Chapter Five: The Cat-and-Mouse Game

Text appeared rapidly on the screens on both sides, each with a green button labeled "Confirm" at the bottom.

1. Instantly gain 15 attribute points.
2. Skill: Corrosive Breath. Exhale a dense, corrosive gas from the mouth. It covers a wide area and deals continuous corrosive damage to enemies. (Required attribute value: Immunity 15. Can be used once every hour.)

The center screen displayed the attribute panel.

Name: Wu Que.
Dream-Mending Number: 1997.
Attributes: Strength 7, Vitality 5, Immunity 2, Dexterity 9, Intelligence 10, Magic 0, Faith 15, Sanity -30.

There was a small line of text at the bottom of the panel: "As this is the Dream-Mender's first time entering a dream, a tip is provided."

1. Attribute Points: These represent the Dream-Mender’s physical and mental qualities, divided into eight categories: Strength, Vitality, Immunity, Dexterity, Intelligence, Magic, Faith, and Sanity.
2. Required Attribute Value: The minimum attribute value needed to use a skill. If this value is not met, the skill cannot be used even if acquired. Likewise, the higher the attribute value linked to a skill, the greater the skill's power.

"Never mind the rest, what’s with this Sanity score? Are you implying I’m a natural-born lunatic?"

Wu Que stared at the screen, three dark lines appearing on his forehead.

"Whatever, let's pick the skill first."
"Corrosive damage, huh?"

Wu Que touched the black blade at his back, the image of the brawny guard dissolving into powder flashing before his eyes. He didn't know how much of a boost 15 attribute points would provide, but when it came to corrosion, the blade in his hand was likely an ancestor-level master.

Without further hesitation, Wu Que clicked the "Confirm" button under the first screen.

Time shifted again. The woman made a ruminating sound in her throat, then took a deep breath, puffed out her cheeks, and spat a slick, viscous pill at Wu Que's feet.

"This is the Spirit-Roaming Pill. Eating it will make your body as light as a swallow. If I weren't trapped here, I wouldn't bear to give you this treasure."

"Damn it, I should have chosen Corrosive Breath," Wu Que thought, his face darkening as a stampede of frustration raced through his mind. "Setting aside the fact that it adds to Dexterity, did the delivery method have to be so disgusting?"

"Fine, better than nothing."

He gritted his teeth, picked up the slick pill, and swallowed it in one gulp.

"Not bad, it’s slippery enough to swallow without water," he comforted himself, forcibly suppressing his nausea.

The moment the pill reached his stomach, his Dexterity rating jumped from 9 to 24. Wu Que felt his bones and muscles crackle; he tried taking two steps and found his body feeling unprecedentedly nimble.

The woman twisted her head with effort and continued, "Walk straight ahead. Turn left at the end. The third stone slab you touch is a 'living wall.' Push it open and you'll find the exit to the dungeon."

"Go quickly, before anyone discovers you."

After bidding the woman farewell, Wu Que followed her instructions and found the third slab. He gave it a firm push, and sure enough, it was a living wall. As he pried it open, he was greeted by the sight of the familiar ceremonial room. It was clear that the layout of this brothel was ingenious; the boisterous main hall, the filthy, chaotic corridors, and the terrifying, bloody dungeon—three vastly different spaces—were actually separated by only a single wall.

With the 15-point Dexterity bonus, Wu Que moved much more easily. He pushed the slab open just enough for a person to pass through and crawled out like a giant spider.

But his luck was rotten today. The moment he pulled his legs through, he bumped straight into someone carrying a lantern.

"Ouch! You wretched child, you're going to rattle my old bones to pieces!"

Wu Que panicked and reached for his black blade, but then he realized the voice sounded familiar. Looking up, he saw it was Mother Xin, the woman who had supervised his work in the ceremonial room earlier that day.

Mother Xin didn't hold back; she reached out and pinched his ear.

"You brat! I told you to wait properly in the room, but no sooner had I left than you snuck out and stole Hongxing’s jewelry."

"Poor me, at my age, I’ve been punished with night patrol duty because of your lack of supervision. You’re on the wanted list now! The whole brothel is looking for you!"

"I thought you’d run off, but here you are. Do you really have a death wish?"

As she twisted his ear, Wu Que’s mind raced at lightning speed.

"Heh, she even made up a reason to detain me. But no matter how I explain it now, everyone will assume I’m the thief."

He put on a pitiful expression while secretly moving his hand behind his back to the hilt of his black blade. He was prepared to strike first; if the woman shouted, he would truly have no way to escape.

"She’s just a virtual character in a dream, anyway. Killing her is no big deal."

Mother Xin didn't know what the girl in front of her was thinking. Seeing her silence, she assumed she had pinched too hard. She brought the lantern closer and saw the scars covering the girl's body.

"Sigh, you poor child."

She let go, looking somewhat flustered, and patted Wu Que’s head. "You’re the same age as my own girl. Why did you have to come here to do this kind of work?"

She gritted her teeth, as if having made a decision, and grabbed Wu Que’s hand, leading him deeper into the corridor.

"Child, run while it's still night. A piece of jewelry doesn't mean much to Hongxing, but these big shots care about their reputation!"

"You took her things; if you appear in the brothel so brazenly, it’s a slap in the face to them. That’s when you’ll really suffer."

Wu Que let her pull him along. Looking at her calloused hands and the strands of white hair, he thought of his mother lying on a hospital bed. His nose stung, and his hand slowly dropped from the hilt of his blade.

"Mom, you wouldn't want me to do this, would you?"

Wu Que hesitated, then spoke softly, "If you let me go during your patrol, what will happen to you?"

"Oh, I’ll be fine. Based on family seniority back home, I’m actually Hongxing’s aunt. At worst, they’ll just punish me with more chores."

"If you get caught, though, it’ll cost you your life."

Mother Xin looked back, smiling kindly. Her eyes crinkled into crescent moons, looking gentle and lovable.

She led him to a door, helped straighten his clothes, and said softly, "There’s business in the main hall at all hours. This is the warehouse door. You can leave the grounds through there."

"Run, child. Change your habit of stealing and find a new place to live a good life."

She fussed over him like a mother giving instructions to a daughter traveling far away, all while pushing Wu Que toward the warehouse.

Wu Que bit his lip as he walked, his heart in total turmoil.

Clearly, Mother Xin did not know that Hongxing was no longer the original Hongxing. The former Hongxing might have cared about family face, but the current one certainly wouldn't.

If he escaped through the warehouse, he would inevitably have to pass by the secret door connected to the ceremonial room. The dungeon was connected to that room, and the person patrolling it was none other than Mother Xin.

If he didn't tell her about the slab, she would discover the dungeon during her rounds. If he did tell her, even if she closed the slab, it would be like trying to cover one's ears to steal a bell.

The fact was that he had escaped, and the fact was that Mother Xin was on patrol.

It was a dead end—a dead end that could be shifted. If he left, the dead end would shift to Mother Xin.

Wu Que knew that talking too much leads to mistakes, but he couldn't shake the trance-like state of his heart.

"It’s just a dream. It’s all fictional. I have more important things to do. Don't let yourself fall into danger just to save a fictional person."

Wu Que bit his lip and walked through the door to the warehouse.

The warehouse was pitch black, filled with piles of debris as tall as two men, like a maze. The floor was covered in some unknown material that creaked with every step, making his skin crawl.

Wu Que felt his way along the piles, groping blindly in the dark. But as he walked, he sensed something wrong.

He straightened up, darted forward a few steps, and then stopped abruptly.

*Creak... creak.*

After he made sure his own footsteps had stopped, two more sounds of feet pressing against the floor came from behind him.

There was someone else in the warehouse, and they had been following him the whole time!

Cold sweat crawled down Wu Que’s spine like worms. He moved as silently as possible, but the sound behind him, realizing it had been exposed, stopped hiding and began to walk over with heavy strides.

*Creak-creak-creak-creak-creak.*

The approaching footsteps constantly stimulated Wu Que’s nerves. In a panic, he felt the mouth of a giant jar nearby and, in a fit of desperation, climbed inside.

The space inside the jar was cramped, foul-smelling, and slick, like fish guts thrown aside in a market. Wu Que curled up inside, feeling miserable.

*Creak-creak-creak.*

The footsteps slowly reached the opening of the jar and stopped.

Wu Que’s heart leaped into his throat. He hurriedly gripped his black blade, listening with total focus.

*Creak... creak... creak...*

The footsteps started again, and Wu Que felt even more desperate.

He knew he had been found.

Because the footsteps hadn't left; they were circling him.

It was a game of cat and mouse. The cat had cornered the mouse but wouldn't swallow it immediately.

It would reveal a small opening and then pull it back, time and again, waiting for the mouse’s eyes to shift from terror to a numb, vacant glaze, and for its flesh to transition from tense to soft and limp. Only then would the cat be satisfied enough to bite through the throat that no longer struggled or screamed.