"Today is Christmas Eve," the general said again.
Yu Hao lay on the General's back and said, "It's already very cold during the day, but I didn't expect it to be so cold even in a dream at night."
The general asked casually, "What did you do during the day?"
Yu Hao replied, "Working part-time."
For some reason, maybe it was intuition, Yu Hao always felt that he knew the general in reality, and that the general was deliberately concealing his identity.
"What kind of work?"
"Send flyers."
"Oh, it's really cold," the general said. "Fortunately, I'm not afraid of the cold."
Yu Hao laughed, hugging the general's neck and crouching on his back.
"Seriously, don't be fussy." The general scratched his neck and said, "Monkeys and humans have reproductive isolation."
Yu Hao was told by a monkey that he was "hairy" and couldn't help laughing. The general asked again, "Have you found a boyfriend in reality?"
"It's only been a few days!" Yu Hao said, "My troubles haven't been resolved yet, how can I have time to fall in love."
As the village approached, the general suddenly stopped, Yu Hao said, "What's wrong?"
The big monkey looked around, seemed to sense danger, and said in a low voice, "Shh."
The seaside villages can be seen more clearly, all the wooden houses are covered with a thick layer of snow and ice, the sea is frozen, and there are large Viking-style ships frozen on the harbour. All living creatures froze instantly.
At the end of the harbour, there is a towering lighthouse, and on the lighthouse, a dark mass of breath is suspended.
"Is that a 'totem'?" Yu Hao asked in a low voice.
The general motioned for Yu Hao to come down and said in a low voice, "Perhaps, but we haven't found the owner of the dream, what should we do?"
It is impossible for anyone to survive on the frozen snow field for thousands of miles. This is a real dead place. The general has glanced around on the mountain. He has become Sun Wukong. There is no whereabouts of the exiled master.
Yu Hao said, "Could it have been exiled into the subconscious?"
He knew very little about dreams, and most of his inferences could only be based on what the general had told him and what he had read from books.
"Shouldn't it be?" The general touched his head and said to himself.
"What about the safe haven?" Yu Hao said anxiously, "Look for it?"
"There's nothing like a safe haven either," the general said.
Yu Hao thought for a while and said, "It's just that there's no ground. What about underground? You said this is a little girl's dream. Children like to build a secret base. There is a metaphor for 'underground work' in it."
"You did a good job in psychology," the general said suddenly. "Maybe you guessed it right, let's go in and have a look."
In front of the frozen dwelling, the general pried open a door with his sword, and Yu Hao's staff emitted light, illuminating the inside of the dwelling.
"It's a candy store." The general and Yu Hao looked at each other. The store was covered with ice and snow, and the NPCs were frozen into ice sculptures. Yu Hao suddenly noticed that there seemed to be something in the corner that was quickly retreating out.
It was a tentacle-like shadow.
"General?" Yu Hao directed the light from his staff towards the corner of the wall.
"Huh?" The general was biting into a piece of frozen chocolate, and he couldn't get it down.
"Don't get too far from me," said the big monkey vaguely.
Yu Hao wasn't sure if it was his hallucination or the real thing, so the general put a whole plate of bonbon in his pocket, trying to make it melt, and said, "Look somewhere else."
The other residence across the street was a fondant cake shop. Yu Hao could almost imagine that the original appearance of this place should be a beautiful and prosperous commercial street. There are also children's clothing and toys along the street. But just as the general looked at a seven-story cake, Yu Hao felt a little strange.
This time he found another tentacle!
"General!" Yu Hao said vigilantly, "There are enemies!"
The general turned around abruptly, pulled Yu Hao behind him, and the two quickly retreated from the dwelling. On the commercial street of the village, the snowstorm suddenly stopped.
It was quiet all around.
"I think there's something wrong with the situation..." Yu Hao said in a low voice, "Or quit first?"
The general looked around vigilantly, and when they were about to cover Yu Hao from leaving the village, the two of them suddenly shook under their feet! The snow on the street vibrated, squeezed heavily, the bricks shattered, and then tentacles rose from all directions!
Immediately afterwards, there was a burst of bright light around the village, and the strong indigo light shone on the village. Yu Hao immediately raised his arm and blocked his eyes. He saw a huge demonic eye hovering above the lighthouse at the end of the port! The magic eye let out a piercing laughter, and the voice seemed to be heard somewhere:
"Look I won't kill you this time—"
Mr. Shi's voice!
Before Yu Hao could be shocked, the general shouted, "Run!"
However, the houses on both sides collapsed instantly, and the huge lamprey-like sea monster rose from the ground! All the tentacles caught Yu Hao and the general at the same time. The general rushed towards Yu Hao when he was caught by the tentacles, slammed away, and crashed into the dwelling, knocking down the entire wall of the candy store!
Yu Hao was restrained by the neck, and he was suddenly out of breath. His eyes were fixed on the general. The general jumped up from the ruins, drew out his long sword, and roared towards the giant sea monster!
The sea monster tentacles waved out, Yu Hao spun his left hand, grabbed the staff, and pressed it on the tentacles. A bolt of lightning penetrated the tentacles, and the tentacles suddenly stiffened and loosened, and Yu Hao fell down. Almost fell into the sharp teeth of the lamprey! At a critical juncture, he hugged the tentacle tightly. The general rushed from the side and slashed violently with his sword, but Nai He kept slashing the tentacles.
"Don't be eaten by it!"
"You can tell me now what happens when you fall!"
"It will die! It will die! It will sleep forever and never wake up again!"
Yu Hao was suddenly full of cold sweat, and violently kicked the edge of the sea monster's huge mouth. The general was fighting with several tentacles. Yu Hao turned around, holding a staff, but a tentacle was pulled from the side, and he was smashed into the internal organs. Pain, the staff took off and fell into the snow!
The general roared: "Deal with this guy! We are not strong enough! Go back to reality and find a way-"
Yu Hao: "How do you think of a way!"
"Wake up Shi Ni!"
Immediately afterwards, the tentacles covered the sky and covered the ground, and rolled towards the general and Yu Hao.
As soon as Yu Hao turned around, the general's slender body rushed towards him, and his hand screeched like lightning.
"Good night!" the general roared.
There was a momentary blankness in Yu Hao's eyes, and the next moment, a golden light flashed from the general's hand, pressing firmly against his forehead.
"Boom" like lightning struck his consciousness, Yu Hao shouted and sat up from the bed.
The last scene in my memory was the moment when countless tentacles wrapped around the general and dragged him to the huge mouth full of sharp teeth!
Yu Hao immediately rummaged through his phone, gasping for breath, and dialed the number Xiaoxiao left him yesterday afternoon.
There was a call waiting tone on the other end of the phone, Yu Hao couldn't stop praying to pick up quickly! Hurry up! Countless scenes flashed through his mind one after another, the magic eye on the lighthouse, the snake in the snow, the sea monster full of tentacles and sharp teeth, Mr. Shi's wild laughter... Yu Hao seemed to understand who the owner of this dream was. , and the meanings of all symbols.
A burst of fear and anger suddenly surged into my heart. If it was true, how desperate should Shi Ni be? !
The phone is on.
"Hello?" Xiaoxiao called out in a sleepy voice.
"Get Ni Ni up! Get her up quickly!" Yu Hao yelled almost desperately.
Xiaoxiao on the other end of the phone was instantly frightened and said, "What's the matter? What's the matter?"
"Quick! Do you have her phone number?" Yu Hao knew that as long as Shi Ni woke up, the dream would be interrupted instantly. Just like before when he and the general faced the army in his dream, when the master woke up, all the visitors would be forcibly ejected. The dream will continue in the next dream.
"I'm here." Shi Ni's voice rang from the other end of the phone, "Why?"
Yu Hao finally breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Are you staying at Xiaoxiao's house for the night?"
Shi Ni said, "What's your business?"
"Don't hang up." Yu Hao said, "I have a few words that I want to talk to you about."
With weariness in Shi Ni's voice, he said, "I have nothing to talk about with you."
"Listen to him." Xiaoxiao's voice whispered, "He's an adult."
On the other side of the room, Yu Hao organized his thoughts and searched for words, while envisioning how to break the darkness in her dream. He put on his down, put on his headphones, got out of bed, went to the window with a better signal, opened the window a little, and glanced at the alarm clock.
It's 11:07, it's still early... The timing is good, and I can go into the dream again.
"Ni Ni." Yu Hao took a deep breath, then tried his best to keep his voice steady and whispered, "What did your father do to you?"
On Christmas Eve, it began to snow lightly outside. Across the road from the dormitory, the colorful lights wrapped around the school fence flickered, creating a warm and quiet atmosphere on this winter night.
There was a long silence over the phone, Yu Hao waited patiently, as if a century had passed, a low sobbing sound came from his earphones.
"How old were you?" Yu Hao asked again.
"Eleven years old." Shi Ni choked, "I'm sorry, Teacher Yu..."
"It doesn't matter." Yu Hao replied.
At this moment, the anger surging in his heart almost squeezed and exploded his chest, which made him feel very bored. He just wanted to grab himself hard, or smashed something with his fist to vent.
Shi Ni cried for a while, then Yu Hao sighed and pulled out the change. He urgently needed some wine to settle his emotions.
He didn't comfort Shi Ni, and just listened to the crying from the earphones quietly.
"I have to leave tomorrow." Xiaoxiao said, "I don't know what to do. Ni Ni is too miserable. She also knew she was wrong about what happened before..."
"It's okay." Yu Hao hurried downstairs and asked, "Where are you going?"
Xiaoxiao said, "I have to transfer to Hong Kong."
Yu Hao understood. Tonight was the night when Shi Ni and Xiaoxiao said goodbye.
Xiaoxiao said, "Mr. Yu, can you take care of Ni Ni for me?"
Shi Ni stopped crying and said, "Mr. Yu, I'm sorry..."
Yu Hao expressed his forgiveness again and again, and Shi Ni said again, "I'm afraid of the study, I'm afraid of the swivel chair you're sitting on, I don't want to... I don't want to..."
"You don't want to stay in the study for even a minute and a second, do you?" Yu Hao arrived at the convenience store, the boss was still watching TV before it was closed, Yu Hao took a bottle of Erguotou and settled with the boss.
"Go ahead." Yu Hao said.
"One day I don't know if you still remember, you grabbed my arm..." Shi Ni choked again, "I just felt unbearable... I wanted to drive you away."
"Yeah." Yu Hao replied, he stood outside the canteen, Yu Xiaoxue twisted the Erguotou, took a few sips, the hot wine passed through the esophagus and entered his stomach, causing him to let out a mouthful of scalding heat.
Indeed, one day, Shi Ni was restless and wanted to leave the get out of class early, Yu Hao took her by the arm and asked her to sit back. At that time, he was a little stern and made this forced action, which must have made Shi Ni feel a sense of fear.
"I don't have any other ideas." Yu Hao said, "I just want you to study hard. Now that I know all this, I won't sit idly by. Don't worry about the watch, we have to deal with you. It's settled."
Shi Ni's mood finally recovered and he said, "Is it alright?"
Yu Hao took another sip of Erguotou, looked up at Xue, and said, "You have to trust me."
Xiaoxiao said: "Ni Ni said, you know that policeman, is it useful to tell the police?"
Yu Hao said, "Yes, I'll call the police for you."
Shi Ni: "Will the police care?"
Yu Hao: "I will take care of it, this is a crime!"
Shi Ni's voice began to tremble and he said, "But, will anyone believe me?"
Yu Hao said, "Yes! I guarantee you."
Shi Ni whispered, "But I'm afraid..."
Yu Hao said: "Ni Ni, I promise you, first of all, I will not make a statement, I promise, only me and the police know about this matter. Second, you must be brave. Third, you must trust me wholeheartedly before I can help you. ."
Shi Ni didn't speak, Yu Hao said, "I'm just an ordinary college student. It's not bad. I'm very poor. Sometimes, I can't even protect myself."
"But I can gain strength from you." Yu Hao whispered, "You must expect that there will be someone who can help you, right? In fact, in your heart, you believe in me, and you have to figure it out for yourself. ."
Xiaoxiao immediately said, "Yes, she believes in you, Teacher Yu."
"Then, if you recall, where did your trust in me come from?" Yu Hao asked calmly while drinking Erguotou.
Shi Ni said, "I hurt you so badly, and you still don't hate me."
Yu Hao said, "Because I know that you are a good boy."
Shi Ni started to cry again, this time the cry was no longer suppressed, but breathed.
She said, "Thank you... thank you... Mr. Yu... "
Yu Hao said, "You may never forget this incident in your life, but I believe you will come out. I have experienced many bad things, but they are all injuries caused by others. These injuries It shouldn't have happened…”
With tears in his eyes, he drank a little more wine, thinking of the general in armor who held his hand on the Great Wall.
"...But it has appeared in life, and the cause of all this is not our own fault." Yu Hao said, "they are the ones who deserve to go to hell, be brave and send them to hell so that they can get what they deserve. Some punishment. It's Christmas Eve, right?"
Shi Ni made an "en", and Yu Hao finally said, "It is said that human suffering is innate, 'You have suffering in this world, but you will find peace in my heart'. You will get better slowly, believe me, Believe in yourself too."
There was silence in the receiver, and Shi Ni said, "Mr. Yu, I believe in you."
"As long as you support me, I will fight for you to the end." Yu Hao said tiredly, "I will never give up."
"Okay." Shi Ni said.
Yu Hao said, "I'll make an appointment with you tomorrow, let's make a coffee in the flower room. Let's find a way first so that you don't have to live at home."
"My dad went on a business trip." Shi Ni whispered, "I won't be back until the day after tomorrow."
"Where's your mother?" Yu Hao asked.
Shi Ni replied: "She is often away from home, but she knows that she is afraid of my father and never speaks."
Yu Hao said again, "You have other relatives, can you stay here temporarily?"
Shi Ni replied, "Yes, my uncle and aunt like me very much."
Yu Hao thought for a while and said, "Let's talk about this slowly."
Shi Ni said softly, "That big red-haired brother..."
Yu Hao was startled and asked, "What's wrong?"
Shi Ni seemed to be thinking hard and said, "Did you tell him?"
"No." Yu Hao said, "Of course not."
Shi Ni said, "Will he come too?"
Yu Hao hurriedly said, "No, it's just me and you."
"Is he good at fighting?" Xiaoxiao interjected.
"Yes, what's the matter?" Yu Hao was a little puzzled, but he suddenly understood and said, "Okay, I'll take him, Ni Ni, don't you mind telling him the truth?"
"I don't mind." Shi Ni replied, "He beat my dad, is he okay?"
Yu Hao comforted a few words and said, "You'll know when we meet tomorrow, are you tired?"
"Well..." Shi Ni was already very sleepy, and Yu Hao said again, "Okay, go to sleep, good night, I promise you, when the sun rises, everything will be fine."