Chapter Nine: The Inescapable Dreamscape

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Wen Ke didn’t reveal everything outright; instead, she gently calmed Lu Yuan’s restless emotions.

The roles seemed reversed.

It was clearly Lu Yuan who was the psychologist, yet now he was the one being comforted, struggling with unease.

Wen Ke put away her phone, choosing not to provoke him further.

Only after Lu Yuan’s emotions had largely settled did she softly ask, “Judging by your reaction, have you seen this person before?”

Lu Yuan was silent for a long moment. “He’s the man who came to my psychology clinic yesterday.”

Wen Ke sat down beside him. “So what you said yesterday—that you accidentally killed him—is true?”

Lu Yuan looked up at Wen Ke. His bloodshot eyes made her instinctively tighten her grip on her holstered gun. “I told you, no one believes me.”

Wen Ke was momentarily at a loss for words.

Mainly because they hadn’t found An Shi’s body, Lu Yuan’s claims sounded utterly absurd.

His mind was in turmoil as well.

He remembered killing An Shi, but why was the body missing?

He was beginning to doubt whether everything that happened yesterday afternoon was real.

“This morning, why did you go to the villa district?”

Wen Ke wanted the truth.

Lu Yuan certainly didn’t go there just out of simple curiosity.

Perhaps feeling a rare sense of security from Wen Ke, he pressed his lips together and said, “Captain Wen, may I ask you a question first?”

“Go ahead.”

“Is the victim in the villa... a woman?”

Wen Ke’s expression instantly grew serious.

The police had not disclosed any details about the case—not even the victim’s gender.

She realized how grave the situation was. She wasn’t worried about Lu Yuan resisting; with his slight build, she could take down five men single-handedly.

“Lu Yuan, tell me everything you know.”

“This is a homicide.”

“Every word you say, every detail you know, is crucial.”

Wen Ke stared straight into Lu Yuan’s eyes.

Lu Yuan opened his mouth, but hesitated, unsure what to say.

Could it be that he was the one who killed the woman—and that it happened in a dream?

He was certain that if he dared say that, he would be immediately sent to a psychiatric hospital.

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Seeing Lu Yuan reluctant to speak, Wen Ke’s expression grew even sterner. “Lu Yuan, I need your help.”

Curiously, Lu Yuan asked, “Have you never considered that I might be the one who killed the woman?”

Wen Ke shook her head. “I believe you.”

Lu Yuan was stunned.

They had only met a few times; to speak of trust already felt disingenuous.

Wen Ke closed her eyes briefly, then confessed, “Alright, before coming here, I checked your whereabouts last night. After I left, you stayed in the clinic all night—you didn’t come out. The surveillance footage around here can confirm that.”

Hearing this, Lu Yuan felt somewhat reassured.

That made sense!

Their relationship wasn’t close enough to speak of trust. Wen Ke’s belief that he wasn’t the killer was simply based on investigation.

Wen Ke looked earnestly into Lu Yuan’s eyes. “If you know anything, please tell me. It’s very important.”

Lu Yuan could only shift all the blame onto An Shi. “That man told me.”

When a psychologist is about to lie, it means he has already crafted a story to cover the falsehood. “Yesterday, this middle-aged man came to my clinic. His mind was unstable, rambling on and on, mentioning things related to this woman.”

“At the time, I didn’t pay attention. After all, the words of a mentally troubled person aren’t reliable.”

“But this morning, when I saw the news, I realized he was telling the truth. To verify what he said, I went to the villa district. But without proper identification, I couldn’t get inside, so I gave up.”

Wen Ke frowned slightly.

Something felt off.

Suddenly, she realized: “But in your statement, you said you killed An Shi yesterday afternoon, yet the homicide in the villa district happened last night.”

“How could someone already dead know about future events?”

Lu Yuan’s expression remained calm. “After I got home, I thought about it for a long time. If I remember killing An Shi, but police haven’t found a body, then the only possibility is that he hypnotized me.”

“I saw the news—An Shi was a famous psychologist. It would be easy for him to hypnotize someone, making me mistakenly believe I killed him.”

Could that really be the case?

Wen Ke was doubtful.

Yet the explanation seemed plausible.

“But why would he do that?” Wen Ke asked, confused.

Lu Yuan shook his head. “I don’t know. Captain Wen, you have to find him quickly. A psychologically unstable psychologist is scarier than any murderer.”

Wen Ke fell into deep thought.

Lu Yuan said nothing further.

He had lied, but he understood that finding An Shi was crucial—not just for the police, but for himself as well.

Yet Lu Yuan was just one person; trying to track An Shi alone was nearly impossible. He had to rely on the police.

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After a long while, Wen Ke snapped out of her reverie and noticed it was getting late. She stood up. “Lu Yuan, if you need anything, contact me anytime.”

Lu Yuan nodded.

After seeing Wen Ke off, his gaze deepened as he stared back at the spot on the sofa. A strange light flickered in his eyes.

Moments later, Lu Yuan drew the curtains and sat in a chair, lost in thought.

He suffered from severe insomnia.

Without sleeping pills, it was very hard for him to fall asleep.

To avoid a repeat of last night, he chose not to take any medicine, planning to stay awake until morning.

Tick-tock...

The second hand moved steadily.

Gradually, all surrounding sounds faded away, leaving only the ticking.

Lu Yuan looked up at the quartz clock. A flicker of confusion crossed his eyes, but soon drowsiness overwhelmed him.

His vision blurred; faintly, he saw the clock on the wall showing 10 p.m.

Then everything went black.

Lu Yuan had fallen asleep again.

But this time, without medicine—it was natural sleep.

He felt his consciousness sinking into darkness, then a bright red glow lit up, and the world rapidly transformed into a blood-red realm.

Lu Yuan stood alone amid the crimson, with no one or nothing around him.

Dimly, he heard the sound of a TV news broadcast again.

The voice grew louder, clearer.

Annoyed by the noise, Lu Yuan opened his eyes and suddenly sat up.

For a moment, he was stunned.

A familiar bedroom.

Familiar modern luxury decor.

Opposite the bed was a television, showing the news—reporting the homicide in the villa district that had happened yesterday.

From beginning to end, he had never escaped this strange dream world...