Reborn as a succubus - Chapter 42

As soon as Xi Che fell asleep, he was pulled into a strange dream — and saw Chu Yan.

He thought, Could it be that I miss him too much, that’s why I’m dreaming about him again after so long?

While he was still thinking that, the Chu Yan in his dream suddenly reached out and touched his face. Xi Che froze for a moment, instinctively wanting to pull away — but in the end, he didn’t.

He thought as he always did: It’s just a dream. Whatever happens here, no one will ever know.

So he let his hand fall back down. Even if in reality they would never meet again, seeing him once more in a dream was still something.

Even if it was like drinking poison to quench his thirst.

Chu Yan’s hand lingered on his face for a long time before he sighed softly:
“After leaving me, you immediately went off with another man. Asa, I didn’t expect you to be this kind of person.”

Xi Che’s head jerked up, startled. On Chu Yan’s usually calm face was an expression both cold and disdainful — one he had never seen before. His heart felt as if it had been stabbed, a dull ache spreading through it.

“…It’s bad enough that you said that to me in the daytime — but now you’ve come into my dream just to say the same thing? There’s nothing between me and that Chu Qi.”

“Nothing? You didn’t sleep with him?”

“…”

Xi Che was speechless. He thought maybe this Chu Yan was just his inner demon, a projection of his deepest fears — because how else would he know what had happened between him and Chu Qi? Still, what he said was the truth.

But even so, Xi Che couldn’t help wanting to defend himself. He stammered, “T-that was an accident…”

“In the end, it just means you’re too easy.”

Xi Che’s words died in his throat. He had never imagined Chu Yan would accuse him like this — and never once thought about how to respond to such an accusation.

He had no intention of ever telling Chu Yan what really happened.

Taking a deep breath, Xi Che looked at him. “So you hate me now, is that it? Fine, you’re right — it’s true anyway. Think whatever you want! I told you already, didn’t I? This is who I am! Why do you have to chase me into my dream just to remind me? Whatever I do has nothing to do with you anymore!”

When he finished shouting, he was gasping for air, emotions running wild and hard to calm. But the dream didn’t end. Instead, Chu Yan suddenly grabbed his chin. His face was dark, veins standing out on his forehead — he looked furious.

“You’re mine. You fool around with someone else, and you say it has nothing to do with me?”

Xi Che was stunned. “You—”

Before he could finish, Chu Yan’s hand closed around his throat, slamming him hard against the wall. Xi Che’s eyes went wide in shock. The pressure on his neck grew tighter and tighter; before he could even cry out or explain, all the air in his lungs was gone. A wave of suffocating pain stripped away all other sensations.

He could tell — Chu Yan really meant to kill him.

Xi Che didn’t think this was jealousy or possessiveness. Rather, it felt like Chu Yan cared only about his pride as the God of Light. In his eyes there was no trace of love — only cold disgust and murderous rage.

“Why did you provoke me, only to tangle with someone else?”

Xi Che couldn’t breathe, but he could still clearly hear those words. In that instant, more than fear, what he felt was heartbreak.

This is my dream… but would the real Chu Yan feel the same way?

The dream showed no sign of ending, even as his consciousness faded. Instinctively, his body began to struggle for survival — but it was too late. His weak resistance meant nothing.

He had the terrifying feeling that he might really die here, in his own dream.

But just as he was about to lose consciousness, a sword suddenly pierced straight through Chu Yan’s chest. The Chu Yan before him widened his eyes in disbelief, then slowly dissolved like ink in water.

The grip on Xi Che’s throat vanished. He collapsed to the ground, air flooding back into his lungs, and coughed violently.

How strange… he thought between gasps. It’s the first time I’ve ever felt real pain in a dream. I didn’t even feel anything during those… other kinds of dreams.

As he sat there coughing, someone took hold of his arm and helped him up. He looked up — and saw the same face again. It was Chu Yan. The previous one had already melted into a puddle of dark liquid.

…Was this turning into a horror dream now?

Instinctively, Xi Che pulled his arm free, staring in alarm. The last “Chu Yan” hadn’t held a weapon and still tried to strangle him; this one did have a sword — if he wanted to kill him, it’d be even easier. But instead, the new Chu Yan looked at him with worry, glanced at his neck, and said gently, “Asa, let me see your wound.”

Xi Che stayed wary, watching him closely. Chu Yan stepped forward anyway, placed a hand on his shoulder, and brushed his neck lightly. Two dark handprints stood out vividly against his pale skin — painful just to look at.

Xi Che didn’t care much about the pain itself; he just stared silently at Chu Yan, as if waiting to see what he would do next. Seeing his guarded expression, Chu Yan’s heart ached. He drew him gently into his arms and patted his back.

He finally understood: everything Xi Che was experiencing came from the Dream-Building Stone. But why had it conjured an image of himself that would treat him like that?

Held in Chu Yan’s arms, Xi Che waited for a long time, and when nothing happened, he finally asked hoarsely, “What do you want to do?”

His voice was rough, his throat still sore. Remembering the accusations from earlier, he felt bitter and distant. Chu Yan said softly, “Asa, please don’t take what the other me said to heart. Those weren’t my words.”

Xi Che gave a short laugh. “And how am I supposed to know the you right now isn’t lying too? You’re both just people I dreamed up anyway.”

The more he spoke, the more wronged he felt. “I told you to leave me alone — and yet you came into my dream just to scold me.”

“Asa…”

“Enough! I don’t want to hear it!”

Xi Che shouted, cutting him off. He covered his ears and backed away. “Just disappear already!”

Chu Yan understood his feelings — and agreed that the dream’s version of himself had gone too far. He reached out to pull Xi Che’s hands down, but Xi Che only squeezed his eyes shut tighter, chanting to himself, “Go away, go away, disappear from my dream!”

“….”

Chu Yan didn’t know how to explain that this place wasn’t his dream, or Xi Che’s dream — but a strange realm created by the Dream-Building Stone.

While Xi Che was still covering his ears, he suddenly felt the grip on his wrists loosen — then a hand gently covered his eyes. Chu Yan’s voice murmured beside his ear, low and soothing:

“Close your eyes and sleep. When you open them again, you’ll be out of here.”

As if bewitched, Xi Che obeyed, closing his eyes. He felt himself being pulled down into the depths of his consciousness — and when he opened his eyes again, he was staring up at the inn’s ceiling.

He let out a long breath, only to realize he was lying in Chu Qi’s arms.

Does this guy have some kind of magnet in him that keeps pulling me in?

But Chu Qi woke up soon after. He looked at him and said softly, “The mountain wind is strong. You must be cold.”

In truth, Chu Yan had woken up first. He’d put away the Dream-Building Stone, then let Xi Che rest on his arm, holding him close.

So when Xi Che woke up to find himself in the other’s arms, he couldn’t even get angry — he just pulled the blanket tightly around himself. But the movement tugged at his neck, sending a sharp pain through it. Curious, he touched the spot and gasped at the sting.

Chu Yan immediately sat up, alarmed. Forgetting everything else, he pulled back the blanket and saw two dark bruises on Xi Che’s neck — marks of strangling fingers.

He stared, shocked. How could this be? How could what happened inside the Dream-Building Stone appear in reality?

Xi Che yanked the blanket back, frowning. “What are you doing?”

Chu Yan hesitated, then pointed. “There are two marks on your neck — like you were choked.”

Xi Che blinked at him in surprise. Chu Yan pressed further, “Did you have a dream? You were talking in your sleep, saying someone was strangling you. And now you really have those marks. It’s strange — maybe it’s some kind of curse. You should tell me the truth.”

Xi Che instinctively shook his head. “No, that’s impossible.”

“Impossible? How do you know?”

Xi Che swallowed hard, then hesitated. “I’ve had similar dreams before… but this one was strange. Not quite the same as before.”

“Did you dream of Chu Yan? You kept calling his name. Could it be related to him?”

“How could it?”

Xi Che almost rolled his eyes. “Every evil spirit in the world runs for their life when they hear Chu Yan’s name. How could he have anything to do with a curse?”

Hearing this, Chu Yan’s mind caught on something else — Xi Che had said he’d had similar dreams before. Could it really be as he suspected? That the Dream-Building Stone didn’t just create a dream for Xi Che, but actually connected their minds?

If so… then everything he’d done to Xi Che in those past dreams — did he remember all of it?

The thought left him with a strange, tangled feeling.

He asked, “When was the last time you had one of those dreams?”

But Xi Che didn’t want to talk about it anymore. Just the phrase “those dreams” reminded him of all those indecent scenes — so he turned his back to Chu Yan and snapped, “None of your business. I’m going back to sleep. Stop talking nonsense.”

Chu Yan stared at the soft back of Xi Che’s head and tightened his grip on the Dream-Building Stone hidden in his hand.

If he wouldn’t say… then he’d just have to make use of the stone a few more times.