Seizing Dreams

Under the dark sky, the ancient Roman Colosseum was surrounded by crowds of cheering spectators. The huge and lofty circular building was situated in the middle of a lone island within an endless ocean.

Dark clouds loomed overhead. The black dragon carried Zhou Sheng as it flew over. It flapped its wings, suspended just above the Colosseum, and slowly descended. Zhou Sheng shouldered his jingubang; he was clad in a pair of AJ shoes that were like gold-plated combat boots and an iron scale mail, and had one foot on the head of the dragon.

“I’m here as a challenger!” Zhou Sheng swung his jingubang, turned to the side and levelled his weapon at the audience.

Chariots thundered out from the tunnels in the Colosseum and formed a ring. Each chariot held a huge and fierce monster.

On Zhou Sheng’s shoulder stood a little fox doll. He turned his head sideways, raised his hand and touched the little fox’s furry back.

“Which one should I fight first? Say it!” Zhou Sheng shouted.

Of course, the doll wouldn’t answer him. Zhou Sheng looked at the thirteen chariots that were in a circular arrangement. At their center was the Devil king Satan, who had a tall, sturdy stature and ram horns. He calmed down and looked at the rest of the chariots.

“Then you ba.” Zhou Sheng pointed indifferently at one of them.

“Dang——” A loud noise blared, and the crowd once again began cheering like crazy.

Satan, “You’re finally willing to make a deal with me? What do you want?”

Zhou Sheng said in a calm voice, “You know what I want better than I do.”

Satan turned to the audience and said aloud, “Very good! The master of the dreamscape, this General has decided to face himself squarely and overcome his fears! Let’s wait and see if he will succeed!”

The black dragon landed. Amidst loud cheers that made even the skies tremble, the curtains were drawn on the huge battle.

When Yu Hao got up the next day, Zhou Sheng had already left, and he didn’t know where he had gone.

Yu Hao recalled their conversation from the previous night and it all seemed just like a dream. He messaged Zhou Sheng. No reply.

Chen Yekai called Yu Hao and asked him out to watch a movie today. Yu Hao said, “Zhou Sheng left early this morning, and I don’t even know where he went.”

“I asked him.” Chen Yekai said, “He said that he’s not going and asked me to find you.”

Yu Hao thought about it for a bit and finally said, “Okay then, I’ll treat you.”

“Treat me to a meal ba.” Chen Yekai said, “I’ve already bought the tickets. I’ll call Huang Ting too.”

Yu Hao saw the message that Zhou Sheng had sent him after he hung up.

Zhou Sheng:【I have something to do today, so settle lunch yourself today? I’ll bring back dinner for you?】

After Yu Hao replied to him, he and Chen Yekai went to eat with Huang Ting. The two of them waited for a long time before Huang Ting said, “I finally managed to slip out, let’s eat barbeque ba.”

In the meantime, Huang Ting noticed that Yu Hao was looking at his private messages and asked, “What are you doing?”

“Making friends.” Yu Hao didn’t intend to hide it from Huang Ting, who knew his sexual orientation anyway. He remembered that Huang Ting never seemed to have mentioned a girlfriend so he said, “Are you in a relationship? Just showing some concern, if you think I’m being too gossipy you can just ignore me.”

Chen Yekai laughed, “Do you remember Junjun?”

“Ahhhh——” Yu Hao immediately remembered the female reporter.

Huang Ting hastily clarified, “That’s still up in the air! Don’t spout nonsense. You’re looking online?”

“Un.” Yu Hao showed Huang Ting.

“Make sure to keep safe.” Huang Ting said, “Especially regarding physical hygiene.”

“I’m making friends.” Yu Hao said, “Not finding one night stands!”

Chen Yekai said, “You got rejected after confessing?”

Yu Hao glanced at Chen Yekai. Huang Ting said, “Confessed? Who did you confess to?”

Chen Yekai said, “You don’t need to worry about that, Officer Huang.”

“Occupational hazard.” Huang Ting answered.

“The two of you sound like you’re doing a crosstalk.” Yu Hao said.

Chen Yekai went to collect the tickets before the movie started. Yu Hao and Huang Ting sat at the resting area outside the venue. Huang Ting wore plain clothes today. He grasped a straw between his fingers as he sat upright and asked Yu Hao, “Yu Hao, please give a truthful account of the situation.”

Yu Hao, “Are you going to record my statement?”

Huang Ting said, “Do you usually have any feelings towards or contradictions with your Chen Laoshi?”

Yu Hao, “......”

Huang Ting watched Yu Hao attentively with his hawk-like eyes, “Why is it that now, you would rather go online to look for a partner — to be more precise, to go online to look for a friend — than consider Chen Laoshi?”

Yu Hao, “Officer Huang, this isn’t very good of you. Be careful, I might tell Junjun Jie.”

“You don’t have her contact information.” Huang Ting looked like he had it well thought-out. He had an unreadable gaze as he said, “Now, please don’t evade the question I asked and answer me truthfully.”

Yu Hao, “............”

“Let’s go.” Chen Yekai came over. Yu Hao thought, I’m not coming out with you two again.

In the end, Huang Ting and Chen Yekai sat on either side of Yu Hao and sandwiched him in between them for the duration of the movie. Yu Hao felt like he was a prisoner that was being escorted the whole time.

Chen Yekai would even softly speak to Yu Hao from time to time. After a while, Huang Ting’s head tilted and leaned against Yu Hao’s shoulder as he fell asleep. Yu Hao was rendered completely speechless. Chen Yekai made a shh gesture, “He’s been very tired recently, let him sleep a little.” Then he pointed at the 3D glasses that Huang Ting was holding, indicating to hide them without being found out.

Huang Ting woke up when the movie finished. Yu Hao was really curious about what this guy’s dream would be like. With how capable he was, his dream shouldn’t be enshrouded in haze.

“It was a pretty good movie.” Huang Ting said.

“Did you really watch it?” Yu Hao asked.

Huang Ting, “Of course I did.”

Chen Yekai, “Where are your 3D glasses? Go and personally apologise and pay the compensation fee.”

Huang Ting said, “Of course it was taken by you two. This kind of prank is too outdated. Chen Laoshi, as a teacher, you shouldn’t set a bad example. Hurry and pass it to the staff, I have to go now, I have a mission tonight. See you later.”

Yu Hao couldn’t faze Huang Ting at all. In the evening, Chen Yekai said, “Do you want to have dinner at my house?”

“I need to go back to the dorm.” Yu Hao said, “Zhou Sheng’s bringing dinner for me.”

“Then I’ll invite you again when you’re free.” Chen Yekai sent Yu Hao to his dormitory building before he turned around and left. Yu Hao had just raised his head when he saw Zhou Sheng looking out from the corridor upstairs. The two of them looked at each other, then Zhou Sheng went back in.

“Eat ba.” Zhou Sheng opened up the box and dismantled the chopsticks. He brushed off the bamboo thorns before handing it to Yu Hao, “What did you watch today?”

Yu Hao answered. The two of them chatted idly for awhile, then Zhou Sheng put on his earphones and watched shows on Fu Liqun’s laptop as he ate. Yu Hao remained silent and looked down at his phone. The atmosphere in the dormitory seemed to return to how it used to be two months ago.

“Where did you go today?” Yu Hao recalled the last time he happened to catch sight of Zhou Sheng in the mall.

Zhou Sheng took off his earphones and asked, baffled, “What?”

“Nothing.” Yu Hao waved his hand. Zhou Sheng put his earphones back on and continued eating.

Yu Hao wanted to delete all his private messages, but one of his online friends messaged him. He spoke very politely, and said that he was willing to get to know Yu Hao. Yu Hao hesitated for a long time before using his private WeChat number to add him.

Huang Ting sent Yu Hao a message:【Pay attention to your safety when you’re meeting up with online friends. If you need a police officer as a bodyguard, I would suggest that you make an appointment three days in advance.】

Yu Hao:【I’ll take note, thanks for the reminder.】

Huang Ting shared several......news articles with Yu Hao about being cheated by online friends, getting SM-ed, getting robbed, and big fights occurring due to the goods not being as promised. Yu Hao finally couldn’t bear it anymore:【Stop sending me those!】

In the end, Huang Ting shared a song with him:《You Won’t Even Give Me a Hundred Yuan》.

Yu Hao:【I’m going to blacklist you.】

Huang Ting:【I would advise against that, it’s more convenient to find someone you’re acquainted with when you call the police, and they’ll respond faster too.】

Zhou Sheng came over to take Yu Hao’s finished packet and went to throw it. He glanced at Yu Hao who was currently switching between his WeChat public and private numbers. “How’s the chat going? When are you guys meeting up?”

“Just added.” Yu Hao was really gloomy now and even wanted to pretend to be dead.

Zhou Sheng returned after throwing out the rubbish. Yu Hao asked, “What about Jingya? Did you invite her for a meal yet?”

Zhou Sheng said, “Just added too.” He put on his earphones as he spoke and ignored Yu Hao. That person sent some messages and chatted with Yu Hao for awhile. Yu Hao occasionally replied to him until late into the night. Zhou Sheng said, “Good night,” and then immediately turned off the lights. The two of them hadn’t spoken more than ten sentences to each other for the entire day.

Ancient Roman Colosseum.

The roar of the black dragon reverberated throughout the entire colosseum, followed by the thunderous cheers and applause of the crowd!

Zhou Sheng carried his shield as he stood atop the black dragon’s head. The black dragon rose into the sky. Before them, their enemy had goat horns and an exposed hairy chest; its eyes slanted towards the top of its forehead, and its long and narrow pupils flashed with a sinister, crimson glint.