Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Ying Jian was truly so lacking in exercise that even just watching Ning Shuo kick the kidnapper away twice had left him utterly exhausted.

He seemed to have accidentally strained his back as well.

Once Ning Shuo finished off the kidnapper, he grabbed Ah Shu’s hand and started running toward the exit.

Of course, he still wanted to leave this dream.

Ning Shuo gripped Ah Shu’s wrist, pressing his fingers against her pulse, hoping Ying Jian would realize she didn’t actually have a heartbeat.

In other words, in reality, Ah Shu was already dead.

However, Ying Jian’s pace only faltered for a fraction of a second before he continued pulling Ah Shu along as they ran.

Ning Shuo’s heart jolted as he realized something: Ying Jian hadn’t lost his memory at all.

Out of all the subjects in the Hypnosis Experiment, he was the only one who had retained every single memory.

Ying Jian had noticed Ning Shuo’s presence but hadn’t driven him away, so Ning Shuo spoke up boldly: “You remember everything.”

Ying Jian didn’t answer. Instead, while pulling Ah Shu toward a car to rush to the police station, he began to consciously think about his life in the modern world.

Memories recalled intentionally were disjointed, but fortunately, Ning Shuo was able to extract the key points.

…

Ying Jian had taken on a case involving an accidental killing committed by a mentally ill patient.

He won, successfully reducing the defendant’s sentence.

The plaintiff had accused him of being heartless, saying that defending a murderer would bring him divine retribution sooner or later.

Ying Jian ignored them.

Wasn’t fighting for a client’s maximum legal rights within the scope of the law also a way of upholding justice?

He hadn’t expected the plaintiff to be so devastated by the trial that their mental state became unstable.

But the plaintiff could clearly still control themselves, and it was for that very reason that three months later, they kidnapped his wife.

Ying Jian had watched his wife die right in front of him.

Getting a second chance, Ying Jian was clearly far more desperate than he had been the first time. He drove straight into the kidnapper’s vehicle, instilling fear in the plaintiff while narrowly saving Ah Shu.

Though, in truth, he had almost failed to save her and nearly lost his own life in the process.

Ying Jian’s steady demeanor while driving gave no hint that the speedometer had hit a hundred and sixty.

Beside him, the woman spoke with lingering fear. “Ah Shu, this is too terrifying…”

“Ah Shu” was the codename Ying Jian had given himself out of longing for his deceased wife.

In the Hypnosis Experiment, the participants were only ever addressed by their codenames.

“Ah Shu,” Ying Jian suddenly spoke to the woman, his expression not looking like someone who had just escaped death. “Thank you so much for letting me see you one last time. But,”

Ying Jian let out a breath and gave a bitter smile. “Even though I don’t mind the name, I never saw you survive that day. My emotions were too high, so in the subsequent dream, the version of you I imagined was based on the personality I’m most familiar with. The ‘you’ in this dream isn’t quite right.”

“You don’t act like Ah Shu.”

“If she were really in this situation, Ah Shu wouldn’t be as calm as you are.”

The face of the woman calling herself “Ah Shu” slowly began to shift, transforming into Ying Jian’s own face.

“You see,” Ying Jian murmured to himself, though Ning Shuo knew the words were meant for him. “In the end, the person I’m most familiar with is myself. Even in a dream where I get to do it all over again, Ah Shu ends up being exactly like me.”

“Thank you, whoever you are.”

“Don’t worry. I’m going to wake up.”

…

Ning Shuo opened his eyes. The first thing he smelled was the scent of the incense that had been lit when the hypnosis began.

He stood up. Except for Ying Jian, the seats for the others were almost all empty.

A young girl was waiting outside the door. When Ning Shuo asked where the others and the Dreamweaver had gone, she said the others had gone to complete an Extra Task issued by the Dreamweaver. The man inside would have to go as well once he woke up.

Ning Shuo asked, “What task?”

The little girl named Wanzi replied, “Coaxing the sleepless children in town to bed.”
She counted them up and let out a small cry of surprise. “Oh! That’s exactly five!”

The little girl, her hair tied in two buns, gave Ning Shuo a polite smile. “Mr. Number One, my uncle said that you must wait in the house. You aren’t allowed to go out.”

Her uncle likely referred to the Dreamweaver. Ning Shuo asked, “Is this supposed to be my reward for waking those guys up?”

The little girl only giggled and said nothing more.

Soon, Ying Jian woke up. Following the girl’s instructions, he headed to the home of the last child in town who needed to be lulled to sleep.

As the day grew late, Ning Shuo gnawed on the dry rations the girl had given him. “Have you seen my brother?” he asked.

“Do you mean Mr. Thief?” the girl replied.

“Why do you call me Number One but call him a thief?”

“Because he tried to steal my hair ribbon.”

“…”

“Sorry. I apologize on his behalf.”

The little girl shook her head. “It’s okay, Mr. Good Person. I had a fight with Mr. Thief.”

Ning Shuo was struck with horror. “He’s already so weak that fighting with you counts as ‘having a fight’?!”

The girl nodded. “I won. I bit him twice.”

Ning Shuo had noticed the bits of raw, bloody meat stuck between her white teeth earlier, but he had assumed it was just a fixed character trait of an NPC.

For some reason, his own arm started to ache sympathetically.

About an hour later, someone finally stepped into the small courtyard.

Ning Shuo looked at the newcomer’s arm-bandaged but still seeping blood-and mocked, “How could you lose a fight to a little girl?”

Ning Wang glanced at him, then turned to Wanzi and said softly, “Come here, little one. This gentleman thinks he can beat you at rock-paper-scissors.”

Ning Shuo’s smile vanished instantly.

So it was a contest of luck.

Well, then Ning Wang had lost fair and square.

Shen Xiao and Sui Chunsheng returned together, followed by An Sheng. Ying Jian arrived almost immediately after them.

Now that everyone was present, Ning Shuo looked at Wanzi. “Now that we’re all back, can you ask your uncle to help us solve our insomnia…”

Mid-sentence, Ning Shuo froze.

Wait.

During the day, they were conducting a Hypnosis Experiment.

The experiment was a success; all six of them had successfully entered the dream world. They were already asleep.

In other words, the main quest was already complete.

That left only the Player quest: find the Murderer.

To find a murderer, there first had to be a victim.

A corpse.

Ning Shuo looked toward the pitch-black interior of the house.

Since waking up, Ning Shuo had been sitting at the door chatting with Wanzi and hadn’t gone back inside. The others who returned had simply sat in the courtyard, waiting for the rest to arrive so they could go find the Dreamweaver together.

…So, where had the Dreamweaver, who had been missing for so long, gone?

Clearly, the others had realized this too. After exchanging looks, Ning Shuo asked the girl, “Wanzi, where is your uncle?”

Wanzi tilted her head, the blood and meat still visible between her teeth. She shook her head. “I don’t know. Uncle told me to give the gentlemen their tasks, and then he never came back.”

It was over.

He had likely become a corpse.

Sure enough, just a few minutes after their search turned up nothing, a commotion suddenly erupted outside the courtyard.

A crowd of Townspeople approached, brandishing torches and carrying a stretcher.

The Townspeople were shouting, “Kill them!”

“The outsiders killed the Dreamweaver!”

“They deserve to die!”

Ning Shuo asked Wanzi, “Wanzi, can you tell them where we went?”

Wanzi tilted her head and asked, “Then can I take a bite of you?”

She rubbed her stomach and said dejectedly, “Uncle remembered to give you rations, but he forgot about Wanzi.”