Chapter 35: You Scared Me!

“Ohhh—!”

White Li fell through endless darkness, the wind whistling past her ears.

Even though she knew this was a dream, she still felt a bit of fear.

After all, in some stories, if you die in a dream, you might really die in reality.

She didn’t want to test that theory with her own life.

But why did this happen out of nowhere?

Could it be that Meng Mo was angry because she bullied the fake Lin Du?

That guy was so petty. It’s not like she tore his face—he crumbled on his own.

…

After falling for what felt like an eternity, a pure white ground suddenly appeared before her.

“Wait, wait!”

White Li covered her head with both hands, curled into a ball, and wrapped her tail tightly around herself.

She closed her eyes, praying it wouldn’t hurt too much.

But the expected thud of impact never came.

White Li opened one eye in confusion, then the other.

She found herself floating in midair, just a finger’s width from the ground, as if held up gently by something.

Cautiously, she tiptoed until her toes touched the ground, then slowly landed and stood steady.

“Is this… a second-layer dream?”

A dream within a dream—that fit her situation perfectly.

White Li looked up. Overhead was pitch black—no stars, no moon, nothing.

Only the small patch of pure white ground beneath her was barely visible, like a tiny island forgotten at the edge of the universe.

“So boring…”

She looked around, her voice echoing in the empty space.

“When will I wake up?”

No one answered her.

White Li sighed and was about to sit down and wait when the corner of her eye caught a small red dot in the distance.

It was tiny, like the tip of a cigarette about to burn out.

Curious, she took a few steps toward the red dot.

After a few steps, she stopped.

That wasn’t a red dot. It was a visor.

That dark red object glowed faintly in the darkness, like something sleeping had just opened its eyes.

And she had seen that shape too many times…

Blazing Knight!

White Li instinctively stepped back half a step, then stopped.

No.

He wasn’t that Blazing Knight, or at least not the one she knew.

The Blazing Knight should be silver-gray, wreathed in flames.

But this one was pitch black—every inch of armor from head to toe was the color of night.

No reflection. He crouched there in silence.

He stared at her, like a beast lying in ambush in the dark, confirming its prey’s position before deciding whether to pounce.

White Li swallowed.

She suddenly remembered those rumors about Blazing Knight—some said he wasn’t human, others said he was something far more terrifying wearing the skin of a hero, and others said he would lose control one day.

She believed it now.

This black knight was 100% scarier than the silver-gray one.

No, 1000%.

But she couldn’t just stand there, could she?

White Li twitched the corner of her mouth. “Um… hello?”

The next moment, the knight moved.

One second he was crouching in the distance, the next he was right in front of her.

White Li didn’t even have time to step back.

Thud.

He had already pinned her to the ground.

The back of her head hit the floor with a dull sound.

White Li’s vision went dark, and stars swam before her eyes.

“Hiss—!”

She winced in pain, tears nearly springing out.

By the time she managed to refocus, the mask was right in front of her face, almost touching the tip of her nose.

White Li’s mind raced, and she quickly understood the situation.

Most likely, Meng Mo had lost control and been defeated by this black guy.

Now this dream had a new master—it was his territory.

Wait, did Blazing Knight have a trick like this?

So he had a countermeasure against dreams. That was new intel.

But… she’d have to survive to tell someone.

Because right now, she was the unlucky idiot who’d wandered into a wolf’s den.

Wait.

She looked down at her position: hands pinned to the ground, body pressed flat, tail trapped underneath, legs held down by the knight’s knee.

Was this position a bit bad?

The knight’s body suddenly trembled slightly.

“Wait, wait, wait!” White Li shut her eyes in terror, her voice cracking. “Don’t kill me! I’m a good person! Really! I’ve never even killed a chicken!”

…

No movement. No fist falling, no flames rushing.

White Li mustered her courage, cracked one eye open, and peeked outside.

The knight hadn’t attacked. He just kept her pinned, lowered his head, and leaned close to her neck.

He was sniffing something, like a wolf confirming its prey’s scent. The helmet practically brushed against White Li’s neck.

From her neck to her shoulder, from her shoulder to her arm.

White Li froze, not daring to breathe.

What was this guy… doing? Sniffing?

A ridiculous thought crossed her mind—was his true form a dog?

Shocking! The Blazing Knight’s human form was actually a dog?!

Her thoughts were wandering when the knight finished sniffing her entire arm and leaned back in.

This time he was even closer—close enough for her to see her own terrified face reflected in his visor, close enough to feel cold air seeping from the gaps in his armor.

“I’m sorry—!”

White Li closed her eyes again, her voice trembling with tears.

“I shouldn’t have called you a dog! I shouldn’t have bullied that fake Lin Du! I shouldn’t have pulled his face! I’m sorry, I’m really sorry—!”

At the word “Lin Du,” the knight’s movement came to a sudden halt, like a machine that had jammed.

He let go of White Li’s hands and clutched his own head.

“ROAR—!”

It was like the roar of an ancient dragon, like the crash of mountains splitting—the entire dream trembled.

“Ahhh…!”

White Li covered her ears and curled into a ball.

…

“Wah!”

Her vision lurched, and suddenly she opened her eyes.

Familiar ceiling, morning light filtering through the gap in the curtains.

“Huff… huff… huff…”

White Li lay flat on her bed, gasping for air, her heart pounding like it was trying to leap out of her throat.

She stared at the ceiling for a few seconds before realizing she was awake.

She reached up and touched her head—ears still there. Then she touched behind her—tail still there.

The bracelet lay quietly on the nightstand, its magic fully charged.

Everything before had been a dream. All fake.

“Phew—”

White Li closed her eyes and let out a long breath.

After a while, she slowly turned over and found her pajamas had somehow ridden up to her belly.

Her belly button faced the ceiling, her white stomach glaring in the morning light.

Expressionless, she pulled her pajamas back down and rolled over.

Today was a day off. No school.

Her phone screen lit up. She squinted at it.

Eight in the morning. No new messages, no missed calls.

White Li buried her face in her pillow, her tail swishing outside the blanket.

Let’s sleep a bit more.

She closed her eyes, but the image of those dark red visors still lingered in her mind.

Like an abyss, sending chills down her spine.

She rolled over and pulled the blanket over her head.

Don’t think about it. Sleep…