Chapter 110

Chapter 110

Lu Huainan gently comforted Shen Muyun, holding him tightly in his arms for a long time without letting go. "Brother Yun, don't be afraid. I'm right here by your side, always have been. Don't be afraid."

Shen Muyun's mood improved slightly. Nestled in Lu Huainan's embrace, he recalled the recent events and couldn't help but shiver.

"Huainan, he'll come for me again, won't he? He'll treat me like that again, won't he?"

Lu Huainan cupped his face, his eyes reflecting in Shen Muyun's. "No, how could he? Everything is almost settled now, and Shen Liuyun has fled. He's gone, no longer here. So, don't be afraid. I'm the one with you, and it will always be me."

Shen Muyun nodded, a chill rising up his spine. "Will he... return?"

Lu Huainan paused slightly, then smiled. "How could that be, Brother Yun? You're overthinking it. The police are already pursuing him. You need to rest well; the Shen family matters still require your attention."

"I'm a bit tired. I want to sleep."

Lu Huainan turned off the small bedside lamp, holding Shen Muyun. "Don't be afraid. I'm here with you. I'll hold you all night, always by your side."

Shen Muyun gradually drifted into darkness, drowsy and disoriented, as if someone was whispering in his ear, or perhaps talking, and then began singing after a while.

It was the familiar camphor tree again, the familiar feeling. Why was he always dreaming...

Shen Muyun walked over to look; today, there was no little boy, and the weather wasn't very good. It looked like rain was coming. He wanted to find shelter, but the orphanage ahead filled him with dread, always feeling that something he didn't know about, something he couldn't even accept, had happened inside.

"Boom..."

A clap of thunder struck from the sky, forcing Shen Muyun to quickly run into the orphanage.

He looked at the surroundings; everything was familiar, but why was there no one? The rooms weren't lit either; only when lightning flashed could he briefly see the situation around him.

"Is anyone here?"

Shen Muyun called out, but only silence answered, no sound at all.

He walked further inside; the layout was still familiar, exactly the same as when he had visited before, but where were the people? How could there not be a single soul?

"Bang!"

A loud slam came from the door behind him. Shen Muyun hurriedly ran a few steps, but it was too late—the door was completely locked.

He began to feel afraid, but then thought again: this is a dream; no matter what happens in a dream, it doesn't affect reality, it won't.

Just then, a beam of light shone straight down from the center.

"Muyun, I never thought we'd meet here again."

The man stood with his back to Shen Muyun, his voice familiar.

"Muyun, tell me, if we hadn't separated in the orphanage, if twenty years ago we had lived here together, would we be completely different now?"

The man turned around.

Shen Muyun was startled. "Brother, why are you in my dream?"

Shen Liuyun smiled. "This is my dream too, isn't that right?"

Shen Muyun felt something was off, but didn't dwell on it.

"Muyun, that incident back then, I never thought you'd truly forgotten everything. The orphanage fire—it happened right in this room."

Shen Liuyun waved his hand, and instantly the surroundings changed.

Shen Muyun felt the heat around him intensify, felt inexplicably awful, and a sensation like drowning, uncomfortable, still uncomfortable.

Shen Liuyun stood beside him. "Look, we were all running, but why did Lu Huainan only hold your hand? I wanted to pull you toward the exit, but you chose him."

Shen Muyun stood frozen, watching what had happened in the past, his heart pounding.

"When did this happen?"

"It was after we were adopted. You forgot everything. Actually, I suspected many times—whether you had become a different person—until I discovered Lu Huainan's secret. All of this is because of him; he's the root cause of your change. I should have kidnapped him; that was the biggest mistake I made."

"Brother Liuyun, it's not too late now to turn back from this path. As long as you're willing, we can still go back to how things were before."

"Shen Muyun, are you too naive? The burdens I carry aren't just what you see. I also have overseas companies, and there's a lot going on over there. Weren't you originally coming for my company? Well now, I can leave it all to you."

Shen Muyun felt that the Shen Liuyun before him wasn't himself.

"Muyun, on every journey, there will always be someone to accompany you. It's just that, on this path now, your brother won't be accompanying you anymore. I once thought I could continue walking with you, but I never imagined it was all an illusion. It's actually quite regrettable."

"Brother, what do you mean? Why are you appearing in my dream? What are you doing? You can still continue."

Shen Liuyun shook his head. "It's just that when you left with Lu Huainan, I realized—all of this was self-directed and self-acted by me. Packaging myself, making myself a model, helping you—none of it was sincere. Before, I just thought that one day we would be together, but I never thought Lu Huainan would still appear, and I couldn't bear to truly do anything to you..."

Shen Muyun jolted in shock, not knowing what to say. The fire around him grew increasingly intense, choking him and making him feel suffocated.

"Brother Yun, Brother Yun, what's wrong? Are you having a nightmare? Wake up!"

Shen Muyun heard Lu Huainan's anxious voice. Was this a dream, or real?

Shen Muyun struggled to wake up, but his eyelids were heavy, completely unable to open, only able to hear Lu Huainan's voice.

Lu Huainan gently stroked his cheek. "Brother Yun, what's wrong? Is it a nightmare? As long as I'm here, those nightmares will turn into sweet dreams."

He glanced at the time; it was still early. He gently kissed Shen Muyun's forehead. "Sleep, don't dream anymore."

By the time Shen Muyun fully woke up, the sky was already bright.

The snow outside had grown heavier, the tree trunks covered in accumulated snow, a vast white expanse.

He reached out and touched the bedsheet beside him; it was cool. Lu Huainan must have gotten up a while ago.

After washing up, Shen Muyun was about to go downstairs to look around. Just as he reached the door, he saw Lu Huainan coming over with a bowl of porridge.

"Brother Yun, why are you up so early? I was going to cook first and wait to eat with you later."

"That, last night... did I make any noise?"

Lu Huainan froze for a moment but quickly regained his composure. "No, Brother Yun slept very well last night. Let's go back to the room."

Shen Muyun lay back in bed; his body still felt somewhat out of sorts, a bit uncomfortable. He opened his phone; the top pinned message was related to the Shen family.

The chairman of the Shen family has passed away; Shen Liuyun has taken over the company but hasn't made any public appearances yet.

"Huainan, where did my brother go? Do you know?"

Lu Huainan blew on the spoonful of porridge. "Brother Yun, I really don't know. Everyone is looking for him now."

"Actually, I've been thinking, some things need to be discussed clearly with him, but perhaps there's no opportunity for that now."

"I won't allow anyone who might harm you to stay by your side."

Shen Muyun nodded. "I know, though, he probably didn’t mean to hurt me. In his mind, I was supposed to be his canary in a gilded cage."

Lu Huainan smiled. "Whether that’s true or not, what difference does it make now, Brother Yun? We’re together now. But last night in your dreams, you kept calling his name. You said you didn’t have any dreams—what was that all about?"

Shen Muyun took a sip of the porridge. "It’s nothing. I’ve just been having a lot of dreams lately, all these bizarre dreams—like the orphanage, and you when you were little."

"Me when I was little? You remember that?"

"How to explain... I don't remember it, but in the dream, you were just a kid, always leaning against a camphor tree, and you loved to draw."

Lu Huainan frowned. "Brother Yun, you really dreamed about that?"

Shen Muyun nodded. "Why would I make that up? Could it be that the young you really came into my dream? I just see dreams like a beautiful parallel reality—a place where we can have everything, even if it doesn’t make sense."

Lu Huainan chuckled. "Brother Yun, that's not such a bad thing. In dreams, we really do have everything we love. You and I are free, we can do whatever we want, because it’s just a dream. And when we wake up, we can start another dream, experience a different life. Don’t you think so?"

Shen Muyun nodded in agreement.

"Huainan, have the Shen family matters been handed over completely?"

"Mostly. Everything is under Shen Liuyun’s name now. It seems he’s the biggest beneficiary. And in the eyes of outsiders, he’s the perfect older brother—after all, he gave you 34% of the shares. So overall, you have veto power too."

"What’s the use of that? It’s just another one of his lies. He just wanted to tie me to his side. Too bad his plan failed."

"Brother Yun, don't put it that way. Everything will work out. Right now, the most important thing is your health. You’ve been eating so much, but why aren’t you getting better?"

Shen Muyun knew it was because of the system. The system had determined that he would disappear within three months, and there were many ways to disappear—deteriorating health was one of them.

"Huainan, there’s something I want to tell you."

"Go ahead, Brother Yun. What is it?"

"If one day I suddenly disappear, would you be terribly upset? Heartbroken?"

Lu Huainan smiled gently. "Why be sad about that? I’ll always find you again, Brother Yun. We’ve known each other for more than just this lifetime. I know we’re destined for three lifetimes together—you can’t deny that. An old fortune teller in Baitou Village told me, and he’s never wrong."