I'll also work hard to conquer the dungeon today.

Chapter 685, Sections 2.5-25: The House of Silk and the Dollhouse (Dream)

"We're back just like that??? It feels so unreal!" Xin Bai said, frowning as he watched the door frame gradually fade and disappear.

"Let's go, next door." Ling Tong turned and walked down the steps toward another door.

The three of them passed through the door and appeared in a corridor covered with a red carpet.

It's obvious that this is the Gengyas Mansion, but we haven't seen Joan yet.

The maid hurried back and forth carrying a towel, and you could vaguely see a dent behind her, as if something needed to be inserted.

Ling Tong subconsciously thought of something he had taken earlier, and he looked down at the golden wind-up key in his palm.

"So this maid is a doll, but she looks completely different from the one I saw at the Silk House. If I hadn't seen her back, I would have thought she was a real person," Xin Bai said in surprise.

“That’s probably the problem, why there’s a difference between the two…” Ling Tong said thoughtfully.

Suddenly, the sound of something breaking interrupted their conversation.

The three approached a half-open door and glimpsed what was happening inside through the crack.

"Joan, how many times have I told you, making a doll is not something that can be done overnight. You need to infuse it with your own emotions. What you are creating is not an object, but a new life. It is useless if it is just pretty. You have not infused it with emotions!" The stern and authoritative man reprimanded a little boy who looked to be only ten years old.

The little boy lowered his head, his expression showing a hint of defiance, and retorted, "It's not just pretty, I put my heart into it! It's nothing like what Father said, that it's completely useless!"

"Then tell me, what emotions did you infuse into your creation?" the man asked in a deep voice.

"I..." The little boy suddenly couldn't speak.

"Do you love your doll?" the man sighed in disappointment, sounding exhausted.

"Love?" The little boy frowned, puzzled.

“Yes, love. Only when you love your dolls will they respond to you,” the man said slowly.

“Father, this is no excuse for ignoring Mother’s feelings. Do you remember how long it has been since you last saw her? Do you know what her condition is like now?” The little boy frowned and looked up at his father, questioning him.

"I'll go see it, after I finish my..."

"You have no idea! You give your love to your doll, but you won't give it to your mother. Is that really love?!" After saying this, the little boy turned and ran away.

The door was suddenly pushed open, and Xin Bai was so frightened that his hair stood on end.

The little boy didn't even glance at them; he just ran off on his own.

Xin Bai bared his teeth, grabbed his tail with one hand, and smoothed down the bristles on his tail with the other.

Regardless, he absolutely loathed this guy!
"Follow me." Ling Tong turned around and followed. He seemed to know the true purpose of these doors, and now he had to collect all the information he could.

The little boy stopped in front of a large door. He looked up at the door, took a deep breath, and slowly opened it with both hands.

The door creaked open slowly, letting in the light from the corridor.

The room was dark and smelled unpleasant.

The little boy hesitated at the door for a moment before softly calling out, "Mother."

"Qiong, come in." The voice, weathered yet gentle, sounded very weak.

The little boy took a deep breath before slowly walking in and sitting down on the chair next to the bed. He remained silent for a long time, then lowered his head and said in an apologetic tone, "I'm sorry." "Did he criticize you again today?" His mother's face was thin and pale, devoid of any color. She smiled weakly and said in a gentle voice.

"Hmm..." The little boy nodded, then added, "I didn't bring him with me."

“I know, I’ve known for a long time… ever since before you were born. His greatest love has always been those dolls. He married me because he thought I was beautiful, like a doll, and could inspire him. This outcome isn’t unexpected. I just hate myself… for not being so resolute back then…”

As the mother looked at the bed curtains, her thoughts gradually drifted back to the past.

The little boy hesitated and asked, "Mother, what is love? Is it like how you love Father, and how Father loves his doll? Is that really love? I don't understand, is that really love? Why does it have to be love?"

"Love is a pure yet complex emotion. It can make you give unconditionally to the other person, but it can also drive you crazy and make you unlike yourself. It's like poison that causes unbearable pain, and like candy that makes you feel sweet. It's an emotion more intense than any other, and it's also the most untouchable emotion in the world." The mother had a faint smile on her lips, but it was full of bitterness and sadness.

The little boy lowered his head and remained silent. He still couldn't understand what kind of feeling this was, nor did he know if it was good or bad. But from his father and mother, he only saw bad; it wasn't a good feeling. It made his father immersed in the world of dolls, made his mother depressed, and in the end, he was the one who was abandoned.

The father only knows his own doll, the mother only knows the father, so what about him?
"Cough cough cough!!" The mother coughed violently.

The little boy quickly stood up and said, "I'll go get the doctor!"

"Don't go!" his mother called after him, "Stay with me a little longer..."

The little boy stood stiffly, his mouth moved but he could only manage to utter a single word, "Okay."

He listened as his mother recounted how she met his father, how they came together, and how wonderful their relationship was.

But as they talked...

The mother gradually fell silent...

Joan looked up at her abruptly, and seeing her pale, thin face and the faint smile on her lips, her eyes immediately welled up with tears.

"Goodnight... Mother..." His voice trembled as he tightly grasped his mother's increasingly cold hand, trying to hold back his tears and telling himself that he had grown up and should act like a man and not cry.

But crystal tears kept sliding down his face, and he bit his lower lip tightly so as not to make a sound and disturb his mother's peaceful sleep.

Tears fell onto the back of his hand, wetting it, but he felt an unusual chill. This world was terrifyingly unfamiliar, and he had no idea what to do.

All his strength had vanished without him noticing. He had just stood up from the chair when he staggered and collapsed to his knees, utterly exhausted.

He moved his lips, unsure of what to say. Stiff and mechanical, he turned his head to look at the familiar yet strange room. He held his mother's hand, feeling its gradually cooling temperature, and unconsciously tightened his grip.

Finally, he slowly lowered his head and pressed his forehead against the back of his mother's hand.

He didn't close his eyes, but kept his beautiful, deep blue eyes wide open, though a hint of gloom gradually settled in them.

"Are the stars over there just as beautiful as here? That makes you so eager to leave... Or is it that your father is the most important person to you, and you don't hold any resentment towards him no matter how he treats you, so you vent all your negative emotions on me? Why... are you so stingy with even your last words to me?"

He slowly closed his eyes, as if he had thought of something. A faint smile gradually appeared on his lips, and his tone was filled with longing as well as a hint of obsession and danger that was hard to detect.

"I long to see you again..."

Qiong at the age of ten.

As expected of two men whose stories were written about in the White Days, although their experiences were different, Joan and Fish were equally miserable.

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(End of this chapter)