Zhou Sheng came back from his business trip. Yu Hao told him what had happened, while Zhou Sheng listened quietly as he sat at the dining table and sorted out the investigation materials at hand. He didn’t express any opinions the whole time. Fu Liqun left to sign up for his class. When he heard about Huang Ting’s situation, Zhou Sheng put down the materials in his hands and glanced at Yu Hao.
“That’s it.” Yu Hao said.
“He didn’t make you keep it a secret from me?” Zhou Sheng asked.
“Would that be of any use?” Yu Hao asked instead, “I would’ve said it if I wanted to, and I wouldn’t if I didn’t want to. But he didn’t want me to tell you.”
Zhou Sheng said, “According to his understanding, the Golden Crow Wheel is already in his hands. It’s not like I’ll eat him up.”
“That’s how it’s supposed to be.” Yu Hao said, “But what if you can activate it at a distance? Then wouldn’t they all be doomed? What sickness do you think he’s suffering from?”
Zhou Sheng was still thinking. He narrowed his eyes and shook his head. Yu Hao continued, “I need you to accompany me in an experiment, Zhou Sheng.”
Zhou Sheng answered, “Yu Hao, you’ve never used the Golden Crow Wheel before, right?”
Yu Hao was baffled. “Of course not. I can’t use it. Why?”
“They must have some sort of force that can monitor the Golden Crow Wheel.” Zhou Sheng said.
“What?” Yu Hao uttered in disbelief.
“Have you forgotten about my dragon?” Zhou Sheng asked, “That day in Loulan.”
Yu Hao abruptly recalled — Zhou Sheng’s dragon did flicker several times for a brief period, but that problem never occurred in the South.
“The flickering of your dragon was due to their interference?” Yu Hao asked, his brows furrowing deeply.
Zhou Sheng didn’t answer and instead asked, “What do you want to do in the dream?”
“Verify one thing.” Yu Hao turned his laptop around and clicked on the document he downloaded a few days ago to show Zhou Sheng. Zhou Sheng pressed the touchpad and scrolled down, seriously reading the information that Yu Hao had gathered. Yu Hao said, “If my guess isn’t wrong, we may be able to…”
“Let me think about it.” Zhou Sheng answered.
After half an hour of silence, Yu Hao took his laptop and began writing his graduation thesis. Zhou Sheng said nothing more. He got up to prepare dinner, and Yu Hao asked, “How’s the investigation going?”
“Un.” Zhou Sheng said, “It’s okay, I have clues too.”
Yu Hao asked, “What clues?”
Zhou Sheng didn’t reply. Yu Hao said, “Okay, I won’t ask anymore.”
Today’s atmosphere was a little strange. Fu Liqun came back, and after greeting Zhou Sheng, the three of them acted just like how they used to when they lived together. After dinner, Zhou Sheng watched a show for a while, Fu Liqun started reading his German materials, while Yu Hao wrote his graduation thesis and arranged to meet with Chen Yekai next week. It was not until late at night when Zhou Sheng tied the Golden Crow Wheel onto his wrist and pressed it against the back of Yu Hao’s hand.
“Wait.” Yu Hao said, “Isn’t it being monitored?”
“It’s okay.” Zhou Sheng said nonchalantly, “Come, make bold assumptions and verify carefully. Good night.”
Within the confinement of the prison cell, two doctors were taking Huang Ting’s blood pressure. Zhao Liang knocked on the door and went in.
“How is it?” Zhao Liang asked.
“I’ve troubled them a lot.” Huang Ting answered, “It can’t be cured.”
Zhao Liang said, “As long as you’re willing to cooperate, there will be a way.”
Huang Ting said, “Locking me up here isn’t a good idea. It’ll exacerbate the conflict between you and Director Ren.”
Zhao Liang laughed and shook his head helplessly. “I’ve worked with him longer than you have. I understand his character very well. He made a move on Zhou Sheng first, took the apparatus away, and wrecked the balance. He owes me an explanation. Before giving me this explanation, he won’t think too much of your disappearance.”
Huang Ting pulled up his sleeve and said in a low voice, “Just treat me as a chess piece ba. Don’t you think it’s not worth it to waste so much time on me?”
“That depends on your performance.” Zhao Liang said seriously, “If you tell us what you should, it’ll save time for both of us. Then, everyone can go off to do even more important things. Isn’t that better?”
Huang Ting said, “I have already told you guys everything that I can at the start.”
“Why not take Zhou Sheng away?” Zhao Liang said meaningfully, “Your team’s research efforts will be fruitless with just the Golden Crow Wheel alone. Huang Ting, you’re someone with a lot of character.”
“Why does Zhao Laoshi want me to take Zhou Sheng back with me so much?”
Huang Ting shrugged and looked straight into Zhao Liang’s eyes. He asked instead, “I really can’t figure out why you like to worry so much about all the reasons for Ren Laoshi.”
“For someone like me ma, I just love eating salty radishes while worrying what bland ones taste like.” Zhao Liang said, “I’m anxious ah. An amazing secret is already at a critical juncture where it will soon be uncovered, yet you guys are stopping right in front of the answer. Can’t you guys have a little more thirst for knowledge?”
Huang Ting said, “We do have that thirst, but for you to be so anxious and want me to take Zhou Sheng away makes me think that there’s something fishy about it instead. Zhao Laoshi, you should be more cautious.”
And right at that moment, the sound of footsteps hurrying over could be heard.
The assistant came over quickly and said, “We’ve detected the operation of the integrator! The signal is very obvious!”
Zhao Liang and Huang Ting’s expressions changed at the same time, and it was almost within a split second that Huang Ting guessed the reason, then he revealed a bizarre smile. He took a deep breath. Zhao Liang instantly understood as well; he got up and rushed out. Huang Ting pondered for a brief moment, got up, put on his jacket, and quickly followed him out.
Zhao Liang entered the research lab. The computer began its analysis, and a program seemed to have been activated. Zhao Liang sat on the experimental chair, and a researcher quickly said, “Director Zhao, you can’t try it in person.”
Zhao Liang was about to insist anyway, when everyone else made the same request in unison, so he had to give up in the end.
Huang Ting stood in front of the apparatus. To his left was a spot of light on a map, which just so happened to be on Zhou Sheng’s home.
“Xiao Huang,” Zhao Liang turned around and said to Huang Ting, “Looks like there was a flaw in your meticulous plans. Didn’t you tell them to not activate the integrator again?”
“I don’t know.” Huang Ting raised an eyebrow slightly, “Zhou Sheng’s smarter than I thought.”
Zhao Liang asked the researchers again, “Can we listen in on the sounds and reconstruct the images?”
A researcher twisted the monitoring and reconstruction buttons and said, “We can’t. It’s the same as before, we can’t hear them. There should be some kind of encryption mechanism in the integrator, but the sounds on our side should be able to…Okay, we can go up now. Try and see if we can interfere with the connection of their signals.”
Zhao Liang pondered for a moment. He called for his assistant and gave him some instructions softly, then glanced at Huang Ting again. Huang Ting remained silent. Zhao Liang smiled a bit. “Huang Ting, this chair was actually prepared especially for you. Come, please take a seat.”
Huang Ting’s expression changed in an instant.
Zhou Sheng and Yu Hao stood on the fire beacon platform and looked out into the distance. The sea of grass beyond the Great Wall was vast; the darkness had retreated long ago when Yu Hao had lit up the fire beacons, but there was still a layer of white fog in the distance.
“What kind of experiment do you want to do?” Zhou Sheng pulled Yu Hao’s hand and asked.
“What would have happened if I had jumped off the Great Wall that day?” Yu Hao asked.
“The darkness would creep across the Great Wall,” Zhou Sheng answered, “And sweep through your entire dreamscape, swallowing up your surface consciousness. Then…”
“Everything would fall apart.” Yu Hao said, “Just like in Liang Laoshi’s subconscious world, and then I would fall into a coma.”
Zhou Sheng said, “For a very brief period of time, you would fall into the subconscious, before all of your consciousness disappears.”
Yu Hao said, “You can build channels to the subconscious and surface consciousness through flames.”
Zhou Sheng laid his jingubang lazily on his shoulder with one hand and snapped his fingers with his other; a brilliant golden flame burst forth from his fingers. He turned sideways to look at Yu Hao, showing him a mischievous and handsome appearance.
“Un?” Zhou Sheng looked into Yu Hao’s eyes.
Yu Hao said, “This allows the fragments in the subconscious world be reconstructed and return to the real world.”
“Wu.” Zhou Sheng answered, “So?”
Yu Hao pondered and stopped talking. Zhou Sheng said, “See, Laozi has never urged you to make things clear when you want to leave things hanging for a short while, but the moment I try to hide anything, you insist on asking questions until you figure everything out, or you’ll get mad at me.”
“When did I do that?!” Yu Hao asked, “Also, I haven’t even figured it out myself, how could it be the same?”
There was a hint of a smile in Zhou Sheng’s gaze. He reached out and caressed Yu Hao’s face and said, “Think about it ba. Take your time. There’s no rush.”
“I want to go to the subconscious,” Yu Hao said, “Can you go with me?”
“Duh.” Zhou Sheng said, “Of course we’ll go together. You finally thought of doing that?”
Then Zhou Sheng summoned his jindouyun. Once he shook his jingubang, it turned into an ear clip that clipped onto his left ear. Yu Hao hugged his waist and said, “Isn’t the dinghaishenzhen supposed to be kept in your ear?”
“It might prick my ear if I fall by accident, can’t it be an ear clip?” Zhou Sheng steered the jindouyun and went down the Great Wall, sweeping past the vast sea of grass.
Yu Hao, “Why did you say I ‘finally’?”
“I thought you would’ve wanted to explore the subconscious a long time ago na.” Zhou Sheng said, “Kaikai mentioned it before too, that the answers related to the Golden Crow Wheel might be in the subconscious.”
Yu Hao remembered now and couldn’t help but blame himself. Why has he never thought of it before? When he was in Liang Jinmin’s subconscious, and even in the ruins of memory, he had proven that he had the ability to shuttle through the subconscious without getting swallowed up by the darkness. Doesn’t that mean that he could set off at any time to explore the subconscious with Zhou Sheng?
“Oh yeah!” Yu Hao asked, “Why didn’t you remind me?”
Zhou Sheng answered, “You have to be willing in the first place ah. How could he ask you to explore it just because he wants to know the truth? What if it’s dangerous?”
Yu Hao, “……”
Yu Hao hugged Zhou Sheng’s waist and suddenly realised that Zhou Sheng really did care a lot about his wishes. He would hardly force him to do anything no matter what the issue was.
“It’s still more comfortable to hug your waist after all.” Yu Hao said.
“Whose waist have you held? Ah?” Zhou Sheng became frantic immediately.
Yu Hao laughed. Zhou Sheng turned his head sideways and said, “Get ready, this is the boundary of the subconscious!”
