128: Like a dream

Sitting in the carriage leaving the Estate, Su Yan's hands kept clutching her handkerchief. She was afraid of the reality she was about to face, but she feared Luo Yongan and Luo Yongning even more.

"Miss can rest easy."

The Matron teaching her looked at Su Yan, seemingly seeing through her thoughts. Her tone sounded gentle, but her eyes were cold, filled with threat and warning: "The Two Highnesses are never ones to break their word. As long as you help them do what needs to be done, your brother's official career will naturally be smooth, and you can also regain your freedom."

Su Yan did not answer, but Luo Yongan's words kept echoing in her mind. Actually, her feelings toward these two sisters were quite complex: fear, jealousy, and even more so, a desire not to see them—even a single meeting would make her extremely uncomfortable.

"Miss, rest early today. Tomorrow someone will arrange for you to enter the Zhou Residence; you don't need to say anything, just follow the arrangements," the Matron said, unaware of Su Yan's current thoughts, simply giving instructions for tomorrow's matters. "It should take about three days to see results. Rest assured, whether that Taoist lives or dies, we will pick you up from the Zhou Residence in three days."

"I understand."

It took a long while before Su Yan replied with those few words. The Matron did not continue speaking but turned to look out of the carriage.

The unease and displeasure in Su Yan's heart, along with her inexplicable feelings for Mo Yingqi, slowly began to amplify before gradually returning to a state of calm.

Although she would always go to a Taoist temple to offer sacrifices during festivals, she didn't truly believe in things like past lives or the next world. Sometimes people are just that complicated—clearly believing in so-called deities in their hearts, yet refusing to believe in a next life.

At night, Su Yan lay on her bed, tossing and turning, unable to sleep. The enmity Luo Yongan and Luo Yongning felt toward her was peculiar; she found it baffling, and weren't Luo Yongan and Luo Yongning the same?

"Sister, that woman wasn't wrong."

While fanning the sleeping Mo Yingqi, Luo Yongning looked at Luo Yongan and asked with some curiosity, "If we're doing these things, we don't really need her. There are plenty of better candidates..."

"Yongning, do you believe in reincarnation?" Luo Yongan suddenly spoke, interrupting her sister. "To be honest, I never believed in such things in the past. Even with Yingqi here, I felt this was just what we sisters deserved."

"But for some reason, from the moment I saw Su Yan, I've frequently dreamed of things. Sometimes they're very blurry. Clearly, we haven't had any grievances with her; even after that time in the Northern Border years ago, she and Yingqi had long since ceased to have any connection."

"Yet somehow, those dreams have left me with a strange sense of loathing and hatred for her."

Hearing this, Luo Yongning's heart was also in turmoil. Had she not had such dreams as well? It was just that she had always felt these things were far too inconceivable.

Not to mention that in the dreams, she and Luo Yongan didn't seem to be themselves anymore, and that world felt very strange to her. There were carriages that could run on their own without horses, and people's clothing and appearance had become bizarre.

She had even seen the Mo Yingqi in her dreams. She knew it was Mo Yingqi, but that person's appearance and temperament were vastly different from the current Mo Yingqi.

"You too?" Luo Yongan looked at her sister's expression and guessed most of it. "As I thought... you didn't tell me either, you girl."

"Didn't you also not tell me, Sister?" Luo Yongning smiled helplessly. "Besides, this matter is too inconceivable. I was afraid you'd laugh at me if I said anything."

"Why would I laugh at you? From childhood until now, besides Yingqi, you are the one I'm closest to." Luo Yongan looked at her biological sister tenderly. "None of that matters. Perhaps it was our past lives, or perhaps it's our future? Or maybe it's just a strange dream. In any case... I don't like that woman, but I don't want to torture or kill her either..."

"Sometimes, there are better ways to torment someone without causing physical injury. In this life, Su Yan can forget about ever having it easy. This is just the beginning."

Luo Yongan and Luo Yongning's hatred for Su Yan was peculiar. Simply because a woman who looked very similar to Su Yan in their dreams had harmed the Mo Yingqi in those dreams, they hated her to the bone.

Most importantly, it seemed that in the dreams, Su Yan had also used some means to plot against them, separating them from Mo Yingqi for a time. Whether it was true or not, it was enough for the sisters.

"Speaking of which, Sister, after so many plots, that old fellow is probably going to make one last stand." As Luo Yongning spoke, she looked at Mo Yingqi's handsome face and couldn't help but pinch it gently. "I'm still worried about Yingqi's side..."

"It's fine, this is the final step." Luo Yongan sighed softly. "How could I bear to let Yingqi do such dangerous things? Sometimes fate is just like that. If Yingqi hadn't developed a grudge against that Old Villain because of this, perhaps we wouldn't... no, it's not like that..."

"Right, it's definitely not like that..." Luo Yongning looked deeply at Mo Yingqi. "Yingqi and we were bound to meet sooner or later, right? Ying... qi?"

The sleeping Mo Yingqi could not hear the sisters' conversation. Luo Yongan had given him a Calming Decoction she had prepared herself so he could rest well.

Of course, the sisters actually needed to make some deployments, and it might be inconvenient if Mo Yingqi were awake. However, while the decoction made Mo Yingqi sleep deeply, it didn't mean he completely lost consciousness—or rather, his consciousness went somewhere else.

"Where is this?"

Mo Yingqi felt as if he were floating. He wasn't unfamiliar with this feeling; he'd had it before when Luo Yongan and Luo Yongning tricked him into drinking or drugged him.

But this time was different, very, very different. Mo Yingqi seemed to have returned to the Northern Border; the street scenes on both sides were blurry yet familiar.

But Mo Yingqi always felt something wasn't quite right. It looked like the Northern Border, but it made him feel that this... wasn't the Northern Border where he grew up.

"Strange, I haven't experienced something like this in a long time..." Mo Yingqi looked around curiously. "I thought back then it was just... forget it..."

Mo Yingqi allowed his body to float forward. It wasn't that he didn't want to do anything, but he was like a puppet who had lost the ability to move, only able to let himself be pushed forward.

Suddenly, a towering tree appeared before Mo Yingqi. This tree was extremely tall, with lush branches and leaves. But as soon as Mo Yingqi reached the base of the tree, the leaves on the branches vanished one after another!

"Yingqi, come here..."

"Yingqi, come to our side..."

Luo Yongan and Luo Yongning stood beneath the tree, dressed in magnificent clothes, their long hair loose, floating with bare feet as they opened their arms to him.

Mo Yingqi was completely defenseless; instead, he smiled and went to them, letting the sisters hold him tightly.

But in the next moment, the massive tree began to shake violently. A crack slowly opened in the middle of the trunk, and Mo Yingqi clearly saw two crimson eyes staring intently at him from within that pitch-black fissure.

There were no negative emotions—only madness and obsession, yet filled with love. But this love made Mo Yingqi feel chilled to the bone!

"Yingqi, don't be afraid..."

"That's right, Yingqi. What you're seeing... might just be the truth, don't you think?"