Chapter 03: The Dream Call
Li Mo suddenly shouted, violently breaking free from Liang Zhe's wrist, and ran towards the bar entrance, shouting as he ran: "There are no mental patients... they are not mental patients... I am... I am..."
Liang Zhe struggled to suppress the urge to shout; he looked at his friend's face, gazing into his eyes, as if he were looking at another person
Xiao Zhe, are you back
Liang Zhe's face was somewhat contorted, and he shouted in a frenzied voice: "I know? Yes, I know everything! You pulled me into a dream, scratched my ankle, led me to an abandoned factory, seduced me by taking off your clothes, and then called me in the dream to tell me all of this... I know, I know everything!"
Liang Zhe flung a hundred yuan bill, exerting all his strength to push those large hands away, and shouted, "Get away from me!"
A brief response of "Hmm."
After more than an hour, Liang Zhe finally emerged from the study. He held leftover food in one hand and skillfully opened a crack in the door with the other, quickly slipping out and shutting the door behind him. The entire movement was remarkably adept, as if he had practiced it for a long time.
Mom? Mom?
What exactly is Li Mo up to?
Liang Zhe stood in the center of the road, suddenly feeling a wave of uncertainty
Tan Wei sighed, "You cannot come over."
Liang Zhe knew that she had lost her composure. Tan Wei was her patient, and no matter what had happened, this fact could not be changed. Liang Zhe did not want her patient to be affected by her own emotions.
Just as Liang Zhe was lost in thought, the phone suddenly rang
Tan Wei's voice was delicate and weak: "I have pulled you into my dream... I'm sorry... I thought you could help me..."
Tan Wei: "Because I am still in a dream"
Liang Zhe, feeling somewhat angry, threw his phone onto the sofa, replaying the meeting with Li Mo from earlier in the day in his mind. From the very beginning, Li Mo had appeared abnormal. Could this be a sign of something? Had he been too careless? Should he have never taken on this patient in the first place?
The bedroom door was opened once again, and Liang Zhe's mother peeked her head out, gazing at the study door, her eyes unblinking, while tears flowed down her face like two small streams.
Liang Zhe, while speculating in his mind, grabbed his clothes and walked out of the room
Outside, the shadow of Li Mo has long since vanished
Tan Wei made a sound of acknowledgment
Tan Wei's voice was ethereal and elusive, as if it came from an unattainable future, or perhaps from a distant past: "No, I have tried to find someone to help me, but I have never succeeded; this is the first time."
Liang Zhe hurriedly placed the dishes on the table and answered the phone
As soon as Liang Zhegang sat down, he bluntly asked, "Li Mo, what on earth is going on?"
No... it's nothing
Just as Liang Zhegang was about to speak, Li Mo suddenly stood up
Liang Zhe kept taking deep breaths: Is this not what I have always longed for, to embrace the true challenge
However, even if the entire dream is thoroughly analyzed, it cannot explain the strange sensation coming from his ankle, as if someone had truly grasped him there with great force.
Liang Zhe gritted his teeth tightly, with veins bulging on his forehead.
Liang Zhe pushed open the door and saw the dishes on the table, wrapped in plastic wrap
What happened? Please clarify... I... Liang Zhe looked at his phone and realized that the other party had already hung up. By the time Liang Zhe tried to call back, the phone had already been turned off.
Liang Zhe made an effort to calm his emotions, gazing at Li Mo's reddened eyes: "Tell me, did she... slip into your dreams?"
Liang Zhe dialed Li Mo's phone number; he needed an explanation from Li Mo. Liang Zhe believed that he must know something.
10:30 PM, Smurf Bar
Liang Zhe analyzed the dream he had just now
The door is unlocked, and it is completely dark inside, with no sound whatsoever
Liang Zhe gently patted his mother's back twice: "Mom, you go ahead and sleep, I will have a chat with Dad."
Li Mo's lips twitched, and his tightly shut eyes fixed intently on Liang Zhe. "Did you see it... I have become like this... Do you think I put on makeup... Look... it can't be torn off..."
The woman's shoulders trembled twice, and then she turned her head to look at Liang Zhe. Tears shimmered in her eye sockets, and the wrinkles on her face resembled deep ravines, revealing a sense of weariness eroded by time. Her head full of silver hair appeared particularly striking under the illumination of the lights
Li Mo's voice suddenly became sharp, like the sound of two heavy metals grinding against each other: "You... you don't believe me..."
Liang Zhe felt a chill all over his body: "What do you ... ... mean?"
Liang Zhe was taken aback, one hand pressed firmly against his jaw, squeezing tightly. A sharp pain quickly surged through him, and Liang Zhe's brows furrowed together: "The dream just now... was created by you..."
Sorry, the number you have dialed is currently turned off
His nostrils were unusually cold, and Liang Zhe's heart was also very cold; it was a chill that came from seeing death so close at hand
Liang Zhe took a deep breath, adjusted his emotions, and he already knew who the other party was: "Hello, Tan Wei, I am Liang ... ... "
Liang Zhe adjusted his emotions and picked up his phone again: "I need you to come over now"
A sudden burst of static sound came from the phone.
Liang Zhe worked hard to calm his heart: "Could you do this before? What I mean is..."
Liang Zhe pushed open the slightly ajar bedroom door while calling out.
Li Mo let out a strange sound from his throat, as if he were retching. After a long while, he finally spoke in a hoarse voice: "Buddy, I am sorry for you..."
Beep beep beep
Liang Zhe took a deep breath, placed his phone on speaker mode beside him, and then began to support his chin with his right hand, pressing his index finger firmly against the wing of his nose
Liang Zhe hurriedly stood up and supported Li Mo
Liang Zhe: "You must believe me, we have been collaborating for so long, and there has never been an obstacle we could not overcome"
Liang Zhe suddenly laughed like a madman: "Hahaha! Are you calling me in your dreams?! Are you trying to make me happy with a book?"
Tan Wei remained silent for a long while, as if he had made a significant decision: "Hmm..."
Tan Wei fell silent for a few seconds: "I am sorry... I did not mean to..."
Liang Zhe silently made a decision in his heart; he would take full control of this matter.
Liang Zhe hurriedly opened the call log and redialed.
Li Mo slowly raised his head, tremblingly brushing aside the long hair from his forehead: "Look at me... look at what I've become..."
Mom—" Liang Zhe gently embraced his mother's shoulders, "Is Dad not eating again?"
Liang Zhe hurriedly answered the phone: "Did you already know that she was not normal?"
Li Mo extended a palm and pressed it against the table, his lips moving as if he were about to say something, yet after a long pause, he still did not speak.
Liang Zhe understood that what was happening before him was not a fabrication, which is why his psychiatrist friend was in such a state of panic
The mobile phone ringtone suddenly rang
Liang Zhe made an effort to control his emotions and said in a lowered voice: "Come over tomorrow at 9 o'clock"
Bang!
Liang Zhe continued, "I do not wish for you ... ... "
The other party was taken aback for a moment, and then a female voice entered Liang Zhe's ear, weak and seemingly ill: "Is this Dr. Liang?"
The study once again fell into silence, a deathly silence, as if there had never been a sound within, nor had there ever been a living soul.
A pair of strong hands suddenly pressed down on Liang Zhe's shoulder: "Brother, our wine cups have shattered, look—"
Liang Zhe closed the bedroom door, carrying two plates of dishes and holding a bottle of wine, and knocked on the study door
Liang Zhe poured himself a glass of wine and downed it in one go: "Is it that girl?"
Liang Zhe took a deep breath, recalling his recent experiences in the dream, as well as the strange phone call that had come from the dream.
This man is Liang Zhe's good friend, Dr. Li Mo, who is also a psychiatrist
Li Mo slammed the wine glass he was holding heavily onto the table
Before Liang Zhe could finish his words, Tan Wei suddenly said to Tu Shuran, "You have already gone back, right"
Before long, sounds of dining, conversation, and even the clinking of wine glasses along with laughter emerged from within
Liang Zhe stood up, picked up the recording materials from earlier in the day, and left the clinic
In fact, deep down, I already knew that it was a dream; otherwise, I wouldn't have deliberately noticed that there were no vehicles on the road. That was a signal from my subconscious. Moreover, even if the traffic lights at the intersection were broken, it would be unreasonable for them to remain out of order for such a long time
Hello, Liang Zhe... I am at the Smurfs.
Li Mo's body trembled violently, and the wine glass on the table fell to the ground due to his collision, producing a crisp sound as it shattered into pieces
Liang Zhe glanced at the caller ID: Li Mo
Li Mo swayed from side to side, lowering his head to look at Liang Zhe: "That girl... let her go, we can't afford to provoke her..."
Tan Wei's tone became sorrowful: "Doctor Liang, please don't be like this... It's my fault, I am truly sorry to you, it was really not intentional... I really should die... to avoid harming the people I know..."
Liang Zhe slipped through the crack of the door like a灵猫, and then quickly closed the study door
Li Mo scratched his face vigorously with his fingers, and several red streaks quickly appeared on his originally blue face, making it look even more bizarre and terrifying
Liang Zhe: "Why?"
Across the table sits a man with long, center-parted hair. He bows his head, his long hair covering his face, cascading down to his chin. His face is directed towards the wine glass on the table, appearing to be in deep thought, yet also resembling someone who is drunk and resting.
Beside the desk in the bedroom, a hunched woman hurriedly gathered the papers on the table, removed her reading glasses, and turned her back to Liang Zhe, one hand touching her forehead
The number you have dialed is not in service, please verify and dial again
This woman, who appears to be over sixty years old, is Liang Zhe's mother
At this moment, Li Mo's entire face resembled a layer of green wax, presenting an eerie shade of blue. His eye sockets were deeply sunken, and his pupils were constricted, with both eyes filled with bloodshot veins, reflecting a sense of terror, as if he had just crawled back from hell, looking truly horrifying
Li Mo's lowered head trembled slightly, and his voice quivered as he said, "I... I don't believe... I don't believe that ghosts really exist..."
Liang Zhe chased after him
Liang Zhe walked to the desk, staring in astonishment at his mother: "Mom, why are you... crying?"
The other party hung up the phone
Isn't this the challenge I have always wanted
Neon lights flicker, and pedestrians hurry by
Liang Zhe hurriedly said: "Then I will go over, where are you now?"
Liang Zhexin's heart skipped a beat; based on his years of experience in psychological counseling, he knew that Li Mo must be facing a significant issue
Liang Zhe's eyes widened in disbelief; he simply could not believe that a person could undergo such a transformation in just one day
Liang Zhe is more aware than ever that he is facing the greatest crisis since his psychological treatment began
Tan Wei's voice was somewhat anxious, as if he was desperately trying to gain Liang Zhe's trust: "I really did call you in my dream, and I don't know why I could call you but not anyone else... I've never done this before... I don't know... but maybe you do..."
Liang Zhe took a deep breath, turned his head, and gazed at the over two-meter tall cabinet in the corner of the room, silently nodding his head.
Liang Zhe hurriedly said: "I do not disbelieve you; perhaps I have encountered the same situation. However, until the truth is revealed, I cannot give up on her, nor can I give up on myself. As I mentioned to you before, each treatment is a battle—either victory or defeat—and I have never been defeated."
Tan Wei's voice was very weary: "I cannot come over, I cannot move my body"
Liang Zhe's heart suddenly thumped with a loud "bang," and his phone nearly fell to the ground. His lips trembled uncontrollably as he stammered, "You... you... know..."
Liang Zhe was startled by Li Mo, and by the time he regained his composure, those around him who had already noticed the unusual behavior of the two had all gathered around Liang Zhe.