Dream

In the brightly lit cafeteria of the White Pagoda Prison Area, Li Huowang wolfed down his food while his mind still turned over what had happened before.

"Dice is a smart man. He'll understand that he can't contend with the Siming. If he wants a piece of the pie, he can only work with me."

"As things stand, before me, he's just an object—an object I can crush at any moment."

Just as his thoughts began to drift, something suddenly caught in his throat, choking him until his face turned red.

Li Huowang stood up and struggled, clutching his throat with both hands.

Suddenly, a huge hand slammed fiercely against Li Huowang's back, making him open his mouth and vomit violently. Everything he had just eaten came back up.

Once Li Huowang caught his breath, he looked down at the utterly ruined table and saw a very simple plastic figurine amid the vomit mixed with food.

The little figure lay on its side, its black-and-white eyes staring straight at him.

"This is..." Li Huowang wiped his mouth, picked it up, and held it beneath the energy-saving lamp for a close look. Then he discovered that it was actually the plastic figurine from the sand table earlier.

Just as Li Huowang was wondering how it had ended up in his food, he suddenly saw the plastic figure in his hand open its mouth and speak. "Ji Zai. Ji Zai! Ji Zai! Stop dawdling!"

"Gah!!" Covered in cold sweat, Li Huowang shot upright in bed, gasping for air.

He stared at his surroundings for a moment before he realized where he was.

"So... so it was only a dream?" Relieved after the false alarm, Li Huowang let out a long breath. He checked the time on the wall and found that it