Chapter 165: Linlin’s outburst.
Cross pushed the woman forward. "Her name is Shi Qiren." He announced. "She registered with IH and worked for us for around a month before going into a deep sleep. She has a dream walking system that allows her to move through dreams of anyone within a five hundred mile range."
"I questioned you for her." Mo Xia said eagerly. "She claims that she did sense a disturbance in the dreamscape yesterday."
Liwu turned to her husband. "You knew about this dreamer host and forgot to mention it when we were registering system hosts in this city!"
Weijun raised his hands. "I forgot about her. Until this came up, none of us had thought of Shi Qiren for ten years. But that is not what we should focus on right now. Our attention should be on the children. She can enter dreams, so maybe she can help us."
Casting one last suspicious glance at her husband, she turned to Shi Qiren. "Are you the one responsible for the twelve children in the coma?"
Shi Qiren’s lips trembled "No, absolutely not. I only enter dreams, I cannot trap anyone there. I don’t know what I felt...but there was something strange when I was dream hopping last night. Someone was building a world in there, a world for children. You have to understand, for people like us, children’s dreams are the best places to be. They are happy and innocent. You can just live there forever, no pain, no hatred, no suffering. It is eternal innocence and bliss.
But whatever I sensed yesterday, it wasn’t like that. I know the signature but I don’t know the one behind it. Whoever it is, they are not just lounging around like the rest of us. They are feeding on those dreams....controlling them. Keeping them there."
Liwu’s eyes narrowed. "Describe it."
Qiren swallowed hard. "Have you ever seen a spider weaving a web? These threads are spun from the master’s wishes and nightmares. The host hides behind illusions of joy or nightmares. At first, it is fun, but nature requires all dreams to stop and the dreamer to wake. But when the children try to wake and leave, the web just becomes tighter."
The rest of the team, which was on call with Liwu and listening, made grim sighs. She heard Xuanji cursing under his breath, the chief kicking a chair and Su Jin slapping a table. He Xiao Yi probably had his knuckles in ball of fists.
She stepped closer to Qiren. "Can you trace it, if you go into that dreamscape?"
Qiren shuddered. "I told you, the host behind this is stronger than me. If I go in there and poke around, I might not come back."
Liwu’s eyes gleamed with determination. "You are the only one that can go inside. You don’t need to do much, just find a small clue and get out. We don’t have a choice, twelve children are already trapped. If we hesitate, they could end up dead."
Qiren shook her head.
Suddenly, Linlin burst in their midst with a file that had pictures of the children. "This is Shanshan, she is only seven and she wants to be a painter." She thrust another picture forward, "This is Zhanpeng, he is eight years old and still afraid of the dark. Do you know how terrified he must be?" She barked.
Qiren flinched.
Liwu pulled Linlin back. "Calm down, getting overly emotional is not going to make her help if she doesn’t wish to."
"She has been dream hopping and invading people’s privacy. I am sure that this is a crime we can arrest her for. Then we make her help us if she wants out of jail." Linlin literally screamed. Evey bit of her voice was carrying intense rage.
This happened sometimes, when she touched hands and her system saw the future of someone.
"What did you see?" Liwu asked her.
Linlin tried to calm herself, drawing her breath in and out, tensely. "They are going to die Liwu. They are trapped in some amusement park that is like a prison because it has high walls. They are playing on the rides. At first, it was fun, but then it got faster and faster, and they wanted to leave, but they can’t leave. It’s like the games will never end." Her voice became more shaky as her emotions heightened.
Liwu patted her partner’s back. "It’s okay Linlin, we will save them."
Linlin turned to Qiren and screamed, "But she doesn’t want to help. I can’t enter the dream world and neither can you."
"Then we find another dream hopper." Liwu replied strongly. "Qiren has said there are others. We look until we find someone that can help."
Qiren shook her head, "Even if I go in, I can’t be of much help. I already told you, this is a children’s world. Adults are not allowed inside. I tried to hop in yesterday, and I failed."
Liwu’s heart clenched. Her mind spun like a hamster’s wheel. What could be done about this situation? From the quiet on the other end of her watch, her teammates did not have a clue as well.
"What do we do?" Linlin asked her.
Liwu bit her lip. "Something...I don’t know what but we have to do something. First, we call headquarters and explain the dilemma we are facing. The job requires a child, or the mind of a child. If we can get someone like that or fake it, then we can get inside." She drew a soft breath, "I have to be the one to go inside with that person or something. With my luck and the chaos that follows me, I can destabilize that world. Meanwhile, you guys stay out and work on figuring out who the perpetrator is."
"No." Weijun bellowed. "Absolutely not, I forbid it."
She raised her brows. "You forbid it!"
He stood his ground. "Yes, I forbid it. With your luck, Liwu, you might end up being stuck in that dream world as well. I am sure that we can figure out another way without you having to risk yourself. I am putting my foot down as your husband and forbidding this."