Chapter 258: This Is My Own Choice
Jiang Che walked out of the room fully dressed, spun in front of Ding Ning, then scooped her up from the sofa.
He pressed his forehead against hers.
"It looks great, I really like it." Jiang Che’s voice was very soft, growing fainter with each word.
Ding Ning watched his body gradually turning ethereal and immediately realized that his spirit had been separated too long and his body was starting to recall it.
She hugged Jiang Che tightly. He was wearing the clothes she made—fitting perfectly, looking wonderful.
"Thank you, the clothes are beautiful. When I come back, I’ll have new clothes to wear." Jiang Che leaned his forehead against hers, feeling the coolness of her skin.
But even that coolness was fading. Jiang Che saw his body start to turn transparent.
"You saw it..." Ding Ning spoke, embarrassed. She knew the inner seams were a bit messy.
She’d stitched all the seams by hand, and after taking the old clothes apart, could only sew the cut fabric into shape as best she could.
"It’s amazing!" Jiang Che watched the clothes on his body start to go limp.
"I really like it!" He was fading fast—as soon as he finished speaking and before Ding Ning could reply, he vanished right in front of her.
Only the sleeves remained draped over her shoulder; the pants had already dropped to the floor.
Ding Ning bent down and carefully picked them up.
Tuantuan stared wide-eyed, her eyes already filled with tears.
She opened her mouth. "Daddy’s gone back already? I still didn’t get to say goodbye to him..."
Her voice had a sob in it as she spoke.
"There will be another chance to see him next time." Ding Ning patted her head gently.
This was also the reason other Lords were reluctant to summon human spirit bodies over.
Even if they could use all sorts of abilities to tweak the flow of time in various dreamlands, letting the spirit body stay longer, they couldn’t think of a reason to get close to a human anyway.
Once someone was summoned, their body would soon instinctively recall the spirit body, pulling it back no matter how far away it was.
After the recall, the body would enter a protected state—no matter how precise their previous control over the human, for a while, all that control would be suspended.
So for them, it was frankly not worth the effort.
Bring humans over just to talk?
Afterward, in the brief window when control was lifted, humans might take the chance to try something—which the Lords couldn’t prevent.
Jiang Che opened his eyes again; he was already back in his own territory.
He glanced at the familiar hospital beds and the gray walls around him.
Red Pearl Mental Hospital, again.
Before, he would never say it out loud, but every time he saw Red Pearl Mental Hospital, a shadow would cross his eyes.
This time, though, that darkness in his gaze was gone.
Because returning to this world was now his own choice.
No matter what kind of suffering he’d faced in this world, he had already accepted it all.
Jiang Che got up and walked outside.
Time flowed differently inside dreamlands. Ding Ning figured that if he failed the first trial, she’d bring Jiang Che back after his recall cooldown ended.
Continue the trials, but it would have wasted a lot of time.
Luckily, Jiang Che learned quickly and even saved time for a family meal.
On the surface, he’d spent a full 24 hours in the Dungeon, but in that dreamland, he was there nearly six years.
Jiang Che walked outside; he was deep in his own territory, a place humans didn’t usually enter. After several minutes, he hadn’t seen a single person.
He sensed the coordinates in his mind and found everyone was busy working in the residential district.
He hurried over. Even though he’d only been gone a day, seeing this scene left Jiang Che a little dazed.
Now, a tall boulder had been built here—it looked like it had formed naturally.
"Jiang Che, let me tell you, we’ve really got some talented people here!" Xiong Jie was so excited he could hardly contain himself.
Jiang Che had always agonized over how to recreate the scenic area.
Because nothing man-made could match nature’s genius craftsmanship.
But a few people with earth manipulation skills came forward, and then some with water and wind powers joined in too.
After a bit of teamwork, a mountain rose from flat ground.
The wind and water users kept eroding the giant rock according to their wishes, shaping it exactly how they wanted at every moment.
Xiong Jie was supervising; he hadn’t seen Jiang Che all day.
But just now, from atop the giant boulder, he’d spotted Jiang Che approaching from far off.
He hurried over, eager to show off their achievements and to report that the task Jiang Che’s wife had assigned him was done perfectly.
He’d driven out and found the neighboring city overtaken by the Dark Forest. Quickly, he located the warehouse and supermarket, and loaded his car with box after box of salt.
He hadn’t even finished looting all the salt in that city, but what he got already outnumbered the previous warehouse by several times.
Jiang Che looked at the scene before him, with a touch of shock in his eyes.
He stared at the thousand-meter-high boulder ahead and couldn’t help but mutter, "Does nature really have rocks this tall?"
He’d neither seen nor heard of such things.
"Of course, they exist!" Xiong Jie nodded vigorously. When someone used their skills to make this rock, he was so excited he nearly applauded.
"You don’t realize—skills are so useful here. Many people who aren’t great at fighting say they’ve finally found their worth." Xiong Jie sighed.
Not everyone can fight. Even he couldn’t guarantee he wouldn’t be knocked out instantly if something dangerous happened.
"Oh, right! I’ve got a surprise to show you." Xiong Jie dragged Jiang Che toward the warehouse.
Jiang Che looked at him curiously. What surprise could there be in a warehouse?
What Jiang Che wanted most was for everyone to build as much scenery as possible before the passage opened.
"Ta-da!" Xiong Jie flung open a warehouse door.
Inside was a whole row of cardboard boxes, stacked so high the warehouse was full to bursting.
It was a small warehouse, yet packed to the brim with identical boxes.
"What’s this?" Jiang Che asked, puzzled.
He squinted; it seemed there was just one word on those boxes.
Edible Salt.
Jiang Che: ???
"The Lord told me to do this before. I overachieved! Take a look, and if it’s not enough, I’ll run to the next city again. This time, I’ll empty that place out!"
"And if it’s still not enough, I’ll go even farther. Nobody wants this stuff, anyway." Xiong Jie thumped his chest, clearly thrilled.