Hateful, Hateful

“All right, you’re not dead, are you? That means I don’t have to be hated by you anymore.”

Fang Jun decided to soothe her like a child. Even if this was only a dream, she still needed comforting.

Luo Ruiyu looked up at him, tears still clinging to her eyes.

“You’re so annoying.”

Fang Jun nodded along with her.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m annoying as hell. I’ll just drop dead right now.”

“You’re not allowed!”

Luo Ruiyu covered his mouth.

Fang Jun blinked.

After half a second, Luo Ruiyu took her hand away and added in a low voice, “You’re not allowed to die.”

Fang Jun said nothing.

She buried her face in his chest again, her voice muffled and hoarse.

“And you’re not allowed to like anyone else.”

Fang Jun froze completely.

This dream had really arranged everything for him.

Wait a second. Was this really his dream?!

I’m Chovy. Even my dreams are doing all the work for me!

At that, Fang Jun didn’t dare say another word. He couldn’t believe this was actually his own dream.

At that exact moment, white light suddenly surged up from all around them.

His vision blurred.

Luo Ruiyu vanished.

Fang Jun found himself sitting in a conference chair.

In front of him was a conference room. The tables and chairs were all arranged neatly, with everything in its proper place. Outside the windows, it was pitch-black. He couldn’t see the city, nor a single light.

At the other end of the conference table sat Lin Mo, holding a bottle of cola.

Fang Jun stared at him for two seconds.

“Wait, my dream was going so well! Why is Old Mo making an appearance now?”

Lin Mo looked up at him.

“Stop adding unnecessary drama to your own scenes.”

“Can’t I add drama to my own dream?”

“Although this is a dream, I’m not someone you dreamed up.”

Fang Jun leaned back in his chair.

“Of course it’s a dream. You’ve already started spouting nonsense. Keep bragging. Are you or are you not part of my dream? Do you think I wouldn’t know?”

Lin Mo couldn’t be bothered to argue. He simply said, “Enough. There’s one more person.”

He casually snapped his fingers, and another figure appeared at the opposite end of the conference table.

It was Luo Ruiyu. She was wearing exactly the same clothes Fang Jun had seen her in moments ago, which made him feel that this was still part of the dream.

Luo Ruiyu looked completely bewildered, her eyes still red.

She glanced around the office, then at Fang Jun. Her expression went from confusion to tension in less than half a second.

“How… how did this happen?”

Fang Jun immediately understood. He spread his hands.

“Sure enough, it’s still a dream. Why would I dream about this? Fine, whatever. I’m lucid dreaming anyway…”

Lin Mo said nothing. He stood up, walked over to Fang Jun, raised his hand, and slapped him.

Smack.

This time, it hurt.

Fang Jun covered his cheek and sat bolt upright.

The faint sting made his eyes widen.

“Are you insane?!”

“Did it hurt?”

“Obviously!”

“Then that’s good.”

Fang Jun rubbed his cheek, full of resentment. Then he suddenly realized what had happened.

“It really is you?! Old Mo!”

Lin Mo looked at Luo Ruiyu and gestured with his eyes: Want to try it too?

Luo Ruiyu immediately waved her hands. “I believe you, so what exactly is going on?”

Once the two of them had accepted the situation, at least to some extent, Lin Mo explained, “This concerns what happened this afternoon. I’ll ask one last time: do you want to retain these memories?”

Luo Ruiyu reacted first.

“Keep them!”

Seeing her response, Fang Jun shrugged indifferently.

“Then keep them, I guess. If we don’t, we won’t know to ask for your help the next time something like this happens. But seriously, how did you learn to do this?”

“I went to Hawaii to learn it over summer vacation.”

Lin Mo said it with a perfectly straight face.

“Oh, get lost. Did you drag us into this dream just to say that?”

“Of course not. I’m also giving you two a little protection.”

As he spoke, Lin Mo flicked his hand. Two triangular talismans appeared on the table. The yellow paper had been folded neatly, with its edges pressed perfectly flat.

There were no flashy special effects or strange noises. The talismans simply lay there in silence, looking surprisingly reassuring.

“Carry them with you from now on. Don’t worry—they’re waterproof.”

In truth, Lin Mo was only checking whether either of them might develop any unusual conditions.

For example, the development of their abilities.

After all, spiritual roots were something everyone possessed. In other words, anyone had the potential to awaken.

It was just that some people had better innate gifts and larger spiritual roots. If they encountered the right kind of stimulus, they could awaken.

But as things stood, neither of them seemed to have any talent in that area.

There was also the matter of contamination. The black mist that had been emanating from those things was the contamination that had been suppressed. Lin Mo also needed to observe whether it would contaminate their minds or bodies.

That was the true purpose of tonight’s dream visit.

As for the scene in the white dreamscape just now…

Lin Mo picked up his cola and suppressed the urge to expose the relationship between the two of them.

Even though he had seen it.

He had seen the whole thing.

Luo Ruiyu thought it had been her dream, while Fang Jun thought it had been his.

One of them had cried for real, and the other had panicked for real, yet neither of them had considered that it might reflect reality.

It would ruin the moment to expose it.

Especially with Fang Jun’s mouth. He could joke around all day normally, but when things got serious, there was an eighty percent chance he would turn the whole situation into a complete mess.

Besides, Fang Jun might not be ready to properly respond to Luo Ruiyu’s feelings yet.

It was better to keep this secret for now. If it was ever going to be revealed, it should happen at a better time.

Fang Jun suddenly looked up.

“Wait. How long have you been in our dreams?”

Luo Ruiyu looked over as well. The scene from earlier flashed through her mind. Lin Mo absolutely could not know about what she had dreamed of—she had a feeling he would definitely tell Fang Jun.

Then what would happen to her…?

The office fell silent for a moment.

Lin Mo set down his cola, his expression perfectly natural.

“Since you two came in.”

Fang Jun stared at him and asked curiously, “What about that white space just now?”

Lin Mo answered without hesitation.

“That was the transition zone between your dreams. You could say it’s something that exists within everyone’s subconscious.”

At that, the scene from earlier flashed through Fang Jun’s mind again, and he began doubting himself all over.

No way. Was he really Supreme Treasure?!

As for Luo Ruiyu, she lowered her head, the tips of her ears quietly turning red. She said nothing. The more she said, the more likely she was to give herself away.

Lin Mo stood up.

“All right. Go back to sleep. I’m leaving.”

White light began spilling in through the windows.

Fang Jun’s vision brightened. The office, the conference table, and Lin Mo’s figure all began to recede into the distance.

Just before everything disappeared, he heard Lin Mo add one more thing.

“Keep this a secret for me.”

Before Fang Jun could retort, his whole body plummeted downward.

When he opened his eyes again, it was already early the next morning.

Sunlight fell across his bed through a gap in the curtains.

He stared at the ceiling for a long time without moving.

His face didn’t hurt.

But why did his palm feel like something was poking it?

He spread out his hand and saw a triangular safety talisman lying in his palm.

He instantly woke up completely.

He picked up his phone and saw a message Luo Ruiyu had sent an hour earlier.

“No way. You woke up that early?!”

Now, let’s turn back the clock to when Luo Ruiyu had just woken up.

She sat up in bed and opened her palm.

The safety talisman lay there quietly.

“So it was all real.”

She casually set the talisman aside. Then, remembering what had happened in the dream, she suddenly pulled the covers over her head.

“A dream from my subconscious? As expected of the person I hate most. So annoying, so annoying!”