249: Chapter 15 Awake from the Dream_1 249: Chapter 15 Awake from the Dream_1 Familiar dreamscape, familiar desert.
It’s been a hundred years; I have never escaped from here, I eternally wander here.
What I felt beneath my feet was the familiar touch of the yellow sand.
Every night, for a hundred years, I’ve been stepping on such sand, under such a silver moon.
The sensation when stepping on these pebbles has been etched deep within my soul, a mory I can’t forget for even a mont.
“Is it the turn of the ‘Wound of the Earth’ this ti?” As I stare at the scene before that would ordinarily leave people utterly aghast, I feel a bizarre urge to burst out laughing.
Even the most shocking scenery, when seen every night, every dream, loses its awe-inspiring impact, and even acquires a strange absurdity.
“Hahahahaha.” I can’t contain my laughter looking at that black hole at the edge of the “Wound of the Earth”, a circular black hole as wide as ten ters, gaping like a door; I collapse to my knees, slowly bending down, pressing my face tightly against the coarse gravel and rubbing hard.
“Kyle, Kyle.” A gentle voice cos from behind .
A tender hand softly touches my back; without turning around, I can envision that robust and handso face, utterly steadfast, never retreating: “Poor Kyle, why do you co here every day?”
“Indeed, why?
I want to know, too.” I stop torturing my face, lift my head, and dazedly gaze at the sky: “Why is it that every ti I think I’ve escaped, the familiar dreamscape reminds that I’ve never left?”
“I thought, by facing my past, I could receive redemption, I was right, but wrong, too.”
“Confronting the past, facing myself, does indeed give the courage to face my mistakes, face my sins, stopping from escaping, but it doesn’t allow to gain redemption, does not permit to escape from sinking.”
“Facing the world with an honest heart, I no longer hide my shortcomings, my emotions, my desires.
Friends from the past I have t say I seem like a different person.
Hah, in reality, they don’t know that my heart remains the sa; regret and guilt continue to gnaw at my heart, trapping here, never able to escape.”
“I know, all of this is paynt that I deserve.
The sins I have committed force to endure eternal pain and regret.
However, whenever I see them, I truly feel envious.”
“They clearly have sorrowful pasts, they clearly have desolation and regret, they clearly have anger and rage, yet why can they still laugh so joyously every day, why can they live so freely every day?”
“Every ti I see their smiling faces, my regret increases.
Perhaps, originally we could also pass each day like them, joyously and blissfully.
Alas, everything was ruined by , wasn’t it?”
“This is my sin.”
I sit in the desert, muttering like a madman, words others might not understand.
This is my dreamscape –only here can I fully display my fragility and despair.
“Poor Kyle.” You embrace from behind, the warm hug seems to take back to the past, back to the days before the final battle, allowing , after a hundred years, to once again experience your gentleness.
Familiar embrace, familiar gestures, familiar scent, everything is so familiar that I can’t help but choke up.
“My Nellie, my love.” I close my eyes, greedily relishing this mont that only appears in dreams.
Indeed, I have lost you forever, forever and ever, irretrievably.
The sweetness of the past, the warmth of the past, the love of the past, all were sent to the grave by my hands.
Now, all that remains are the permanent loneliness and endless nightmares.
“My love, I miss you.” Only I can hear my voice, only I can feel my longing: “Even if I am a sinner, even if I have committed unforgivable mistakes, I still want to tell you that I miss you.”
“I owe you an apology, perhaps only in a dream can I tell you like this.
How I wish to once again hold your hand, once again look up at the night sky with you side by side, once again confront formidable enemies back to back with you.
Sadly, all of this can only appear in a dream, even if you were still here, you would not forgive , not forgive this cowardly and despicable ; moreover, you already…
are not here anymore.”
“I’m sorry, my most beloved, sorry, sorry…”
“My Kyle, my love, my partner.” Your voice, as familiar as ever, deep yet carrying a strange rhythm makes one never tire of listening: “Can’t you escape from here solely because of regret and guilt?
Is there not a single reason related to the deep longing in your heart to see again?”
“Who are you?” My body is shaking, uncontrollably shaking, an unthinkable thought suddenly spins in my brain: “Are you just an illusion?”
“You’re mistaken, I am just a shadow, just a mory, just a dream, your most ardent dream.” I can even feel your breath caressing my ears, like a sumr night’s breeze: “It’s ti, you need to wake up; goodbye, my love.”
——————————————
Pannis woke up with the dim light of early morning.
Sitting up and staring blankly at the morning glow outside the window, Pannis just sat like that, not speaking or moving.
After a long ti, Pannis let out a soft sigh, a sigh tinged with a palpable sense of sadness.
“Is this the dream I crave most?” Pannis laughed at himself: “My desires are truly extravagant, haha.”
“Brother Pannis, you’re awake, I’m hungry, when will we have breakfast?”
The sudden voice startled Pannis who was halfway off the bed, causing him to fall to the ground: “An-an-an-an-an-Annie, what are you doing here?”
The little banshee sat cross-legged floating in the air, her big eyes sparkling, curiously watching Pannis tumble to the floor.
Seemingly fascinated by his action, she mimicked Pannis’s sprawling pose on the floor, giggling amusingly while saying: “Of course I’m here, didn’t you forget?
You agreed last night.”
Yes, Pannis imdiately rembered.
Yesterday was the first day after New Year’s.
After a whole night out, everyone returned ho and went straight to bed.
When they woke up in the afternoon, no one went out.
The family spent a lazy afternoon together in the house, lounging, drinking tea, teasing each other, fully casting off the life pressure of the professionals, completely forgetting the battles, and enjoying the rare holiday to the fullest.
However, just before going to bed in the evening, the little banshee, Annie, suddenly threw a tantrum.
She insisted on sleeping in Pannis’s room.
Despite Pannis’s vehent objection, little Annie pulled out the past tradition of spending every New Year’s day lounging in bed with her parents as an excuse.
Under the murderous glares of the other girls, Pannis had no choice but to relent.
Of course, Pannis was mainly afraid that Annie might make further demands, such as she used to lounge with her parents, so Pannis must imdiately find her a mother.
“Phew, I really forgot, you gave a fright.” Pannis chuckled helplessly, then opened his arms to the little banshee still lying on the floor pretending to be a carpet: “Let’s go, let’s make breakfast.”
The little banshee happily flew into the air, cheerfully pounced into Pannis’s arms, sat on his arm like a commander, and pointed at the door: “Target the kitchen, let’s go!”
Upon descending the stairs, they found that the magic lamp fueled by the entire house’s energy system was already lit, and the living room, which had been left in disarray the night before, had been tidied up to its usual neatness.
All the furniture had been covered with dustproof cloth or newspapers, but no one was in the living room.
Instead, rhythmic shouts and sounds of tal clashing faintly echoed from the small training area behind the house.
“Sister Catherine is training in the morning.” Annie stated: “Sister Catherine is really hardworking.
She maintains several hours of training every day at ho.”
“What one desires, one has to pay the equivalent price.
They are so young and already challenging the Upper Gold Rank.
Everyone admires and envies them, but who knows what they’ve had to sacrifice to get there.” Pannis sighed and said softly: “Who can see the accumulated scars under Catherine’s armor, on her arms and legs, that even healing magic cannot remove?
Who knows about the constant headaches of the magic prodigy who can’t even move without magic?
Who can imagine that a prodigious priest is eternally engulfed in pain and despair within her heart, centing her faith in hope?”
“Brother Pannis is so serious.” The little banshee laughed while pulling a goofy face on Pannis.
“Yes, we’ve been here for quite so ti, and from the outside, one frequently hears the jealousy directed at us, ‘lucky ones’.
Sadly, they don’t understand that while inheriting talents might be a matter of luck, displaying talents leaves no room for luck.”
“What about you, brother Pannis?” Annie made another face for Pannis, now putting in effort to restyle his hair: “Why can’t we see the price you paid for your abilities now?”
“?
I’ve already paid the price.” Pannis laughed mockingly once again: “Whether in dreams or reality, I’ve paid a price that’s hard to bear.”
“Bang.” The main door of the house was pushed open, and Lina ran in, waving a newspaper in her right hand: “Didn’t pick up the newspaper yesterday, huge news, sothing big has happened.”
“What’s it this ti?” Pannis asked lazily: “Has the wedding been called off?”
“No, it’s much more serious than that.” Lina thrust the newspaper into Pannis’s hand: “Read it, two nights ago, the Heart of Years was stolen.”
Pannis was startled, opened the newspaper, and the front-page headline read: The Heart of Years Mysteriously Missing from the Auction, Suspected to be Stolen.
Below the headline were small, densely packed letters, chronicling the detailed circumstances and the progress of the ongoing investigation.
Of course, to sum it up in a simple sentence, the progress of the investigation was that there was no progress.
“Hmm, I think I understand.” Pannis said with a strange expression: “I finally understand why those two said they had so things to do that night, as an excuse for being late.”
“Now that you ntion it, I think I understand too.” Lina’s expression instantly changed to a strange one: “So it was those two guys, no wonder they insisted on going together for such a simple assignnt.”(To be continued.
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