The conversation ended. The Count called to the butler waiting outside the drawing room and gave an order: "Prepare a lavish supper for our guest and show him to his room."
"There's no need to trouble yourself. I'll be leaving soon," Lu Li said, stopping the butler who was about to turn away. He rose from the soft sofa, bowed to the Count, and added, "Thank you for your explanation of the Erald Dream."
"But I hold a different opinion." Lu Li picked up a coffee cup, splashed its contents onto the expensive carpet, then let his fingers go slack, allowing the cup to fall and shatter against the table. Selecting a sharp shard, he abruptly plunged it into his chest.
"And what is visible is not reality."
Midday. The shadows of trees. Fragrant grasses. A light breeze.
Light flooded the scene. A smirking Count, a stunned butler, an impassive maid.
Finally, the light filled Lu Li's entire field of vision, completely enveloping him.
...
"Lu Li... Lu Li... Wake up..."
Anna's voice reached Lu Li's ears.
He opened his eyes.
Anna's ethereal, beautiful face was very close. His stiff neck, a result of lying propped against the arm of the sofa, was a reminder that he had been in that position for quite so ti. From outside the window ca the clamor of the street.
The shattered Erald Dream hadn't released him but had instead pulled him into a fifth layer.
"You slept for so long, it's already morning. The paperboy ca, but I didn't even open the door because I couldn't wake you. He slid the paper under the door, and it got all dirty..."
To Anna's chattering, Lu Li sat up, looking around.
He was in the detective agency. The ti... it was before everything had gone wrong.
"If you hadn't been talking in your sleep, I would have thought sothing had happened to you... You... why did you call my na several tis...? Wait, where are you going?"
Anna watched, stunned, as Lu Li, swaying as if on the deck of a ship, went around the table and approached the desk.
Opening a drawer, Lu Li took out a dagger in a leather sheath and placed its point against his chest, preparing to activate the Beacon again.
"Evil spirit, release him!"
Anna cried out in a panic, rushing toward him. She enveloped Lu Li in a faint ghostly glow and grabbed his hand with all her might, preventing the dagger from touching his skin.
"Snap out of it... It was just a dream... it's not real... You'll die!"
Lu Li froze, his hand, holding the dagger pressed to his chest, halting.
It wasn't just Anna's intervention that had stopped him... not entirely.
Clatter!
The fallen dagger stuck in a crack in the old wooden floor. With a trembling voice, Anna hugged Lu Li, comforting him softly, "Hush... It was just a dream... It's over now..."
In Anna's embrace, Lu Li cald down, as if sinking back into sleep. Only Anna's unseeing eyes stared calmly at the drawing room.
Ti in the Erald Dream flowed at the sa pace as in reality. Lu Li could use the Beacon to break free from the Erald Dream, but upon returning to reality, he would co face to face with the Eternal Night.
Lu Li didn't know what had happened to the caravan, but he could imagine it was very bad...
Leaving the Erald Dream in a hurry was not the best idea.
Anna telekinetically flung the dagger into the bedroom and whispered gently, "Was it a terrible nightmare?"
"Yes."
"It's alright... there's nothing more to be afraid of..." Anna soothed. Her light, incorporeal body had no weight; she was like a cloud.
Lu Li seed to calm down and returned to his armchair.
But if he did nothing, the Erald Dream wouldn't let him stay here for long.
The Erald Dream existed out of "curiosity" and "amusent"; it wasn't the kind of anomaly that trapped people in illusions forever—at least, that's what it had said in the fourth layer of the dream.
Therefore, it had certain "expectations" of Lu Li. It created dreams, waiting to see how Lu Li would behave. Lu Li had to react to the dream, unravel it, and live up to those expectations.
If those expectations weren't t, Lu Li would be discarded or killed.
A worried Anna stayed close, her clear eyes seemingly glued to him.
"What ti is it?" Lu Li asked.
Anna, who had been staring intently at Lu Li, seed to startle and hastily replied, "Um... midday."
"I an..." Lu Li trailed off and reached for the newspaper lying on the edge of the table.
Anna's eyes flickered nervously as Lu Li's hand hit an invisible wall.
"I want to get the newspaper," he said.
"I'll get it for you!"
That day's newspaper slapped into Lu Li's hands.
To prolong the dream's existence, he had to maintain the Erald Dream's "interest."
Lu Li unfolded the newspaper.
The front page of the "Belfast Daily Gazette" bore a headline in the largest bold type: "Rain on the Horizon; Fog Covering Allen Peninsula Expected to Disperse Soon."
This was before the rainy season had begun.
Nothing had happened yet; everyone he knew was still alive...
The Erald Dream was no longer trying to convince Lu Li of the "reality" of the situation by choosing a specific mont in ti; instead, it had created a beautiful, seductive trap.
Even the most artificial sweetness is a hundred tis better than cold reality.
Lu Li had already read this newspaper. After confirming the date, he set it aside.
Slap!
Anna's face appeared from behind the newspaper. She was very close, her expression worried. "You're acting strange... are you still thinking about the nightmare?"
"I'm always like this."
Lu Li averted his gaze, not eting her clear eyes.
"But it seems... you're avoiding my gaze."
"No."
The more he avoided her gaze, the more curious Anna beca about the dream's content. "You don't feel guilty because you did sothing bad to
in the dream, do you..."
Lu Li lowered his eyes, not answering.
"It was only a dream, and it's not like I..." Anna, in the middle of comforting Lu Li, suddenly grew flustered. She turned away slightly and murmured quietly, "...I'm still here with you..."
"By the way, when I had nightmares as a child, I would tell my mother about them, and I always felt better right away... What did you dream about?"
Before Lu Li could answer, there was a knock at the door of the detective agency.
A shy Anna hid in the bedroom, then opened the door again.
But the visitor had co specifically for her—it was Daisy, Anna's friend.
Anna was delighted by her friend's visit, but after a mont's hesitation, she asked Daisy to co back another ti. Lu Li had had a nightmare, and she felt she needed to look after him.
"There's no need. I'm not going to do anything for now," Lu Li said. He needed ti to think... and ti itself was what he needed.
The maximum duration of the Light Stealer's effect was fourteen days. The four layers of the dream that Lu Li had already experienced had lasted less than six hours in total.
Not knowing if a sixth layer existed, Lu Li needed to maintain the Erald Dream's "interest." The closer he got to fourteen days, the better his chances of avoiding the Eternal Night upon his return.
Anna reluctantly agreed to Lu Li's suggestion and, taking Daisy by the hand, led her into the bedroom to chat. But she didn't close the door, her gaze constantly drifting back to Lu Li.
Daisy realized she had co at a bad ti and soon said her goodbyes, promising to visit again.
Shortly after she left, another visitor ca to the detective agency.
Or rather... one of the mbers of the detective agency.
"Boss!"
Slipping into the detective agency, the small, swarthy Oliver broke into an ingratiating smile.
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