Chapter 150: The Unyielding Nightmare

Boundless darkness surged in like a swift tide, bringing with it a suffocating sense of oppression.

Yet, this familiar sensation no longer instilled fear within him.

Lin Qing swiftly closed his eyes. When he opened them again, the darkness, like fading ink, gradually lost its oppressive blackness, giving way to a dim, ambient light.

As his eyes could vaguely discern his surroundings, Lin Qing raised a hand, gripping an iron bar as thick as his arm. The icy sensation seemed to imprint itself deeply in his mind, reminding him that he had once again plunged into a nightmare.

His consciousness was clearly awake, yet he could not awaken, no matter what he tried.

He could only continue to sink deeper into this nightmare.

Lin Qing could already predict what would happen next: the Black-faced Man was about to make his appearance.

What followed would be an unchanging slaughter, a source of twisted amusement for the Black-faced Man, whose piercing laughter would erupt as if the sight of flesh and blood splattering pleased him.

In the past, Lin Qing had been trapped within an iron cage, watching in silent horror.

He dared not resist.

He feared he would be the next to die.

“呜呜呜.”

Just as Lin Qing calmly awaited the Black-faced Man’s arrival, a suppressed sob suddenly echoed from the adjacent iron cage.

This startled Lin Qing, but he quickly understood.

‘This dream…’

‘It’s the events of the day I escaped captivity!’

‘How could this be?’

Since returning to his normal life, none of Lin Qing’s nightmares had ever featured this particular day. So why was it appearing now?

‘No!’

‘I cannot remain in this dream.’

‘He had to leave!’

‘Stop!!!’

“Don’t cry anymore. If you keep crying, you’ll be killed.”

However, even as Lin Qing anxiously tried to escape the dream, the nightmare continued to unfold automatically.

At that moment, Lin Qing himself had not spoken. The person urging the other not to cry was someone else, confined in a different iron cage.

Back then, the numb Lin Qing had almost forgotten how to speak.

Beyond the cruel reality of his captivity, the shifting scales of fate had kept Lin Qing awake night after night, his heart aching with a desire to die.

Yet, he had promised his mother he wouldn’t die.

Thus, he endured the agony day after day, his mind consumed by thoughts of death.

Perhaps it was this very appearance of numb suffering that pleased the Black-faced Man. For a while, he hadn’t taken Lin Qing out of the cage for another brutal fight.

“I’m scared.”

“I’m scared too, but we can’t give up. We’ll definitely escape from here.”

“Can we really escape?”

“Absolutely!”

The conversation from the adjacent iron cage continued, but it failed to capture Lin Qing’s attention. He merely slumped to the ground, hugging his knees.

His eyes stared blankly ahead, as if wishing to make the iron bars encircling him disappear.

“But I hurt so much. They injected me with something strange. It hurts terribly.”

“Something strange?”

“Yes, a black liquid. It looked so scary… After the injection, they lifted my eyelids and mumbled something about me being a ‘failure,’ and then I ended up here.”

“I fell asleep in the park and woke up here.”

With a rustling sound, the girl who had been crying in the adjacent cage stood up and began moving around in the cramped space, exercising her body.

The boy, who had been comforting her, raised his hand and tapped the iron bars, signaling that he was still there.

“Don’t be afraid.”

“Will that man really kill people?”

“Yes, he will. So you must be careful not to attract his attention. Everyone who was locked up here before has died!”

“But besides you and me, there’s a third person in the basement!”

“A third person?”

As they spoke, the girl immediately pointed in Lin Qing’s direction.

The boy couldn’t see anything in the darkness, only the girl’s pale arm.

“It might be too far. I can’t see them.”

“Wuwu, he’s ignoring me. I hurt so much. When can I leave this place?!”

As the two spoke, the sound of the basement door lock turning echoed. When the door finally opened, a large cleaver dragged across the floor, emitting a dull scraping sound.

This silenced both the girl and the boy, who feared being killed by the bloodthirsty Black-faced Man.

However, the girl did not stop moving in her iron cage. Perhaps out of fear, she moved even more frantically.

The boy was worried. He wanted to tap the iron bars as a warning but was afraid of being discovered by the Black-faced Man.

Ultimately, he could only tap a few light times, making hardly any sound at all.

“Let me see what kind of merchandise has been delivered this time. If it’s still like before, it’s truly boring!”

The Black-faced Man, dragging his cleaver, passed by the iron cage where Lin Qing was confined. He suddenly stopped, then raised the cleaver and forcefully hacked at the cage, creating a jarring, ear-splitting noise.

Lin Qing remained motionless, as if he were a soulless puppet.

None of it could capture his attention.

Seeing this, the Black-faced Man snorted, ignoring Lin Qing. Instead, he continued watching the constantly moving girl.

The Black-faced Man suddenly couldn’t help but burst into laughter.

“Indeed, every time they send failures. But killing these is truly too uninteresting.”

As the Black-faced Man spoke, he raised his hand and tapped the iron cage. The girl whimpered but remained silent.

“Let’s play something more interesting! Lin Qing, come, kill her!”

With that, the Black-faced Man quickly walked to Lin Qing’s iron cage. Amidst his sinister, terrifying laughter, he reached out and opened the cage door.

Seeing Lin Qing remain unresponsive, the Black-faced Man suddenly leaned close to him.

His chilling words echoed in Lin Qing’s ear.

“Haven’t you already killed someone?”

“Ha, ah,”

Suddenly, Lin Qing’s eyes snapped open. He struggled and woke up from the nightmare.

He gasped for breath.

At that moment, he was drenched in cold sweat, as if he had just emerged from a shower, his sheets clinging to him.

Fortunately, the nightmare had not continued.

Lin Qing, feeling utterly drained, lay on the bed. After his pounding heart quickly calmed, he reached out and switched on the bedside lamp, dispelling the room’s dark solitude.

Although he no longer feared the darkness, not fearing it didn’t mean he liked it.

At this moment, Lin Qing raised one hand and picked up the photograph lying beside his pillow.

Despite not having avoided the nightmare, looking at Su Yao’s picture now allowed Lin Qing’s heart to lighten somewhat.

She was a beautiful dream to him.

A dream he never wanted to wake from.

****

The next morning, Lin Qing went about his usual routine of washing and eating before school, as if nothing had happened. He felt a certain relief that the nightmare hadn’t continued.

However, even as he felt relieved, Lin Qing wasn’t sure if he should feel that way. Even when trying to recall the events of that day, he couldn’t remember what happened afterward.

When he next regained consciousness, he had already escaped the basement.

He was once again seeing blue skies and white clouds, breathing fresh air. Soon after, he was discovered by the police.

Lin Qing recalled the police telling him that the Black-faced Man had committed suicide, a fact they insisted was absolutely certain. Therefore, nothing else should have occurred that day.

Perhaps his psychological pressure was simply too immense, making him unwilling to revisit that particular day.

Lost in these thoughts, Lin Qing closed the front door and descended the stairs.

“Lin Qing! We’re here.”

However, just as Lin Qing reached the first floor, he immediately saw Liu Hong and two others standing at the doorway, eagerly greeting him.

This made Lin Qing tilt his head in confusion, wondering what had happened today.

Usually, Liu Hong would wait outside the complex, and this time, Zhou Lin and Wang Jian had joined him. Seeing the large bags and packages piled up beside them only deepened Lin Qing’s bewilderment.

‘What were they doing?’

‘Were they not going to school?’

“Why are you all here?”

“Hehe, surprised? Unexpected, right?!”

Lin Qing responded to Zhou Lin’s playful words with silence, waiting for Liu Hong to provide an explanation.

“Lin Qing, you haven’t joined the class group chat, have you? Because of the indecent incident on the rooftop, the school was reprimanded by higher-ups. Unfortunately, the Principal fell and broke his tailbone, so he can’t run around handling things. The school needs to suspend classes for a few days… I remembered you said yesterday you wanted to go traveling, so why not pick today? Let’s depart today!”

“Today???”

Liu Hong didn’t let Lin Qing remain confused for long, but the explanation he offered left Lin Qing somewhat speechless. While he had indeed promised Liu Hong they would travel, he hadn’t expected such an abrupt departure!

Moreover, he hadn’t yet told Liu Hong that Su Yao would also be joining the trip. He had initially planned to gradually inform Liu Hong when they finalized the travel plans in a couple of days, to avoid shocking him.

Lin Qing had even prepared to repeat himself multiple times, determined to persuade Liu Hong. But now, with the sudden announcement of an immediate departure, he was completely unprepared.

“That’s right, life is full of surprises, so don’t worry about these details! As for where to travel, I’ve already decided: we’re going mountain climbing!”

Liu Hong looked at Lin Qing’s stunned expression and then launched into a motivational speech. He then directly revealed the destination for their trip. Since Lin Qing had mentioned a limited budget, Liu Hong had tried to choose a travel spot that wouldn’t cost much.

Although mountain climbing might be a little boring, as their first trip together, Liu Hong thought it was an excellent choice! Indeed, the best remedy for heartbreak was travel! Liu Hong now felt refreshed and no longer upset.

“Mountain climbing is too boring. Let’s go to an island!”

However, at that moment, a voice suddenly chimed in. This made Liu Hong pause. He then turned to look at Zhou Lin, who stood beside him, and asked with a serious expression,

“Am I hearing things? Why did I hear Su Yao’s voice?”

“Brother Liu, you’re not hearing things. The great campus belle, Su Yao, is standing right behind you.”

“What!!!”

Upon hearing from Zhou Lin that Su Yao had actually arrived, Liu Hong immediately jumped in fright, bewildered as to why Su Yao was there. For some reason, an ominous premonition began to spread through his heart.

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