The sandstorm blotted out the sky. Yu Hao remembered the scene he had seen in the Golden Crow Wheel. The entire desert was covered by massive air masses. After just taking a few steps, Yu Hao’s entire body was about to be submerged in sand. Without wings, he couldn’t fly either, so he could only arduously make his way forward.
Yu Hao would end up eating a mouthful of sand if he opened his mouth, so he couldn’t shout either. He could only take off his basketball tank and cover his face with it as a mask for his mouth and nose; his naked skin was scraped by the gritty sand until it hurt.
After experiencing several dreams, Yu Hao was becoming more and more alert of his surrounding environment. He was always on guard against any danger that might appear within the sandstorm. The show Fu Liqun liked watching the most in their dormitory was《The Walking Dead》, so please don’t let any more zombies appear this time……just as he was on tenterhooks, he heard another gunshot in the distance. He was much closer now.
Meanwhile, something seemed to be flying through the sandstorm.
Yu Hao stopped immediately. He swung both hands out to his sides, revealing two daggers — this is great! I can summon my weapons! Looks like in Fu Liqun’s dream, he still has a certain amount of fighting strength!
It seemed as if something swept by behind him again. Yu Hao suddenly turned around, and saw an indistinct shadow.
Yu Hao, “……”
Yu Hao felt like he was almost trapped in an encirclement by enemies hiding in the sandstorm, but he hadn’t even managed to identify his enemies yet. All he could hear were continuous ‘buzzing’ sounds, like someone was holding a high-voltage transformer and was currently closing in on him slowly from all sides.
A reporter’s intuition reminded him of the approaching danger. Another gunshot blared in the distance. Yu Hao immediately dashed towards the sound of the gunshot, and within an instant, something strange lunged towards him from behind!
Yu Hao let out a loud cry — an acute, piercing pain could be felt on his back, as if he had just been pricked by a needle. He turned his head around abruptly and saw pitch-black wings flapping directly onto his face! Yu Hao leapt up, spun around in mid air, and brandished his daggers. With a sharp ‘hissing’ cry, the wings were torn apart, and he suddenly saw a strange figure ——
—— it was a stranger’s face, yet his eyes were bulging outwards exaggeratedly like an insect’s and had compound eyes, while its mouth constituted a sharp steel pipe. It had a human body, was stark naked, had bristles that grew all over from its chest to its lower abdomen, and its gender couldn’t be discerned. It even had bat wings that stuck out from its back.
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Yu Hao instantly felt disgusted and roared, “Get lost!”
Yu Hao swung out a dagger and cut off the mouthpart of that ‘flying mosquito man.’ Black mucus sprayed onto his shoulder and neck. Yu Hao grabbed a fistful of sand and forcefully scrubbed himself a few times while he ran; even more flying mosquito men pounced forward. Yu Hao shouted as he dashed madly towards the direction of the gunshot.
‘Buzzing’ sounds were getting closer and closer. Yu Hao stepped on air and rolled down a sandy slope. A gunshot blared again ten meters away. Yu Hao shouted, “It’s me!”
Two ‘bang bang’s sounded; light pillars broke through the sandstorm and shot the pursuers behind Yu Hao until mucus flew in all directions. Chen Yekai shouted from within the storm, “Get down!”
Yu Hao protected his head with both hands and rolled down the sand slope.The sand slope was littered with hard rocks that scraped his shoulders and back until they suffered a burning pain. A hand immediately grabbed his wrist and pulled him up. Chen Yekai’s voice rang out, “It’s okay now!” As he spoke, he pulled Yu Hao along as they dashed along the ground under the sand slope.
Yu Hao shouted, “What was that?”
“That’s what I wanted to ask you!” Chen Yekai answered loudly. He pushed Yu Hao in front of him and asked him to run quickly while he covered the rear. The ground was covered in rocks everywhere, and the storm had subsided a little. Chen Yekai covered Yu Hao’s back, and the two started running along the rocky beach.
“Where’s Zhou Sheng?!”
“I don’t know!” Chen Yekai said, “It’s too dangerous here! The gunshots lured all the enemies over! Find someplace safe!”
Yu Hao realised that they were flanked by sand slopes on both sides, so they could only flee through the lowlands at the bottom. Chen Yekai took care of a few monsters and ran in front of Yu Hao. They traversed through the rubble; there was a gap at the bottom, and Chen Yekai said, “Get inside!”
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The flying mosquito men all around them appeared to have received a signal — all of them flew up at almost the same time and lunged towards Chen Yekai! Yu Hao spun both daggers between his fingers, swung out, and his daggers flew out of his hands.
Within the blink of an eye, Chen Yekai was already surrounded by the flying mosquito men; the disgusting monsters were all bundled into a huge ball. Yu Hao’s daggers flew over and made several turns back and forth with a whoosh.
Yu Hao, “!!!”
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Yu Hao never knew that his daggers could change directions in the air as he wished; this was an ability he had never realised before. The flying mosquito men ball collapsed in an instant as the daggers cut everywhere, and Chen Yekai fell down again!
Yu Hao took a sudden big stride forward to catch him, Chen Yekai fell heavily on Yu Hao. This time, it was Yu Hao’s turn to drag him. He shouted, “Go!”
Chen Yekai staggered as he was dragged by Yu Hao, and they rushed into the cave. Yu Hao picked up Chen Yekai’s gun and fired two shots outside, then bent forward and pushed him into the cave. The storm instantly quieted a little. Chen Yekai leaned against the rock wall and kept gasping for breath. Yu Hao handed the gun back to him and summoned his daggers back. Just as he was about to say something, Chen Yekai warned, “Be careful!” Then he fired several shots in succession behind Yu Hao.
A flying mosquito man had squeezed in. Yu Hao felt a hand grab him from behind and immediately lunged forward. Chen Yekai pulled his arm, threw him back, wielded his gun, and fired in bursts. He hit the rocks above the cave; the rocks fell down with a loud rumble and crushed the flying mosquito man that was halfway through squeezing in.
Silence fell upon their surroundings, only the sounds of Yu Hao and Chen Yekai’s breathing could be heard in the cave.
“Could you get some light?” Chen Yekai said amidst the silence.
Only then did Yu Hao remember. He unsheathed his daggers that emitted a warm light and illuminated the cave. Chen Yekai’s face looked pale under the illumination. Yu Hao looked at the place they had come from — that flying mosquito man had already been crushed to death, and its mucus had spilled into a huge puddle.
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“What the hell is that?” Yu Hao still had lingering fears in his heart.
Chen Yekai shook his head. While kneeling on one knee, he said, “Move the light over a little.”
Instead of the Great Chieftain appearance he took on in Chichén Itzá, he was now wearing a white shirt and black suit pants, just like a college student. He reached out and pulled the flying mosquito man’s mouthpart, then broke off that monster corpse’s neck with one shot, yanking its whole head off.
Yu Hao exploded in an instant, “Don’t bring it over!”
Chen Yekai was amused, “You’re actually afraid of bugs? I thought you weren’t afraid of anything.”
Yu Hao really wasn’t afraid of anything, but the key point was that that thing was truly too disgusting! Insect blood vessels and mucus still remained on its neck; its head was both like a fly and a mosquito, the sharpness of its mouthpart was unparalleled, and bristles covered its face.
“We need to figure out what the enemy is.” Chen Yekai said, “Look, it’s a bit like a mosquito that’s been enlarged several times, yet it’s also like a fly.”
“Stop talking about it……” Yu Hao said, “It’s too disgusting.”
“Look at the wound on my back.” Chen Yekai said to Yu Hao.
“Are you alright?” Yu Hao asked worriedly. He lifted his daggers gently, and they floated into the air, like little lamps within the cave that illuminated his and Chen Yekai’s surroundings.
Chen Yekai had his back facing Yu Hao, “Is it poisoned?”
“No.” Yu Hao inspected the bite wound on Chen Yekai’s body. The flying mosquito man’s mouthpart was extremely sharp; one jab would lead to one hole, and it had torn quite a lot of holes in Chen Yekai’s shirt. Every wound was slightly white now. Chen Yekai unbuttoned his shirt and took it off to let Yu Hao see his back, revealing his fair and beautiful back muscles.
Every time Yu hao saw Chen Yekai’s image in dreams, he would always think that he had a very good figure. Still, Zhou Sheng’s figure was the one he likes best after all, so he doesn’t really drool at the sight of Chen Yekai. Besides, Chen Yekai was usually too serious. To Yu Hao, seeing him bare chested was like looking at a family member, it wouldn’t stir up any urges within him.
Yu Hao wore his basketball tank and tried to release his ability. Chen Yekai’s wound began to heal gradually without any scars left behind.
“I have the power to heal in Gege’s dream.” Yu Hao said.
“Un.” Chen Yekai’s back heaved along with his breathing. He held his shirt with one hand, “It’s much better now; it sucked quite a bit of my blood just now.”
“Let me look at the front.” Yu Hao said.
Chen Yekai answered, “My front is fine, my legs are fine too.”
So Yu Hao took the shirt in his hand and shook it open to let Chen Yekai wear it. Chen Yekai fastened his buttons in the darkness, “This means that Fu Liqun thinks you can heal.”
“Yes.” Yu Hao nodded. He was about to explain to Chen Yekai when he said, “Zhou Sheng has already told me a lot about the principles that the dream worlds operate on, so I can roughly understand them. Let’s go, we can’t waste too much time here.”
The ‘buzzing’ sounds had disappeared; the flying mosquito men outside had dispersed. Yu Hao shifted to the rocks to look outside; gritty sand was still pouring in with each gust of wind. He looked up to survey the surroundings and pondered about what kind of place this was. Chen Yekai understood his expression and explained on his own initiative, “This is an inland river that dried up. Walk along the bedrock, there’s another exit.”
There was a faint breeze in the cave.
“We need to find Zhou Sheng as soon as possible.” Yu Hao said, “We don’t know where Zhou Sheng is yet.”
Chen Yekai said, “Can you wake yourself up? Go to reality and ask Zhou Sheng?”
Yu Hao said, “I can’t.” Zhou Sheng hadn’t taught him how to wake himself up yet, Yu Hao can only wake other people up. He said, “But I can wake you up.”
“Wake me up, I’ll call Zhou Sheng.” Chen Yekai said, “And ask him where he is.”
Yu Hao simulated the scene in Liang Jinmin’s dream in his mind and drew a silvery-white light aperture. His hand went through the aperture and pressed against Chen Yekai’s forehead. Chen Yekai disintegrated into light particles with a whoosh and disappeared.
Yu Hao sat down at one side and thought about what to do next. However, his surroundings shook, and he woke up in his bed.
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At four o’clock in the morning, Zhou Sheng answered his vibrating phone. He turned on loudspeaker, shook Yu Hao awake, and talked with Chen Yekai.
“I appeared in his safe haven.” Zhou Sheng said, “The form his safe haven took is the house we rented together, but there’s no one inside, I’m very sure of that.”
Yu Hao yawned and got out of bed to pee. Chen Yekai had already clearly explained everything that happened through the phone. Zhou Sheng said, “As soon as I came out, all I saw were sandstorms. But I could see the gate of a city. Let’s think of a way to gather there.”
Chen Yekai said, “Okay, I don’t think Liqun will sleep for too long. If he wakes up at 7am, then we still have three more hours at most.”
Zhou Sheng said, “If we haven’t found him by then, let’s just go to the south first.”
Chen Yekai hung up and sent a simple map over, where a rough position had been marked. It was extremely sloppy. Yu Hao drank water at one side, and he and Zhou Sheng looked at each other. Yu Hao passed the cup of water to Zhou Sheng, Zhou Sheng drank it and patted the bed to ask him to get on, then he hugged Yu Hao from behind.
Yu Hao said, “You’ll wake up once I move.”
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Zhou Sheng said, “If that vampire monster attacks your back, you’ll feel safer if I’m hugging you from behind, and you won’t get ambushed easily……” Then he pressed against Yu Hao’s forehead with one hand and whispered into his ear, “Good night.”
A light flashed, and Yu Hao returned to the dark rock cave once again. Chen Yekai wasn’t there yet, so he was probably trying his best to fall asleep. He waited for a long time before the light in his surroundings began gathering towards a certain position, forming Chen Yekai’s body.
This was Yu Hao’s first time seeing a person’s consciousness being summoned into a dreamscape. He watched curiously for a while, until the light flashed again, and Chen Yekai appeared.
“You fall asleep so fast.” Yu Hao said, “If it wasn’t for Zhou Sheng’s ‘good night,’ I wouldn’t be able to sleep at all.”
Chen Yekai answered, “I haven’t been sleeping much recently, so I fell asleep quite quickly. Let’s go.”
They had confirmed that Zhou Sheng was okay. Yu Hao directed his daggers to fly in front of them and illuminate the passage. Chen Yekai took the lead. He looked down at his sleeve, but his watch didn’t exist, and they couldn’t confirm what time it was in the dream.
“We have less than three hours.” Chen Yekai looked back and said to Yu Hao, “Hopefully, he won’t wake up too early. I’ve already bought the tickets for you two. The flight is at 8:20. We’ll go to Anlu together.”
Yu Hao turned his head sideways to study Chen Yekai. He asked, “Why do you take this form in Gege’s dream?”
Chen Yekai looked very small in his white shirt and black suit pants. He shrugged, “Maybe he thinks I’m like a ‘senior’?”
Yu Hao nodded, he did seem to have that kind of impression. He said, “My weapon seems to have obtained a new ability. See, it can move around.”
The daggers moved along with Yu Hao’s hand that was conducting it and began revolving within the cave like two boomerangs in perpetual motion.
“That’s because my flying scalpel was taken away by you.” Chen Yekai said seriously, “So your dagger has the ability to be controlled by one’s consciousness.”
“Ah!” Yu Hao remembered now. He hadn’t returned the flying scalpel to Chen Yekai yet and had been constantly holding onto it. He also forgot to return it before entering Fu Liqun’s dream.
“Then what do I do?” Yu Hao was instantly dumbstruck. The flying scalpel had turned into his daggers? But there were still two daggers, there aren’t any extra ah. Did they merge?
“You don’t need to do anything.” Chen Yekai casually said, “Use it ba.” Then he looked up at the exit of the cave passage. He got into a horse stance with a steady footing, placed both hands in front of him, and said, “Come.”
Yu Hao stepped onto Chen Yekai’s hands and was pushed up to the exit above by him, then lay down to pull Chen Yekai up.
They were at the top of a rocky mountain, and night had already fallen in the desert. Yu Hao didn’t eat a mouthful of sand again like he had imagined. Strangely, the sandstorm had already stopped, and what replaced it was a quiet desert — like a deathly silent city. A shining Milky Way appeared in the sky.
Under the starry sky, an ancient city appeared in the distance. There seemed to be many buildings all around them, but they had already been buried by gravel, with only a few remaining ruins and broken walls. Two dried up riverbeds appeared at the bottom of the Gobi desert that winded from the city, passed through the rocky mountain they were on, before meandering back.
“The storm has stopped.” Yu Hao said.
“Amidst his impressions, perhaps he can only feel at peace during the night. Look, the monsters have disappeared.” Chen Yekai said, “This means that he suffers all kinds of torture during the day and only feels safe when he sleeps at night. If no accidents occur, night in desert shouldn’t last long. We need to hurry.”
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Yu Hao realised that when Chen Yekai was around, he didn’t need to analyse dreams anymore.
They jumped down from the rocky mountain. Yu Hao kept his daggers and followed behind Chen Yekai as he thought about how to separate the flying scalpel from his daggers, while Chen Yekai was vigilant to all movements in their surroundings.
“Wait for me for a bit.” Yu Hao felt really uncomfortable during the walk and said this.
In the silent desert, Yu Hao sat down on the spot, took off his basketball shoes, and poured the sand out. Chen Yekai watched from the side. Yu Hao suddenly felt that, it seemed that after coming to Beijing, Chen Yekai didn’t talk as much anymore. Or rather, after Ou Qihang’s incident, Chen Yekai’s attitude had changed in a subtle and peculiar way.
“Your team uniform during the basketball match.” Chen Yekai said, “At that time, Huang Ting hadn’t transferred to Beijing, and everyone would still gather together; it all seems just like yesterday.”
“Time flies by so fast.” Yu Hao smiled a little sadly. He didn’t know why he would suddenly talk with Chen Yekai about this. However, he did miss his life in college a lot. At that time, everyone was still together, they didn’t worry about anything and could gather at any time with just one call to go to the foot of Mt. Yunding to eat delicious stir-fry.
“Okay, let’s go…Chen Laoshi.” Yu Hao followed behind Chen Yekai again, “Is the flying scalpel a part of your totem?”
“Maybe? Do you want to ask what it means by me giving you my totem?” Chen Yekai turned his head sideways to look at Yu Hao. The two lines of footprints had formed like folds in the silky desert sand. The night was beautiful, but Yu Hao couldn’t help but remember Ou Qihang’s words, ‘embarrassment is good’.
“I need to think of a way to return it to you.” Yu Hao said.
“I didn’t give it to you.” Chen Yekai said, “To be exact, you ‘forcibly took’ it away.”
Yu Hao answered, “Un…So, I don’t really want it to be like that.”
Chen Yekai said, “The scalpel symbolises my courage. It belongs to me, but it also belongs to you as well. You had taken my courage away, but you had also bestowed it upon me again. In a certain sense, you’re the source of my courage. Letting it protect you once in awhile isn’t a bad thing, you don’t have to mind.”
Yu Hao has always felt that there was nothing between him and Chen Yekai. However, Zhou Sheng always talks about it, and Situ Ye would mention it once in awhile, which made him a little suspicious too. Yu Hao himself had had enough of suffering the pain of unrequited love from another party, yet still leaving him hanging with hope. If someone doesn’t like another, then refuse them clearly — this would be good for both parties. Chen Yekai though, had never discussed such issues with him formally, and the only sign was the concern he showed Yu Hao before he finally received a response from Zhou Sheng. So how could Yu Hao bring it up?
“I feel like you’ve changed after coming to Beijing.” Yu Hao said.
Chen Yekai said, “Do you think I’m avoiding you?”
“It’s not to that extent.” Yu Hao said, “You’re very busy, right?”
“Want to hear the truth?”
Yu Hao said, “Yes.”
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“Kb yf tbcfra, P kjrc’a yers. Ktfgf kjr j qfglbv bo alwf ktfc P gfjiis kjcafv ab rff sbe.” Jtfc Tfxjl ribkfv vbkc j ilaaif jcv ifa Te Ljb mjamt eq. Ktf akb bo atfw kjixfv rlvf ys rlvf, “Dea P xcbk atja ibcu-vlrajcmf gfijalbcrtlqr jgf nfgs vloolmeia ab ub atgbeut, frqfmljiis lc rlaejalbcr ktfgf atfgf jgf abb wjcs byragemalbcr. Po P rtbkfv sbe abb wemt mbcmfgc, P kjr jogjlv atja la’v qea sbeg gfijalbcrtlq ab fnfc wbgf afrar.”
Yu Hao laughed, “That wouldn’t happen, sometimes you really do overthink too much.”
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Chen Yekai said, “Un, I think I often overthink too much too.”
When he said it like that, Yu Hao instantly felt something inexplicable.
“Do you like Ou Qihang?” Yu Hao suddenly asked.
Chen Yekai seemed to have expected that he would definitely ask this question. He answered, “Do you really want us to be together?”
Yu Hao laughed. If he hadn’t gone through Ou Qihang’s baptism, he would think that this conversation in the dream today was really too awkward.
Chen Yekai said, “I was often invited out by him, because I wanted to take the chance to find out something.”
“What is it?” Yu Hao frowned.
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Chen Yekai pondered, then explained, “What Huang Ting would do after Zhou Sheng erased his memories.”
“There’s still a follow-up?!” Yu Hao was surprised, “It happened so long ago, he shouldn’t go that far ba!”
“You don’t understand Huang Ting.” Chen Yekai said solemnly, “As long as there’s one portion of the case that’s illogical, he will remember it very clearly and raise his doubts during appropriate opportunities.”
Yu Hao frowned deeply and pondered.
Chen Yekai continued, “After Xiao Ou came to Beijing, Huang Ting looked for him thrice. Twice last year, and once this year. The last time was during your internship.”
Yu Hao said, “He won’t be able to get anything out of him, Qihang has already forgotten everything.”
Chen Yekai said, “If Huang Ting was the only one analysing the inside story, then he may not be able to find any clues. But you’ve forgotten an important point — Xiao Ou has doubts about this as well. With his personality, if a portion of his memory fragmented, he definitely wouldn’t let it go so easily.”
Yu Hao started feeling like this was a little dangerous now.
Chen Yekai made a gesture with both hands, “So this is equivalent to the involved party, Ou Qihang, and the criminal investigator, Huang Ting, jointly pursuing a lost memory. Now that I think of it, what I regret the most is sending the Golden Crow Wheel to the STA for an appraisal……”
“But you said that the data was destroyed.” Yu Hao said.
“Yes.” Chen Yekai said solemnly, “But there are still people who know of its existence. I’ve gone to the research lab twice. My Shidi is still there, and everything is as usual. I wanted to erase his memories, but after contacting Zhou Sheng, we realised that he never dreamed of me, so we can’t enter his dream.”
Yu Hao comforted, “Don’t worry about it too much. If it was leaked, it would’ve been leaked a long time ago.”
Chen Yekai smiled and looked at Yu Hao, “Yu Hao, let me ask you a question.”
The sun was beginning to rise slowly.
Chen Yekai said, “Do you trust me?”
Yu Hao said, “I trust you, of course. You’re an honest person.”
“I’m not that honest ba.” Chen Yekai thought about it, and stated, “I also have a cowardly, selfish, and dark side……has Zhou Sheng ever told you why he didn’t erase my memories?”
“Ah?” Yu Hao was baffled, “No…”
This time, it was Chen Yekai’s turn to be a little surprised, “He never told you what he saw when he was planning to erase my memories?”
Yu Hao, “???”
Yu Hao looked at Chen Yekai tentatively and shook his head, “No, why?”
Chen Yekai nodded, “Then…Have you ever suspected that I used to think of taking the Golden Crow Wheel for myself?”
Yu Hao said, “You won’t take something that doesn’t belong to you. There’s no reason for that.”
“There are many reasons.” Chen Yekai said, “For example, I can’t forget my old lover, so I hoped to have the ability to enter dreams whenever I wanted to so that I’ll have the company of Ryuusei. Or, through the study of the Golden Crow Wheel,I could think up all sorts of ways to revive my lost lover in a certain sense?”
Yu Hao said without even thinking about it, “You wouldn’t”
On Chen Yekai’s handsome face, there was a smile that didn’t reach his eyes and a handsome temperament, “Why?”
Yu Hao couldn’t say why, but he just thinks that Chen Yekai just definitely wouldn’t do that. He wasn’t the kind of person who would harm people, no matter how many temptations he had that couldn’t be said. (re…check…)
“Because your courage is here.” Yu Hao patted the dagger at his waist.
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Chen Yekai laughed and nodded, “Then remember that and trust me at all times.”
Yu Hao nodded as well, but he was a little worried about Huang Ting and Ou Qihang’s deep-rooted suspicions. In the end, he said, “What measures will Huang Ting take?”
“At present, no one knows.” Chen Yekai answered, “But he still suspects you two. Fortunately, he doesn’t list me and Liqun as targets to doubt. Hopefully, this point of doubt will turn into an unsolved case in his career.”
The sandstorm started stirring again and instantly covered the bloody morning sun. Chen Yekai said to Yu Hao, “Hide behind me, we’ll reach the ancient city soon!”
The sandstorm came without any warning and instantly blew up so much sand that Yu Hao couldn’t even keep his eyes open. Chen Yekai pulled up his shirt collar and lowered his head to block the gravel from pummelling his face, exposing his bare back. Yu Hao followed Chen Yekai closely and hid behind him, and they walked arduously through the sand.
Suddenly, Chen Yekai stopped and let go of his shirt as he watched the scene.
“What happened?!” Yu Hao could hardly keep his eyes open because of the wind.
Chen Yekai immediately turned around and hugged Yu Hao tightly, then leaped towards one side. In the next moment, a huge dragon roared as it rushed over and landed harshly into the sand! Following which, an overwhelming number of flying mosquito men caught up.
“Zhou Sheng’s dragon!” Yu Hao saw the dragon fly through the sandstorm and rush into the gravel, accompanied by Zhou Sheng’s cry that came out of nowhere. The flying mosquito men had piled up into a mountain and swarmed over.
But in the next moment, the black dragon vanished without a trace in the blink of an eye!
Yu Hao, “Zhou Sheng?!”
Chen Yekai pulled Yu Hao and climbed out of the pile of sand. The huge dragon appeared in the sky almost twenty meters above without warning. Zhou Sheng shouted loudly, “All of you, drop dead!”
Zhou Sheng, clad in an iron armour, was being bombarded constantly by the flying mosquito men, and clanging sounds rang out incessantly. Chen Yekai fired a shot at the sky with a ‘bang.’ Zhou Sheng was riding the black dragon, but the black dragon started flickering with an unstable light, as if it was hit by a virus in a video game. After flashing a few times, it disappeared once again!
The monsters that were swarming around Zhou Sheng exploded from Chen Yekai’s precise, consecutive shots. The iron man fell with a ‘bang’. Yu Hao rushed forward and pulled the heavy Zhou Sheng up. Zhou Sheng was dragging his jingubang, and seemed to have used up all his strength. In the next moment, the sea of sand outside the ancient city started swirling up in a strange way!
Chen Yekai said, “Run!”
“Where’s the dragon?!” Yu Hao shouted.
Zhou Sheng handed the jingubang to Yu Hao. He took off his helmet — his face was covered in blood. He shouted, “Shield!”
Yu Hao shook the jingubang and pointed it at the sky. Within an instant, the jingubang transformed into a giant shield. That shield came from his totem. Now that Zhou Sheng’s life was entrusted to him, he possessed a ‘just try’ mentality, and the shield did indeed sense his thoughts and blocked the group of flying mosquito men that pelted down on them like a rainstorm.
There was a vast army of flying mosquito men numbering in the thousands, and all of them slammed onto the shield like crazy. Yu Hao used the shield to block the impact, while the sea of sand behind them had risen up to a massive wave that was 10 meters tall, and now it crashed down on them!
Chen Yekai turned around to look, then shouted, “Run!”
Yu Hao supported Zhou Sheng and rolled sideways. The sea of sand below his feet rose and sent them into the sky, then crashed down again violently!
Three seconds later, Yu Hao stepped on the huge shield and used the shield as a skateboard, and as if he was surfing, he took Zhou Sheng and Chen Yekai to slide down with a whoosh from the apex of the sand wave!
The flying mosquito men gathered in teams and pursued them relentlessly from behind. Zhou Sheng shouted, “It’s up to you now!”
“Hold onto me!” Yu Hao shouted, then shrunk the shield down to a size that was just enough for the three of them to stand on. He inadvertently glanced at the sea of sand. Zhou Sheng’s dragon had appeared again and was still flashing like a holographic image for a few times before disappearing.
“What the hell is wrong with it?!”
Zhou Sheng, “I don’t know! It’s gone crazy!”
The sandstorm blotted out the sky. Yu Hao remembered the scene he had seen in the Golden Crow Wheel. The entire desert was covered by massive air masses. After just taking a few steps, Yu Hao’s entire body was about to be submerged in sand. Without wings, he couldn’t fly either, so he could only arduously make his way forward.
Yu Hao would end up eating a mouthful of sand if he opened his mouth, so he couldn’t shout either. He could only take off his basketball tank and cover his face with it as a mask for his mouth and nose; his naked skin was scraped by the gritty sand until it hurt.
After experiencing several dreams, Yu Hao was becoming more and more alert of his surrounding environment. He was always on guard against any danger that might appear within the sandstorm. The show Fu Liqun liked watching the most in their dormitory was《The Walking Dead》, so please don’t let any more zombies appear this time……just as he was on tenterhooks, he heard another gunshot in the distance. He was much closer now.
Meanwhile, something seemed to be flying through the sandstorm.
Yu Hao stopped immediately. He swung both hands out to his sides, revealing two daggers — this is great! I can summon my weapons! Looks like in Fu Liqun’s dream, he still has a certain amount of fighting strength!
It seemed as if something swept by behind him again. Yu Hao suddenly turned around, and saw an indistinct shadow.
Yu Hao, “……”
Yu Hao felt like he was almost trapped in an encirclement by enemies hiding in the sandstorm, but he hadn’t even managed to identify his enemies yet. All he could hear were continuous ‘buzzing’ sounds, like someone was holding a high-voltage transformer and was currently closing in on him slowly from all sides.
A reporter’s intuition reminded him of the approaching danger. Another gunshot blared in the distance. Yu Hao immediately dashed towards the sound of the gunshot, and within an instant, something strange lunged towards him from behind!
Yu Hao let out a loud cry — an acute, piercing pain could be felt on his back, as if he had just been pricked by a needle. He turned his head around abruptly and saw pitch-black wings flapping directly onto his face! Yu Hao leapt up, spun around in mid air, and brandished his daggers. With a sharp ‘hissing’ cry, the wings were torn apart, and he suddenly saw a strange figure ——
—— it was a stranger’s face, yet his eyes were bulging outwards exaggeratedly like an insect’s and had compound eyes, while its mouth constituted a sharp steel pipe. It had a human body, was stark naked, had bristles that grew all over from its chest to its lower abdomen, and its gender couldn’t be discerned. It even had bat wings that stuck out from its back.
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Yu Hao instantly felt disgusted and roared, “Get lost!”
Yu Hao swung out a dagger and cut off the mouthpart of that ‘flying mosquito man.’ Black mucus sprayed onto his shoulder and neck. Yu Hao grabbed a fistful of sand and forcefully scrubbed himself a few times while he ran; even more flying mosquito men pounced forward. Yu Hao shouted as he dashed madly towards the direction of the gunshot.
‘Buzzing’ sounds were getting closer and closer. Yu Hao stepped on air and rolled down a sandy slope. A gunshot blared again ten meters away. Yu Hao shouted, “It’s me!”
Two ‘bang bang’s sounded; light pillars broke through the sandstorm and shot the pursuers behind Yu Hao until mucus flew in all directions. Chen Yekai shouted from within the storm, “Get down!”
Yu Hao protected his head with both hands and rolled down the sand slope.The sand slope was littered with hard rocks that scraped his shoulders and back until they suffered a burning pain. A hand immediately grabbed his wrist and pulled him up. Chen Yekai’s voice rang out, “It’s okay now!” As he spoke, he pulled Yu Hao along as they dashed along the ground under the sand slope.
Yu Hao shouted, “What was that?”
“That’s what I wanted to ask you!” Chen Yekai answered loudly. He pushed Yu Hao in front of him and asked him to run quickly while he covered the rear. The ground was covered in rocks everywhere, and the storm had subsided a little. Chen Yekai covered Yu Hao’s back, and the two started running along the rocky beach.
“Where’s Zhou Sheng?!”
“I don’t know!” Chen Yekai said, “It’s too dangerous here! The gunshots lured all the enemies over! Find someplace safe!”
Yu Hao realised that they were flanked by sand slopes on both sides, so they could only flee through the lowlands at the bottom. Chen Yekai took care of a few monsters and ran in front of Yu Hao. They traversed through the rubble; there was a gap at the bottom, and Chen Yekai said, “Get inside!”
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The flying mosquito men all around them appeared to have received a signal — all of them flew up at almost the same time and lunged towards Chen Yekai! Yu Hao spun both daggers between his fingers, swung out, and his daggers flew out of his hands.
Within the blink of an eye, Chen Yekai was already surrounded by the flying mosquito men; the disgusting monsters were all bundled into a huge ball. Yu Hao’s daggers flew over and made several turns back and forth with a whoosh.
Yu Hao, “!!!”
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Yu Hao never knew that his daggers could change directions in the air as he wished; this was an ability he had never realised before. The flying mosquito men ball collapsed in an instant as the daggers cut everywhere, and Chen Yekai fell down again!
Yu Hao took a sudden big stride forward to catch him, Chen Yekai fell heavily on Yu Hao. This time, it was Yu Hao’s turn to drag him. He shouted, “Go!”
Chen Yekai staggered as he was dragged by Yu Hao, and they rushed into the cave. Yu Hao picked up Chen Yekai’s gun and fired two shots outside, then bent forward and pushed him into the cave. The storm instantly quieted a little. Chen Yekai leaned against the rock wall and kept gasping for breath. Yu Hao handed the gun back to him and summoned his daggers back. Just as he was about to say something, Chen Yekai warned, “Be careful!” Then he fired several shots in succession behind Yu Hao.
A flying mosquito man had squeezed in. Yu Hao felt a hand grab him from behind and immediately lunged forward. Chen Yekai pulled his arm, threw him back, wielded his gun, and fired in bursts. He hit the rocks above the cave; the rocks fell down with a loud rumble and crushed the flying mosquito man that was halfway through squeezing in.
Silence fell upon their surroundings, only the sounds of Yu Hao and Chen Yekai’s breathing could be heard in the cave.
“Could you get some light?” Chen Yekai said amidst the silence.
Only then did Yu Hao remember. He unsheathed his daggers that emitted a warm light and illuminated the cave. Chen Yekai’s face looked pale under the illumination. Yu Hao looked at the place they had come from — that flying mosquito man had already been crushed to death, and its mucus had spilled into a huge puddle.
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“What the hell is that?” Yu Hao still had lingering fears in his heart.
Chen Yekai shook his head. While kneeling on one knee, he said, “Move the light over a little.”
Instead of the Great Chieftain appearance he took on in Chichén Itzá, he was now wearing a white shirt and black suit pants, just like a college student. He reached out and pulled the flying mosquito man’s mouthpart, then broke off that monster corpse’s neck with one shot, yanking its whole head off.
Yu Hao exploded in an instant, “Don’t bring it over!”
Chen Yekai was amused, “You’re actually afraid of bugs? I thought you weren’t afraid of anything.”
Yu Hao really wasn’t afraid of anything, but the key point was that that thing was truly too disgusting! Insect blood vessels and mucus still remained on its neck; its head was both like a fly and a mosquito, the sharpness of its mouthpart was unparalleled, and bristles covered its face.
“We need to figure out what the enemy is.” Chen Yekai said, “Look, it’s a bit like a mosquito that’s been enlarged several times, yet it’s also like a fly.”
“Stop talking about it……” Yu Hao said, “It’s too disgusting.”
“Look at the wound on my back.” Chen Yekai said to Yu Hao.
“Are you alright?” Yu Hao asked worriedly. He lifted his daggers gently, and they floated into the air, like little lamps within the cave that illuminated his and Chen Yekai’s surroundings.
Chen Yekai had his back facing Yu Hao, “Is it poisoned?”
“No.” Yu Hao inspected the bite wound on Chen Yekai’s body. The flying mosquito man’s mouthpart was extremely sharp; one jab would lead to one hole, and it had torn quite a lot of holes in Chen Yekai’s shirt. Every wound was slightly white now. Chen Yekai unbuttoned his shirt and took it off to let Yu Hao see his back, revealing his fair and beautiful back muscles.
Every time Yu hao saw Chen Yekai’s image in dreams, he would always think that he had a very good figure. Still, Zhou Sheng’s figure was the one he likes best after all, so he doesn’t really drool at the sight of Chen Yekai. Besides, Chen Yekai was usually too serious. To Yu Hao, seeing him bare chested was like looking at a family member, it wouldn’t stir up any urges within him.
Yu Hao wore his basketball tank and tried to release his ability. Chen Yekai’s wound began to heal gradually without any scars left behind.
“I have the power to heal in Gege’s dream.” Yu Hao said.
“Un.” Chen Yekai’s back heaved along with his breathing. He held his shirt with one hand, “It’s much better now; it sucked quite a bit of my blood just now.”
“Let me look at the front.” Yu Hao said.
Chen Yekai answered, “My front is fine, my legs are fine too.”
So Yu Hao took the shirt in his hand and shook it open to let Chen Yekai wear it. Chen Yekai fastened his buttons in the darkness, “This means that Fu Liqun thinks you can heal.”
“Yes.” Yu Hao nodded. He was about to explain to Chen Yekai when he said, “Zhou Sheng has already told me a lot about the principles that the dream worlds operate on, so I can roughly understand them. Let’s go, we can’t waste too much time here.”
The ‘buzzing’ sounds had disappeared; the flying mosquito men outside had dispersed. Yu Hao shifted to the rocks to look outside; gritty sand was still pouring in with each gust of wind. He looked up to survey the surroundings and pondered about what kind of place this was. Chen Yekai understood his expression and explained on his own initiative, “This is an inland river that dried up. Walk along the bedrock, there’s another exit.”
There was a faint breeze in the cave.
“We need to find Zhou Sheng as soon as possible.” Yu Hao said, “We don’t know where Zhou Sheng is yet.”
Chen Yekai said, “Can you wake yourself up? Go to reality and ask Zhou Sheng?”
Yu Hao said, “I can’t.” Zhou Sheng hadn’t taught him how to wake himself up yet, Yu Hao can only wake other people up. He said, “But I can wake you up.”
“Wake me up, I’ll call Zhou Sheng.” Chen Yekai said, “And ask him where he is.”
Yu Hao simulated the scene in Liang Jinmin’s dream in his mind and drew a silvery-white light aperture. His hand went through the aperture and pressed against Chen Yekai’s forehead. Chen Yekai disintegrated into light particles with a whoosh and disappeared.
Yu Hao sat down at one side and thought about what to do next. However, his surroundings shook, and he woke up in his bed.
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At four o’clock in the morning, Zhou Sheng answered his vibrating phone. He turned on loudspeaker, shook Yu Hao awake, and talked with Chen Yekai.
“I appeared in his safe haven.” Zhou Sheng said, “The form his safe haven took is the house we rented together, but there’s no one inside, I’m very sure of that.”
Yu Hao yawned and got out of bed to pee. Chen Yekai had already clearly explained everything that happened through the phone. Zhou Sheng said, “As soon as I came out, all I saw were sandstorms. But I could see the gate of a city. Let’s think of a way to gather there.”
Chen Yekai said, “Okay, I don’t think Liqun will sleep for too long. If he wakes up at 7am, then we still have three more hours at most.”
Zhou Sheng said, “If we haven’t found him by then, let’s just go to the south first.”
Chen Yekai hung up and sent a simple map over, where a rough position had been marked. It was extremely sloppy. Yu Hao drank water at one side, and he and Zhou Sheng looked at each other. Yu Hao passed the cup of water to Zhou Sheng, Zhou Sheng drank it and patted the bed to ask him to get on, then he hugged Yu Hao from behind.
Yu Hao said, “You’ll wake up once I move.”
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Zhou Sheng said, “If that vampire monster attacks your back, you’ll feel safer if I’m hugging you from behind, and you won’t get ambushed easily……” Then he pressed against Yu Hao’s forehead with one hand and whispered into his ear, “Good night.”
A light flashed, and Yu Hao returned to the dark rock cave once again. Chen Yekai wasn’t there yet, so he was probably trying his best to fall asleep. He waited for a long time before the light in his surroundings began gathering towards a certain position, forming Chen Yekai’s body.
This was Yu Hao’s first time seeing a person’s consciousness being summoned into a dreamscape. He watched curiously for a while, until the light flashed again, and Chen Yekai appeared.
“You fall asleep so fast.” Yu Hao said, “If it wasn’t for Zhou Sheng’s ‘good night,’ I wouldn’t be able to sleep at all.”
Chen Yekai answered, “I haven’t been sleeping much recently, so I fell asleep quite quickly. Let’s go.”
They had confirmed that Zhou Sheng was okay. Yu Hao directed his daggers to fly in front of them and illuminate the passage. Chen Yekai took the lead. He looked down at his sleeve, but his watch didn’t exist, and they couldn’t confirm what time it was in the dream.
“We have less than three hours.” Chen Yekai looked back and said to Yu Hao, “Hopefully, he won’t wake up too early. I’ve already bought the tickets for you two. The flight is at 8:20. We’ll go to Anlu together.”
Yu Hao turned his head sideways to study Chen Yekai. He asked, “Why do you take this form in Gege’s dream?”
Chen Yekai looked very small in his white shirt and black suit pants. He shrugged, “Maybe he thinks I’m like a ‘senior’?”
Yu Hao nodded, he did seem to have that kind of impression. He said, “My weapon seems to have obtained a new ability. See, it can move around.”
The daggers moved along with Yu Hao’s hand that was conducting it and began revolving within the cave like two boomerangs in perpetual motion.
“That’s because my flying scalpel was taken away by you.” Chen Yekai said seriously, “So your dagger has the ability to be controlled by one’s consciousness.”
“Ah!” Yu Hao remembered now. He hadn’t returned the flying scalpel to Chen Yekai yet and had been constantly holding onto it. He also forgot to return it before entering Fu Liqun’s dream.
“Then what do I do?” Yu Hao was instantly dumbstruck. The flying scalpel had turned into his daggers? But there were still two daggers, there aren’t any extra ah. Did they merge?
“You don’t need to do anything.” Chen Yekai casually said, “Use it ba.” Then he looked up at the exit of the cave passage. He got into a horse stance with a steady footing, placed both hands in front of him, and said, “Come.”
Yu Hao stepped onto Chen Yekai’s hands and was pushed up to the exit above by him, then lay down to pull Chen Yekai up.
They were at the top of a rocky mountain, and night had already fallen in the desert. Yu Hao didn’t eat a mouthful of sand again like he had imagined. Strangely, the sandstorm had already stopped, and what replaced it was a quiet desert — like a deathly silent city. A shining Milky Way appeared in the sky.
Under the starry sky, an ancient city appeared in the distance. There seemed to be many buildings all around them, but they had already been buried by gravel, with only a few remaining ruins and broken walls. Two dried up riverbeds appeared at the bottom of the Gobi desert that winded from the city, passed through the rocky mountain they were on, before meandering back.
“The storm has stopped.” Yu Hao said.
“Amidst his impressions, perhaps he can only feel at peace during the night. Look, the monsters have disappeared.” Chen Yekai said, “This means that he suffers all kinds of torture during the day and only feels safe when he sleeps at night. If no accidents occur, night in desert shouldn’t last long. We need to hurry.”
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Yu Hao realised that when Chen Yekai was around, he didn’t need to analyse dreams anymore.
They jumped down from the rocky mountain. Yu Hao kept his daggers and followed behind Chen Yekai as he thought about how to separate the flying scalpel from his daggers, while Chen Yekai was vigilant to all movements in their surroundings.
“Wait for me for a bit.” Yu Hao felt really uncomfortable during the walk and said this.
In the silent desert, Yu Hao sat down on the spot, took off his basketball shoes, and poured the sand out. Chen Yekai watched from the side. Yu Hao suddenly felt that, it seemed that after coming to Beijing, Chen Yekai didn’t talk as much anymore. Or rather, after Ou Qihang’s incident, Chen Yekai’s attitude had changed in a subtle and peculiar way.
“Your team uniform during the basketball match.” Chen Yekai said, “At that time, Huang Ting hadn’t transferred to Beijing, and everyone would still gather together; it all seems just like yesterday.”
“Time flies by so fast.” Yu Hao smiled a little sadly. He didn’t know why he would suddenly talk with Chen Yekai about this. However, he did miss his life in college a lot. At that time, everyone was still together, they didn’t worry about anything and could gather at any time with just one call to go to the foot of Mt. Yunding to eat delicious stir-fry.
“Okay, let’s go…Chen Laoshi.” Yu Hao followed behind Chen Yekai again, “Is the flying scalpel a part of your totem?”
“Maybe? Do you want to ask what it means by me giving you my totem?” Chen Yekai turned his head sideways to look at Yu Hao. The two lines of footprints had formed like folds in the silky desert sand. The night was beautiful, but Yu Hao couldn’t help but remember Ou Qihang’s words, ‘embarrassment is good’.
“I need to think of a way to return it to you.” Yu Hao said.
“I didn’t give it to you.” Chen Yekai said, “To be exact, you ‘forcibly took’ it away.”
Yu Hao answered, “Un…So, I don’t really want it to be like that.”
Chen Yekai said, “The scalpel symbolises my courage. It belongs to me, but it also belongs to you as well. You had taken my courage away, but you had also bestowed it upon me again. In a certain sense, you’re the source of my courage. Letting it protect you once in awhile isn’t a bad thing, you don’t have to mind.”
Yu Hao has always felt that there was nothing between him and Chen Yekai. However, Zhou Sheng always talks about it, and Situ Ye would mention it once in awhile, which made him a little suspicious too. Yu Hao himself had had enough of suffering the pain of unrequited love from another party, yet still leaving him hanging with hope. If someone doesn’t like another, then refuse them clearly — this would be good for both parties. Chen Yekai though, had never discussed such issues with him formally, and the only sign was the concern he showed Yu Hao before he finally received a response from Zhou Sheng. So how could Yu Hao bring it up?
“I feel like you’ve changed after coming to Beijing.” Yu Hao said.
Chen Yekai said, “Do you think I’m avoiding you?”
“It’s not to that extent.” Yu Hao said, “You’re very busy, right?”
“Want to hear the truth?”
Yu Hao said, “Yes.”
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“Kb yf tbcfra, P kjrc’a yers. Ktfgf kjr j qfglbv bo alwf ktfc P gfjiis kjcafv ab rff sbe.” Jtfc Tfxjl ribkfv vbkc j ilaaif jcv ifa Te Ljb mjamt eq. Ktf akb bo atfw kjixfv rlvf ys rlvf, “Dea P xcbk atja ibcu-vlrajcmf gfijalbcrtlqr jgf nfgs vloolmeia ab ub atgbeut, frqfmljiis lc rlaejalbcr ktfgf atfgf jgf abb wjcs byragemalbcr. Po P rtbkfv sbe abb wemt mbcmfgc, P kjr jogjlv atja la’v qea sbeg gfijalbcrtlq ab fnfc wbgf afrar.”
Yu Hao laughed, “That wouldn’t happen, sometimes you really do overthink too much.”
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Chen Yekai said, “Un, I think I often overthink too much too.”
When he said it like that, Yu Hao instantly felt something inexplicable.
“Do you like Ou Qihang?” Yu Hao suddenly asked.
Chen Yekai seemed to have expected that he would definitely ask this question. He answered, “Do you really want us to be together?”
Yu Hao laughed. If he hadn’t gone through Ou Qihang’s baptism, he would think that this conversation in the dream today was really too awkward.
Chen Yekai said, “I was often invited out by him, because I wanted to take the chance to find out something.”
“What is it?” Yu Hao frowned.
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Chen Yekai pondered, then explained, “What Huang Ting would do after Zhou Sheng erased his memories.”
“There’s still a follow-up?!” Yu Hao was surprised, “It happened so long ago, he shouldn’t go that far ba!”
“You don’t understand Huang Ting.” Chen Yekai said solemnly, “As long as there’s one portion of the case that’s illogical, he will remember it very clearly and raise his doubts during appropriate opportunities.”
Yu Hao frowned deeply and pondered.
Chen Yekai continued, “After Xiao Ou came to Beijing, Huang Ting looked for him thrice. Twice last year, and once this year. The last time was during your internship.”
Yu Hao said, “He won’t be able to get anything out of him, Qihang has already forgotten everything.”
Chen Yekai said, “If Huang Ting was the only one analysing the inside story, then he may not be able to find any clues. But you’ve forgotten an important point — Xiao Ou has doubts about this as well. With his personality, if a portion of his memory fragmented, he definitely wouldn’t let it go so easily.”
Yu Hao started feeling like this was a little dangerous now.
Chen Yekai made a gesture with both hands, “So this is equivalent to the involved party, Ou Qihang, and the criminal investigator, Huang Ting, jointly pursuing a lost memory. Now that I think of it, what I regret the most is sending the Golden Crow Wheel to the STA for an appraisal……”
“But you said that the data was destroyed.” Yu Hao said.
“Yes.” Chen Yekai said solemnly, “But there are still people who know of its existence. I’ve gone to the research lab twice. My Shidi is still there, and everything is as usual. I wanted to erase his memories, but after contacting Zhou Sheng, we realised that he never dreamed of me, so we can’t enter his dream.”
Yu Hao comforted, “Don’t worry about it too much. If it was leaked, it would’ve been leaked a long time ago.”
Chen Yekai smiled and looked at Yu Hao, “Yu Hao, let me ask you a question.”
The sun was beginning to rise slowly.
Chen Yekai said, “Do you trust me?”
Yu Hao said, “I trust you, of course. You’re an honest person.”
“I’m not that honest ba.” Chen Yekai thought about it, and stated, “I also have a cowardly, selfish, and dark side……has Zhou Sheng ever told you why he didn’t erase my memories?”
“Ah?” Yu Hao was baffled, “No…”
This time, it was Chen Yekai’s turn to be a little surprised, “He never told you what he saw when he was planning to erase my memories?”
Yu Hao, “???”
Yu Hao looked at Chen Yekai tentatively and shook his head, “No, why?”
Chen Yekai nodded, “Then…Have you ever suspected that I used to think of taking the Golden Crow Wheel for myself?”
Yu Hao said, “You won’t take something that doesn’t belong to you. There’s no reason for that.”
“There are many reasons.” Chen Yekai said, “For example, I can’t forget my old lover, so I hoped to have the ability to enter dreams whenever I wanted to so that I’ll have the company of Ryuusei. Or, through the study of the Golden Crow Wheel,I could think up all sorts of ways to revive my lost lover in a certain sense?”
Yu Hao said without even thinking about it, “You wouldn’t”
On Chen Yekai’s handsome face, there was a smile that didn’t reach his eyes and a handsome temperament, “Why?”
Yu Hao couldn’t say why, but he just thinks that Chen Yekai just definitely wouldn’t do that. He wasn’t the kind of person who would harm people, no matter how many temptations he had that couldn’t be said. (re…check…)
“Because your courage is here.” Yu Hao patted the dagger at his waist.
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Chen Yekai laughed and nodded, “Then remember that and trust me at all times.”
Yu Hao nodded as well, but he was a little worried about Huang Ting and Ou Qihang’s deep-rooted suspicions. In the end, he said, “What measures will Huang Ting take?”
“At present, no one knows.” Chen Yekai answered, “But he still suspects you two. Fortunately, he doesn’t list me and Liqun as targets to doubt. Hopefully, this point of doubt will turn into an unsolved case in his career.”
The sandstorm started stirring again and instantly covered the bloody morning sun. Chen Yekai said to Yu Hao, “Hide behind me, we’ll reach the ancient city soon!”
The sandstorm came without any warning and instantly blew up so much sand that Yu Hao couldn’t even keep his eyes open. Chen Yekai pulled up his shirt collar and lowered his head to block the gravel from pummelling his face, exposing his bare back. Yu Hao followed Chen Yekai closely and hid behind him, and they walked arduously through the sand.
Suddenly, Chen Yekai stopped and let go of his shirt as he watched the scene.
“What happened?!” Yu Hao could hardly keep his eyes open because of the wind.
Chen Yekai immediately turned around and hugged Yu Hao tightly, then leaped towards one side. In the next moment, a huge dragon roared as it rushed over and landed harshly into the sand! Following which, an overwhelming number of flying mosquito men caught up.
“Zhou Sheng’s dragon!” Yu Hao saw the dragon fly through the sandstorm and rush into the gravel, accompanied by Zhou Sheng’s cry that came out of nowhere. The flying mosquito men had piled up into a mountain and swarmed over.
But in the next moment, the black dragon vanished without a trace in the blink of an eye!
Yu Hao, “Zhou Sheng?!”
Chen Yekai pulled Yu Hao and climbed out of the pile of sand. The huge dragon appeared in the sky almost twenty meters above without warning. Zhou Sheng shouted loudly, “All of you, drop dead!”
Zhou Sheng, clad in an iron armour, was being bombarded constantly by the flying mosquito men, and clanging sounds rang out incessantly. Chen Yekai fired a shot at the sky with a ‘bang.’ Zhou Sheng was riding the black dragon, but the black dragon started flickering with an unstable light, as if it was hit by a virus in a video game. After flashing a few times, it disappeared once again!
The monsters that were swarming around Zhou Sheng exploded from Chen Yekai’s precise, consecutive shots. The iron man fell with a ‘bang’. Yu Hao rushed forward and pulled the heavy Zhou Sheng up. Zhou Sheng was dragging his jingubang, and seemed to have used up all his strength. In the next moment, the sea of sand outside the ancient city started swirling up in a strange way!
Chen Yekai said, “Run!”
“Where’s the dragon?!” Yu Hao shouted.
Zhou Sheng handed the jingubang to Yu Hao. He took off his helmet — his face was covered in blood. He shouted, “Shield!”
Yu Hao shook the jingubang and pointed it at the sky. Within an instant, the jingubang transformed into a giant shield. That shield came from his totem. Now that Zhou Sheng’s life was entrusted to him, he possessed a ‘just try’ mentality, and the shield did indeed sense his thoughts and blocked the group of flying mosquito men that pelted down on them like a rainstorm.
There was a vast army of flying mosquito men numbering in the thousands, and all of them slammed onto the shield like crazy. Yu Hao used the shield to block the impact, while the sea of sand behind them had risen up to a massive wave that was 10 meters tall, and now it crashed down on them!
Chen Yekai turned around to look, then shouted, “Run!”
Yu Hao supported Zhou Sheng and rolled sideways. The sea of sand below his feet rose and sent them into the sky, then crashed down again violently!
Three seconds later, Yu Hao stepped on the huge shield and used the shield as a skateboard, and as if he was surfing, he took Zhou Sheng and Chen Yekai to slide down with a whoosh from the apex of the sand wave!
The flying mosquito men gathered in teams and pursued them relentlessly from behind. Zhou Sheng shouted, “It’s up to you now!”
“Hold onto me!” Yu Hao shouted, then shrunk the shield down to a size that was just enough for the three of them to stand on. He inadvertently glanced at the sea of sand. Zhou Sheng’s dragon had appeared again and was still flashing like a holographic image for a few times before disappearing.
“What the hell is wrong with it?!”
Zhou Sheng, “I don’t know! It’s gone crazy!”
