Close Encounters of the Fourth Kind

On the second floor of the supply station was a row of large communal bunks divided into six beds. This was the passengers' dormitory.

As the strange sun of the underground world sank behind the mountains, Xue Ming spent his first night in this bizarre, surreal world.

His sleep quality was terrible. He dreamed continuously through the night, but they were neither pleasant dreams nor nightmares.

In the dream, he followed a sparse stone forest, crossed muddy paths, and arrived at the seaside.

Heaven and earth were both a bleak grayish white. He stepped onto the gravel beach, leaving shallow footprints as he headed toward a small Western-style house in the distance.

A woman sat on the porch bench of the house.

She wore a thick, teal-blue one-piece gauze dress. From so far away, he could not see her face or make out what she looked like.

Driven by instinctive curiosity, Jiang Xueming stubbornly walked toward the house in his dream.

He drew closer and closer. At last, he could vaguely make out the woman's face—it looked a great deal like Jiang Bailu. It was practically identical to his sister's.

He began to run. The sound of waves by his ears, the scrape of his soles against gravel, his ragged breaths as he panted.

There were also raindrops striking his face and the sweet air filling his nose and mouth. Everything felt so real.

He ran to the porch of the house and studied her closely. He wanted to call out to Jiang Bailu, but found that he could not open his mouth no matter what.

Standing before Bailu, he clawed desperately at his heart, but his tongue, throat, and vocal cords had completely gone on strike. They would not obey him at all.

Only then did he become alert—there seemed to be something wrong with the woman seated on the bench.

Though she had his sister's appearance and wore his sister's skin, her eyes were extremely similar to those creatures in Fang Feng. She looked like a living corpse. Jiang Xueming could not possibly be mistaken.

Then he woke up.

Bu Liuxing was sitting on the edge of the communal bunk.

The moment A Xing saw Xue Ming wake up, he asked like a curious child.

"Ming Ge, you dreamed about your sister, didn't you?"

Jiang Xueming asked back, "How did you know?"

A Xing immediately replied, "You were dreaming and talking in your sleep. You babbled all night and said Jiang Bailu's name a hundred and two times."

Xue Ming said nothing. He stood and stretched, rubbing his sore shoulders and neck. His head buzzed, accompanied by a severe migraine.

A Xing immediately asked again, "Who's Xiao Qi?"

"What?" Jiang Xueming's heart tightened. "What Xiao Qi?"

A Xing explained, "Seventh Brother, Xiao Qi, 9527. You kept muttering those words in your dream too."

Did I dream about Seventh Brother? Jiang Xueming had no memory of it whatsoever.

People were unconscious while dreaming, and after waking up, it was difficult to retain memories from their dreams. Perhaps he really had dreamed of Seventh Brother; he simply did not remember it.

After all, that strange woman had left a deep impression on him.

"Hey." A Xing's gossiping soul burned brightly. "Ming Ge, do you owe this Xiao Qi a lot of money or something? You said her name more than two hundred times in your sleep. I lost count."

The corner of Jiang Xueming's mouth twitched. He waved a hand as though swatting flies and called downstairs.

"Mr. Byrne! We're setting out. We're going sightseeing in the settlement today. Do you have time to come with us?"

David Byrne's listless voice came from downstairs. "I'm afraid not. You two kept yammering in your sleep, shouting all night like you were reciting a menu. I couldn't sleep at all."

Xue Ming said, "All night?"

A Xing said, "I dreamed too?"

"Yes, especially you, kid." David poked his head out from the stairwell, the dark circles beneath his eyes especially obvious. "You muttered more than forty different names in your sleep, going on for over six hours."

Jiang Xueming looked at A Xing in confusion.

A Xing laughed awkwardly. "You know me, Ming Ge. My family's rich, and my heart has shattered into many pieces. Every piece belongs to a lovely little sister."

"That's not what I'm confused about," Jiang Xueming said frankly. "Did we have the same dream? The same kind of dream?"

"Oh! Oh, oh, oh!" With that reminder, Bu Liuxing finally came to his senses. "You went to the seaside too?"

Jiang Xueming said, "A rocky beach."

Bu Liuxing said, "There was a building."

Jiang Xueming said, "There was a chair on the porch."

Bu Liuxing said, "A drenched older woman was sitting in it."

Jiang Xueming said, "I couldn't see her face clearly."

Bu Liuxing said, "She wore a blue dress and no shoes. I was worried she'd catch a cold. It was freezing."

Jiang Xueming said, "When I got close, I found out she was someone I knew."

Bu Liuxing said, "But her eyes looked like someone who'd gone all-in on real estate and A-shares, or at the very least had a few bright green funds in hand."

"That's right. Looks like we dreamed of the same place." Xue Ming took out his journal and fountain pen, recording the scenes from the dream.

The two went downstairs and told Mr. Byrne about their dreams.

The armed guard was utterly bewildered. The last time the station had sent people to investigate was already six months ago.

"Mr. Byrne, you haven't rested properly. You can get some sleep first. There's no point in us sitting around waiting for you to wake up," Jiang Xueming said to him. "Give us some equipment, and we'll take a look around the outskirts of the settlement first."

"That won't do!" David immediately rejected the suggestion seriously. "I'm your safety officer. If anything happens to either of you, I'll be held responsible."

"What do we do?" A Xing quietly prompted Xue Ming. "Should we wait for David to sleep? Talk about it after he wakes up?"

But Jiang Xueming did not have much time left, and neither did Bailu.

He had never believed that the few drawings in his hand and the photos on his phone could get him the Universal Elixir from the BOSS. Little Kitty had told him—information someone else had written down could not be exchanged for the Universal Elixir.

That trivial information might already have been entered into the station's database.

Now, they had finally found a new lead.

The rocky beach by the sea.

The woman before the small Western-style house.

The things in their dreams were very likely new phenomena that had only appeared in recent months.

But with nothing but words and an insubstantial dream, he could never convince that cunning black cat.

"I have a way," Xue Ming muttered quietly.

A Xing said, "What way?"

Xue Ming said, "Wait."

A Xing said, "Good idea."

The two sat side by side before the stove, arms folded, doing nothing but watching exhausted Mr. Byrne gradually sink into sleep.

David Byrne leaned against the sofa on the first floor. The pattering rain outside the window was like hypnotic white noise, making him yawn again and again.

He repeatedly slapped his cheeks to keep himself awake. Poor with words, he had no idea how to persuade these two eager travelers.

His eyes grew unfocused and bloodshot, and his voice gradually faded.

"Don't even think about leaving me behind and acting on your own. I promise you, when I wake up, I'll take you through every road in Fang Feng. But not now, boys. I need to sleep for a while. You won't run around, will you? The underground world... is very dangerous."

Xue Ming said, "We won't. Don't worry."

"Absolutely not!~" A Xing echoed, nodding like a pecking chicken.

Mr. Byrne's head bobbed little by little, his eyelids fighting each other. Gurgling snores came from his throat, though he had not fully fallen asleep yet.

Jiang Xueming asked again, "Mr. Byrne, if those strange settlement residents come to the supply station, how should we protect ourselves?"

A Xing chimed in, "Yeah, yeah. When you're asleep, I don't feel safe at all."

"My..." David clutched the black waterproof cloth bundle in his arms. "There are weapons... in the bag..."

The two dimwits put their heads together.

Xue Ming supported Mr. Byrne's head and slowly eased him farther onto the sofa, toward the warm side by the stove.

Liuxing stealthily took the cloth bundle from Mr. Byrne's arms.

Xue Ming conveniently slipped a pillow beneath David's head.

Liuxing pulled down the velvet cloth from the door curtain and used it as a blanket.

Their teamwork was seamless and smooth.

The two hit it off instantly and high-fived in celebration.

()╯╰()

Before they could open the bundle and find something for self-defense,

Mr. Byrne began dreaming too, murmuring in his sleep.

".45 ACP..."

"M1911..."

"AK-105..."

"Magnum..."

"I like you so much."

The two awake men looked at each other.

Bu Liuxing scratched his head. "So Mr. Byrne is..."

Jiang Xueming carried the cloth bundle and gently pushed open the door.

"...a gunsexual."