Chapter 69: Nightmares

From now on, life would certainly be very happy, and there would never be any more pain.

Because Gu Yebai had already met the best family possible.

They would treat him well and cherish him.

Due to Gao Hongyi’s little prank last night, he indeed hadn’t slept very well.

The warm air blowing in the VIP lounge made Gu Yebai’s head feel heavy and drowsy.

In his daze, it felt as if his soul was drifting.

By all accounts, he should be happy.

Yet in his mind, a voice rang out uncontrollably.

Gu Yebai didn’t know if it was his own voice or someone else’s.

‘There is no turning back for your life anymore.’

‘What awaits you ahead is a cage.’

All the strangeness began to occur quietly from that point on.

The touch of the slender, delicate hand that was originally intertwined with Gu Yebai’s fingers suddenly changed.

The warmth vanished abruptly.

In its place was a cold, hard sense of restraint.

Gu Yebai subconsciously looked down and discovered that the hand he was holding was no longer a familiar small hand, but a cluster of bright red steel wires.

“Hongyi?”

Gu Yebai looked left and right, searching everywhere.

Gao Hongyi had disappeared.

“Where are you?”

The surroundings were pitch black.

Only that red steel wire remained by Gu Yebai’s side.

Before Gu Yebai could react, the red steel wire seemed to be endowed with life in an instant.

It rapidly wound upward along Gu Yebai’s fingers with a ruthless force, acting as if it were capturing prey.

‘What is this?’

Gu Yebai wanted to shake off the wire, but it was already too late.

Just like a snake that refused to let go once it coiled around its prey, it moved from his wrist to his arm.

Then, it climbed up his shoulder without hesitation, strangling his neck tightly before wrapping down around his waist and abdomen at an alarming speed.

“Help…”

“It hurts so much…”

His body gradually lost its autonomy.

A spotlight flickered on.

It shone upon a piano.

He finally saw Gao Hongyi.

At this moment, she was playing with total self-absorption, completely failing to notice Gu Yebai.

Those perfect fingers danced between the black and white keys, playing a bizarre and distorted melody that made one reluctant to interrupt her.

Gu Yebai finally realized it.

The red steel wires were extending from the piano.

They weren’t steel wires, but piano strings.

However, for some reason, the strings that should have had a silvery luster after being polished were now all dyed a piercing red.

The strings were responsible for the traction, dragging Gu Yebai little by little toward Gao Hongyi—dragging and dragging.

They grew closer and closer.

Then, the music stopped.

The strings suddenly tightened, binding Gu Yebai and Gao Hongyi firmly together.

“Uncle Bai…”

“I love you.”

The strings continued to contract, as if they wanted to fuse the two people’s flesh, breath, and even consciousness itself into one.

This wasn’t simple restraint; it was complete consumption.

Gao Hongyi’s fair fingers brushed over Gu Yebai’s face as she smiled obsessively.

Her eyes had turned the color of red wine, but Gu Yebai couldn’t find a single hint of a highlight in those magnificent pupils.

“We have to be together forever.”

“Whether in life or in death.”

…

He woke up with a start.

Cold sweat had already soaked Gu Yebai’s back, and his heart was pounding violently, as if it were about to jump out of his chest.

“What’s wrong, Uncle Bai?”

Gao Hongyi looked at Gu Yebai with concern.

“It’s nothing.”

“Was it a nightmare?”

“Ah, it seems I really did have a nightmare just now.”

“I really don’t know what to do with you, Uncle Bai…”

Gao Hongyi gently wrapped her arm under Gu Yebai’s armpit and held him against her chest.

“It’s normal to have nightmares the first time you fly.”

“Fly?”

Gu Yebai shook his head.

‘Huh?’

‘I was clearly waiting for the plane in the VIP lounge just now. When did we board the plane? Why don’t I have any memory of it?’

He remembered leaning back on the sofa in the VIP lounge for a while…

Gu Yebai had never flown before, and he had been looking forward to the process of checking tickets and boarding the plane.

But in the blink of an eye, he was already on the aircraft.

This was too strange.

“We’re going home.”

Gao Hongyi’s sweet, syrupy voice was close at hand.

“I saw Uncle Bai fall asleep on the sofa earlier, so I let Uncle Bai listen to a lullaby I played before.”

“What?”

“When?”

Gu Yebai had absolutely no recollection of it.

It felt as if he had been hypnotized.

‘Did that even happen?’

Also, that dream earlier.

What did it mean?

Gu Yebai subconsciously touched his neck, as if the marks from being strangled by the piano strings still existed.

There was also the version of Gao Hongyi in the dream—the one who was nearly insane, the one laughing obsessively, the one whose eyes had lost their light.

The Gao Hongyi who possessed magnificent dark red pupils…

“Come on, take a deep breath.”

“It’s normal to be afraid the first time you fly.”

“Inhale.”

“Exhale.”

Gu Yebai obediently followed her instructions.

‘Why am I nervous?’

Uncle Gao and Aunt Ya were both very gentle, not to mention Hongyi had been reading his novels since three years ago.

She was a kind, fragile red-haired girl with a bit of a cool, mature vibe.

Being with her should be a very happy thing.

The road ahead must be one of happiness.

“Here, if you hold my hand tightly, you won’t be afraid.”

“With me by your side, even if the plane crashes and everyone dies, we’ll be together.”

That weird dream had also started with holding hands.

“Does Uncle Bai not like holding my hand?”

“No.”

“Uncle Bai won’t grow to hate me, right?”

“Absolutely not!”

“That’s good then.”

However, that sudden dream without any warning left Gu Yebai with lingering fears.

Furthermore, boarding the plane unconsciously without any memory also made Gu Yebai feel strange.

The main thing was the fear that Gao Hongyi’s hand would suddenly turn into piano strings and coil around him like a snake.

“But if we hold hands the whole time, our hands will get sweaty.”

“I don’t care.”

Gao Hongyi tilted her head and looked at Gu Yebai.

“Even if there’s sweat, it’s better to keep holding hands.”

“Hongyi.”

“What is it, Uncle Bai?”

“The pupil color of people from Huaxia should be black, right?”

“Yeah, why do you ask?”

Gao Hongyi seemed somewhat confused.

“It’s nothing…”

For a split second just now, Gu Yebai felt that Gao Hongyi’s pupils had become the same as in the dream.

They were wine-red, with a demonic, enchanting allure.

Deep cherry-colored long hair, wine-red eyes, and a face that was hard to read—somewhere between an angel and a succubus.

It made Gu Yebai feel an instinctive sense of fear.

Gu Yebai rubbed his eyes.

Those were definitely not eyes that an ordinary human should possess.

He looked closely once more.

Gao Hongyi’s pupils had returned to a plain, unremarkable black.

‘Did it disappear?’

He remembered that before, when he saw Ai Lian, he had also seen purple pupils that didn’t belong to a normal person for a split second.

He must have seen it wrong.

Since he could see it wrong once, then seeing it wrong twice seemed quite normal…

“I saw it wrong just now. For a moment, it felt like your eyes turned red, Hongyi.”

“Isn’t that just like a vampire?”

“Maybe—”

Gao Hongyi leaned her head on Gu Yebai’s shoulder and whispered softly.

“Ah, it would be great if I were a vampire.”

“That way, I could drink blood.”

“You want to drink blood?”

“Yeah, I want to drink blood. I want to drink Uncle Bai’s blood. Uncle Bai is so cute, your blood must taste like strawberry cake.”

“You just simply want to bite me, don’t you?”

“Hehe, I’m like a cat. I’m a biting cat.”

Before getting off the plane, their hands never separated again.

Even though Gu Yebai felt it was a bit awkward and tried to pull away halfway through, it always ended in failure.