"Slaughter" was missing only one component: the golden monster mask worn over the face.
The monster mask had not been lost. The agents tasked with cleaning up the scene had found several gold fragments in the puddle of pus and blood left behind by "Anomaly Ye Jiu." Once pieced together, they formed a complete monster mask.
"What's wrong with him?" Ye Xuan still held her gun raised, its muzzle aimed directly at Ye Jiu's brow.
Sun Hang said, "Looks like he's having a nightmare."
He tried to read Ye Jiu's thoughts, but "Slaughter," worn on Ye Jiu's body, formed an invisible barrier that repelled every one of Sun Hang's "consciousness tendrils."
"Tch, he's pretty serious about privacy."
"What?" Ye Xuan asked, confused.
"Nothing." Sun Hang looked around. "It's just a nightmare. Waking him up should do it."
"Do... do we need to prepare anything?" Ye Xuan could not help asking. "Are we really just going to wake him up directly? Shouldn't we put restraints on him? Or at least take Slaughter off first?"
"If we touch the stuff on him before pulling Ye Jiu out of the nightmare, I'm afraid he'll mistake you for one of the monsters in it and chop you down." Sun Hang finally found what he wanted. He walked over to the computer desk and picked up the kettle sitting on it.
The kettle was nearly full and felt heavy in his hand.
Sun Hang unscrewed the lid and took a look. The water inside had not been changed in who knew how many days and had long since gone cold.
Boiling water might have worked better, but considering Ye Jiu's mood after waking up, Sun Hang still carried the kettle of cold water over to the box.
"W-Wait!" Ye Xuan stared at Sun Hang in