CHAPTER 414: CHAPTER 352: NIGHT RAID (PART 3)

"Ahhhhhhhh!!!"

With a hysterical scream, Leonard suddenly woke up, drenched in sweat, his face as pale as if all his blood had been drained. His luxurious silk undergarments clung damply to his back, making him seem like he’d just been pulled from water.

*So it... it was just a dream...*

Struggling to escape from the nightmare, Leonard looked out the window at the already bright sky. Still shaken and nearly exhausted, he collapsed into the back of his leather chair, gasping for air like someone who had nearly drowned.

*It seemed he had been too tired lately, working too hard, and having just mentioned that woman had stirred up the fear inside him, leading to such a sudden dream.*

Additionally, the Purification Bureau member had once said that she and he both carried the Word Spirit, preventing them from being too close and from using strange methods against each other, so there was no need to worry about her seeking revenge...

*Yes... that’s it!*

After comforting himself with a few words, Leonard turned around, his mind somewhat settled, and feebly called out,

"Mark..."

"Mark... where are you?"

"I’m here, I’m here!"

Hearing his call, the secretary walked in from outside the door, holding a towel with a flattering expression,

"Master Leonard, after arranging the matters at the manor and returning, I found you taking a nap, so I didn’t dare to disturb you. Here’s a hot towel prepared by the maid. Please, wipe your face first."

"Mm... thoughtful of you..."

Seeing the secretary’s completely normal behavior, the last bit of doubt in Leonard’s heart dissipated. He raised his trembling hand, received the towel emitting warmth, and wiped the sweat off his face.

Seeing his bloodless appearance, the secretary, Mark, couldn’t help but inquire,

"Master Leonard, did you... have a nightmare?"

"Mm..."

With a feeble response, recalling the incredibly real nightmare, Leonard, whose soul felt shaken, needed someone to help dispel his fear. He couldn’t help but speak nervously,

"I dreamt... that after we finished work, as we walked along the corridor, you chatted with me a bit, then suddenly turned into that Bauhinia family’s monstrous child, asking me where her body was thrown... and then..."

"And then what?"

Then I wet my pants... but how could I say that?

"Then I started running, and that monstrous child was chasing me."

Skipping over his embarrassed display at the moment, Leonard, his eyes filled with fear, continued,

"The corridor outside our door seemed to stretch endlessly, and her footsteps kept getting closer. I almost ran myself to death, just barely making it out the other end.

Yet, after falling down the stairs, outside wasn’t our estate, but... was that family’s estate! And after being chased out by that monster all the way to the door, beneath that big red cedar tree outside, an execution was actually happening!"

"An execution?!"

Apparently intrigued by Leonard’s strange dream, the secretary, Mark, had his eyes flickering slightly, his face lacking any expression, but his voice filled with shock as he pursued,

"Could it be... the one six years ago for Bao... for that family?"

"Yes, that one... but it was a bit off..."

Leonard hesitated as he spoke,

"The place was right, but... but the person being executed was... was..."

"Who?"

"It was me..."

Recalling the horrifying scene he witnessed, Leonard’s lips trembled unconsciously as he said,

"Over nine hundred of me, blindfolded and pressed down there... then one by one... one by one...

And at first, I was still down below watching, but then, as I watched... I... I was pinned down, too, and executed, one time after another, in succession!

Ahhhh!!!"

"Don’t panic! Master Leonard, please don’t panic!"

Seeing Leonard unconsciously screaming, the secretary hurriedly handed over another towel, comforting,

"It’s all just a dream; there’s no need to dwell on it... and what happened after that?"

"Afterwards..."

Still in shock, Leonard took the new towel, wiping his face that had started sweating again; it seemed the waiting time had made this new towel not only not warm but even subtly damp and cold.

However, tormented by the nightmare to the point of his extremities growing cold, he couldn’t care about whether the towel was warm or cold anymore, recounting in terror under the seemingly magical urging of the secretary’s voice,

"After the execution ended, that monstrous child appeared in the street, started smiling at me, and I... I ran back.

This time, what appeared wasn’t Treasure Flower Manor, but our own Verdant Feather Estate, and that monstrous child, while leisurely chasing me, told me that if I jumped down and retrieved her body, she’d let me go..."

"Did you jump?"

"I... I jumped..."

Remembering the bone-chilling cold of that lake water, Leonard shrank into his chair, shivering as he spoke,

"I remember the spot very clearly, so I found it as soon as I jumped in. Then... when I wanted to come up, lake weeds suddenly tangled around me.

Those cold, wet weeds seemed alive, coiling around my ankles, binding my hands, strangling my neck, and clammy against my face... I... I..."

"You didn’t come up, just like that child back then, drowning in the lake, right?"

"Yes..."

"I see..."

The secretary, Mark, pondered for a moment, then tentatively asked,

"Could it be that you were having such dreams because the Bauhinia Family treated you well, making you feel what you did years ago wasn’t quite right? So... do you feel guilty?"

*Do I... feel guilty?*

Leonard was stunned by this, then quickly shook his head vehemently,

"No! No! I did nothing wrong!

They only had that arranged marriage because they needed the Goldfinch Family’s support, merely a union of interests, and I barely even met that woman a few times! Besides, that child wasn’t even... damn it, Mark! What are you saying?"

"Apologies, I was just trying to help analyze the cause of these bizarre dreams; after all, you were indeed frightened."

Politely apologizing, the secretary gently reminded,

"Seeing you sweating so profusely, perhaps you should wipe your sweat again?"

"Mm..."

Hearing Mark’s reminder, Leonard wiped his sweat with the towel in his hand, but somehow, the more he wiped, the more sweat covered his face, and the originally slightly warm towel gradually became damp, cold, and sticky, as if...

The aquatic plants that had just wrapped around his limbs and nose, drowning him in the lake!

"Apologies, preparations were a bit hurried earlier, and there’s not enough hot towels; hope you don’t mind."

Apologizing to Leonard, whose face turned deathly pale and lips began shivering again, the secretary "Mark" stood up, clearing the doorway to the corridor, then pointed to the little girl standing behind Leonard, smilingly reminding,

"Make do with this for now, because... it’s time for you to run again."

"Ahhhhhhhh!!!"