Lando’s fingers nimbly teased Su Mu’s weary nerves, releasing a tingling sensation that mingled between numbness and itchiness, holding Su Mu firmly in place with just one hand.
There was no denying it—Lando’s fingers were truly something to savor.
They were slender and soft, striking the skin like lightning when touching, then lifting off as lightly as a feather.
“Such skill, but where exactly are you planning to touch?” Su Mu turned her head warily.
Seeing this, Lando had no choice but to reluctantly move her fingers away from the side of Su Mu’s chest, which was being pressed enticingly.
“Who told you to squeeze it into such a tempting shape?”
In dreams, real sensations didn’t exist, and this fact annoyed her quite a bit.
‘When will I be able to break the boundary? I want to feel the closeness with my real body—’
At such a close distance, she only needed to lean down slightly for the tip of her nose to catch the faint fragrance of Lando’s hair.
Her fingertips glided down the smooth curve of Lando’s delicate neck like caressing a piece of warm jade, and with just a gentle touch, she could feel Lando’s body respond like an electric current.
Hoo, just thinking about it made her feel blissful enough to lose herself.
“Hey, this absolutely isn’t just to relieve stress, right? Enough already, you little rascal…” Su Mu sat up straight and tugged at Lando’s silly, smiling cheek.
It was soft and thin.
But it had felt much thicker just now.
“Well, then it’ll have to wait until next time. Let’s get to the main point. Staying here too long will only increase your level of sinking, right? Let’s hurry up.”
‘So you knew all along? Just now, your desire to pinch briefly overpowered your other thoughts?’
Thinking this, Lando moved over to the punching bag, removed a simple sketch, and handed it to Su Mu.
“Is this sketch the only medium to trigger the memory points?”
Su Mu looked at the sketch of Luo Linglan in Lando’s hand with suspicion.
It was tightly wrapped in tape, making the image somewhat blurred.
“There were other mediums originally, but after that night, they were all combined onto this one.”
Every crack and tear on the paper corresponded to a deeply engraved memory.
The moment the tape was gently peeled off, a bone-gnawing dark magic power surged forth, causing Su Mu’s fingertips to tingle.
This was a unique trait of the Desire Corrosion—a dark magic power symbolizing desire—that drove one to lose reason and crave satisfaction.
The most obvious manifestation had been Ning Xi No.6, who had attacked Su Mu.
—Tentacles creeping behind, eyes sparkling with hearts, and in extreme cases, stripping clothes off on the street—these were all signs of severe immersion in this dark magic.
At the thought of the damage she had suffered, Su Mu instinctively withdrew her fingers.
But then, thinking about how this dark magic slumbered within Luo Jialan’s body, she couldn’t help but worry.
‘Such terrifying desire… can she really endure it? And if she can’t, then how am I supposed to withstand her torment?’
‘Obviously, the first option is not feasible; otherwise, who knows if I’ll end up following the same path as that Shunlong Loli.’
The fragment in her hand felt weightless, the paper had long since softened as if it would crumble into dust with the slightest touch.
Could such a thing really serve as a memory medium?
Before she could ponder further, the moment her fingertips touched the paper, a dizzying pull dragged her consciousness into the past tied to this fragment.
“Ugh.”
Su Mu steadied her head, clearing her blurred vision little by little.
Perhaps because she was intruding on someone else’s dream, Su Mu felt as if her brain was being thoroughly shaken.
When she opened her eyes again, the graveyard scene brightened as if everything had reverted to youth.
Lando, too, had returned to her younger self.
“Who?”
Hearing that clear, icy voice, Su Mu instinctively lowered her head and saw the bright-eyed blue-haired girl.
Rather than a young woman, she was more like a little girl—at least two heads shorter than the present Su Mu—but in her gaze, there was none of the innocence or carefree nature one would expect from a girl that age.
Instead, it was filled with maturity and vigilance, questioning Su Mu—the outsider who had suddenly appeared in the martial arts hall.
“Me? I’m Su Mu.”
Su Mu pointed to herself, feeling out of place.
Quickly, she realized the problem.
How could Lando at this age possibly know her?
Trouble.
To her surprise, Lando didn’t drive her away.
Instead, she silently grabbed Su Mu’s shirt hem and pulled her into the bedroom, cautiously closing the door behind them.
“I haven’t even told Mother… or my master yet. If she finds out you came in like this, it’ll be trouble. Anyway, where’s the test paper?”
“What test paper?”
Su Mu frowned slightly, but before she could think further, a red-crossed test paper suddenly appeared in her hand and was snatched away by Lando.
‘I don’t seem to have entered this dream as myself. Who is this? A friend delivering test papers? Or just a somewhat unfamiliar classmate?’
Yet her attention was mostly fixed on that disastrously bad test score.
Junior high math, failed.
A truly stupid little girl.
“This score can’t let your mom see, right?”
At the instant Lando saw the results, her eyelids twitched.
Still couldn’t do it, huh?
Though she’d sensed it during the test, the moment she got the score in hand, Lando was still somewhat flustered.
Her master had said that if she wanted to prove she was trying, at least she should pass.
With such terrible results, it was obvious she’d be harshly scolded.
“Forget it, just hurry back. I’ll figure something out myself.”
Lando reached out to pull Su Mu along.
Perhaps a subconscious impulse caused those little hands to act a bit restless, but fortunately, Su Mu stopped her.
“Would it be really bad if your master found out?”
Su Mu asked knowingly.
It was her first time visiting Lando’s dream and she’d been quite frightened when Luo Linglan discovered her, but curiosity lingered.
“Why so many questions… yeah, that’s right. Anyway, thanks for helping me deliver the paper. Next time, I’ll help you carry your backpack home.”
Lando scratched her head irritably, pushing Su Mu out with a force that even Su Mu couldn’t resist.
Though young, her strength was already formidable.
Su Mu still had a head full of questions and didn’t want to be sent away so carelessly, but she had no choice but to try stirring a response from Lando using a more sensitive topic.
“You just said ‘master’? What about your parents?”
At the mention, Lando’s breath caught, and her irritation deepened.
“Why do you always care about this stuff? We’re not that close…”
Helpless, Su Mu steeled herself and decided to use more aggressive means to awaken the Lando sinking into the memories.
‘Remember, Lando, it’s all your fault. Now you owe me one pinch, and you’d better pay it back!’
Premium Chapter
Login to buy access to this Chapter.