Thinking about the experiences from this period, Ah Da curled up, recalling the Bronze Sword, the Jade Pot, and the Little Pink Bottle that went missing to some unknown place, as tears streamed down her face.
Qin Yu only fell asleep in the late hours of the night and woke up punctually at 8:30 am, having slept for a mere four hours.
It was the longest he had slept in half a year.
Sitting up in bed, Qin Yu leaned against the headboard and reached for the remote control to open the curtains; sunlight filtered through the glass, casting light spots that fell into his pitch-black eyes but couldn't melt the perennial ice and snow covering them.
Last night, half in dreams, half awake, he seemed to hear someone crying—it sounded like a little girl, which was impossible. Qin Yu rubbed his temples, thinking it must have been his imagination.
After sitting for a while, Qin Yu threw off the blankets and walked towards the bathroom; passing by the black box, he paused momentarily as the Green Jade Incense Burner lay inside emitting a gentle glow.
Always leaving early and returning late had been Qin Yu's routine. In Capital City, he had more than one property, but he often returned to this one because it was close to his company.
Uncle Wen had already prepared breakfast. After eating a little, Qin Yu picked up his coat to head to the company. Before leaving, he instructed Uncle Wen to pack up the box, the incense burner, and other such items from his room.
Last night, seeing Qin Yu bring things back to his room, Uncle Wen thought he liked them; yet, by morning, he wanted them removed. But that was just how Qin Yu was—he didn't have any particular attachment to things.
As soon as Ah Da woke, she realized she'd been moved again—her eyes welled up with tears, and she felt as if she were trapped once more.
The silence around her was profound. Rising from the Jade Bed, Ah Da saw pearls scattered on the ground and squatted down to pick each one up and place them into a jar.
Her Bronze Sword sister had told her that pearls could be exchanged for money, and if she was to survive on the outside, money was crucial and indispensable.
Remembering every word, Ah Da believed she would one day get out, so, after each crying spell, she collected the pearls; over time, she had accumulated many.
Ah Da thought that, when she could leave the incense burner, she would surely exchange these pearls for a lot of money.
After a busy day at the company, Qin Yu returned home, ate dinner, and then went to the study to conduct an end-of-year multinational conference, which lasted until nearly midnight.
The holiday started the next day, for six days.
Stepping out of the bathroom, he walked while casually drying his hair with a towel.
Wearing a white bathrobe loosely tied around his waist, revealing much of his skin, water droplets trailed down his firm jawline, past his chest, to his strong waist. The clean, transparent look on his face after a hot shower accentuated his proud nose, slightly flushed thin lips, and the reddening at the corners of his eyes, making him appear less frigid and more alluring than during the day.
His wet hair clung tightly to his forehead, making his gaze appear even deeper.
He picked up the remote control to turn down the temperature, as it had gotten slightly stuffy inside with today's temperature rise.
Qin Yu half-dried his hair and sat down on a chair by the window, then checked his phone and saw several unread WeChat messages; one was from Tang Bufan showing off a photo with his car. Qin Yu simply ignored it.
Tossing his phone aside, he remembered that Uncle Wen had mentioned downstairs that the old house had called today.
The old lady wanted him to come back for a reunion dinner on New Year's Eve. Reunion? At the thought of this word, a trace of cold sarcasm curled up on Qin Yu's thin lips.
After drying his hair, he lay down on the bed. Although he couldn't fall asleep, he still forced himself to lie down as usual.
The room dimmed, and the world fell silent. Suddenly, Qin Yu smelled a faint scent of incense, elusive as if entwined with the sweet fragrance of fruit.
Gradually his consciousness blurred, and he felt as though he were floating in midair, unsupported. Half-dreaming, he found himself on a beach by an endless blue sea, where, instead of sand, the shore was covered with large, dazzling pearls.
Qin Yu looked down at the large pearls under his feet and wanted to crouch down when suddenly he felt something tugging at his clothes.
He turned his head and saw a small, fair hand; its nails neatly trimmed and blushing with a tender pink.
Looking up, he was taken aback to see a petite little girl. Her face, no bigger than the palm of a hand, was exquisitely fair—her skin so pale it seemed almost transparent. She looked up at him with large, glossy black eyes filled with a plea.
"Can you... not lock me up..."
Qin Yu's heart shuddered.
As if she hadn't received a response for a long time, the girl's eyes suddenly reddened. Her eyes brimmed with tears, and with her lips tightly pressed together, her voice was tender and fragile, her body trembling slightly with grievance.
"Don't lock me up, it's so dark and quiet in there, I'm a bit scared…"
Faced with the man's icy gaze, the girl's voice grew softer and softer, gradually losing confidence.
Qin Yu was far from calm, his eyes clouded with indistinct emotions. Despite constantly telling himself it was only a dream, the scene before him was eerily bizarre.
The little girl was dressed in an ancient silk gown, her ink-black hair blowing in the wind down to her waist. The arm clutching his clothes was startlingly white, bloodlessly pale.
Ah Da looked up at the tall, handsome man in front of her. His expressionless face and dark eyes fixed on her. Creatures are always keenly aware of danger, and Ah Da, nervous and fragile, swallowed hard, frightened into immediately letting go and thinking of running away.
Qin Yu sensed her intention to flee and quickly grasped her arm, but in the next second, something strange happened—the beautiful, tender girl vanished right before his eyes.
The wrist he had grasped turned into a wisp of air.
Qin Yu abruptly opened his eyes to darkness in the bedroom. He sat up and with a "click", turned on the light, looking around to find nothing. He raised his hand to feel the sweat on it.
Thinking back to the dream, the aggrieved, sweet voice of the girl, Qin Yu closed his eyes and slowly massaged his temples, frowning, thinking that perhaps his recent insomnia was causing mental tension, leading to such nonsensical dreams.
Qin Yu got out of bed and headed straight for the bathroom.
In the storeroom at the corner of the villa.
The Green Jade Incense Burner emitted a glowing warm light, and Ah Da lay on the little bed with a sullen face, clenching her fists and pounding them a few times in frustration and helplessness.
Her self-rescue plan... had failed.
Entering that man's dream, she had intended to use both soft and hard tactics, begging and, if that failed, threatening him fiercely to light the incense burner. But she hadn't expected the man to be so terrifying, a mere look from him intimidated her into wanting to flee, and he had even grabbed her hand.
She was terrified.
Reflecting on everything that had occurred, Ah Da was still trembling with fear. That man was so frightening, she dared not provoke him further. No wonder the Little Pink Bottle often said that humans were the most terrifying creatures.
Ah Da rubbed her sore wrist, where three red marks starkly contrasted against her snowy skin, a reminder of his great strength and her pain.
For some reason, Ah Da felt that entering that man's dream had drained a lot of her Spiritual Power and she even felt slightly suppressed. With her limited knowledge and weak Spiritual Power, Ah Da was at a loss.
She thought if only the Bronze Sword were with her, it would surely know.
Ah Da, covering her throbbing wrist, gradually fell asleep. This venture had not been a success; she would need to take some time to recuperate.