Yu Xiao had never known a happy life, but she had always been a glass-half-full kind of girl. She dreamt of a bright future, of finishing her studies and starting her wonderful life. She never envisioned that her days would be cut short by a cruel disease, before she could finish her studies, before she could enjoy the fruits of her labour.

    The first days in the hospital were filled with confusion and disbelief. She racked her brain and struggled to make sense of her circumstances, questioning why she, a young and innocent person, had to endure such fate. But no answer came. Then she began the treatment, and the drugs wreaked havoc on her body. She endured headaches, nausea, and hunger. An old-timer in the ward warned her that this was nothing. The worst was yet to come.

    But Yu Xiao did not fear the pain. She clung to hope, a wish that she whispered every night before drifting into sleep. If only she could live, she would face any challenge, any sacrifice. She was ready to pay any price.

    **

    “Smiley…”

    “Smiley!”

    As Yu Xiao slowly blinked her eyes open, she was met by the anxious gazes of Zhao Lan and Zhou Xiao Zhen leaning over her.

    “Smiley, you’re awake!” Zhou Xiao Zhen exclaimed, running her hands over her friend’s body. “Are you hurt anywhere? We tried using the emergency healing talisman on you, but it didn’t work. Misty said you were simply asleep, but you wouldn’t respond to our calls, no matter how loudly we called out to you.”

    Yu Xiao felt a wave of confusion engulf her. She propped herself up, taking in the familiar surroundings of the warehouse.

    “I… had a dream,” she mumbled, then turned to them. “How did you both get here?”

    Zhao Lan let out a sigh of relief when she realised she was safe. “Do you remember when you transformed into Shen Chuan and advised us to leave? Well, shortly after that, we heard about the explosion at the lab. We regrouped with the others and fled from the research institute. However, on our way, we encountered Director Qu, who suffered a heart attack. Assuming the dream would end soon, we didn’t attempt to search for you. Yet, even after we distanced ourselves from the research institute, nothing changed, and you were nowhere to be seen. Concerned that something had gone amiss, we returned to look for you.”

    Yu Xiao felt a surge of anger and pain at the mention of Shen Chuan. He had no intention of ending the dream, even after destroying the lab. She rubbed her temples, trying to ease the throbbing in her head, and asked, “What did I look like when you found me?”

    Zhao Lan fixed her with a penetrating gaze and remarked, “You were lying on the ground, almost as if in a deep slumber.”

    Zhou Xiao Zhen furrowed her brows, still perplexed. “The lab was destroyed, so why didn’t the dream stop?” Suddenly, her eyes brightened, and she exclaimed, “Smiley, the Nightmare is dead, isn’t he?”

    Yu Xiao: “…”

    Zhou Xiao Zhen’s eyes sparkled as she gazed at Yu Xiao. “We saw everything, Smiley. The surveillance footage. How you impersonated Shen Chuan and cleared the lab. How you torched the underground beast and rigged the experiment. How you slipped away before the real Shen Chuan showed up. How the lab went up in flames, taking him with it.” She raised her thumb in admiration. “Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. A masterstroke of genius. You’re my hero, Smiley. You’re the best.”

    Yu Xiao felt a sour taste in her mouth. “…”

    Zhao Lan frowned, noticing Yu Xiao’s grimace. “Did we get something wrong?”

    Yu Xiao shook her head. “No, you got it all right. Except for one thing. Shen Chuan didn’t die.”

    Zhou Xiao Zhen gasped. “What? He survived that blast?”

    He did more than survive. He had the nerve to come and talk to her.

    “Where’s Director Qu?” Yu Xiao asked, worried that Shen Chuan might harm her. She had to protect Director Qu at all costs.

    “She’s in the hospital of the underground base,” Zhao Lan answered. “This place is too remote from civilization. We can’t risk moving her. She needs immediate care.”

    Yu Xiao nodded and stood up. “Let’s go then. We need to find Director Qu.”

    Yu Xiao was now a wanted criminal, but the research institute was in such disarray that no one paid attention to her. The three of them dashed out, but before they could locate Director Qu, the entire underground base trembled violently.

    Screams echoed everywhere. “Earthquake!!”

    Cars roared to life, trying to escape. Being underground during an earthquake was a nightmare. If the mountain collapsed, they would all be buried alive.

    The earth shook again, louder than before, and the screams rose to a crescendo. Yu Xiao wondered if this was how the dream was meant to play out, or if they had just drawn the short straw. Either way, they were trapped. The cars in front of them were crushed by falling debris, blocking the only exit.

    “Bad news!” someone shouted. “We’re trapped!”

    Yu Xiao felt a surge of adrenaline. She grabbed the hands of Zhou Xiao Zhen and Zhao Lan, and sprinted towards the base hospital.

    “This is too thrilling.” Zhou Xiao Zhen gasped as they dodged the boulders that rained from the ceiling. “I swear, I’m never watching disaster movies again. They’re nothing compared to this. This is real. This is hell…”

    “Hurry!” Yu Xiao spotted the hospital sign and tugged her friends along. They burst through the doors.

    The hospital was chaotic. Patients and staff ran around in panic, some wounded, some crying, some praying. The lights flickered ominously, then went out. Darkness surrounded them, occasionally interrupted by sparks and flashes.

    Zhou Xiao Zhen fumbled with her phone and turned on the flashlight. Zhao Lan and Yu Xiao did the same. They scanned the dimly lit hall, looking for a familiar face.

    “Where is Director Qu’s ward?” Zhao Lan asked, spotting a doctor who was cowering against the wall.

    The doctor looked at them with a blank expression. He trembled as he spoke. “Director Qu? We don’t have a director with that name here.”

    Yu Xiao rolled her eyes. “Not a hospital director, a patient. Qu Xiao. She was admitted recently for a heart attack. Where is she?”

    The doctor seemed to remember. “Oh, her…”

    Director Qu had been suffering from a heart condition, but miraculously, the earthquake seemed to have cured it. She would have bolted out of the hospital bed if the nurse hadn’t held her back with a stern warning. As she finally calmed down, the door burst open with a loud bang. Yu Xiao and her crew stormed in.

    “Director Qu!”

    The nurse had been using her phone’s flashlight to find a vein for the needle, but the abrupt interruption startled her. She jabbed the needle into Director Qu’s arm without aiming.

    Director Qu rolled her eyes, her face contorted in disbelief. “Oh~,” she let out a sour and satisfying sigh.

    Gasping and shrieking, the nurse exclaimed, “What are you doing?”

    “Director Qu doesn’t require treatment.” Zhao Lan approached and firmly pushed the nurse aside. “Please leave.”

    The nurse stood no chance against Zhao Lan’s strong physique and was effortlessly pushed out of the room. Panic-stricken, the nurse shouted, “The needle! The needle is still in her arm!”

    “Don’t worry,” Yu Xiao said as she plucked the needle out with a gentle tug.

    Director Qu watched the blood spurt out of her arm like a miniature geyser. She glared at Yu Xiao and asked, “Tell me the truth, are you actually an angel of death in disguise?”

    “What are you talking about?” Yu Xiao scolded. “Actually, I’m an angel of life in disguise.”

    Yu Xiao’s fingers dug into Qu Xiao’s shoulder, jolting her out of her trance. “Qu Xiao, listen to me,” she said urgently and gravely. “This is all a dream. You need to wake up now.”

    Director Qu blinked as a surge of déjà vu washed over her. Where had she heard this before?

    “Doesn’t this sound familiar to you?” Yu Xiao demanded, locking her gaze with hers. “I’m not the only one who said it to you, am I? That’s because deep down, you know this isn’t real.”

    Director Qu opened her mouth, but no words emerged. A cold sweat formed on her forehead.

    “Close your eyes and concentrate,” Yu Xiao said, squeezing her hand as if trying to anchor her to reality. “Can you remember your childhood memories?”

    Director Qu nodded slowly. “I can.”

    “What about before you turned three? Do you recall anything from then?”

    Director Qu shook her head, confused. Who could remember that far back? Was this some kind of test?

    “Wake up, Qu Xiao. Wake up,” Yu Xiao pleaded. “There are people out there who love you and miss you. Your fiancé Fan Xing has been waiting for you for years. How can you let him waste his life by your bedside, while you’re trapped in this nightmare?”

    Director Qu felt a pang in her chest. Fan Xing…why did that name sound so familiar? Did she really know him? Was he truly her fiancé? Was she really dreaming?

    A scream pierced the air, snapping her attention to the window. Director Qu gasped, “What’s happening out there?”

    The door creaked as Zhao Lan opened it a crack. She peered into the darkness of the corridor, where only the sound of distant screams pierced the silence. Holding her phone in front of her, she cast a feeble light that barely reached the walls. A huge tentacle whipped past the corner, making her gasp and slam the door shut.

    Locking eyes with Yu Xiao, who had followed her to the door, they exchanged a look of horror and disbelief.

    Tiptoeing back to the others who were huddled around the bed where Director Qu lay, they lowered their voices to a whisper.

    “What did you see?” Yu Xiao asked.

    “A monster,” Zhao Lan said. “It’s out there.”

    Zhou Xiao Zhen swore under her breath. “How is that possible? Smiley, you said you blew up the lab. How did the monster survive?”

    Director Qu stirred on the bed, her eyes wide and curious. “What are you talking about? What’s happening outside?”

    Zhao Lan bit her lip. “We have a problem. If she sees the monster, this dream will turn into a nightmare.”

    Zhou Xiao Zhen clenched her fists. “I’m not afraid of it. I’ll go out and fight it.”

    Yu Xiao shook her head. “Are you crazy? You don’t have to fight it. Just don’t let her see it. That’s all that matters.”

    She turned to Director Qu and forced a smile. “Don’t worry, it’s nothing serious. Just some troublemakers in the hospital. Nothing to do with us.”

    Director Qu frowned, unconvinced. “Are you sure? It doesn’t sound like nothing.”

    “It is.” Yu Xiao’s voice was firm as she brought her hand down in a swift chop, knocking Director Qu unconscious. She spun around and said, “Now she won’t see anything.”

    “Brilliant!” Zhou Xiao Zhen flashed a thumbs up, “What’s our next move?”

    “Let’s get her out of here.” Yu Xiao hoisted Director Qu over her shoulder, “The nightmare of this dream is the underground creature. Once we bring her above ground, everything will be fine.”

    With the hospital now filled with monsters, they had no choice but to escape through the window. Yu Xiao and her companions sprinted as fast as they could until they unexpectedly ran into Tan Qiao Yin and the rest of the group.

    “Thank goodness!” The others exclaimed, relieved to see them, “We’ve been searching for you.”

    With everyone together, they felt more confident. Tan Qiao Yin said, “There are monsters everywhere, and we have no idea where they came from. Yu Xiao, do you still have that item that can harm them?”

    Yu Xiao reached into her pocket and pulled out the Coin of Great Observation 2.0, a coin with mysterious powers. But before she could explain, a huge tentacle emerged from the shadows. Zhao Lan screamed, “Watch out!”

    Yu Xiao reacted on instinct, hurling the Coin of Great Observation 2.0 at the tentacle.

    They all dived to the ground, dodging the attack. The coin bounced on the floor, rolled twice, and settled in the dust.

    Yu Xiao scrambled to pick up the coin and examined it under the light. A shiver ran down her spine; it was the reverse side!

    She felt two pairs of hands lifting her up, one from each side. Zhao Lan snapped, “Are you daft? Why were you lying on the ground like that?”

    Tan Qiao Yin’s anger flared up; she retorted, “Who are you calling daft? What’s your relationship with Yu Xiao? What gives you the right to call her daft?”

    Zhao Lan shot a venomous look at Yu Xiao, and said mockingly, “What’s my relationship with her? I shared a bed with her!” She turned to Tan Qiao Yin and added, “Yu Xiao, you’re quite the charmer. You barely know her, and yet you can make her care about you so much?”

    ─── ? ── ☆ ── ? ───

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