Chapter 755: Night Raid (Part 2)

"Aaaaaaahhhhh!!!"

With a hysterical scream, Renard, who had been slumped over the desk, jolted awake—his face pale as death, drenched in large beads of sweat, his luxurious silk undergarment clinging 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 had nearly drowned.

It must be that I've been too tired lately—the workload's been too heavy, and just mentioning that woman triggered my buried fears, so I had that nightmare.

Besides, the Clearance Bureau agent said both she and I bear Word-Spells; we can't get too close to each other, nor can she use those strange things against me, so I have nothing to fear from 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, holding a towel, his face beaming with obsequiousness:

"Lord Renard, after I finished arranging matters at the estate and returned, I saw you were dozing 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 deathly pale face, Secretary Mark couldn't help asking:

"Lord Renard, are you… having a nightmare?"

"Mm…"

After a weak reply, recalling the nightmare's terrifying realism, Renard's soul still reeling, he desperately needed someone to help dispel his fear; he spoke 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, asking me where her corpse was thrown… then…"

"Then what?"

Then I peed my pants… but how could I say that?

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

Omitting his own humiliating reaction, Renard said with fear 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 after 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!"

"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 off…"

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 trembled involuntarily:

"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, then executed one after another—no! Executed again and 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 don't need to worry. What happened next? What happened after that?"

"After that…"

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

But his limbs, chilled by the nightmare, no longer cared whether the towel was hot or cold; urged 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, so I… I ran back."

"This time, it wasn't the 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 in his chair, trembling as he spoke:

"I remembered the exact spot from before, so as soon as I jumped 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, slithering damply across my face… I… I…"

"You didn't surface—you drowned in the lake, just like that child back then, right?"

"Yes…"

"I see…"

After a moment's thought, Secretary Mark ventured:

"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?

Renard froze at the question, then shook his head violently:

"No! No! I didn't do anything wrong!

They only arranged that marriage because they needed Jin Juan family's support—it was purely a business alliance. I barely 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. You were clearly terrified."

After politely apologizing, the secretary gently reminded him:

"You're drenched in sweat—why not 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—like…

The weeds that had just 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 don't mind."

Apologizing to Renard, whose face was now deathly white 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:

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

"Aaaaaaahhhhh!!!"

(End of Chapter)