Cheng Ying had just breathed a sigh of relief, only to see his elder brother and little sister walking over to greet his parents with happy smiles.

    When he turned around, his elder brother''s face suddenly appeared in front of him. His heart and stomach clenched, and every nerve in his body became tense.

    Hands.

    Darkness.

    Trapped, trapped, trapped.

    "Cheng Ying, are you really from our Cheng family?" His elder brother''s voice echoed in his head.

    His elder brother''s tone was filled with contempt, disdain, and derision. It was then that his little sister''s face suddenly appeared next to his elder brother''s, wearing a black mask while showing the glint of the dark, malevolent eyes, and she was giggling in front of him with the same derision and disdain in his elder brother''s eyes.

    Cheng Ying froze in place, just like the blood that seemed to stop running in his body. He wanted to leave, but there seemed to be no other place he could go.

    Hands.

    Darkness.

    Laughter.

    Trapped, trapped, trapped.

    "The sounds and scents of nature. The sound of birds singing came from the backyard, and it turned out that the fragrance of flowers was everywhere."

    Suddenly, Cheng Ying heard a voice say this, cutting through the darkness invading his world.

    Everything—the darkness, the shadows, the hands, the derision, and all the other negativities in front of him—turns a little blurry. Everything was lighter.

    Trapped, trapped, trapped...

    "The bearing of affliction, pain, and loss. There are no disasters and pains because the pains and sufferings are left to the gods. There are no worries because the worries are left to the gods. There are no disappointments because the disappointments are left to the gods."

    The pleasant and gentle voice continued to sound clearer and clearer with the passing of every second of time, and the blurry, snow-like black and white picture in front of him was now like an old-fashioned or antique TV set, and everyone''s movements were stuck in a hazy and blurry static image one after another. Everything was clouded.

    Suddenly, he was not trapped anymore. Those hands had stopped catching up to him. Everything had stopped.

    Cheng Ying was startled out of his sleep, and he suddenly and rapidly sat up as a subconscious reaction.

    Yue Ran was standing not far away from the sofa that Cheng Ying was sleeping on. She slowly asked when he saw the young man wake up, "Did I disturb your sleep?"

    She had seen that Cheng Ying seemed to be having a nightmare in his nap, so she did not forcefully wake him up. Instead, she spoke with the voice when she was reading a fairy tale to persuade the young man to wake up from that unpleasant dream.

    This could work, mostly because he had always shown an unusual interest in the stories that she had read aloud.

    When Cheng Ying heard Yue Ran''s voice, one that he seemed to be hearing in his dream, now awake from his slumber, he was startled again.

    He then turned around from his position and suddenly found that Yue Ran was still there, so he blinked, stood up, and took two steps back in hesitation. He bit his lower lip in a cautious manner and looked at the young woman, looked away, looked back, looked away, and then looked back at her again.

    "You want to ask me why I have not left yet, right?" Yue Ran spoke with a smile on her lips. Sear?h the n?vel_Fire.ηet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Cheng Ying nodded slightly. He had expected her to leave when he was fast asleep. He knew very clearly that she had no obligation to look after him when their session was over.

    "Did I not say before that I would keep on reading you the story until you had heard enough today? This is your reward for keeping your promise," Yue Ran said.

    Yue Ran blinked at the young man. She did not say that she was afraid of waking Cheng Ying up or that she wanted to wait for him to get up before leaving, which might increase the psychological burden in his mind and thus affect subsequent consultations.

    "I brought a lot," Yue Ran said in a sing-song voice.

    The young woman naturally opened the zipper of her bag without making any excessive noise in one elegant movement, and Cheng Ying could see the books that were exposed from the open bag from where he was standing.

    Yue Ran smiled and asked, "How is it? Do you still want to hear it? Or should we leave it until a later date to do so?"

    Leaving it for a later date is a very meaningful statement.

    Moreover, people, especially simple and pitiful people like Cheng Ying, usually choose the latter option when facing someone they trust. That is, if they believe that the person in front of them sincerely cares for them.

    This is a small psychological game, and of course, it is also related to Yue Ran''s expressions, movements, and tone. Everything is calculated perfectly, as precise and accurate as everything was supposed to be.

    "When will it be in the future?" he asked.

    Cheng Ying seemed to have a better impression of her because she was still there after he woke up. Finally, he no longer held back his words but turned his head to look at Yue Ran and asked her with that unique voice of his, which sounded nice and pure, only unique to him.

    "When do you want it to be?" Yue Ran asked the young man back.

    People like Yue Ran are most accustomed to kicking questions back to the person who asked them.

    She had to admit that it was fun.

    Cheng Ying was immediately stumped by his own question. He lowered his head and looked at his fingers for a while, and he could not help but think of that dream. Would even his hands turn into monsters to catch him? To trap him? He would surely be caught up soon.