Chapter 754: 54. Can’t Leave Yet
“Ding ding, ding ding ding ding”
“What floor, Jasmine?”
“It should… it should be the eighteenth floor.”
Fisher gently raised his hand and pressed the button for the 18th floor. The elevator swayed slightly, and the crimson digits on the display began to flicker with the change in floors.
As they got closer to a certain level of the tower, Jasmine tightened her grip on Fisher’s sleeve, her skin prickling with an instinctual fear.
“Hiss”
“Ding~”
A bone-chilling cold enveloped the surroundings, especially as the elevator doors slowly opened.
The eighteenth floor outside was shrouded in darkness, as if the elevator doors were opening not to a residential building, but to the gates of hell.
“Fisher-sensei, I… I am a little scared.”
“Don’t be scared, Jasmine, let’s go.”
Fisher took a deep breath, gently holding Jasmine’s hand as he stepped forward. Just as they entered, a previously closed door on the right creaked open, revealing a fairly spacious interior.
In the darkness, Fisher glanced at the door number; it appeared to be room “1801.”
He cautiously approached the doorway to peek inside, but unexpectedly, the environment seemed very normal. It was just that the lights were off, making it look especially gloomy against the dim sky outside.
Fisher saw several pairs of high heels scattered at the entrance, several pieces of unkempt clothing strewn on the living room sofa, and the floor seemed to be covered in a layer of dust. The kitchen on the other side of the entrance looked as though it hadn’t been used in a long time.
The entire living room was dead silent, the only slightly bright spot being the mirror hanging near the entrance, which was so clean that it seemed someone frequently stood before it, examining and adjusting their attire.
Is this… Tang Zeming Asuka’s childhood home?
Fisher looked around. Although he didn’t find anything particularly unusual at first, for some reason, merely standing at the entrance filled his heart with a sense of despair.
Meanwhile, Jasmine, who was peeking at the interior from behind him, felt nauseated and had to constantly suppress her urge to retch.
Fisher led her slowly inside, and the door behind them did not close. A chilling draft rushed past them from behind, lifting a few strands of Jasmine’s dark hair.
“Fisher-sensei, I think I remember something.”
“What?”
Fisher turned around only to see Jasmine covering her mouth, staring intently at the mirror.
In her eyes, Jasmine seemed to see the figure of a young girl being beaten by her mother, still pale and thin, obediently sitting in this dead silent room, directly in front of that shiny mirror.
She suddenly recalled why that little girl always sat in front of that mirror.
Because in this lifeless, chaotic home, apart from her mother’s wardrobe, that mirror was the only place her mother often visited.
So the young girl had tried to stay in front of that mirror, hoping to draw her mother’s attention.
But at too young an age, she couldn’t comprehend that her mother only looked in the mirror before leaving in the morning, nor why her mother would not pause in front of that mirror when she returned home reeking of alcohol at night.
She simply didn’t understand why her mother invested all the money in the stock market, hoping to turn her fortunes around, even though they barely had enough to eat, and bills for debts were constantly sent home.
Jasmine gasped and knelt on the ground. At that moment, back in this place, it seemed she finally regained a bit of clarity; the sky outside had completely turned crimson, silently expressing the anger of the entire dream.
Covering her face, Jasmine asked Fisher in confusion, “Why… why did you bring me here? Wouldn’t it be better to stay in Kyoto with my mom and dad?”
Fisher opened his mouth and fell silent for a moment. He squatted down and looked at Jasmine, saying, “When I was in Kyoto, I saw the smile you had never shown before. I know you should be very happy there, whether it’s your loving parents, a normal school life, or our love.”
“Then why… why?”
Jasmine trembled as she moved her hand away from her face, revealing her eyes, which had turned crimson. She stared at Fisher, her tone filled with confusion, “If that’s the case, wouldn’t it be good to stay here, in a beautiful dream? Everything is almost becoming a reality. Are you not happy here, Fisher-sensei? Soon, whether it’s Raphael or others, they’ll enter the dream, and I won’t hurt them. Fisher-sensei, you know very well that I won’t harm anyone.”
“I know that, Jasmine. You subconsciously envy Hela and dislike her, yet you still arrange for her to be a teacher. How could you hurt others, except yourself? You wouldn’t want to let anyone down.”
“Then why?”
“Creak, creak, creak!”
At that moment, the entire room began to distort with Jasmine’s thoughts. The dusty walls seemed to transform into a cage, trying to trap Fisher there forever.
Yes, at this moment, immersed in a beautiful dream, Jasmine finally realized that Fisher had brought her away from Kyoto to Tokyo, not for some trip, but to awaken her to the pain of the past, to make her wake up from the bliss.
Thus, Jasmine was so confused.
She gasped in pain and trembled as she sat on the ground, weak and helpless like before, in front of that shiny mirror, tightly hugging her knees.
Fisher looked around the distorted room, feeling as if he could see this cage-like world through the perspective of young Tang Zeming Asuka.
“…”
After a long moment of silence, Fisher looked at the empty paper box of the taiyaki he still held in his hand. He exhaled and suddenly asked Jasmine, “Jasmine, what did it feel like when you ate the taiyaki?”
“…Huh?”
Jasmine raised her crimson eyes, looking at Fisher, who was staring at the taiyaki box with perplexity, not understanding why he suddenly asked this.
But Fisher only lowered his head and softly said about the taiyaki, “You know, when I ate this taiyaki, I first felt a sweetness, but I can’t quite describe what kind of sweetness it was. I just felt it was sweet, as if I had never tasted it before. Then what rushed to my throat was an incredibly bitter taste, like something non-existent, wedged between the clouds.”
“…”
“Jasmine, you have never eaten taiyaki before, so you can only imagine its taste, but no matter how you compensate, you still can’t hide its bitter undertones. Even if you deceive yourself into thinking it’s the delicious taste you yearned for in your childhood, once you actually taste it, you have already lost the longing you once had for it, and can only repeatedly reflect on why you couldn’t have it all because of your mother, right?”
“In a beautiful dream, Xu wears an apron your mother never wore, and Gouwen puts down the scriptures your father never laid down. Their relationship seems as fulfilling as you imagined. If you were truly content, why, even if I said nothing, would your dream still uncontrollably collapse?”
Fisher’s gaze slowly left the taiyaki box, sadly landing on the trembling Jasmine before him.
“Because the things you gain now can never make up for the regrets of what you didn’t get in the past, Jasmine.
“It’s like piecing together a puzzle. In the past, you were always waiting for your mother and father, or rather waiting for destiny to gift you a piece to complete your childhood puzzle, but it cruelly gave you nothing. Now you’ve finally come to the next piece of the puzzle, and destiny has given you fragmentary pieces to complete it. Whether it’s Xu or Gouwen, they both are, but you want to use these pieces to fill in the regrets of the previous piece you couldn’t complete.
“Can you fill it, Jasmine?”
Jasmine tightly clutched her hair, her crimson eyes flickering as she questioningly asked, “What’s wrong with that? Fisher-sensei, you know, right? If I just continue like this, everything will turn real. No matter which piece it is, in the end, they will all come together, and everyone will forget this is a dream. Even I will forget it’s a dream, sinking completely into it. What’s wrong with that?”
“Yes, if it comes to that. If this lie is enough to deceive everyone, including yourself, perhaps it wouldn’t be so bad. I can rest easy as a teacher, and you can grow up peacefully and happily, becoming an ordinary person. But unfortunately, reality won’t let dreams last forever. Rather than letting reality cruelly wake you up, maybe it’s better for me to be this alarm clock of yours.”
Jasmine was slightly taken aback, seemingly not understanding Fisher’s words carried with them a wry smile. At the doorway, a crisp round of applause rang out.
Fisher turned expressionlessly, and Jasmine stared blankly at the doorway where Hela appeared, holding a paper bag and standing next to an extremely excited Renee.
Hela covered her mouth and chuckled lightly, somewhat regretful as she said, “Reality… are you referring to me? Renee, do you remember what I said?”
Renee’s face turned red, and in the moment of Fisher’s stunned expression, she clenched her fists and shouted loudly at Fisher and Jasmine, “Jasmine! I… I’m here to declare war on you!! Fisher-sensei is mine!!”
Hela patted Renee’s head with satisfaction, smiling, “Good, very spirited.”
Jasmine’s eyes widened as she stared at Renee, then foolishly looked back at the side where Fisher was covering his face, not understanding why, after such a short time apart, Renee had already been trained into a fool by Hela.
Fisher sighed and gritted his teeth as he glared at Hela, who was grinning next to Renee, “Staying with you isn’t bringing any good, Hela.”
“Hey, that’s really unfair, my dear.” Hela smiled, stroking her chin, then raised her paper bag toward Fisher, saying, “But it doesn’t matter, everything is about to end, isn’t it?”
She… has already met with another embodiment?
Fisher glanced at the paper bag she was holding, his heart tremored, but he quickly calmed down, turning back to look at shaking Jasmine beside him. Internally, he was confident that Jasmine would soon dissolve the dream.
Though it deviated somewhat from the original plan, if they broke free from the dream, the waiting Ramastia outside should be able to handle Hela and her other embodiment easily.
“Jasmine, listen to me, no matter what, we must first break free from the dream, or else…”
Wait, no.
According to her earlier statement, she needed to make the dream unstable to unite with her embodiment, yet now the dream had already become unstable; it was very likely that it would dissolve in the next second. But she still confidently stood in front of him, unless she was sure the Ramastia couldn’t interfere with her next actions?
Is that possible?
In a brief flash of realization, Fisher suddenly understood everything.
Hela is lying?
No, that’s not it, but Fisher soon realized that what she was doing was more terrifying than lying.
She spoke half the truth!
Indeed, Jasmine had the power over the dream.
But what if Jasmine did not completely control this dream alone?
If there were other entities besides Jasmine that could connect with the dream, then when Jasmine logged out of the dream, the dream would not completely collapse; instead, it would teeter on the brink.
This way, it would allow the dream to exist, enabling the Ramastia outside to interfere with her plans, while not restraining her embodiment’s ability to separate the nature within herself.
Then, besides Jasmine, who else is controlling this dream?
In that fleeting second, Fisher’s mind was struck like lightning; he instantly understood everything. In the next second, he quickly turned his head to look at Jasmine, who was struggling to believe in herself.
Yet he saw Jasmine, with tears streaming down her face, raising her hand, trying to reach out to Fisher.
“Fisher-sensei, I… and you…”
Hela’s smile grew even more mocking, as though as long as Jasmine uttered the word “go,” her plan would be accomplished.
But in the next second, a sudden change occurred!
“No, you! Can’t leave yet!!”
Just as Jasmine raised her hand, a young girl with long black hair, dressed in a magical robe and with her head lowered, suddenly stood up within the mirror she was leaning against.
She reached out her long-nailed hand towards Jasmine, who was about to extend her hand outside the mirror. The air became filled with blood-red, as if it wanted to destroy the entire world.
She seized Jasmine, who was outside the mirror, and the next second, what unfolded shocked Fisher.
He witnessed the bloodied figure of the woman in the mirror slowly transform into a high school uniform, while her face began to change into Jasmine’s; meanwhile, the Jasmine outside, who had been reaching out to Fisher, began to have her black hair grow longer, her nails lengthening, and her uniform shifting into ancient magical clothing.
At that moment, the identities of the person in the mirror and the person outside the mirror instantly switched, and afar, Renee’s eyes narrowed as she became utterly stunned.
Beneath her long black hair emerged a face that was both hysterically and extremely beautiful.
She still looked exactly the same as she did millennia ago, still so young, with the eternal appearance of Trans.
Only that the ancient yet powerful magical fluctuations were about to destroy the entire dream, the entire Spirit Realm.
That was the progenitor of magic, the true leader of the Creation Society.
Tang Zeming Asuka.
Fisher gasped in shock, unable to speak, and he then saw Tang Zeming Asuka lower her head, the crimson glow in her eyes turning as she looked at Hela and Renee, her voice hoarse and terrifying as she asked, “Who are you declaring war against?”
Hela remained silent, hiding behind Renee.
And Renee, mouth agape, was about to say something when the lowered Tang Zeming Asuka gently beckoned with her hand, causing the entire tower to suddenly collapse.
The surrounding walls shattered, then floated upside down into the air.
“Boom!!”
And in midair, the cement and steel were twisted by countless forces, instantly reformed, until the building materials miraculously became rope-like chains that violently wrapped around Renee and Hela, reflecting Renee’s pale expression of shock and Hela’s smiling face, as they were suddenly pulled into the air.
“Ahhhhhh!”
Renee’s scream echoed in the air, but Asuka stood still like a statue, coldly watching Hela and Renee rise higher and higher into the sky.
Then, the entire buildings of Tokyo seemed to lose gravitational constraint, like spears, like cannonballs, crashing toward Hela and Renee in a terrifying roar, as if intending to smash them to pieces in midair.
“Boom!!”
“Uwaahhh! Save me, Fisher-sensei! Waahh!”
The screams of Renee echoed from above the sky, causing Fisher to hurriedly turn his head to the side at the crimson woman with her head bowed.
“Asuka!”
This seemed like their first meeting again after millennia.
Amidst the wild wind, her long hair billowed, revealing a pair of crimson eyes that seemed to hold the true essence of all magic in the world.
求求投票、打赏和支持，这对我来说十分重要！
万分感谢支持！
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(End of Chapter)
