Yu Xiao felt a surge of dread as she recalled a detail that had slipped her mind before. She was different from the other patients who entered this instance. She had the strength to resist the nightmares and the compassion to protect the NPCs from harm.


    But what would happen if she weren’t here?


    On the first night, Henry would select Ripley and push him into the room with the ghost. Ripley would die, over and over, every time a new treatment instance started. Just as in her dream…


    The patients never cared about Ripley’s fate. He was not Dr. Qu, the one they were looking for. He was just a disposable NPC who died on the first night.


    But what if he was more than that?


    Yu Xiao felt a chill run down her spine as she realised the implications. Had she made a mistake by saving Ripley? Was there something sinister behind his repeated deaths?


    She looked at him and he smiled back at her. “What’s wrong? Why are you looking at me like that?”


    Yu Xiao asked him, “On the night we all arrived here, we shared ghost stories. Why didn’t your story have a ghost in it?”


    “Because that story truly scared me,” Ripley replied.


    “You wanted everyone to throw you into the haunted room,” Yu Xiao understood.


    She had been protecting the wrong person all along; she should have been shielding everyone else from Ripley.


    But it was too late. Everyone had died, except for little Yue Yue.


    Yu Xiao leaped out of bed and rushed toward the door. Just as she reached it, Ripley called out to her, “Please don’t go?”


    She spun around to see Ripley sitting on the bed, his face hidden in the shadows. His voice was low and pleading. “Don’t go.”


    But she couldn’t stay. She bolted out, almost colliding with Zhu Miao Miao on the stairs. “Where’s Yue Yue?” she asked breathlessly.


    “Downstairs, having breakfast.” Zhu Miao Miao looked puzzled by her panic. “Qiao Qiao wanted to bond with her, to see if she’s really Dr. Qu or not.”


    Yu Xiao didn’t wait for her to finish. She sprinted down the steps, hoping it wasn’t too late.


    Tan Qiao Yin was acting all sweet and innocent, trying to cosy up to Yue Yue. She heard the commotion and lifted her head, only to see Yu Xiao storming in, her clothes wrinkled and her hair wild.


    “What happened to you?” Tan Qiao Yin sneered. “Just because we’re trapped here forever, you think you can let yourself go?”


    “Quick!” Yu Xiao shouted. “Protect Yue Yue!”


    “Is that supposed to be a joke?” Tan Qiao Yin retorted. “My talismans are way better than yours, and they work just fine, thank you very much.”


    She hadn’t finished her sentence when Yue Yue, who was munching on a toast, began to gag.


    “What’s wrong?” Tan Qiao Yin asked, patting her back. “Did you swallow something?”


    “Cough, cough…”


    “Splat!”


    A round and squishy object flew out of Yue Yue’s mouth.


    Tan Qiao Yin gasped and recoiled. “Holy crap!” It was an eyeball.


    Tan Qiao Yin’s hand flew to her pocket, where she kept her stash of talismans. She had a bad feeling about this.


    Yue Yue was still heaving, making horrible noises that echoed through the house.


    Zhao Lan, who had barely woken up, stumbled to the stair railing and peered down. “What’s happening?” she asked, rubbing her eyes.


    Yu Xiao spun around and saw Ripley leaning against the railing on the second floor. He looked calm and serene, as if nothing was wrong.


    She pointed at him and screamed, “Kill him! Kill him now!”


    Zhao Lan blinked, confused. Since when was Yu Xiao so bloodthirsty? It was way too early for this kind of drama.


    Tan Qiao Yin gasped as she saw Yue Yue’s condition. The little girl had her head thrown back, mouth wide open. A woman’s hand protruded from her throat, one of the fingers adorned with a wedding ring. Tan Qiao Yin recognized it as Zhang Shu’s.


    Yu Xiao ran towards the stairs, shouting, “Don’t just stand there! Kill Ripley before it’s too late!”


    Zhao Lan snapped out of her daze, realising something was terribly wrong. Trusting Yu Xiao, she didn’t hesitate, lunging at Ripley, who was still watching Yu Xiao with a soft expression.


    Ripley didn’t move or resist. He simply let Zhao Lan grab him, but she couldn’t bring herself to hurt him. He was not a ghost; he was an NPC, no different from a real person. Zhao Lan was not a killer; she was just a normal office worker who had stumbled into this nightmare.


    Yu Xiao reached them in time. She raised her hand to strike Ripley, but he looked up at her, his eyes gentle and sad. He caught her hand in his.


    Snap!


    Yue Yue’s neck broke, her flesh and bones ripped apart. A head emerged from the wound, dripping with blood.


    Yue Yue was dead. And so was the world.


    Darkness swallowed them all.


    Yu Xiao felt her mind detach from her body, floating in the endless void.


    She was slowly pulled out of the darkness by a symphony of beeps and whirs, the soundtrack of the intensive care unit.


    Yu Xiao blinked her eyes open, only to be blinded by the harsh white light.


    A familiar face loomed over her. “Ah, you’re awake.”


    Yu Xiao reacted on instinct, throwing a punch at the intruder.


    The unexpected blow knocked Fan Xing back, making him gasp in pain. Who had the nerve to hit the attending doctor?


    “Ah! I’m sorry!” Yu Xiao snapped back to reality, clapping her hands over her mouth in horror. “Why is it you, Dr. Fan Xing? I just had a nightmare, and you startled me, I got scared.”


    She sounded sincere and apologetic. What could Fan Xing do? Of course, he decided to let it go.


    One by one, the others also came to their senses, realising they were back in the intensive care unit where they had entered the dream. They were all shocked. We’re back? Did we even do anything?


    Zhou Xiao Zhen was the last to wake up, and when she did, she noticed she was no longer in the villa’s bedroom. She was confused at first, then ecstatic. “Did I finish the mission by sleeping? Who made that happen?”


    “The mission is not over yet,” Fan Xing said with a hint of sadness, pointing at the person on the hospital bed. “Dr. Qu is still asleep.”


    “So what?” Yu Xiao, feeling less angry after hitting Fan Xing, asked. “Why are we back here?”


    “When the dream breaks, everything resets,” Fan Xing explained, standing by the bed. He tried to look sorry, but his smile betrayed his happiness. “The doctor’s dream started over, and you outsiders were kicked out.”


    Zhou Xiao Zhen was still confused. “What did you do? How did you break the dream?”


    “Who is Ripley?” Tan Qiao Yin turned to Yu Xiao. “Why did you kill him at the last second?”


    Yu Xiao clenched her teeth. “If I had known, I would have dragged Dr. Qu out of his dream ages ago. And the shattered dreams? What a joke.” She glared at Fan Xing and demanded, “What else is hiding in Dr. Qu’s dream, besides us clueless outsiders?”


    Fan Xing winced. “Oh dear, I forgot to mention that.” He sounded apologetic. “All the dreams that won’t wake up are ruled by the Nightmare.”


    He added, as if it was an afterthought, “But the hospital should have killed the nightmare on the first night you entered the dream, to make sure Dr. Qu woke up smoothly. Huh. Why didn’t the Nightmare die?”


    Yu Xiao felt a surge of frustration. She wanted to punch Fan Xing in the face, twice.


    “Ripley is the Nightmare,” Zhao Lan said, her voice cold. “Why didn’t you warn us about such a dangerous thing in the dream?”


    Fan Xing shrugged. “I forgot,” he repeated. “I’ve been staying up for days to help Dr. Qu. Look at my eyes.”


    He pointed to his lower eyelids, which were darkened by make up. “I’m exhausted, I’m foggy-headed, and my memory is shot.”


    “So what now?” The others looked confused. “Can we go back into the dream?”


    “Sure,” Fan Xing said, letting out a soft sigh. “But the hospital can only help you once. In the new dream, the nightmare will be free.”


    Yu Xiao snorted as she hooked her arm around Fan Xing’s neck and pulled him closer. “Come on, I need to talk to you.”


    He followed Yu Xiao without resistance. “My friend, is there something you don’t want to share with the group?”


    Zhou Xiao Zhen watched Yu Xiao’s back and sighed in her heart. Sister Smiley had forgotten the oath she made.


    Yu Xiao dragged Fang Xing to a secluded corner outside the ward. “Do you have any idea who I am?”


    Fang Xing gave her a blank look. “Everyone who comes to the hospital is a patient. As a doctor, I don’t discriminate…”


    She cut him off with a snort. “I’m the director of Saint Elizabeth’s.”


    Fang Xing’s jaw dropped. “You’re the only human director?”


    “That’s not all,” she went on, “You can ask around. I’m probably the only human inspector from the health bureau too.”


    Fang Xing felt a cold sweat break out on his forehead.


    “You’ve really done it this time,” Yu Xiao said, slapping his shoulder with a heavy sigh. “Do you know what fate befell those attending doctors who crossed me in the past?”


    Fang Xing remained silent. Sёarch* The N??eFire.ηet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Yu Xiao leaned closer, her voice dripping with venom. “Have you heard of attending doctor Gu Shu?”


    Fang Xing swallowed hard.


    His voice trembled as he confessed, “I know, I know, it was my fault. I forgot something crucial. But it’s too late now. I can’t do anything. After rebooting the dream, the Nightmare is free, and I’m helpless against them.”


    Yu Xiao laughed mockingly. “Have you heard of attending doctor Lolita?”


    Fang Xing stayed silent.


    Fang Xing glanced around nervously, then whispered in Yu Xiao’s ear, “But I can tell you how to wake up Dr. Qu. There’s a secret method, but you can’t tell anyone. It’s against hospital rules for attending doctors to help patients…”


    Yu Xiao nodded curtly. “Fine, fine, I won’t say a word. It’s not like it would benefit me anyway.”


    Yu Xiao and Fan Xing returned arm in arm, looking like old friends. Tan Qiao Yin and the rest of the group gaped at them. How did the attending doctor become so friendly with the patients? They seemed to have no trouble getting along.


    Yu Xiao raised her fist, a determined look on her face. “Dr. Fan and I had a little talk,” she said, “and he agreed to send us to the next dream as soon as possible. This time, we have to be serious, wake up Dr. Qu before it’s too late, and save the world. For that, I have a brilliant strategy.”


    She bared her teeth, her voice full of venom. “First, we find that Nightmare, then we kill him!”


    Zhao Lan leaned in and whispered, “I’ve never seen Yu Xiao so angry before.”


    Zhou Xiao Zhen shrugged and whispered back, “It’s not surprising. She’s always the one messing with other people’s feelings. But now that she’s the one who got tricked, she’s furious.”


    Yu Xiao made a solemn vow. “I swear this,” she said, “once we deal with that nightmare, you’ll each get ten talismans, any kind you want!”


    “Wow!” Ma Shan and Kang Jun exclaimed, their eyes shining. “What are we waiting for then? Let’s do this!”


    ─── ? ── ☆ ── ? ───