“Hah—”
Lu Yueqi woke from the nightmare with great, ragged gasps. She had dreamed again of the evil ghost that had tried to kill her last night.
After being pulled into a stranger’s arms last night, she had fainted. She had no idea what happened afterward.
Morning sunlight spilled over her face, clearing her head considerably.
Lu Yueqi looked around. The surroundings were utterly unfamiliar.
“Where is this? Did I survive?” Lu Yueqi saw a potted green plant on the balcony. There were quite a few books on the bookshelf beside it, and the work desk was spotless, very clean.
She slowly lifted the blanket and slipped her feet into the white fluffy slippers that had been specially prepared for her by the bed. The slippers fit perfectly, as though the other party knew her very well.
Lu Yueqi gently opened the bedroom door. She saw a man with short, tousled black hair, wearing a blue sweater, sitting at the dining table and eating breakfast. It was a very simple breakfast: two youtiao, a fried egg, and a glass of milk.
The other party seemed to notice her as well and gave a slight nod.
“Good morning. Everything’s fine now. Come sit and have breakfast. I prepared some for you too.”
Bai Yu pointed to the empty seat beside him, indicating that Lu Yueqi could sit wherever she liked.
Lu Yueqi slowly walked up to the table and asked Bai Yu, “Who are you? And where am I right now?”
Bai Yu stopped chewing the youtiao in his mouth, swallowed it down with a mouthful of milk, and said, “My name is Bai Yu. This is my home. I was the one who saved you last night.”
A doubtful look appeared in Lu Yueqi’s eyes. “You saved me?”
She sized up the big boy in front of her from head to toe. Although he didn’t look like a beanpole, he wasn’t exactly the sturdy type either. Could he really have rescued her from the hands of that evil ghost?
But then she thought about it. Other than the person who had carried her away last night, who else could this person before her be?
“Mm, yes. I saved you. You passed out last night, so it’s normal that you didn’t see what I looked like,” Bai Yu said with a nod.
Lu Yueqi scratched her head, bowed deeply, and thanked him. “Then thank you for saving me last night. I can never repay a life-saving grace. If there’s ever anything you need from me in the future, just say the word. I’ll do my best to help. Please take your time eating. I won’t disturb you any longer.”
Bai Yu’s eyes slowly met Lu Yueqi’s. Then he shook his head. “You can’t leave.”
“Why?” Lu Yueqi asked in confusion. Had she only just escaped one calamity, only to fall into new trouble now? Although the other party was her savior, there was absolutely no way she would accept being forcibly kept here.
Bai Yu placed a serving of breakfast across from himself and reached out, gesturing for Lu Yueqi to sit down and talk while eating.
“You already saw what happened last night. That ghost that wanted your life—we usually call that type of ghost a Malignant Nightmare. They are evil ghosts born when a person’s nightmare runs out of control. They kill their own host, which is to say the person having the nightmare, in order to break free from control. But you heard it too. They need a host. Why? Because they need the host to provide them with life energy.”
After watching Lu Yueqi sit down, Bai Yu began to speak.
“But you weren’t its host. So why were you targeted?” Bai Yu paused here. “Because after they kill their own host, they break free from control and begin to contaminate this world. Yet they still need life energy to sustain their existence, so you became their target. Because you can provide them with life energy—and more of it than an ordinary person can.”
“Wh… What do you mean? I don’t understand.” Lu Yueqi felt as if she were listening through a fog. She understood that the ghost wanted to take her life and make her into nourishment for itself, but why could she provide more life energy than other people?
“We usually refer to people with a special constitution like yours as Dreamers. In truth, there is also a nightmare inside your body; you simply haven’t discovered it. Your nightmare is still in its dormant stage, and this is when its power is at its weakest. However, its attraction to other Malignant Nightmares is fatal. It can provide a vast amount of life energy, so people like you are more likely to become the targets of Malignant Nightmares. That is also the reason I kept you here.”
Bai Yu paused, took another sip of milk, then continued, “I am a member of the Nightmare Investigation Bureau. What we do is resolve all sorts of trouble caused by Malignant Nightmares, while also dealing with the hidden nightmares lurking within people. Of course, with only a human body, that would be impossible. So we also have to borrow the power of nightmares. In other words, we need Dreamers to communicate with the nightmares in their own hearts, and thereby borrow their power to fight against Malignant Nightmares.”
“Naturally, there are risks involved. The power of nightmares can affect both the mind and body. At the same time, while using nightmare power, the nightmare will also erode the body…”
“What happens in the end?” Lu Yueqi asked.
“The body falls to pieces, and the soul is scattered into nothingness.” Bai Yu lightly tapped the table with his finger. “That situation is more or less the same as a Malignant Nightmare directly killing its host. And once released, it will also begin contaminating reality.”
“Then isn’t that just treating the symptoms and not the root cause?” Lu Yueqi said, unable to understand. Using this method to deal with Malignant Nightmares was practically a case of injuring the enemy by a thousand while harming oneself by eight hundred.
“Do you have a better way?” Bai Yu lowered his head slightly, making it impossible to see his expression.
“I…” Lu Yueqi was momentarily at a loss for words.
“We have only ever had one choice, and that is to fight them. No matter what our ending may be, at the very least, while we are still alive, we can see that this world is still beautiful. If we take even one step back, this world will be contaminated a little further, until it reaches a point where we can no longer stop it. A futile struggle is still better than no struggle at all, isn’t it?”
After Bai Yu finished speaking, he gently closed his eyes. It seemed as though he was giving Lu Yueqi time to think, and also giving himself enough time to digest those painful memories of the past.
A moment later, Bai Yu opened his eyes and looked at Lu Yueqi, who was still dazed. “Let’s talk about your situation first.”
“As I said before, you are a Dreamer. What happened to you this time will happen again and again in the future, so I hope you can stay.”
Lu Yueqi pursed her lips. “Although I really want to help you all, I think my ability is still…”
“No, you’ve misunderstood.” Bai Yu interrupted Lu Yueqi. “I don’t mean that I hope you’ll join us. I only hope that you can stay here. That way, at least I can protect you in time. You won’t be as lucky as you were this time every single time a Malignant Nightmare appears. Within the Bureau, there is a dedicated area for Dreamers like you who are willing to stay. There, you won’t be disturbed by Malignant Nightmares. At the same time, the Bureau will closely monitor the condition of the nightmare inside your body and take measures in time.”
Lu Yueqi listened in silence.
“As for joining the Bureau, that is something you have to consider for yourself. It concerns your own personal safety, so I cannot give you advice,” Bai Yu continued. “Of course, speaking personally, I don’t want you to join. Or rather, I don’t want anyone to get involved. Every person who joins the Bureau is essentially using their own life to exchange for a brief amount of time, delaying the spread of the Malignant Nightmares’ contamination.”
“Then, right now, I…” Lu Yueqi raised her head and looked at Bai Yu.
“After breakfast, I’ll take you to the Investigation Bureau headquarters to register. Then I’ll go with you to move your things over. From now on, you can live in the Bureau’s residential area. It’ll be safer that way.”
“Mm.” Lu Yueqi nodded. She also understood the danger of her current situation.
Just as Bai Yu was about to get up and leave, Lu Yueqi called out to him.
“Mr. Bai, wait a moment.”
“Mm?”
“Um, how did you find me last night? And how did you know I would be in danger? How did you know that ghost was behind me?” Lu Yueqi asked several questions in succession.
Bai Yu smiled faintly. “Would you believe me if I said I’m your fan? Quite a few of the horror stories you collected gave me some clues.”
“Huh?” Lu Yueqi froze on the spot, too shocked to speak. She felt as though the whole world had taken on an unreal quality as she stared blankly at Bai Yu’s departing back. “Him? My fan? Those horror stories online gave him clues? Seriously?”
After finishing their meal and tidying up, the two of them set off directly.
The car drove toward the suburbs.
“It’s this far? You don’t live inside the Investigation Bureau?” Lu Yueqi looked at the fields outside the window and asked Bai Yu, who was driving beside her. She had originally thought Bai Yu’s home was on the outskirts of the city, and that the headquarters of the Nightmare Investigation Bureau should be nearby as well. She hadn’t expected it to be in an even more distant suburban area.
“I don’t live inside. That place earlier was my own home. My home is still quite a distance from the Investigation Bureau,” Bai Yu replied.
Thinking of the large house she had stayed in earlier, Lu Yueqi said, “I thought all of you would live inside that Investigation Bureau. After all, according to what you said, all of you should have that nightmare or whatever inside your bodies. If some crisis like nightmare erosion occurs, wouldn’t it be easier to deal with if there are more people around in the Bureau?”
“Mm…” Bai Yu fell silent for a while. “Just think of it as a bit of selfishness on my part. Maybe I don’t really like the feeling of being locked up inside.”
Lu Yueqi’s eyes flicked toward Bai Yu’s face. But seeing that he seemed to have no intention of continuing, she gave up on asking further.
The car fell silent again. Neither of them spoke to the other anymore.
After a drive of about an hour or so, the car finally stopped.
“We’re here.” Bai Yu unfastened his seat belt and got out of the car.
Lu Yueqi looked at the enormous metal gate before her. Beside it stood towering metal walls that stretched as far as the eye could see. She could not help but sigh in amazement.
“So this is the Nightmare Investigation Bureau?”