Chapter 112: Have You Ever Dreamed of the Raiden Shogun?

"Not a single word written."

Hearing Ye's calm words, Yae Miko's smile deepened, carrying a hint of coldness.

"Not a single word written?"

Ye replied honestly, "No time."

Yae Miko's smile grew even colder. "No time to write, but plenty of time to play with girls in your dreams, right?"

At this moment, Ye was genuinely shocked. How do you know such a secret?!

...Well, even if she knows, it's not that surprising.

After all, before switching to single-player dreams, he had shared dreams with Yae Miko.

Most people might just treat dreams as dreams, after all, dreams are just dreams. Who would take them seriously and dwell on them?

But Ye's shared dreams were a bit too real.

Not completely real, of course. If they were, the Raiden Shogun would have surely cut him down in the dream.

In shared dreams, the woman would definitely be confused, her state similar to that of a real dream, unable to control her actions, no different from an ordinary dream. There's no doubt about that, otherwise, anyone would notice something was off.

But even so, Ye's shared dreams must have felt very real... at least in terms of sensation.

Of course, this is all just Ye's speculation, as he isn't entirely sure what state the woman was in during the dream.

But even if it's just speculation, Ye can at least be sure of one thing... expecting everyone to not notice anything is just too naive.

Therefore, Yae Miko noticing something was off and immediately suspecting he was the culprit really isn't that surprising.

—But couldn't you just pretend you didn't notice?

Like me, calmly ignoring past shared dreams, isn't that the way to live comfortably?

And you... didn't you find it uncomfortable dreaming of sharing intimate moments with me? Couldn't you just pretend it never happened? After all, I won't be sharing dreams with you anymore! I've gone single-player, so why can't you let it go?

Ye was truly suffering, but... well, saying such things is just shifting blame.

If the other party only treated it as a simple dream, then Ye could just ignore the past shared dreams. That would be good for him, good for the other party, good for everyone. There would be no downsides, only benefits.

But now that the other party has realized what he did... or rather, what he shouldn't have done, and confronted him about it, he can't keep playing dumb.

Playing dumb now would be irresponsible.

Ye is a responsible man. He would never do something like denying responsibility after the fact.

So, Ye calmly replied to Yae Miko, "What did you just say? I don't understand."

Yae Miko's expression turned cold. "Hmm?"

Ye quickly changed his tone. "Actually, it was just a misunderstanding. Do you believe me?"

Turns out playing dumb doesn't work!

Ahem, Ye was just testing whether playing dumb was feasible. He never intended to actually shirk responsibility. Please believe him.

The experiment proved it's not feasible.

Alright, understood. Time to take responsibility.

First, he needed to explain.

"Maybe you don't believe me, but it really was a misunderstanding. I didn't realize at first that the dream was shared!"

"Shared?"

"I mean, I didn't realize my dreams were connected to others' dreams. I only found out recently, and after discovering it, I immediately reformed and only have single-player dreams now!"

Yae Miko seemed to understand what "single-player dreams" meant.

However,

"Since when did you stop having shared dreams?"

Ye sat obediently and replied, "About a month ago, I realized something was off, and then I reformed."

A month ago? Who are you trying to fool? I dreamed of you just a week ago!

Yae Miko didn't say this out loud but instead asked another question. "Can you control whether your dreams are single-player or shared?"

"Don't worry, I definitely won't have shared dreams anymore."

"Single-player dreams are fine?"

"You can't take away my right to dream, can you?"

Ye couldn't help but complain. What's wrong with dreaming? If I can't relieve stress through dreams, how am I supposed to live?

Besides, everyone dreams. Mine are just a bit more realistic. What's the crime in that?

This second golden finger of mine has such a limited function—it's only useful for relieving mental stress and soothing my mind. Given how inferior I already feel compared to Baizhu, are you really going to take away its only purpose? That's just too cruel!

Though Yae Miko didn't know about Ye's inner complaints, her eye twitched, and she didn't refute him. Instead, she brought the topic back. "Such an ability should only belong to the Dendro Archon. Why do you have it?"

"This has to do with my power."

To be honest, both of Ye's golden fingers—Baizhu and the Nameless One—are a bit mysterious, and their origins are unknown. Ye isn't the type of transmigrator who gets overjoyed at having a golden finger and completely ignores its source.

After all, others don't care because they can't. They rely entirely on their golden fingers to grow stronger. In such a situation, who would care about the source of the golden finger?

But Ye is different. Having a golden finger or not doesn't really matter to him. Moreover, when it comes to golden fingers... Ye actually suspects they might be poison sent by his enemies.

After all, creating dozens of golden fingers is just a thought for his enemies. To fight against those true 'gods,' one must be cautious in every way—like how a single misstep trapped him in this Honkai world.

Therefore, when two mysterious golden fingers suddenly appeared, Ye couldn't help but think more deeply about it.

Aside from that, Ye's second guess was naturally that these two golden fingers were sent by 'her'... Ye's former superior before Furina.

Oh, calling her his former superior isn't quite right, since Ye hasn't actually left her employ. He's just gained another superior now—but that's not important.

The point is, Ye is now fairly certain that these two mysterious golden fingers have nothing to do with 'her' or her enemies.

Therefore, their origins remain a true 'mystery.'

...That said, compared to Baizhu, Ye can at least make some guesses about the Nameless One's origin.

"You know I'm a Descender, right?"

Facing Ye's question, Yae Miko nodded slightly. "I've heard about it."

"As a Descender, I possess power from beyond this world. That power is called 'Original Sin.'"

To explain that he really didn't do it on purpose, Ye had to be honest with Yae Miko. After all, he felt guilty! He couldn't stand tall! How could he be confident after doing such a thing?

Ye truly isn't the type of man to shirk responsibility!

"The power of 'Original Sin' is incredibly strong, and such things are naturally possible... but I really didn't intend to use this power."

Ye spoke very honestly and sincerely:

"When I arrived in Teyvat five hundred years ago, this power was already shattered into pieces. To avoid the effects this power might have on me, I haven't used the power of Original Sin since. But... perhaps because I've been abstinent for five hundred years, this power developed its own consciousness, called me 'father,' and used dreams to help me relieve my mental and physical stress—I really didn't know the dreams were shared at the time."

This was Ye's guess.

To be honest, whether this guess is correct or not, Ye has no idea. In fact, he's starting to suspect it might be wrong.

But... Ye doesn't have any other guesses to explain the origin of this golden finger. So, for now, he'll use this guess.

At least to explain the current situation and gain the Guuji's understanding.

If he can't even explain it clearly, wouldn't that just add more misunderstandings on top of misunderstandings?

That won't do.

He must explain clearly.

—And whether Yae Miko believed Ye's words or not, she didn't ask further about it. She also didn't seem inclined to tell Ye that his dreams were still 'shared.'

Huh? Why not say it? Wouldn't that mean there's still a chance to share dreams with Ye in the future? Is Yae Miko looking forward to that?

Ahem, whether she's looking forward to it or not, Yae Miko isn't actually opposed to such dreams. After all, the man in the dream—the man before her—is indeed handsome. Plus, after spending these days together and sharing dreams, Yae Miko can't deny that she's developed a slight fondness for this man. Dreaming of such a man isn't a loss for Yae Miko.

However, this isn't the main reason Yae Miko didn't clarify this matter with Ye.

She had her reasons for doing so.

Yae Miko stood up and sat down next to Ye.

Ye instantly became alert. To avoid being suddenly cut down, he couldn't help but shift to the right, putting some distance between himself and Yae Miko.

Yae Miko narrowed her fox-like eyes and also shifted to the right, closing the distance again.

Ye shifted to the right again.

Yae Miko also shifted to the right again.

Ye shifted once more.

Yae Miko shifted once more.

Ye... was grabbed by Yae Miko.

Yae Miko smiled softly. "If you move again, we'll have a serious talk about how you're going to compensate me for bullying me. Otherwise, I'll spread the word about your 'shared dreams' across Teyvat—I'm sure I'm not the only one you've dreamed of, right?"

Ye couldn't help but shiver internally.

This woman wants me to be torn to pieces!

What could Ye do? He could only... comply.

"What do you want?"

"I just want to ask you one question."

Yae Miko leaned close to Ye's ear and whispered softly:

"Have you ever dreamed of the Raiden Shogun?"