The Ger's Contract Marriage [BL]
Chapter 533: Anxiety or Nightmare?

Chapter 533: Anxiety or Nightmare?

"Go back the way you came."

’I switched places with Xu Zeng. I can’t switch with him again.’ For some reason, Xu Feng found himself humoring this clearly slow inner demon.

Even if he was only thinking it, the voice could clearly hear his disdain.

"Yes," the voice replied, quiet, almost exasperated.

’You’re not giving me any clues. I don’t want to switch with my brother. I want us both to stay in Dongzhou. If we go anywhere else, we go together. I wouldn’t sacrifice him to this plane for my own selfish needs.’

Xu Feng was on his high horse now, and it felt good. He wasn’t going anywhere—he was going to stay here.

"Leave this plane."

...

The voice in Xu Feng’s mind was like a broken record. It kept repeating the same thing, over and over, as though the answer to all his problems could be found by simply "leaving this plane."

It almost made Xu Feng laugh—how easy did this voice think life was? That he could just say "open sesame," and step back into the world where Dongzhou was set? Life wasn’t that easy, and it never would be.

"Leave this plane."

The words echoed again, and Xu Feng’s frustration reached a boiling point.

’I would if I could!’ he thought, almost shouting back at the voice. Ranting at this disembodied presence was strangely satisfying, the anger burning away the helplessness that had been creeping in.

Yes, the anger was much better than despair.

It wasn’t as good as thinking about all the new items he had gathered during his shopping

spree, and it definitely didn’t compare to the warmth he felt when he thought about his family and loved ones, but it was much better than the cold emptiness of despair.

’I could hop into my space, and that would be a nice break from the stench of Dongmen, but then what?’ Xu Feng continued, his rant gaining momentum. ’I’d live there alone with all the things I’ve piled up? Just me and a mountain of stolen baby goods?’

It was meant to be a rhetorical question, but if his inner demon had a practical solution, Xu Feng was all ears. He’d take any logical advice at this point.

’I get it, I’m a hoarder in the making, and I know I’m avoiding cleaning up my space. But isn’t that just running away from my problems? How could I do that?’

Xu Feng could almost feel the voice’s response—a condescending, silent mockery like it was watching him fumble with something simple. It irritated Xu Feng even more, this feeling of being looked down upon as if he was an idiot.

The voice wasn’t even trying to hide its disdain.

Did it really want him to just hole up in his space forever? To organize everything meticulously and become a master of his own domain but at the cost of his freedom?

It felt like organizing jam jars all over again. That had been a way to pass the time during his pregnancy, but it wasn’t what he wanted now. He didn’t want to be stuck in that isolated place, disconnected from everyone and everything.

What would he do? Live like a hermit, emerging only to interact with Yujie and her buns?

...That idea started to grow on him, almost against his will. It was the best way to avoid zombies and their stench, after all.

Xu Feng frowned, his anger dissipating as the thought started to seem more reasonable. Maybe... maybe it wouldn’t be so bad?

He could nap, read, and avoid the smell of rotting flesh. He could live in comfort, free from the fear of zombies breaking down his door.

But then—he thought of the children. His babies. And everyone else who thought he was dead.

A pang of guilt settled deep in his chest. Even Dong Yang might think he was dead. He couldn’t be certain of what had happened after childbirth, but he knew that Dong Yang had done something.

He’d found himself in that space—his old man’s space... well his and Xuan Jian’s old man’s space—the place that belonged to Dong Yang.

How could he just live like a hermit and never meet with Dong Yang to put the specter’s mind at ease? It would be heartless. Xu Feng knew that Dong Yang and his space deserved better than that.

He wasn’t even sure when he’d be able to meet with Dong Yang again. When Xu Feng was in his space the last time, he wasn’t able to get near the cave where he’d first cultivated in this life.

Maybe he wasn’t strong enough to enter whatever barrier Dong Yang had erected. He wasn’t sure.

But then again, when he WAS in Dong Yang’s space when he woke up. It could’ve been a dream, but Xu Feng was certain it wasn’t. The way the plants in that space reacted to him, the connection he felt—there was no way it was just a figment of his imagination.

If there was one thing Xu Feng was certain about, it was his connection to plants. It was stronger than most other things. Plants seemed to ground him.

"Go to his space..."

The voice had changed its tone slightly, and the words felt like a lightbulb flickering on in Xu Feng’s mind.

The thought was fleeting, but it was enough to ignite a new possibility. Could he get into Dong Yang’s space from his own?

Wasn’t Dong Yang’s space carved into the back mountains of Nanshan? Xu Feng remembered giving birth in Nanshan Estate—how did he end up in Dong Yang’s space afterward?

If he could enter Dong Yang’s space from his own, would he be able to get out in Nanshan?

The voice seemed overjoyed, almost giddy, but also exasperated, as if Xu Feng were the biggest idiot in the world for only just figuring it out.

...

He had a ring. No, he had two rings.

...

At that thought, two rings materialized in his hands, their weight solid and comforting in his palms. One silver, the other gold.

Suddenly, the darkness around him seemed less oppressive, and Xu Feng could see his own hands clearly. Dong Yang had given him a ring, just like the one he had inherited from Xu Zeng’s father.

These weren’t like the space bracelet that Mingjun had. The rings had disappeared when he’d woken up, becoming a part of him somehow. They were bound to him, familiar, as if they had accepted him once he became accustomed to their energy.

When had this changed? He wasn’t sure. But there was a clear connection between him and the rings now, a connection he hadn’t felt when he was in Dongzhou. It was as though both rings had acknowledged him, as though they were more than just ornamental.

Was it because he had awakened his dragon? Perhaps. He couldn’t be sure if something more had happened.

Unless, of course, that weird voice was willing to offer some more information.

...

......

......

’Stupid voice.’ Xu Feng was willing to give it a chance, and it wasn’t even trying to reconcile with him!

Xu Feng wanted to wake up now. He wanted to test this out. But a sudden fear gripped him.

’What if it doesn’t work?’ But also, ’what if it does?’

Had he never been trapped to begin with?

The voice was right to judge him. The possibility that he could have gone home at any time...

Like a tidal wave, emotions washed over Xu Feng once more, the weight of uncertainty dragging him under. He could feel the cold water closing in around him—no air, just the desperate need to breathe, and the knowledge that he might never be able to. He was drowning in doubt, with no lifeline in sight.

There was no hero to pull him out of this dark place he needed to pull himself out of this.

"Just go home."

...

Maybe it was that easy. Maybe he could just go home.

.

.

.

Xu Feng startled awake, his eyes snapping open as if someone had splashed a bucket of cold water on his face. His heart pounded, each beat a reminder that he was alive, that he was back—back in this world, back in Dongmen.

His breath came in shallow gasps, his throat dry, and parched, like he had gone without water for a millennium. It felt as if he had just traveled the vast emptiness of time and space—an endless journey that left him utterly drained. His body felt heavy, weighed down by the intensity of the dream he had just lived.

A dream. Was it just a dream?

Xu Feng remembered every part of it, every detail, every emotion. It was too vivid, too real to be just an illusion of his mind.

He remembered the coldness of the room, the look in Xuan Yang’s eyes, and the voices that whispered from somewhere unseen in the darkness. He even remembered the feeling of hope—hope that maybe, just maybe, there was a way home, a way back to Nanshan Estate.

His eyes slowly adjusted to the dimness inside the van, and he stared at the ceiling above him.