Chapter 25: It’s a Universal Law that the Main Character Must Die? (2)
Translator: Pluto Editor: Tehrn
In the dark, Lin Sanjiu could feel something pressing uncomfortably against the back of her head. Half a day had already passed. She felt exhausted and did not feel like moving, so she just flipped sideway hazily.
The next second, she woke up abruptly from her dream, panting heavily.
Lin Sanjiu lowered her head and saw her trembling hands. [Dead? Am I dead? Is everyone dead?] She turned her head looking vacantly, she found Marcie and Luther sleeping alongside each other quite close to her. Both of them were frowning as if they were in a sort of nightmare. Even though they were still asleep, she could see the movement of their chests. That was enough proof that they were still alive and well.
[So, was that just a dream?] Lin Sanjiu stood up from the floor. Her hands and feet still felt cold, and her whole body was weak. The moment that she died, the moment all the bones and organs in her body were crushed, the moment when she slipped into a boundless darkness, that almost unbelievable pain… was that all a dream? She shivered.
She opened the door and stepped out of the bus. She desperately needed some fresh air so that she could clear her mind. Just as she stepped outside, a deafening “You are my little, little apple” rang out loudly, tearing the tranquility of the night. Lin Sanjiu paused for a moment. She heard it again, just like the previous time… or more rightly, in her dream. The noisy ringtone did not last as long as in her dream; instead, someone stopped it quickly before even two lines of the song. The darkness returned to a dead silence.
Lin Sanjiu gazed quietly at the direction of the Citroën, motionlessly. Even after a while, Voley did not come out to wake them. She felt a little impatient and decided to take a look, but suddenly she heard a soft cry of shock from the bus, following which, Marcie called out, “Luther! Xiao Jiu!”
Lin Sanjiu immediately rushed into the bus, at the same time, Luther woke up gasping and sitting upright. The three of time exchanged glances, finding that each of their faces was pale.
“I dreamed that I died!”
The three of them suddenly said together when they matched glances.
“Huh… how could that be?” Luther was the first to react, “Both of you also dreamed of your own death?”
“Not only me…” Lin Sanjiu’s face darkened, “I dreamed that the four of us all died. Why don’t you tell me about your dream first!”
Following the order of their deaths, Luther was the first one to speak, “My dream just now was simply too realistic. I dreamed that we were on the way to an industrial park. Suddenly, a duoluozhong jumped onto the top of my vehicle. It smashed the windows on the other side and all of a sudden… my stomach…“ His face turned pale, and he looked like he could not continue.
“Huh? How can that be? In my dream, you were attacked by a duoluozhong, so you turned your truck, and I collided with you…” Marcie was shocked as her light brown eyes widened, staring at Luther. “I was badly injured and was trying to climb out of the driver’s seat when…”
“There was a sudden explosion, and you died as well,” Lin Sanjiu interjected with cold sweat all over her body.
“How did you know?”
“That’s because I was around when it happened…” Lin Sanjiu shut her eyes, returning to that scene. “When both of you died, my truck rolled backward and crushed Voley and myself… It was as if heaven played a prank on us. We were all killed just like that!”
“How is this… this possible… Our dreams were all connected?” Luther mumbled to himself.
Marcie and Lin Sanjiu furrowed their brows, they were momentarily speechless. While the atmosphere between them froze over, they heard Voley’s voice outside the bus, “Is everyone awake?” She was not sure if she heard wrongly, but his voice seemed to tremble a little.
[Did he have the same dream?]
Almost as if to verify their thoughts, Voley poked his head in and said, “I want to tell you something but don’t scold me. I just had a dream where every one of us died. I am not trying to jinx us, but we have to be careful today! That dream was just too realistic! Hey, what’s wrong? Why are you looking at me like that?”
Lin Sanjiu could feel a head-splitting headache. She beckoned for Voley, “We had the same dream… Come in, let’s make sense of the matter.”
Voley agreed and quickly climbed up the bus. The four of them sat in a circle. Everything was pretty straightforward. For some unknown reason, the four of them shared the same dream—the surprising thing was despite them dying in their dreams at different times, each of the details in their dreams matched up perfectly.
The “pop” sound that Marcie heard was probably the sound that the duoluozhong which killed Luther made. The duoluozhong must have had run across the bus and landed on the top of the truck. Then, it attacked Luther. Even the event where Lin Sanjiu was hungry mid-way and ate a cookie or the jokes that Voley told Luther. Their recollections corroborated with each other’s.
Hearing the other three of them discussing intensely, Lin Sanjiu raised her head frustratingly, feeling perplexed. She took a deep breath and paused for a moment. “Wait!”
“What’s the matter?” The three of them looked at her in confusion. “Did you get a sudden insight?”
Unexpectedly, Lin Sanjiu asked a totally random question: “Marcie, what is the bus route that public bus takes?”
Marcie thought for a while, “If it isn’t 89, it’s 90. I can’t really remember, but it is those two numbers.”
“Look!” Lin Sanjiu pointed at the route map which was above the exit doors. The various stops on the route could not be seen, but there was only a bright red “2”.
“Was I wrong? Is this bus number 2?” Marcie looked at Lin Sanjiu, puzzled. “But Xiao Jiu, is this very important?”
Lin Sanjiu stared at the numerical “2” for a very long time. Suddenly, she jumped up and swore. “What the f*ck!”
“What’s the matter?” the rest of them asked in succession.
“I was thinking that this looked really familiar. I remembered!” Lin Sanjiu could feel the hair on her neck stand as she continued, “In my… my dream, I saw this! The only difference was that in my ‘dream’, that was a 3 and not a 2!”
She glanced at the three of them, and her tone turned even more serious, “I have lived in this city for many years, and I’ve never seen this sort of thing. All the public bus should just have a bus route! That is to say, this number only appeared afterward!” Almost as if she remembered something, Marcie exclaimed, “Ah!” and covered her mouth.
Lin Sanjiu’s tone was heavy as if it weighed a ton. “You still don’t understand? This means that we are either dreaming right now or the fact that we died was not a dream!”
Luther unconsciously pinched his own arm and responded, “I am a 100% sure that I am not dreaming… That’s weird! If we really did die for one round, why are we still alright now?”
Lin Sanjiu wanted to speak, but her attention was drawn to Voley’s quiet voice.
“Those numbers… The previous time was a 3, now it is a 2… Is that a countdown? Does that mean that we have 2 more chances?”
From when the time the four of them had decided to form a group, this was the first time that Lin Sanjiu saw this side of Voley. His head was lowered so she could not see his expression clearly. But somehow, there was a weird indescribable aura about him…
She took a deep breath and said, “I have the same sentiments.”
The atmosphere became tense again as everyone fell silent.
“Is there a time limit to this thing?” Luther held his arm, being the first to break the silence, “If there is one, we can just wait here safely until it is over before we continue our journey. “
Marcie sighed, “I’m afraid it isn’t that simple. Sticking to the main topic, what exactly is this? Why is such a thing happening?”
Before Marcie finished lamenting, Voley suddenly interrupted her and spoke in an exceptionally resolute tone, “I feel that we definitely can’t just sit here. How would we know if there is really a time limit to this? If we continue waiting, will something else happen? These are all unknown variables. But if we follow our previous path, we already know what the dangers are… so from my perspective, we should set off as before but just be more careful.”
Lin Sanjiu couldn’t help looking at Voley again. No matter how many duoluozhongs they would kill, or how many times they escaped death during a dangerous situation. One thing was certainly clear: Everyone that is alive is not dead.
Yet, Lin Sanjiu did experience death once, just now. It was true as can be. It was a death where she lost both her body and consciousness. The shock of death could not be compared to anything she had experienced. Death was a gray cloud which loomed over every human ever since their birth, it was the unavoidable ultimate fear of the end that no sage could escape.
Lin Sanjiu still shivered when she recalled the moment of her death. On the other hand, Voley could still calmly analyze the situation. She couldn’t help praising him: “Voley, I really couldn’t tell that you were a person that could still remain so collected after what we’ve been through.”
After he heard her praise, he instantly regained his usual demeanor and gave an unctuous smile, “Hey, I am just an unimportant person, I just have this life. I am happy just to survive, why would I even dare to be weak?”
Lin Sanjiu did not say a word and withdrew her admiration. Voley’s words had convinced all of them. They discussed awhile more and quickly came to a conclusion: this time, they would follow what Voley said and be more alert. Since they were prepared this time, all of them should come out of this unharmed, right?
