CHAPTER 134: REACHING DOMINIC

The room was utterly destroyed.

The stench of blood hung thick in the air.

Ripped and tattered carpets lay scattered across the stone floor.

On that floor, Dominic’ body was sprawled, covered in bruises and battered flesh, soaked in blood.

Both his hands were shattered beyond recognition.

"Dominic! Dominic!"

Perhaps due to the shock of having his surging magic suddenly cut off, Dominic remained motionless and he just staring blankly ahead.

"I’m sorry! Dominic! I’m so sorry! It’s my fault!"

If only I hadn’t rushed out that time...

Then Dominic would never have had to endure this.

How much pain must he have felt?

To be swallowed by darkness so deep.

What suffering must he have endured?

Shiao Yi’s chest ached as he gazed at Dominic’ hollow, exhausted eyes.

He had never before tried to repair a heart so utterly broken.

But now was different from that time.

This time, there was a decisive difference.

It was the heart that they shared, the mutual bond.

A strong feeling that they were each other’s one and only.

Surely, that feeling would help him.

Shiao Yi believed that with all his heart.

"Dominic. Look at me. Feel me."

He gently placed his hand on Dominic’ unmoving face. H

e kissed that beloved face, stained with blood and filth and began carefully cleaning it with his tongue.

Even so, it did not reach him. His vacant eyes reflected nothing, like shards of icy glass.

He rejected every feeling, every sensation, every sound, everything.

Inside him remained only regret and despair. Pain deeper than death itself.

"I’m alive. Dominic, I’m right here, touching you."

Shiao Yi pressed down on Dominic’ tangled, matted golden hair, planting a kiss on his lips while extending the guiding thread of his telepathy into Dominic’ mind.

As he dove into the sea of Dominic’ thoughts, the body jerked violently.

To someone rejecting everything, the telepathic probe would feel like needles of electricity piercing the brain.

He held down Dominic’ thrashing head and continued to extend the probe deeper.

He sifted through the countless swirling fragments of chaotic thought, focusing all his attention on capturing Dominic’ mind.

Shiao Yi extended his tongue into Dominic’ mouth, intertwining a deep, desperate kiss.

"Dominic, Dominic. Look at me. Listen to me. Feel me. I am here."

He had to be careful.

Forcing recognition would only break Dominic further.

Dominic had to accept it himself.

Shiao Yi carefully collected the fragments of his shattered mind, weaving together the escaping thoughts, rebuilding them bit by bit, so that he could think again on his own.

"I am not a ghost. The voice calling you is not a phantom. What you feel is real. Dominic, it’s me. I am here, Dominic."

It was like a prayer.

Shiao Yi trailed the chaotic, trembling threads of thought, selecting the unstable pulses and synchronizing them patiently, as if clinging to a single fragile straw.

"Shiao..."

Ah, finally found him. Dominic, I’ve found you.

"Dominic, do you understand? Can you feel me?"

"Shiao... Yi ...my Shiao Yi... I... I killed..."

"No, I am alive. I am here. I’m holding you."

"That’s impossible. This is my wish. My own illusion. Ahhhhh! Shiao Yi! Shiao Yi!"

Dominic’ body began to convulse.

Instinctively, Shiao Yi pulled back his tongue—he might have bitten it off.

He stopped kissing and held Dominic with all his strength.

His muscles were rigid and hard, like holding solid steel.

"Dominic! Look at me! Open your eyes! Look at me!"

Yet the eyes that opened had no focus.

They were still seeing him as he was that day—the moment just before he was torn apart by magic.

Dominic’ mind remained trapped in that fear and despair.

"Uooooooooooo..."

Dominic’ low, guttural roar continued.

Thankfully, the room’s barrier absorbed and restrained the magic.

Right now, Dominic must be releasing a tremendous amount of power.

But even without a magical explosion, his body would continue to drain.

The depletion of his life force, tied to his magic, would quickly lead to death.

How could Shiao Yi reach him? Every recognition Shiao Yi sent through telepathy was seen as a hallucination, a product of Shiao Yi’s own mind.

Dominic refused to trust the reality of sensation.

The longer time passed, the weaker Dominic became. Shiao Yi’s anxiety grew.

"Dominic, you idiot! I’m right here!"

He shouted with all his strength through telepathy.

"!!"

Dominic’ movements froze. His magic release stopped. His breathing stopped. His... heart stopped!!!

Shiao Yi used telekinesis to give his heart a shock, like an electric jolt.

Thunk... thunk... thunk, thunk, thunk...

Immediately, the heartbeat resumed. Shiao Yi let out a relieved breath.

"Kah..."

Dominic’ breathing returned. He coughed roughly, struggling.

Shiao Yi’s hands, as he rubbed Dominic’ back, shook in tiny trembles. His knees shook. His whole body trembled.

—Sc-sc-scary... I was so scared... Dominic!

The tears came and they overflowed and wouldn’t stop.

"Dominic! Dominic! Why don’t you understand?! I’m alive! I’m right here! Dominic! Look at me!"

Like a small child, he cried out.

Shiao Yi grabbed Dominic’ clothes, shook his body, and wailed and shouted.

He was scared...

Compared to the fear of losing Dominic, Shiao Yi didn’t care how childish he looked—he would be a child as much as needed!

He felt a hand stroking his back.

Startled, he looked up. Dominic’ empty, glassy eyes still stared into the distance, but he raised his arm across Shiao Yi’s back, rubbing him with his broken, bloodied hand.

—Don’t cry... don’t cry, my Shiao Yi...

From that painfully wounded palm, Dominic’ gentle feelings poured directly into Shiao Yi.

—Dominic! I love you. I love you so much, Dominic!

"Dominic, then... please, embrace me. Feel me."

Shiao Yi immediately stripped off all his clothes.

He also removed every piece of clothing from Dominic.

Dominic’s body was wounded, and in that short time, some of his flesh had worn away, making him thinner.

Yet, he was still so strong and perfect that Shiao Yi couldn’t help but admire him.

It was the body he loved most in the world.