Chapter 352

With a shrill, hysterical scream, Renard jolted awake from his position atop the desk, his face ashen and drenched in thick beads of sweat; his luxurious silk undergarment clung tightly to his back, soaked through as if he'd just been pulled from water.

So… it was just a dream…

After struggling free from the nightmare, seeing the bright daylight outside the window, Renard—still trembling with shock and nearly collapsed from exhaustion—slumped back against the leather chair back, gasping for air like a man who'd nearly drowned.

It must be that I've been too tired lately, the workload too heavy, and then mentioning that woman triggered my buried fears, causing me to have such a nightmare.

Besides, the Clearance Bureau agent had said before: both she and I bear Word-Spells; we cannot approach each other closely, nor can she use those strange things against me, so I needn't fear her revenge…

Yeah… that's it!

After reassuring himself, Renard's nerves steadied slightly; he turned his body and weakly called out:

"Mark…"

"Mark… where are you?"

"Right here! I'm right here!"

Hearing his call, the secretary entered carrying a towel, his face beaming with obsequiousness:

"Lord Renard, after I finished arranging matters at the estate and returned, I saw you were resting and didn't dare disturb you. This is the hot towel I had the maids prepare—please wipe your face first."

"Mm… you've thought of everything…"

Seeing the secretary's utterly normal demeanor, Renard's last lingering doubt vanished; he raised his trembling hand and took the steaming towel, wiping the sweat from his face.

But seeing Renard's pallid state, Secretary Mark couldn't help asking:

"Lord Renard, did you… have a nightmare?"

"Mm…"

After a weak reply, recalling the nightmare's terrifying realism, Renard's soul still reeled—he desperately needed someone to help him dispel his fear, and blurted out nervously:

"I dreamed… after we finished work, we were walking down the corridor, and you and I chatted for a bit, then suddenly you turned into that monster child from the Bao Hua family and asked me where her corpse had been thrown… then…"

"Then what?"

Then I wet myself… but how could I say that?

"Then I started running, and that monster child chased me from behind."

Omitting his own humiliating reaction, Renard spoke with terror in his eyes:

"The corridor outside our door stretched endlessly, and her footsteps grew closer and closer—I nearly ran myself to death before barely escaping out the far end."

"But when I left the corridor and fell down the stairs, the outside wasn't our estate—it was… it was that family's estate! And after that monster chased me out the door, beneath the giant redwood tree outside, there was an execution taking place!"

"An execution?!"

Clearly intrigued by Renard's bizarre dream, Secretary Mark's eyes flickered slightly; his face remained expressionless, but his voice trembled with shock as he pressed:

"Was it… the one six years ago against the Bao… against that family?"

"That one… but something's wrong…"

Renard hesitated:

"The place was the same, but… the person being executed was… was…"

"Who?"

"Me…"

Recalling the horrific scene he'd witnessed, Renard's lips quivered uncontrollably:

"Over nine hundred of me, blindfolded and pinned down… one after another… one after another…"

"At first, I was just watching from below, but as I watched… I… I was shoved down too, and then I was executed—again and again! No! Executed—over and over again!"

"Aaaaaaahhhhh!!!"

"Don't panic! Lord Renard, calm down!"

Seeing Renard scream involuntarily, the secretary quickly handed him another towel, soothing him:

"It was just a dream—you needn't take it seriously… What happened after?"

"After…"

Still shaken, Renard took the new towel and wiped his face, which had begun sweating again; perhaps because too much time had passed, the towel was no longer warm—even slightly damp and cold.

But his body, chilled by the nightmare, no longer cared whether the towel was hot or cold; urged on by the secretary's almost magical voice, he spoke with wide-eyed terror:

"After the execution ended, that monster child appeared on the street and smiled at me—I turned and ran back."

"This time, it wasn't Bao Hua Estate—it was our own Cuiyu Estate. That monster child chased me slowly, telling me that if I jumped in and retrieved her corpse, she'd let me go…"

"Did you jump?"

"I… I jumped…"

Recalling the bone-chilling lake water, Renard shrank into his chair, trembling as he spoke:

"I remembered the exact spot from before, so as soon as I dove in, I found it—then… when I tried to surface, the underwater weeds suddenly wrapped around me."

"Those wet, icy weeds moved like living things—twining around my ankles, gripping my hands, choking my neck, and slithering wetly across my face… I… I…"

"You didn't come up—you drowned in the lake, just like that child did back then, didn't you?"

"Yes…"

"I see…"

After a moment of silence, Secretary Mark ventured cautiously:

"Could this dream stem from the fact that the Bao Hua family treated you well, and you feel guilty about what you did back then?"

Do I… feel guilty?

Hearing this, Renard froze, then shook his head violently:

"No! No! I did nothing wrong!

They only arranged that marriage because they needed Jin Juan Family's support—it was purely an alliance of interests! I barely even saw that woman a few times! And that child wasn't… damn it, Mark! What are you even saying?!"

"I'm sorry—I only meant to help analyze why you're having these strange dreams, since you're clearly terrified."

After politely apologizing, the secretary gently reminded him:

"You're drenched in sweat—would you like to wipe your face again?"

"Mm…"

At Mark's reminder, Renard wiped his sweat with the towel—but for some reason, the more he wiped, the more sweat appeared; the towel, once slightly warm, grew increasingly damp, cold, and sticky, as if…

…the very weeds that had choked his limbs and mouth, drowning him in the lake!

"I'm sorry—I prepared hastily and didn't have enough hot towels. I hope you won't mind."

Apologizing to Renard, whose face was now deathly pale and lips trembling again, Secretary "Mark" rose and stepped aside, clearing the path to the corridor; then he pointed to the little girl standing behind Renard and smiled:

"Just use this for now—after all… you've got to start running again."

"Aaaaaaahhhhh!!!"