Sweet Dreams

She pushed herself upright, her body feeling rather heavy here, and stood on a hazy cloud. Though it was called a cloud, it felt more like a springy surface.

So it hadn't been the sofa that bounced her... It was this.

The colors of the surrounding scenery were all bright.

In the void, countless colors seemed to flow and drift. Pink and blue lines intertwined, forming beautiful, mysterious patterns. As if driven by an invisible force, the colors danced slowly, displaying a curious sense of rhythm.

Whoa...

Zheng Wuyou was so stunned by the beautiful sight that her mouth fell open.

Was this really the same dream as Desolate Village?

Beneath the strange spectacle, the clouds still hung in the air, but they seemed farther apart. Each cloud was like an island of its own, separated from the others by several meters.

However, when she looked past the clouds and down at the ground, she saw a barrier between them, like a layer of solid material.

Through this barrier came a sound like flowing water. It sounded like a gentle shade of pale pink, soft and pleasant to the ear.

The change was both novel and captivating, as if the whole world were immersed in a dreamlike atmosphere.

If she had to describe it, compared to last time, this place was like a fairy tale versus reality, heaven versus hell.

Was this a new dream?

This time, she seemed to be the first one here. Zheng Wuyou looked around, but didn't see anyone among the huge, distant clouds.

In this void, she was the only one drifting aimlessly.

"Congratulations, Dream Experience Officer. You have received the 'Rose of Sin' reward."

A reward?

Rose of Sin?

So this place was here to give out rewards...

No wonder the scenery was so beautiful. Zheng Wuyou rolled her eyes. She'd thought she'd landed in a sweet dream, but apparently she'd just been getting ahead of herself.

"An explanation of the reward will be sent to the Dream Experience Officer's phone shortly. Please check your messages. Goodbye."

A voice as gentle as flowing water rang out in the void, mechanically delivering the words it was meant to say.

Just as Zheng Wuyou felt herself sinking and thought she was about to fall...

"Congratulations, Dream Experience Officer. You have also received the 'Symbiosis' reward."

A distorted voice, sounding like a man and a woman speaking at once, suddenly appeared... announcing another reward meant for her.

An additional reward?

What did that mean?

Besides, the voice... The more closely Zheng Wuyou listened, the more familiar it sounded...

"!!! Zhu Li! Is that you?" For some reason, the word "Symbiosis" brought to mind Zhu Li, who shared a life with his tragic younger sister. It was almost as if the reward had come from Zhu Li and his sister.

Before she could get an answer, a wave of nausea-inducing dizziness struck. When she opened her eyes again, she was back in the suite.

The others were still asleep. Only she was awake, sitting there in a daze.

Was this a punishment or a reward? How could a reward be so torturous?

Suppressing the urge to vomit, she patted her chest and glanced at Miao Laisheng next door. He showed no sign of waking up.

Yuan Ling and the others were still curled up on the long brown sofa, in exactly the same positions as before...

Why was she the only one who'd woken up? Could it be that tonight she only had to collect a reward, without entering the dream?

And why had Zhu Li and the others' voices appeared in that void where she'd received the reward?

Zheng Wuyou had just picked up her phone when she yawned. Sleepiness crept up on her, and before she knew it, she'd drifted peacefully back into a dream.

Only when the familiar sound of flowing water rang in her ears again, along with the frightened, confused voices of people talking, did Zheng Wuyou know that this was the real destination of her night.

As expected, this dream wasn't about to let anyone off easily.

But why was she on the water again?

Zheng Wuyou opened her eyes helplessly, expecting to see familiar surroundings. Instead, she found herself somewhere unfamiliar.

This place looked a lot like the place where she'd received her reward...

Except the clouds had turned into dilapidated bamboo rafts, and the dreamy blue-and-pink sky had become a dark, muddled void.

She was the only one who'd appeared sitting on a bamboo raft. They'd even provided her with a single-person sofa in bright pink!

Her vision went dark. She couldn't understand why they'd made her stand out so much, let alone why they'd chosen a color even her own grandma wouldn't wear.

Wasn't this practically announcing to everyone that she was different from the rest?

The sofa's sudden appearance instantly drew everyone's attention. Just seconds earlier, they'd been arguing or panicking. Now they all turned to look at the girl who had just drifted in and was rubbing her forehead in exasperation.

"Hey, you with the pink sofa! Why do you have a sofa? Do you know where we are?" On a nearby raft, a man with an earring squatted down and tried to touch the layer of solid material beneath it. As soon as he noticed the girl's unusual treatment, he immediately demanded an answer.

The lip stud in his mouth bobbed as he spoke, catching the eye.

"Take my advice and don't touch it. We don't know what might show up here, and no one can take responsibility if something happens." On the other side, a girl with a streak of pink in her hair stood up, uncrossing her legs. Her hands remained tucked in her pockets, but she looked imposing.

Yuan Ling was here!

At the familiar voice, Zheng Wuyou's eyes lit up, and she immediately looked toward Yuan Ling, a few meters away.

As soon as Yuan Ling saw Zheng Wuyou, she switched to a playful expression, winked at her, and smiled. She'd finally found someone she knew here.

"I get it now. You two know each other, don't you? You two didn't bring us here and tie us up, did you?" A glamorous woman with wavy hair, who hadn't known where to direct her anger, turned on Zheng Wuyou and Yuan Ling. Her vermilion lipstick looked like a blood-red mouth in this setting.

Yuan Ling rolled her eyes at her. If she wanted to pick a fight, she'd picked the wrong person. "That's right, we brought you here and tied you up, then made sure to trap ourselves too. Now... get down on your knees and beg me, and I'll let you go."

She'd already been arguing with this crowd before her beloved Wuyou arrived. Some people seemed to have brains smaller than their cerebellums. She'd patiently explained everything for ages, only to end up arguing with them anyway.

Seeing the woman with wavy hair get the better of her, another man in a checkered shirt hurried to join in and demand, "Then why does she have a sofa?"

Great. It seemed the wavy-haired woman had stolen this man's brain along with his attention. Yuan Ling held back her anger and gritted out, "Bro, is that the point? It's like a game. The MVPs from the last round should get special treatment, shouldn't they?"

"Okay, okay, let's all stop arguing. Young lady, if you know how to get out, please let us go. We're getting old, and my wife has a follow-up appointment at the hospital tomorrow..."

At last, someone on the raft beside Zheng Wuyou spoke up.

They hadn't said a word earlier, and everyone's attention had been drawn to Yuan Ling's side. Only now did Zheng Wuyou notice that the people next to her were a couple of seniors in their sixties.