Chapter 465 Xuan Yuanshi is back! Emperor Zhang?
"Don't!" Lian'er's cry broke through the chaos, laden with desperation.
From the corner of his eye, amidst the turmoil, Zhang Wei caught the faint outline of white cloth—likely swaddling Lian'er's son. The raw terror in her voice churned a feeling of deep unease within him.
Unmoved by her plea, the Heavenly Emperor, with an air of chilling resolve, seized the child.
And with a motion that seemed to fracture the very fabric of the moment—
Boom!
He hurled the bundle toward the unforgiving ground. The crash echoed, a sound so profound it stunned the assembly into silence.
Bam!
The impact was met with a horrific stillness, the silence that followed pierced only by the thud of the child and a spray of crimson that marred the earth.
The cries that had filled the air ceased abruptly, leaving a haunting void.
Lian'er's scream turned into an eerie silence for Zhang Wei, whose heart seemed to stop in his chest.
The world muted around him, every sound muffled, except for the lingering echo of a cry cut tragically short.
Boooooom!
Before his eyes, Lian'er's grief exploded into a force of nature, an uncontainable fury that sent a shockwave radiating from her being. It cast the heavenly guards aside like leaves in a tempest.
Zhang Wei stood motionless, stricken, as the silence enveloped him.
Yet, even without sound, the agony in Lian'er's screams reached him, a resonant agony that bypassed hearing and struck directly at his soul.
Whoosh!
"…Book of destiny?" The words barely formed in Zhang Wei's mind before the scene erupted once more.
Lian'er, amidst her tempest of sorrow and rage, produced a tome that mirrored the fabled Book of Destiny.
Its emergence was like the breaking of a dam, unleashing a torrent of blinding white light that washed over everything.
Whoosh!
Boom!
An array of chaos ensued—a deafening boom that reverberated through the expanse, a mix of clashing voices, and the relentless clunking of swords.
All these sounds crescendoed into a strom of noise around Zhang Wei, building to a peak that seemed to shake the very foundations of the world.
And then, just as suddenly, there was silence, an oppressive blanket that smothered all other sensations.
Zhang Wei found himself enveloped in a void, awaiting the unknown aftermath of that final, explosive moment until —
"Wei!"
"...Wei!"
"Wei, wake up!"
Gasp!
His eyes flew open, his sudden movement causing Chen Yulan, who was perched anxiously by his side, to jump back in surprise.
"Huh, where is it?"
Disoriented, he looked around, his gaze sweeping over the familiar surroundings of his room—the very same room he had fallen asleep in, with Chen Yulan now sitting beside him, a veil of concern shadowing her features.
"Wei? What happened?" Her voice was tinged with unease, the worry in her eyes reflecting, depths of her confusion.
Zhang Wei blinked, his gaze fixing on her as he momentarily lost himself in the effort to bridge the gap between dream and reality.
Memories tumbled through his mind, each image, sound, and emotion as vivid as if it had been lived, yet as mysterious as shadows at dawn.
In this moment, Zhang Wei realized everything, whether that was dream or reality, would haunt him, weaving its way into the fabric of his thoughts, urging him to seek out the story behind those captivating eyes.
"Wei, your body is sweating so much, and you were also not responding to any of us!" Chen Yulan's anxious voice broke through Zhang Wei's reverie as he turned to see her, her lips quivering slightly with concern.
He then became acutely aware of his own state, finding himself uncovered on the bed, his skin slick with sweat.
Indeed, the heat emanating from his body was concerning.
She stood by the bed, holding a cold, wet cloth with a tender yet worried expression, a sign of her attempts to soothe his fevered state.
Another cloth, already used for the same purpose, had slipped from his forehead to his lap, evidence of her care while he was lost in that other world.
"You were also muttering in your sleep, a-and—" Her voice trailed off as Zhang Wei, driven by a mix of confusion and a sudden urge for air, gently brushed her aside.
"Tell me something which I don't know," he said, a hint of frustration lacing his tone, not directed at her but at the overwhelming surge of emotions he was trying to navigate.
Grasping the towel, he hastily wrapped it around himself, moving past her to open the door and step out into the balcony.
The brisk, cool air caressed his skin, sending a shiver down his spine. Standing there, he focused on regulating his breath, trying to anchor himself back to the tangible world around him.
Yet, amidst his efforts, the lingering images of his dream danced at the fringes of his consciousness. With a deep inhale, he finally mustered the words, "Fetch me my cigarettes and lighter."
"Here," Chen Yulan returned swiftly, though she hesitated to hand them over. As Zhang Wei's senses sharpened, he noticed her attire—a striking pink top and matching skirt.
It wasn't unattractive, but it puzzled him... why?
"Why are you dressed like this?" he queried, exhaling a cloud of smoke as he lit his cigarette.
Chen Yulan's expression darkened, her demeanor shifting to one of suprise.
"... You asked me to wear it... Last night..." Her voice trailed off, tinged with embarrassment and unease.
"Should we see a doctor?" she ventured, sensing his unusual state of mind.
Zhang Wei's frown deepened. "I am the doctor," he retorted, a hint of irritation lacing his voice at the suggestion that he might need medical attention.
"..."
Chen Yulan fell silent, her disappointment visible as she watched him smoke, her concerns seemingly dismissed with his causal responses.
Despite her feelings, she couldn't argue with the fact—Zhang Wei was indeed a doctor, and if he found nothing amiss with his own health, what more could she say?
As he gazed out at the buildings across from them, a thought crossed his mind, prompting him to reach out to an unseen presence. 'Hey, system, any idea about it?'
"..."
'System?'
"..."
Zhang Wei's impatience showed. 'Tch, have you also had a nightmare? Stop throwing a temper—'
"She isn't throwing a temper, look around you..."
Hiss!!
The unexpected reply sent his skin crawling with goosebumps, nearly causing him to lose his balance on the security wall.
"Phew...Can you stop coming without any warning?" he grumbled, the day's events piling up into an overwhelming frustration and confusion.
As he looked around, the world had shifted into a stark mix of black and white.
Time seemed to stand still around him, and the unknown entity which called itself as Yuanshi materialized beside him out of thin air.
Chen Yulan, caught in the sudden freeze of time, stood immobilized, her expression captured in a moment of worry, her lips parted as if caught mid-sentence.
The sight struck Zhang Wei with an eerie sense of dread, far surpassing the unsettling nature of his dream.
"Why are you here this time?" Zhang Wei asked, his tone laced with suspicion.
Yuanshi's response came wrapped in laughter, obscured within a cloak of black fog. "To fix the mess, your lovely system has created."
"Huh?" Confusion flickered across Zhang Wei's face, replaced quickly by suprise as Yuanshi elaborated, "The dream you had is merely the result of her chaos. She allowed them to breach your mind; I'm here to ensure they can't anymore. It's better if you do the same."
"Better, like how?" Zhang Wei probed, seeking clarity in this unexpected turn of events.
Yuanshi's reply was cryptic yet foreboding. "Sometimes, knowing more does more harm than good. The choice is yours. I don't want my slave broken even before submitting to me."
"..."
The annoyance in Zhang Wei's eyes was growing, his patience thinning.
Despite the eerie familiarity between the shadow behind the Heavenly Emperor and this unknown figure, he knew too well that conflating the two would be a mistake for a myriad of reasons.
"What have you decided?" Yuanshi pressed.
"Turn them off," Zhang Wei decided, his trust in Yuanshi's words, for the moment, outweighing his reliance on the system.
Yuanshi's confirmed, "Done."
Her confirmation left Zhang Wei momentarily stunned, his eyes narrowing. "You can alter my body without touching?"
"Not just alter, can do a lot more," came Yuanshi's unsettling reply, suggesting a depth of power that Zhang Wei found both intriguing and alarming.
"..."
Silence fell between them as Zhang Wei fought with the reality of his situation.
It had escalated quickly from a mere nightmare to an encounter with an entity claiming abilities far beyond the ordinary, even capable of remote manipulation.
Feeling overwhelmed, Zhang Wei decided to steer the conversation towards the vivid images that had haunted him. "What about the images today? The Heavenly Emperor... he looked quite like me."
"Mm.." Yuanshi's response was noncommittal, eliciting frustration from Zhang Wei, who pressed further, "Is it perhaps me?" His suspicion was evident, seeking clarity in this maze of cryptic exchanges.
"..."
"Maybe. From a past life, maybe not, depends on whom you are talking about," Yuanshi's answer was deliberately vague, leaving Zhang Wei to interpret its meaning.
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