CH 125

Chapter 125: The Dream of the Holy Nun (XV)

When he saw the large flock of butterflies flying out of the castle, Ning Zhou realized his carelessness. His attention was focused on guarding against demons sneaking into the castle, but he hadn’t expected one to lie in ambush for a long time, and it was hidden so deep that he hadn’t felt the demon’s energy when he’d patrolled the castle before.

The eagle returned to the pet bag and Ning Zhou quickly walked down from the top floor, making crisp clicks on the quiet stone spiral staircase. He went to the room first and Qi Leren was no longer there. The quilt was neatly folded, so he should have left after waking up.

No one was in the dining hall, no one was in the lounge; not only Qi Leren, but also Dr. Lu and Su He had disappeared, and the castle was eerily quiet. Ning Zhou searched all the way down and finally came to the door of the library…

Pushing open the door, the man he was looking for sat at the table happily talking to Su He. The latter seemed to say something funny, and he burst out laughing. He was a happy person who was different from himself. He was not nervous, worried, anxious, awkward, but simply happy, yet he had hardly seen such a relaxed and joyful expression on his face.

He had seen a lot of smiles from Qi Leren, gentle, pleasant and bitter… But in front of him, even if he smiled brilliantly, it was always mixed with a little caution. Why? Why did he never smile so much in front of him?

“Ning Zhou!” Qi Leren suddenly stood up from his chair, took two steps forward, and stopped again. The familiar careful expression reappeared on his face. He seemed to have a full stomach of questions to ask, but in the end he swallowed them back forcefully, showing only the most common concern. “I couldn’t find you anywhere just now. Are you alright?”

Ning Zhou nodded. Although he wasn’t didn’t have the Silent Mediation skill card equipped because this was a team effort, he was still used to being silent, and his eyes passed over Qi Leren’s shoulder. He saw traces of a chair dragging on the floor. The last time he’d been in the library, there was no such skid mark. The books on the table were also messy. What had happened just now?

Behind the long table that was nearby, Su He met his eyes and smiled at him. It should be a friendly smile, but Ning Zhou instinctively couldn’t like him. It wasn’t that he had any opinions about this Su He person. Su He was a very easy person to get along with, gentle and kind, knowledgeable and talkative, but they were completely opposite individuals, and it was already the best state for them to be able to stay peaceful.

“Qi Leren, don’t go there yet,” Su He called Qi Leren back.

Qi Leren remembered that he’d just had two dangerous situations in succession. He couldn’t help but feel a sudden moment of doubt that made him look straight into Ning Zhou’s eyes.

The dim candlelight was reflected in his eyes and the beating flame seemed to be a burning ice fire, but it happened that it was precipitated in inorganic blue, and all the extreme emotions were rationally covered with ice and snow, leaving only extreme restraint, as if even the self had been destroyed.

There was no mistake, these were Ning Zhou’s eyes.

“It should be Ning Zhou,” Qi Leren said diplomatically, despite his character of never drawing quick conclusions. “Besides, didn’t that monster run away just now?”

“That’s not necessarily true. Maybe it’s still lurking nearby?” Su He said lightly.

Even when he doubted Ning Zhou, Su He’s tone was peaceful, without personal feelings or prejudice, as if only stating a logical possibility.

“However, Mr. Ning Zhou is from the Holy See, so he’s easy to identify. The demons can’t use the magic of the Holy See,” Su He said.

“…Ning Zhou isn’t very good at it,” Qi Leren said with a lack of confidence.

Ning Zhou didn’t speak, but the knife fixed with leather straps on the outside of his thigh was drawn out and the holy light spilled out, dispelling the doubts of the three men. Qi Leren breathed a sigh of relief after having doubted him. Even if the reason was logical, it would always make one feel guilty when the misunderstanding was eliminated. Qi Leren was no exception, but he was too embarrassed to say anything, so he nervously turned over the book in his hands.

Dr. Lu, holding his forehead and drinking tea, just needed his Free Wifi skill to reduce his sense of existence.

“It will be 0:00* soon, let’s confirm our plan of action. Don’t worry, the monster won’t hear our conversation now.” Su He opened his gorgeous pocket watch and confirmed the time.

*{E/N: Midnight}

The serious matter of discussing their actions commanded their attention and they listened attentively to Su He: “After zero, I’ll use my field to partially interfere with reality to ensure that we won’t be noticed by other people or things, but you can’t stray too far from me. If you exceed five meters, you’ll probably lose the stealth effect.

"We should be able to find many clues tonight, and there may be fights. I don’t think the shapeshifting demon will give up easily,” Su He said.

Ning Zhou still didn’t know what had happened just now. Qi Leren whispered what happened to him: “…It wants your mother’s memento brooch, maybe you want to take this brooch and escape from the field?”

After hesitating, Qi Leren still took out the memento brooch: “Otherwise, you should keep it. After all, this was your mother’s possession…”

“It’s too late to give it to Mr. Ning Zhou now… In fact, if you know its purpose, it’s easy to guess the means to use it. It’s no longer feasible to pass off something else as the memento, and you shouldn’t give it to others. Keep it, the best way to ensure that no one gets the field memento is for them to have to force us to hand it over,” Su He said slowly, with his hands folded on the table.

“Force?” Dr. Lu muttered and asked consciously, “You don’t mean like taking me hostage, do you?”

“That’s a possibility. We’ll adapt to it when the time comes,” Su He said with a smile.

“…” That was too casual. Qi Leren and Dr. Lu looked at Su He silently. Did he want to draw such a stroke?*

*{E/N: want to have such a thing happen}

Su He said calmly: “Don’t worry, what we have to face is only an opponent who won’t confront us head-on. It’s deliberate and careful, but only because it’s weak, so be confident. This time we’re the hunters.”

Su He’s words made Qi Leren suddenly enlightened. Yes, he used to react to the enemy from the angle of being weak. Every time he was afraid of any accident, but this time it was different. He’d brought his teammates! In front of his teammates who’d brought their own abilities, an opponent who wasn’t of a field level was destined to be crushed.

Su He said softly, “But I still have to make a little preparation… Well, I have an idea to try.”

……

……

……

Even though in Nightmare Game, Qi Leren had died quickly on the night of the new moon, this time he was full of confidence.

As time went by, Su He’s pocket watch on the table moved steadily with the crisp mechanical sound. Finally, the hour hand and minute hand overlapped on the Roman numerals XII. He picked up the pocket watch and smiled calmly at the three people: “Let’s go.”

The world after zero seems to be no different from before. The four people walked all the way from the Lord’s castle to the bustling area of ​the Holy City. It was dark and silent, with no moonlight and no lamps. Without any night vision, Qi Leren felt like he would miss something: “Can’t you light a lamp?”

In the dark, the eagle hiding in the pet bag flew out, let out a mocking cry, and flapped its wings to fly into the night, exploring the road ahead.

Dr. Lu was worse than Qi Leren, and he took Qi Leren’s clothes in hand for fear that his feet would send him into a violent fall.

“I’m afraid I can’t. If a light is on, people in the distance will have a very strange effect when they look here… It would be like there’s a black hole with a radius of five meters surrounded by light,” Su He said.

Imagining the picture is a bit intoxicating. What was the difference between stealth and invisibility? They kept walking honestly in the dark.

In the darkness, Qi Leren’s eyes gradually adapted to it, and he could faintly see the outline of his companions under the starlight. Unfortunately, he was too busy looking at the others that he didn’t pay attention to his feet. He kicked a raised stone and immediately tilted forward with an unstable center of gravity. He thought he was going to fall flat on the ground, but he was caught  by another.

“…Thank you,” Qi Leren thanked sullenly as he was pulled up by his arm.

Ning Zhou let go of his hand in silence.

“If you’re worried about tripping, you can hold onto me,” Su He’s smiling voice sounded in the dark.

Qi Leren hesitated, but before he said anything, Dr. Lu beside him cried happily: “Good, good! I’ve stumbled twice just now, it’s too dark to see at all!” Saying this, he happily took Su He’s arm.

A warm hand grasped Qi Leren’s wrist. He turned towards it, and only the outline of Ning Zhou could be seen in the dark. He was looking ahead as if the person he was holding had nothing to do with him.

“Watch your step,” He said.

“Oh… Um,” Qi Leren answered twice. The temperature on his wrist permeated his skin into his blood, and it was transmitted to every corner of his body by his beating heart. It was another person’s temperature, which came from a very different individual. They had different living experiences, different personalities, hobbies, and different religious beliefs. They weren’t even from the same world, yet they’d met and even fallen in love with each other…

Qi Leren clenched his sweaty palm tightly and quietly felt the temperature on his wrist. He didn’t speak and didn’t dare to move.

Why?

The person holding him was no longer the dream lover whose gender had been misunderstood by him, but his heart was still beating for him.

It shouldn’t be like this, he thought with joy and despair. It shouldn’t be like this.