The middle-aged man in charge of their orientation dumped a pile of uniforms on them and ushered them to the staff quarters.

    “Get changed and freshen up,” he said, “I’ll be back in a jiffy.” Then he disappeared into the bathroom to do the same.

    No sooner had he gone, Yu Xiao blurted out, “Shen Chuan is a nightmare.”

    “…What?”

    “Seriously?” Zhou Xiao Zhen echoed the group’s confusion, “How do you know?”

    “Not by looking at him,” Yu Xiao said, “Just a feeling. I can sense it, he’s a nightmare.”

    “You have a thing for him?” Tan Qiao Yin teased, then realised how wrong that sounded, “I mean, why are you the only one who can sense him?”

    “…” Yu Xiao chewed on her lip, thinking, ‘How should I explain? Some things are beyond logic.’ She finally said, “I have a natural gift for the sixth sense.”

    “Oh~”

    Everyone nodded, impressed. Zhao Lan asked, “What are you going to do about it?”

    “I already found out where he lives,” Yu Xiao whispered, “I don’t think it’s smart to face him directly.”

    “Then?” Zhao Lan urged.

    “Smiley Sis has a plan to surprise him,” Zhou Xiao Zhen said, “Right?”

    “…Yes,” Yu Xiao agreed, “I want to ambush him.”

    “Count me in,” Ma Shan said, “We know his address, we can come up with a way to sabotage his room.”

    “That’s my idea too,” Yu Xiao moved on to her own problem, “But the question is, is a nightmare the same as a ghost? Will talismans work on him?”

    The nightmare was a curveball they didn’t see coming. They had never faced anything like it before, and they had no idea if their talismans would be any use against it.

    “Are we screwed if the talismans don’t work?” Ma Shan wondered aloud.

    Yu Xiao tapped her chin, thinking. “Maybe we need something more…physical?”

    Blank stares met her suggestion. No one had a clue what she meant.

    “Physical how?” Zhou Xiao Zhen asked. “You want us to stab it with a knife? Wouldn’t that make things worse?”

    Yu Xiao shrugged and gestured at the ceiling. “We’re in a national-level research institute. Don’t you think they have some serious firepower here?”

    They debated their options for a while, but Yu Xiao made it clear that their main goal was still to wake up Dr. Qu. Killing the nightmare was secondary.

    “If we can’t take it down, fine. We’ll just have to suck it up and deal with it. But we can’t afford to get dragged into this mess any deeper than we already are.”

    They changed into clean clothes by the time the middle-aged man came back.

    “Come on,” he said. “Dr. Qu is waiting for you at the dining hall.”

    They had no idea what Dr. Qu was like in reality, but in their dream, she was a bundle of energy and charm. She took them on a tour of the lab, showing them all kinds of fascinating things.

    Shen Chuan followed her closely, silent as a shadow, but everyone kept an eye on him. He was the prime suspect for being the nightmare.

    “Check this out!” They arrived at the last and most secretive lab. Dr. Qu ran to the observation window and pointed inside. “This is where we study the creatures that live underground.”

    Yu Xiao and the rest rushed to see what she was talking about. Inside, they saw various machines and devices, and two people in hazmat suits working in front of a huge biosafety cabinet. One was handling some samples, while the other was taking notes.

    Yu Xiao narrowed her eyes, trying to catch a glimpse of the creature beyond the glass. She turned to Dr. Qu and asked, “Can we go in and have a look? I’m dying to see this miraculous underground creature up close.”

    Dr. Qu gave her a brief nod, as if weighing the pros and cons. “Well, you’ll be working with it soon enough. I suppose I can show you around.”

    They headed back to the changing room to don their protective suits, then followed Dr. Qu into the lab. The air inside was tense and quiet, and they all walked on tiptoes.

    Dr. Qu stopped at the biological safety cabinet and gestured to the glass. “This is the miraculous underground creature we discovered.”

    Yu Xiao leaned forward, curious and excited. Through the glass, she saw a blob of pink flesh, about the size of her hand, that could morph into different shapes. It squirmed and twisted, never staying still.

    “Wasn’t it supposed to be thumb-sized?” Yu Xiao asked, fascinated by the creature. “Why does it look bigger now?”

    Shen Chuan, who was standing next to her, answered. “It was thumb-sized when we first found it. But we learned that it can absorb energy from electric shocks and grow stronger.”

    “Really?” Yu Xiao glanced at the tools inside the cabinet. There was an electric shock gun, a laser cutter, and a flamethrower. “Can I try it?”

    Dr. Qu, who either had a hidden agenda or was just careless, agreed without much hesitation. She let Yu Xiao, who had just joined them today, have a go.

    Yu Xiao sat on a stool, wearing latex gloves. She picked up the electric shock gun and zapped the pink creature lightly. The creature seemed to enjoy it. It didn’t shy away, but moved closer, as if asking for more.

    ?( ‘Θ’ )?

    Yu Xiao tossed the stun gun aside and grabbed the laser cutting pen instead. She had a gleam in her eye that made one of the researchers nervous. 人? ?? ?人

    “Director, she…” he whispered, glancing at Director Qu.

    “Quiet,” Director Qu silenced him with a wave of her hand.

    Yu Xiao aimed the laser at the pink creature, which squirmed and squealed as if it knew what was coming. It was no use. Yu Xiao had it pinned down with a pair of forceps in her other hand. Without warning, she sliced the pink creature into more than twenty pieces with the laser pen, making everyone gasp.

    “What the hell?!” the researcher next to her shouted, horrified.

    “Look!” Yu Xiao shouted back, louder than necessary, before they could protest. “Look! It’s still alive! All of it! And it can even fuse!”

    They followed her pointing finger and saw that she was right. The severed pieces of flesh were twitching and crawling towards each other. Two of them bumped and merged into one.

    “Incredible,” Director Qu breathed, her eyes wide. “This is incredible. I never imagined such a wonder could exist underground.”

    “I’m not done yet,” Yu Xiao declared, reaching for the flamethrower. She turned it on and blasted the pink creature with full force.

    “Boom!”

    A fireball erupted, scorching everyone in the room. The researcher who was supposed to record everything screamed, “No, stop!”

    The researcher who had been working on the experiment before her yelled, “Are you insane?!”

    Yu Xiao backed away from the burning cabinet, looking innocent. She shrugged and said, “Just wanted to see if it could handle the heat.”

    Dr. Qu snapped. “What have you done?!”

    They shoved Yu Xiao out of the way and scrambled to extinguish the fire. But it was too late. The only thing that remained in the biosafety cabinet was a heap of blackened dust.

    The researchers gaped at the dust, as if their souls had been sucked out with the pink creature.

    They slowly turned their heads to Yu Xiao, who looked just as stunned. She didn’t think it would be that easy to kill the pink creature. She gave them a sheepish smile and said, “Guess it wasn’t a fan of heat, huh?”

    Dr. Qu grabbed her heart, her eyes rolling back, and fell to the floor.

    “Doctor!” S~ea??h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    “Someone call an ambulance!”

    “She’s having a cardiac arrest…”

    Yu Xiao was dragged to a warehouse and locked up for destroying national property. She didn’t mind being alone in the dark warehouse. The nightmare was over. The subterranean creature was gone. This dream had to end. Dr. Qu would wake up any minute now.

    She settled into a cosy corner and waited eagerly. She waited and waited, but the dream never ended.

    Was she wrong? There was no way Dr. Qu could exist without a monster to feed her creepiness. How much longer could this twisted dream go on?

    She was about to dial Misty’s number, when the warehouse door squeaked open.

    A beam of light cut through the darkness, making Yu Xiao blink. A slim silhouette walked in.

    “Hungry?” The voice belonged to Shen Chuan.

    Yu Xiao tensed up, then forced herself to relax. She knew he was the nightmare, but he didn’t know that she knew.

    “Dr. Shen,” she feigned surprise. “You came. I’m so sorry, I never meant to—”

    “Uh-huh.” She sensed him nod. “I believe you.”

    He handed her a lunchbox. “Hungry? Eat something.”

    She touched his cold fingers, hiding her shiver. She pretended to struggle with the lunchbox, and said, “Dr. Shen, you’re too good to me.”

    He ignored that. He unscrewed a thermos and offered, “Thirsty? Drink some water.”

    “Thank you, yes.” She took the thermos, putting on a worried face. “How is Dr. Qu? Is she okay? I would hate myself if I hurt her in any way.”

    “Don’t fret, the boss is recovering,” he said.

    Yu Xiao’s eyes widened in disbelief. Dr. Qu was fine? How was that possible? She had seen the pink creatures die with her own eyes.

    “That’s… that’s wonderful news,” Yu Xiao forced a smile and hoped it looked convincing. “But how… how is she fine?”

    Shen Chuan leaned closer and spoke softly, as if to soothe her guilt. “Don’t worry, it’s not your fault. We discovered another creature underground, so the director is fine now.”

    Yu Xiao: “…”

    Yu Xiao almost choked on her water.

    Cough cough cough…

    “Hey, hey, calm down,” Shen Chuan rubbed her back gently. “You need to drink slowly, don’t get too worked up.”

    What the hell was going on? Yu Xiao wanted to slap herself. Did Dr. Qu just use deus ex machina?

    Yu Xiao realised that she couldn’t stay here and pretend everything was fine. She had to find a way out, and fast.

    She glanced at Shen Chuan, who was still staring at her intently in the dark warehouse.

    “What’s on your mind?” he asked, his voice low and curious.

    Yu Xiao put on a weary look and sighed. “I’m just exhausted, and I don’t feel well. I need some rest and quiet. Can you help me with something?”

    “Tell me.”

    Yu Xiao forced a smile and said, “Just tell my friends to keep up the good work and not to fret over me.”

    She watched Shen Chuan walk away, his footsteps echoing in the dark corridor. She counted the minutes until she was sure he was gone. Then she reached for the wig she had hidden and put it on her head, adjusting it to match Shen Chuan. She got up and knocked on the metal door.

    A voice came from the other side. “What do you want?”

    Yu Xiao lowered her voice and imitated Shen Chuan’s tone. “It’s me. Shen Chuan. I’m still here. Hurry up and open the door.”

    The guard recognized the voice. It sounded just like Director Shen. But he felt a twinge of doubt. Hadn’t he seen Director Shen leave already? Why was he still in the cell?