"Don't!"
Ji Fuyou cried out involuntarily, body leaning forward.
But unfortunately…
His words carried little weight.
Ji Qingqing was a strong-willed person.
She never believed that passively waiting could solve problems.
It was as if she didn't hear Ji Fuyou's warning at all. She pushed open the car door and stepped out with one foot.
Ji Fuyou, unsure if this was reality or a dream, had his pupils contract sharply.
"Tap."
Ji Qingqing's red high heels, still not changed out, landed on the concrete ground, making a soft sound.
Nothing happened.
"Aren't you guys coming? If not, stay in the car. I'll go call someone."
Ji Qingqing turned on her phone's flashlight and looked back into the car.
Yu Xiaoyu originally wanted to stay in the car.
But out of sisterhood and not wanting to leave Ji Qingqing alone, she hesitated.
Asking Ji Fuyou to accompany Ji Qingqing would mean she'd be left alone—and frankly, she was also scared. Ji Fuyou's nervous demeanor was making her anxious too.
"Let's go."
With a hint of complaint, Yu Xiaoyu stepped out of the car.
Seeing both girls get out, Ji Fuyou couldn't stay behind either. Even if his fear came from a dream, what if the dream turned out to be real?
In the dream, the monster actually ate people.
He had the right to say so—he had been eaten hundreds of times.
"I'm going with you," Ji Fuyou said quickly. "Is there any kind of weapon in the car?"
"Weapon?"
Ji Qingqing paused.
The Federation's public security was world-famous. Who would carry a weapon on purpose?
"Yes, a weapon. Just in case," Ji Fuyou insisted.
"There are some repair tools in the trunk, does that count?"
Ji Qingqing replied.
Ji Fuyou rushed to the trunk and opened it…
Inside were miscellaneous items and some gift boxes.
After rummaging for a bit, he surprisingly found something useful.
A crowbar.
One end sharp, the other flat, and over 1.2 meters long.
He weighed it in his hands—it was quite heavy.
According to the internet, nightmares were due to a weak constitution. In desperation to escape the torment, he had been working out intensely for nearly a month—fitness, fighting, anything.
Swinging the crowbar wasn't too hard for him now.
Ji Qingqing glanced at Yu Xiaoyu in her off-shoulder dress and urged, "Fuyou, hurry up. The temperature in Xingguang City drops a lot at night, and there's fog. Aren't we cold?"
"Okay."
Ji Fuyou brought the crowbar.
Ji Qingqing looked at him again but didn't speak.
She was speechless.
If he wasn't her own brother, she'd have left already.
She linked arms with Yu Xiaoyu, and the two walked closely together for warmth, heading toward Yunmengju quickly.
One to two hundred meters wasn't far. Without the fog, they would've already seen the lights of the private courtyard.
But the thick fog…
Visibility was extremely poor.
Even with the phone flashlight at max brightness, it didn't help much.
The faint light of the three phones in the dense fog resembled three lonely boats on the River Styx. Combined with the unnatural silence around them, it felt eerily creepy.
Suddenly—
"Rustle rustle!"
A strange sound came from the nearby grass.
It felt like…
Something was moving through the tall reeds toward them.
With the heavy fog and terrifyingly low visibility, and the utter silence around them, the rustling was eerily loud.
Echoing in their ears, inescapable.
Most critically—
Whatever it was, it was moving fast!
Much faster than a human!
And it seemed to be coming straight at them!
Closer! Closer!
The rustling grew louder and louder!
"Bang!"
Suddenly!
The sound stopped!
Whatever it was had passed through the grass—it was about to reach the road where they stood!
Ji Fuyou stared straight ahead, eyes wide.
Though he gripped the crowbar, his body felt as if it were pinned down—unable to move an inch.
Cold sweat dripped down his forehead and temples.
But he couldn't care—his eyes were fixed on the dense fog ahead.
Inside that fog…
"Whoosh!"
A shadow suddenly leaped out.
"Ahh!"
Yu Xiaoyu couldn't help but scream.
As for Ji Fuyou—
He stood frozen, body numb.
He tried desperately to move, to swing the crowbar, but his body felt foreign—he could only watch helplessly as the shadow lunged…
And passed right by him.
Disappearing into the fog again.
The air seemed to freeze.
A few seconds later, Ji Qingqing's voice broke the silence: "It was a puppy."
A puppy.
Ji Fuyou saw clearly.
It really was a puppy.
A common rural mutt.
Not even very big.
Shoulder height less than 40 cm.
Such a small dog…
Yet it had scared Yu Xiaoyu into screaming, and even Ji Qingqing was visibly shaken.
The main reason for all this...
Ji Qingqing glanced at Ji Fuyou.
He was pale, chest heaving, breathing heavily as if he had just been terrified out of his wits.
People scare people.
If he hadn't been acting so paranoid, would they have been so terrified of a small dog?
"Guests?"
Just then, a beam of light pierced the fog toward them.
Accompanied by a greeting: "Miss Ji? Miss Yu?"
Hearing the voice, Ji Qingqing and Yu Xiaoyu both exhaled in relief.
"Yes, it's us," Ji Qingqing quickly replied.
"Did Little Grey scare you? I'm so sorry. I'll bring some of our new drinks from the estate to apologize to Miss Ji later."
Soon, a woman around forty came running over with a lamp.
"Manager Zhou."
Ji Qingqing, who had been to Yunmengju a few times, recognized her.
It was Zhou Tong, one of Yunmengju's shareholders and general manager.
Yunmengju was just a more upscale farmhouse restaurant.
Because it was built at the foot of Fulong Mountain, with beautiful scenery and lush flowers in the courtyard, it was perfect for photos. Their company often dined here.
"Manager Zhou, is President Wang still here?"
"Yes," Zhou Tong glanced back. "The fog caused the humidity to spike, and there was a power outage. Even the generator isn't working."
"Humidity?" Ji Qingqing paused.
"It's our guess. The outage is really strange."
Zhou Tong smiled. "President Wang joked it might be an electronic weapon—maybe the military is testing a new electromagnetic device on Fulong Mountain."
She gestured, "Miss Ji, Miss Yu, it's chilly out here. Come inside."
Ji Qingqing and Yu Xiaoyu nodded.
Ji Fuyou said nothing.
His mind was full of the events from just a moment ago—those 100 or 200 meters.
That chilling sense of danger.
The body-freezing terror.
The paralysis like a nightmare.
Everything… felt so real.
Just like his dreams.
He felt it deeply.
"Was it really just a dream?"
Ji Fuyou's heart went cold.
"And what about what just happened today? Was that real?"
He couldn't tell anymore.
He honestly didn't know.
"Ji Fuyou!"
At that moment, Ji Qingqing called out, seeing he hadn't followed.
"What are you doing? Come on!"
"There's something out there," Ji Fuyou said, looking into the fog.
Impatient, Ji Qingqing snapped, "It was just a dog! Ji Fuyou, are you seriously this scared? So weak!"
Ji Fuyou lowered his head, staring at the crowbar in his hands.
Then raised it again, staring into the dense fog.
One month.
A whole month!
He had been tormented by nightmares, powerless to fight back!
How do you fight in a dream!?
No.
If you counted all the strange dreams over the years…
It had been much longer than a month!
But now, the dream was bleeding into reality. And that gave him a chance!
A chance to break free from the nightmares, to crush the shadow in his mind!
...
"I'm not going to that dinner."
Ji Fuyou suddenly said.
"What are you going on about now!? Keep acting like this and I'm done with you!"
Ji Qingqing was furious.
"I'm going to find out what that thing really was!"
Ji Fuyou, gripping the crowbar, walked into the fog.
"Ji Fuyou!"
Behind him came Ji Qingqing's exasperated shout.
But he only waved his hand, never looking back.
Facing the fog!
"Why am I such a failure?"
"Why am I so afraid?"
"Why can't I even move!?"
In the dream, he was helpless.
Just now, he had frozen in fear.
Shame!
An overwhelming shame exploded inside him, consuming him!
With danger looming, he hadn't even dared move!?
Was he just going to keep living like this, drifting through life, tormented by nightmares day and night!?
Until one day, he dropped dead from it!?
No!
He would save himself!
Find out!
Find out what this nightmare that came with his arrival really was!
Ji Fuyou looked up sharply!
In the fog, Fulong Mountain loomed dark and silent.
Fear!
The close encounter, the vivid memories from his dreams…
They kept pushing at his heart, feeding the terror of dying again and again in his dreams.
Death!
Fear!
And the best way to overcome death and fear…
Face it head-on!
Following the source of his fear, Ji Fuyou strode forward.
"No matter what kind of monster you are!"
In that moment, it was like he broke free from chains—his movements light and swift!
A cold, mad glint in his eyes.
"I'll beat you to death!"