"Ah, yes, sorry. I must've been tired," Yueting remarks as she sits up. She still couldn't figure out what kind of dream that was; it seemed so realistic, yet now she was back in the forest.

"You took very long to wake up, so we already prepared breakfast," Zhang Wei mentions as he hands Yueting a bowl of soup. "We wanted to get something else, but this should be fine too," he adds.

"It's alright," Yueting reassures as she begins eating. "Are you sure nothing happened?" Zhang Wei inquires.

"Not that I know," Yueting responds. Zhang Wei has been acting weird. Not only has he said and asked weird stuff the day before, but he also keeps posing questions about Yueting's sleep, as if he knew something.

Mounting the horse, Yueting noticed both Meiyang and Zhang Wei looking at her strangely, not just once but multiple times. Feeling exhausted from all the staring, Yueting asks, "What?"

After she speaks, Meiyang and Zhang Wei seem rather shocked. Turning to look at Zhang Wei, Meiyang doesn't say anything. "Ehem," Zhang Wei clears his throat.

"Hm?" Yueting responds, at this point they were simply exchanging looks. Sighing, Meiyang begins to speak, "You know..."

"I know?" Yueting prompts.

"You were practically screaming and moaning in pain during your sleep," Meiyang finishes her sentence.

Yueting couldn't respond. "During your sleep, a black aura built itself around you," Zhang Wei adds.

"And that means?" Yueting inquires as they gallop out of the forest, with a city visible in the distance from their vantage point on the mountain.

"How do you not know anything about dark auras despite going to the demon realm?" Zhang Wei asks, slightly shocked.

"It didn't seem that important to know," Yueting responds. Learning about worlds when visiting was unnecessary. She only needed to grasp the basics of the multiverse, fighting, and surviving.

Sighing, Zhang Wei responds as if he's already tired of Yueting's answers. "A dark aura technically means you're a dark entity such as a demon, though your dark aura could be that of a god of darkness," he explains.

"Yeah, and if your aura shows while you're sleeping, it usually means you're getting in contact with demons or the other way around," Meiyang adds, finishing what Zhang Wei wanted to say.

"So that's why you kept asking questions?" Yueting remarks.

"Yeah, but that's totally not because we were worried. After all, you're not important," Meiyang says. Sometimes Yueting couldn't tell whether Meiyang was being a tsundere or just hated her like in the other two worlds.

"So?" Zhang Wei remarks.

"I'm not a dark entity, nor was I trying to get in contact with one," Yueting responds.

"I see. Well, sorry for doubting you," Zhang Wei acknowledges.

"Maybe she's cursed," Meiyang suggests to Zhang Wei.

"Maybe," Zhang Wei replies.

"I'm not any of those. It must've been something else," Yueting insists, unwilling to admit what she saw in her 'dream.'

"I see," Zhang Wei says, his tone tinged with disappointment at her response. Was he expecting Yueting to confess that she was some kind of goddess of darkness? No way. She did use some dark powers from the system, but there was no way the system would just expose her like that.

⌞System message: Master, you're not too far away from the demon realm!⌝

Reading the message, Yueting ponders. Considering she wasn't far from the demon realm, everything still seemed alright. Upon arriving in the city, they dismount their horses and start looking around. "Yueting, you had a map, right?" Zhang Wei asks. Taking out her map, Yueting queries the system, "Where are we?" and marks their location as the system replies.

⌞System message: You're about here. Should I show you the way to an inn?⌝

"Yes," Yueting confirms. "Follow me," she instructs Zhang Wei and Meiyang. Turning around the corner, they spot an inn, beautifully decorated.

"You have quite the taste," Zhang Wei compliments Yueting as they enter the inn. As usual, they are greeted, shown to their room, and informed when dinner will be ready.

Telling what happened was unnecessary, so let's skip to shortly after they finished eating.

"Yueting, are you sure you're alright alone? I mean, considering the thing," Meiyang says, referring to when Yueting acted strangely while sleeping.

"I'll be fine," Yueting assures herself as she closes her room door behind her. It was already dark outside as Yueting changed into the night robes provided by the inn. 

Unlike her last world, this inn was beautifully decorated with Chinese decorations, and despite its cheap price, it offered good service. Changing into the robes proved difficult because even the sleeping attire had many layers. 

Finally finished, Yueting lays down with a sigh. Just as she lowers her head, she hears something breaking – glass. It's the exact same sound from her dream. Realizing something is wrong, it's already too late. The bed turns into broken glass, along with everything around her. 

Falling into darkness, Yueting finds herself back in her childhood room. But this time, she isn't alone. Meiyang sits next to her – the Meiyang she met in her original world.

"Yue, you've come back for me," Meiyang says, using the nickname they shared during their early days of dating. Despite encountering other versions of Meiyang, this one held a special place in Yueting's heart. While she cherished the other versions, this Meiyang was the original, and her significance was unparalleled.

"Who are you?" Yueting questions, doubting this could truly be Meiyang. Meiyang wouldn't express such sentiments, nor would she wait for Yueting.

"I'm Meiyang, your soulmate. Can't you see?" Meiyang responds.

"You couldn't be her," Yueting asserts, her certainty wavering. What if this was merely another iteration of Meiyang? Perhaps there existed a Meiyang even in the dream world.

Sighing, Meiyang draws closer to Yueting. "But you promised we'd meet again in our next lives, until we reached our happy end. So why won't you accept my love for you?" Meiyang's words perplex Yueting; they seemed illogical, at least from her perspective. Yes, she made that promise, but her trust in this Meiyang remained uncertain.

"Tell me, why are you here?" Yueting asks, unable to shake off this strange feeling. Chuckling, Meiyang replies, "It seems you really won't believe me, so allow me to get straight to the point." Finishing her sentence, the room crumbles again, transporting them to a hospital.

"Let us begin right when you were born," Meiyang continues, but Yueting interrupts, "If you're going to tell me my own story, then you needn't waste time; I already know it."

"Mhm, but you don't," Meiyang answers. What did she mean? Obviously, Yueting knew her own life, right?

❝A soup of silence, stirred with suspicions, served on a platter of peculiarities.❝