Alien Species Invasion? I Kill Them Back.

Chapter 86: Chapter 84: Dream Interpretation

Sleeping in an environment like this was bound to be restless.

Feng Ling, who hadn’t dreamed in a long time, found herself dreaming of the couple who had adopted her long ago.

She had only lived with that family for three months. Her adoptive father’s face was a blur, but her adoptive mother’s was still fresh in her memory.

She remembered it was a wealthy family. The house was large and very clean. Her adoptive mother would dress her up like a doll every day, taking her shopping, to exhibitions, and to the opera—

She understood almost none of it, but when she saw her adoptive mother gaze at the stage with tears in her eyes, she would diligently sit through the entire performance.

Sometimes, when her adoptive mother was in the mood, she would also take her to activities more suited for a child, like swimming, horse riding, tennis, chess, or pottery and art classes. These lessons were usually attended only once or twice before her adoptive mother forgot all about them.

Of course, affection wasn’t all there was to life.

Whenever she spilled her milk, buttoned her shirt wrong, or failed to put her toys back where they belonged, her adoptive mother would fly into a rage, screaming hysterically and smashing everything in sight—including the young Feng Ling.

The young Feng Ling was very smart. After this happened twice, she almost never made a mistake again. She became obedient and cautious. Even if she did slip up, she learned how to smooth things over before her adoptive mother could find out.

Her adoptive mother finally had no reason to get angry with her, and Feng Ling was smug about it for several days.

But she soon discovered that the atmosphere at home grew more tense by the day. The smiles on her adoptive mother’s face became rarer and rarer. Whenever her adoptive mother looked at her, her eyes were a mixture of resentment, pain, expectation, and confusion.

Her adoptive mother started to zone out, staring into space, sitting alone on the sofa for half the day.

Feng Ling found the suffocating family atmosphere unbearable.

She finally found an opportunity. During a meal, she deliberately stained her sleeve with grease. As expected, her adoptive mother erupted. All her pent-up anger was unleashed in that moment! The entire table of food was flipped over, and her roars were loud enough to startle the neighbors—

But a smile of relief appeared on Feng Ling’s face, even as her body was cut and bleeding from the shattered porcelain.

The dream froze on the image of her scarred hands.

Then Feng Ling woke up.

...

She opened her eyes and found the fire had gone out at some point. The air in the hall was damp and cold. The burning lamp oil gave off a faint scent of pine, which seemed to have a calming, soul-soothing effect.

Huangfu Miaomiao was sleeping soundly beside her.

Not far away, Pei Xianjue and her bodyguard were lying in their respective sleeping bags.

Feng Ling glanced at the time on her phone. Four in the morning.

The sun would be up in a little while.

She stretched her arms, tidied her hair, and retied it into a high ponytail before getting up to get some fresh air outside.

As she reached the front of the hall, she saw Li Qing sitting cross-legged by the door. He was holding the little animal he’d hidden in his clothes, feeding it softened jerky bit by bit with his other hand.

"You didn’t sleep?" Feng Ling asked him curiously.

"I just woke up a little while ago," Li Qing replied.

Feng Ling walked over, sat down on the threshold of Sanqing Hall, and tilted her head to watch him feed the little animal.

"Are you raising a weasel?" she asked.

"No." Li Qing kept his head down, feeding it the jerky. "This is a Green Weasel, also known as a Yellow-throated Mink. It’s a species native to Sanqing Mountain. It’s in the same family as weasels, so they look similar."

"Does it have a name?" Feng Ling asked again.

Li Qing’s fingers paused. He glanced up at Feng Ling, then lowered his head again and replied calmly, "Yes. Its name is 01."

"01?" Feng Ling thought for a moment. "Oh... I remember now. Your forum name is Green Weasel 01."

"Mhm," Li Qing said blandly. "And your forum name is Dou Sha."

Feng Ling started to laugh.

She could hear a hint of resentment in his tone, but she wasn’t angry. On the contrary, she found it amusing.

"Daoist~" Feng Ling scooted closer to Li Qing. "Besides praying for blessings, telling fortunes, and using beads to find your way, do you have any other Skills?"

Li Qing looked up at her, a bit lost. "...What?"

"Like, dream interpretation?" Feng Ling tilted her head, studying his face. "Can you interpret dreams?"

Li Qing’s brow furrowed slightly. "What did you dream about?"

Feng Ling glanced toward the back of the hall to make sure no one was awake, then whispered to Li Qing, "I just dreamed about my old mom."

"Old?" Li Qing paused, not quite understanding the prefix.

"Yeah, the woman who adopted me," Feng Ling explained. "She had me for two or three months, then she gave me back. I went back to the orphanage after that."

Li Qing was stunned. He asked, "Do you dream about her often?"

Feng Ling shook her head. "It’s been over ten years. This is the first time."

Li Qing mulled it over for a moment. "It’s probably related to your Card. Your Card is the Nest. Subconsciously, you want the Card to grow, so you’re searching within yourself for any clue that might connect to the Nest, like your former adoptive mother. I’m guessing dreams like this will happen again, until you find your answer."

Feng Ling had a realization. "So that’s what it is..."

She had indeed been thinking about her Card for the past two days.

If she couldn’t figure out the meaning of the Nest, then even if her Pollution Value went down this time, it would inevitably rise again later.

Unless she decided to never absorb another Card again.

"What do you think the Nest is?" Li Qing suddenly asked.

Feng Ling thought about it very seriously.

In her mind, an extremely fragmented image appeared:

On one side was her gentle adoptive mother, humming a song as she placed a pretty bow-shaped hairpin in her hair, her eyes overflowing with a smile as she told her, "You’re Mommy’s good little baby."

On the other side was her ferocious adoptive mother, grabbing her injured arms, nails digging into her flesh, screaming savagely over and over, "Why won’t you listen! Why won’t you listen to Mommy?!?"

’...Mommy?’

’The Nest probably means mother, right? But what is a "mother" supposed to be like?’

For an orphan, this question was too difficult.

While Feng Ling was still pondering, Li Qing said, "Follow that train of thought. Think it through slowly. Don’t rush. You’ll find the answer eventually."

Feng Ling glanced at Li Qing with a smile. "Daoist, is every Maze Administrator as patient as you?"

Li Qing lowered his gaze, stroking the Green Weasel in his arms. "...In the future, you’ll meet other Administrators."

The eastern sky began to show the pale light of dawn, and the day gradually brightened.

The first birdsong echoed through the mountain forest. Then, the entire mountain seemed to come alive with all sorts of sounds. Even the fog seemed much thinner than the night before.

"Daoist, you should stay in the safe house for a bit." Feng Ling said with a smile. "Wait here for our good news."

A puzzled look crossed Li Qing’s face. "You don’t need me to guide you anymore?"

"We do, but it can’t be helped. I’ll just have to overcome it myself," Feng Ling said.

Li Qing couldn’t figure out what she was thinking. "Why?" he asked.

Feng Ling glanced at him with a smile and said, "Because you’re very useful to me. I’d hate for you to die."

Li Qing: "..."

His face flushed red, and for a long moment, he was unable to utter a single word.

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