Chapter 30: Dream of the Past Life Wedding

Despite being an eccentric fellow, Bai Hao had interacted with ability users on numerous occasions.

Naturally, the focus for ability users lay in their unique powers.

These powers could manifest as the demonic vine’s abilities seen earlier in the cinema, the capacity to unleash arcane flames, or even a pure enhancement of one’s physical attributes.

While Xia Zhiquiu’s body had seen various enhancements, these advancements were clearly not her true ability.

Yet, she exhibited no other prominent traits; surely, her ability hadn’t simply mutated into her remarkably curvaceous figure?

This left Bai Hao perplexed about the true nature of Xia Zhiquiu’s ability. Xia Zhiquiu herself was equally oblivious, having even undergone official testing to ascertain it.

The astonishing conclusion? Unknown.

The prominent ability user who conducted the test surmised that Xia Zhiquiu’s ability had yet to fully awaken, thus obscuring its precise nature, but she had undeniably crossed the threshold into the ranks of ability users.

***

Over the next two days, Xia Zhiquiu finally returned to her job at the bar, and in the dead of night, she would accept manageable missions from the TNS network to earn merit points.

It was precisely through her recent encounters with strange entities that Xia Zhiquiu’s strength had rapidly escalated, now having barely reached the impressive rank of a D-class ability user!

Upon returning home that day, Xia Zhiquiu was utterly exhausted, and while soaking in the bathtub, she gradually drifted off to sleep.

In a hazy state, she found herself once more in that familiar dreamscape, confronting the very person she loathed.

Having experienced the same dream so many times, Xia Zhiquiu had long harbored suspicions. She sought guidance from the old mystic, who offered this explanation:

“Little Zhiquiu, do you know how dreams are formed?”

“Well, from a scientific perspective, dreams are formed by randomly selecting and piecing together things and events we’ve encountered in our memories.”

“Precisely. It’s what people often refer to as ‘what you think about by day, you dream about by night.’ However, you only know half the truth.

In fact, there’s another theory, passed down since ancient times: the past-life dream.

It suggests that the scenes you witness in your dreams aren’t necessarily things you’ve seen in this lifetime, but could be experiences from your previous existence.

When reincarnating, fragments of a past life’s soul, due to profound attachments, aren’t cleansed when crossing the River of Oblivion (TL Note: ‘Wangchuan,’ a mythical river in Chinese folklore, similar to the River Styx, where souls drink a potion to forget their past lives before reincarnation) but are instead carried into the subconscious of this current life. They gradually resurface during dreams…”

Within the familiar General’s Estate, Xia Zhiquiu, observing herself clad in ancient everyday attire, couldn’t help but rub her brow.

‘If the old mystic’s words held true, was her past life that of a general? And that scoundrel Bai Hao, an emperor?’

As Xia Zhiquiu’s thoughts swirled, a servant, resembling a steward, entered and announced:

“General, a woman has arrived at the gate, clutching a marriage contract. She claims to be your betrothed.”

Xia Zhiquiu froze, taken aback. ‘My betrothed? But I’m a woman myself; why would I need a wife?’ she thought, utterly bewildered.

“Come, let’s go see.”

Xia Zhiquiu approached the estate gate. There, a tattered young woman knelt before the grand entrance, clutching a faded marriage contract tightly in her hands.

Though she had never consciously seen this young woman before, Xia Zhiquiu felt an unsettling sense of familiarity, as if their paths had crossed somewhere.

Just as Xia Zhiquiu was about to step forward, the moment her foot landed, the sky abruptly darkened, and the scene began to shift…

When everything finally clarified once more, Xia Zhiquiu was utterly dumbfounded.

Within a resplendent palace, festive reds and imperial yellows adorned every surface, with intricate double-happiness characters laid out beneath patterns of dragons and phoenixes.

What startled Xia Zhiquiu even more was that she herself was clad in a vibrant red bridal gown, though the embroidered pattern on it was not a phoenix, but rather a fox…

‘What in the world was happening? Even for a dream, this was far too absurd, completely devoid of any logic!’

As Xia Zhiquiu’s silent complaints mounted, a sudden series of footsteps echoed through the palace.

Hearing them, an inexplicable surge of anger flared within Xia Zhiquiu, a wrath she couldn’t account for.

She looked towards the approaching figure, who was also dressed in wedding attire. As for that face, Xia Zhiquiu knew she could never forget it!

“Bai! Hao!”

The young man, frowning at her gritted words, immediately stepped forward and swept her into his arms.

“On the day of the Empress’s grand wedding, you dare call out another man’s name instead of mine? What is this? Do you truly wish not to marry me?”

Xia Zhiquiu, to her dismay, discovered she was utterly unable to struggle once the young man held her captive!

“Ugh, what… what do you intend to do?”

The next moment, Xia Zhiquiu was gently deposited onto a soft, expansive bed, just as the young man’s presence enveloped her.

“What do I intend? The Empress asks such an amusing question. On the wedding day, it is naturally time to consummate our marriage.

From this day forward, the Great Xia Kingdom will no longer have a Protector General; there will only be my Empress…”

Hearing the young man’s words, Xia Zhiquiu was incandescent with rage. In reality, she was constantly bullied by this man, and now even in her dreams, she couldn’t escape his torment?

At this thought, Xia Zhiquiu felt her composure shatter, and she opened her mouth, intending to unleash a torrent of curses upon the scoundrel.

Yet, what emerged was…

“Tyrant! You absolute tyrant! The Great Xia will inevitably fall by your hand!”

“Tyrant… Ow!”

***

In the bathroom, Xia Zhiquiu clutched her head, looking utterly miserable.

Just moments before, upon abruptly waking, she had slammed her head against the bathtub, causing excruciating pain!

However, the true culprit behind all this was none other than that infuriating Bai Hao! Even in her dreams, he was utterly detestable!

Yet, thinking of the young woman from the dream, Xia Zhiquiu couldn’t shake the feeling that something was amiss. Was this dream truly illogical, or did it perhaps portend something significant?

“Forget it, I’m not thinking about it anymore. The water’s gone cold anyway.”

Stepping out of the bathtub, Xia Zhiquiu wrapped herself in a bathrobe, realizing the sky was already beginning to lighten.

There was no help for it; her sleep schedule was completely inverted compared to most people.

Fortunately, aside from the first time she fell asleep each day, she wouldn’t dream again, otherwise, Xia Zhiquiu would surely have a breakdown.

Thus, by evening, Bai Hao was diligently massaging the shoulders of ‘Teacher Xia’ who sat before him in a sexy business suit. Seeing her weary expression, he felt a pang of sympathy.

“Teacher Xia, did you go hunting strange entities last night and then steal cattle during the day? How can you possibly tutor me in this state?”

Xia Zhiquiu rolled her eyes at his words, remaining silent. As for the young man’s less-than-chaste shoulder massage, she had long grown accustomed to it; as long as he didn’t go too far, she tolerated it.

“Isn’t it all your fault?!”

Bai Hao, hearing this, was somewhat speechless.

“Teacher Xia, you’re being completely unreasonable. What does this have to do with me?”

Xia Zhiquiu pursed her lips, her mind involuntarily recalling last night’s dream. Though the details were hazy, she vaguely remembered being… ‘taken’ by the young man.

At this thought, a blush crept across the mature woman’s face. She slapped away Bai Hao’s hand and flopped directly onto his bed.

“I don’t care. Tutoring is canceled today. Just let me sleep a bit longer.”

Seeing this, Bai Hao sat on the edge of the bed and said softly, almost teasingly.

“Teacher Xia, you’re quite bold, sleeping in my room.”