Chapter 174 – Piercing Through the Deep Dream

Chapter 174 – Piercing Through the Deep Dream

After finishing the arrangements the Bureau Chief had assigned, Song Cheng returned to his office, lit a cigarette, and gazed out the window somewhat absent-mindedly.

Layer upon layer of endlessly repeating, labyrinth-like spiral walls stretched out beyond the window, extending all the way toward the infinite distance. Torrential rain poured upward from between those maze walls, flying into the sky and washing over another expanse of land above.

Song Cheng dazed for a moment before remembering that today was Friday, and the floor where his office was located would shift to the observation level of the “Labyrinth” zone after twelve o’clock.

Friday — wonderful, something to look forward to. Tomorrow would be the pleasant weekend… overtime day.

Song Cheng gave a self-deprecating laugh, casually pulled down the office blinds, turned to his desk, and looked at the several case files his subordinates had just delivered.

These were all materials related to the Otherworld “Fairy Tale,” along with some intelligence concerning current members of the “Fairy Tale Organization.”

Thanks to the recent activity of a certain “up-and-coming Spirit Detective organization,” several departments within the Special Operations Bureau had now shifted their attention to “Fairy Tale.”

Casually stubbing out his cigarette in the ashtray beside him, Song Cheng calmed his mind and began leafing through the paper documents before him.

After an indeterminate amount of time, a somewhat hurried set of footsteps suddenly echoed from the corridor outside, causing Song Cheng to pause in his reading.

The instant the knock sounded at his door, he was already speaking: “Come in.”

The office door was pushed open, and Ren Wenwen, with her short black hair, appeared in the doorway. “Captain Song, the arrest team dispatched to the south side of the city is back. Mission accomplished successfully.”

“They caught those two Angel Cult members?” Song Cheng raised an eyebrow at the news, a hint of a smile crossing his face. “Any bigger fish?”

“It seems… no,” Ren Wenwen shook her head. “The arrest team staked out the location for several days. The two cultists appeared to be operating independently — either that, or they were standard ‘severed-link members.’ Their superiors assigned the mission and then temporarily cut the connection. Would you like to go take a look?”

“…Alright, I’ll head over now.”

…

In his bedroom, Yu Sheng had fallen into a drowsy sleep.

The expedition through the Black Forest and the fierce battle with Grandmother Wolf had drained too much of his energy. Although some inexplicable sense of excitement had been propping him up, making him feel not all that tired, the moment he returned to his bedroom and lay down on the bed, he fell asleep within two minutes, overcome by a sudden and irresistible wave of drowsiness.

In his haze, he sensed rustling movement beside him — probably the doll coming over for a nap as well. He also heard the sound of bare feet padding down the corridor — that would be Hu Li returning to her room.

Then he heard the hollow sound of wind, wind blowing through a forest, stirring lush branches and leaves, passing through towering ancient trees and dried, fallen trunks, howling emptily — and within it, there seemed to be the faint, indistinct sound of an infant crying.

Yu Sheng snapped his eyes open.

He found himself lying in total darkness, surrounded by a murky chaos as though shrouded by an impossibly thick curtain. Something seemed to lurk behind the curtain, but he couldn’t make it out at all. And in the darkness before him, he discerned a tall, hazy shadow.

The shadow wore a set of weathered hunting garb and a dark-colored hood. Beneath the hood — nothing. No body.

But Yu Sheng could clearly feel that within the void beneath that hood, a gaze was resting quietly upon him.

A chill jolted him fully awake. He rose from the darkness and stared fixedly at the figure in the hunting garb.

At the same time, Yu Sheng used his peripheral vision to quickly survey his surroundings, assessing the situation.

Had he returned to the Black Forest? It didn’t seem like it… The Black Forest didn’t have scenery like this. These heavy curtains were more like his own dreamscape… But just now he thought he’d heard the hollow wind blowing through a forest, which felt very similar to the Black Forest… And then there was that other sound in the wind — was that an infant crying?

Was this his dreamscape? The Black Forest? Or had his “dream” connected to something bizarre again?

Yu Sheng quickly steadied himself. After realizing he couldn’t determine what was going on here, he focused his attention on the phantom figure before him.

The figure was completely still, apparently with no intention of suddenly raising a hunting rifle and shooting him.

“Hello,” Yu Sheng ventured tentatively, offering a greeting. “Should I call you ‘the Hunter’?”

The figure gave no response whatsoever.

“You definitely are,” Yu Sheng felt a bit awkward but could only keep talking to himself. “We’ve met in the Black Forest — twice. The second time you even shot me. Of course, I didn’t really mind. You must’ve had your reasons, right?… Hey, buddy, can you give me something here? You’re making this really awkward for me.”

The “Hunter” still showed no reaction, as if it were nothing more than a phantom projection that had somehow materialized in this dark space that might or might not be a dream.

Yu Sheng furrowed his brow tightly. He crept forward cautiously, observing the figure’s reactions, then carefully circled around it.

“You can’t speak?” Yu Sheng asked curiously.

He still received no response.

After this standoff continued for a while, Yu Sheng finally gritted his teeth and reached his hand toward the hunting garb floating in the air.

He only meant to touch it, to see how the Hunter would react. But the next second, he discovered that his fingers had passed through the clothing with almost no resistance.

Yu Sheng flinched in surprise, then saw that the “Hunter” was still just standing there blankly. Only then did he relax slightly, growing a bit bolder, and extended his hand further forward.

He felt a slight resistance — a half-real, half-illusory drag produced as his fingers passed through the “fabric.” Then he felt a faint chill, as though he’d touched a pocket of air three or four degrees colder than the surrounding environment. But beyond that, there was nothing unusual.

Yu Sheng stood beside the “Hunter” like this, his entire arm plunged into the hunting garb. Then he suddenly frowned.

Without realizing it, part of the arm he’d thrust into the garb had overlapped with one of the sleeves — as though he had “put on” that sleeve.

The next second, he saw that the sleeve — which had been hovering in midair like a phantom, motionless from start to finish — suddenly moved, following the motion of his own arm. The movement was subtle, but it didn’t escape his eyes.

He was “putting on” this outfit!

The instant association and realization seemed to send a shockwave through this dark, chaotic “dreamscape.” Yu Sheng suddenly felt violent trembling from every direction. Amid the shaking, he found that at some point he had already withdrawn his arm — he watched as the heavy “curtains” around him collapsed, the dark space began to disintegrate, and the hollow, formless “Hunter” suddenly moved, retreating with stiff, eerie steps. In almost the blink of an eye, it had receded to nothing more than a phantom shadow in the distance.

Yu Sheng instinctively reached forward, trying to stop the eerie “Hunter,” but he barely had time to raise his arm before he heard a somewhat familiar voice beside his ear —

“Mister, what are you doing?”

Everything before his eyes shattered and dissolved. Yu Sheng was disoriented for only an instant before he saw that he was standing on a boundless, dim wilderness. A murky gray sky hung over the plains, nameless wild grass blanketed the earth, a familiar small hill stood quietly in the distance, and a breeze swept across the wilderness, sending waves rippling through the grass.

And a little girl who looked about five or six years old was standing right beside him, curiously tilting her head up and blinking at him.

Yu Sheng’s mind was still immersed in his encounter with the “Hunter” and the moment he’d nearly “put on” that hunting garb. It took him two or three seconds of standing there blankly before he snapped back to reality: “Xiaoxiao?!”

“Hello, Mister!” Xiaoxiao suddenly broke into a smile, cheerfully greeting Yu Sheng.

“Uh, hello… Wait, no — what are you doing here?!” Yu Sheng stared at the little girl in utter bewilderment. The moment the words left his mouth, he immediately looked up and scanned his surroundings, but saw no sign of Little Red Riding Hood. “Are you alone?”

“I don’t know either,” Xiaoxiao said, tilting her head in confusion. “I was taking a nap.”

“A nap?”

“Mm-hm. Teacher Su had us take a nap. You have to sleep at noon, or you’ll be tired in the afternoon,” Xiaoxiao explained. “So I fell asleep, and then I dreamed a big bad wolf was chasing me, so I ran and ran and ran. Eventually I really couldn’t run anymore, and I tripped… and fell into here. Then after a little while, I saw you show up too, but you seemed to be spacing out.”

The little girl’s account was a bit jumbled, but the basic logic and sequence of events were intact. Yu Sheng immediately understood what she was saying, yet his expression was even more bewildered than before.

Xiaoxiao had dreamed of a “big bad wolf” — that was undoubtedly the influence of “Fairy Tale” on her. She must have fallen into the Black Forest again in her sleep and been spotted by the wolves. But she said she’d been running and tripped… and fell into this wasteland? What kind of situation was that?

Yu Sheng looked around. He knew, of course, where this was — it was still that peculiar “dreamscape” of his. But after several consecutive experiences that didn’t add up, he had begun to vaguely realize something.

Was this place… really a “dreamscape”?

Yu Sheng recalled the last time he’d seen Little Red Riding Hood here. He still remembered that when he’d “woken up” from this place, Little Red Riding Hood had remained on this wilderness. If his teacher hadn’t caught him sleeping in class and hit him awake with a piece of chalk, Little Red Riding Hood could have kept staying here. And this time, Xiaoxiao had arrived on this wilderness even before he entered…

All the clues pointed to one conclusion: this wilderness was not a “dreamscape” at all.

This was a “place” — a space of consciousness, or something else entirely. It had always existed. It was just that when he dreamed… there was a very high chance he could come here.

(End of Chapter)