Dimensional Store: Welcome to the Apocalypse Apartment - Chapter 128

Chapter 128

Gu Huaiwei’s gaze fell upon him as she pricked up her ears to listen.

He Xueyi paused, drawing out the suspense for a moment. “I have my own selfish motives. In becoming Shop Manager Miss’s loyal follower, I hope that after you meet the Shareholders in Paradise, you will first come to my home as a guest.”

“Is that so? I might not necessarily stay in Paradise,” Gu Huaiwei replied. Once she found her sister, she would leave Paradise immediately.

“Who knows? Shop Manager Miss is a human, and the human heart is so fickle.” Although He Xueyi’s eyes were smiling, the warmth was only skin-deep. “Last night, I heard you talking in your sleep during a nightmare. I hope this bedtime fairytale can grant you a night of sweet dreams.”

Gu Huaiwei wasn’t exactly the studious type.

“Thank you for the kind gesture, but a little milk before bed is enough to help me sleep,” Gu Huaiwei declined, attempting to hand the book back to He Xueyi.

“Don’t give it back to me,” He Xueyi said, making no move to take it.

Standing in the backyard, Gu Huaiwei looked down at the pile of items in her arms with a touch of helplessness.

How annoying, I’m about to run out of hands.

As the evening breeze ruffled her long hair, she shifted the stack of clothes upward and lowered her head, using her chin to pin the book in place so it wouldn’t fall.

The book’s cover was fuzzy and felt high-quality. Embossed in gold ink on the front were the words “The Red Shoes.” It was a book of fairytales.

She carried the pile back to the main hall, dumped the clothes onto the folding bed, and then picked up the book to flip through it briefly.

The story told of a king who had many princesses. Every night, the princesses would secretly slip away to Hell to dance with demons.

The king noticed that their dancing shoes became tattered and worn every morning, so he issued a reward for an investigation into the princesses’ secret.

A retired soldier took up the challenge. He followed the princesses to Hell, unmasked the demons, severed the passage to Hell, and eventually married a princess.

“Another boring ‘hero saves the beauty’ story.” Gu Huaiwei found it uninteresting and tossed the fairytale book aside.

In Gu Huaiwei’s view, those princesses should be allowed to do whatever they wanted.

What if a princess just liked dancing with demons?

If one is willing to pay the price for doing what they love, what does it matter if they die?

Some people pursued self-destruction and tragedy; they didn’t need kings or soldiers meddling in their business.

Gu Huaiwei sat by the bed folding clothes. The clock in the hall ticked away, and in a daze, she seemed to hear the tolling of a midnight bell.

In the mist, twelve faceless princes-transformed demons-stood in the center of a ballroom.

She found herself turned into one of the princesses, wearing red shoes, holding an invitation in one hand and the sword that could sever the passage in the other.

Just as she swung the sword, intending to cut the path and return to the Real World, she heard her sister’s crying coming from deep within the darkness…

“Whew-”

Outside, the sky was already bright with daylight.

Gu Huaiwei jolted awake from the nightmare, sitting bolt upright in bed. Cold sweat beaded on her forehead. Beside her lay the clothes she hadn’t finished folding the night before.

She had somehow fallen asleep.

And she had even dreamed about that damn fairytale.

Gu Huaiwei took a deep breath, then got up and locked the book in a drawer.

Lin She brought the site design sketches for the upcoming Matchmaking Event to Gu Huaiwei. She picked the most festive layout from the options and then took out the audio equipment she had pre-prepared in her Jade Bracelet, instructing them on how to set it up.

A day later, Gu Huaiwei bought a fruit basket and, accompanied by Bai Miemie, headed to the manor where Chen Liuxiang lived to visit the ailing He Jiarui.

The butler opened the golden iron gates, revealing a scene of absolute luxury.

Gu Huaiwei followed the butler forward, while Bai Miemie gripped Gu Huaiwei’s pinky finger, looking around curiously at everything.
She looked around the luxurious European-style manor with curious eyes, her gaze filled with little stars.

“Wow, it’s so beautiful! It’s much nicer than my home. I’ve really had enough of that pastoral style-people packed into wooden houses like sardines in a tin. I really wish Papa would work harder so he could build us a grand European manor like this.”

“There are many people in your family?”

Bai Miemie raised her rosy little face and said with innocent charm, “Yes! I come from a big family with tons of brothers and sisters. Once Sister Gu opens the gates to Paradise, you can come visit my home. The banana milk pies I make are delicious; I’m sure you’ll love them.”

“We’ll see.”

“Aww,” Bai Miemie pouted. “Sister Gu is so sly, not giving me an answer right away. This is going to keep me up at night, thinking every day about how to make you choose me.”

Gu Huaiwei remained noncommittal. Her gaze swept past the performatively innocent Bai Miemie as she turned to follow the butler toward the end of the hallway.

The butler pushed open the door to He Jiarui’s room but did not step inside.

The bedroom was exceptionally lavish. Having not seen her for a few days, Gu Huaiwei found He Jiarui pale and gaunt. Her long black hair was splayed across red bedsheets, and the lace bed curtains hung down, shrouding her frail body in shadow.

A Pseudo-Human maid and a family doctor were attending to her. An IV was inserted into her wrist, and a cluster of medical equipment nearby monitored her vital signs.

Gu Huaiwei was suddenly reminded of Xiao Youqi.

The branches that had grown out of his rotting stomach had drained his last breath to bear the green fruit that symbolized life.

That scene remained vivid in her mind.

It seemed that the first customers to enter her shop didn’t live long lives.

Gu Huaiwei wondered to herself: *Is this some kind of curse?*

There were many surveillance cameras in this room.

Chen Liuxiang had instructed the maid to give them space for a private conversation.

This was a private domain, and given Gu Huaiwei’s previous experience of being blindsided, she didn’t make Bai Miemie leave the room. Instead, she had her sit on a small stool nearby.

Bai Miemie was naturally restless, but she suppressed her urge to rummage through things and sat obediently on the stool with her hands on her knees, her eyes darting around the room.

Gu Huaiwei sat on the edge of the bed, the soft mattress sinking beneath her.

“Ah, you’re here.” He Jiarui opened her eyes with some difficulty, clearly lacking strength.

She struggled to sit up.

“Take it slow.” Gu Huaiwei supported her arm and propped a pillow behind her waist. “You were fine at the coming-of-age ceremony. It hasn’t been that long-how did you end up like this?”

He Jiarui leaned back against the pillow. Even that small movement left her breathing ragged, and it took several seconds for her to recover.

A bitter smile touched the corners of her lips. “I didn’t expect it to be like this, either. Lately, I keep dreaming about my previous Keeper.”

He Jiarui closed her eyes wearily. She grasped Gu Huaiwei’s hand, craving the warmth of a fellow human.

It is only when one is unhappy that they retreat into memories of the past over and over again.

She spoke feebly, “I don’t know if I made the wrong choice… My Keeper wanted me to stay, but I just… abandoned him…”

The luxurious manor had become a golden birdcage.

He Jiarui had been bottled up for too long. She had so much she wanted to say to Gu Huaiwei, a fellow human. She wasn’t actually looking for a solution; she just wanted a bit of comfort from one of her own kind.

“You just wanted to choose a better path. There is no right or wrong in that.” Gu Huaiwei fell silent for a moment before asking, “Is Chen Liuxiang not treating you well?”