Lin Yuan came out of the library. The sky was dark.
He didn't go back to the dorm. He walked around the track. One lap. Two. The rubber felt soft under his feet. Like stepping on clouds. In the distance, people were still playing basketball. The sound of the ball hitting the ground — thump, thump, thump — like a heartbeat.
His head was a mess.
What Qin Shou said kept circling.
"Old Zhou doesn't want you to know — that deadline can be changed."
How? Qin Shou didn't say. Old Zhou didn't say either.
He stopped. Looked up at the sky. Clouds covered the moon.
His phone buzzed. A text. Same garbage code.
"Tomorrow, 2 PM. Library. There's a mission."
He put the phone back in his pocket.
---
The next afternoon, when he got to the library, Su Wanqing was already there.
No high heels today. Black combat boots. Black cargo pants. Black tight shirt. Hair tied in a low ponytail. She looked like she'd just walked off a battlefield.
"You look different," Lin Yuan said.
"Field gear." Su Wanqing didn't look at him. "The place we're going today isn't safe."
"I thought we were catching nightmares."
"We are. But this one isn't in an empty classroom." She paused. "It's in a subway tunnel."
Lin Yuan swallowed.
"Abandoned subway station. Third line extension. Construction stopped halfway. Some homeless people live there." Su Wanqing put on a black backpack. "The nightmare's there. A few homeless people have gone missing recently."
"Missing?"
"Nightmares don't usually attack people. But if you enter their territory, they might see you as a threat." She zipped the backpack. "So stay close. Don't wander off."
Old Zhou pulled a book from the shelf, flipped through it, then put it back.
"Be careful," he said.
He was talking to Su Wanqing. Not to Lin Yuan.
Su Wanqing didn't answer. She turned and walked out. Lin Yuan followed.
---
This time, the car wasn't a black SUV. It was an old white van, covered in dust.
Different driver. A young guy, maybe early twenties, wearing a baseball cap pulled low. He glanced at Lin Yuan once and said nothing.
"Who's he?" Lin Yuan whispered.
"Driver." Su Wanqing sat in the passenger seat.
Lin Yuan sat in the back. The van moved.
No music. Just the hum of the engine. Lin Yuan watched out the window. The buildings got shorter. From shops to warehouses. From warehouses to empty lots.
"The homeless people," Lin Yuan said.
"Yeah?"
"What were they like?"
"You'll see when we get there." Su Wanqing didn't turn around. "Don't think too much. Your job is to catch the nightmare. I'll handle the rest."
The van stopped in front of an abandoned construction site.
A chain-link fence. A sign hung on it, the words faded. The driver honked twice. No answer. He got out and pulled the fence open.
Su Wanqing got out. Lin Yuan followed.
"You lead," Su Wanqing said.
Lin Yuan blinked. "Me?"
"You can sense the nightmare. I can't."
Lin Yuan looked down at his hand. Under the glove, the gold lines were warm. He closed his eyes and felt for it — a heat source, to the left, maybe two or three hundred meters away.
"That way." He pointed.
They walked through weeds and came to an entrance sealed with corrugated iron. Someone had pried open a hole in the iron, just big enough to crawl through.
Su Wanqing went first. Lin Yuan followed.
Dark inside. His phone light didn't reach far. The walls were covered in graffiti. The floor was littered with cigarette butts, bottles, torn clothes. The air smelled of mold and stale urine.
Lin Yuan's stomach turned.
"This way." He kept walking.
The tunnel went deep. Every so often, a small vent in the ceiling let in a sliver of light, but it quickly faded.
He heard water. Drip. Drip. Drip. Like someone tapping a bell.
The lines on his hand grew hotter.
"Almost there," he whispered.
Su Wanqing put a hand on his shoulder. "Slow down. Look first."
They rounded a corner.
Light ahead. Not sunlight. A dim, yellow glow, like candlelight. Coming from an arched opening in the wall.
Lin Yuan moved closer.
Someone sat inside. No — not someone. A shadow. Human shape, but the edges were blurry, like ink bleeding into water.
It had its head down. Looking at something.
Lin Yuan took a step forward. His foot snapped a dry branch.
The shadow looked up.
It had no face. No features. Just a smooth, gray-white surface. But Lin Yuan could feel it looking at him.
"Who are you?" The shadow's voice was dry. Like leaves scraping together.
"I..." Lin Yuan didn't know what to say.
"You're not here to catch me?" The shadow stood. It was tall — a head taller than Lin Yuan.
"I'm here to help you."
"Help me?" The shadow made a strange sound. Half laugh, half cough. "No one can help me."
It stepped back. Its body began to shift — from human shape to mist, from mist to a snake, from a snake back to a human.
"See?" the shadow said. "I'm nothing. I can't be anything."
Lin Yuan's hand shook. Not from fear. From the heat. The lines on his hand were burning now. Like a brand.
He took off his badge and held it up.
The shadow saw the badge. Stepped back further.
"Don't..."
"I won't hurt you." Lin Yuan said. "I just want to make you stop."
"Stop?" The shadow's voice turned sharp. "I can't stop. I can't stop! I want to stop, but — "
It lunged at him.
Su Wanqing came from the side, kicked the shadow hard. It flew into the wall, bounced back.
"Take it!" Su Wanqing shouted.
Lin Yuan raised the badge. Gold light blazed — brighter than usual. The shadow got pulled into the light, struggled for a second, then folded like paper and disappeared into the badge.
The tunnel went quiet.
Lin Yuan crouched on the ground, breathing hard. The lines on his hand still burned, but less now.
"Good work." Su Wanqing pulled him up. "Even though you were slow."
"What did it say? 'I want to stop'?"
"A nightmare's obsession." Su Wanqing brushed dust off her clothes. "It didn't want to be a nightmare. But it couldn't control itself."
Lin Yuan looked down at the badge. A faint gray light had appeared on its surface. Dim, like dying embers.
"What was it before?"
"Don't know." Su Wanqing turned and walked back. "A homeless man. A runaway. Someone's father. Someone's son."
Lin Yuan followed.
The dripping sound continued.
Drip. Drip. Drip.
Back on the surface, the sky was almost dark.
The driver leaned against the van, smoking. When he saw them, he put out the cigarette and opened the door.
On the ride back, Lin Yuan stared out the window.
"You're quiet today," Su Wanqing said.
"No, I'm not."
"You talk less."
Lin Yuan didn't answer.
"You're thinking about what that nightmare said."
"It said it couldn't stop."
"All nightmares can't stop. That's what they are."
"But it said 'I want to stop.'"
Su Wanqing was quiet for a moment.
"Some nightmares, before they became nightmares, were people too. They had feelings. Things they wanted to do." She paused. "But they're not people anymore. Remember that."
Lin Yuan held the badge in his palm.
The gray light was still there.
Like a sigh, trapped inside.
---
Back in the library, Old Zhou looked at the badge, then at Lin Yuan.
"This one was stronger than the last."
"It almost hit me."
"But you're not hurt." Old Zhou pushed the badge back. "You're starting to adapt."
Lin Yuan took the badge. He hesitated.
"Old Zhou."
"Yeah?"
"Qin Shou said the three-month deadline can be changed."
Old Zhou's hand stopped. Then he put down his cup and looked at Lin Yuan.
"What else did he say?"
"He said you're hiding things from me."
Old Zhou was quiet for a long time. Long enough that Lin Yuan thought he wouldn't answer.
"Qin Shou," Old Zhou said slowly, "do you know why he joined the Dreamkeepers?"
"No."
"His brother was Chu Yunfei's deputy. They went into the Abyss together three years ago. Both went missing." Old Zhou's voice was low. "He joined to find his brother. Not to be a Dreamkeeper."
Lin Yuan froze.
"Some of what he said is true." Old Zhou looked at him. "The three-month deadline isn't fixed. If you're strong enough, you can extend it. Even break it completely."
"How?"
"Find Chu Yunfei." Old Zhou said. "He has the key to the Abyss."
Lin Yuan's heart raced.
"Is Chu Yunfei alive?"
"I don't know." Old Zhou stood up. "But if anyone can come out of the Abyss alive, it's him."
He walked to a shelf, pulled out a book, and opened it. No text. Just a map. But not an ordinary map — the lines moved. Flowed slowly.
"This is a map of the Abyss." Old Zhou said. "When you're stronger, I'll let you go in."
"Into the Abyss?"
"Not now." Old Zhou closed the book. "If you go in now, you won't come out."
Lin Yuan stared at the book.
The cover was black. No title. Just a small line of text, barely visible:
"Below the Abyss, no one returns."
---
When Lin Yuan came out of the library, it was raining.
Not heavy rain. Fine, dense rain. Needles on his skin.
He didn't have an umbrella. He stood at the door, staring at the rain.
"No umbrella?"
He turned. Su Wanqing stood in the hallway, holding a black umbrella.
"I thought you left."
"Had a smoke." She opened the umbrella. "Come on. I'll walk you to your dorm."
They walked into the rain together. The umbrella wasn't big. Half of Lin Yuan's shoulder got wet.
"The homeless man you talked about today," Lin Yuan said. "You said he could have been someone's father. Someone's son."
"Yeah."
"Did you ever see his face? Before he became a nightmare?"
Su Wanqing was quiet for a moment.
"Once. A long time ago." She slowed her steps. "He was an old man. Sixty-seven. His son went abroad. Ten years without coming back. He lived alone. Got sick. No one knew. Died in his apartment. Found half a month later."
Lin Yuan didn't say anything.
"His nightmare looked like his son. Sat in the living room every night, waiting for him to come home for dinner." Su Wanqing's voice was soft. "When I caught that nightmare, it asked me: 'Dad, why are you so thin?'"
The rain was loud. But Lin Yuan heard every word.
"After that..." he started.
"After that, I caught it." Su Wanqing cut him off. "Then I quit field work."
They reached the dorm building. Su Wanqing closed the umbrella.
"Go up."
"Su Wanqing."
"Yeah?"
"That old man... did his son ever come back?"
Su Wanqing looked at him. Rain hung on her eyelashes.
"He came back. For the funeral." She said. "Knelt in the memorial hall all day. Cried so hard he couldn't stand up."
She turned and walked away. The umbrella stayed closed.
Lin Yuan stood at the entrance, watching her figure disappear into the rain.
---
He went upstairs. Pushed the door open.
Zhao Lei wasn't gaming. He sat on his bed, hugging his knees, staring out the window.
"What's wrong?" Lin Yuan asked.
"Nothing."
"You never say 'nothing.'" Lin Yuan sat down. "When you say 'nothing,' something's wrong."
Zhao Lei was quiet for a moment.
"My mom's in the hospital," he said. "Happened this afternoon. My dad just called."
Lin Yuan froze.
"What is it?"
"I don't know. They're still running tests." Zhao Lei's voice was rough. "I want to go back. But I have an exam tomorrow. Can't get a ticket until the day after."
"Go." Lin Yuan said. "I'll ask about the exam for you."
"You..."
"I owe you. From the fried dough sticks."
Zhao Lei looked at him. His eyes were red. But he didn't cry.
"Thanks," he said.
"Don't thank me. You didn't thank me before."
Zhao Lei smiled. Barely. But it was a smile.
---
That night, Lin Yuan couldn't sleep.
He lay on his bottom bunk, listening to Zhao Lei toss and turn. Old Zhao's snoring was especially loud tonight. Like sawing through hardwood.
He thought about the old man Su Wanqing talked about. Sixty-seven. Son abroad for ten years. Died alone. Found half a month later.
He thought about what the nightmare said: "Dad, why are you so thin?"
He thought about what Old Zhou said: "Below the Abyss, no one returns."
He thought about Qin Shou. His brother missing for three years. Still searching.
He thought about Zhao Lei. His mom in the hospital. Maybe nothing. Maybe something.
He turned over.
The lines on his hand weren't glowing. But he could feel them. The heat flowing slowly. Like an underground river. Invisible. But there.
He closed his eyes.
The old man's face appeared in his mind. Not a face he'd seen. One he imagined.
Wrinkles. Gray hair. Thin hands.
Sitting in an empty living room.
Waiting for a door that would never open.
He opened his eyes.
The water stain on the ceiling was still there. Shaped like a map.
He didn't know what he would become. Whether he would also become an old man, sitting in an empty room, waiting.
He didn't know if he would become a nightmare.
But he knew — starting today, he didn't want to wait anymore.
(End of Chapter 5)