Nachtpuppe

Kapitel 19

"Scared? Let me tell you! I've been scared since I was a kid! What am I afraid of?!"

"Ah! Right! I know you've been scared since you were little. I used to tell you ghost stories, and you even peed your pants once, haha!"

Yu Kai nervously looked around and lowered his voice.

"Can you please not be so loud in public?! Fine! I'm scared, I won't listen anymore, okay?!"

Chapter Nine: The Revelation of Dreams (Part One)

One

Back at Yu Kai's house at 9:50, it was the transitional phase of the night. Before that, the night was a light, hazy moonlight gently spilling across everything—a romantic phase, perfect for a secluded garden for a moonlit stroll. But after this phase, the passion of the night faded, returning to stillness. The black curtain of night grew ever heavier, and gradually, the atmosphere became suffocating, and the heart began to pound wildly, unable to find peace. At this time, the night was either seducing or provoking, always brewing something passionate. Therefore, the saying "a dark and windy night is a murderous night" is quite apt.

The two men were playfully bickering on the road, rushing home like madmen. They attracted the attention of passersby the whole way. These two young men, who were practically stamina maniacs, didn't know what fatigue was. Perhaps they were in the prime of their youth, a time of boundless energy. So, if they didn't make the most of it, it would be too late to regret it when they couldn't run anymore!

(The author, Xiao Sui, hasn't appeared for a long time. I wonder if the audience still remembers him. Since he mentioned being hospitalized last time, he has been silent. But today, he was unwilling to stay backstage and broke through many layers of defense to rush onto the stage again. The above is his impassioned speech tonight, which seems to be a lament about life.)

Back at Yu Kai's house, Zhong Lei sheepishly explained the situation to his aunt and uncle, saying he was afraid to live alone and had come back with Yu Kai. Yu Kai's mother, Liu Limin, smiled understandingly and said:

“Hehe, Yu Kai’s father and I also hope you can live here. No matter how old you get, you’re still children, right?” She turned to ask Yu Kai’s father with a smile.

Yu Kai's father, Yu Jin, was a very amiable man. He shared the same name as a general from the Three Kingdoms period. When he was serious, he had the air of a great general. However, he loved to laugh and always had a smiling face (he was also over 1.8 meters tall). In front of you, he didn't look like a great general at all, but rather like a playful old man.

Upon hearing this, his smile widened.

"Hehe, yes, kids, Zhong Lei, I've always wanted to take you as my godson. When are you going to say yes?" This joking tone made such a serious matter difficult for Zhong Lei to decide. He had no idea what to do and could only laugh awkwardly.

After hearing this, Liu Limin rolled her eyes at Yu Jin and said:

"You, all you know is how to take advantage of other people's children. Lei Zi, don't fall for his tricks. This old man isn't satisfied with just one son; he has to snatch one from your family too. That's really going too far, isn't it!"

Zhong Lei and Yu Kai both chuckled. Zhong Lei said between laughs:

“Alright, I’ll take you on as my godfather for now!” He then pretended to kowtow to Yu Jin. Yu Jin, seeing this, chuckled and said:

"Haha, good son! Good son! Let's skip the ceremony for now. If you really want to acknowledge me as your godfather, we'll have a proper ceremony another day!"

Zhong Lei straightened up and thought that Li Xue's family, who lived across the street, had raised him. If he were to recognize a godfather, he should first recognize Uncle Li. So, he should...

So he smiled noncommittally.

Liu Limin rolled her eyes at Yu Jin again.

"Look how scared you've made the child! You're such a grown man, and you still love to joke around like this!" Yu Jin scratched his head a little embarrassed by what he was being said, chuckled at Zhong Lei, and even winked at him secretly.

Looking at Yu Jin, who was like a playful old man, Zhong Lei couldn't help but think. He thought that since his personality was so similar to Yu Kai's, his father must be very similar to Yu Jin!

Chapter Nine: The Revelation of Dreams (Part Two)

II

The lights were turned off, and everything in the room returned to darkness.

Zhong Lei sank comfortably into the soft bed, trying to clear the lingering thoughts from his mind, hoping to have a dream that would give him a sense of accomplishment, such as dreaming that he went to the NBA and dunked on Shaq a few times, and so on.

However, he was unaware that death was already waiting for him in his dreams.

Feeling comfortable, Zhong Lei soon became disoriented and drifted off to sleep...

After an unknown amount of time, when Zhong Lei regained consciousness, he found himself in an antique courtyard. The courtyard was large, a typical siheyuan (traditional courtyard house), consisting of a main house, east and west wing rooms, and a south-facing house. Sometimes there were also east and west side rooms next to the main house. Exquisitely carved covered corridors connected the houses on all four sides, providing shelter from the wind and rain.

Zhong Lei stood in the center of the courtyard, bewildered by the surrounding antique buildings.

Suddenly, a commotion arose from not far away, heading in his direction. Zhong Lei felt a nameless tension and stared intently at the only entrance to the courtyard house, though he had no idea what was about to appear.

The sound grew closer, and a faint sobbing could be heard coming from behind him. Zhong Lei felt a chill run down his spine, and then he was shocked to see a woman in a cheongsam pass right through his chest and rush towards the only door, accompanied by sobbing.

"Honey, please don't let anything happen to you... Waaah..."

As Zhong Lei gazed at the woman's graceful figure, a scene flashed through his mind: a brothel from an ancient costume drama... numerous courtesans surrounding one high-ranking official or nobleman after another, all of whom were respectable men.

Before Zhong Lei could even begin to process what was happening, the crowd had already reached the courtyard. It was a large group of burly men carrying a burly man, with the young woman who looked just like a prostitute crying and shouting behind them.

Among the burly men, one who appeared to be a minor leader shouted:

"Carry the second-in-command to the west wing. We need to keep a close watch on him tonight. The poison on this poisoned dart has already started to take effect. Have we found that barefoot doctor yet?!" he roared at another burly man beside him.

"Found it! We'll bring it over right away!" The reply was swift and decisive, casting a shadow over Zhong Lei's head once again. He thought to himself, "Does finding a doctor really require arresting him?"

Sure enough, a short while later, a thin old man was carried into the courtyard by a burly man, and then into the west wing, with the following sentence added:

"If you can't be cured, I'll take your life!" the burly gang leader added menacingly behind the old man.

Looking at the old man's thin, bony back, Zhong Lei felt a lump in his throat, as if tears were about to well up. Then, he began to worry about the old man's life.

After the old man went inside, the burly men all came out, as did the young woman, who stood by the door, clutching an embroidered handkerchief and wiping away tears.

After an unknown amount of time, just as Zhong Lei was starting to get annoyed, the old man appeared at the door. He came out, knelt down, and began frantically kowtowing, repeatedly calling out:

"Gentlemen, the old man inside is beyond saving! I have no medicine left! Please, gentlemen, have mercy on me and spare my life. I don't care how many more days I live, but I have a little granddaughter to raise! Please spare me!"

The burly men's expressions changed upon hearing this. The leader frowned, raised his hand, and fired a box of pistols. The old man fell to the ground with a thud, and his cry of "No!" was abruptly cut off. Like a bird struck by an arrow, he vanished into the sky, leaving only a trace of his flight.

Chapter Nine: The Revelation of Dreams (Part Three)

Three

Zhong Lei wasn't particularly surprised by the old man's death, as it was within his expectations. The cruelty of these unidentified individuals had brewed a murderous aura, and then death occurred. The surroundings were instantly filled with an ominous atmosphere, gloomy and gray, as if anyone who touched it would perish.

Zhong Lei wiped away tears from the corners of his eyes, watching the chaos unfold before him. The crowd trampled over the old doctor's body and rushed into the room. The woman, who appeared to be a concubine, slumped at the doorway, bursting into tears and wailing.

"My dear husband! How could you be so heartless..."

Zhong Lei felt no sympathy for the woman, nor was he interested in the deceased inside. He felt pity, more so, for the deceased.

But he did nothing; he just stood there, letting his consciousness gradually fade away.

When Zhong Lei regained consciousness, he was standing in a room. He peered out through an old-fashioned window with wooden frames. It looked familiar, and soon Zhong Lei recognized it as the courtyard house he had just been in. Judging by the location, this should be the west wing. If he remembered correctly, it seemed to be the place where the dead were kept. Thinking of this, Zhong Lei's heart jumped. He pinched his face, feeling a strange sensation. Could this not be a dream?

He put aside his doubts for the moment, and cautiously turned around. He immediately saw the wooden bed in the center of the room. The person lying on the bed was naturally the injured big man. Based on what he had just seen, he knew that the man was now dead. So, Zhong Lei was now sharing a room with a dead man.

No matter how you try to calm yourself down, it's all in vain. Few people can remain calm when facing death.

Zhong Lei couldn't do that either. Like in horror movies, he tried to shrink into the corner, giving his back some support and halving his fear, as it would eliminate his wariness of what was behind him. But if he knew that the room on the other side of the wall was filled with mangled corpses, he wondered if he would still lean against it.

Leaning against the wall, his gaze remained fixed on the dark shadow on the wooden bed, as if afraid it would move. Every time it moved, Zhong Lei's heart would probably beat tens of thousands of times!

Just as Zhong Lei was on edge, there was a sudden sound from the roof! First, there was a rustling sound, like something crawling on it. Zhong Lei's rich imagination quickly conjured up a picture of a giant python crawling around the corner of the roof, which gave him goosebumps, thicker than a python's scales!

The sound moved to another corner of the roof, followed by the sound of tiles being lifted. Zhong Lei tensed up; could a python lift tiles?!

A moment later, moonlight streamed in through a hole, and then a dark shadow fell down, landing on the ground almost without a sound! Zhong Lei's hair practically stood on end! What kind of monster was this, jumping down like that without making a sound?!

The shadowy figure began to move. When it reached the vicinity of the window, it clung to the window frame and moved along the wall. Reaching the doorway, the wooden bed faced directly towards the entrance, allowing the shadowy figure to approach directly without fear of moonlight. Moreover, the door was sealed shut, preventing any light from entering and thus concealing its identity. "How insidious!" Zhong Lei cursed inwardly. Curiosity temporarily outweighed fear, and he focused intently on watching the shadowy figure move.

Upon reaching the bedside, a dark figure lay prone on the wooden bed. Through countless reflections of the moonlight in the room, Zhong Lei finally made out the figure's outline. It was a human, currently using its hand to stuff something into the corpse's mouth—or rather, into its mouth! Such a ready-made hole!

After putting the things away, the dark figure returned the way he came. To Zhong Lei's surprise, the person climbed the wall with incredible agility, reaching the top in just a few swift movements. Even special forces soldiers might not have such skill! Zhong Lei couldn't help but become curious about this person.

But then, the scene suddenly changed!

It must be early morning, and the rooster is crowing.

Zhong Lei was standing at the door of the west wing when suddenly the door was pulled open, and a burly man with a scar on his face walked out. He stood in the courtyard, stretched his joints a few times, and then a scream came from behind. The burly man and Zhong Lei turned around at the same time. It was the young woman. Her expression was as if she had seen a ghost.

The big man, however, was the first to become unhappy.

"You stinking woman, what are you yelling about so early in the morning?!"

The woman's eyes were red and swollen, her body trembling, and she asked in an extremely soft voice:

“Honey, you’re not, you’re not…”

The burly man grew anxious and roared:

"Not what?"

The woman shuddered.

"Aren't you...aren't you dead?"

"Damn it! You dare curse me to death!" He said, about to attack. Suddenly, another voice came from behind:

"Second Brother!"

The scarred man turned his head, and only then did Zhong Lei fully remember where he had seen this person before—in a dream. Although it seemed absurd, that was the reality. In Zhong Lei's previous dream, the scarred man was already dead.

"Second brother, you're not dead!"

"You son of a bitch, you're cursing me to die too?"

The newcomer was a fairly handsome young man, who bore a resemblance to Yu Kai. He bowed and said:

"Second brother, I dare not, I dare not! It's just that when we carried you back last night, it was too late to cure you, and everyone was preparing to hold your funeral today. I never expected..."

The scarred man laughed heartily.

"Oh, is that so? I just got hit by a poisoned dart! I won't die!"

The young people also looked delighted.

"That's good! The doctor who treated you last night was executed by my elder brother, so it seems we should give him a proper burial, haha!"

Scarface also laughed loudly.

"Haha! Yes! A grand funeral!"

Chapter Nine: The Revelation of Dreams (Part Four)

4

Zhong Lei stared wide-eyed for a full hour, still immersed in the dream he had just had. A dead person came back to life in the morning—why did this plot seem so familiar?

It was Bi Bin. Bi Bin had also died, and then suddenly appeared. But how could they be sure that Bi Bin was dead? Who were the witnesses that night? Zhong Lei became interested in this situation and decided to first determine the time of Bi Bin's death. For some reason, Zhong Lei was very certain that Bi Bin was dead.