome as her brother.

She received the food he handed her with both hands and said cautiously, "I have no money."

"Eat."

She took a bite and happily squinted her eyes. It was so delicious!

After just one bite, she wrapped up the remaining food. The man smiled and asked, "Why aren't you eating anymore?"

"I want to save it to give to my brother."

The man bought another portion: "It's all for you."

She hesitated, not daring to reach out. The man shoved the food into her arms: "Just take it."

"I don't have anything to give you."

"Seeing you feels very familiar. Perhaps we have met before."

She thought to herself, how could they have met? This was her first time coming to the human territory.

The servant beside the man said, "Young Master, it's time to return to the estate."

"If you still want to eat tomorrow, wait for me right here," the man left these words behind before departing.

She thought to herself that this fellow was rather foolish—food given for free shouldn't be refused.

Later on, the two of them gradually grew familiar. She said, "I am called Ruo Meng."

"I am called Su Nan Xing."

A bit later still, he married her.

Until one day on the bustling street, a woman was run over by a carriage, and fresh blood splashed onto her hands. At that very moment, she fainted.

While unconscious, that pair of red eyes appeared on her forehead; her secret could no longer be concealed.

From then on, he began to avoid her, taking in concubines one courtyard after another.

She sat alone day after day in the small courtyard where they had once known happiness, gradually withering away.

Even his concubines dared to come to her doorstep to humiliate her.

They swaggered arrogantly before her, flaunting the joys that had once belonged to her.

She returned to the cave and said to her brother, "Brother, you must live well."

Returning to the small courtyard once more, she rummaged out the wedding robes from the day of her marriage, adorned herself, and slipped out of the estate through the back door.

She stood atop a mountain peak, her back to the precipice, looking at the person pursuing her. With a wistful smile, she said, "Su Nan Xing, may we never meet again for all eternity."

She fell backward.

As she plummeted, she watched with her own eyes as her brother leaped off the cliff after her. Tears slipped down her face: "Brother..."

Tao Ming drifted hazily through the cycle of dreams.

In the dream, she knelt naked on the ground, while a man wearing a golden crown sat upon a lofty chair, looking down at her from on high with disdain as he said, "A lowly member of the demon race, and yet you dare to dream of receiving my pity!"

In the dream, a man pried open her mouth and forced an aphrodisiac down her throat, watching her make a complete fool of herself as he mocked, "A lowly member of the demon race, naturally promiscuous and bedding anyone, yet you dare to dream of marrying into the imperial family!"

In the dream, she sat alone in an empty room, listening to a maidservant report cautiously, "Mistress, the Master is sleeping in Madam Liu's courtyard."

In the dream, she knelt in the snow while he sat right before her, exchanging banter with the woman in his arms. She stared fixedly at the white snow before her, having lost all sensation in her body.

In the dream, she returned once more to the pitch-black cave. Before she could even grow up, she was taken by her own kin to the human realm, where she encountered him once again.

Across countless dreams, though her appearance varied and her attire differed, she would always kneel before an indistinct man and wag her tail for pity.

In the final dream, a man with blood in his eyes looked at her as she lay breathing her last in his arms, and murmured, "I know I was wrong!"