Chapter 740: 40. Dream Come True
Listening to the familiar yet strange “kind call” from the beautiful woman in front of her, Jasmine cautiously stepped back repeatedly.
“Who exactly are you?”
The golden-haired angel’s lips curled into a slight smirk, the curve of her rosy lips resembling the gate of hell tearing into the mortal realm, pouring forth words like venom.
“What, have you even forgotten me? Indeed, I have left you alone for too long, as it was not yet the right time. But now, seeing that once fiery soul that struggled desperately and eventually burned brightly become like this, I can’t help but feel a sense of lament.”
Intuition told Jasmine that the woman in front of her was extremely dangerous, yet her words seemed to have a magical power that drew Jasmine’s attention.
Although Xu and Gouwen had previously revealed the truth of her identity to her, they had also been emphasizing a very important thing:
“You are no longer Tang Zeming Asuka.”
“You are Jasmine, our daughter.”
The past had been so painful, and Xu and Gouwen did not want that soul, which had endured a thousand years of suffering, to bear that weight again. Even if they had to reveal everything to Jasmine right now, it was merely because they had to face the current pollution of the spirit realm.
But what about Jasmine?
The past lay hidden behind a wall that felt merely a door away, especially when she learned that the person named “Tang Zeming Asuka” had waited for Teacher Fisher for a full ten thousand years; it was as if another restless version of herself stood behind that door.
Both Jasmine and Tang Zeming Asuka were waiting to open that door and meet each other.
“You and I.”
So, at this moment, listening to Hela’s words, Jasmine felt a mix of caution and hesitation.
“You are related to the chaos outside, aren’t you? You came here to target me, trying to let the pollution from outside get out of control?”
Jasmine had already learned from Xu and Gouwen about her intricate connection to the spirit realm’s pollution, which is why Teacher Fisher and the others did not take her when they left for the spirit realm’s refuge.
Hela smiled and shook her head, saying to Jasmine,
“That couple is not you. They, like your esteemed deity, mistakenly believe that this power is an extension of a dream, but what they do not know is that the pollution has been completely out of the dream’s control for many years.”
Then, for the first time, Hela’s blue-golden eyes reflected the figure of the confused Whale Folk girl in front of her.
“Because that soul burdened with chaos back then was a once-in-a-million genius. Her affinity with the authority of dreams reached a level that even the real dream could hardly imagine. For many years, it could only influence your mind but could never directly interfere with your choices. And those things they call ‘pollution’ were originally part of your power. It was just that your soul abandoned them, leaving them forever in the spirit realm, always searching for you.”
“You are lying!”
Jasmine suddenly frowned and interrupted Hela’s words, clenching her fists in rebuttal.
“If it is truly as you say, beneficial and harmless, then how could Tang Zeming Asuka have abandoned it back then, to the point of choosing death?”
Hela’s expression turned playful as she smiled and moved slightly closer to Jasmine, causing her to retreat in alarm, even more on guard.
“What are you doing? I—I’ll call my mother!”
“Call your mother? Are you still a little baby?”
Hela laughed lightly but did not advance further, standing only a mere ten centimeters from Jasmine.
“Since you have already sensed my danger, why didn’t you call Xu at the very beginning? What do you think is the reason?”
“I—”
“Because your heart desires to know more about your past, doesn’t it? From the past until now, you’ve always been good at deceiving yourself, haven’t you, Asuka~”
Hela gently extended her finger, lifting Jasmine’s chin slightly, making Jasmine gasp as she tilted her face upward. Her eyes looked warily and disgustedly at Hela, yet deep inside…
Hehe.
“So, why did you abandon that power? Do you know the answer?”
Hela slowly leaned her cheek closer to Jasmine’s ear, whispering every word.
“Because back then, you were also deceiving yourself.”
Jasmine’s pupils constricted. Hela’s words seemed to pierce her soul in an instant, causing her legs to tremble slightly.
“You already foresaw that the dreams swelling in your mind could impact reality, and you didn’t want your power to affect others, so you chose to depart from the spirit realm’s ultimate exit.
“‘My power has swelled to a level that cannot be hidden from the gods and mythical beings. If I want to continue to exist, it inevitably means going to war with them; a war between mythical ranks—how could those humans survive? If humans run into problems, wouldn’t Teacher Fisher be unable to exist in the future?'”
Hela mimicked Jasmine’s tone, extracting the thoughts buried deep within Jasmine’s soul and laying them bare under the sunlight. As Hela’s words echoed in Jasmine’s ears, her body trembled even more violently.
“‘So, in that case, it is only right to leave here immediately to avoid the conflict.’
“For the greater good, for kindness, for that future to come. Ever since you founded the Creation Society, you have been helping other Trans from afar, haven’t you? Jahl Uzz, Ashley, Von Spencer—you are a respected president, existing for peace, to guide the Trans.
“You sacrificed so much for others, selflessly, just to ensure that the power swelling within you would not affect reality and not harm the beings there.
“So you deceive yourself, thinking that it doesn’t matter if you don’t see Fisher. Even after waiting for thousands of years, even if that illusion torments your spirit day after day, having the appearance of Fisher yet making him increasingly blurry in your mind. How many sleepless nights have you endured solitude and pain, the reliability others see turning into despair and loneliness when you are alone?”
Hela paused slightly, then brought a smile again, softly asking in Jasmine’s ear,
“But… does it really not matter, Asuka?”
“…”
No response.
It turned out that Jasmine, who was listening to all of this, did not know when she had already burst into tears, trembling uncontrollably.
“Why?”
Why did tears uncontrollably flow when she heard these words?
She shouldn’t be Tang Zeming Asuka!
But why, after hearing what she said, was that despair seemingly spilling from the depths of her soul still so hard to suppress?
As if it had never disappeared or been abandoned.
“Ah…”
“Thud!”
Jasmine, with tears streaming down her face, suddenly collapsed to the ground, her legs giving way.
She covered her chest as if struggling to breathe, gasping to quell the sorrow flowing within her.
Meanwhile, Hela slightly stepped back, her smile fading little by little, her blue-golden eyes acquiring a layer of incomprehensible divinity, as if she had seen through Jasmine’s soul.
“Don’t you understand, Jasmine? The things outside are not pollution at all, but the ‘dream’ you yearn for day and night.
“The more you deceive yourself, telling yourself that ‘what you want doesn’t matter,’ and thus pushing it away in reality for others—the more the reality’s shortcomings can only be compensated by the dream. Therefore, the more selfless you are, the more you deceive yourself, the bigger that ‘dream’ becomes, the harder it is to control.
“It possesses no intelligence, no wisdom, so why is it still searching for you everywhere?
“There is no other reason; it merely wants to help you realize your dream, Tang Zeming Asuka.”
With tears streaming down her face, Jasmine’s eyes widened, staring blankly at the angel before her.
Her rosy lips quivered slightly, as if some words were caught in her throat but instinctively blocked by it.
Just like the countless times in her past when she wanted to say something but never did.
Her mother’s abuse didn’t matter, as long as she obeyed, making her mother happy.
Her disturbed mind didn’t matter, as long as she pretended nothing was wrong, allowing her father not to worry.
Her classmates bullying her didn’t matter, as long as she endured and did not trouble her family or teachers.
Hela being with Teacher Fisher didn’t matter, as long as she pretended not to see it, so Teacher Fisher wouldn’t think she was strange.
Margaret deceiving herself didn’t matter, as long as she could give up, and everyone could be safe.
Waiting for ten thousand years didn’t matter, as long as Teacher Fisher could return safely.
Leaving this world and never seeing Teacher Fisher again didn’t matter, as long as everyone in this world was safe.
As long as it was fine.
As long as it was fine.
As long as it was fine.
As long as it was fine.
Was it?
Jasmine gasped, covering her head. Her once azure eyes gradually turned black, as if the ink at the center of an inkstone had thickened to the most concentrated, darkest state. Soon, distorted words began to seep from it.
Not good, not good, not good, not good, not good, not good, not good, not good, not good, not good, not good, not good, not good, not good, not good, not good, not good, not good.
“Not good.”
How could it be fine?
How could it?
How could she possibly be fine like this?!
“Buzz!”
Just as Hela observed Jasmine, whose tears had turned gradually black in pain as she pounded her chest, an extraordinarily terrifying sword light suddenly cut through from a distance.
Hela remained unmoving, yet even from afar, her golden hair began to flutter uncontrollably, and next, her head was about to fall.
“Crack, crack, crack, crack!”
But in the next second, from behind Hela, her shadow began to swell inexplicably, hiding a terrifying presence like a deep pool.
“Buzz!”
That golden sword light contained demigod power, almost cleaving across this realm. However, as the boundless darkness in Hela’s shadow gradually expanded, it blocked her front and ultimately swallowed the incoming sword light in an overwhelming manner.
Not even a ripple was raised.
“Stay away from my daughter!!”
The entire hiding place of Gouwen was on the verge of being engulfed by that exaggerated sword light and Xu’s cursed medium. When that medium spread over Hela, the cold-faced Xu seemed to realize that her medium encased two independent existences.
One was that angelic being, and the other was something hiding in her shadow.
The angelic being’s rank was nineteen, while that figure in the shadow… was unfathomable, but definitely powerful.
That was…
Two incarnations of the same entity?
Hela looked at Xu, who was walking from afar with chilling killing intent, and sighed softly.
“Have you figured it out?”
As a demigod, Xu had encountered divine incarnations before; she had seen the true body of Ramastia countless times and the incarnations and true bodies of other deities innumerable times.
Few understood divine matters within the barriers now, and Xu was among the most knowledgeable.
If there had only been that angel, Xu wouldn’t have discerned it as an incarnation, but when that powerful being in her shadow revealed itself, Xu was certain that it was a divine incarnation.
Thus, in mid-air, Xu didn’t rashly make a move; instead, she suddenly pulled hard, causing the medium that nearly covered this space to activate simultaneously, ripping apart the ground right in front of the kneeling Jasmine.
“Boom!”
It was as if the entire small island was split in half; on one side where Xu and Jasmine stood lifted upward, while the smiling Hela was continuously descending.
“Ah, what’s happening?!”
“Is it going to shake here too?”
The extraterrestrial visitors resting on the small island all shouted in surprise. Just then, glowing tentacles reached out and pulled them back behind Xu, just like Lady Bojiang’s intervention.
Xu warily watched the smiling angel below, lifted her hand to manipulate the medium to try and tear Hela’s body apart. But that invisible medium seemed so weak in front of the boundless darkness behind her, with a large gash torn before it even reached Hela.
Yet Hela remained motionless, showing no signs of counterattack, leaving Xu momentarily stunned.
Could it be…
Xu seemed to realize something and hurriedly turned to look at Jasmine, whom she was protecting, only to see Jasmine with her face hidden, drooping her head, black tears dripping down to the ground, looking extremely distressed.
Seeing this, Xu’s heart ached. She quickly knelt down and held Jasmine’s shoulders, calling out,
“Jasmine, Jasmine! No matter what that woman just said to you, don’t believe it. It’s all just words meant to deceive you. You have to hold on, okay?”
Hela, standing in the darkness below, remained silent and slowly closed her eyes, murmuring to herself,
“Lies?”
Jasmine, who was sobbing, heard Xu’s words. While wiping away the incessant black tears, she mumbled indistinctly,
“Mom… sob.”
“I’m here, Jasmine.”
“Mom… but my heart hurts so much.”
“Jasmine, don’t think about anything else, okay? I’m here, Dad’s here… your Teacher Fisher is still here. They are all here. Don’t think about the past, just come back to the present, okay?”
“Now.”
“Yes, think about now, think about what you want to do most right now, rather than the past, alright?”
Xu gently cupped Jasmine’s face, moving her ink-stained palm away to reveal her sorrowful expression.
“Mom… I… I just want my dream to come true, can I?”
Xu was momentarily taken aback, not immediately understanding Jasmine’s words.
“What? Dream?”
“Yes, I don’t want to deceive myself, not even once.
“Mom… you and Dad want me to abandon everything from the past. I will cooperate with everything you say. I just… don’t want to cause trouble for Dad, Mom, or Teacher Fisher, or for this world.”
Xu’s mouth slightly opened, while Jasmine’s tears continued to well up.
Xu and Gouwen hoped she could let go of her past completely, that as long as she didn’t think or look back, all the pain and sorrow would never catch up to her.
But is it really that simple?
Wasn’t Tang Zeming Asuka’s biological father, who had witnessed her suffering under their mother’s torment until her sanity shattered, thinking like that too?
He pleaded with the Buddha to let his young daughter abandon her obsession and return to normal, yet he never addressed her problems directly or healed her wounds.
Tang Zeming Asuka, not wanting her father to worry, deceived herself into believing she was fine, that she no longer had a mental illness.
Now, facing Xu’s and Gouwen’s expectations, she made the same choice.
But could merely forgetting heal the wounds deep in her soul?
And this time, she no longer wanted to deceive herself.
Jasmine fell silent, merely lowering her head helplessly.
Xu wanted to say something more, but suddenly terrifying crackling sounds echoed from behind.
“Crack, crack, crack!”
Xu’s pupils constricted as she turned to look behind, realizing the emerald green Shield encasing Gouwen was already covered in cracks, on the verge of collapse.
Outside that shield was the boundless, crimson mist that seemed to hear Tang Zeming Asuka’s call and was eagerly approaching.
Watching the shield about to shatter, Hela’s smile reappeared, her eyes glimmering as a crimson oiled paper umbrella opened above her head.
“My dream is about to come true.”
“Crack, crack, crack!!”
In the next moment, the entire shield enclosing the hiding place suddenly shattered.
The boundless crimson mist surged in like mad, enveloping Jasmine.
“Jasmine!”
Xu’s expression changed upon seeing this. She quickly hugged Jasmine tightly to protect her, and both Jasmine and the entire island were consumed by the crimson mist along with Hela.
“Buzz!”
The moment the crimson mist touched Jasmine’s skin, the silence and confusion that had lasted so long in the crimson mist finally boiled over like water that had long been simmering on the stove.
Begging for votes, tips, and support is extremely important to me!
Thank you immensely for the support!
(End of Chapter)
