Seizing Dreams

Zhou Sheng frowned.

Yu Hao said, “Did he wake up naturally?”

They had already been sleeping for a very long time, and Yu Hao had even experienced a dream within a dream. Zhou Sheng crouched down to pick up the coin. “Let’s talk about it in reality ba.”

“Un…” Yu Hao looked at Zhou Sheng and suddenly said, “You’re too smart.”

“How does it feel to see me get hit?” Zhou Sheng asked with a smile.

Yu Hao, “I was a little afraid, but it was still okay. I believe that you’ve always had a solution, so you wouldn’t just let him beat you up as he pleased. But I’m always worried. What if he comes knocking on our door soon?”

“So I got Kaikai to arrange for a meet-up in three days.” Zhou Sheng said, “It’s just that I misjudged the time a little. I didn’t expect this good-for-nothing Zhao Liang to lunge at the street so soon…By the time we meet Ren Chong, it’ll be a chance for us to hand over the real goods.”

“You decided to give it to him?!” Yu Hao asked in surprise.

“No, this is the second trap.” Zhou Sheng smiled, “Trust me. I’ve already designed strategies for dealing with all three of their demands. I’m currently waiting for them to walk right into my traps themselves.”

Yu Hao said, “Ai, do you still need me to cooperate with you without knowing anything?”

“Not anymore,” Zhou Sheng answered, “We only needed your unaware cooperation this one time with Zhao Liang. It doesn’t feel good to be kept in the dark, I understand that. Let’s go home first? I’ll slowly explain everything to you when we get back.”

Yu Hao said, “No, explain it clearly to me now.”

Zhou Sheng pondered for a moment, then said, “I’ve never been able to find the most crucial point for resolution previously, so I wanted to try a way for you to be able to activate the Golden Crow Wheel as well. But the conjecture of Zhao Liang’s subordinates did give me some inspiration…”

Yu Hao, “Me?!”

Yu Hao frowned. Zhou Sheng scratched his head and said, “Yes. Let you obtain the right to activate the Golden Crow Wheel first, then there’ll be a chance for us to act separately. We’ll have to cooperate first before we can deal with Ren Chong. After all, with the precedence of Zhao Liang’s case, Ren Chong definitely wouldn’t make light of his enemy.”

Yu Hao said, “How do I cooperate? Tell me ba.”

Zhou Sheng thought for a bit, then leaped onto the railings and sat down. He motioned for Yu Hao to go over, and the two of them watched the Golden Crow Wheel like that. Zhou Sheng said, “I wanted to use the Golden Crow Wheel as bait and hand it over to Ren Chong of my own accord, as well as take him into a dream at least once to prove that the Golden Crow Wheel is real. After that, before he figures out what to do with it, he would definitely be very much on guard and wouldn’t give me the chance to activate it.”

Yu Hao knew he has never been able to reach a verdict on any one of Zhou Sheng’s plans through his own reasoning, so he only needed to listen most of the time. He asked, “What next, then?”

“Next,” Zhou Sheng said, “it’ll be up to you to think of a way to activate the Golden Crow Wheel, then pull me into your dream, and we’ll deal with Ren Chong together again.” When he spoke, Zhou Sheng slashed through the air with two of his fingers, and a memory impression materialised in front of him — it was the way to deal with Ren Chong that he had imagined.

Yu Hao didn’t utter a word and just watched with a slight frown.

Zhou Sheng took the Golden Crow Wheel and went up to Ren Chong, then, Ren Chong left the Golden Crow Wheel behind, and Zhou Sheng was taken away to be locked up in a sealed off room. Huang Ting would then steal the Golden Crow Wheel after Ren Chong leaves and hand it to Yu Hao. Yu Hao lay in bed, closed his eyes, and entered his dream.

“Then after that, you’ll come into my dream to find me.” Zhou Sheng said, “We’ll then go into Ren Chong’s dream together and erase his memories.”

“I don’t understand.” Yu Hao said, “Why can’t we go to his dream now?”

Zhou Sheng said, “I bet that he wouldn’t dare sleep after catching wind of Zhao Liang’s news, what do you think?”

Yu Hao suddenly came to a realisation. As long as Ren Chong doesn’t dream, they wouldn’t be able to do anything to him for now. The two of them looked at the giant Golden Crow Wheel again; the fantastical light in the Golden Crow Wheel flickered, but there were no dreamscapes in it. First of all, only a few people would be asleep at this time; second of all, no one dreamed of Zhou Sheng and Yu Hao.

Zhou Sheng answered, “The best way would be to stall him and to stall him for a couple of days to make him feel so sleepy that he can’t stand it anymore, then we would have a chance. But I don’t think Ren Chong would be that dumb. After he knows that Zhao Liang’s memories have been erased, the first thing he would do would be to maintain a sober state and come over to find us. So why don’t we be a little magnanimous and just set a trap for him to squeeze into.”

“Un…” Yu Hao looked at the Golden Crow Wheel. He was thinking that at an even earlier time, they actually could have dealt with Ren Chong first before dealing with Zhao Liang. But at that time, even Zhou Sheng couldn’t guess who their hidden enemies were…

“I’ve tried a few times.” It was as if Zhou Sheng understood Yu Hao’s doubts, “There was a period of time when I would wait for Ren Chong, Zhao Liang, and Lao Qin to dream of me every night, but I never succeeded once. Perhaps they’re receiving some sort of hypnotic treatment to avoid dreaming about us…let’s talk again later ba. After sleeping for so long, my whole body will ache after waking up. After this ends, we really need to take a good break. This really isn’t easy.”

Yu Hao said, “Come back ba, I’ll give you a massage. But I’m still quite angry.”

“Un?” Zhou Sheng smiled flirtatiously, then reached out to wrap an arm around Yu Hao’s waist and asked, “What are you angry about?”

“About not knowing anything ah!” Yu Hao said, “I was so confused.”

Zhou Sheng said, “Didn’t I explain everything to you now?”

“I’m still a bit confused,” Yu Hao said, “but I can more or less understand it.”

Zhou Sheng pulled Yu Hao’s hand and stood in front of the Golden Crow Wheel. He leaned down to kiss him, then whispered, “See you at home, good night.”

Then the golden light on Zhou Sheng’s hand glowed and covered Yu Hao’s whole body; Yu Hao disintegrated into light particles, scattering in Zhou Sheng’s embrace. Zhou Sheng turned his head sideways to look at the Golden Crow Wheel, waved his finger at it, closed his eyes, and a resplendent light erupted from his body.

However, after several seconds, Zhou Sheng began to realise that something was wrong.

He was still standing at his original spot.

The dream world began to change; the dark clouds above the sea of clouds billowed over. Zhou Sheng looked up in astonishment, sizing this world up.

There was a gun placed against Chen Yekai’s forehead. Chen Yekai opened his eyes and just as he was about to wake Zhou Sheng up, someone beside him covered Zhou Sheng’s mouth and nose with a handkerchief soaked in an anesthetic.

“Get up.” Ren Chong sat on the sofa in the hotel, and several of his men stood beside him. Ren Chong said, “Don’t force me to use violence. You’re a scholar; if something were to happen to you, no one’s face would look good either.”

Chen Yekai slowly got off another bed in the standard room and turned his head sideways to look at Zhou Sheng. Zhou Sheng was covered with an anesthetic, connected to a respirator, and he was still wearing the Golden Crow Wheel on his wrist.

“Ren Laoshi,” Chen Yekai said, “The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind indeed. Really worthy of admiration.”

Ren Chong said, “Otherwise, how would I have been able to lead the team? I promise you I won’t hurt Zhou Sheng.”

“Is your promise useful?” Chen Yekai said in a low voice.

Ren Chong answered, “Otherwise, what’s the meaning behind me saying that? It’s perfectly fine for me to be like Zhao Liang: capture Yu Hao and use a hostage to threaten you guys. Go back to his house and take a look now? I guarantee Yu Hao will still be there. No one laid a finger on him.”

Chen Yekai took a deep breath. Ren Chong continued, “Huang Ting is very safe, he has already been released. And I’ve also taken over Zhao Liang’s research institute as well. You don’t need to worry about anything else. I just need you guys to assist me, and clearly explain everything that had happened.”

“I thought I had already arranged to meet up with you.” Chen Yekai said, “Couldn’t even wait for a few days?”

Ren Chong watched his men move Zhou Sheng to a wheeled stretcher, open the door, and push him out, then answered, “Meet you, wait for me to form an impression of you so that it’ll be convenient for you guys to enter my dream and erase my memories? Don’t try to struggle, go.”

Chen Yekai went out while he was at gunpoint. One of the men handcuffed him, and Ren Chong followed him out.

Fu Liqun was washing vegetables while listening to his German lesson. Yu Hao was chopping vegetables and beating eggs at one side as he waited for Zhou Sheng to come back and cook. Fu Liqun was still encumbered with all the thoughts on his mind. He asked, “How’s Huang Ting?”

“Zhou Sheng has already thought of a plan,” Yu Hao answered, “It’s not a big problem.”

“Where has Young Master been the whole day?” Fu Liqun asked again.

The doorbell rang. Yu Hao said, “He’s back.”

Yu Hao went to open the door, but outside stood Chen Yekai, whose whole body was covered in snow.

“Zhou Sheng was taken away!” Chen Yekai rushed in like a gust of wind, closed the door, and said, “Qin Guodong asked you to go over, it’s not a dream! Yu Hao!”

Yu Hao, “……”

Fu Liqun took out one side of his earphones and stared at Chen Yekai blankly.

Chen Yekai kept gasping for breath. An hour ago, Zhou Sheng was taken into the elevator, personally escorted by Ren Chong. After arriving at the hotel lobby, there were several bodyguards waiting for them there and pushed Zhou Sheng onto a car the whole way.

While Chen Yekai was waiting for another elevator, two people suddenly appeared in the safety corridor; gunfire instantly broke out in the hotel corridor. Chen Yekai immediately realised that if they weren’t helpers, then they were there to snatch them away, so he immediately shouted, “Zhou Sheng was taken downstairs!”

“It’s too late!” The one in the lead shouted, “You go first!”

Chen Yekai ducked to avoid the gunfire and ran all the way into the safety corridor. He was immediately taken downstairs by people; they passed through the corridor on the 12th floor and into another building. The scene was in a chaotic disarray; Chen Yekai was taken downstairs, stuffed into a car, and the one driving was a woman in her forties — it was Zhou Sheng’s boss.

When Yu Hao heard this, he felt as if the world around him was spinning. He said, “Why would Ren Chong choose to take action at this time?”

Chen Yekai shrugged. “Qin Guodong wants to see you. Do you trust me?”

It was as if the dreamscape had reappeared; Yu Hao suspected that this was another dream at first, and perhaps Zhou Sheng and Chen Yekai had arranged it beforehand. He could only put down his kitchen knife. On the other hand, Fu Liqun was very calm and said, “I’ll go with you.”

Yu Hao went out of the elevator. Two of Zhou Sheng’s colleagues was waiting outside and they urged, “Quick quick, get on the car!”

Two cars were parked outside the apartment. Yu Hao, Chen Yekai, and Fu Liqun got on one of them. The driver greeted Yu Hao, “Meimei, long time no see ah~”

Yu Hao still had doubts in his subconscious. “Is this a dream?”

“No, it’s not!” Chen Yekai pressed down on Yu Hao’s shoulder. “Sober up a little!”

Yu Hao only thought that all of this was too sudden. He quickly said, “Wait, let me sort out my thoughts…”

“Your man was taken away by Ren Chong,” Xiao Jian said, “At present, we still don’t know where he wants to take him too, but there’s no way there won’t be trouble. Hopefully, they don’t plan on doing anything to him.”

Chen Yekai said, “Ren Chong promised me that he wouldn’t hurt him. Are his words trustworthy?”

“I don’t know,” Xiao Jian said as she drove, “I’ve never worked under him before, you’ll have to ask our boss.”

Yu Hao, “Why would Ren Chong choose to take action at this time? He clearly never did anything before this, after taking the Golden Crow Wheel he…”

Chen Yekai said, “He has always known that the Golden Crow Wheel was a fake!”

“Oh?” Xiao Jian said nonchalantly, “You guys switched it out with a fake and deceived him?”

Fu Liqun signalled to Chen Yekai and Yu Hao with his gaze to not talk about it on the car, yet Xiao Jian smiled and answered, “Zhou Sheng has always trusted us a lot.”

“We’re here.” Xiao Jian stopped at the back door of the company and said, “Director Qin’s waiting for you guys in the conference room.”

Yu Hao entered through the back door. This wasn’t his first time entering Zhou Sheng’s company, yet there were two people on guard at the back door today.