My girlfriend is a Miao demon.

"We've verified the name and date of birth you provided, and there's no such person in the city's household registration system. We've also contacted the workplace you mentioned, and they said there's no such person there either. The home address you provided doesn't match either; there's no No. 93, Loujia Village South Street. Your missing person report won't be accepted anywhere because the person you're referring to simply doesn't exist!"

"No, you have to believe me, she really is just missing, but she's a real person! Please believe me, I'm a reporter from Wangshantai, I do in-depth investigations, this is my press card. Yes, I did have brain surgery recently, but I'm perfectly lucid now, my... my mind is absolutely fine!"

During the days after being discharged from the hospital and searching for his mysteriously missing girlfriend, Gui Luyao, Xiang Nanfeng was on the verge of collapse countless times, just like when he retrieved the hospital ward surveillance footage in front of police officers from the local police station and leaders and colleagues from the television station. This repeatedly reminded him of the "prominent figure" in the university's residential area, that retired associate professor from the physics department, surnamed Wu:

At 59, the professor insisted that his only son had not committed suicide, and he always presented various "evidence" with great conviction. However, all of this "evidence" was eventually proven to be fabricated by the police. As a result, after repeatedly seeking help from the police to no avail, the associate professor began to tirelessly seek help from his teachers, students, superiors, and even passersby.

Initially, his story circulated only within the physics department. Because of his reclusive personality and poor interpersonal relationships, some harsh teachers and students ridiculed him, saying that he had become obsessed with quantum mechanics and had gone to a parallel world to "obtain evidence." Later, some busybodies defined him from a psychological perspective, saying that he had never been promoted to "full professor" before retirement and had lost his son, which caused him to develop paranoia.

Xiang Nanfeng heard his story because the journalism department counselor specifically reminded students in the department during a class meeting that if they encountered him on campus, they should not believe his so-called "evidence" and try to investigate the truth of anything, because the conclusion of the public security organs was indeed the truth.

But what is the truth?

Is it really just a dream, a subconscious thought, a parallel universe, or a mental illness?

People are always accustomed to using some kind of rationality they trust to see the truth about others—their truth, my truth.

Yes, I believe all the science you've argued, and I can't refute any of the evidence you've presented. But would you be willing to hear the truth from me?

Gui Luyao, my girlfriend, you keep saying she's just a dream, but she's clearly a real person who disappeared unexpectedly!

"Xiao Xiang, now you should believe me, right? You and Lin Shu had a car accident on November 8th, and you woke up on December 25th. During that time, you were in a coma for a full 46 days. Apart from two craniotomies and the 7 days you spent in the ICU, you never left this hospital building."

"Besides, look at the surveillance footage. You said that Gui Luyao visited you at the hospital and even stayed with you in bed? Okay, look at the surveillance footage. Is she in it? The surveillance video in the corridor for these 46 days is complete. Look for her frame by frame yourself and see if she is there."

"You said Gui Luyao went missing 13 days ago while climbing Shou Nanshan with you. You were just transferred out of the ICU 13 days ago. Look again, isn't this person the nurse is pushing into the ward you? Isn't it you?!"

望山医科大学第三医院监控室里，自己的顶头上司製片人老张指着12月25日晚19:29分13秒病房楼3号电梯行驶中的一帧画面越说越激动。

At that time, Xiang Nanfeng, who was still unconscious and lying in the hospital bed, had just finished a brain CT scan and was being pushed back to the ward by nurses, caregivers and his colleague Ningning.

Coincidentally, the elevator camera was pointing directly at his face. In the surveillance footage, his eyes were closed and his jaw was clenched, clearly indicating that he was unconscious. How could he possibly be dozens of kilometers away, full of energy, accompanying a girl on a night hike up Shou Nan Mountain?

What's going on with this video? Police, hospital staff, colleagues, superiors—people with no social connections and who should be complete strangers—seem to have no reason to meticulously fabricate a three-month-long surveillance video to conceal Gui Luyao's existence. Xiang Nanfeng stared at the footage on the monitor, his mind blank.

At this moment, Mr. Zhao, the channel director of the TV station, had already walked out of the monitoring room with a smile, escorting the police officers to the police station. In the corridor, their conversation, though fading into the distance, continued to bombard Xiang Nanfeng's heart like atomic bombs, growing ever closer:

"Thank you for your hard work, Officer Li. I'm so sorry to have troubled you!"

"This isn't about causing trouble; making a false police report carries legal consequences, and this isn't the first time he's done it."

"Yes, yes, yes, the responsibility is mine, mine! Xiao Xiang is a key member of our TV station. He went out for an interview on November 8th when it snowed heavily, and he was in a car accident on his way back. He barely survived. He was working so hard, it wasn't easy for him! He was in a coma for almost two months before waking up, and his mind is still not quite clear! It's all because we leaders haven't been caring enough. It's the end of the year, and the interview schedule is too heavy. But don't worry, this time I'll send more people to keep a close eye on him!"

"Sigh, it's not easy for anyone. If it gets too bad, transfer to another hospital quickly. An illness 'here' is still an illness! Don't let it happen again, don't let it happen again."

"Yes, yes, hey... Hey you, Lao Zhang! Lao Zhang, go see Officer Li and the others off!"

Just moments before, producer Lao Zhang had been suppressing his anger, pointing at Xiang Nanfeng from inside the house, seemingly poised to unleash his fury. But upon hearing that his superiors outside were personally apologizing to the police, he hurriedly rushed out.

A reporter from a news channel, for a documentary co-produced with the science and education channel but actually dominated by the science and education channel and lacking in timeliness, insisted on going out into the suburbs in a blizzard to interview a well-known professor named Zuo Sigong. The interview with the expert lasted forty minutes, the round trip took four hours, and on the way back, he nearly died for over forty days. First, he suffered cerebral edema and cerebral hemorrhage, requiring a second craniotomy, almost losing his life. Then, despite all his vital signs being normal, he remained unconscious, narrowly escaping becoming a "vegetative state" patient. His direct supervisor, Lao Zhang, was completely ruined by this ordeal, his plans to run for director next year completely ruined, and even his current position as producer of the program is uncertain.

Old Zhang was both anxious and furious. But when he heard that Xiang Nanfeng had woken up and was alright, he was relieved. He wasn't in a position to vent his anger, but this time, he accompanied Channel Director Zhao to the hospital to visit Xiang Nanfeng. However, as soon as they entered the hospital, Xiang Nanfeng sneaked out of his ward and ran to the Dongfengli Police Station, more than 20 kilometers away, to report a missing person case. When he came back, he dragged the police to check the video footage.

This isn't the first time Xiang Nanfeng has made a scene by reporting his "girlfriend" missing. Just two days ago, he called 110 (the police emergency number) as soon as he woke up. In fact, he called again this time, but because he was reporting a "false case" that had already been investigated and found to be untrue, 110 classified it as a nuisance and didn't send any officers to handle the case. But he still wouldn't give up. He then used his press card and his organization's name to rush into the police station to report the case.

In addition, he slipped out of the hospital without permission after the head doctor's rounds at 8 a.m. and disappeared for a full 6 hours, making the doctors and nurses take a huge responsibility. As a result, nearly 20 people from the TV station, the hospital and the police station rushed into the hospital's control room, causing quite a stir.

"Xiao Xiang, have you finished watching the surveillance footage? Have you caused enough trouble? If you have, hurry back to your ward. Mr. Zhao has already gone there!"

Old Feng, the chairman of the TV station's labor union, is an uncle who is about to retire. Today, he accompanied General Manager Zhao on behalf of the labor union to visit Xiang Nanfeng, an outstanding reporter who was injured on duty. The original plan was to take some positive photos to decorate the year-end summary, but he ended up watching a complete farce.

At that moment, the half of his body that peeked into the monitoring room through the doorway—the flowers in his left hand, the still-rolled-up red banner in his right, and the large camera hanging around his neck—looked so incongruous. Only then did everyone swarm out of the monitoring room.

"You're finished, Brother Nanfeng. You're a disgrace to Boss Zhao..."

On the way back to the inpatient building, Ningning, the female reporter who was closest to Xiang Nanfeng in the program team, supported him and whispered something to him amidst the noise of the registration hall. Xiang Nanfeng didn't reply; his brow was furrowed, his mind still filled with the puzzle he couldn't understand:

This doesn't make sense. I clearly woke up on November 15th, a week after the accident. After waking up, I was discharged from the hospital and dated Luyao for over a month. During this time, I went to work as usual, completed two story projects, and did four or five interviews. The accident happened on Christmas Eve, December 24th, when we went hiking on Shounan Mountain. How could I have been in a coma from November 8th to December 25th?

No, absolutely not!

"Mr. Zhao, no, Mr. Zhao, please let me explain!"

When Xiang Nanfeng was in college, Director Zhao was a specially appointed professor in the journalism department. After graduation, he gave up local job opportunities in Beijing and returned to Wangshan because of this old friendship between teacher and student.

Ms. Zhao, a woman in her fifties and a typical veteran journalist, was surprisingly tolerant and caring this time, unlike Mr. Zhang's impatience and harshness towards Xiang Nanfeng for repeatedly calling the police to rescue a person who did not exist.

"Xiao Xiang, I heard about your dream on the way here, but they told me you had already come to terms with it. Why don't you believe it now?"

"Mr. Zhao, you have to believe me, I really did wake up on November 15th, definitely not December 25th! This morning around 7 o'clock, someone knocked on the door while I was washing my face. I opened the door and found it was the spouse of a fellow patient who used to live in this room. This patient was in his forties and had a brain tumor. I forgot his last name, but I remembered that I used to call him Brother Lei and his spouse Sister-in-law."

"Brother Lei's surgery was earlier than mine. When I woke up, he was almost ready to be discharged. After he was discharged, I've been living alone in this room. Today, his wife came back and said that the community needed to apply for some kind of card for Brother Lei, which required his ID card. That's when they realized they couldn't find it. The couple racked their brains, only remembering that they used his ID card when he was hospitalized and saw it when they were organizing the documents in the ward. They hadn't seen it since. So, his wife suspected that he left it in the ward and came to try her luck. As soon as she arrived, she searched through the bedside table and the metal cabinet that Brother Lei used before. I helped her search, but we couldn't find it."

"Then I suddenly remembered that one night before Lei was discharged from the hospital, I got up and saw him putting something under the mattress. So I reminded my sister-in-law to check under the mattress, and sure enough, we found Lei's ID card in the gap between the mattress and the bed board. There was also a stack of test reports wrapped around the ID card. I realized something was wrong then, this was different from what you said. I asked them and their discharge date was November 17th, but you said I only woke up on the 25th of this month. So how did I know that a fellow patient in the same room had put something under the mattress more than a month ago?"

"Forget about hiding things, I shouldn't even know this couple! But now I not only know them, I also know that Brother Lei is a mechanic at the bus company, and his wife is a technician at a wool mill. If you don't believe me, go check and see if what I said is true. Today, when his wife came to look for her ID card, Xiao Liu, a nurse from the neurosurgery department, was on duty. She was there the whole time. If you don't believe me, go ask her and see if what I said is true!"

Whether Xiang Nanfeng's words were true or false, Director Zhao, as the head of the channel, didn't know. However, she could tell from the astonishment in the eyes of the people gathered in the ward that what Xiang Nanfeng said was true. But she didn't express her opinion or show too much surprise. Xiang Nanfeng, on the other hand, was eager for these colleagues who worked with him day and night to give him a response and affirmation at this time, even if only one person was willing to stand on his side.

His burning gaze swept over them like a sharp blade, scrutinizing every unnatural expression and every pair of eyes that darted left and right. Finally, one of them gave in first—it was Ningning, the youngest, who had only been with the company for a little over six months and always fawned over him.

"Yes, I remember Brother Lei too. He worked at the bus company. I also remember he had an acoustic neuroma. He did stay in this bed, and he was indeed discharged on the morning of November 17th. Because... but..."

"But the reason I remember his discharge date so clearly is because..."

"It's because you suddenly had a brain hemorrhage in the early hours of the day he was discharged and needed an emergency second craniotomy. I received a call from Teacher Wang that day, and I arrived at the hospital at 6 a.m. Around 9 a.m., they asked me to go to the ward to pick up some things. At that time, I saw Brother Lei packing his things to be discharged. Xiang Nanfeng, your second craniotomy on the 17th lasted until 4 p.m. You must have been unconscious, how could you possibly be..."

"South Wind, don't scare me..."

Ningning's eyes revealed a complex and urgent unease, a mixture of surprise, panic, fear, and avoidance.

"Teacher Wang, Teacher Wang, right, Teacher Wang was there that day too, and Teacher Zhang came over after the midday news broadcast, right... right, Teacher Zhang!"

At that time, Old Zhang, having seen off the police officers and security guards from the police station, also arrived at the ward. He only heard the latter half of Xiang Nanfeng's words, but this time he ended up at the very back of the crowd. Faced with Ningning's questioning, he remained silent. But Xiang Nanfeng had no intention of letting him off the hook. He followed Ningning's gaze, found him, and coldly questioned him:

"Old Zhang, how dare you say I was in a coma? Have you forgotten? On Monday, November 28th, my first day back at work after being discharged from the hospital, I got into a fight with you. We had agreed that the program team would recommend my June report, 'In-depth Investigation into the Wayaoshan Mine Disaster: The Foreman's Forged Underground Incident,' for this year's Wangshan News Award. But as soon as I was hospitalized, you replaced my report."

"Teacher Wang, is that report yours that was submitted?" Xiang Nanfeng turned to Old Wang, her voice sharp. "He told me you'll retire in two years, and I'll have plenty of opportunities. No problem, prioritize the older comrades! So what if he submitted it? Does submitting it guarantee a promotion? And even if he does, what then? It doesn't mean he'll get a house, it's just two thousand yuan and a red certificate. Do I care about that? The problem is, how long has it been since you last did an interview? Is that report yours? It was Zhang Ningning who begged, spent money, and went undercover to get it. How can you two old folks be so shameless to take advantage of the younger generation?!"

The two men, one standing at the door and the other under the bed, had been thoroughly humiliated in front of President Zhao. They desperately wanted to retaliate, but the fact remained that while Xiang Nanfeng was hospitalized and unconscious, the two had indeed conspired to replace Xiang Nanfeng's report and forcibly seize Ningning's.

Two cannonballs struck right where it hurt; the people, the events, the timing all matched up. The only thing that didn't add up was that this patient, who was clearly unconscious at the time, couldn't possibly have come to the office to fight her, yet he clearly knew everything about the entire scheme. Anger and embarrassment were now forcefully suppressed by Xi Ren's fear. The expression on her face, the air in the ward, were so strange, like a grand, bizarre dream: who was the liar, and who was the dreamer?

"He's gone mad! He's gone mad! Xiang Nanfeng has gone mad!"

Old Zhang pointed towards the south wind, using an instinct to mask a more complex set of instincts.

"Excuse me, excuse me, there can't be so many people in the ward!"

Just as the atmosphere was tense, Dr. Shen, Xiang Nanfeng's attending physician and head of neurosurgery, arrived with two resident doctors. He had just finished a major surgery when he heard about Xiang Nanfeng's second outburst in the monitoring room.

"Come here, let me see. Are you feeling unwell? I heard you had another dream, Xiao Xiang? Was it the same dream again?"

"No, it's not a dream, I'm not dreaming!" Xiang Nanfeng said firmly. "Luyao, Luyao is missing! No, she's been kidnapped. Why won't you believe me? Why do you insist that I've been unconscious all this time! I have to find her, I have to save her!"

"Yes, yes! We're saved, we're saved! Xiang the reporter, Xiang the reporter, you just had brain surgery, so you'll be alright, right? You can't get excited now, getting excited could cause a brain hemorrhage, which is life-threatening!"

The two resident doctors immediately understood, and each of them stood on one side, stopping Xiang Nanfeng, who was about to get up from the bed, from getting back onto the bed. A dazzling white light then shone in her face, making Xiang Nanfeng dizzy. It was Director Shen using a flashlight to perform a fundus examination on her.

"Laurazepam, 0.5 mg IV, slowly, Xiao Zhang, keep an eye on it, just make sure the blood oxygen level doesn't drop."

"it is good."

The flashlight was already off, but the dizziness from the bright light persisted.

"Director, I am his supervisor. He said that he saw his fellow patients in the same ward while he was in a coma and even recalled some details. What's going on?" Director Zhao finally spoke up.

"Well... the brain is very complex. Reporter, don't get agitated. You must have been unconscious and you must have had dreams, but people who are truly unconscious don't dream."

"No one said you've been in a coma for over forty days, at least not us doctors. From the time you had the car accident and surgery until now, it's likely gone through this process: initially, you were in a coma, and a comatose person is unconscious; then, you gradually recovered and gained some consciousness, but it was still very weak. To put it simply, you weren't fully awake yet, but at this point you could already dream; finally, you fully regained consciousness and woke up. You can think of it as first being in a coma, then falling asleep, and finally waking up."

While answering Director Zhao's questions intermittently, Director Shen listened to Xiang Nanfeng's heart and lungs. Afterward, he put away his stethoscope and continued speaking to everyone:

"Three years ago, I had a patient who was also in a car accident and suffered a traumatic brain injury, but his condition was even more severe than his. He was unconscious for two months after the surgery. According to various indicators, the patient's coma should have ended long ago, but he just didn't 'wake up'."

"But you say he's not awake, yet this person can breathe on his own, open his eyes, and even blink, cough, and yawn. But if you talk to him or touch him, he doesn't respond at all. In addition, he has facial expressions. What does that mean?"

"This means he was dreaming too. So, the outward manifestations of people dreaming can vary quite a bit."

"I already said it wasn't a dream. How could I dream about people and things I'd never seen before the car accident?"

"Really? You've never seen them? That's amazing! Haha." Director Shen, while keeping an eye on Xiang Nanfeng's blood oxygen monitor, forced a smile to soothe his increasingly tense emotions. "Reporter Xiang, it's nothing serious, just a dream, an illusion. You see, your ears are perfectly fine, your auditory nerve isn't damaged. You may not have seen your fellow patients in the ward, but even if you haven't fully woken up, if some brain function has recovered early, it's still possible to hear others talking, you just aren't aware of it. The formation of dreams is also very complex. You heard others talking while you were dreaming, and then those conversations became part of your dream, it's hard to say. Anyway, you have to believe me, believe in science, it's just a dream."

"Oh! Right, that makes sense."

"Yes, it must be that one of us talked about work when we met up to see Xiao Xiang after work."

"Yes, yes!"

Director Shen's words immediately won the unanimous approval of his colleagues. Since no one was willing to believe Xiang Nanfeng's nonsense, the doctor's explanation was naturally the best reason for them to convince themselves. But even though the surveillance video seemed to be irrefutable evidence, and the doctor's explanation seemed reasonable, this time, Xiang Nanfeng would not be easily persuaded as he had last time.

He recalled the only supporter on his alma mater's online forum who stood by Associate Professor Wu in the heated discussion about whether he was daydreaming. That senior, whose online name was Mao Xigu Zhu, was someone he had probably crossed paths with countless times on campus.

These days, moved by Associate Professor Wu's plight, he revisited the popular online posts from years ago. He read Mao Xigu's arrogant remark, which drew ridicule from teachers, students, and netizens, over and over again. Back then, he was merely seeking resonance in his solitude, still clinging to a sliver of hope in the eyes of others:

"Dreams don't need to be interpreted; dreams are simply a form of existence. What needs to be understood is not whether the dream is real or not, but the way to access the dream world. So, you're wrong, and Lao Wu is wrong too. Your obsession lies in using your trusted rationality to prove the falsity of others' dreams, while Lao Wu's obsession lies in his desperate desire to prove the reality of dreams to you."

Whether it's a dream, a conspiracy, the truth, or reality, isn't he the only one who cares about Gui Luyao?

Xiang Nanfeng stopped explaining and arguing. Old Feng from the union was capturing the wonderful moment of General Manager Zhao sitting by the hospital bed, warmly comforting the outstanding reporter who had been injured on duty. Old Zhang, having regained his senses, was already bowing and rambling in a low voice to General Manager Zhao, reporting:

"Xiao Xiang left after the doctor finished his rounds at 8:30 in the morning. What did he do during the 7 hours he was missing? Why did he go to the Dongfengli Police Station, which is more than 20 kilometers away, to report the case? We don't know any of these things. He must be crazy now."

"You know Xiao Xiang's situation. He has no family. If something really happens, his employer will be responsible. I suggest that since his external injuries have healed, we should transfer him to a specialized psychiatric hospital for observation first."

"This...this isn't right, is it? He just had a dream, didn't he?"

"Is this what you call a dream? This is delusional disorder caused by external injury; there are cases like this in other countries."

……

A single room, a microcosm of humanity. The spring night is short, but fickle affections endure.

A chilling current flowed through the veins of his right arm toward his heart; it was the physiological calm and drowsiness brought on by benzodiazepines after inhibiting noradrenergic neurons. Xiang Nanfeng, oblivious to his surroundings, picked up his phone. Just before his consciousness was completely overwhelmed by sleepiness, he finally received a reply from Mao Xiguzhu in the forum's inbox:

"I'm willing to believe you, but you need to tell me, who is Gui Luyao, and how exactly did she disappear?"