The dream I wanted wasn't like this!
The dreams I'd had before had never gone the way I wanted, but now, with life and death hanging in the balance, I was more desperate than ever.
If that was the case...
I began wondering whether the old man before me was dead. He definitely knew much more than Cai Lin, and he had far more experience. If I possessed someone else, maybe I could make faster progress.
Just as I thought this, the dream changed.
I saw a funeral hall.
Cai Lin sneaked a glance at the funeral hall. The memorial portrait displayed there was of a girl who looked about twenty. It was the girl surnamed Qian.
I'd only just recognized her when the dream changed again.
I heard a girl breathing frantically and saw incense burning on a rooftop.
The girl lit the incense, then hurried downstairs. She ran fast, her breathing and heartbeat thrown into disarray. Her thoughts were even more chaotic.
Her eyes brimmed with tears, unease, and a hint of worry.
From her jumbled thoughts, I learned that she'd secretly bought the incense. It had a powerful disorienting effect, much faster than alcohol, but it wore off just as quickly. I also learned that she'd accidentally overheard some boys talking and knew they planned to hang out on the rooftop that night. I even saw the face of a young man, a few years older than the girl. He looked at her sorrowfully and said he was going to be handed over to the troupe leader, and that he was going to die.
In the blink of an eye, I saw Shikang's body after he fell from the building.
The girl was frightened, guilty, and at a loss, yet also relieved and happy, eager to find