☆, Chapter 9: The Nightmare
After viciously pranking Hao Yi, Hao Ren went to bed, satisfied. Perhaps because she had done something bad, that night, she had a nightmare. In the dream, she once again saw the face she had only ever seen in photographs her whole life.
“Mother…”
The beginning of the dream was very much like a warm and comfortable sweet dream. It wasn’t that Hao Ren had never dreamt of similar scenes. Just as she always did, she threw herself forward and hugged the woman who no longer existed in this world, clinging to her as if she were a rare treasure. She thought it would be warm and reassuring as always, but what her body touched was an icy coldness, a coldness colder than ice.
She realized something was wrong and tried to struggle free, but found that her body was being held fast by a pair of icy hands. She wanted to scream, but the icy hands suddenly shot upwards and clamped tightly around her neck. Hao Ren’s breath caught. She tried to breathe but couldn’t draw in the slightest bit of air. She struggled desperately, but the hands were like iron pincers, impossible to break free from.
“Mother carried you for ten months and gave birth to you not for you to be bullied by others… not for you to come into this world to suffer… Be a good baby, come with Mother… Mother promises you, it won’t hurt much… just for a little while… just for a little while is all it will take…” Even though her hands were so cold, even though her actions were so ruthless, the woman’s eyes were as gentle and warm as Hao Ren had dreamt of countless times. At this moment, they even held an unspeakable sorrow…
At first, Hao Ren was still struggling desperately, but after a while, she became completely lost in those warm eyes. In a trance, it was as if she had returned to her infancy. Besides those warm eyes, nothing else in this world could move her. She stared at those warm eyes without blinking, a strange smile slowly blooming on her face, and her consciousness finally began to fade…
“Daring fiend! Get away from my little girl!”
Just as Hao Ren was about to lose consciousness, a loud shout suddenly rang out in the air. After the shout, the one-armed uncle, as handsome and dashing as the middle-aged Yang Guo, who had appeared in her dream before, descended from the sky and slammed a palm strike fiercely onto the “mother.”
The “mother” took the palm strike and, as if struck by lightning, flung Hao Ren away. Without even resisting, she turned tail and fled in disarray. And “turning tail” wasn’t a metaphor. Hao Ren clearly saw a snow-white fox tail trailing behind the “mother” as she fled.
“Uncle Daizi…”
“That wasn’t your mother just now.” The one-armed uncle walked over and hugged Hao Ren, who was shivering from the cold, tightly in his arms.
The uncle’s embrace was broad and warm, completely different from the feeling of being held by her mother in the dream. The word “father” inexplicably surfaced in Hao Ren’s mind. Then, she felt her nerves relax, and leaning against that warm embrace, she sank into a sweet slumber.
“There, there, it’s alright now. Sleep!” The one-armed uncle gently stroked Hao Ren’s cheek and slowly dissolved into specks of light and disappeared.
When Hao Ren woke up, it was already broad daylight. Lucky had pulled a pack out of the bag of beef jerky Hao Yi had thrown over and was now desperately chewing on the packaging, while Daizi was still quietly curled up at her feet.
Hao Ren got up, helped Lucky open the beef jerky package, and then walked straight to Daizi, who was staring blankly at the scenery outside the window.
“Uncle Daizi, that wasn’t a dream, was it?”
Daizi nodded calmly.
“If that wasn’t my mother, then what was it?” Remembering the scene from her dream, Hao Ren’s expression involuntarily became pained.
Daizi’s expression suddenly grew solemn. “It was one of the Evil Ones, a faction with strong hostility towards the King of a Hundred Beasts. In your human terms, you could call them the resistance.”
“The resistance?”
“A group of opportunists who think that if they kill the King, they can become the new King.” Daizi’s expression was filled with disdain and contempt. “Rest assured, as long as I’m here! They won’t be able to touch a single hair on your head!”
“Uncle Daizi, thank you!” An image of the perilous scene from last night’s dream flashed through her mind, and Hao Ren reached out and gently ruffled the fur on Daizi’s head.
“I’m your uncle. If I don’t protect you, who will!” Daizi was as cool and suave as ever.
Although she knew that the scene from last night’s dream was an illusion created by a small animal with malicious intent towards her as the new King, Hao Ren still couldn’t help but dwell on it. She couldn’t focus on the books she borrowed from the library, and she would even get distracted while online. Left with no choice, Hao Ren took her mother’s photo from her bedside and hugged it tightly.
“Uncle Daizi, do you think my mother ever regretted not taking me with her?” Hao Ren’s expression was gloomy. The eyes from her dream were like a thorn stuck in her mind, impossible to get rid of no matter how hard she tried.
Daizi couldn’t answer her. It just jumped into her lap and nuzzled her neck comfortingly.
For the next few days, Hao Ren remained listless. Not only did good novels and TV shows fail to interest her, but her appetite also decreased significantly. Lucky, being a newcomer and carefree, didn’t notice anything amiss, but Daizi was extremely worried.
“Little girl, come with Uncle. Uncle will show you something!” One evening, as Hao Ren was still staring blankly at her computer screen, Daizi suddenly bit the corner of her dress and said with a solemn expression.
Hao Ren turned off her computer, picked up Lucky, and followed Daizi out the door with a wooden expression.
The evening summer breeze was cool and refreshing. Hao Ren followed Daizi as they strolled slowly along the tree-lined path of the villa complex. The roads here were always quiet, with only the occasional luxury car driving by as people returned home from work.
Daizi led Hao Ren forward until they stopped in front of a small, two-story villa. This area had always been a gathering place for the wealthy, and this family was no exception. The garage door was half-open, and inside was a Porsche Panamera. Among the clothes hanging on the balcony were several new Chanel pieces identical to the ones Auntie Mei had bought and stored in her closet.
Judging from the clothes on the balcony, the family should consist of three people. From the style and size of the small clothes, the child was likely a girl, around four or five years old. Hao Ren caught a glimpse of the female owner’s face as she was collecting the laundry. Although she wasn’t stunningly beautiful, her eyes were exceptionally gentle. She must be a good mother. That gentle appearance reminded Hao Ren of her own mother in the photograph.
The family hadn’t drawn their curtains. Hao Ren shifted her angle and successfully saw a scene of the male owner holding his little daughter, his face full of happiness as he let her kiss his cheek. The little daughter was wearing a beautiful princess dress that Hao Ren had dreamed of as a child. After the kiss, she snatched the glasses from her father’s nose and neatly broke them in half. After her mischief, the little one giggled with an expression of a successful prankster. Hao Ren broke into a cold sweat for the child, but the male owner wasn’t angry at all, only dotingly tapping his little daughter’s nose.
Seeing this scene, Hao Ren’s nose suddenly tingled for some reason, and tears streamed down her cheeks uncontrollably.
She clenched her fists and was about to turn and leave, but Daizi bit the corner of her dress.
“Daizi, what on earth do you want me to see?”
“Just wait a little longer!”
Hao Ren wiped her tears, and seeing Daizi’s serious expression, she finally stayed put.
“Here it comes!” After waiting for a few minutes, Daizi suddenly looked towards the villa’s small garden.
Hao Ren looked closely and saw a cat’s head peeking out from the bushes in the small garden. It was a common black and white Chinese native cat, also known as a domestic cat. The cat was probably a stray; it had a ferocious scar on its face, and it was unclear whether it was from a fight with other cats or from a human. It was very alert as it emerged from the bushes. After confirming there was no danger around, it let out a low meow towards the bushes. Then, two round, adorable kittens suddenly rolled out from behind the bushes like balls.
The kittens followed their mother with wobbly steps, and the mother cat led the two kittens towards the family’s door, looking back every three steps. When the kittens reached the door, she darted back behind the bushes again. When the mother cat re-emerged, the thing in her mouth made Hao Ren’s eyes widen in an instant.
It was a cardboard box, the kind used for apples, probably picked up from a nearby trash can. Although the cat was an adult, it wasn’t easy to drag such a large cardboard box. It took a long time for her to drag the box to the family’s door.
Seeing their mother drag the box over, the two kittens stretched out their fluffy paws and scratched it curiously. The mother cat watched the two kittens play quietly for a long time, then, as if she had made up her mind, she picked up the two kittens one by one and placed them inside the box. Given the height of the box, the two little kittens couldn’t climb out on their own and immediately started to meow anxiously. Hao Ren could even hear the sound of their little paws scratching the cardboard from a distance.
The mother cat stared deeply at the two kittens in the box for a moment, then suddenly turned, leaped up, and slapped the doorbell hard. After the doorbell rang, she darted behind the nearby bushes like a flash of lightning.
It was the female owner who opened the door. She frowned slightly upon seeing the two little kittens, seeming to wonder who had left them at her doorstep. After looking around and seeing no one, she finally brought the box inside.
Seeing the female owner take the two kittens into the house, the mother cat quickly moved to a new spot, finding an angle where she could see inside the room, and stared intently, showing no intention of leaving.
“How could she… those are her own children…” Hao Ren was stunned by the scene unfolding before her.
“She knows all too well how hard it is to be a stray cat, so she hopes her children can have a home.” Daizi sighed faintly. “That one has been observing the families in this neighborhood for a long time and finally settled on this one.”
“But this family has a child…” An image of the little daughter mischievously breaking her father’s glasses flashed through her mind, and Hao Ren frowned slightly.
“It’s fine! Although that child is naughty, she has a good heart. She especially loves cats and even fed the mother cat half a sausage once. She won’t make things difficult for the two little kittens.” Daizi chuckled. “That one is really cunning. By letting the two little kittens grow up with the little girl, even if the parents want to get rid of them in the future, they’ll have to get past their daughter first. The family would never guess that the one who left the two little kittens at their door was actually the mother cat herself. Compared to cats, the intelligence of dogs is much more worrisome…”
Hao Ren was instantly amused by its words. She stroked its head and said unceremoniously, “Uncle Daizi, you’re a dog too!”
Daizi, however, paid no mind to her teasing and continued to stare intently at the mother cat in the bushes, saying faintly, “Little girl, remember this! When your mother wanted to take you with her, it was out of love. And when she left you behind, it was also out of love! Love is a very complicated thing. Her heart may not have been strong enough, but her love for you was not diminished by even half a bit because of it.”
Hao Ren followed its gaze. The mother cat was lying there nervously, staring at the house without blinking. Every faint meow from inside the house made her body tremble. Several times, she looked like she wanted to get up and go inside, but she would retreat and lie back down…
The mother cat’s fearful eyes overlapped with the eyes from her dream, and Hao Ren found that her own eyes had, at some point, filled with tears again.
After silently watching the mother cat for a long time, Hao Ren wiped the tears from her eyes and looked down to stroke Daizi’s head.
“Uncle Daizi, will you go with me to see Mom tomorrow?” When she mentioned her mother, the light in Hao Ren’s eyes was finally no longer as dim as before.
Daizi nodded and let out a long sigh, as if a great weight had been lifted.