Chapter Thirty-Six: Becoming Reality (Three)

  Xiao Rui revealed a bitter smile and said: "Only by helping you complete your dreams can I realize mine."

  "What's your dream?"

  Xiao Wei let out another bitter laugh, looking into my eyes and saying: "My dreams may seem absurd to others, but please believe me, I won't harm you, I really want to help you."

  Although I had long suspected that Xiaorui was hiding something from me, and also believed that Xiaorui was really not malicious to me, but hearing all this from her mouth, my heart still felt a bit uncomfortable. I took a deep breath, looked at Xiaorui, and said, "Let's go."

  "Where is he going?"

  I gave her a faint smile and said, "Go make your dreams come true." At that moment, I saw a hint of gratitude in Xiaorui's eyes. She smiled back at me and nodded vigorously.

  Taking this opportunity, I asked again the question in my heart: "Xiaorui, what is your ideal?"

  Xiao Rui hesitated for a moment and said: "It's a dream, I even dream about it."

  I never thought the word "dream" could be understood in this way, but I felt a sense of heaviness from Xiaorui's brief words. I gently patted her shoulder to comfort her, and Xiaorui smiled at me, then lifted her head, looking up at the dark sky. I saw her long hair hanging down behind her, just like that hanging doll, and then heard her say: "My dream is to see a woman."

  "What kind of woman is she?"

  Xiaohui turned her head and didn't dare look into my eyes, remaining silent for a while before whispering: "I'll tell you later."

  I didn't hesitate, nodded my head. Xiaorui was unwilling to tell me now, definitely because she had her own difficulties. The initial unhappiness had already disappeared from my heart. No matter what Xiaorui's ultimate goal was, at least she was genuinely good to me. I really wanted to ask if she truly liked me, but ultimately didn't open my mouth.

  I wanted to send Xiaohui home, but she refused me again, saying: "Wait until you've seen that secret, maybe then you'll be able to write something that moves me." I knew what she meant, smiled and said: "I will definitely succeed."

  After going home, I told my mom that I was going out with Xiao Hua for a few days. My mom got so excited that she dropped the remote control in her hand and hugged me: "Son, this time on the road, you must seize the opportunity and try to get me a grandson." Then, with an expectant face, she looked at me: "Do you want Mom to teach you some of the world's most romantic and unbeatable moves?"

  I thought of those Qiong Yao dramas and TVB, and I couldn't help but feel a chill run down my spine. I hastily made an excuse to go back home and tidy up some things, declining my mom's kind intentions. As I lay on the bed, I felt a sense of anticipation - what secret would Xiaorui bring me tomorrow?

  I haven't asked Xiaorui how she knew about the Dream Club, not that I didn't want to, it's just that at that time I didn't want to ask too much. I took out the three jade pendants on my body, one was bright red like blood, another had a faint pink color, and the other was given by that mysterious person, pure white like snow.

  What's the use of this jade pendant? I looked up at the ceiling, quietly thinking about this question, and unknowingly fell asleep. In a daze, it seemed like something brushed against my face. With great effort, I opened my eyes to find a huge curtain hanging down from above my head.

  I let out a loud cry, and since there were no curtains in my room at this spot, the sudden appearance of the curtain really gave me a big fright. Perhaps Mother heard my cry and hastily shouted from outside: "Ari, what's wrong?"

  In that instant, the curtain suddenly disappeared. I patted my own face and said, "Mom, it's nothing." But was it really nothing? I looked up at the top of the window frame, and the curtain had vanished. However, in the last moment, I vaguely saw some sort of pattern on it.

  The next day, I received a call from Xiaohui early in the morning, saying that she wanted to take the earliest train. When I arrived at the station, Xiaohui had just arrived too. Because it was cold due to the early hour, Xiaohui was wearing more clothes than usual and wrapped herself tightly, almost hiding her feet. I gently patted her head and said: "People who don't know us would think that I'm carrying a big package."

  Xiao Wei smiled and said, "Get on the bus."

  Because it was the first bus, there were very few people on the bus. The two of them chose a window seat and sat down with their eyes closed, dozing off. After several hours, I was woken up by the driver, saying that we had arrived. I woke up Xiaohui and pulled her hand to get off the bus. The driver's face was full of surprise, perhaps he was scared by Xiaohui's outfit. I couldn't help but laugh in my heart, Xiaohui really looked too strange, even when I first saw her, I couldn't help but wonder if she was the person who delivered things to me.

  My heart suddenly skipped a beat: could it be that Xiaohua was the mysterious package sender? I hesitated about whether to ask Xiaohua, but she seemed tired and leaned her body against me, saying "We still need to transfer trains." As I listened to her speaking weakly, I got a fright, and upon touching her forehead, I felt it was slightly feverish. I got another fright: "Xiaohua, you're sick, let's find a hospital to take a look first."

  Xiao Wei grabbed my hand and said, "It's okay, I've had a rare disease since childhood that makes me unable to see sunlight, so going out during the day will make me feel dizzy. Just hold on for a bit."

  Since Xiaohui couldn't see the sunlight during the day, I decided to go back there at night instead. Disregarding Xiaohui's objections, I found a hotel and brought her into the room under the owner's strange gaze, letting her rest first.

  Xiao Rui might have been really tired, and soon she was lying on the bed asleep. I covered her with a quilt, then lay down on the other bed to rest. In a daze, I suddenly felt that someone was watching me from the window.

  I quickly opened my eyes, and there was no one at the window, only a curtain. The curtain was a common beige color with vertical light brown stripes, it was an ordinary curtain fabric, although not very thick, but enough to block out the outside sunlight, naturally, it's impossible for anyone to see me through the curtain, but for some reason, I couldn't help but think of the curtain I saw at home in the middle of the night, and I felt like they were exactly the same, and for a moment, I thought I had returned to that evening.

  The feeling was so real and strong that I got out of bed, lifted a corner of the curtains, and indeed there was no one outside. I gently put down the curtains, my eyes fixed on the stripes on the curtains, as if I thought I could find the pattern I hadn't seen clearly that night from here. Just then, I found that the stripes on the curtains seemed to be different.

  I brought my eyes closer again, the stripes were still the same, but I felt some inexplicable change compared to the first glance. At this time, a soft rustling sound came from Xiaohua's bed, and I quickly turned my head. Xiaohua had already opened her eyes and saw me staring at the curtains, asking: "What are you doing?"

  "I casually replied: 'Nothing, these patterns on the curtains are quite interesting. Looking at them seems to make me feel that they have changed into something else.'"

  Xiao Wei smiled and said, "Then what did you see?"

  I scratched my head and said, "Nothing's visible, just a feeling." As I spoke, I looked at the stripes on the curtains again, and suddenly let out a loud cry, taking a step back. Xiaohua was startled, quickly sat up and asked, "What's wrong?"

  My heart almost jumped out, I thought I finally saw what that pattern was that night when I didn't see it clearly. I opened my mouth wide and pointed at the curtains with my finger, and after a long time, I stuttered: "I... I saw a face."

  Xiaorui glanced at the curtains and didn't see anything, then turned to me and said: "Alei, are you too tired lately?"

  I didn't speak, I didn't know how to explain all this to Xiaorui. The curtains indeed only had the most ordinary stripes, but after looking at them for a long time, they gave me a strange feeling, as if I could see faces on them. It was just a feeling, no matter how real it was, if Xiaorui couldn't see it, she would never understand.

  But I swear I really saw a face, because this face is more familiar than anything else, it's Xiaorui's face.

  I didn't plan to tell her about the things related to Xiaohui that I had encountered, because before I figured out what was going on myself, I was afraid of scaring Xiaohui by telling her impulsively. I forced a smile and said, "Maybe I just didn't sleep well last night, so I'll rest too."

  Xiao Rui hummed and looked at the curtains, confirming that she hadn't seen anyone's face, then leaned back on the bed. I softly called out "Xiao Rui", she turned her head and asked: "What is it?"

  I said: "How did you get in touch with Dream Club?"

  Xiao Wei calmly replied, "It was they who contacted me." This answer was what I had expected, so I didn't continue to ask further. After a pause, I asked again, "What is the secret of Chu Jiangshan? How did you discover it?"

  Xiao Rui hesitated for a moment, seemingly considering how to answer my question. After a while, she said: "I don't know what it is either, but I feel that this should be the biggest secret of Chujiang Mountain."

  My curiosity was piqued and I asked: "What did you see?"

  Xiao Rui's emotions couldn't help but tighten her body, a hint of terror on her face, she said cautiously: "I found a coffin."

  I immediately thought of the small black house in the backyard of the old mansion and asked: "What color is that coffin?"

  "It's black and has many floral patterns on it."

  I couldn't help but take a deep breath, and it goes without saying that it must have something to do with the small black house in the backyard of the old mansion. I continued to ask: "Have you ever opened the coffin to take a look?"

  This question was a bit abrupt, it's already hard for a girl to see a coffin without fainting, let alone going to open and look at it. As expected, Xiaorui shook her head and said: "No, but that coffin is very strange, I saw a few words on top of it."

  I uttered an "oh" and asked: "What character?"

  Xiao Rui said: "Dreams come true."