DDT - Chapter 100
Chapter 100: Tycoon's Daughter (8)
Chi Junluo woke up early. In truth, she hadn't slept very soundly that night.
She gently pried off the limbs of the heroine clinging to her, got out of bed, and tucked the covers back around her. Then, she went to the bathroom to wash her face and brush her teeth. Feeling refreshed, she headed downstairs, where the housekeeper and servants were already awake and bustling about in the kitchen and dining room.
Upon seeing Chi Junluo, the housekeeper gave her a slight bow and a morning greeting. Chi Junluo returned a smile and, at the housekeeper's suggestion, went out to the Yi family's large garden to breathe in the fresh morning air.
If she hadn't spent a night sleeping with this world's heroine, she would never have known just how restless Yi Shuhan was.
The first half of the night was fine; she slept quite soundly. Then, she was suddenly woken by the cold. Groping around, she found that Yi Shuhan, who had been clinging to her before bed, was no longer beside her. She had apparently rolled over a couple of times, wrapping the entire comforter around herself. On such a cold day, Chi Junluo shivered as she crawled over, carefully and slowly rolled the burrito-like young lady back over twice, and bit by bit, tugged the comforter back until she could barely cover herself. Reunited with warmth, she went back to sleep.
Not long after, just as Chi Junluo was drifting off again, a loud slap jolted her awake. She opened her eyes, her mind a complete fog. It took a long moment for her to realize she'd been smacked in the face. Yi Shuhan had, at some point, freed her hand from the covers and, after waving it around in the air, brought it down squarely on Chi Junluo's face.
Chi Junluo: ...??
She tucked the young lady's hand back into the comforter, rubbed her stinging cheek, and sighed. Adjusting her posture, she tried to fall asleep as quickly as possible.
Perhaps because she was exhausted, or perhaps because she'd been forcibly woken up twice, Chi Junluo fell asleep again soon after closing her eyes.
This time, she slept very deeply. She was kicked from time to time, and the blanket was often pulled away, but she would only shift groggily, instinctively tugging the covers back without ever becoming fully conscious.
It wasn't until she heard a whimpering sound that she woke up. Perhaps it was her body's instinct, or perhaps it was that same inexplicable subconscious feeling from the depths of a seemingly non-existent memory, but she snapped awake instantly. That familiar, heart-wrenching tightness gripped her chest again. The well-behaved Miss Yi lying beside her was crying softly.
Chi Junluo's head ached. She rubbed her temples fiercely, trying to recover from the heart palpitations of being roused from a deep sleep.
"Sigh..." Letting out a slow breath, Chi Junluo turned to look at the crying heroine. By the faint moonlight filtering through the window, she could see Yi Shuhan, who was so clever and mischievous during the day, now curled up slightly, facing her and the window. She was clutching the blanket tightly with both hands, and beneath her long lashes, her face was streaked with tears.
Chi Junluo blinked, making sure she wasn't dreaming. She remembered hearing from someone that this posture was a defensive one, a sign of insecurity. But this world's heroine hadn't experienced any trauma, had she? Why would she feel insecure?
The person who was awake was utterly baffled. Seeing this pitiful sight, crying so heartbreakingly, a voice in Chi Junluo's mind seemed to repeat, Don't let her cry.
Unsure if she was hearing things, Chi Junluo agreed that crying like this wasn't good. The girl must be having a nightmare. She might be seeing something terrifying or experiencing sleep paralysis—that awful feeling of knowing you're dreaming but being unable to move or wake up. It was like being pinned down by a ghost. In those moments, you always wished someone would wake you up. Chi Junluo guessed Yi Shuhan was trapped in such a state. She leaned over, supporting herself with one hand on the bed, and placed her other hand on Yi Shuhan's shoulder. Just as she was about to wake the poor child, she heard a word that stunned her. She was very close to Yi Shuhan and heard her say, her voice thick with tears, "Chi Chi…"
The instant she heard it, a dozen hypotheses and conjectures flashed through Chi Junluo's mind. She froze, her hand hovering over Yi Shuhan. She lowered herself, listening as more broken phrases emerged from the sleeping girl's whimpers. "Chi Chi… you promised… you wouldn't leave…"
"…You lied to me…"
"…I miss you…"
"…Wait for me…"
Chi Junluo's eyes widened in utter confusion: ???
Did the heroine get her worlds mixed up? What was going on? Did she have memories from a previous world?
She had only truly interacted with this world's heroine for a single day. Emotionally, they were definitely not that close. Yi Shuhan had always called her "Senior" or "Senior Chi." A nickname as intimate as "Chi Chi" was something the Yi Shuhan of this world and this environment would never use, not even in a dream. They barely knew each other, right?
Besides… wasn't that what the heroines from the previous worlds had called her??
?
Though, to be precise, the name "Chi Chi" should be what the heroine from the last world called her, right?
Even though she had already been through four worlds, Chi Junluo remembered the pet names the heroine had for her in each one. In the apocalyptic world, she was the heroine's "Sister Chi." In the school world, she was her good friend "Luo Luo." In that bizarre ancient world, she was… emmmm, the tall and mighty "General Chi" to the heroine who had become a man. And in the mental hospital world, she was the ghost friend "Chi Chi" who had spent all four seasons with the heroine.
Although some memories had become fuzzy for some reason, she remembered each world's heroine with her distinct personality—confident, strong, lively, or fragile…
Hearing "Chi Chi" from this heroine's lips now was truly terrifying.
It was true that the heroines of these worlds were all fragments of the original heroine's soul. The soul was a single entity, so even in pieces, perhaps they could still connect and influence one another. In that case, it wasn't impossible for the memories of the soul fragments she had contracted with to be shared with fragments from other worlds!
Heavens! This was such a mess!
Chi Junluo pulled her hand back and sat dazedly on the bed, her usually straight back gradually slumping. She covered her face with her hands. If the heroines in every future world gradually shared memories through the connection between soul fragments…
In the first world, she had fallen from the city wall, spouting a bunch of nonsense before she fell. The Heavenly Dao had told her she was just a skeleton by the time she hit the ground. In the second world, she had jumped off the school roof and died right in front of the heroine. It was easy to imagine the psychological trauma that would leave. The third world was better; the heroine was a man, accustomed to the smoke of battle and the partings of life and death, so he probably wouldn't be too traumatized (though something about that felt off).
The fourth world should have been quite gentle. A ghost whose lingering attachments were resolved, gradually dissolving into golden specks of light under the sun. That should have been the most peaceful departure.
"Mm," Chi Junluo nodded, trying to comfort herself. Her departures in the last two worlds were actually quite gentle. The thought made her feel a little guilty.
If the heroine really did share all those memories, would she beat her to death?
She felt like a total scumbag, deceiving a young girl's feelings before disappearing from her world.
Why did she feel more and more guilty?!
Chi Junluo frantically called for the Heavenly Dao in her sea of consciousness, but no one answered. She looked closely and saw that the damn Heavenly Dao wasn't in the little dark room at all. All that was left were a few lines of text floating in the air: This Deity has important business and must depart. I'll be back after a while. Remember to complete your mission properly. I'm entrusting the heroine to you, so protect her! —Your Daddy, the Heavenly Dao.
Bah!
Chi Junluo rolled her eyes and withdrew from her sea of consciousness, feeling a headache coming on. Waking the heroine now was a bad idea, but not waking her was also a bad idea. If she woke up, they both knew that you remember your dreams most clearly in the first few minutes after waking. That would surely lead to a huge confrontation! But if she didn't wake her, her heart ached for the crying heroine. She'd never seen her cry like this before; it was painful to watch.
If Yi Shuhan cried all night, her eyes would definitely be uncomfortable in the morning. After thinking it over, not daring to wake her but still worried, Chi Junluo decided to grope her way to the bathroom in the dark. She took a small face towel, soaked it in warm water, and wrung it out just enough so it wouldn't drip but was still quite damp. She returned to the bed with the soft towel and carefully wiped the heroine's tears, then gently placed the warm cloth over her eyes to soothe them.
After a while, Yi Shuhan finally quieted down. Her breathing just became a little heavier, and she let out a faint snore.
Chi Junluo didn't sleep well for the rest of the night. Her mind was filled with questions. When the Heavenly Dao was around, she had someone to consult. Now she was on her own, and it was truly vexing.
She lay with her eyes open until the sky began to lighten. And now, here she was, standing in someone else's garden, walking aimlessly, having thought about it for a long time. She decided she would try to probe for some information after the heroine woke up. Maybe she could find out something.
Most of the flowers in the yard were gone, leaving only bare branches. A few trees were still stubborn, refusing to be made bald by autumn.
The weather was genuinely chilly; you could see your breath, a puff of white.
Chi Junluo shivered, then suddenly remembered she had the Power of the Heavenly Dao—the ultimate defense against the cold… Why hadn't she thought to use it when she woke up freezing in the middle of the night???
She secretly circulated the Power of the Heavenly Dao, wrapping herself in two layers. Finally, she wasn't cold anymore. Chi Junluo's skin, which had been slightly purple, returned to its rosy hue.
It wasn't until the housekeeper sent a servant to find her in the yard that she returned to the dining room. The servant said that the young lady was awake and breakfast was ready.
Yi Shuhan was neatly dressed. Her eyes were indeed a little swollen, but thankfully, it wasn't too obvious. It seemed the warm towel from the night before had helped. The swelling should go down soon.
The two exchanged simple greetings, and Chi Junluo took a seat opposite Yi Shuhan.
Breakfast was a mix of Eastern and Western styles. There were Dragon Kingdom-style buns and fried dough sticks, as well as Western-style milk and sandwiches. Chi Junluo preferred the soup dumplings.
While they ate, the housekeeper and servants were not in the dining room. This was a rule of the Yi family; the servants would only enter when summoned by their masters.
Taking advantage of the lack of prying eyes, Chi Junluo cleared her throat, looked Yi Shuhan firmly in the eyes, and asked, "Shuhan, did you… have a nightmare last night?"
Yi Shuhan subconsciously touched her right wrist and hesitated. "I did. I used to have nightmares often as a child, but after that Daoist priest performed a ritual, I didn't have any for several years. They only started again three years ago."
As she spoke, she raised her right hand, pulling up her sleeve to reveal her fair wrist. She pointed to it and said, "That priest drew some patterns on my wrist with crow's blood, and I didn't have nightmares for years after that. Later, as the patterns slowly faded, I started dreaming again."
"They just won't leave me alone," Yi Shuhan commented on her dreams. Chi Junluo awkwardly scratched her head. Then she heard Yi Shuhan add, "But it's been better lately. Maybe the patterns still have some effect, so the dreams aren't too scary."
Chi Junluo stared at the patterns on Yi Shuhan's wrist, which had faded to a barely visible light pink. They looked exceptionally familiar…
She suddenly remembered that ever since the first world, a contract symbol for the soul fragment had appeared on her left wrist after each mission.
When Yi Shuhan wasn't looking, she secretly moved her left hand under the table and pulled up her sleeve. Sure enough, she saw the four contract runes, golden and shimmering.
She couldn't help but curse inwardly!
The patterns on her left hand were a mirror image of the ones on the heroine's right hand!
She had a strong premonition that Yi Shuhan must never see the symbols on her wrist. The result would definitely not be something she was willing to face!
Damn that Heavenly Dao. It was never around when she needed it. Tsk.
Chi Junluo pulled her sleeve back down and changed the subject.
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