As Mo Li struggled to make his body move, Director Liu seemed to notice him too. A familiar, kind smile appeared in her eyes—a smile he knew all too well. Seeing Director Liu smile again filled Mo Li with warmth, and he wanted even more desperately to embrace the kindly old woman.
Perhaps Mo Li's efforts had finally broken through that invisible restraint. He could move now. His movements were still stiff, but at least he could move. He slowly raised both hands and then walked toward Director Liu. Yet for some reason, the moment Mo Li became able to move, the look in Director Liu's eyes suddenly changed. They were filled with terror.
After showing that terrified expression, Director Liu actually turned and ran in panic. Mo Li had no idea what was happening. Why was Director Liu running away? What had she seen?
Watching Director Liu run farther away, Mo Li anxiously tried to make a sound. This time, he succeeded again. A noise came from his throat, but it was nothing like a sound a human could make. It sounded more like a beast's roar.
Mo Li froze when he heard the sound he had made. He could not believe that such a voice had come from him. Could this really be my voice?
Just as Mo Li was bewildered by his voice, the scenery around him changed. It became the classroom from the orphanage years ago. The children who had once lived there with him filled the room, and Mo Li himself was sitting at one of the desks. Seeing the familiar scene, Mo Li excitedly rose to his feet, his body knocking against the desk and chair with a creaking clatter.
The other children in the classroom all turned toward Mo Li when they heard the noise. But the moment they saw him, their faces filled with indescribable terror. Then they screamed and fled the classroom.
Mo Li stared dumbfounded at the suddenly empty classroom, even more baffled than before. What was going on? Why was everyone afraid whenever they saw him? Had they forgotten who he was?
The scene changed again. The classroom disappeared, replaced by a sentry post standing amid wind and snow. Mo Li saw the comrades he had served with back then. Before he could even react, the Warriors who saw him all showed expressions of utter horror. One after another, they raised their guns and aimed them at Mo Li.
Mo Li truly had no idea what was happening. Seeing the guns pointed at him, he desperately tried to tell his comrades—men as close as brothers—that he was Mo Li. But the sound that came from him was still that beastlike roar.
At last, one of the Warriors across from him pulled the trigger. The instant he heard the gunshot, Mo Li closed his eyes in despair.
But the pain of bullets striking his body never came. Not only did he feel no impact from the bullets, he could not even hear his comrades shouting. Puzzled, Mo Li opened his eyes and found that the scenery around him had changed once again. He seemed to be in a hospital, but the snow-white walls were covered in blood. Mo Li stared around in shock. When his gaze shifted to his feet, he was completely stunned. Mei Duo's body was lying there, covered entirely in blood and crisscrossed with countless wounds. Judging by those wounds, Mei Duo appeared to have been attacked by a beast.
Acting on instinct, Mo Li reached out to touch Mei Duo. But when he extended his hand, what appeared before his eyes was a huge, furry paw. Blood dripped from the tips of its sharp claws.
Mo Li stared at his hand for a very long time. Then he slowly raised his other hand as well. By then, both his hands were no longer human. They were exceptionally thick and covered in long, brown hair, with long claws—and, most importantly, they were drenched in blood.
"Th-this... what the hell is going on? What happened to me? Did I kill Mei Duo?" The horror in Mo Li's heart was beyond words.
Just as Mo Li stared helplessly at his hands, the hospital-room door was violently kicked open. Five or six people in police uniforms rushed inside. Mo Li knew them too—they were all his colleagues!
The moment the police officers entered, they saw the blood covering the room and Mei Duo's body on the floor. Finally, they all glared at Mo Li with bloodshot eyes, drew their service pistols, and aimed them at him.
At that moment, Mo Li's mind was in complete chaos. Acting on instinct, he turned and ran. After smashing through the window, he leaped out and then sprinted madly toward the woods.
He had no idea how long he ran. The scenery around him kept changing. When he finally stopped, he had reached the edge of a small lake. Mo Li raised his hands and looked at them again, then walked straight toward the lakeshore. His heart was filled with confusion. What had happened to him?
When he reached the lake, Mo Li took two deep breaths, then gathered his courage and leaned forward to look at the water. The mirrorlike surface reflected his appearance. It was not a human face, but the face of a snow monster. Its hideous features bore no resemblance to the face Mo Li had once had.
Looking at his reflection in the lake, Mo Li completely lost control. He raised his right hand and slammed it against the water, then roared, "No! No~~~!"
"No!!!" Mo Li sat up from the ground, drenched in sweat, and gasped for breath. Darkness surrounded him, and he could see nothing. It felt just like what he had seen in the dream. Mo Li had not yet recovered from that terrifying nightmare and could not distinguish reality from the dream.
After calming down for quite some time, Mo Li raised a hand and touched his face. His palm felt skin with a slight amount of stubble, not the terrifying, hair-covered face from the dream. This gradually steadied his emotions. Only then did he realize that everything just now had been a dream. Awakened by the nightmare, he had returned to reality.
Mo Li raised his hand again and wiped the cold sweat from his face. Then he felt around on the ground in the darkness. He remembered placing several glow sticks beside him earlier. Their glow had already faded, and the campfire had long since gone out. He needed light to check his surroundings.
Just as Mo Li touched one of the glow sticks, a click suddenly came from his left. A moment later, the faint glow of a glow stick appeared again. Then Zhong Lichun's somewhat cold voice rang out: "Why were you screaming so loudly? Were you having a nightmare?"
Before you continue