Death God, Zhuanghe's Dream

"Zhuanghe, what exactly is going on?" Gu Song was somewhat agitated.

Zhuanghe was clearly losing control of his emotions as well. "We offended a god, so we have to die."

Gu Song wanted to ask more, but I stopped him.

I stepped forward. "What god are you talking about?"

Zhuanghe did not care who I was. "The Death God."

"You've seen it?" I asked again.

He nodded. "Yes. He was wearing a black robe, and I couldn't see his face. He had a scythe in his hand."

A black robe, and no visible face.

I could not help thinking of that Onmyoji from the Island Nation.

But the Onmyoji I had seen had not been carrying any scythe.

I looked at Zhuanghe, but I was thinking that if it really was the Onmyoji, and if they truly wanted Zhuanghe dead, why had that guy not acted when Zhuanghe saw the so-called "Death God"?

Zhuanghe had clearly been scared out of his wits. It could be said that he had no ability to resist at all right now.

"Where did you see that 'Death God'?" Xu Qiuyan asked softly.

"In my dream. I saw him in my dream. He wanted to kill me, so I woke up in fright. Haha, as long as I don't fall asleep, he can't kill me."

I finally understood why Zhuanghe looked so haggard. He had been forcing himself to stay awake because he was afraid that if he fell asleep, that "Death God" would kill him in his dream.

Zhuanghe was very lucid. He was not rambling incoherently; on the contrary, he could describe exactly what had happened to him.

His fear was real too. In other words, his dream had truly been terrifying. Perhaps he had genuinely felt death threatening him in that dream.

"Who are you people?" Zhuanghe finally came back to his senses and looked at Xu Qiuyan and me. Yet he ignored Yin Wuyu entirely, not even sparing that kid a glance.

That kid had actually sat down beside Zhuanghe's bed and was playing a game.

"We're here to help you. We're all friends of Professor Gu," I said. I did not reveal our identities, and even if you mentioned Unit Nine to an ordinary person, they might not know what kind of department it was.

Hearing that, Zhuanghe looked at Gu Song. Gu Song nodded. "I asked them to help investigate what happened with Xiao Tang's death. She can't have died without anyone knowing the truth."

Zhuanghe bit his lip. After a long while, he said, "I know how Xie Xiaotang died. I know how Ding Wei died. I saw them die with my own eyes. They died in terrible pain." As he spoke, he wrapped the blanket tighter around himself.

"Then tell me, how did Xie Xiaotang die?"

"She was killed by the 'Death God.' It wasn't a car accident. The 'Death God' killed her. The 'Death God' was right behind her at the time..."

I froze. What he said actually matched my dream. I was about to press him for more when I heard a bang—the sound of the outer door closing.

The entire room was instantly plunged into darkness.

I reached out to grab Xu Qiuyan. She should have been right beside me.

But I did not touch her.

I called out, "Qiu Yan!"

There was no response.

I called again, "Mute!"

Still no response.

"Gu Song, Professor Gu!"

There was still no answer.

A chill crept over me, and I was about to take out my phone for light.

But at that moment, a light appeared before my eyes.

Yet it seemed to be some distance away.

"What are you standing around for? Run! Don't let him catch up!"

Then I felt someone shove me.

I looked around. I was no longer in Zhuanghe's home, but out in the wilderness, probably somewhere in the mountains.

By the moonlight, I saw the person beside me. It was Zhuanghe.

"Where are we?"

"Don't know." His answer was brief. He no longer looked so dispirited, and he was running fast. We raced toward the light.

"What the hell is going on?" I still could not make sense of it.

"Who am I supposed to ask if you're asking me? I've been forcing myself not to sleep, but the moment you people came, I got dragged back to this damn place. I can't even wake up if I want to." He seemed to have a huge grievance against me.

But his words gave me a fright. From the sound of it, we should have been in his dream right now.

And him dragging me along in this frantic run was actually an attempt to escape for our lives. The "him" in his words, "Don't let him catch up," was the "Death God" he had told us about.

Why was this happening?

I did not ask again, because he had no answers either. He probably thought I was the one who had dragged him into the dream.

But honestly, I was completely bewildered myself.

"Jiang Xiaobai! Jiang Xiaobai! Where are you?"

Someone was calling me. The voice came from somewhere close behind us, and I knew it well. It was Xu Qiuyan.

"Don't answer, and don't turn around. He's playing tricks on you," Zhuanghe told me, but he did not slow down in the slightest.

"Jiang Xiaobai! Ah!" She called my name again, followed by a scream.

I stopped. Without hesitation, I turned and ran toward the direction of Xu Qiuyan's voice.

I had said I would protect her and never let her suffer any harm.

So I had to go back and find her.

"That's not your friend, it's the 'Death God'!" Zhuanghe grew anxious and cursed behind me, "Do you want to die that badly? Then go die! I won't go crazy with you."

Though he said that, I heard him follow anyway.

He came to my side and said, "I told you, that's not your friend. This is his usual trick. He fooled me the same way before. He knows who we care about most, so he uses this method to lure us over."

I said nothing. I knew he might be right.

But I had to go. Better safe than sorry.

If it really was Xu Qiuyan, and I knew she was in danger but did nothing, I would never forgive myself if anything happened to her.

So even if it was fake, I still had to go.

"How did you get into my dream? How could you drag me into a dream?" Zhuanghe was still hung up on that question.

"I don't know," I answered.

He was clearly dissatisfied with my answer.

"I really don't know. Before this, I even thought you were behind it."

At that moment, I truly missed Duan Hongbin and the others. To be honest, my heart was filled with fear too. I had long grown used to having them around. As long as they were by my side, I would not be afraid no matter how great the trouble was.

Over the years, I had always been a slacker. They were the ones pushing me forward.

Before I met Xie Yi, I had lived only in my own world, almost completely cut off from the outside.

The ones who could truly keep up with this era were those three. The ones who truly possessed extraordinary abilities were also those three.

But Old Shu and that fat bastard said that their abilities had been given to them by me, that I actually possessed all three of their abilities myself.

Yet I did not know how to use those abilities.

That was why Old Shu had Fatty seal the three of them: he hoped I could awaken my own potential.

And I actually believed him.

I even dragged Xu Qiuyan along to accept the seal with me.

If Xu Qiuyan had not been sealed, I would not have been this worried in a situation like this.

I regretted it a little.

Finally, I saw Xu Qiuyan. She was sitting on the ground, looking at me helplessly.

"What happened?" I walked toward her and asked with concern.

Her voice trembled with tears. "I'm so scared. I saw a shadow pounce at me just now. I fell while trying to dodge it."

I stopped about a meter away from her. "Where's the shadow?"

"It's gone. Xiaobai, I can't get up. Can you give me a hand?"

I did not move. I merely looked at her quietly. "You're not Xu Qiuyan."

Zhuanghe, beside me, nodded hard. "You finally didn't lose your head."

Tears welled up in Xu Qiuyan's eyes, making her look pitiful. "Xiaobai, what's wrong with you?"

I sighed. "She wouldn't cry so easily. And even if she fell, she wouldn't just sit on the ground waiting for someone to help her up." Xu Qiuyan was very strong at heart.

Of course, that was not the main reason.

The main reason was that the way she looked at me was wrong.

Her gaze was like that of a hunter waiting for prey.

How could Xu Qiuyan possibly have such a look in her eyes?

"You said you would protect me forever. You said you wouldn't let me suffer any more harm." The Xu Qiuyan on the ground cried even harder.

Yes, I had indeed said those things. If not for how well I knew Qiu Yan, I might really have believed her.

"He also said that we would always face any danger together."

At that moment, another person walked out from the side. Zhuanghe's eyes widened, because the person who emerged was another Xu Qiuyan.

She glanced at me, the corner of her lips curving upward. I smiled at her. "I knew you'd come too."

She blinked playfully. "Why?"

"Instinct."

She looked at the Xu Qiuyan on the ground. "You put on quite a convincing act."

The Xu Qiuyan on the ground suddenly changed expression, then immediately transformed into someone else.

She became a Black-Robed Man whose facial features were obscured by a hazy mist.

Just as Zhuanghe had said, he held a scythe in his hand. The gleaming blade shone under the moonlight, but all I felt was the oppressive aura of death.