Many people had experienced something like this:
They reached out from under the covers, switched on the bedside lamp, and sat up. Some might even have got out of bed to do something.
But in reality, the light was still off, and they were still under the covers. Everything that had just happened was only a dream-one that felt all too real.
Then they discovered they could not move, not even a finger. They tried to open their eyes but could not. Sometimes they might manage to open them, but their bodies still would not move.
They could feel their bodies and sense their surroundings. They knew that if they could just move a hand or roll over, they would wake up completely.
They felt unbearably uncomfortable, breathing desperately, wanting to move but unable to.
At such times, they were both awake and asleep, suffering in a state between dreaming and waking.
At this point, things would reach a fork in the road.
Some would wake up after a painful struggle, gasping for breath, still shaken;
Some would sink back into sleep and repeat the process several times, waking the next day weak all over and as exhausted as if they had spent the night with three lovers in a jolting carriage;
Others had clearer heads. When sleep paralysis struck, they would tell themselves not to struggle, to relax, and relax some more. Though this process was painful too, if they could relax completely, they would be free of the paralysis. If not, they would use that moment of relaxation to gather their strength, then wake themselves in one go.
If you were the third kind, congratulations: you possessed strong self-control and command over your mind. You would not be easily hypnotized or brainwashed. Even if you joined a pyramid scheme, you would be the one who gave your upline the biggest headache.
Hu Xing was that kind of person.
At the police academy, she had not only studied psychology systematically but also undergone rigorous psychological stress and book tests. Her willpower was strong enough for her to control herself calmly when sleep paralysis struck.
As she saw it, sleep paralysis was a fight between the conscious and subconscious minds.
When a person was about to wake, the conscious mind prepared to rouse the body, but the subconscious was unwilling to retreat behind the scenes and fought the conscious mind for control.
Although a person's conscious and subconscious minds both belonged to them and should have been united, some unknown conflict during evolution had left them refusing all contact with each other. No matter what you did, you could not awaken your entire subconscious without being hypnotized, nor could you make your conscious mind speak while you slept.
Except in that instant when sleep paralysis struck, when both minds were awake.
But this time, Hu Xing found herself experiencing the worst bout of sleep paralysis of her life.
It began with the same old routine. First she switched on the light and sat up. She even seemed to have groggily gone to brush her teeth. Then she discovered she was still in bed, the light was off, and the covers were still properly over her.
Then she could not move.
This was not her first experience, so although she felt uncomfortable, she was not anxious. She did not panic the way someone experiencing it for the first time would.
She told herself to relax. It would be over soon. Relax...
Her breathing eased a little, but she did not escape the paralysis as easily as before.
Then I'll use this chance to gather my strength and let my conscious mind defeat my subconscious in one push. With that, Hu Xing continued to relax, took several deep breaths, and then used every ounce of strength she had-
She sprang upright.
By rights, she should have been sitting in bed, gasping for breath and sweating all over...
Yet she found that she was no longer in bed.
Around her was an indescribable space: distorted air, rings of ripples from some unknown source, and faint human figures amid the undulating waves.
She vaguely remembered that something seemed to be happening here. But no matter how she tried, she could not recall it clearly.
Her body felt awful. It was as though an immovable boulder pressed against her chest, leaving her unable to breathe. She wanted to move it away, but she could not muster the slightest strength in her arms.
She realized she had not yet woken up.
Then she heard someone say, "Relax, relax, and relax some more..." It was just like the suggestion she had given herself when sleep paralysis struck.
But this person's words clearly carried more power, and her body relaxed completely.
The stone on her chest was gone. She could move.
Everything around her turned blank.
This blankness was not an open expanse, because an open expanse had to exist somewhere-a plain, a desert, or an ocean, for instance. But here there was nothing: no ground, no sky, only herself.
Nor was it darkness, because she could clearly see. When she raised a hand, she saw her hand; when she lifted a foot, she saw her foot. Beyond that, there was only a hazy, bleak whiteness.
She cautiously stepped forward. One step, two, three... Nothing changed.
She backed up. One step, two, three... Still nothing changed.
She began to sprint, jump, and roll... She could even make herself fly, but she knew flight was only a sensation. In reality, nothing changed. What sort of flying was it without any point of reference?
She felt she had become a two-dimensional creature living on a sheet of white paper, or on the inner surface of a cramped spherical cage.
She began to feel afraid. She longed to wake up.
Then that voice sounded beside her ear. "Wake up, in your dream!"
Wake up? How could I be in my dream, then?
Those contradictory words illuminated her soul like a flash of lightning in the night.
She saw a hazy figure emerge from the scattered light in the distance of this empty space.
The figure drew closer and closer. She could see his messy bird's-nest hair, his trench coat billowing in the wind, and she could even hear the clip-clop of his footsteps.
Then she woke up.
She found herself standing on the study balcony. The flowers in the garden beyond were so vivid that they looked as though they had been dyed with fresh paint.
Xia Wenyuan climbed onto the balcony railing.
"Ah, that's too dangerous!"
Hu Xing reached out to pull him back, then suddenly realized something. She turned and saw the man with the bird's-nest hair beside her smiling at her.
"Am I in my grandfather's dream?" Hu Xing's heart pounded as she asked.
Qingmu nodded. "You've finally woken up."
Hu Xing remembered that her grandfather was still in danger. Just as she was about to ask Qingmu what to do, Xia Wenyuan jumped off the balcony.
Hu Xing was startled. The sky collapsed again, the earth caved in, and her chest felt as though a stone were pressing against it once more.
"Am I about to get out?" Hu Xing murmured to herself.
A strong hand caught hold of her. "Relax! You won't get out."
Hu Xing steadied her breathing and found that her body was sinking. Tall buildings surrounded her, and the wind howled beside her ears, cutting into her like knives.
She fell faster and faster. Just as she was about to hit the ground, it suddenly rippled like water, and an enormous, bottomless black hole appeared.