Infinite Nightmares

Zhang Wenda had never hugged Song Jianguo before, so his sudden embrace terrified her.

"Let go of me! You’re covered in blood, it’s disgusting! Ahh! Let go!" Song Jianguo bared her fangs and bit down hard on Zhang Wenda’s shoulder.

After Zhang Wenda let go, Song Jianguo quickly backed away. She looked at the blood smeared on her arm, gave it a small lick, and immediately gagged with a look of utter disgust.

Seeing that she was still her usual unbothered self, and that none of his previous actions had affected her in the slightest, Zhang Wenda couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief. This girl was so carefree; she didn’t get angry no matter what he said.

Hearing footsteps behind him, Zhang Wenda turned to look at the tall, red-eyed purple rabbit. The rabbit had already put its leather gloves back on.

Zhang Wenda looked at him and said, "Teacher! You were right. I shouldn’t just resign myself to my fate so easily. Even if heaven has decreed that I become a monster, I’ll defy fate and change myself back into a human. I’ll completely break free from their influence on me!"

The thought of how bizarre this world was, coupled with his newly established goal, made Zhang Wenda’s hesitation and despair vanish. Instead, his confidence soared.

In a world with drinkable liquid happiness, an Oil Bab that could turn water into oil, and even injectable Superpowers, turning himself from a monster back into a human didn’t seem so difficult after all.

The rabbit didn’t say anything more, just gently patted Zhang Wenda’s head with its furry paw.

As the tension from the long night finally eased, a wave of sleepiness instantly washed over Zhang Wenda. This wasn’t the usual drowsiness from pulling all-nighters at work; it felt like his eyes would refuse to open in the next second. ’Maybe this is how children sleep.’

He glanced at the time on his pager—it was already one in the morning. He looked up at the rabbit and said, "Let’s go. We should head back and get some sleep. Too much has happened tonight, and I need to go back and sort things out."

"Alright." Seeing that Zhang Wenda’s mood had stabilized now that he had a new goal, the rabbit nodded immediately. "Okay, I’ll see you two back."

An hour later, escorted by the rabbit, Zhang Wenda and Song Jianguo arrived back at the base of the treehouse. It was two o’clock now.

On the street, besides the diligent sanitation workers on ladders, opening the streetlight covers to blow out the flames, there was no one else but the three of them and a pile of cats.

Yawning, Song Jianguo rubbed her stomach and said, "Hey, I’m hungry. I want to eat fish."

Her proposal was met with a unanimous response from the cats.

"Where are you going to get fish at two in the morning? You wanna eat shit instead?"

After telling Song Jianguo to behave, Zhang Wenda said to the rabbit, "Teacher, you should head back too. Thank you for everything tonight. I’ll come find you tomorrow when I wake up to discuss what’s next."

The rabbit nodded. "Mm, go on."

After watching Song Jianguo and Zhang Wenda climb into the treehouse, the rabbit didn’t leave. It looked left and right, then moved into the shadows of a nearby corner.

Inside Song Jianguo’s treehouse, the firefly lamp that had been taken down was hung up again. Its hazy yellow light flickered, providing just enough illumination without being too harsh on the eyes.

Exhausted from the long day, Song Jianguo couldn’t wait. She grabbed a cat, casually wiped her face with it, and then lay down in her blanket of cats.

"Ugh, I’m dead tired. It’s such bad luck following you around. I’ve never heard of anyone having to work this late at night."

Zhang Wenda rested his head on a furry pillow, watching the fireflies overhead. He wasn’t sure if it was his imagination, but he felt much more at peace than before.

He didn’t know if it was because he had found a purpose or because he had finally let out what he’d been bottling up, but he liked this feeling. It was much better than before.

But when he thought of his reflection in the mirror, Zhang Wenda wasn’t sure how long this state would last. ’Will I revert back after a while?’

"Jianguo, thank you."

Song Jianguo angrily threw a cat at him. "Thank my ass! Go to sleep! You’re so annoying! Don’t bother me!"

Zhang Wenda caught the cat and placed it on his own small blanket, making his little cat-blanket a bit longer.

"Can you do something for me?"

"Aren’t you tired? I swear, you’ve already put a collar on me, do you even need to ask? Isn’t it just whatever you say, goes?"

"I’m asking for your help as a friend, not ordering you as a master."

"Just spit it out already. I’m so sleepy."

Zhang Wenda thought for a moment before saying seriously, "If something happens and I get triggered, you need to snap me out of it. Help me come to my senses."

Hearing this, Song Jianguo was suddenly wide awake. She poked her head out from under the blanket and asked with a hint of excitement, "Does that mean I can hit you?"

"Just a reminder is fine. No hitting."

"Tch, lame. No perks and I don’t get to hit you? I’m not doing it." Song Jianguo turned over, showing Zhang Wenda the back of her head.

"You’ll get two days off every week from now on."

"It’s a deal!"

That night, Zhang Wenda’s mind raced. He thought about Teacher Rabbit’s true identity and the monster inside him. He didn’t fall asleep until the sky began to lighten at dawn.

When he woke up again, the sun was already high in the sky. Although he had only slept for a few hours, he felt energetic and refreshed, without the sense of a heavy weight pressing on his heart.

He glanced at his pager. It was already 9:30 in the morning.

"Go, buy two breakfasts." Zhang Wenda handed a green two-mao coin to Song Jianguo, who was staring blankly into space.

Song Jianguo had just scrambled out with the cats when she scrambled back in. "Haozi, that purple rabbit is waiting outside."

"What?" Zhang Wenda was startled. He thought for a moment, then said, "In that case, go buy three breakfasts."

Soon, Zhang Wenda welcomed Teacher Rabbit into the treehouse. When he felt the damp dew on the rabbit’s fur, he asked in surprise, "Teacher, you didn’t go back last night?"

"It’s safer if I keep watch," the rabbit said.

It was very tall and large. The moment it entered the treehouse, it took up more than half the space.

"Safer from what?" Zhang Wenda didn’t quite understand.

The rabbit looked around before speaking to Zhang Wenda. "Wenda, I know you’re very eager to rid yourself of your monster identity right now, but we can put that aside for a moment. We need to solve a more important and pressing problem."

"What could be more important than us getting rid of our monster identities?" Zhang Wenda asked in astonishment.

The rabbit blinked its red eyes and parted its tri-lobed mouth. "There is. The matter of your safety. Who were the people who attacked you last night? Do they have accomplices? Will they try to harm you again?"