The Nightmare Experience of a Useless Person

My feet felt like they were stepping on moss-covered steps, and my soul felt light and airy.

"Happy, happy—"

I reached out, but grabbed nothing.

Jiang Zhiyang lay comfortably on the bed, surrounded by dry bedding, soft pillows, bright lights, and the fresh scent of clothes drying in the sun.

He felt empty inside, as if he had lost something.

Although he was fully awake, Jiang Zhiyang was reluctant to open his eyes. As soon as he opened them, the dream would be over, and he would no longer be able to hold onto everything about Lele—her smile, her embrace, her warmth.

The spring breeze blew into the cave, but the little animals inside had long since left, leaving only an empty echo.

Tears streamed down her face, forming a small bridge of tears on her cheeks.

"Jiang Zhiyang, are you awake?"

Liu Yidian's series of greetings came to my ears.

"You've been sleeping since yesterday afternoon, and it's already noon. Should we go to the hospital to get checked out?"

"Are you alright?"

"Are you feeling unwell?"

Are you hungry?

"It's okay, I'm up," Jiang Zhiyang replied softly.

He used to find his roommate's nagging annoying, but now he felt a little bit of care, so he quickly opened his heart to welcome him.

From last night until now, in just over ten hours, Jiang Zhiyang felt as if he had lived a lifetime—all the love and hate, all the gains and losses, were impacting his brain. His body did not feel the comfort that comes with a long sleep; instead, he felt even more tired.

It's as if, with his eyes closed, he's still that little white cat with four legs, lying on the pile of rice straw with Lele watching the stars, or nestled at Lele's feet watching her carefully fold those few tattered clothes.

Gone, everything is gone...

He was still that poor student burdened with financial pressure, still all alone, still with no one to care for him or take care of him...

Jiang Zhiyang was dazed when Liu Yidian led him to the cafeteria for a meal. The cafeteria was much quieter on the weekend, without the crowds, which helped Jiang Zhiyang's thoughts gradually clear.

"that……"

"What's wrong?"

"Um..." Jiang Zhiyang stammered, unsure of how to ask the question.

"What's wrong? Tell me," Liu Yidian said, picking at his rice.

"I went to bed early yesterday, nothing happened in the dorm, right?"

"What's going to happen in the dorm? Nothing, right? But! Duan finally got up, about an hour before you woke up. He was throwing up and having diarrhea in the bathroom, and when he came out he said he was starving and went out to eat by himself."

Could that dream be real? Jiang Zhiyang tried to analyze it. Duan Heng's previous abnormal behavior, like a cat, was it related to Xiao Bai? Was it the woman who possessed Xue Lele's body who did it? What methods did she use to make Xiao Bai leave, so that everything has returned to normal now?

A large human head is indeed more useful than a small cat's head, but not by much, because it's all too unbelievable.

"What about the others? Has anyone else come to our dorm?"

"No, after we got back yesterday afternoon, everyone was either playing games or ordering takeout. Nobody went out or came to visit. Everyone was still sleeping this morning."

"so."

Jiang Zhiyang picked through the food on his plate with his chopsticks. The delicious food he had been longing for in his dreams had no appetite or desire to eat it now.

"Here, have this chicken leg."

"What's wrong? Why are you suddenly being so nice to me?"

"Oh, you eat it, I have no appetite."

Liu Yidian happily accepted the big chicken leg, shoveling rice into his mouth while chattering away.

Looking at him, Jiang Zhiyang felt a warmth in his heart, and the sense of loss in his heart seemed to be gently comforted.

That wasn't nearly enough; there was a huge hole there. Everything happened too fast, too chaotically. He didn't have enough rationality to think about whether everything in Qiushui Village was a dream, whether Lele really existed, and what about that woman with the bone dagger?

But regardless of whether those fictional scenarios were real or not, Jiang Zhiyang was certain that his dependence on Lele was real, his longing for her was real, and the heartache of losing her was real. However, no matter what, it could never be filled.

For the next few days, Jiang Zhiyang lived his life in an orderly manner, working at the milk tea shop on time, rushing between classes in several teaching buildings, and doing homework in the packed library.

His busy schedule carried him along, pushing him towards the next sunrise.

Everything seemed perfectly normal, except for Jiang Zhiyang, who knew that walking on two legs felt less stable than walking on four. He would always subconsciously look for a smiling girl in the crowds, or observe whether the white-haired senior, surrounded by students in the bushes, was whispering among himself.

Duan Heng no longer lay in his dormitory every day. Instead, he was busy catching up on missed lessons or chasing after his teachers, begging them not to deduct attendance points so that he could pass the final exams smoothly.

Everything returned to normal, but the dream grew increasingly hazy, taking Lele with it...

In the stillness of the night, Jiang Zhiyang sat alone at his desk, trying to sketch Lele's appearance.

As he painted, tears streamed down his face again. He had never realized he cried so easily before, but the sadness was unavoidable. Whether it was real or not, his family, the only people who would hug him and offer him warmth, were gone...

In fact, he couldn't draw. His lines were crooked and uneven. He would draw and erase, then draw again, until the paper was ruined by the eraser and became a rough mess.

"Hello, are you thinking about me?"

A light, airy sentence reached my ears.

His heartbeat and reason both went awry, and fear was about to burst from his parched throat, but his reaction was as if it had been foreseen: a large steamed bun blocked all of Jiang Zhiyang's screams.

If he had the money, Jiang Zhiyang really wanted to go to the hospital to see a cardiologist or some other department that could check his internal organs. Lately, his heart had been acting up, and he really needed to see if he had been scared out of his wits.

In the dormitory at dawn, there was only this dim desk lamp, but her eyes were shining brightly.

Those eyes were big and round, and the long, fluttering eyelashes were like butterfly wings—yes!

A beauty mark at the corner of her eye, like a talking star, yes!

A thin layer of sweat lightly covered the tip of her round nose. Yes!

Her fair skin was flushed with a few rapid blushes. Yes! It was her!

"Lele!"

"I'm not," the girl shoved the steamed bun into Jiang Zhiyang's mouth again, "It's too late today, come find me here tomorrow night."

She snatched the pencil from Jiang Zhiyang's fingers and wrote something on the paper, while Jiang Zhiyang stood there dumbfounded, wrapped in her arms, feeling the heat emanating from the woman.

This familiar feeling seemed to instantly fill that huge hole, and even overflowed with delightful spring water.

The person from my dream really appeared...

His fingertips were numb, and his whole body seemed to stiffen.

By the time he realized what had happened, the girl had already left, and the dormitory returned to silence, as if no one had ever been there.

The lamp had also lost its strength, leaving only a faint light to barely survive, but Jiang Zhiyang could see it clearly.

Tomorrow night at 00:00

No. 101 Changsui West Street