Sweet Dream
When He Simu woke up from the dream, the moonlight shone through the paper on the window, casting small squares of pure white on the ground. She sat up abruptly from the bed, gasping for breath. The bright images from just now disappeared without a trace, taking away her distant memories of her parents.
“What’s wrong with you?”
A familiar voice broke into her ears. He Simu turned her head and saw Duan Xu standing by her bed in plain clothes, arms crossed. The young man’s eyes reflected the faint moonlight, his lips curved in a smile, but she couldn’t tell how long he had been standing there.
He Simu calmed her breathing and said softly, “What is this? There’s wind inside me, do living people’s bodies all have wind?”
“That’s breathing.”
“Yes… breathing.” He Simu exhaled a long breath.
Wind in the body is breathing.
After a moment of silence, she looked around somewhat dazedly and said softly, “My father and mother were just here.”
Duan Xu was somewhat surprised at her words. He sat by He Simu’s bed and observed her expression in the moonlight. “Were you dreaming?”
“Dream?” He Simu repeated, as if pondering the meaning of the word. The previous scenes faded away sharply, leaving only the darkness and moonlight around her. So this was what mortals called a dream.
Mortals lived so happily. Those who were no longer around could be seen in dreams.
He Simu fell silent for a moment, then looked up at Duan Xu, wondering why this guy was showing up in her room in the middle of the night.
As if sensing her thoughts, Duan Xu casually chuckled and said, “I woke up in the middle of the night feeling like I couldn’t feel my body, thought I was dead, and was too shocked to fall back asleep, so I came to check on you. Didn’t expect you to sleep so well and even have sweet dreams.”
After a pause, Duan Xu asked, “You dreamt of your father and mother, what did you dream about them?”
He Simu glanced at the guy who entered the girl’s room in the middle of the night, and casually replied, “I dreamt about them teaching me the rules of eating.”
The rules of eating for a demon. These eerie and terrifying words evidently didn’t deter Duan Xu. He asked with interest, “I’ve been curious, why are you so good to Chenying? I heard you were friends with his father, so maybe…”
“Yes, I ate his father. Taking care of him was the exchange condition.”
“Is this a rule for demons, to make a deal before eating people?”
“No,” He Simu’s fingers twirled around the silk rope of the Ghost King’s lamp jade pendant as she replied lightly, “It’s just my rule.”
Duan Xu fell silent for a moment before asking, “Why? You’re the King of Ten Thousand Ghosts, you can take anyone’s life you want. Why bother to lower yourself to fulfil the wishes of mortals?”
“Why? Why so many ‘whys’ in the world? Can’t I just do as I please?”
Duan Xu looked at He Simu intently, rare seriousness replacing his usual playful demeanour.
He Simu also stared into Duan Xu’s eyes. In this prolonged silence, she knew he was trying to figure her out again. He was audacious and irreverent towards ghosts and gods, which fuelled his intense curiosity about her, always wanting to unravel her past.
People shrouded in mystery always enjoyed solving puzzles.
Leaning against the edge of the bed, He Simu lazily said, “Go ahead, tell me what you’re guessing this time.”
“I’m afraid of offending you.”
“Forget it, your gaze is offensive enough.”
Duan Xu pondered for a moment and inexplicably said, “Your parents must have been very gentle people. Just like you.”
“…Gentle?” He Simu raised an eyebrow.
“You can’t taste food, yet you can cook and make sugar figurines; you can’t see colours, yet you can paint exquisite pictures; you can’t hear melodies, yet you can play musical instruments. Clearly, you can’t even perceive the most ordinary things like breathing and dreaming, so why bother learning these difficult skills for humans? Why only eat humans if there’s a deal involved? Your parents probably hoped you would understand the world through these things.”
Strong and unyielding, yet understanding the ways of the world, still fond of the greenery.
He Simu was taken aback.
The moonlight was faint, and she remained silent for a while, lowering her gaze without confirming or denying anything. “Perhaps.”
“They passed away?”
“Yes.”
“How did they pass away?”
“My mother reached a ripe old age in a very ordinary manner, while my father… I heard he died for love.”
He Simu’s tone was remarkably calm.
Duan Xu looked at her, while He Simu gazed at the white moonlight on the ground. The moonlight streamed through the window, illuminating countless specks of dust in the air, like a gentle flurry of snow.
In the silent cold light, the lonely night remained bright.
It was said that this was a verdict her father received when he was young. Now it seemed that this verdict was not just for her father but for all ghost kings.
Suddenly, something lightly tapped her face, and a sensation of pain spread. He Simu raised her eyes to look at Duan Xu, whose hand still lingered by her face.
“Wake up,” Duan Xu said.
After a pause, he added, “The dream has ended.”
In the bright moonlight, Duan Xu’s figure was gentle, his gaze firm and focused, as if he had a vast heart encompassing everything, yet it only contained the person before him.
He Simu remained silent for a moment, then pushed his hand away and smiled faintly. “Once I regain some power, your hand will be gone.”
Duan Xu smiled brightly and sincerely exclaimed, “I truly have the luck to turn misfortune into fortune, gaining back a hand.”
He Simu thought to herself, he truly was a young general who liked to push boundaries.
However, his touch was gentle and warm.
Were all mortals this warm?
That night, she slept dreamlessly.
However, before the next morning was over, He Simu encountered additional troubles due to gaining the sense of touch. The source of this trouble was her and Duan Xu’s adoptive younger brother, Xue Chenying.
He Simu exchanged senses with Duan Xu, turning into a mortal. As a result, her original body, “He Xiaoxiao,” fell into endless slumber, much to the distress of the uninformed Chenying.
He refused to leave, unable to eat, just guarding “He Xiaoxiao’s” bedside, tears in his eyes, waiting for his little sister to wake up. He showed no interest in the newly appeared beautiful sister, not even sparing a glance.
He Simu leaned against the door, watching the boy with a sigh. There were still some days left in her borrowed body’s lease, and now that she had lost her powers, she couldn’t wake the girl up early. She could only let her sleep a few more days.
After several failed attempts to comfort Chenying, Duan Xu walked out of “He Xiaoxiao’s” sleeping room and said to He Simu outside the door, “Why not just tell Chenying your true identity? Excessive sadness can harm a child.”
Duan Xu, who was as adept at concealing emotions and acting as Chenying, had remained unscathed despite several bouts of heartbreak.
He Simu absentmindedly rubbed a piece of ice Duan Xu had obtained from the cellar and casually replied, “Tell him my identity? What identity? An evil ghost?”
“Mm.”
“No need. Now that I’ve fulfilled my promise and entrusted him to you, if it weren’t for our deal, I probably wouldn’t see him again. With this unexpected turn of events, perhaps the bond between him and me has come to an end.”
Duan Xu’s smiling eyes flickered, and he repeated, “The bond has come to an end?”
“Mm, what else?” He Simu played with the melting ice in her hand, watching as it gradually became smaller, covered in glistening water. She thought to herself, so this is ice, hard and painful water.
Distractedly, she continued, “Do you expect me to idle around you mortals every day? It’s just that I’m taking a break for now and finding something to do on my own. Soon, I’ll return to Yuzhou City to handle matters in the Ghost Realm.”
“How do you plan to tell Chenying?”
“You can hide He Xiaoxiao’s body first and tell Chenying that she fell ill and passed away. When I regain my powers, I’ll return this body.”
“He’ll feel like he’s been abandoned again.”
“A short pain is better than a prolonged one. If a perfectly healthy person lies here, how can you explain it? If he continues like this for another ten days, he’ll cry himself to exhaustion. It’s better to give him closure. Treat him well. After a decade or two, when he grows up and thrives in the Duan household, he won’t even remember the big sister he spent a few months with in Liangzhou.”
He Simu’s attention was mostly on the ice block, and she somewhat belatedly noticed Duan Xu’s prolonged silence. She looked at him with curiosity, and though his bright eyes held some deep emotions, when their gazes met, he smiled, appearing carefree and cheerful.
“I won’t.” He said each word deliberately.
He Simu raised an eyebrow.
Here we go again, this young general’s inexplicable death wish is back.
He leaned against the wall, drawing closer to He Simu, his smile playful as he said, “I’ll tell Chenying your identity, tell him you’re still with him, that He Xiaoxiao didn’t die, and never will.”
He Simu looked at Duan Xu, acknowledging that at this moment, she had no power, and he could do as he pleased.
Duan Xu said, “Now that you’re here, don’t think you can just withdraw from his life.”
Nor can you withdraw from my life.
The young general before her wore a light-coloured round-collared robe, tied in a ponytail, with a sharp gleam in his eyes. He Simu couldn’t help but furrow her brows. Since she and Duan Xu had made their vow, this young general seemed increasingly audacious, seemingly convinced that she wouldn’t dare to harm him, so he dared to oppose her at every turn.
But this opposition was akin to being bitten by ants to her.
So she turned her head slightly, smiled, and said, “Sure, say what you want to say. If you think it’s good for Chenying, then I don’t mind. After all, when the time comes, I’ll leave naturally. But if you think that by making a vow with us, you can restrain me, then you’re mistaken. I won’t be controlled by anyone. You’re just a transaction I can stop whenever I want.”
Duan Xu’s eyes blinked lightly.
He Simu pushed aside his arm, smiled faintly as she walked past him, casually tossing the ice block in her hand onto the ground, where it shattered into several pieces, sparkling in the sunlight.
Duan Xu turned his head to watch her figure recede, seeing her crimson silhouette meld into the brilliant sunlight, and softly chuckled, his expression blurry. He just shook his head and murmured, “There’s a saying that one army can’t have two leaders, which makes sense. A little guy should only be led by one elder.”
Eventually, as the sun set, He Simu was stopped in front of the courtyard by Xue Chenying, who had previously barely spared her a glance.
Chenying looked up at He Simu with some fear and hesitation, whispering, “General said… you’re… you’re… Miss He, is that true?”
Chenying looked at this unfamiliar, beautiful woman with phoenix eyes and elegant brows, unable to associate her with his gentle and lovely Miss He. The sudden sense of distance made him particularly fearful. Was this person really his gentle and lovely Miss He? Was the General lying to him?
“Yes,” He Simu seemed to understand his thoughts, calmly and confidently affirmed, “Yes, I am He Xiaoxiao.”
Chenying hesitated for a moment, then exclaimed loudly, “Then let me ask you… you asked Aunt Song to borrow the suona, did you use how many eggs to exchange for it?”
“…”
He Simu rubbed her temples and said, “Eight.”
Chenying’s eyes lit up, finally feeling a sense of familiarity with the unfamiliar but beautiful sister before him. But then he heard He Simu continue, “Your father was the one I ate.”
Chenying stood frozen in place, unsure of what to do.
“Duan Xu didn’t tell you I’m a evil ghost?” He Simu asked.
“He… he did… but a evil ghost…”
“But did he tell you about the deal between me and your father?”
“…Deal?”
“This little general, always leaving out important details.”
He Simu smiled lightly, pointing to herself and said, “I am an evil ghost, belonging to the same clan as the woman who wanted to eat you that day. Evil ghosts eat humans to survive. When your father was critically wounded and dying, I ate him. In exchange, he would have faced many trials and tribulations in his next life. As part of the deal, I saved you and entrusted you to Duan Shunxi.”
Chenying stared blankly at He Simu, his mind working overtime to slowly understand the meaning of her words.
She said she was a friend of his father’s, but he had never seen her, and she could turn invisible. He had found it strange before, but he trusted his little sister. She created butterflies at his father’s grave to comfort him. How could she be a bad person?
But did she really eat his father? Like that scary woman from that day?
“Why… why did you lie to me…”
“Because it’s easier.”
Tears welled up in Chenying’s eyes, he bit his lip, took a step back, then another, before turning around, covering his eyes, and running away in tears. He Simu chuckled lightly and said softly, “I knew it would be like this.”
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