(1)
The Dream Orbs turned into points of starlight, drifting toward the boundless night sky.
That little boy was finally liberated from his endless dream.
An Jing felt a heavy stone finally fall from her heart.
Perhaps he was not the only child who could not wake up because of a dream.
But clearly, not everyone had such good luck to overcome themselves through An Jing’s guidance and encouragement.
-Next time I activate this Superpower, I should explore more… But I’m a bit tired today. Time to go back.
An Jing let out a massive yawn.
To be honest, feeling sleepy inside a dream was a truly rare thing.
However, she was not even sure if this counted as being in a dream.
Was she somewhere between entering a dream and staying awake?
She thought idly as she passed through the clouds, returning to the Small House.
But on the bed that should have been empty, a Dream Orb appeared.
Confused, she gave it a gentle poke.
Immediately, a massive suction force pulled at her.
This time, it was not voluntary at all.
She was forcibly sucked in, like being caught in a giant whirlpool in the sea.
The world spun.
Whish—aaaah—!!
Thud!
“Damn it, my butt is going to split…”
An Jing winced and clutched her backside, looking at the red clouds on the horizon.
It was a familiar place once again.
That was right—it was that dream… A landscape of ruins, filled with crumbling walls and broken debris.
Giant Mechanical Monsters were destroying the City.
They had legs as long as steel needles, but their bodies were exceptionally massive.
This uncoordinated, eerie sensation made one very uncomfortable.
Not far away was the School Building.
It looked mostly intact, casting a long shadow under the rays of the setting sun.
A Youthful An Jing wearing a leather jacket clutched his chest.
He staggered out from the shadows in the corner.
He stared up at the Giant Mechanical Monster destroying the City for a long time before shifting his gaze back to An Jing.
An Jing recognized this person.
Or rather, ‘recognized’ was not the right word.
Because that person was herself.
Her male, adult self grown up within the Dream World.
The Giant Mechanical Monster was walking toward the School.
The thump-thump sound grew closer and closer.
“Cough… ugh…”
The young man knelt on the ground and began to cough.
A thick glob of phlegm mixed with blood was spat onto the concrete ground, which faintly reflected the sunlight.
Although she had lost many memories of the Dream World, An Jing still felt an exceptionally familiar sensation.
That was right.
This was it—fighting and fighting, endless battle.
She did not know when the end would come.
The most terrifying thing in this world was being unable to see hope.
This made it difficult for one to keep persevering.
“Who… are you?”
The other ‘An Jing’ in the leather jacket turned his head, frowning slightly.
“I am another… you.”
“If you are me, then what am I?”
“We are the same person. Just the same person from… different times.”
“…I seem to have forgotten a lot of things.”
“Yeah…”
An Jing scratched her cheek awkwardly.
In fact, she had forgotten even more things than he had.
“Is this world I am in… real?”
An Jing scratched her cheek, not knowing whether she should answer.
“Forget it. It’s useless to ask anyway. Cough—”
“You are severely injured.”
“Two battles in a row, no time to rest. I don’t know if I should keep going anymore.”
“You can’t retreat.”
“It’s not retreating, it’s just… is there really any meaning to this? Endless… wouldn’t it be better to just die? At least I could be free.”
“Absolutely not! There are still people who need you to protect and save them!”
“But why can’t they save themselves?”
“…With great power comes great responsibility. You have to shoulder that responsibility.”
“I can’t see hope…”
“No hope? What if I told you that I am the future you?”
“The future me?”
“We succeeded. This… this place is actually a dream. We woke up. We saw the rising sun in the early morning.”
“There will be a day of success?”
“There will be! Absolutely! I am the you who has already woken up.”
A bit of brilliance suddenly appeared in the tired eyes of the Youthful An Jing in the leather jacket.
“Also, one more thing. Don’t fight just to die. You aren’t fighting for liberation. You are fighting to stay alive. You must fight to survive!”
“So much time has passed. I don’t even know what kind of heart I had when I sat in that Mecha back then.”
“Do you remember now?”
“I remember a little.”
The Youthful An Jing raised his right hand high.
Then, he used his left hand to make a forceful swipe across the back of his right hand.
Just as he was about to turn into a light orb and fly into the sky, he looked back at An Jing.
He grinned, revealing a somewhat silly smile.
“The sun will rise! Right?”
“Right!”
Before she could say anything more, a massive force pushed An Jing away.
It was like the repulsion of a magnet.
The ground grew further and further away…
(2)
“Hey—! Xiao Tu Zaizi, hurry up and get up! Get up now!!”
“Wake up, wake up! Do you hear me!!”
“Ugh!?”
An Jing suddenly snapped her eyes open and sat up in a panic.
The morning sun had already risen outside the window.
It was trying to fill the entire room with its pale yellow light.
“What is going on? You even wet the bed!”
“Huh?”
An Jing looked down in a panic.
Sure enough, her body felt warm and damp…
“Eeeh?!”
“Don’t ‘eeeh’ me. You wet the bed and you’re the one acting disgusted.”
“How did it get light so fast…”
“I should be asking you that. Hurry up, get down. Go take a shower and change your clothes. While the sun is good today, hurry up and have Huihui wash the bedding and sheets. Honestly, how old are you?”
“Damn it, that’s a Leak caused by my Superpower. It’s a Leak, it doesn’t count as wetting the bed…”
“Can’t you control your own Superpower?”
“At least the Dream Entry Ability can’t be controlled freely yet…”
An Jing saw Yu Minghui peeking into the room and suddenly felt guilty.
“Cough. No one is in the bathroom, right?”
“No, we finished washing up a long time ago.”
“Why did Fei Jie get up so early today?”
“It’s almost 9:00 AM, how is that early?”
“You slept so late yesterday.”
“Biological Clock, it’s the Biological Clock. Even if I’m sleepy, I’ll still wake up. It’s so annoying…”
Yu Mingfei let out a huge yawn and rubbed her eyes with her palm.
“I’ll take a nap later. Anyway, what are you still lounging around for?”
“I’m up, I’m up—!!”
(3)
The weather was very good today.
There was not a single cloud in the sky.
The sun could recklessly pour its light down.
A quilt was drying on the balcony of the large room.
As for the bedsheet, since there was no more room to dry it, it was hung on the railing outside the door.
Even though the marks of the ‘bed-wetting’ had been washed clean, An Jing’s face still flushed when she saw it.
“I was planning to change the quilts anyway. The weather is getting hot, so it’s time to switch to thin ones.”
Yu Minghui smiled lightly at An Jing, seemingly reading her thoughts.
“Xiao Jing, do you want to just sleep on a Straw Mat?”
“A Straw Mat is good. If it gets dirty, just wipe it. At most, give it a quick wash. It’s convenient and dries easily.”
“Cough, cough!!”
Hearing Yu Mingfei’s teasing words, An Jing could not help but cough forcefully.
“The weather is indeed getting warmer. Let’s just wash ours today too and switch to Straw Mats.”
“That works… but is there enough room to dry them?”
“If worst comes to worst, we can just use a rack and dry them at the door.”
“It’ll block the way.”
“Just push it to the side a bit. People will understand.”
“If you think it’s fine, then it’s fine.”
Yu Mingfei shrugged.
The mats An Jing and her Cousins used were double-sided.
One side was a Straw Mat, suitable for when the weather was not yet too hot.
The advantage of a Straw Mat was that it could get warm as you slept on it.
The other side was a Cool Mat, which was truly meant for the summer.
But those were only icy when you first lay down.
If you slept for a while, you would still sweat unless the He Kong Diao was on.
“It really is a beautiful day.”
“Want to go out and play later?”
An Jing glanced sideways at Yu Mingfei.
“Go out for what? Just let me nestle on the sofa.”
Yu Mingfei let out a massive yawn and curled up on the sofa to watch TV.
She tuned through several channels before finally stopping on a variety show.
An Jing did not like watching variety shows.
She always felt like those people were just acting stupid, laughing for no reason, or following others’ laughter for no reason.
Those stars also looked very unreal, with a heavy trace of performance.
Well, to put it bluntly, she was prejudiced against this stuff.
With colored glasses on, she naturally could not appreciate any interesting parts.
“Xiao Jing, breakfast is in the Kitchen. Serve yourself. I need to go out for a bit.”
“Huihui Jie is going to Caichang?”
“Yes.”
“How about I go too? I’ll help you carry things.”
“It’s not like I’m buying a week’s worth of food. There isn’t that much to carry.”
“Then buy more. It saves us from going out every day.”
“This way it’s fresh.”
“Oh! Right!”
Yu Mingfei, curled up on the sofa, suddenly slapped her head as if remembering something.
“When you go out, check if that Old Hair Salon is open. Last time I went to Dapeng Shopping Street to get a haircut, it cost thirty-five per person. It was expensive as hell and didn’t even look good. Might as well have gotten it done at his place.”
“Which one? The one I usually go to?”
“Yeah. The one with the blue glass, where the billboard fell off and the barber light doesn’t spin.”
“What’s wrong with that shop?”
“It hasn’t been open lately.”
“Huh?”
“Maybe it’s not profitable, so they don’t plan to open anymore. It’s normal, after all, it’s always been so cheap. Even the price hike this year wasn’t much…”
Yu Mingfei pressed her cheek against her knees and yawned several times.
“Oh right, I want to eat Fish Tofu today. Huihui, buy some back.”
“You have so many requests.”
“I didn’t ask you.”
“Tch!”
“Then Xiao Jing, eat quickly. We’ll go to the Caichang together.”
“Okay. What is breakfast anyway?”
“Apple Hawthorn Porridge.”
“Apple…?”
“I put in a bit of hawthorn too.”
“Ha—?”
“It’s very delicious. This time it’s definitely no problem. Xiao Tu Zaizi, you’ll know once you taste it.”
“For real…?”
“One must be brave and try new foods~”