Hoolay's third attempt had failed too.
In this dream, he had fallen to the combined assault of a Starskiff fleet. Jiang Yu had then scooped him up and rammed him into the prison again, turning him into emotionless "infinite meat."
When he came to again, Hoolay found himself back in that ordinary little courtyard.
He turned to glance at Jiaoqiu, and a tremor stirred within him, as though he could hear an emotionless voice whispering in his ear, "This is your fourth attempt..."
The next instant, Hoolay frowned, forcibly suppressing the urge to let Jiaoqiu leave and make a show of force in the process.
His instincts told him that doing so would lead to a very bad outcome.
He had no idea where this notion had come from. Only a vague sense of pain and fear filled his instincts, warning him not to do it.
It was as though he had already been torn to pieces once for doing exactly that.
He had to change his plans again, all because of this inexplicable intuition.
Hoolay pondered for a moment, then approached Jiaoqiu and said, "I know what you're thinking, but our people infiltrated this place long ago. I can tell you plainly that the port lockdown by the Cloud Knights you were hoping for never happened.
"That is hardly surprising. They don't want to make my escape public. Fear is deadlier than claws and fangs... especially during a celebration like the Wardance.
"Those gathered here now are not prisoners skulking from one hiding place to another, but wolves that have entered a flock of sheep. My wolf pups are ravenous. They crave flesh and blood, with your fear to season their feast.
"Jiaoqiu, that shell of composure you put on is laughably fragile to me, just as I could