Fairy, you call this repaying a debt of gratitude?

Lu Chen had a dream that was so long it was almost eternal.

But in the end, he woke up.

He opened his eyes, and the hazy spring light that seemed like a dream intertwined with the joyful laughter of children around him.

He looked up and around, only to find himself leaning against the corner of the courtyard wall, surrounded by a group of children, their innocent faces both familiar and unfamiliar.

Where is this place?

"Brother Lu, how did you fall asleep while you were telling the story? What happens next? Don't keep us in suspense!"

The one who spoke was a handsome young man with a clear voice, who looked a year or two younger than him.

"Yeah, yeah!"

"Brother Lu Chen is so naughty, he's cheating and refusing to tell the story!"

"Brother Lu Chen, ignore them and keep going. What happened to Sun Wukong in the end?"

A chorus of childish voices echoed in response.

Lu Chen rubbed his dizzy head, and his memory returned somewhat.

This is the Lu residence, and they...

Lu Chen looked at the person who was closest to him and the first person to speak after he woke up.

--He is the second son of his second uncle's family, named Lu Huai, who is one year younger than him and is currently his best playmate.

Actually, calling them playmates isn't quite accurate. After all, deep down I'm a modern person nearing twenty, so how could I possibly play with such a young child? Calling them little followers would be more like it.

And then the rest of the people...

Lu Chen raised his eyes and slowly scanned the faces of men and women, all of them young and innocent, his own brothers and sisters from the same clan, distant and vague memories of his younger clansmen.

But why am I here? Why are there so many people in front of me?

"What's wrong, Brother Lu Chen?" Lu Huai asked, puzzled, when he saw that Lu Chen had been silent for a long time.

Lu Chen felt a slight tightness in his throat and said softly, "I had a very, very long dream."

"But you only closed your eyes for a short while," Lu Huai blinked, asking curiously. "How could you have had such a long dream in such a short time?"

Lu Chen tugged at the corners of his mouth, gave a dry laugh, and said in a tone full of melancholy:

"But it's really, really long."

"I know!" Lu Huai exclaimed with a sudden realization, grinning widely. "Brother Lu Chen must have come up with a new story again, right?"

"Not a story."

"What is that?"

Lu Huai tilted his head and pressed for an answer.

"I...can't remember either."

Lu Chen raised his hand and pressed it against his slightly swollen and aching forehead, feeling utterly empty inside.

In his dream, there were things he could never forget, but after waking up, all the details vanished, leaving only a sense of melancholy that choked his heart.

Strange... Why is my head and my body so small?

The next moment, he came back to his senses.

No, my head is supposed to be this small.

"Don't think about it if you can't remember," Lu Huai comforted him, seeing his troubled and dejected expression. "Just continue telling us your previous story."

After Lu Chen finished speaking, a child who looked quite similar to him chimed in:

"Yes, yes, we also want to hear what happened after Sun Wukong stormed into the underworld!"

"Yes, yes... I also want to know what happened to Sun Wukong when he got to the underworld."

Seeing Lu Chen's troubled expression, Lu Huai propped himself up, turned around, and looked at everyone, saying:

"Alright, alright, that's enough for today. Brother Lu Chen must not have rested well, otherwise he wouldn't have fallen asleep while telling stories. Everyone, please stop bothering him."

A low murmur rippled through the crowd: "You were the one who was most eager to ask questions just now..."

Lu Huai turned around and glared at the man, feigning a fierce look: "What did you say?"

"It's nothing, it's nothing!"

The children laughed and played, and soon dispersed, leaving only the two people in the courtyard.

Lu Chen looked up at the only person still standing before him, his gaze complex and indescribable, and murmured softly:

"I had a really, really long dream. There was something in the dream that I absolutely can't forget, but now, I can't remember anything about it."

Looking at Lu Chen, who was usually the most reliable person in front of him, now in such a dazed state, Lu Huai couldn't help but feel a little strange: "What kind of interesting dream could make Lu Chen like this?"

"interesting?"

Although Lu Chen didn't quite remember what happened in his dream, the general feeling it gave him was not good.

"Come on, Lu Chen, whatever's in the dream, it's just a dream." Lu Huai comforted him casually, gently tugging at his sleeve. "Let's not stand here in a daze, let's go look around somewhere else."

Seeing that Lu Chen still had no reaction, Lu Huai urged him again: "Hurry up and get up and leave. If you delay any longer, that little crybaby from the Qin family will pester you again and won't let you go."

"Oh... okay."

Lu Chen snapped out of his reverie and decided to stop thinking about that ethereal dream. He slowly stood up and prepared to leave with Lu Huai.

But suddenly a voice came from behind:

"Shen Wei".

"Shen Wei..."

Lu Chen suddenly paused, unconsciously murmuring those two words: "Shen Wei..."

"Shen Wei? Whose name is that? That's strange."

Lu Chen looked up, his eyes blank, and shook his head in bewilderment: "I don't know."

He continued walking forward, but the voice did not disappear; instead, it became clearer, calling out that unfamiliar name again and again.

So he looked back again, but there was still no one there.

Lu Huai's urging voice came from ahead.

"Brother Lu Chen, hurry up and catch up!"

Lu Chen's gaze returned to what was in front of him, but this turn of his head stunned him, because the lively and bright boy in front of him had somehow become transparent and illusory, his figure swaying as if he would be blown away by the wind at any moment.

"Shen Wei..."

The voice continued to shout.

The illusory figure before his eyes and the voice in his ears—at this moment, he seemed to... completely understand something.

"Hurry up and keep up!"

The urging voice that rang out again afterward had changed its form.

The clear, gentle child's voice had completely changed, becoming distorted and dry, as if it were being torn apart.

The confusion in Lu Chen's eyes vanished instantly, and he spoke slowly, word by word: "No...you are not Lu Huai."

"How is that possible...? The one standing in front of you is..." the illusory figure tried to argue, its voice wavering and broken.

"It's an illusion."

Lu Chen interrupted coldly.

As soon as he finished speaking, the illusory figure vanished, and the shout stuck in his throat dissipated in the wind.

Lu Huaizao died.

The same goes for those lively and cheerful cousins ​​who laugh and play.

Including his sinking.

That night, the lights were extinguished, blood stained the doorway, and no one escaped.

So where exactly is this place?

As Lu Chen asked this question, the scene before them was suddenly torn apart, and the colors abruptly faded.

Then, the gentle spring breeze stopped, replaced by a cold, harsh wind. The picturesque courtyard disappeared, replaced by a vast, desolate landscape covered in snow.

Beneath him were crisscrossing crimson patterns, covered with obscure and incomprehensible ancient runes.

He looked up and saw a beautiful young woman with an ethereal figure gazing into his eyes, softly calling his name.

It's Shen Wei, not Lu Chen.