Chapter 16 The Empress Wakes from a Bizarre Dream

"Empress, Empress, can you hear Brother Zifeng's voice?" Shangguan Zifeng was so thrilled he could hardly contain himself as he saw the Sleeping Beauty lying in the bed beginning to show signs of awakening. Then he started to speak in a slick, affected manner.

"Come on, Shangguan Zifeng, can you act a bit more normal? Stop being so creepy, will you?" Xuanyuan Wuji could not bear it anymore, he lifted his hand and smacked Shangguan Zifeng on the forehead. Shangguan Zifeng winced in pain and shut up, but he still remained closely by the Empress's side, hoping that she would see him first upon waking.

Shangguan Linlang's fingers began to twitch on the bed, and her eyelids also fluttered slightly, still humming softly, but refusing to open her eyes. This anomaly made the two men in the room tense up at once, and Shangguan's boy rushed out to find Nalan Fusui personally.

"Shangguan Linlang, you can hear me speaking, can't you? If you feel unwell, please wake up and tell me. Stop lying there; your family and friends are all waiting for you to wake up. Don't let them down," the CEO gently caressed Shangguan Linlang's delicate palm-sized face with his hand, then whispered in her ear.

After falling into a coma, Shangguan Linlang had entered a mysterious void state where she felt as if her soul was drifting in mid-air. As for the Empress, she didn't feel frightened or panicked; after all, having been the Ghost Empress for so many years, locked up in the Living Tomb for ages, Shangguan Linlang no longer considered herself a normal person. Therefore, no matter what bizarre scenario she encountered, the Empress maintained that it was nothing to fuss about.

So the Empress drifted on and on, not knowing how long it had been, when suddenly, a chaos appeared before her eyes. The Empress strained to open her eyes wide but couldn't see anything. For a moment, the Empress thought she might have tragically become blind, but after a while, the chaos dissipated, and a purple light appeared again before her, so bright that she couldn't even open her eyes. Later, as the purple light slowly faded away, the Empress opened her eyes once more, and to her astonishment, she saw her long-lost parents.

"Father, Mother, sob sob sob, Linlang has finally seen you. I thought you didn't want me anymore, sob sob sob."

Shangguan Linlang ran to her parents as if flying, longing to be embraced by them, yet her arms met only emptiness. The Empress was utterly despondent; she couldn't understand why she was even deprived of such a simple thing like touch. Was she about to dissipate into the ether, and were her parents merely a dying vision?

"Linlang, be a good girl and go back. It's not yet the day for us to meet. You still have many things to do, child. Go back, don't give up; many people are waiting for you. Don't be so willful. You've grown up; don't make your mother and father worry," Lady Shangguan said sadly as she looked at her daughter who had suffered for so many years. She too yearned to embrace her, but she couldn't, not wanting to harm her daughter just to satisfy her own fleeting desires.

"Linlang, be good and go find your brother. As long as you and your brother are safe, your parents can rest in peace," Shangguan Haotian said affectionately, looking at his little daughter whom he hadn't seen for a millennium.

"But brother doesn't recognize Linlang anymore; he doesn't want me," Shangguan Linlang's heart was torn with pain.

"Linlang, you must strive to find your complete brother. He has been searching for you for a very long time, and now it's your turn to search for him. Don't give up, Mother believes my daughter won't give up at the first sign of trouble. Go back, go back, child."

Shangguan Linlang struggled repeatedly in her dream until suddenly she sat up abruptly from the bed and called out, "Mother," waking up at last.