Lucid Dream

He had barely finished explaining the first nightmare, without even taking a breath, and the second one came right up!

This was absolutely not giving him any chance to catch his breath!

But...

The corners of Fang Qi's mouth curled up into a smile.

Panic?

Nonexistent!

He was already a veteran of a hundred battles!

So he raised his hand—

Smack!

He gave Liguang's little head a light smack!

"What's with that expression? Hmm?"

He squinted at her, a hint of teasing in his tone:

"Doubting your master again?"

The silver-haired girl was instantly stunned, her little head shrinking down slightly from his pat.

"Wu..."

She let out a soft, aggrieved whimper.

But those heterochromatic eyes still stared straight at him!

The crimson in her red eye flickered slightly, as if to say—

Master, you can hit Liguang, but you still have to give me an answer!

Looking at her cute and stubborn little appearance, Fang Qi felt both affection and amusement.

So he cleared his throat...

And began his performance once again!

"That dream..."

He rubbed his nose, his tone as relaxed as if he were chatting about the weather:

"Of course I had it too."

Liguang's eyes stared straight at him without speaking.

He continued:

"Going on a date with Liguang, buying clothes for Liguang, going to the amusement park to ride the Ferris wheel, and then being surrounded by that dark mass of armed personnel..."

He listed them one by one, watching the changes in Liguang's expression as he spoke:

"Then calling An Lian, and her saying something about data extraction, something about having to be destroyed..."

Liguang's little mouth parted slightly, a hint of surprise appearing in her eyes.

"Master... remembers it all?"

"That's right."

Fang Qi spread his hands.

But then he suddenly extended a finger, tapped his temple, and said mysteriously:

"But Liguang, did you know? The human brain... is quite fascinating!"

Liguang tilted her little head: "...Fascinating?"

"Yes."

Fang Qi explained to her with a serious face:

"Sometimes when dreaming, a person will suddenly realize—'Eh? I seem to be in a dream, right?'"

"That feeling is hazy, but... you just know!"

He looked down at her, smiling:

"Liguang definitely hasn't had this kind of feeling, right?"

Liguang was led astray by Fang Qi and subconsciously nodded.

"Mm... Liguang's dreams are all pieced together from memories when sorting data fragments, they all feel so real..."

"Right!"

Fang Qi slapped his thigh:

"But humans do! This is called a lucid dream!"

"So I suddenly realized—oh, so this is a dream!"

He snapped his fingers:

"And then, the whole dream changed its flavor!"

He smiled at Liguang:

"Do you know that feeling? It's when you know you're dreaming, and then... you can do whatever you want!"

The silver-haired girl blinked and asked subconsciously:

"Do... whatever you want?"

"Exactly!"

Fang Qi slapped his thigh again, his tone becoming a bit more impassioned:

"Think about it, since it's a dream, what is there to be afraid of? It'll all be gone when I wake up anyway!"

"So—"

He stared into Liguang's eyes and said word by word:

"When I was surrounded in that dream, I thought—"

"Hey, since it's a dream, I'm going to... go crazy for once!"

Liguang stared at him with wide eyes.

"So I went crazy!"

He continued speaking, even gesturing a bit:

"Being a meat shield, counter-killing, letting you kill to your heart's content—it was all a dream anyway, as long as it felt good, that was enough!"

Liguang looked at him blankly, her little mouth forming an O shape.

Fang Qi struck while the iron was hot and continued his output:

"Liguang, you should have noticed it too, right?"

He narrowed his eyes, a hint of probing in his tone:

"Was Master in the dream particularly agitated, particularly crazy?"

Liguang froze for a moment...

And then her little head started nodding frantically!

"Mhm mhm mhm mhm mhm!"

Nodding like a little chicken pecking at rice!

"Master in the dream was so crazy! So amazing! So—!"

Halfway through, she suddenly realized she was too excited. Her pretty face flushed slightly, and her voice softened:

"...So much to Liguang's liking."

Fang Qi took a deep breath.

She even liked me when I was that crazy...

Wifey, you're the best!!

But on the surface, he still maintained a 'See, I told you so' expression, and then continued explaining:

"Right! It was because I knew it was a dream that I dared to be so crazy!"

He waved his hand grandly, his tone very bold:

"If this were in reality, how would I dare?"

He would never admit that he really went insane in the previous loop!

He wasn't insane!

His mental state had always been perfectly normal!

Liguang looked at him, the light in her heterochromatic eyes growing brighter and brighter!

And then—

"So that's how it is..."

She murmured, a look of sudden realization appearing on her little face.

"Master actually... realized it was a dream so early on?"

The look in her eyes as she watched him filled with adoration:

"So amazing... Master is really so amazing!"

Clap clap clap!

She actually started clapping, looking at him with a face full of worship, her two little hands clapping joyfully!

"Ahem..."

Fang Qi was made a bit embarrassed by her sudden applause and rubbed his nose:

"...Keep it low profile, keep it low profile."

But Liguang was still clapping, her eyes sparkling:

"Master is really too amazing!"

"When Liguang dreams, she can't tell what's real and what's fake at all, yet Master could actually figure it out! Master really is the most amazing!"

Fang Qi: "..."

He quickly waved his hands:

"Alright, alright, stop praising me, let me finish."

Liguang immediately stopped clapping and looked at him obediently, wearing a well-behaved 'Please speak, Master' expression.

Fang Qi took a deep breath, then continued his performance:

"And then, weren't we surrounded at the end?"

"I thought to myself then, this dream should end now, so..."

He looked at her, his eyes softening and his voice growing gentle:

"That's why I fired the gun."

Liguang's gaze trembled slightly.

Fang Qi reached out and gently pinched her cheek:

"But did you know, before firing, I suddenly thought of that dream on the island."

"After waking up from that dream, you cried so miserably..."

He pursed his lips:

"I was thinking right then, what if... Liguang remembers this dream too?"

"What if she's just as scared as she was in the last dream?"

He stared into her eyes, speaking word by word:

"That's why I said those words."

"—See you in the next life."

Liguang froze, the light in her heterochromatic eyes beginning to waver violently.

Fang Qi pinched her cheek again, still wearing that relaxed expression:

"Turns out, I guessed right."

"You really did remember!"

He pinched the tip of her little nose:

"And you actually started... loathing yourself because of it!"

With her nose pinched by him, Liguang let out a muffled "Wu"...

But she didn't dodge, just obediently letting him pinch it, her heterochromatic eyes still staring straight at him.

Fang Qi let go of his hand, gently rubbed her head again, and said softly:

"So, Liguang, from now on..."

"You're not allowed to be so sensitive and fragile anymore, got it?"

His tone was very gentle, yet carried a trace of unquestionable seriousness:

"How could Master ever abandon you?"

"Even if I lost you in a dream, I would still find you."

"Even if I committed suicide in the dream, it was only so we could 'meet in the next life'."

"Do you understand?"

Liguang looked at him, her eyes beginning to redden again.

But this time, she didn't cry.

She just... nodded her head as hard as she possibly could!

"Mhm!!!"

"Liguang understands!!!"

"Master is the most amazing!!! Liguang will always believe in Master!!!"

As she said this, both of her small hands balled into fists against her chest!

Her whole being radiated an excited glow that screamed, "I've been convinced by Master!"

Then she bounced right up off his lap!

"Master! Liguang is going to clean up the table!"

With that, she turned around and trotted over to the coffee table, beginning to tidy up the surface.

She even started humming a song.

It was just soft humming, completely out of tune, but it sounded incredibly happy.

Her beige dress swayed gently with her movements, and her long silver hair bounced cheerfully.

Her slender waist, her long legs, and that little silver head bobbing along with her actions.

The cloth strip that had previously been wrapped around her head had been tossed straight into the trash can, and the crimson in her red eyes flowed slowly and gently!

Fang Qi leaned back on the sofa, watching her busy figure from behind.

He let out a long sigh of relief!

Alright... finally... finally... she was completely coaxed back to normal!

That was not easy, not easy at all...!

But... thankfully.

Liguang didn't dig any deeper.

She didn't ask why the two of them would have the exact same dream, nor did she ask why her dream, which was clearly just a sorting of fragments, would... be influenced by him.

She didn't ask.

Perhaps... it was because her subconscious didn't want to ask either?

Because her subconscious... was also stopping her from knowing the ultimate truth?

Because... the her that knew everything didn't want to let herself know the truth, didn't want to forget the memories between them.

So she didn't look into it any further.

Perhaps.

He didn't know why either.

He didn't want to know why for the time being anyway, because...

An immense wave of exhaustion was already surging up from deep within his body!

He was so, incredibly, sleepy!

He narrowed his eyes and glanced at the sky outside the window.

Although it was still morning, the point in time he had loaded back to in this loop was the dawn of the seventh day after he had just returned from the island!

At this time in the previous loop, he had been busy for a day and a night, having just taken the boat back with Liguang... he was dead tired!

Back then, he had crashed the moment his head hit the pillow, sleeping straight through until noon.

The crazy woman had even laid beside him, staring at him the whole time, watching him for a full seven hours...

Only after that did he go on a date with Liguang, buy clothes, and go to the amusement park...

But what about this loop?

The moment he loaded back, he was faced with a Liguang who was experiencing extreme self-loathing!

Just how much had he been through from the time he loaded back until now?

Liguang hiding in the charging pod, Liguang's self-loathing, him coaxing her, An Lian's visit, An Lian telling a story, An Lian wanting him to call her big sister, Liguang's renewed self-loathing, him telling a story to coax her, her suddenly kissing him, her briefly recovering her memories to warn him, her pressing about the first nightmare, her pressing about the second nightmare...

Oh my god...

He was already sleepy and tired to begin with, and after this whole combo of events... he felt like more than half of his brain cells had died!

Now, he could finally relax.

It was time to sleep.

It was really time to sleep!

If he didn't sleep now...

He was afraid he'd have to load back due to sudden death from exhaustion!

He let out a yawn, just about to open his mouth to say, "Liguang, Master is going to sleep"—

"Huh?"

A soft sound of surprise came from the coffee table.

Fang Qi looked up.

The silver-haired girl was standing by the coffee table, holding something in her hand.

She tilted her little head, looking at the object in her hand, and then turned to look at him.

"Master..."

She waved the thing in her hand, her crimson eyes faintly shimmering.

"Under Miss An Lian's teacup..."

"...There's a note pressed underneath."