After the Cold and Aloof Husband's Mask Falls - Chapter 38

The sudden snow fell fast and heavy.

The maids and elderly servants who had been sweeping the grounds had long since retreated to their quarters. The courtyard was left to the swirling white flakes and the red plum blossoms, which were bowing under the weight of the accumulation.

A sudden thud echoed from inside the room—something had bumped against the window, forcing the tightly closed frame to crack open slightly. A muffled sound, carrying the heady warmth of the interior, leaked out into the cold.

“Close… the window.”

Amidst soft gasps, someone was clearly exerting the utmost restraint.

“It’s too hot. You’re sweating.”

“And whose fault… is that?!”

“Mine.”

“Then why are you still—ah!”

The sharp, sudden cry was instantly swallowed by the wind and snow. After a long while, a well-defined hand reached out from the gap, firmly shutting the window with a snap. The snow on the plum blossoms shuddered, finally sliding off the branches.

Perhaps it was during that moment by the window, amidst her flustered indignation, that Gu Wanlan had caught a glimpse of the snowy world outside.

When she fell into a dream this time, she dreamt of a world buried in white: Changping Pass.

As in her previous two dreams, she watched her younger self as if from outside her body. The small, thin girl was dressed in oversized men’s clothing, hiding in the shadows of a large tree, staring at a ruined temple nearby.

It took Gu Wanlan a moment to remember: this was her, the year she had just escaped from the Roulan grasslands.

That was the year her adoptive father died. Before passing, he told her the truth of her birth. Under the guise of scattering his ashes at the border, she attempted to flee Roulan. However, Xiao Sun, worried about her grief, had followed her.

Escaping was her top priority. Without hesitation, she had lied to him, hurt him, and fled. But even after reaching Great Xia territory, she found that Roulan had informants in Changping Pass. They had orders from the Roulan King to capture her and execute her as a warning to others.

Her biological father was a notorious traitor to Great Xia, but to Roulan, he was a symbol of strength. They tormented him in private while exalting him in public to lure more rebels. They never expected his daughter to be the first to defect.

She had nearly been caught, but she managed to slip into a carriage. There, she met a “crane” with broken wings, sinking into a swamp. Initially, she only intended to use him as a “brother” to evade capture, but after a brief, awkward period, the youth truly began to dote on her. She had never met someone so gentle; even when he was angry, he only blamed himself. She loved their life together.

But the accident on New Year’s Eve shattered everything.

While the youth was out, a gang of beggars they had crossed paths with kidnapped her. They scrubbed her face clean and sold her to a wealthy merchant with a depraved taste for young girls. She eventually killed the merchant to escape, but with blood on her hands, she could never return to the ruined temple. A girl named Ji Yan, whom she had also saved, offered her a place to hide.

On the day she was to leave, Gu Wanlan couldn’t help but return to the temple. She couldn’t show her face, so Ji Yan went to ask around for her.

Ji Yan came running back, her breath a misty white. “I asked around using the excuse that my wooden hairpin was stolen. Is that beggar you mentioned—the one with the scar on his left face—is he a mute?”

“He’s not a mute! His voice is just injured—”

Gu Wanlan watched her younger self instinctively snap back. Meeting Ji Yan’s surprised gaze, she looked away, her voice tight. “In this world… he is a good person. A good person shouldn’t be humiliated like that. Did they say where he is now?”

Ji Yan shook her head. “They say that on New Year’s Eve, he went mad searching for you. When he learned the beggars took you, he went to fight them. But that was the same day Roulan raiders attacked the pass… anyway, no one has seen him in Changping Pass since.”

Though this was a memory from five years ago, the Gu Wanlan floating in the air felt her heart break in sync with the girl kneeling in the snow.

“This is terrible,” the girl murmured, hugging her knees.

Ji Yan finally realized that Gu Wanlan—the “hero” who had dropped from the sky to save her—was just a small, lonely child when she sat down.

“Maybe he’s okay,” Ji Yan tried to comfort her. “Maybe he just left the pass.”

Gu Wanlan buried her head deeper. “It’s my fault. I should have known.”

Something hot fell and melted into the snow. She should have known. Even if she escaped the grasslands, as long as the world was in chaos, a “blade of grass” like her could never have lasting peace. Happiness was just a mirage on the sea; one gust of wind, and it vanished.

“Don’t cry,” Ji Yan panicked. “My brother is a good man. When he hears you saved me, he’ll treat you like a sister! No one will bully us again!”

Gu Wanlan went quiet. She stood up and roughly wiped her eyes with her sleeve. “I’m fine. Let’s go.”

“You aren’t going to keep asking?”

“No need. I’ll walk you home, but I won’t be staying there.” The girl looked at Ji Yan. Her eyes were red from crying, but the fire burning within them was enough to scorch anyone. “Because… I have something I must do.”

That was the burning ambition of thirteen-year-old Gu Wanlan.

When Gu Wanlan woke up, her pillow was wet with tears. She didn’t move, letting the emotions of the dream wash over her.

She suddenly remembered what Cui Jue had asked her before their passion took over: “When will you remember me?”

Later, when she had tried to press him, he had kissed her with a fierce, almost self-destructive desperation—as if punishing her for forgetting, yet punishing himself even more. No matter how much she teased him or made him tremble, he had kept his teeth clenched and refused to say another word.

The “brother” she had begged with five years ago… his face had blurred in her memory. Back then, the left side of his face was always hidden behind a hideous mask.

Wait!

Gu Wanlan bolted upright in bed. Her heart hammered against her ribs, and a sickening ringing filled her ears.

This dream was different from the others. The first dream was a “what if” where she stayed at the Pass. The second was a nightmare of her previous life in captivity. But this third dream was an exact match for her memories of five years ago.

The only exception was…

The youth in her memory wore a mask even when he slept. She had never seen his left face. And because he didn’t speak, she had assumed he was mute.

Yet, in the dream, she had explicitly mentioned he had a scar and an injured voice.

If they weren’t the same person, why were the experiences identical? But if the boy from her memory and the man in her bed were the same… it meant he might also have memories of a past life.

She took a deep breath, trying to steady her pulse.

If he had memories, he clearly knew more than she did. He had avoided the pitfalls of their previous life and then, like a game of house, led her into meeting him again—guiding her step-by-step to relive the same path.

Such a monumental effort… he must be after something massive.

Moonlight filtered through the window. Gu Wanlan turned to look at the sleeping Cui Jue. The first time she saw his eyes, they had felt familiar. Now she knew why. He was simply missing the mask, and he had gained a beautiful voice that the boy five years ago lacked.

If she hadn’t had this dream, she would have thought this was a beautiful reunion. But now…

A wave of exhaustion crashed over her. The pleasure of a few hours ago felt like a hollow illusion. She sat there in the moonlight, frozen. When she finally opened her eyes, they were clear and sharp.

Is he the one, or is he not? One test would tell.

She tucked her hair behind her ear and leaned down, hovering over his ear. Her face was expressionless, but her voice was sickeningly sweet, carrying the specific, girlish charm of a thirteen-year-old.

“Brother… I want to eat that roasted mutton you were going to make for me on New Year’s Eve. Wake up and make it for me, okay?”