Master of Nine Stars

Chapter 570: Chapter 346: Dream 2

…

KNOCK~ KNOCK~ KNOCK~

A soft knocking sound came from the door, startling Gao Lingwei from a deep sleep. Her eyes flew open, but then she suddenly remembered—she was at home in Songbai Town.

After a few seconds, the sharp look in her eyes softened slightly. From outside the door came her mother’s soft call, “Xiaowei?”

But this time, her mother didn’t wait for a response and opened the door.

CLICK. Cheng Yuan fumbled for the wall next to the door and flipped on the light switch.

White light flooded the room. Gao Lingwei squinted, her eyes adjusting to the brightness as she looked toward her mother at the door. “Mom, what’s…”

Before she could finish, Gao Lingwei saw that her mother’s eyes were red-rimmed.

Gao Lingwei quickly sat up. Cheng Yuan walked in, sat on the edge of the bed, her eyes still red, and pulled Gao Lingwei into her arms.

“Mom, what is it?” Gao Lingwei gently rubbed her mother’s back, her tone soft. “What happened? Tell me.”

In her embrace, her mother’s body was trembling slightly, as if she were sobbing.

Gao Lingwei couldn’t bear it. She gently pushed herself out of her mother’s arms and cupped her mother’s face in her hands, only to see that she was truly crying.

Her heart ached. Still holding her mother’s face, she wiped the tear tracks from her cheeks with her thumbs. “Don’t cry, Mom,” she said, concerned. “Tell me, what’s wrong?”

Cheng Yuan lowered her gaze, her voice soft. “You’re leaving again. To the battlefield, to carry out a mission.”

Gao Lingwei was confused and said urgently, “I’m still on leave. I’m staying home with you. I’m not going anywhere.”

Cheng Yuan said, “Look out the window.”

Confused, Gao Lingwei picked up the Snowball Cat from her bedside and tossed it onto the windowsill.

The Snowball Cat was very intelligent and obedient. It landed lightly on the sill, took the curtain in its little mouth, and, just as it had done before, pulled it toward the side of the window frame.

Outside, it was pitch black. She couldn’t even see the red lanterns hanging on the balcony of the residential building across the way.

Gao Lingwei knew it wasn’t because the lanterns were out, but because layers of wind and snow were obstructing her view.

The sound of the frigid wind howling was like the wails of ghosts and wolves, chilling to the bone in the black of night.

Gao Lingwei gently patted her mother’s back and looked up at the small clock hanging above the door. The hands clearly showed: 9:15.

‘Nine-fifteen?’

Gao Lingwei was stunned. ‘Did I sleep for a whole day and night?’

‘No, impossible!’

‘Even if I fell asleep in the early hours of this morning, there’s no way I would’ve slept for an entire day and night.’

‘So… is it 9:15 in the morning now?’

‘If it’s morning, why isn’t it light out?’

Gao Lingwei’s eyes widened. She turned to look out the window again, but all she could see was pitch blackness.

Cheng Yuan hugged Gao Lingwei tightly, her voice still trembling. “It’s that kind of snowstorm again… another Extreme Night like before. The Soul Beast Corps will invade the Snow Realm again, won’t they? They definitely will.”

Gao Lingwei snapped back to her senses and tried to soothe her mother’s anxious heart. “No, they won’t. A large-scale invasion like that wouldn’t happen so frequently.”

“You’re in the Snow Burning Army. You’ll go to the northern walls, won’t you?” Cheng Yuan said.

But Gao Lingwei’s words faltered. “I…”

Her mother’s soft whisper reached her ear. “Why did you make me come back to the Snow Realm, back to Songbai Town?”

Gao Lingwei’s mouth fell slightly open. Suddenly, she didn’t know what to say.

Cheng Yuan let go of the hug. This time, it was she who cupped her daughter’s face in her hands. Cheng Yuan leaned forward until their foreheads touched, their four eyebrows nearly meeting, and stared into Gao Lingwei’s stunned eyes. “Why are you always the one who brings trouble?”

Gao Lingwei was completely baffled. She couldn’t understand how such words could come from her mother’s mouth. It was completely out of character.

Their eyes locked. With their foreheads pressed together, Gao Lingwei’s world narrowed until only her mother’s eyes remained.

“You got me involved, hunted by those Poachers.”

“Because of you, I was forced to move back to the Snow Realm, back to Songbai Town, back to this world of ice and snow, far away from a normal, comfortable life.”

“And now, it’s because of you again. You’re leaving once more, going to the Third Wall for a mission, leaving me here in this dark, snowy night…”

Gao Lingwei jerked her head back. Her view expanded from seeing only the other person’s eyes to seeing their entire face.

However, while the eyes were still the same, unchanged, the other features on the person’s face had transformed.

Gao Lingwei saw a mature version of herself.

A demon she could never forget in this lifetime…

A smile spread across the woman’s face, each word a dagger stabbing into Gao Lingwei’s heart. “Why must you always bring her trouble?”

“Hah…” Gao Lingwei gasped, her eyes flying open as she shot up in bed!

“MEOW!!!” The sleeping Snowball Cat beside her pillow was terrified, its body instinctively recoiling as its fur stood on end.

“Hah… hah…” A cold sweat broke out on Gao Lingwei’s forehead. Her chest heaved violently as she gasped for breath.

The room was pitch black. When had the light been on? Where was her mother’s figure? Where was the demon’s?

‘Was it a nightmare?’

Gao Lingwei quickly looked up at the clock above the door. In the pitch-black room, the clock’s hands glowed faintly, clearly showing: 2:40.

‘Two-forty in the morning?’

Gao Lingwei pressed her lips together. Only a few short minutes had passed since she had closed her eyes to sleep, yet she’d had such a nightmare.

‘Why?’

‘Has my life been too good recently? Why has that shadow buried in my heart resurfaced?’

Just then, a soft KNOCK~ KNOCK~ KNOCK~ came from the door.

Gao Lingwei: !!!

She stared dumbly at the closed door, unsure how to respond.

“Xiaowei.” Her father’s voice came from the doorway.

For some reason, the steady sound of her father’s voice did much to calm Gao Lingwei’s trembling heart.

“What’s wrong?” Gao Qingchen asked softly from outside the door.

Gao Lingwei calmed the roiling emotions in her heart and said softly, “Sorry, Dad, did I wake you? I just… uh, had a nightmare. Did Mom wake up too?”

“She’s not as sharp as we are. She’s still sleeping, she didn’t wake up.” Gao Qingchen placed a hand on the doorknob, hesitated for a moment, but decided not to turn it. After all, his daughter was grown now, and it wouldn’t be right for him to enter her room.

Gao Qingchen thought for a moment, then offered some comfort, “Don’t be scared. It’s okay, Dad’s here. If you want to talk about it…”

“No, it’s okay.” Gao Lingwei cut him off before he could finish.

“Mm, you’re not a kid anymore, and you’re a Warrior. It’s just a nightmare.” Gao Qingchen said with a chuckle. “Get some sleep. Don’t overthink it.”

“O-Okay, Dad. You get some sleep too,” Gao Lingwei said apologetically. From outside the door, the sound of a cane tapping lightly against the ground grew fainter and fainter.

Gao Lingwei pressed a hand to her forehead, took a deep breath, and let it out slowly…

The Snowball Cat crept over cautiously. It nudged aside Gao Lingwei’s disheveled hair with its little head and curiously watched its master, who was resting with her eyes closed.

Seeing its master still so shaken, it sat on her lap, tilted its little face up, and couldn’t help but gently lick Gao Lingwei’s cheek.

After a long time, Gao Lingwei threw back the covers and got out of bed. She gently pulled open the curtains, cradling the Snowball Cat as she gazed at the night outside.

The wind and snow were still there, but they were nowhere near as severe as in her nightmare.

The second hand of the clock in the room went tick-tock, and for Gao Lingwei, every second was an agony.

She stood by the window like that all night. She didn’t know how much time had passed, until her gaze, peering between a few residential buildings, saw the pale light of dawn appear on the distant horizon.

At that moment, her tightly wound heart finally began to relax.

Even though the wind and snow still raged, the sun was rising as it always did.

Clearly, the day was about to break.

Gao Lingwei pressed her lips together. She didn’t know why she’d had such a nightmare. ‘Was it because of that phrase, “The night is coming”?’

‘Was it because I found out that Gao Lingshi was the one who said it?’

‘Or was it that hurdle in my heart I’ve never been able to overcome—the guilt I’ve always felt about my parents leaving their comfortable, ordinary world to return to Songbai Town?’

All these factors—her worries, the person who was like a nightmare to her—had connected, brewing and fermenting in her subconscious, weaving together to create such a terrible dream…

Finally, Gao Lingwei pressed the Snowball Cat into her body. She braced her hands on the windowsill and slowly lowered her head.

A soft CRACK echoed.

The knuckles of her hands, pressed against the sill, had turned white, and several small cracks had appeared on the marble windowsill.