The Villa

Thick fur rugs lay beneath the luxurious sofas. The fireplace nearby was pitch-black, with only the ashes left behind by burning logs.

Night had taken over the world. They shouldn't have been able to see so clearly, but the crystal chandelier overhead was still lit, its refracted light slicing the newcomers into fragmented shapes.

The villa still had electricity.

"Let's look around first." The burly man tore his gaze from the chandelier. "We'll go together. Don't split up."

Before long, they found a large amount of food in the dining room refrigerator, including vegetables, rice, flour, meat, and even a few snacks.

It looked fresh, as though it had been put there only recently.

But judging by the dust on the floor, that couldn't possibly be true.

The others' attention clearly wasn't focused on the food, either. The burly man looked at it without a trace of surprise. After a moment, he said flatly, "At least we won't starve."

A rush of water sounded behind them. Jiang Cheng turned and saw the woman with a mole on her lip turning on the faucet. Clean water flowed out.

She shut off the faucet, then turned to the others and said slowly, "We won't die of thirst, either."

Next, they found a large pile of firewood in a secluded little room that seemed to be a storage closet.

The logs were stacked in neat rows.

The second floor was where the bedrooms were. There was a master bedroom, a study, and two smaller bedrooms. At the far end was another room, locked.

It was clear that both the burly man and the woman were interested in the locked room, but neither suggested breaking down the door to take a look inside.

A black iron door blocked the stairs to the third floor. The burly man gave it a shake, but it didn't budge.

The group returned to the living room on the first floor.

They had already spent most of the day in this world. After the car accident and the long journey, they were all cold and hungry.

The burly man suggested that he and the Middle-aged man fetch firewood and start a fire; the woman, Jiang Cheng, and the Fatty would cook; and the girl and the male clerk would tidy up the house.

Jiang Cheng stared at the ingredients spread across the table, at a loss. The woman scoffed and left him to it.

Fortunately, the Fatty knew his way around a kitchen. His knife skills and cooking were both excellent. Before long, he had served up a fragrant meal, and thoughtfully fried an egg for everyone as well.

The area around the living-room sofas had been tidied up. Everyone sat around the fireplace with bowls in hand.

The fire blazed, crackling loudly.

After dinner, everyone gathered to discuss the mission.

But no matter how long they talked, it ended up turning into an argument between the burly man and the woman. There was no helping it: the mission had only just begun, they had very few clues, and those two had the most experience to draw on.

They clearly knew their way around these missions; they'd already completed several.

Night fell.

The burly man wanted everyone to sleep in the living room, but the woman insisted that they should sleep in the second-floor bedrooms, arguing that there might be clues there.

In the end, they parted on bad terms. The girl chose to go with the woman, and the two headed for the stairs. Just as they were about to reach them, the male clerk suddenly hurried after them.

Jiang Cheng guessed that the two slaps from the burly man had left him shaken.

And so the burly man, the Bald middle-aged man, Jiang Cheng, and the Fatty stayed in the living room for the night, while the other three went upstairs to the bedrooms.

"Idiots!" The burly man watched them leave and muttered a curse.

Sleeping in the living room didn't require much fuss. The remaining group were all men, and there were three long sofas—one for each, with one person left to keep watch.

The burly man said he'd take the first shift. Then he pulled a pocket watch from his coat, opened its cover, and set it on the small table between them.

"It's about ten p.m. now, and it'll be light at six. That gives us eight hours. There are four of us, so we'll each take two hours. That way, everyone gets plenty of rest."

The burly man was about to continue when he noticed the Fatty staring at the pocket watch on the table with a strange look.

"Don't bother looking at it. The time's inaccurate." He paused, then explained, "Any clock brought into the Dream Realm has its time scrambled. Its only use now is as a timer."

The pocket watch showed 4:18, which obviously didn't match the real time.

Since Jiang Cheng and the Fatty were newcomers, the burly man said a little more, telling them that anything that defied common sense could happen in this world.

Their job was to find the clues hidden behind all these abnormalities, solve the mission, and get out.

Jiang Cheng raised his hand. The burly man looked at him and asked, "Is there something you want to say?"

"Since you've already escaped the Nightmare World, why did you come back?"

"I only escaped temporarily. It wasn't the end." The burly man sighed. "By the way, no matter how badly you're hurt in the Dream Realm, as long as you're still breathing, you'll return to reality unharmed when the mission ends."

"Then how can we leave the Nightmare Barrier for good?" The Bald middle-aged man raised his head. His hoarse voice made people uncomfortable.

The burly man glanced at him and answered impatiently, "Don't ask such a stupid question. You're not a newcomer. You should understand that this is like trying to figure out what point in time this world is in. There's no answer."

The Middle-aged man's face darkened, and he fell silent.

Jiang Cheng raised his hand again.

The burly man looked at him, rather helplessly. "If you have a question, just ask. You don't have to raise your hand."

"It should be sometime between the end of March and the middle of September, 2006," Jiang Cheng said seriously.

The burly man froze. So did the Middle-aged man, who had just lowered his head. The Fatty also watched Jiang Cheng with suspicion, unable to figure out what he was getting at.

"How do you know?" the burly man asked.

Jiang Cheng unhurriedly rummaged in his pocket and pulled out a small bag, holding it where the others could see. They recognized it as a bag of Da Ji Yuan mini bread rolls.

Jiang Cheng turned the bag over and pointed to a line of small print: "Production date: March 18, 2006. Shelf life: six months."

Then, under everyone's watchful eyes, he tore open the bag, pulled off a piece of bread, and put it in his mouth. He chewed for a while, then tipped his head back and swallowed. After thinking it over, he said, "The texture's good, and it's still soft. It hasn't gone stale. Considering it was stored in a refrigerator, I think the date I estimated could be even earlier."