Chapter 185
Chapter 185
Just as Xiao Huai prepared to put the photograph away, hurried footsteps sounded outside the door.
He rose warily and swiftly restored everything he had touched. In case the rouge failed, he also hid behind the curtains.
A key turned in the lock, and Huo Dieyi pushed open the door.
“Aaaaah!”
The instant she stepped inside, she clutched her head and screamed.
Huo Dieyi hurled her mask onto the sofa. Her eyes were pure white.
She raked at her hair until it was a wild mess, all her former elegance gone.
Had she not still been wearing green, Xiao Huai might have suspected that someone had replaced her.
Huo Dieyi clenched one fist and gnawed the nail of her thumb. Even when blood began to flow, she did not stop.
The only sound in the silent room was that of Huo Dieyi chewing her nail.
Only when blood ran over her lips and into her mouth did she stop.
“Yang Nanqing, why can’t I cross the fog? Why?” Huo Dieyi began pounding the desk, looking utterly deranged.
Every time she saw players arriving from the Yang Residence, envy consumed her.
Why could they come and go as they pleased, traveling freely between the two places?
“My brother is dead… He’s already dead! Why can’t this curse end? No one can escape this place. Round and round we go, repeating the same cycle, living in endless torment. Nanqing, what could you ever use to repay us in this lifetime?”
Huo Dieyi stopped pounding the desk. Her head drooped as she rose and extended both hands, grasping twice at empty air.
Without her mask, she could see nothing clearly. That fact only sharpened the reminder of her pain.
She moved very slowly to the bookcase and carefully, vigilantly began searching its shelves.
When her hand touched a thick notebook, the faintest smile curved her lips.
She pulled it from the shelf, hugged it to her chest, and sank weakly to the floor beside the bookcase.
Her hands stroked the notebook’s cover again and again. She opened it, tracing the writing on every page.
Xiao Huai stood not far from the bookcase. He could see that it was Huo Dieyi’s diary.
Though he could not make out the precise entries, every one of them appeared to be a confession of love to Yang Nanqing.
Her overflowing devotion seemed ready to spill from the pages.
A tear slipped from her right eye. “If only I’d protected you both when they objected to your relationship.”
Would that have changed the ending?
Would she still have had a chance to see Yang Nanqing again?
Even though she knew Yang Nanqing could never belong to her, she would have been content simply to watch her from afar, just as she had before.
Just as before, when she had shone so brilliantly onstage.
Huo Dieyi had only ever wanted to follow her.
She closed the notebook, wiped the tears from her eyes, and reached to return it to the shelf.
Then she heard a voice.
“You want to cross the fog?”
“Who’s there?” Huo Dieyi spun her attention warily around the room.
Xiao Huai had wiped the rouge from his face. He walked over and courteously handed her the mask she had thrown onto the sofa.
Frowning, Huo Dieyi put it on.
She could vaguely discern Xiao Huai’s silhouette.
Why had she not noticed him before?
Xiao Huai could not be bothered to explain. “Would you like to make a deal?” he asked with a light smile.
Huo Dieyi snorted. “A deal? What could you and I possibly share that would give us grounds for one?”
“The fog. Isn’t that something we share? You want to cross it. Why?” He moved closer. “Because there’s someone you want to see, and that person is forever imprisoned within her own curse. You can’t reach her, can you?”
Huo Dieyi was silent for a moment. Xiao Huai’s tone was mild, but every sentence pierced her heart.
After a long while, she finally asked softly, “What kind of deal do you want?”
Xiao Huai rubbed his chin. “My request may be rather troublesome.”
“What do you mean?”
“Can you teach me how to perform Peking opera?”
“What?” Huo Dieyi froze.
What kind of absurd request was that?
She had met many players from the Yang Residence, and every one of them had tried to pry information out of her.
But never had she encountered anyone as bizarre as Xiao Huai.
“What’s wrong? Is that so difficult to understand? I want to perform. No, more precisely, I want to become an opera performer capable of going onstage within one week.”
The brow beneath Huo Dieyi’s mask twitched. “That’s your request?”
Xiao Huai nodded. “Mm. Troublesome, isn’t it? Teaching a complete beginner is exhausting.”
Since Huo Dieyi loved watching the Young Lady of the Yang Residence perform, she naturally knew something about Peking opera. Moreover, she was the proprietor of the Jinlemen Club.
She was certainly qualified to teach Xiao Huai.
“That’s all? Nothing else? You don’t want to ask me anything about the Yang Residence?”
Huo Dieyi questioned him suspiciously.
Xiao Huai gave a lazy yawn, his voice equally indolent.
“If other people tell me everything, there’s no fun in it. Besides, after a story passes through enough mouths, it ends up bearing no resemblance to what truly happened.”
That was why he would never devote all his energy to interviewing others.
Everyone understood events in their own way.
Would they embellish the truth? Would they omit something because of their emotions?
The world tended either to beautify something beyond recognition or vilify it beyond reason.
Xiao Huai crouched in front of her, propping his chin on one hand. “Besides, there are things you don’t know the truth about either, aren’t there?”
Huo Dieyi froze.
Even through her mask, Xiao Huai seemed to see into her heart.
His reason for saying so was simple.
Huo Dieyi had said, “If only I’d protected you both when they objected to your relationship.”
*If only.* The classic refrain of regret.
Why did people regret? Because at the time, something had escaped their sight or understanding.
Then, whenever they recalled it, only endless remorse remained.
A Soul Contract appeared in Xiao Huai’s hand.
Its terms were simple: Xiao Huai would take Huo Dieyi through the fog, and Huo Dieyi would become his Peking opera teacher.
The system even thoughtfully enabled a text-to-speech function for her.
Huo Dieyi froze slightly when she touched the Soul Contract. Why use such a powerful item for a promise this casual?
Xiao Huai noticed her surprise.
“Don’t worry. I keep my promises. No matter how great or small, once I’ve given my word, I’ll stake everything on fulfilling it.”
When he spoke, all laziness vanished from his voice, leaving it clear and pure.
For an instant, she seemed to see the first light of sunrise, warm enough to make one yearn for it.
Her fingers trembled, and her expression softened.
She took the pen hovering in the air and carefully wrote her name, stroke by stroke.
“I understand. From now on, you will attend your lessons punctually each day.”
“Yes, Teacher.” He extended a hand toward Huo Dieyi.
Smiling, he said, “Allow me to introduce myself properly. My name is Xiao Huai. I’m not a particularly clever student, so I hope my teacher won’t find me too disappointing.”