Pickled Cucumbers

Memory jump.

This time, Guo Yunfeng recognized the location.

Because behind her and Xu Ci stood the tall lighthouse.

In other words, the two of them were currently on the dangerous mountain where Gu Yun lived in reality.

But at this moment, the house had only just had its foundation laid, and it was far from completion.

“Oh my god, who would actually enjoy eating pickled cucumbers…”

Xu Ci looked disgustedly at the jar of pickled cucumbers in Gu Yun’s hands.

It had been specially brought to him by a friend, because this was Gu Yun’s favorite food.

Faced with Xu Ci’s endless chatter, Guo Yunfeng remained unmoved.

In her eyes, Xu Ci was simply the warmhearted character Lu Ze had created to pry open women’s hearts.

Since that was the case, as long as she ignored him, Lu Ze’s illusion was bound to fail.

So she turned her attention to the task at hand.

Driven by the melodious background music, she carefully observed every detail in the memory.

“This couple is so awkward…”

Guo Yunfeng frowned. Under the pull of the Fear-Soul Love-Binding Formation, her curiosity and suspicion kept growing.

As she searched for memory fragments, she listened closely to the conversation between Gu Yun and Wang Qiao.

[Wang Qiao: The wife of Gu Yun’s childhood friend Zhang Peng; she has a close relationship with Lin Xi.]

At this point in time, Lin Xi’s illness had just been diagnosed, requiring a huge sum of money for treatment.

Gu Yun was very distressed, because Lin Xi had always wanted to build a house here.

To Lin Xi, this place was more important than life itself.

From his understanding of Lin Xi, she would rather give up treatment and insist on Gu Yun continuing to build the house here.

“Strange… what’s so special about this place anyway…??”

Xu Ci looked around in confusion.

Apart from that dilapidated, non-functioning abandoned lighthouse, this was simply a desolate, dangerous mountain with nothing else.

At this moment, a minor argument broke out between Gu Yun and Wang Qiao.

Gu Yun wanted to deceive Lin Xi, using all their savings to treat her illness.

Wang Qiao, on the other hand, felt that Gu Yun should respect Lin Xi’s wishes and not force his own desires onto her.

“Is she the only one who’s suffering? What about me?”

“After all these years, can’t I be selfish for once—do something for myself just this once?”

As he spoke, Gu Yun covered his forehead in despair. The white strands at his temples seemed to have multiplied, and a few tears slid down his cheeks.

“…I don’t want to end up alone.”

“I don’t want to let her just… slip away so easily.”

Hearing Gu Yun’s words at this moment, Guo Yunfeng paused in her motion of drawing dream power.

Having just returned from a memory not long after this, she naturally knew the ending of the story.

Gu Yun’s lie was exposed, Lin Xi refused treatment, and Gu Yun kept his promise to build the house here, growing old in loneliness.

But it was only a brief pause.

Having cultivated the emotionless path for centuries, she had long grown indifferent to life and death, joy and sorrow.

Guo Yunfeng walked over to the jar of pickled cucumbers Wang Qiao had brought for Gu Yun and infused it with dream power.

“Senior Brother…”

“I’ve found the memory fragment. Let’s go.”

……

……

Zhong Yi’s illusion world.

Using that jar of pickled cucumbers as a medium, the memory jumped forward again.

Zhong Yi and Qin Li’en appeared in a relatively quiet restaurant.

“Every jump answers a question from the previous recollection? This way of advancing the story is really impressive! As expected of Junior Brother Lu!”

After experiencing four memory regressions, Zhong Yi couldn’t help but marvel.

This was the first time he had experienced a narrative told in reverse.

Each leap backward came with doubts, which were then gradually resolved.

This technique greatly stimulated players’ desire to explore and created a strong sense of immersion.

Zhong Yi and Qin Li’en found an empty table in the corner and sat down.

Behind them, the couple Gu Yun and Lin Xi were sitting with Zhang Peng and his wife for a long-awaited reunion dinner.

The four of them chatted about everything under the sun.

At this moment, Gu Yun and Lin Xi had just decided to build a new house on the cliff.

When Gu Yun spoke of it, there was a vibrant light of hope in his eyes.

“Ah… what a pity.”

Zhong Yi sighed.

Having just returned from several future segments, seeing this scene pained him.

At this point, Lin Xi’s illness had not yet been discovered, and Gu Yun was full of vitality…

But before long, they would be crushed by the weight of life.

“As disciples of the Dream-Making Sect, you need to get used to this… Junior Brother Zhong.”

Qin Li’en, sitting beside him, tried hard to stay calm.

“These things have already happened. We can’t change them… at least in this era, we are powerless.”

Zhong Yi nodded somberly.

What they were experiencing now was merely a parallel world projected from Gu Yun’s memories.

Lin Xi and Wang Qiao went out together for some fresh air, leaving only Gu Yun and Zhang Peng at the table.

Zhang Peng was in high spirits from the drinks, and he asked Gu Yun with a smile, “By the way, did you end up telling Lin Xi about that matter?”

Gu Yun looked helpless. “I did.”

“How did she take it?”

“She barely accepted it, I suppose? But after that… well.”

Gu Yun sighed, smiled bitterly, and downed his drink in one gulp.

“After that, she started folding those paper rabbits every single day.”

“Paper rabbits? What’s wrong with being a little childlike?”

“No, it’s not just one rabbit… it’s a whole lot of them! She folds them day and night, and the house can barely hold them all…”

“Did you ask Wang Qiao? Could this be one of the signs of the Ice Heart Bloodline?”

“I did ask. She said it was a sign… but I somehow feel it’s not that simple.”

Gu Yun swallowed another bitter drink, and a hint of unexplained guilt appeared in his eyes.

“Every time I ask Xiaoxi about it, she stays silent.”

“And each time, her eyes become deep and distant… as if she’s expecting some answer from me.”

“It’s something I simply can’t understand, yet…”

Gu Yun’s eyes welled up with sorrow.

“I always feel like… I’ve somehow wronged her.”

……

Zhong Yi couldn’t help but perk up his ears, wishing he could stand right beside them to listen.

After all, the paper rabbits had puzzled him for a very long time, and he was extremely curious why Lin Xi kept folding them.

Unfortunately, after talking for a long time, the two men still hadn’t found an answer.

“Ice Heart Bloodline? What is ‘that matter’ they’re referring to?? Damn… I feel like in the next memory, this mystery will be solved!”

Zhong Yi paced back and forth in the restaurant, desperate to unravel the riddle.

He completely forgot that the theme of this illusion was “love,” and also forgot that the purpose of his mission was to get Gu Yun to go to the Moon Realm.

“Forget the mysteries… we’ve got trouble.”

Qin Li’en frowned.

She tapped on the transparent barrier in front of the restaurant’s main entrance.

“Gu Yun’s too drunk. This memory is a sealed space. We can’t get out…”

“Uh, why would we need to get out?”

Zhong Yi was puzzled.

“We’ve gathered all five strands of dream power, but there are no memory fragments in this restaurant!”

Qin Li’en’s expression was serious.

Without memory fragments, they couldn’t travel to the next memory.

“Maybe the fragment is on him? I’ll just snatch it.”

Zhong Yi immediately rolled up his sleeves, ready to take action.

"Stop, stop, stop!! This memory fragment is extremely unstable. If you do something out of line, it might collapse completely!"

Qin Li'en hastily tried to dissuade him.

"I can't wait any longer..."

Zhong Yi rubbed his chin, eager to move on to the next memory segment.

He glanced at Gu Yun and Zhang Peng, who were chatting animatedly at the table behind him. His eyes fell on the jar of pickled cucumbers in front of Gu Yun, and a sudden spark of inspiration struck him.

"I've got an idea, Senior Sister! Release me from the [Observer] state!"

Zhong Yi's form solidified, and he walked up to the counter, saying to the waiter, "Waiter, give me a plate of pickled cucumbers!"

Picking up a plate of sour, pungent-smelling pickled cucumbers, Zhong Yi fought back the urge to vomit, forcing a smile as he walked toward Gu Yun's table.

Passing by Qin Li'en, he whispered, "Senior Sister, help me block out my sense of taste and smell..."

With that, he put on a cheerful expression and sat down across from Gu Yun as if they were old friends.

"You've got fine taste, my friend! You like pickled cucumbers too?"

"Ah, you're also a fan? What a rare encounter to find a kindred spirit! Come, let's have a drink together!"

"Sounds great!"

Seeing Gu Yun so cooperative, Zhong Yi relaxed, picked up a large clump of pickled cucumbers, and brought it to his mouth.

The pungent, sour, and salty aroma hit his nose.

"..."

Zhong Yi's smile froze on his face. He slowly turned his head, looking back at his senior sister, who was still in the Observer state.

"Senior sister kind of forgot how to block the five senses individually... Let me think."

Qin Li'en gave a sly grin, flashing Zhong Yi a thumbs-up.

"Keep it up, Junior Brother!"

"What the heck..."

Zhong Yi took a deep breath.

"Friend, why do you keep looking behind you? Could it be that you..."

Gu Yun and Zhang Peng both looked puzzled.

"No, no, no! Nothing! Come on! Eat the pickled cucumbers!!"

Summoning his courage, Zhong Yi gritted his teeth and swallowed the pickled cucumbers.

"Why are you crying, friend?"

"Waa... waaahhh... I've never tasted such... such delicious pickled cucumbers..."

"It's clear you truly love them... No worries, since you like them so much, I'll give you this whole jar of pickled cucumbers!"

"???"

...

...

Zhong Yi had no idea how he managed to finish that entire plate of pickled cucumbers.

Nor did he understand why this particular illusion by Lu Ze had made the sense of taste and smell so damn realistic...

By sucking up over the pickled cucumbers, Zhong Yi barely managed to trick Gu Yun into revealing an important item he carried with him.

It was a notice.

"Freeze!"

The moment the notice was pulled out, Qin Li'en instantly froze the entire memory space, then grinned mischievously at Zhong Yi:

"Junior Brother Zhong, how were the pickled cucumbers?"

"I thank you so much..."

Zhong Yi wiped the corner of his mouth and gave Qin Li'en a helpless look, his conviction deepening that all women like this were wicked.

"Next, through this notice, we head to the next memory segment... Hmm? Junior Brother Zhong? Why are you spacing out?"

Qin Li'en asked curiously.

"It's nothing."

Zhong Yi shook his head.

He felt there was something off, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

Before moving to the next memory segment through that notice, he glanced back at the tavern one more time.

On the table, the jar of pickled cucumbers in front of Gu Yun had its lid already opened.

The pickled cucumbers inside remained completely untouched...