(1)
In that Dream World.
Time flowed endlessly, and even An Jing began to doubt whether she and Zhu Ying would ever return to the real world.
More and more despair wrapped around her, until that day, when they reached the world’s end.
In the boundless ocean, a gigantic figure slowly emerged.
It was An Jing.
But this An Jing stood over a hundred meters tall.
She gazed down at the two standing on the shore with those deep Golden Eyes, as fathomless as the sea itself.
She looked like a deity.
An Jing felt as if she couldn’t move at all, chaotic thoughts rushing through her mind:
“There’s no point struggling anymore. This is a dream I can never escape.”
“I saved the others, but no one came to save me.”
“Ten years. A full ten years! How much time has passed in the real world? Will it be ten years by the time I wake up? If so, even if I return, I’ll have lost those ten years forever in reality…”
“Can’t escape, can’t leave. I might as well just die in this dream…”
“I don’t want to! I want to live! I want to go back to reality, to breathe the real sunlight!”
“But what if reality is the dream?”
“I’ll never believe that!”
“You see, beautiful things often come from imagination, from escaping cruel reality. That means this place is the real world. Otherwise, why can’t you leave?”
“That’s impossible. The others already left the Dream World. If this was reality, then how could it be just me and Xiao Ying left?!”
“Because they’re all dead, turned to dust by an overwhelming force.”
“If that’s really true, I’d rather die…”
“Xiao Jing, Xiao Jing! What’s wrong with you?” Zhu Ying looked out at the endless, empty sea, shaking An Jing’s body in panic, but An Jing remained silent and kept walking toward the water. “We’re sure this is the Dream World, so even if another ten years pass, it doesn’t matter. Since it’s a dream, we’ll wake up someday!”
An Jing lifted her head, looking at her gigantic self above the sea. That giant reached out both arms, as if to embrace her.
The waves crashed against the shore, sending icy spray high into the air. The freezing water jolted An Jing awake.
“Come, fall into my embrace. I’ll take you to the sweetest death…”
An Jing felt her body moving against her will—even now, even wanting to resist, she still couldn’t stop herself from stepping forward.
“Xiao Jing, what’s wrong!?”
An Jing saw the sea water already up to her chest, yet she couldn’t speak at all.
Death was so close.
The salty, fishy smell of the sea filled her nose. This place that birthed all life was now about to kill her.
“Xiao Jing!!!” Zhu Ying tried with all her might to pull An Jing back, but she too was inevitably dragged into the sea. A giant wave crashed over them, as if it would swallow them both into the deep…
“Stop!!!” An Jing’s Golden Eyes began to shine, flooding the entire sea with golden light.
Everything stopped.
“Death? I will not die. I’ll live until the day this dream ends…”
(2)
An Jing took a deep breath, closed her eyes, then suddenly opened them wide.
Her Golden Eyes seemed even more dazzling than the sunlight on her face.
Brother Wolf’s Adam’s apple bobbed. He looked as though he wanted to shout, but not a word would come out of his mouth. His right hand slowly rose, then swung up high, and—
“Pa!”
The slap was especially loud.
Everyone was stunned, even his own lackeys.
They didn’t know what kind of madness their boss was possessed by, or why he suddenly slapped himself. But it wasn’t over.
Right after, there came a series of crisp, repeating slaps.
Each one heavier and harder than the last.
His cheeks quickly turned red and swollen.
Zhu Ying bit her lip. On her flip phone’s screen, she’d already punched in “110”; all that was left was to call.
“Huff…” An Jing’s body was taut and trembling. She couldn’t help letting out a soft breath.
The man called Brother Wolf stood there, staring blankly at his own hands, utterly bewildered.
Most people didn’t dare move, but a green-haired thug suddenly rushed forward.
“What did you do to our Brother Wolf?!”
“Uh!” An Jing stepped back half a step, staring right into his eyes. Suddenly, just three steps from her, the thug with the raised fist crashed to his knees with a thud.
He knelt and kowtowed so hard his head broke open, then stood up and started bashing his head against the wall.
The whole wall shook violently. Zhou Chao felt the thugs holding him reflexively let go.
Finally, the green-haired thug collapsed backward, eyes unfocused—then clarity returned.
He staggered to his feet, but this time, truly didn’t dare act out again.
“M-monster!”
“My body was out of control just now… Was that a superpower?!”
“Or maybe you all just ate something weird and started freaking out?” Zhu Ying stepped in front of An Jing, raising her brows in mocking challenge.
A whole gang of thugs began feeling itchy and uneasy. One of them, nearly in tears from fear, muttered, “Brother Wolf, didn’t you say… that stuff wasn’t addictive…”
“E-even so, as ‘Brother Wolf’—” His face went pale. “W-we can’t take that stuff anymore.”
“Boss, we…”
“Go! Move! If the police catch us, we’re finished!” Brother Wolf grabbed his staggering henchman and fled toward the other end of the alley, the rest following close behind. In barely ten seconds, they’d all disappeared.
“Ha…huff…” With the crisis finally past, An Jing’s nerves relaxed. She gulped in deep breaths, legs trembling, barely able to stay upright. “Huff…huff…”
“Xiao Jing? Are you okay?” An Jing shook her head, cheeks flushed.
The others picked themselves up, some still confused.
“What the hell? Why did they all run off?” Lei Laohu touched the gash on his forehead and winced in pain.
“No idea. Two of them just went nuts, then they all bolted.”
“An Jing, you scared me to death just now. I thought you were going to get beaten.” Fang Qiang let out a sigh of relief.
“Getting beat is one thing. Haven’t you heard? Some of those thugs don’t even spare guys,” Sun Wei said, leaning against the wall. “Damn, my head hurts like hell from getting stomped.”
“So what actually happened? Was it… some kind of superpower?” Fang Qiang eyed An Jing, who still had her head down.
“No way, do superpowers really exist?”
“Haha, are you guys stupid? The thugs just said it themselves. Of course it’s not superpowers,” Zhou Chao said, arms akimbo, letting out a big laugh. “They must’ve been high.”
“High?”
“You don’t know? Some bars sell ecstasy. That stuff’s a drug, you know.”
“Damn, I’ve heard of it, but I didn’t think it was real.”
“Of course it’s real.”
“Wait, Zhou Chao, you wouldn’t…”
“Come on, like I’d do that stuff.”
“So they went nuts from withdrawal?” Sun Wei said, still shaken. “That’s terrifying. Looks like anti-drug enforcement still isn’t enough.”
“No need to worry now. We have something to hold over them. If they come after you again, just call the police.” Fang Qiang patted his shoulder.
“If you do drugs, will you go to jail?”
“They’ll put you in rehab at least, right?”
“Exactly.”
“Alright, alright, it’s over now. Ah Wei, you have to treat us. We all took hits for you today!” Zhou Chao laughed.
“Damn right. But I don’t have that much cash. How about this: one bubble tea and two skewers of grilled meat each! Deal?”
“Deal!” Lei Laohu elbowed Sun Wei in the chest. “It’s the thought that counts!” “Tiger Bro, you okay? You took a lot of hits.” This time, Sun Wei called him by his nickname, completely sincere.
“No problem, just flesh wounds. Can’t have a fight without getting hurt.”
“Haha, that was awesome! I landed a bunch of punches on that loser. If nobody had blindsided me from behind…”
“I took on four at once!” Fang Qiang boasted. “If there’d only been three, they wouldn’t have stood a chance. I could take one down with a single punch!”
“How about my flying kick just now?”
“It was awesome! Too bad you missed, or you’d have left a shoe print on that self-proclaimed Brother Wolf’s face.”
“Haha, Brother Wolf? More like a mangy dog!” “Yeah, exactly!”
The boys left, arms around each other, heading into the distance. Zhou Chao, at the end of the group, suddenly stopped and turned to look at An Jing and Zhu Ying, who hadn’t moved. “Aren’t you coming?”
“Xiao Jing doesn’t seem to feel well.”
“Oh. Then get home early. Want me to walk you?” “No, go on. I’ll stay with Xiao Jing.”
“Alright. See you next week.” Zhou Chao waved.
Zhu Ying tilted her head at An Jing, whose face was so red it looked about to drip. “W-what’s wrong…?”
“Why isn’t Xiao Jing saying anything?” “My… my legs are weak…”
“Pfft…” Zhu Ying couldn’t help but cover her mouth, laughing.
“Don’t laugh… This… this time…”
“What?” Zhu Ying was still confused for a second, then remembered something else. “Oh, right. You used that superpower today, but you didn’t rush to the bathroom after?”
“There wasn’t time. This time… it lasted too long. While I was using it… I… I already…”
“No wonder I smelled something weird.”
“Don’t… don’t touch my pants!” “They’re already wet…”
“Ahem!!”
“I thought you were just playing it cool~ turns out, it was that.”
“Want to come to my place to change?”
“But… but my legs are weak… and numb…” “You’re hopeless. I’ll help you walk.” “Slowly…”
“My shoes didn’t get wet too, did they?”
“Ahem!!!”
“Let’s hope Sister Huihui doesn’t notice anything strange when she’s washing your shoes.” “…Maybe spray some perfume inside to cover it?” “That’ll only make it worse!”