NOVEL WEB Chapter 136: Mutual Obsession
Lu Chen once again took out the [Mysterious Souvenir Mirror] and placed the small mirror on the table.
Things were getting serious.
A small item like this could actually cause three Archons, a subordinate, and even a powerful human like himself to all fall into nightmares.
And the dreams were indistinguishable from reality, so vivid that Lu Chen felt as if he were really there.
Those memories he didn't want to relive made him dread the arrival of night. He didn't want to dream about the past anymore...
Silently, Lu Chen complained to the system, What exactly are you trying to pull?
"If there's a common thread between our five completely different dreams..." Lu Chen mused, "it might be this thing called 'obsession.'"
"Obsession, huh..." Zhongli picked up the Souvenir Mirror. "An item that can materialize the obsessions in one's heart—certainly extraordinary."
"So what should we do?" Venti clearly didn't want to touch the mirror, as if it carried some sort of curse.
"Not being able to drink is a nightmare! Lu Chen, you can't let me keep having dreams like that!"
Lu Chen looked at him silently. Everyone else's dreams were things like "Liyue's Millennia" or "The Love and Hate of Inazuma"... and then there was his. What a downgrade.
"Actually, Venti's obsession probably isn't just about drinking."
Lu Chen turned to see Ei's amused gaze.
"Yeah..."
He nodded in agreement. Complaints aside, he had managed to piece together something from everyone's dreams.
Zhongli's concern was really about "erosion."
For immortal beings like the Archons, "erosion" was more devastating than death.
Because of erosion, they lost their original selves. Because of erosion, they lost memories, their personalities changed, their resolve crumbled...
And Zhongli wasn't just immortal—he was the longest-lived Archon in Teyvat. He had already existed long before the Archon War.
He had even witnessed the ancient battle between the First and Second Thrones...
As for Venti, what he truly cared about was "freedom."
When the tyrant, the Lonely King of the Tower, imposed his will upon Mondstadt, the longing for freedom was forever etched into the land and its people.
No alcohol? Venti might be annoyed. But telling him not to drink? That was sure to awaken his rebellious spirit.
After laying their thoughts bare, Zhongli and Venti both fell silent, staring at the Souvenir Mirror sitting innocently on the table.
This thing, capable of manifesting inner obsession, was proving far more troublesome than expected.
Hu Tao suddenly snatched the small mirror.
"What's the big deal? I'll just burn it to ash!"
She tossed the mirror into the air. To everyone's surprise, a surge of Pyro energy burst forth.
The roaring flames took the shape of butterflies, fluttering in all directions.
This blaze looked strong enough to cleanse the world's impurities—but it didn't leave a scratch on the Souvenir Mirror.
The mirror fell to the ground with a crisp clink. Lu Chen saw its ornate patterns were still perfectly intact.
Of course. Anything made by the system was bound to be top-tier.
Not even fire could damage it.
Hu Tao looked helplessly at the group. "Guess I oversimplified things."
Lu Chen walked over but didn't dare touch it directly—no doubt it was scorching hot.
He brought his palm close and gently swept it back into the system.
...
Still without a solution, Lu Chen grew increasingly frustrated.
The constant nightmares were wrecking his sleep. He showed up to the second and third day of matches with dark circles under his eyes.
Thankfully, he wasn't the only one suffering.
The more people involved, the more strength they had—and with gods involved, that strength was even greater.
Zhongli suggested they turn to Hu Tao. Aside from Qiqi, who was a unique case, Hu Tao was the only one who hadn't been affected by nightmares, making her the perfect reference point.
Archons, followers, mortals—they all had obsessions. So why didn't Hu Tao?
After wrapping up the individual finals and team semifinals, Lu Chen returned to the hotel and went straight to Hu Tao's room.
He knocked—no response.
So he tried Qiqi's room.
Sure enough, the two girls were in there.
Lu Chen pushed the door open and was stunned.
Qiqi's room was stacked high with cardboard boxes. He thought he had walked into a warehouse.
"What's all this?" He pushed aside a tower of boxes taller than himself, baffled.
"They're for Qiqi."
Hu Tao sat beside Qiqi, who was holding a bottle of coconut milk, expressionless as always.
Lu Chen opened one of the boxes and saw rows of coconut milk inside.
But it wasn't the usual brand he bought—this one was something new.
"Trying to win her over?" Lu Chen sighed and sat down.
"Of course!" Hu Tao beamed. "I bought enough coconut milk for Qiqi to drink forever. She's gotta love me now!"
"Really?" Lu Chen glanced at Qiqi's blank face.
He had doubts.
"Of course it's true!" Hu Tao insisted again.
Then Qiqi's voice drifted over.
"Coconut milk—I like..."
"Hu Tao—I don't like..."
Lu Chen burst out laughing. "Looks like Master Hu's plan backfired."
Hu Tao looked dejected, her little face scrunching up. She grabbed Qiqi's arm and shook it.
"That's not fair! Qiqi loves coconut milk! I bought it, so Qiqi should love me too!"
"Well, actually," Lu Chen corrected, "the variables 'Hu Tao' and 'coconut milk' don't show a correlation. Master Hu, maybe you should get a crash course in statistics from Raiden Ei."
"What are you even talking about..." Hu Tao waved him off. "You said in the group chat you needed something from me. What is it?"
"Well, it's..." Lu Chen looked into those vibrant plum-blossom eyes, wanting to ask, Why are you so carefree?
But he didn't say it.
"It's about obsession. Zhongli said after you took over the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor, you had no more obsessions. Could you share your experience?"
Out of everyone, Lu Chen and Ei had the heaviest obsessions—and the worst nightmares.
"No one's truly without obsession." Hu Tao looked at him seriously.
"For example, I want to grow the funeral parlor for my grandpa. I also carry the duties of past heads. I need to keep the balance between life and death, between yin and yang..."
It was rare to see Hu Tao so solemn. Her expression was firm as she spoke of the past.
"But I think mine is a good obsession."
Lu Chen blinked. "A good obsession?"
"Yeah!" Hu Tao nodded. "Everything I do—just knowing I'll be able to accomplish it someday makes me genuinely happy."
"As for you guys..."
She frowned, clearly trying to choose her words carefully.
"You're all full of pain and resentment... especially Zhongli! When I first met him, he smiled on the outside, but I could tell—he was carrying a heavy burden."
Lu Chen nodded silently. Hu Tao might not know everything, but her instincts were sharp.
"So your obsessions are bad ones!"
"Yeah..." Lu Chen smiled bitterly.
"And you too!" Hu Tao leaned in, studying Lu Chen's face before pointing at him. "That's it! That's the look!"
"Huh?"
"Whether it's you, Thunder Sister, or Fox Sister—you're all smiling, but it's so forced! What's going on? Can't you just be happy for real?"
"What happened..." Lu Chen thought of his dream.
That level of conflict wasn't something Hu Tao needed to hear about.
"There you go again..." Hu Tao pouted as Lu Chen fell silent. "Zhongli's the same. No matter how much I bug him, he won't tell me anything..."
"Well, it's not that I can't tell you."
"Really?" Hu Tao perked up immediately. "Tell me, tell me! What's up with Celestia and all that?"
Lu Chen blinked. "If you tell me your story, I'll tell you ours. Deal?"
If they were still in Teyvat, he might have kept silent. But here, in this safe world beyond, they were surrounded by people worthy of trust.
"Deal~!" Hu Tao grinned.
Then her face turned serious. "You better keep your word!"
"Don't worry," Lu Chen said with a soft smile.
The story she was about to tell—the boundary between life and death—was tied to a secret place guarded by the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor for generations.
And it all began... with her grandfather's funeral.