Drip… drip… drip…

The sound of water droplets was so clear, almost loud.

Even if you kept your eyes closed, trying to tell yourself not to pay attention, not to care, even if you had buried your head in a hole;

That sound exploded, again and again, in your heart.

Buzzing your head, throwing your consciousness into chaos.

Helpless, you finally had to open your eyes and look up.

Zhou Ze sat up from the ground, his hands on his knees.

Familiar scene, familiar dream.

Below him was a layer of water, and all around was pitch black.

Oh no.

This time,

There was a slight difference.

In his line of sight ahead, the figure beneath the water's surface was gone.

Zhou Ze slowly stood up and walked to the spot he remembered. There was still some cracking left under his feet, but the sword sheath below was gone.

There was no wishful thinking. Zhou Ze wouldn't be naive enough to fantasize at this moment. Instead, a strange fear arose.

People always have an instinctive fear of things they can't control. It's human nature.

Zhou Ze turned around,

Looked around.

The sword,

Where did it go?

Everywhere his eyes could see was darkness, a complete darkness that made you subconsciously think about what was hidden in its depths.

Drip… drip… drip…

The sound of water droplets continued tirelessly.

Zhou Ze slowly closed his eyes.

Since he couldn't see anything, he wouldn't look.

But,

Things didn't go as planned.

The moment he closed his eyes,

His chest,

Was wracked by a sharp pain.

Zhou Ze opened his eyes again and looked down.

On the left side of his chest, the tip of a sword was already visible.

The Xuanyuan Sword,

Had it already pierced his body?

Zhou Ze didn't know what this dream meant, because he hadn't had time to ask xiezhi or the Bodhisattva.

If he could, he really wanted to ask them, where was the sword that you saw when "disaster was imminent"?

But no matter what,

Compared to the shadow beneath the water,

The Xuanyuan Sword, now inside his body,

Was far more aggressive.

He could vaguely sense that the sword's next target should be… himself.

The tip of the sword began to try to push outward, accompanied by intense pain.

His ribs were being frantically rubbed, and his heart was enduring being "crushed" over and over again, as if it had been thrown into a blender, constantly repeating the cycle.

Too bad,

This was still a dream.

A dream started by you, a dream that's yours, but often, the dream isn't fully controlled by its master.

Zhou Ze's forehead was covered in sweat. The process he was enduring was no less than a real torture.

"Buzz!"

Zhou Ze's hands,

Grabbed the sword tip.

He was trying to pull the sword out of his body a little faster.

"Bang!"

The moment the sword was pulled out,

Zhou Ze sensed that his vitality seemed to be forcibly extracted on a large scale.

A feeling of despair and loneliness enveloped him with seamless speed.

Combined with the dark environment,

It was impossible not to think of a tomb.

This was,

His own tomb.

………………

"Huff…"

He suddenly sat up in bed.

Outside the window, it was pitch black.

Familiar bed, familiar furnishings, and, the too-familiar – bedmate.

Yingying's eyes were closed, her delicate eyelashes so lovely.

However, Zhou Ze quickly realized something was wrong. Generally, Yingying still occasionally slept, but every time he woke up, she would immediately sense it and wake up too.

It was almost unheard of for her to still be sleeping soundly like this after he'd already woken up.

A dream,

Had he already woken up?

"Hisssssssssss… hisssssssssss…"

The sound of vines rustled.

A patch of green vegetation appeared on the ceiling of the room.

Then,

A lotus flower bloomed.

And the bedroom immediately filled with a faint fragrance.

Zhou Ze still sat motionless on the bed, quietly watching the sections of lotus root grow out from below the lotus flower.

The lotus roots slowly pieced themselves together,

Then,

Began to change more subtly.

Finally,

The figure of an adult man appeared in front of Zhou Ze. He sat in the chair behind the desk, his eyes level with Zhou Ze's.

The staring didn't last long. The other person opened his mouth and said,

"You came back and went straight to sleep?"

Half a face wore its trademark smirk.

His tone revealed a clear dissatisfaction.

Yes, dissatisfaction.

After being resurrected, he discovered that he had become a lotus root man, which was said to be in the same vein as a certain heroic figure from another mythological legend, many people's good friend.

These past two days, other than eating that woman, he had been waiting, waiting for Zhou Ze and that person to return.

He had prepared a lot of things to say and imagined many scenarios.

He wouldn't admit that he was nervous and excited. As the most handsome guy in Gou Village (Dog Village), he really needed to think more about the village's honor.

After all, your every move represented Gou Village's external image, and you couldn't be careless.

However,

What made him speechless was that,

Zhou Ze had returned,

And then,

He chose to sleep after coming back.

As if he hadn't had a good night's sleep in eight lifetimes.

This attitude,

Made Half a Face extremely angry.

Reluctantly, he had to come to the door himself.

"Tired."

Zhou Ze reached out and rubbed the corner of his eye.

Even now, he still felt sleepy. He didn't know if it was because of the strange fatigue of the past few days or the dream he had just had that made him unable to muster any energy.

"Perhaps, you're more suited to eternal sleep than I am."

Half a Face said gloomily.

Zhou Ze nodded in agreement. Then, somewhat reluctantly, he got out of bed and habitually reached into the drawer of the bedside table.

Generally speaking, Yingying would have prepared cigarettes in the places he needed them.

A pack of cigarettes was pulled out. He walked to the window, lit one for himself, and left Half a Face with a tired back standing by the window.

He opened the window, and the evening breeze blew in.

"How does it feel to be resurrected?"

It was like chatting.

"Apart from this strange body, it's pretty good."

"What does death actually feel like?"

The death Zhou Ze was asking about wasn't the kind where a person dies and their soul goes to hell, but a complete and utter end.

"It's like falling asleep, but there are no dreams to be had."

"That's not bad."

"It's really not bad."

"Cough cough cough…"

Choking on a puff of smoke, Zhou Ze leaned one hand on the windowsill and flicked the ashes downward with the other.

"That Tarzan, he got away, didn't he?"

Tarzan?

"Hehe, hehe…"

Zhou Ze couldn't help but laugh as he realized what Half a Face meant.

Comparing the Yama King (Fu Jun) to Tarzan was really apt. Not a single word was superfluous.

"Yeah, he got away."

"He used a scapegoat, right?"

"That's right."

"Alright then, I'm tired too."

Half a Face stood up and walked to Zhou Ze's side, looking at the streetlights on South Street with him.

"And then?"

Zhou Ze looked at Half a Face.

"Wasn't bringing me back to life for this?" Half a Face asked.

"I don't know."

"But it's true, otherwise, how do you explain this series of coincidences?"

"It doesn't seem to have anything to do with him."

"If it has nothing to do with him, does it have something to do with you?" Half a Face asked with a mocking expression.

Zhou Ze shook his head and silently blew out smoke rings.

"After dying, I realized that living is really tiring. Most importantly, I suddenly don't understand how I should continue to live."

"I also suggest you see a psychologist. I have a childhood friend who's very good."

"Interesting."

"What? You came out in the middle of the night to find me just to tell me that you want to die in our place?"

"Are you touched?"

"A little."

"A long, long time ago, I told you that he's really not as simple as he looks."

"Maybe, but I don't care anymore."

Half a Face was helpless and couldn't help but say,

"Among the dogs of every generation, I know there are many who act like simps, but that's because they don't have the ability. Since they don't have the ability to resist, the ability to change the status quo, they can only be simps.

There are also some, like me, who chose to resist. Maybe I'm the only one who succeeded, but at least the others resisted.

You're a weirdo. You obviously have the ability to resist, but you still continue to be a simp."

"Your words are as numerous as ever."

"I'd say, there aren't many days left, right?" Half a Face asked.

Thinking of the dream he just had, the sword had already pierced his body.

"Indeed, it's fast. It should be me next."

"Then you guys should try to prepare. While I've just been resurrected, I'm still a little confused, and I don't want to live that much. While I haven't changed my mind;

I'm warning you, if it's too late, maybe I won't want to be that scapegoat anymore.

You tell him, urge him…"

Zhou Ze threw the cigarette butt into the ashtray on the desk next to him,

Interrupting Half a Face's rambling,

And said directly,

"He said it."

"Oh, what did he say?" Half a Face crossed his arms, seeming very interested.

"Do you want me to imitate him?"

"Imitate him, the more like him the better. I want to see what he looks like when he's touched by me."

The story of Ying Gou and the dog can completely imitate the story of the Yama King and the monkey, and publish many versions.

Zhou Ze took a deep breath,

And imitated, word by word:

"He… is… not… worthy…"

"…" Half a Face.