Courtyard House: My Long and Hard Body Makes Me Play with All the Women in the Courtyard

She raised her head, her voice suddenly turning cold: "And I will not let this happen a second time."

The clock tower's doors slowly opened, revealing a spiral staircase leading underground. Just as the two were about to step out, Ash suddenly blocked their way.

"Wait!" He grabbed Su Ting's arm. "What's down there isn't salvation—it's judgment! The 'Dream Guardians' are hiding there! They are the real manipulators, and Su Ting is just the executor! If you go down, your consciousness will be permanently formatted! Xiao Yue will also be judged as a 'high-risk entity' and directly eliminated!"

Chapter 1267 Finally, he lowered his head.

Su Ting looked directly at him: "Then, back then, did you ever save anyone?"

Su Ting was stunned.

"Did you?" Su Ting took a step closer, his voice low but sharp, "Was there even once when you chose to open the door instead of closing it?"

Su Ting's lips moved, but he finally lowered his head: "...No."

"Then let today be the first time." Su Ting took Xiaoyue's hand in return and stepped into the clock tower without hesitation.

Below the steps was a dark space.

The walls are made up of countless memory crystal panels, each reflecting a child's dream: some are running under the starry sky, some are laughing and playing in the garden, and some are curled up in a corner, silently counting the seconds.

Suddenly, a mechanical female voice echoed in the space:

"Unauthorized entity detected. Purification process initiated. Personality identification: Lin Xiaoyue, ID X-7, Life status: Cancelled. Disposal plan: Retrieval."

A blinding red light appeared, the ceiling cracked open, and dozens of light streaks, like venomous snakes, descended, rushing straight at Xiaoyue.

Su Ting pulled him behind her, and with a swift stroke of her star-shaped pen, wrote two words in the air:

"reject!"

The light strands froze half a meter away from them, then disintegrated.

"You have no right to judge him!" Su Ting roared. "He's not a number, not data, not a sample on your lab bench! He's a living, breathing person! He has a name, memories, and people who love him!"

Suddenly, all around became quiet.

The memory crystal panel began to flicker, and faces appeared one after another—those children who had been erased, their voices intertwining into whispers:

"I want to wake up too..."

"Mom is still waiting for me to come home..."

"I don't want to be an energy source... I want to eat, I want to feel pain, I want to cry..."

Xiaoyue slowly walked forward, picked up the picture book, and turned to the last page.

On that page were 327 small drawings—every day, he would draw in his dreams what he wanted to do after waking up.

"Have a bowl of hot noodle soup."

"Flying kites with my brother."

"Rolling on the grass."

"See a real rainbow."

He looked up, his voice clear and resonant like a bell:

“I did not apply to be sent to the observation station! I did not agree to become an experimental subject! I have not given up my right to live! Today, I am not here to ask for your approval to awaken—”

He closed the picture book and slammed it to the ground.

"I'm here to tell you—**I'm awake, and it's none of your business!**"

boom--!

The entire clock tower shook violently, and the memory crystal panels shattered, turning into rising dust.

A white figure emerged from the depths.

It was a little girl in a white dress, with a face exactly like Xiaoyue's, but with empty eyes, and her whole body was made of semi-transparent data streams.

“I am… Xiaoyue’s backup personality,” he said softly, “used to maintain system stability. If the main consciousness awakens, I will be overwritten and my consciousness will be annihilated.”

Xiaoyue watched him quietly.

"Are you scared?" he asked.

The "backup" nodded slightly: "...I'm afraid. But I'm even more afraid that when you wake up, you'll find that the world isn't as wonderful as in your dream."

Xiaoyue stepped forward and gently hugged him.

“That’s okay.” He whispered in his ear, “Because no matter how cold reality is, I’ll always have your hand. No matter how much it hurts, I’ll be there to help you bear it. The beauty in my dreams is because I’m waiting for him; the beauty in reality is because—we’re really together now.”

The backup body began to glow before gradually fading away.

He smiled one last time and said, "Eat one more roasted chestnut for me."

"Yes." Xiaoyue nodded with tears in her eyes. "Definitely."

From deep within the clock tower, the sound of breaking chains suddenly echoed.

Chapter 1268 The Source of Dream Data

A heavy bronze door slowly opened, revealing only a gentle darkness behind it, like a mother's embrace.

Su Ting caught up, panting, "That's the 'Well of Source Core'—the source of all dream data. Once you go in, there's no turning back. The real world will completely erase your traces; no one will remember you ever existed."

Su Ting looked at Xiao Yue.

Xiaoyue was also looking at him.

The two laughed almost simultaneously.

“As long as we remember each other,” Su Ting said. “What does it matter who remembers us?”

Xiaoyue took his hand and led him towards the door.

Just as they were about to step inside, a familiar figure blocked their way.

Su Ting.

He was wearing an old white lab coat, holding a yellowed diary in his hand, and his face was expressionless.

“Su Ting, Xiao Yue,” he said calmly, “have you really thought this through? Crossing this door won’t just mean your disappearance—the entire dream system will restart, and all sleepers will face a choice: continue dreaming, or risk waking up. And those who wake up may never have anyone willing to catch them again.”

Su Ting looked at him and suddenly asked, "Why did you give me that stardust pen three years ago?"

Su Ting remained silent for a moment, then slowly opened the diary.

On the first page, there was a line of text:

"If one day, someone is willing to go through ten thousand reincarnations for a 'mistake'—please hand the pen to him."

“Because I’ve seen too many ‘correct’ endings,” Su Ting said softly, “all as cold as iron. But you… showed me the possibility of an ‘exception’.”

He stepped back and bowed.

"The door is open."

Su Ting gripped Xiaoyue's hand tightly, about to take a step—

Suddenly, Xiaoyue broke free from him and ran towards Su Ting.

He stood on tiptoe and kissed him on the cheek.

"Thank you for being the bad guy for so long," he said with a smile. "Now, go do what you want to do."

Su Ting stood there stunned, raised her hand to touch her face, and her eyes suddenly reddened.

"Silly child... I'm not a bad person, I just... don't dare to be a good person for too long."

Xiaoyue ran back and took Su Ting's hand again.

The two smiled at each other and stepped into the gate of darkness together.

Behind me, the clock tower slowly collapsed, turning into countless specks of light that drifted away in the wind.

The sea returned to calm, and the aurora gradually disappeared.

Su Ting stood at the edge of the ruins, gazing at the vanished door, and murmured softly:

"Hey, Su Ting... if you ever get tired from walking, remember—"

"The door has been open the whole time."

The salty sea breeze rose again, this time carrying a hint of warmth, as if it were alive, gently brushing against Su Ting's cheek. He stood there, stunned, the warmth of that kiss still lingering in his palm, like a faint yet persistently flickering flame.

In the distance, the island is slowly sinking, and specks of light, like grains of stardust, rise into the night sky, merging into the night firmament, like a dream being released back into the wild.

“Silly child…” he murmured repeatedly, his voice hoarse, “You say thank you to me? But I’m the one who should be saying sorry.”

Suddenly, the crystallized ground beneath their feet trembled, and a crack spread out from the direction of the Source Core Well, with blazing white light seeping out from the crack, as if some being was awakening.

[WARNING: System core reconstruction in progress. Consciousness network redirection. Identity overwriting initiated.]

The mechanical female voice sounded again, but it was not as cold as before. Instead, it carried a hint of hesitation, like someone searching for their name in a dream.

"Wait!" Su Ting suddenly looked up and roared at the void, "The system needs an anchor point to restart—you left the 'memory carrier' behind?!"

Chapter 1269 The First Sleeper