419: Are they all dreams?

But the next second.

Su Han suddenly realized that he was actually kneeling on the damp stone ground, his fingertips dug into the cold rock within the crevices.

He gasped sharply, as if surfacing from deep water, his chest heaving violently.

There was a faint light in the darkness, like a candle flickering in the distance, casting his shadow onto the damp stone wall.

"...Bi Yao?"

He muttered, his voice so hoarse it didn't sound like his own.

There was no response.

He supported himself against the stone wall and slowly stood up, his feet crunching on loose gravel with a faint scraping sound.

This space was small, appearing to be a naturally formed cavern, yet also as if it had been artificially excavated.

Strange runes were carved into the stone wall, dark red, like dried bloodstains.

He looked down and saw his hands—there was blood on his palms, not someone else's, but his own.

Beads of blood were dripping through his fingers, pooling into a small puddle on the ground.

"Dripping Blood Cave..."

Su Han's throat tightened.

—This was not an illusion, not an altar, not a star core, not those insane mirrors and Clones.

He was indeed in the Dripping Blood Cave, or rather, he had finally broken free from the hallucinations and returned here.

"Bi Yao?"

He called out again, his voice slightly louder than before.

A rustling sound came from the distance, like fabric rubbing against rock.

Su Han's heart gave a sudden jolt, and he walked instinctively toward the direction of the sound.

The stone walls became narrower and narrower, eventually turning into a fissure that could only accommodate one person.

He turned sideways to squeeze through, and the scene before him suddenly opened up.

A pool of deep blue water shimmered faintly in the darkness, and a figure was curled up by the edge of the pool.

—It was Bi Yao.

She was leaning against the stone wall, her pale fingers clutching the hem of her clothes, her long hair disheveled and draped over her shoulders.

Hearing the movement, she slowly looked up; those bright eyes were like two tiny flames in the darkness.

"Su Han?"

Her voice was very soft, as if afraid to disturb something.

Su Han froze in place, as if he dared not believe this was real.

He approached step by step, each step feeling like walking on the edge between dream and reality.

Until he knelt down and reached out to touch her cheek—it was cold, real, and had the warmth of living flesh.

"You..."

His throat tightened, and for a moment, he didn't know what to say.

Bi Yao stared at him, her gaze complex.

She did not dodge his touch, only asking: "Where... did you go just now?"

Su Han's fingertips trembled slightly.

What should he say?

Say that he had seen countless deaths of himself?

Say that he was devoured by the star core, besieged by mirror Clones, and mocked by the Gravekeeper?

But at this moment, Bi Yao was sitting right in front of him, her breathing steady, and although her lips were pale, she was truly alive.

—Everything before that was an illusion.

"...I had a dream."

He finally spoke, his voice low and hoarse.

Su Han suddenly remembered that at the end of the hallucination, the faces of those mirror Clones had merged into a single, blurry face that belonged to all timelines.

That face said to him—

"Every time you make a choice, you are reinforcing the System's protective barrier."

His fingertips tightened unconsciously, his knuckles turning white.

"...It was a dream about the Black Witch Clan."

He lied, his voice so soft it was almost inaudible, "I dreamt that I became someone else... holding a gun, standing on a massive altar..."

Bi Yao's eyes widened slightly.

"And then?" she asked.

Su Han was silent.

How was he supposed to describe those gears? Those liquid memories? Those star-sand patterns seeping from his spine?

"Very... strange."

He could only answer this way in the end.

Bi Yao stared at him for a long time, but in the end, she just sighed softly and leaned back against the stone wall.

"You have been too tired lately."

Su Han did not refute it.

The pool water shimmered with a deep blue light, reflecting onto them, as if enveloping them in another world.

(End of Chapter)