Chapter 24
PART II
Lu Li"s back was rigid, his eyes completely out of focus, leaving only condensed regret and complete collapse.
Xie Jianwei"s heart ached unbearably, but he could only continue to speak.
"Lu Li, I love you."
Lu Li hugged him tightly, his voice shaking: "You don"t need to lie to me, if you like Lu Yan then be with him, I won"t stop you guys anymore, I…"
"No…" Xie Jianwei looked at him. "I love you."
Lu Li shook his head: "In order to save him you even…even…"
Xie Jianwei finished it for him: "I even threw away my life."
Lu Li felt despair, as well as pain.
But Xie Jianwei stubbornly stared on at him: "That"s right. I love Lu Yan too."
Lu Li paused, stunned.
Xie Jianwei said seriously: "I love you, and I love Lu Yan."
Lu Li"s eyes stared at him, unblinkingly, as if he didn"t understand what he was saying.
Xie Jianwei said: "If the one who was going to be hit by cars just then was you, I would save you without hesitation all the same."
Lu Li"s brows tightly furrowed, wholly unable to accept it: "Impossible."
But Xie Jianwei repeated it once again: "I love you, and I love Lu Yan too, I…"
He hadn"t finished saying his words before he was abruptly bounced out.
Yan Ke: "…"
Xie Jianwei"s expression was unchanged as he asked: "The dream"s finished?"
Yan Ke melancholically said: "My Lord, this treatment of yours…"
Xie Jianwei was unsurprised: "How many came from the split?"
Yan Ke said: "Two."
Xie Jianwei replied: "That"s pretty good."
Yan Ke exploded: "How is that pretty good ahhhhhh! Uri [1] Lord Supreme commander turned from four to eight ah!"
Xie Jianwei rolled his eyes at him: "Was your maths taught by your PE teacher?"
Yan Ke blinked. Only after calculating again did he say: "Oh…it"s seven." Because before they"d at least settled one.
But seven was a lot too ah!
Xie Jianwei said: "This dreamscape was my mistake. In order to stop Lu Yan dying, I could only make the dream end." This way, Lu Li had no way of easily killing off the personality Lu Yan, like a G.o.d.
Although there would be two more Lu Lis, it was better than having one disappear.
After all, with Lu Li"s spiritual threshold value, taking on these personalities wouldn"t be hard.
But he couldn"t let him split again either. This made the future prospect of treatment look considerably pessimistic.
Yan Ke understood what Xie Jianwei meant. Abandoning the p.a.w.ns to protect your General was unavoidable. [2]
But very quickly, Yan Ke grew curious again: "What did you do? To make the dream just collapse?"
Xie Jianwei paused, before saying: "I confessed to them."
Yan Ke: "…"
Xie Jianwei sighed, saying: "It counts as a collapse of character I suppose. After all, in the dream, Xie Jianwei was a yandere young master, and the biggest characteristic of yanderes are their single-mindedness. Falling for two people at the same time would be impossible."
Lu Li didn"t believe him, but he also couldn"t understand why Xie Jianwei would say it like so. It just so happened that the situation at the time was also extremely dangerous – Xie Jianwei was about to die. He didn"t want to accept the reality that he would die, but he was also convinced that he wouldn"t survive.
Under these heavy blows, the dreamscape completely collapsed.
Yan Ke had no words.
Xie Jianwei sighed, saying: "I was too careless."
Yan Ke comforted him, saying: "There was no other way. After all, they"re both the Lord Supreme Commander."
Xie Jianwei kneaded his forehead and did not say anything.
At any other time, he wouldn"t make any of these mistakes. But against Lu Li, he was truly at a loss.
It was as if any problem that had something to do with Lu Li would have its degree of difficulty raised by who-knows-how-many levels.
Xie Jianwei glanced at the sleeping Lu Li, and a phrase rose unbidden to his mind – to lose one"s head to beauty.
Yan Ke asked him: "Should we continue the treatment?"
Xie Jianwei looked at him: "This time, you"ll go in with me."
Yan Ke: "Ah?"
Xie Jianwei said: "If there"s only one Lu Li then it"s fine, but if there"s a few more, I"m worried that I"ll mess up. If you go, you can give me a reminder when the time comes."
Yan Ke: "…"
Xie Jianwei looked at him: "You can"t?"
Yan Ke said: "It"s, it"s not that I can"t, it"s, it"s just…" He cleared his throat, continuing: "You guys are all lovey-dovey and sweet with each other, and without warning, you"d do this and that, and I"m a single dog, I"ll get shy if I see too much."
Xie Jianwei: "…"
Yan Ke batted his eyes at him.
Xie Jianwei said: "That"s simple. Don"t bring your memories when you go in, and after you come out, wipe your memories."
Yan Ke: "…"
Xie Jianwei said again: "If you"re afraid of being too invovled, it"ll be fine if you just turn into an object, such as a ring, a bracelet…oh, tissues are fine too, they"re just right for carrying everywhere."
Yan Ke sobbed: "I don"t want to be flushed down a toilet!"
Xie Jianwei said in a serious manner: "You won"t. In ancient times there will be a rubbish bin beside the toilet. Usually, tissues aren"t allowed to be flushed down toilets."
Yan Ke said grievingly: "I don"t want to be thrown in a rubbish bin either!"
Xie Jianwei had on an expression that said "kid why are you so fussy".
Yan Ke tried to weep but failed to shed a single tea, and could only give in: "Wait…what for me a little. I"ll do some research and see if I can come up with something like a communicator."
This way, he didn"t have to enter the dreamscape and be "lonely and helpless". He could follow in at any time, give reminders when the right moment came, and more importantly, as long as he was outside, if something unsuitable for underage viewers.h.i.+p happened, he could directly cut off the connection and wait outside.
Xie Jianwei was waiting for him to say this: "You can do it." [3]
Three days later, Yan Ke finally put together such an item. Xie Jianwei gave it an overview, and thought that it was pretty good in theory, enough to achieve the goal of reminding him, so he said: "Let"s begin."
Upon opening his eyes within the dream, Yan Ke"s surprised shout sounded by his ear.
"My G.o.d! Such big b.o.o.bs!"
Xie Jianwei: "…"
Yan Ke cleared his throat, saying: "My apologies. I lost my composure."
Xie Jianwei ignored him, merely glancing about him. And then Yan Ke"s voice sounded again: "These, these b.o.o.bs are even bigger than the ones just then!"
Xie Jianwei was silent for a bit: "I didn"t make you come so you can give me reminders on this."
Yan Ke replied bashfully: "I"m a virgin guy, I haven"t seen it before mah." [4]
Xie Jianwei: "…"
It wasn"t that Yan Ke was overreacting though. The scene before their eyes was just too hot. If any normal human saw this they"d probably stare with their mouth wide open.
This was quite a lavish big hall. Precious gems encrusted the domed ceiling, rare obsidian paved the floor in tiles, and under the dim lighting, a crowd on men and women in extravagant clothing drinking and socialising.
It was probably a grand banquet.
And the local culture was very open, so the clothes were extremely hot.
We don"t need to mention the guys – the girls" outfits were truly fabric-saving.
The strapless dresses couldn"t cover the crisp b.r.e.a.s.t.s that were about to leap out. Dresses with slits seemed as if they wanted to have the slit open all the way up to the waist. There was a wide variety of walking postures too – really, if one wasn"t careful, they"d see something they shouldn"t.
Yan Ke didn"t speak, but he kept taking deep breaths.
Xie Jianwei asked him: "You like women?"
Yan Ke with an idiot face: "I like b.o.o.bs!"
Xie Jianwei: "…"
Yan Ke added: "Big b.o.o.bs!"
Xie Jianwei felt pretty regretful, having brought a straight male as his teammate. Could they even work nicely together anymore?
A circle of big white b.o.o.bs had dazzled Yan Ke, he was now basically in useless mode.
Xie Jianwei looked at himself. His clothes were still pretty normal, a ramrod straight swallowtail coat, gentlemanly yet delicate, not so sore on the eyes.
The banquet was lively, and the people coming and going talked freely. The sounds of charming laughter were carried over from time to time, making people unable to stop themselves from worrying that the big white rabbits on the fronts of those big-chested girls would leap out if they laughed too hard.
Xie Jianwei looked around him, and didn"t see Lu Li.
But he wasn"t in a hurry. The new dream had just started, he needed to familiarise himself with the situation first.
Just at this time, someone sent over a drink for him.
The cup was a pretty goblet, as elegant and willowy as a swan in a lake.
The liquid inside the cup was red. Xie Jianwei didn"t think too much of it, merely believing that it was red wine, but at the moment that he picked it up and put it under the tip of his nose, he violently paused.
A deadly sweet fragrance erupted forth at his nose, making his entire body somewhat dazed.
This wasn"t wine, what was it?
What sort of drink could have such a astounding flavour, enough to move one"s heart?
Yan Ke"s voice timely sounded: "My G.o.d, it"s blood!"
Xie Jianwei: "En?"
Yan Ke temporarily gave up admiring the big b.o.o.bs, seriously saying: "My Lord, this is blood ah, can you not smell it? Such a strong scent of iron!"
Xie Jianwei: "…":
The smell of iron? The only scent he smelled was the fragrance, sweet beyond imagination.
It was very sweet – considerably sweet – sweeter even than the sweetest fruit juice.
Yan Ke gave a surprised call: "My Lord, are you going to drink it?"
Xie Jianwei violently paused in his movements. Only now did he come to realise that his lips had already touched the edge of the cup, and that the b.l.o.o.d.y red liquid inside had tilted slightly – a little more and he would have tasted it.
Xie Jianwei said: "Looks like I"m part of the blood clans."
Yan Ke regularly played a certain well-known role-playing virtual game too, so he understood instantly: "Vampire?"
Xie Jianwei nodded.
Actually, outside the Milky Way system, there was indeed a clan that survived by consuming blood, and they were also named as a "blood clan" by humans; but because of the differences in the planets, their blood was all milky white, and the flavour and texture was super similar to milk, and the people of the clan were all only 10cm high [1]. Each one was cuter than the next – so they couldn"t be any more different from the vampires recorded in the ancient texts.
Obviously, the vampires in Lu Li"s dream weren"t the little blood clans outside the Milky Way system, but true monsters that feasted on fresh human blood.
Xie Jianwei wondered. Could it be that he had riled Lu Li up too badly in the last dream, and in a fit of anger he made it so that he couldn"t even be human?
Yan Ke said: "I wonder whether the Lord Supreme Commander is a vampire."
Xie Jianwei said: "We still don"t know where he is yet."
Just at this moment, a woman came over. She stared at the Xie Jianwei"s cup for a moment and then coyly laughed, saying: "My Lord, for what reason do you mistreat yourself like so? Ho could such poor blood possibly make you satisfied?"
Xie Jianwei watched her expressionlessly.
The woman fluttered her thick lashes, ambiguously saying: "If you desire to drink, my blood is available anytime."
As she spoke she turned her head minutely, revealing a charming neck. Her skin was incredibly pale and fine, it was as if, through this thin skin, he could see the blood vessels hiding just beneath the surface. Flowing inside there was a very delicious liquid.
Xie Jianwei stared without blinking.
Yan Ke hurriedly said: "My Lord! Steady yourself!"
Xie Jianwei smiled, and said to the woman: "Many thanks, but I"m not in need of it currently."
The woman wasn"t really disappointed either, apparently having expected it. She didn"t continue to bother him, merely sighing lightly: "What sort of person can enter the Lord"s eye, I wonder."
A man"s fresh and bright voice came from behind Xie Jianwei: "Ah Wei, you"re too picky, you"re even refusing such a beauty?"
Xie Jianwei turned his head and saw a pretty familiar face.
Yan Ke commented: "Aiyah, it"s Admiral Lorren."
The man in front of him wore a suit of dark black. He had a tall stature, a handsome visage, and his originally wheat-coloured skin, because he had turned into a vampire here, became pale.
He was Lorren Carrey, Lu Li"s left and right hands. He followed him from victory to victory, and after the battles had stopped he obtained the position of admiral. Nowadays he defended the north-west border, and was Lu Li"s absolute confidant.
Xie Jianwei"s relations.h.i.+p with him was pretty good. Of course, this referred to in reality.
But for now, their relations.h.i.+p in the dream didn"t seem bad either.
Lorren was a player. He changed women faster than he changed clothes. Apparently, he was the same here.
He blinked at that woman, teasingly saying: "Would this humble one have the honour of tasting your beauty?"
The woman gave him a bewitching smile: "I"d love to."
Lorren laughed loudly, moving forward and embracing her by the waist, saying to Xie Jianwei: "Excuse me."
Xie Jianwei: "…"
Yan Ke cleared his throat: "Admiral Lorren truly lives up to the his name of Stallion."
Xie Jianwei very much agreed.
The party had almost come to an end, and most pople had paired up, going off to who knows where as they kissed.
Xie Jianwei didn"t see Lu Li, and didn"t have any interest in staying here either. After taking a look around, he up and left.
For now, he didn"t know where he was. Since since Lorren knew him however, as long as he found the guy and fished some information from him, he"d probably come to know quite a bit.
He wandered around nearby, and he really did meet Lorren.
The Admiral clearly had just finished playing. His hair was dripping with eater, and the corner of his mouth had some blood on it. Looking at his satisfied manner, he didn"t need to think to know that the man hadn"t only sucked blood.
Lorren lit a cigarette, offering it to Xie Jianwei.
Xie Jianwei said: "No need."
Lorren held it in his mouth, casually asking: "Just how long are you going to wait?"
Xie Jianwei felt that there was another layer of meaning in his words, and was very interested in listening.
As expected, Lorren said again: "You"re a n.o.ble and pure blood-clan. If you starved to death in the end, how shameful would it be."
Xie Jianwei understood a little, but was still unsure.
Obviously, Lorren was here to enlighten him. Without him needing to ask, he explained: "What are you so picky for? The way I see it, the Soulfair ladies are pretty good. You should hurry and make a move on them, drink some blood and fill your stomach is the right thing to do."
Xie Jianwei replied: "No."
Lorren released a long sigh, and in a very helpless way said: "Brother ah, you need to taste the flavour of hot blood, no matter how much cold blood you drink, it won"t have any use."
Hearing this, Xie Jianwei was curious. What sort of things were cold blood and hot blood?
Lorren patted his shoulder, saying: "Don"t endure so stubbornly. Look at how starved you are."
Xie Jianwei followed Lorren to his own residence, and then went to his study, flipping through books for a while.
Yan Ke also read along with him: "So…so embarra.s.sing!"
Xie Jianwei said thoughtfully: "If my family"s Lu Li doesn"t want to be Supreme Commander, he could similarly enjoy fame throughout the galaxy if he changed careers to a playwright."
The writings in the book were very clear. Vampires lived off of blood; especially the pure blood-clans, they needed to consume hot blood.
And what was hot blood? It was the blood produced by people after o.r.g.a.s.ming.
The author has something to say: Guess guys, what species is the President of Drama this time?
[1] Uri – from Korean, adapted to Chinese as "wuli" and used as slang, meaning "we". I just used the Korean romanisation in the text.
[2] Abandoning p.a.w.ns to protect your General – in Chinese chess, "xiang qi", there"s no king, there"s a general instead.
[3] 加油; (jia you, p.r.o.nounced zyaah y-oh-w? with a very very very soft "z", question mark intended, needed to convey the tone) basically something like "gambatte" or "fighting". Words that express that you"re cheering them on, hence translation is "you can do it".
[4] –mah: Yan Ke uses this a lot as a sound of a pretty "coy" protest. Like, if you"re apologising in a guilty sort of way but you know they"re not really mad: "I didn"t mean it mah *insert puppy eyes*." I"ll leave it untranslated cause I can"t think of an english equivalent oops.