Chapter 4

Just as Lin Sheng had guessed.

On the third day, the nightmare returned.

This time, it happened in the middle of the third night.

He had just finished a late-night snack with his father and returned to his room to sleep. He had been asleep for less than ten minutes when that dream came again.

The footsteps outside the door approached even faster this time.

But perhaps because he was on guard, Lin Sheng woke up with a jolt, as if electrocuted. He forced himself to wake up just before the owner of the footsteps could open his bedroom door.

Yet, it was precisely because of this instance that he finally confirmed this was no mere coincidence.

That nightmare must be hiding something he did not yet understand.

Just like the memories of his past life that had awakened for no reason.

In the days that followed, the nightmare arrived right on schedule; as long as he fell asleep, it was guaranteed to appear.

Lin Sheng tried his best to control his body within the dream each time, but it was to no avail.

Every time, he was enveloped by the same feeling of terror. In the dream, the girl in the white dress sitting at his desk always maintained the same posture, the same silence, and the same strange, twitching sobs.

And the footsteps continued to repeat the same process, drawing closer from the hallway.

Fortunately, to prevent any mishaps, Lin Sheng had set an alarm clock in advance to ensure he would be safe.

It would ring just as the footsteps reached the door.

The piercing alarm was exactly what shocked him awake.

This was a precautionary measure he had calculated beforehand.

And this way of life continued for two weeks.

"According to my previous calculations, starting from the third time I had the dream, the total duration was around thirty-five minutes."

"From the fourth to the seventh time, the average fluctuation was within five minutes, which shows that the time span of this dream is not very large."

At night, sitting at his desk under the lamp, Lin Sheng carefully reviewed the dream data he had recorded.

"Taking an average should be enough; the dream time has been calculated. Then there is the duration from entering the dream to the footsteps reaching the door. Based on my previous summaries, that was also confirmed in the last two dreams."

He twirled a pencil in his hand, his face calm. If not for the beads of sweat still lingering on his forehead, it would be hard to believe he had just experienced a long-repeated nightmare.

"So, what I need to do next is to gain free control of my body before the footsteps reach the door."

Lin Sheng knew himself well.

He was neither a top student nor a high-IQ genius. His only advantage was that he was sufficiently calm.

Therefore, only by seizing this advantage could he possibly win this tug-of-war with the nightmare.

Although he did not know what winning would achieve.

But his body's instincts kept warning him that he must never be caught by the owner of those footsteps.

Never!

Lin Sheng stood the pencil up, scribbled a few data points into his notebook, and then snapped it shut.

He stood up from the desk and gazed into the distance through the glass window.

The moonlight in the middle of the night was gentle and tranquil, yet he felt a chill in his body.

Turning around, Lin Sheng was about to get into bed for a short nap, but as soon as he sat down, he hesitated and paused.

"Forget it. I won't sleep."

He fell silent for a moment, then stood back up.

As long as he fell asleep, he would have a nightmare, and it was always the same one.

Such an experience left him with a faint, lingering dread of his bed.

But hesitation aside, he had to sleep regardless; his body absolutely could not hold up otherwise.

Lin Sheng was silent for a while, but eventually, he picked up the wind-up alarm clock, carefully set the time, and then lay down on the bed fully clothed.

Yet, the bed that would be considered warm and comfortable by ordinary people felt like a bed of needles to him.

Fortunately, there were no problems this time. Although the nightmare still appeared, the seven alarms throughout the night helped him barely make it until dawn.

"What have you been doing these past few days?!" Shen Yan looked at Lin Sheng with a hint of horror.

This friend, who was usually calm and healthy, now had a deathly pale complexion, dark, sunken circles under his eyes, and looked severely sleep-deprived.

"Why do you look so terrible? You young people need to know when to show some restraint." Shen Yan offered some uninhibited consolation.

Lin Sheng let out a helpless yawn.

Even sitting in the noisy, bustling classroom, he felt an overwhelming urge to lay his head down and fall into a deep sleep.

To him, the so-called noise around him felt as if it were muffled by a thick layer of soundproofing fabric; it wasn't piercing at all.

"I just haven't been sleeping well these past few days," Lin Sheng replied listlessly.

"Are you feeling randy tonight?" Shen Yan leaned in close with a lecherous expression.

"Get lost." Lin Sheng was speechless. "I just had a nightmare."

"You have nightmares that leave you looking like that?" Shen Yan was equally speechless.

"It's just the same nightmare, over and over." Lin Sheng lowered his voice. There was no point in hiding it; many people had experienced something similar, though perhaps not as severely as he had.

"Recurring nightmares, huh? You could look it up online. They say some people can control their dreams and turn nightmares into pleasant ones. Sounds pretty amazing." Shen Yan thought for a moment and offered the suggestion.

"Is that so?" Lin Sheng had searched for information on the topic online before, but he couldn't tell what was true and what wasn't.

"It's true. I used to have nightmares too, but dreams are funny things—you absolutely must not read horror stories before bed. You can't have any worries or fears on your mind, or you're guaranteed to have a nightmare!" Shen Yan said with a serious air.

"Is that so?" Lin Sheng nodded.

He had come across this theory before, but it had never been verified.

"Don't look at me like that. I used to be prone to nightmares, but once I discovered this method, I never had one again. 'What you think about by day, you dream about by night'—that's the logic behind it." Shen Yan said earnestly.

"Is that so?" Lin Sheng's eyes flickered, and he said nothing more.

"You look completely drained. How about I take you to the Gymnastics Club for a look later?" Shen Yan had only been serious for a few seconds before reverting to his lecherous self.

"I'll pass."

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Can't even gymnastics uniforms and white-stockinged legs pique your interest anymore?" Shen Yan sighed with mock regret.

"I just want to get some good sleep right now." Lin Sheng replied helplessly.

After school that afternoon, he returned home to find, to his surprise, that his parents had returned early.

His mother, Gu Wanqiu, was cooking in the kitchen, while his father, Lin Zhounian, sat in the living room reading a newspaper.

His sister, Lin Xiao, was not there; she had already returned to university to continue her classes.

Seeing Lin Sheng come home, his father, Lin Zhounian, put down his paper and stared at his face with concern.

"Why has your complexion been so poor lately? Are you sick? Don't try to tough it out, kid; some illnesses aren't things you can just power through."

"I'm fine, Dad." Lin Sheng replied while changing into his slippers. "I just haven't been sleeping well these past few days."

"As long as you're fine, kid." Before his father could finish, he saw Lin Sheng drop his schoolbag and turn to walk quickly toward his bedroom.

A moment later, with a loud bang, the bedroom door slammed shut. Everything returned to silence.

"This kid..." Lin Zhounian looked in surprise at his wife, who had come out at the sound. Both of them wore expressions of worry.

"With things not going well on Dad's side, I hope we don't have trouble with the two kids too," Gu Wanqiu said anxiously.

"I'll keep an eye on him. Don't you worry about it, just go back to your cooking!" Lin Zhounian waved his hand.