The closer Shi Dazhuang got to Yu Gang's grave, the more inexplicable panic gripped him. It was a strange feeling, as if his brother lying in the ground was calling out to him, "Don't come any closer! Don't come any closer!"
However, his brother was lying there, and his brother's daughter had fallen into the hands of thieves. Even if there were mountains of knives and seas of fire ahead, how could he not go and take a look?
The skills he had honed as a scout came in handy at this moment. He quickly discovered footprints and broken branches in the woods, and judging from the soil turned up by the footprints and the broken branches, he determined that these people had just left.
They must have run away from the back of the mountain.
Just as he was about to turn back to chase after him, he saw a stone on Yu Gang's grave mound, and under the stone there seemed to be a piece of paper, a corner of which was blown up by the wind.
His intuition told him there was a trap. He raised his arms to stop his companions from getting any closer, warning, "There might be mines, everyone be careful, back off!"
He turned on his flashlight and carefully searched the ground.
A thin, silvery line shone through the tangled weeds, stretching from the grave mound all the way to the roots of a tree beside it. Had any one of them taken just two more steps, they would have touched that line.
Shi Dazhuang secretly rejoiced and told the others to retreat until they were at a safe distance before he bent down and examined the thin line bit by bit, worried that it might be part of a trap.
When he saw the flatbread-like thing stuck to the grave mound, he muttered, "Damn!"
He had assumed the thin wire was connected to something like an anti-personnel mine, but it turned out to be a piece of C4 explosive. Such a large clump—if it exploded, even if Shi Dazhuang brought twice as many men, they would all be buried here. Moreover, Mu Ka hadn't used a cheaper, easier-to-detonate, and more concealed mine; instead, he used C4 explosive—was he trying to blow up the entire grave?!
Shi Dazhuang carefully lifted the dough and took out the detonator underneath. Once the detonator was removed, it would be safe. This kind of explosive wouldn't explode even if you shot it with a gun without the detonator.
After checking the surroundings again to make sure there were no other dangers, Shi Dazhuang moved the stone and took out the paper.
The paper bore a line of hastily written but well-organized characters, clearly the writer had practiced calligraphy, though it was written in a hurry.
You're still alive? Looks like my brother's death at your hands wasn't unjust. If you want to arrest me, come to the Nangou River, or I'll cross the border.
Shi Dazhuang was pondering Mu Ka's intention in leaving this note. Was it a feigned attempt to achieve his goal while secretly plotting against him, or was he setting a trap for him?
Just then, a light flashed in the direction of Kuaziba, followed by a thunderous roar that startled all the animals sleeping in the forest at night.
Shi Dazhuang cried out in alarm and charged toward Kuaziba.
The gate to Old Enkun's courtyard had collapsed, with bricks, tiles, and wood chips scattered everywhere. Meng Yan and two auxiliary police officers were lying about five or six meters away from the gate. Judging from the scene, it seemed that someone had set a trap on the gate, and the explosion occurred when the gate was opened.
Shi Dazhuang grabbed Meng Yan, pulled him into his arms, and roared, " Meng Yan! Wake up! Meng Yan!"
Meng Yan struggled to open his eyes from his blood-covered face, his chest heaving. He said weakly, "I've spent my whole life catching snakes, and this time I got bitten... cough, cough..." He spat out a mouthful of blood. "I've been given a second chance at life, and today... I'm giving it back to... my brothers..."
A faint smile finally appeared on his bloodied lips, then his body relaxed and his head slumped down.
Shi Dazhuang gently placed Meng Yan back on the ground, then checked on the other two auxiliary police officers and found that they were both dead.
Inside the gate lay another corpse, that of Enkun's son Lemao.
Old Enkun, leaning on his cane, stood motionless in the center of the courtyard, his back hunched, his aged face frozen in place, like a statue weathered by decades of wind and rain.
When Qingmu emerged from the cave, it was completely dark. Starlight bathed the surrounding mountains and fields, creating a hazy, dreamlike atmosphere.
He looked up and carefully examined the sky and the distant mountain shadows, making sure he was no longer dreaming. Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief, lean against the stone wall, and take out a cigarette to light it.
Although the cigarettes had gotten a little damp while we were in the cave, we still managed to find a few that were still smokeable. Luckily, the matches hadn't gotten wet.
The warm, spicy smoke entered his throat, flowed through every bronchus, filled his lungs, and was exhaled from his nostrils, bringing him back a sense of reality, more real than the distant starry sky.
To determine whether you're dreaming, simply observe distant objects to see if they are real or just like wallpaper. A person's dream expands with their Mental Power, but it cannot expand infinitely. The so-called starry sky is merely a two-dimensional image created in a dream through memory. No one can create a three-dimensional, near-real starry sky in a dream because your Mental Power cannot reach such distant places.
But Qingmu had just experienced an unimaginable Group Dream Realm. The cave was not only enormous, but also incredibly realistic.
When the combined Mental Power of many people is exhausted, it becomes incredibly powerful, and the resulting Group Dream is naturally enormous. Theoretically speaking, if all of humanity had the same dream, it would be possible to create a near-realistic cosmic dreamscape.
In fact, what evidence is there to prove we're not dreaming?
The sky we see is merely a painting hanging on it. Humanity's exploration of the universe seems to be deepening, but with population growth, isn't the depth of the dream universe also increasing due to the growth of Mental Power?
However, this question is meaningless to human society. On the surface, apart from the mentally ill, no normal person would think this way. But in essence, it's because everyone is in the same situation, and it's fair to everyone, so there's no need to care.
The saying goes, "The people are not worried about scarcity, but about inequality." What's the difference between everyone dreaming and everyone living in reality?
Only when you discover that others can wake up, while you can only dream forever, will you feel it's unfair, and only then will you strongly desire to wake up.
Qingmu tossed away his cigarette butt and prepared to walk back along the path he had taken to get the book. However, the stinking ravine covered in decaying leaves was gone, replaced by dense forest all around.
Qingmu had always known that the large dream space inside the cave extended outside, but he hadn't expected it to extend this far. In other words, after exiting through the back door of the small wooden building and turning over that mountain wall, he had already begun to enter the edge of this dream. The dream began when he saw that ravine. The decaying leaves there and the stench of rotting at the bottom of the ravine had a hypnotic effect, blending in with the surrounding environment without making him feel uncomfortable.
The entire dreamscape was ingeniously designed. From the decaying leaf gully outside the cave to the underground river inside, the original dream creator not only possessed powerful Mental Power but was also well-versed in geography and feng shui, making the most of the earth's energy environment.
Who exactly is this guy named Kitano Masatake? And what is his connection to that mysterious hourglass symbol?
Qingmu's mind was in turmoil again, like a meteorite suddenly falling into a still, stagnant lake, causing waves to ripple outwards, but the bottom of the lake became increasingly obscured as the water turned murky.