Survival Guide After Accidentally Kissing a Demon - Chapter 289

Chapter 289

At the same time, a sharp cry rang out from that direction.

Beili recognized the voice at once and drifted toward the figure.

As she drew near, the figure hid among a stretch of conglomerate rock.

Seeming on the verge of collapse, she shouted in frantic rage while picking up loose stones from around the rock, trying to wall herself in.

Beili floated down lightly and saw Renee, covered in bite marks and wounds.

“Renee.”

She stopped beside Renee and called out.

At the sound of her voice, Renee froze. Then she jerked her head up from the pile of stones.

Terror still lingered on her face as she cried out in surprise, “Bartholomew?!”

“It’s me,” Beili replied flatly.

“Where are you?”

As Renee spoke, she quickly reined in her expression. The hostility in her tone was impossible to hide, and there was even a hint of command in it as she shouted, “Make those locusts disappear!”

Renee knew this dream world was connected to her.

Oh, of course she knew. This girl had deliberately ransacked her room just to find clues about Ashera.

And now, she had indeed found them. She had even barged in.

Beili let out a cold laugh.

Then she asked again, “Where is your brother?”

Renee seemed not to hear her question.

She only stared at the wounds scattered across her skin. Her artificial golden eyes held no emotion, and her brows were twisted together like knotted rope.

She kept muttering complaints under her breath.

“Damn it. Damn it!”

“There are too many locusts here. No matter how I chase them away, they won’t leave…”

“Why isn’t there anyone here…”

“Oh… why am I here…”

Noticing that Renee, who had stumbled into the Dream Cage by mistake, seemed somewhat mentally unstable, Beili frowned and raised her voice to ask again, “Renee-where is your brother? Where did you and Lance get separated?”

“Brother Lance…”

When she said those two words, Renee’s complaints gradually quieted.

“Brother Lance is still down below…”

A trace of confusion appeared on Renee’s face.

“Brother Lance is still with the Second Prince, so why am I here?”

“That’s right-” She seemed to remember something. “I was driven out!”

Lance was in Hell, and Renee had been driven out.

Those words were like sharp thorns, stabbing into Beili’s nerves.

The two of them had already met Ashera.

They had even spoken to him.

That was all Beili could make out from Renee’s fragmented words.

Beili’s heart pounded with alarm, but she quickly steadied herself.

“Where is this ‘down below’ you’re talking about?” Beili asked.

“Is it that collapsed cave?”

Because the Dream Cage had already taken shape.

As long as she did not dispel the Dream Cage, even if Ashera knew this world was fake, he would not be able to escape the illusory world.

Renee nodded.

Having heard what she wanted to hear, Beili immediately said, “I will make a door appear in front of you. All you have to do is open it, and you can leave this place.”

The Dream Gate was the link for entering and leaving dreams.

Beili could use this method to let Renee leave Ashera’s dream and return to her own.

She would simply have a dream, then wake up.

There was not much panic in Beili’s voice.

“He drove me out!”

Beili’s thoughts were dragged back by Renee’s shout.

The latter seemed to have suddenly remembered something.

“It’s all because of you, Bartholomew! You deceived him!”

“Even when I told him the truth, he still didn’t believe this place was fake!”

“Bartholomew, you vicious woman!”

She cursed through gritted teeth.

…

Renee’s accusations had no impact on Beili whatsoever, but Beili was in no mood to listen.

“I said, Princess Renee-”

“Are you leaving or not?”

With obvious impatience in her voice, Beili said, “If you don’t want to leave, then I’ll go find your brother first and let you stay here by yourself for a while.”

Her tone turned faint and eerie.

“But I’ll still be kind enough to remind you: it won’t be long before the swarm of locusts flies over. So you’d better move a little faster and pick up a few more broken stones. Maybe, just maybe, they’ll actually be enough to block them. Who knows?”

Hearing her ambiguous words, Renee angrily shoved aside the half-built pile of stones in front of her and shrieked at the empty air in a manic voice, “Bartholomew! Are you threatening me?”

Beili silently sighed in her heart and decided to shut her mouth and remain silent for now.

The air suddenly fell quiet, leaving only the buzzing of locust wings not far away.

The sound drew closer and closer.

The swarm of locusts was steadily approaching.

Renee’s arrogant bluster instantly weakened.

“Bartholomew!”
Panic rose over her face again. As she looked wildly around, the bright red ends of her hair kept sweeping back and forth with the motion.

“Fine, I’ll go!”

At last, she compromised, shouting in a trembling voice, “Hurry up and make the door appear!”

Beili had no time to waste on more nonsense. In her heart, she gave the Morpho Butterflies an order.

In an instant, a bright red door trimmed in gold appeared in front of Renee.

The plaque on the door bore her name: Renee Fitzgerald.

“Hmph-Bartholomew, don’t think I’ll be grateful to you for this.”

Renee immediately strode toward the bright red door, still unable to say anything pleasant.

“Because all of this is your fault!”

“You’re the one who locked His Second Highness in here, and I’ll find a way to save him!”

Renee spoke through gritted teeth.

Beili tugged lightly at the corner of her lips and said nothing.

When no response came, Renee gave another heavy huff. Then she turned her golden artificial eye, her expression faintly unwilling, toward a certain direction.

She was looking toward the village. Beili was sure of it.

In the end, the red-haired girl opened the door and left.

…

Passing through the buzzing swarm of locusts, Beili returned to the ruined village.

Once again, she came to the edge of the collapsed pit.

The moment she drew near, the thick stench of blood surrounded her again.

She hesitated briefly at the edge.

In her heart, Beili asked the Morpho Butterflies:

None of them can see me or touch me, right?

…Including that person.

Only after receiving confirmation from the Morpho Butterflies did Beili’s suspended heart settle a little.

Then she floated down through the opening.

After drifting only two or three meters, endless darkness swallowed her in an instant.

She continued downward.

Only when the hole above had become a full moon hanging in the night sky did Beili finally land lightly at the bottom of the pit.

It was as if a layer of viscous liquid was slowly flowing across the ground.

A faint gurgling sound became clear in the dark, silent space.

…

Beili swept her gaze around. Everywhere she looked, there was only endless darkness.

If this place was Hell, then it was rather too monotonous and dreary.

The opening overhead glimmered with a weak, distant light, like the moon.

In this place, even the faintest light or sound would become terribly obvious.

If only Lance could make some noise like Renee had, Beili thought.

In her heart, she gave the Morpho Butterflies an order.

Countless Morpho Butterflies flew out, dimming their glow as they silently scattered through the darkness.

Unexpectedly, although the cave-in above had only been about the size of a mud hut, the space below was extremely vast.

Beili waited quietly in place for a long time.

In the end, only one Morpho Butterfly flew back.

Guided by that Morpho Butterfly, Beili followed the slowly flowing liquid upstream.

There was something strange there.

Oh, yes. Something strange.

That was the message the Morpho Butterfly conveyed to her.

Beili sped up and floated for a while, soon arriving before that thing.

Of course.

Without any light, all she could see was darkness.

Beili tried sensing it.

She sensed a mass of viscous liquid wrapped around something.

It seemed to be a person.

“Lance…”

Uncertain, Beili called out softly.

The viscous liquid covering it seemed startled by her voice and retreated back into the ground as though fleeing.

A human figure toppled down.

Beili instinctively reached out to catch him, but he passed straight through her and fell to the ground.

Once again, he was swallowed by the viscous liquid on the floor.

“Lance-”

Beili spoke again.

At the sound of her voice, the liquid scattered rapidly.

Beili sensed the figure curl up after falling to the ground.

That curled-up posture felt inexplicably familiar. Beili paused, and then she heard a familiar voice murmuring,

“Little sister…”

“Don’t be afraid… Your brother will take you out of here…”

Beili quickly floated to his side.

“Lance, your sister Renee has already been brought out by me.”

In the darkness,

Beili sensed the person on the ground lift his head slightly after hearing her voice. There was a trace of confusion in his tone.

“Renee… got out?”

“Yes. Renee has already left safely. You’re the only one left now.”

Beili said to him, “Can you stand up first? Don’t worry. Since I could take Renee out, I’ll take you out too.”

Lance obediently stood up, then remained there quietly without saying a word.

As if he had become a different person.

No.

Beili felt that Lance’s mind was already in a daze.

Judging from Renee and Lance’s crazed behavior, it had to be very dangerous for someone without the ability to control dreams to enter another person’s dream.

So that was why Ashera had never accompanied her into other people’s dreams. Beili only realized it belatedly.
“Lance, in a moment, I’m going to make a door appear in front of you. Open that door, and you’ll be able to leave. Renee left the same way.”

In the darkness, Beili explained it to him.

Then she cleared the tangle of thoughts from her mind, summoned the Morpho Butterflies in her heart, and tried to drag out Lance’s Dream Gate.

But it didn’t work.

No matter how hard she tried, that door simply would not appear.

Beili was a little lost.

Not just lost-panic was surging up inside her, fast.

Beili remembered what had happened in Tilisha, when Ashera had disguised himself as Mrs. Constance.

If it could happen once, it could happen a second time.

Beili hurriedly had the Morpho Butterflies try to dispel the disguise on the person in front of her, though she wasn’t even sure whether the Morpho Butterflies had that ability.

A flash of blue-green light suddenly appeared between them. At the same time, one of the Morpho Butterflies landed on the boy’s shoulder.

Beili lifted her red eyes and looked at him.

His pitch-black eyes were dazed and confused. When the light touched him in the dark, his lashes trembled slightly.

Red hair, black eyes, narrow fox-like eyes. He was still wearing Holy Island Academy’s uniform.

Seeing Lance’s vivid short red hair,

and receiving the message from the Morpho Butterflies that his appearance had not changed after the disguise-dispelling magic was released,

Beili finally relaxed.

The summoned Morpho Butterflies had lit up a small patch of light. Though it lasted only a moment, it was still obvious enough in the vast darkness.

Obvious enough for whoever was hiding somewhere to notice.

The light faded, and after darkness swallowed them again, Beili immediately said,

“Lance, walk forward first. Let’s get farther away from here.”

In the dark, footsteps sounded.

Only after they had walked a long distance did Beili tell Lance to stop. Then, in her mind, she discussed other ways of leaving with the Morpho Butterflies.

“Are you still here?”

When she fell silent, Lance couldn’t help asking.

“Mm. I’m thinking of a way.”

Beili spared a moment to answer.

As if reassured, Lance quieted down and waited.

A moment later, Beili finally reached a conclusion.

She tried to summon her own Dream Gate.

Her red eyes closed, then opened again.

The door to the girls’ dormitory at Holy Island Academy appeared before her.

All kinds of charms still hung from the door. Some were pottery shards carved with eye patterns, some were clay bells, and from the doorframe hung a small hollow lantern glowing with warm yellow light.

This was the bedroom door of Beili’s dorm room.

All the charms on the door had been hung there by Renee. Supposedly, they were a custom from Tilisha-some could drive away evil spirits, while others could bring good luck.

Of course, that was back when they had first moved into the dorm.

Once she left the dream, every last charm on the door would probably have been stripped off by Renee.

Beili raised her hand and had the Morpho Butterflies open her Dream Gate.

“Go in,” she said.

In the darkness came the sound of footsteps stepping through viscous liquid. Then they stopped again.

“What about you?”

She heard Lance ask.

“You go in first. I’ll follow. The most important thing is for you to leave this place first,” Beili explained.

“Really?”

He asked again.

“Really.” Beili had no choice but to assure him in a firm tone. “As true as true can be.”

Then her Dream Gate opened.

Through the open door, she saw her bedroom, rummaged through and left in disorder.

A slant of warm yellow sunset fell in through the window.

There was no one inside. The blanket bulged slightly, and beneath it was the lamb-shaped pillow.

Only after the red-haired, black-eyed boy obediently walked in did Beili say,

“I want to go find someone… It won’t take long. Sleep in there for a while, and when you wake up, you’ll be back in reality. Then you’ll be able to see Renee.”

“Don’t worry. There are no locusts in here, and the Fluorite Lamp can be turned on too.”

Inside the room, that person’s body paused. Before he could turn back, Beili had already ordered the Morpho Butterflies to close the door.

With a soft click, the surroundings sank into darkness once more.

Pitch-black and silent.

Beili lowered her red eyes in the dark, then released even more Morpho Butterflies to scatter in every direction.

…

In truth, the moment she saw Lance, Beili had wanted badly to ask him everything he and Renee had experienced from beginning to end after coming here.

Of course, mostly what had happened after they encountered Ashera.

But there was no harm in waiting until she had brought Lance away before asking.

She had held herself back the whole way.

And the result of holding herself back the whole way was that, before leaving the dream, she couldn’t help wanting to see Ashera once.

Just once.

Beili waited where she was for who knew how long before one of the Morpho Butterflies flew back.

Guided by the Morpho Butterflies,

Beili came to another mass of slime.

“Scatter.”

Beili spoke.

The thick liquid on the ground was slightly dispersed by her voice, but it seemed unwilling to let go. The next second, it wriggled and wrapped itself back around her.