The Lingering Nightmare and Unacknowledged Love

Su Xiaoxiao was utterly bewildered. She stared at the empty space behind her, a sense of shock washing over her, tears still streaking her face. She murmured, “But it was just here.”

“Perhaps you merely had a nightmare?” Gu Yan suggested, a hint of deliberate lightness in her tone.

“A nightmare?” Su Xiaoxiao still found it hard to believe. She scrutinized the area, searching again and again, but Xiyue’s presence was undeniably gone.

Gu Yan spoke with unwavering certainty, “The outside world is in utter chaos. How could Xiyue possibly find the time to visit? You must be overly anxious, and that’s why you dreamt such a nightmare.”

“Is that truly the case?” Su Xiaoxiao remained uncertain.

Gu Yan nodded earnestly, then coaxed her, “The night wind is fierce. Why aren’t you wearing any shoes? Go inside and lie down.”

Everything that had just transpired felt far too real.

‘Could it be that I truly can’t differentiate between dreams and reality?’ Su Xiaoxiao wondered.

Dejectedly, she could only return to the edge of her bed and sit. All traces of sleep had vanished, leaving her still steeped in the lingering terror of moments ago.

As she sat there, lost in thought, she suddenly found herself weeping uncontrollably. Her tears pattered softly, falling onto her belly.

****

Meanwhile, on the other side.

Xiyue had not ventured far at all. Instead, she remained hidden just outside, observing Su Xiaoxiao’s every single movement.

‘This little fish still cries so readily, her tears flowing endlessly.’

This constant state of affairs was unsustainable. Xiyue longed to go inside and speak with her again, yet the memory of Su Xiaoxiao’s earlier struggles and cries held her back.

“You shouldn’t have revealed yourself to her,” Gu Yan remarked, stepping forward to stand before Xiyue.

Xiyue replied, “It was merely an accident.”

“You frightened her, and you ought to know that the child is due in merely a month. This late stage of pregnancy is a critical period requiring utmost care. Frightening her like that could easily induce premature labor,” Gu Yan informed Xiyue with grave sincerity.

Xiyue furrowed her brow. “I know,” she stated.

As she watched Su Xiaoxiao still shedding tears, a certain melancholy settled upon Xiyue’s features.

‘She’s so afraid of me,’ she thought.

Shayue was a demon, and her ways were fundamentally different from Su Xiaoxiao’s.

From Shayue’s perspective, it was good enough that she allowed the ‘little fish’ in Su Xiaoxiao’s belly to remain, that she gifted her the protective red jade bracelet, and that she ensured she was well-fed and cared for.

Yet, why was Su Xiaoxiao so utterly terrified of her? It was as if Shayue might erupt in a furious rage at any moment and claim her life.

“Why does it hurt so much inside when I see her fear me?”

Shayue’s voice was filled with doubt, yet her words conveyed both certainty and profound bewilderment.

Gu Yan saw that Shayue still hadn’t grasped the obvious.

‘A stubborn tree remains a stubborn tree,’ she mused, ‘even blossoming without realizing it.’

Gu Yan told her with utmost seriousness, “Because you love her.”

Shayue stared blankly. “What?” she echoed.

Gu Yan repeated herself, “You’ve fallen in love with her, with this mermaid. Your love is unacknowledged, and your desires are unfulfilled. That is why you suffer.”

‘Love?’

Shayue found the notion laughable, yet she couldn’t utter a single word in rebuttal.

Her mind raced through countless excuses, but each one felt hollow and utterly powerless.

If her reluctance stemmed from not having ‘enough’ of Su Xiaoxiao, she could simply abduct her by force. While Shayue might not wish for Su Xiaoxiao to die, there was certainly a way to make her obedient.

Yet, what purpose would it serve to keep such a puppet by her side, one who could only weep and never smile?

If it were mere covetousness for her beauty and form, then while mermaids were indeed enchanting, the vast Nine Provinces surely held countless others of even greater allure. Moreover, Shayue had lived for thousands of years, encountering countless dashing gentlemen and seductive demonesses, yet none had ever stirred her as Su Xiaoxiao had upon their first meeting in Shanghuatian.

‘If it was because she carried her child…’

This thought was almost immediately dismissed by Shayue. It was utterly impossible. Even at this point, Shayue still harbored no affection for the ‘small hidden danger’ within Su Xiaoxiao’s womb; her tolerance was solely for Su Xiaoxiao’s sake.

‘Because I love her…’

Shayue snapped back to reality, the words Gu Yan had just spoken echoing in her mind.

When a Demon Soldier arrived to report, Xiyue listened distractedly. She dismissed them with a few perfunctory words, sending them on their way.

It was supposed to be the hour for cultivation and meditation, yet Su Xiaoxiao’s image lingered stubbornly in Xiyue’s mind. Recalling their recent encounter, her usually serene heart began to pound with increasing speed, her blood seeming to boil with an unprecedented excitement.

Her inner demon now not only consumed her thoughts within her consciousness, but it could even materialize as a swirling black mist directly before her.

She heard a faint, lingering laugh, which then echoed with a tone of scorn and disdain, repeating Gu Yan’s words: “You’ve fallen in love with that mermaid.”

Xiyue frowned deeply, then coldly reprimanded, “Silence.”

“Once a being acquires a weakness, they become cowardly, and you, especially, are not a true demon.” The black mist swirled ominously around Xiyue, murmuring, “You must eliminate her. Only then can you endure the heavenly tribulation and transform into a dragon.”

Xiyue clenched her hand, unleashing a powerful strike. Yet, after the black mist momentarily vanished, it reappeared once more, this time laughing with unbridled arrogance. “You’re angry,” it taunted.

“Why do you choose to be angry?”

Xiyue’s brows were tightly knit, the crimson mark on her forehead starkly visible as she glared with cold, stern eyes.

“Should you truly be angry?” The ethereal voice, exceptionally vexing to Xiyue, continued relentlessly, “You ought not to be angry, for I am born of you. My every word and deed is but a manifestation of your own innermost thoughts.”

“I said, silence!” Xiyue’s voice was edged with a frantic agitation.

“You should kill her. You should slaughter the entire mermaid tribe. Only then will you have no weakness. This is precisely what you truly desire in your heart, so why do you grow enraged?”

“You are not a demon…”

“Do not forget, you *are* a demon.”

“Silence…”

“Love unacknowledged…”

“I said, SILENCE!”

Within the Cold Spring Cave behind the Demon Palace, a tremendous commotion erupted. Xiyue’s cultivation sanctuary, honed over millennia, was engulfed in towering flames, utterly destroyed in an instant.

****

Meanwhile, on the other side.

Su Xiaoxiao had not slept a wink all night. Her eyes were swollen and painfully red from weeping. Early that morning, she dressed herself and immediately sought out the Clan Chief and the elders.

“Are you saying the Demon Venerable Xiyue came to see you last night?”

Su Xiaoxiao’s nose was still faintly red as she nodded timidly.

Yunji gently took her hand. “Don’t be afraid,” she said softly. “First, sit down. Have you had breakfast yet?”

Yunji was adept at offering comfort. To subtly redirect Su Xiaoxiao’s focus, she deliberately steered the conversation elsewhere, simultaneously signaling to the Clan Chief and the other elders that they needed to discuss how best to reveal the truth to Su Xiaoxiao.

Su Xiaoxiao shook her head. Yunji then dispatched someone to summon Dailin and the others to bring Su Xiaoxiao’s breakfast.

Behind her back, Yunji’s hands silently clenched into fists. Her own expression was far from pleasant, and she gnashed her teeth in quiet frustration.

As the Clan Chief, Yunji naturally maintained a greater degree of composure, yet even she couldn’t help but furrow her brow.

The mermaid tribe’s protective barrier held no power to stop Xiyue. However, Xiyue herself had once promised not to cause trouble, and her previous visits had indeed been limited to observing from a distance.

Yunxiang had even privately joked that Xiyue must have developed feelings for Su Xiaoxiao. Yet, given the immense psychological trauma Xiyue had inflicted upon Su Xiaoxiao, she was now at a loss as to how to seek forgiveness, which explained her frequent visits to the mermaid tribe.

Unaware of the true intentions of the demon tribe, they speculated that perhaps Xiyue, too, was longing for her unborn ‘little fish’ offspring.

In her previous visits, Xiyue had never once revealed herself to Su Xiaoxiao, nor had she committed any acts that threatened the mermaid tribe. Yunxiang’s words, therefore, seemed plausible, and consequently, their apprehension regarding Xiyue’s presence had gradually lessened.

After all, if Xiyue truly intended to cause harm, she wouldn’t need to go to such lengths, making so many trips to achieve her aim.

But unexpectedly, whether Xiyue was careless or did it intentionally, how could she appear before Su Xiaoxiao in the middle of the night? This was surely more terrifying for a mermaid than seeing a ghost in broad daylight.