“Open your eyes and look at me…”
“Open your eyes and look at me…”
Late at night. The rental room was quiet, with only the occasional sound of a distant car passing by outside the window.
Baili curled up under the covers, her tail wrapped around a corner of the quilt, fox ears drooping on the pillow, fast asleep.
That voice lingered around her ears like a mosquito, now close, now far, intermittent.
“Open your eyes…”
“Look at me…”
Over and over, endlessly.
“What are you yelling for in the middle of the night, you stupid *.”
She suddenly opened her eyes, opening her mouth to curse, but the words got stuck in her throat.
Because what she saw when she opened her eyes was not that dim yellow light bulb, but an unfamiliar ceiling.
“Huh?”
Before her was a vast white space, pure white in all directions, stretching endlessly.
The ground was white, the sky was white, even the air seemed white.
Light came from nowhere, like some secret laboratory or the interior of an alien spaceship.
She blinked, then rubbed her eyes in disbelief.
The white space didn’t change at all.
“Oh no,” Baili murmured to herself, “Where have I transmigrated to now?”
She tried to walk, but the sensation under her feet was strange, as if stepping on something soft.
She took a few more steps and found that her position relative to the surroundings hadn’t changed at all.
No matter how far she walked, the scenery around her was the same; she was walking in place.
“Welcome to your dream~”
A faint female voice came from above, a drawn-out tail floating in the air.
“Oh no…” The voice paused. “Now it’s mine.”
Baili looked up, looking around, but couldn’t see anything but white.
“A dream? Who are you?”
“I’m~ be~hind~ you~” The voice drew out the tone.
Baili spun around abruptly. A tall figure stood right in front of her, so close it almost touched her face.
Pink hair cascaded like a waterfall, a pair of curved little horns on her head, wings thin as cicada wings behind her back, and a tall, voluptuous figure outlined by tight-fitting fabric.
Well, “fabric” was just a few pieces.
A long thin tail swayed gently behind her, the tip shaped like a heart.
Baili’s mind exploded. She took a big step back and almost fell.
“Waaaaah… Don’t look, don’t look!”
Her ears drooped to the sides, her tail puffed up like a furball.
“Hehehehe-“
Meng Mo let out a silvery laugh, her shoulders and wings trembling slightly.
She tilted her head, looking at Baili covering her eyes and curling up, her eyes full of mischief.
“Aren’t you also a girl? What’s there to be shy about?”
Baili opened a slit between her fingers, sneaked a peek, then quickly closed them again.
“Th-that’s different! You’re dressed like that. What’s the difference between that and being naked?”
“This is my natural form,” Meng Mo chuckled, floating around Baili. “I’m not intentionally dressing like this. Dream demons are born this way. You can’t apply human standards to us, can you?”
“Th-this is indecent!”
Baili kept her eyes tightly shut, her face turning bright red.
“Alright, alright, I’ll add a layer,” Meng Mo said with amusement in her voice. “Take another look?”
Baili opened a slit between her fingers again.
“Gah! You dared to trick me! This is all gone?”
She was furious, her face turning even redder.
“Hahahaha…” Meng Mo doubled over with laughter, holding her stomach. “You little one is really interesting. It’s been a long time since I’ve met someone so fun.”
Baili glared at her, wanting nothing more than to slap her twice.
“Enough.” She cleared her throat, trying to make her voice sound serious. “Who are you, and why are you here? Are you reinforcements sent by headquarters?”
“Headquarters?” Meng Mo tilted her head in confusion. “What headquarters?”
She floated in midair, legs crossed, chin resting on her hand as she looked at Baili.
“I just came out to hunt for food. There are so many delicious dreams in this area, so I’m just wandering around.”
Baili frowned. “Are you a monster that’s permanently stationed in this city?”
“No, I just got here too. And I don’t really like that term ‘monster’…” Meng Mo floated closer to examine Baili, sniffing, looking her up and down several times. “Wait, this smell…”
She took a deep breath, her eyes lighting up.
“You’re also a monster?”
Baili looked at her speechlessly.
“Couldn’t you tell?”
Meng Mo tilted her head, thought for a moment, then scratched her cheek awkwardly.
“Sorry, sorry. In dreams, I can only see the shape of the soul. Your soul aura is very pure, so I didn’t think of you as one of my kind for a moment.”
She paused, then added, “It’s been too long since I’ve seen another of my kind… I’m a bit slow…”
Baili’s frown relaxed a bit. “If you’re not from headquarters, then where are you from? What kind of monster?”
“Do monsters have to form groups and gangs?”
Meng Mo snorted, crossing her arms.
“Our dream demon race prefers to fight solo.”
Her tone turned a bit helpless. “After all, when we meet our own kind outside, we have to fight to the death; otherwise, it means going hungry. If our hunting ranges overlap, the weaker one has to get out.”
“That sounds really tough for you dream demons,” Baili nodded.
“You bet,” Meng Mo sighed.
“So what you’re saying is… you’re a free agent? And you pulled me into a dream in the middle of the night just to hunt for food?”
“Exactly.” Meng Mo nodded matter-of-factly. “I usually pick the tastiest child in an area, sneak into their dream, and then hehe haha…”
She suddenly stopped, looking Baili up and down.
“But since you’re also a monster, I’ll let you off this time.”
She floated up, gently fluttering her wings, and her body began to fade.
“Have a good dream~”
Baili was stunned, confused.
“You’re actually being pretty nice.”
She said casually, then suddenly remembered something, her expression changing.
“Wait, what do you mean by ‘have a good dream’?”
Meng Mo’s figure had already drifted away, her voice coming from the void, airy and indistinct.
“A good dream is literally a good dream~ Don’t worry, I won’t harm you. I’m off now, bye bye~”
The tail of her voice disappeared into the pure white space.
Before Baili could ask further, the surroundings suddenly twisted.
White receded like a tide, and colors surged in from all directions.
A green blackboard, yellow desks, and the familiar playground outside the window.
It was the classroom. Her classroom.
Baili stood by the podium, looking down.
School uniform, desks, textbooks—everything was just like daytime.
“Baili?”
A familiar voice came from behind.
Baili was overjoyed. She turned around.
“Lin Du? You came into the dream too?”
Lin Du stood right behind her, sunlight falling on his profile, exactly like daytime.
But his eyes seemed a bit off.
“Baili.”
His brown eyes stared straight at her. He stepped forward, raised his hand, and gently touched her cheek.
Baili froze completely.
“Hey, wait, wait—”
She jerked back, pushing his hand away, her back hitting the podium.
“What kind of development is this? This isn’t right, is it?”
Baili looked down at herself. The familiar school uniform was still there, but her body was no longer the disguised male high school student.
A tail swayed gently behind her, furry ears stood atop her head, and silver-white hair spilled over her shoulders.
This was her original appearance.
And this was what Meng Mo called a “good dream.”
“Baili…”
Lin Du took another step forward.
“Don’t, don’t come any closer.”
Baili shrank into the corner, arms protecting her chest.
“Don’t come near me!”
Lin Du’s steps didn’t stop. Baili had no way to retreat, so she closed her eyes and let out a wail.
“Damn dream demon—if I catch you! Wuwuwu…”