Chapter 743: An Unexpected Visit

After the resolution of the Little Four case, the Headless Man incident continued to stir up waves. Despite the police explanation, the public remained skeptical whenever they saw words like “experts” and “debunking.”

Just as Chen Shi had speculated, when the truth came out, few were willing to believe it. Various speculations ran rampant—conspiracy theories, aliens, human experiments—all surfaced. Perhaps life was too ordinary, and people needed a bit of mystery to spice things up.

On April 10th, a calm day finally arrived. Lin Dongxue finally got a day off. She wore a loose T-shirt and was at Chen Shi’s place playing games on her computer, waiting for dinner.

Chen Shi was preparing dinner, humming the tune of “Red Sun” while chopping vegetables. Suddenly, he noticed an “echo” to his tune. Peeking into the living room, he found Lin Dongxue humming the exact same tune.

Lin Dongxue was fully absorbed in playing League of Legends with her headphones on, making reckless moves that left her teammates in tears as they had already fed the opponent a boss monster within the first five minutes of the game.

Chen Shi thought she couldn’t have heard him and chalked it up to coincidence. But then again, when had she ever heard this old song before?

Curious, he tried humming “Chaos Superstar” next, cautiously peering into the living room. A minute later, Lin Dongxue also started humming the same tune.

Chen Shi was astounded. Trying again with “Soul Lingering Old Dreams,” he hummed even softer, almost like a mosquito’s buzz. Surely, Lin Dongxue wouldn’t know this ancient song, even if they were connected by some telepathy.

However, to his shock, Lin Dongxue began humming the same melody.

Chen Shi was at a loss for words. To dispel his doubts, he hurried over to Lin Dongxue, who was waiting for her character to respawn, turned to him with a smile, and kissed him on the cheek.

“What were you humming just now?” Chen Shi asked.

“Huh?” Lin Dongxue took off her headphones. “What did you say?”

“Were you humming a song just now?”

“Yeah, I was listening to your playlist. These old songs are quite nice.”

Lin Dongxue opened her music app, showing three consecutive songs: “Red Sun,” “Chaos Superstar,” and “Soul Lingering Old Dreams.” It all made sense now. Chen Shi often listened to this playlist, and it had become a reflex for him to hum along. Lin Dongxue happened to be listening to it too.

Chen Shi chuckled, “I thought maybe we had some telepathic connection. Turns out, every mysterious event has an explanation.”

“What? You weirdo,” Lin Dongxue teased, stretching her hands out playfully. “When’s dinner ready? I’m starving.”

“Almost done. The soup is already simmering.”

Just then, Chen Shi’s phone on the table rang. Lin Dongxue grabbed it and said, “Miss Gu wants to see you.”

“I’ll go open the door.”

“Wait, let me put my pants on.”

Glancing at the computer screen, Chen Shi said, “Hold on, let me surrender first. It’s not easy playing games while babysitting a primary schooler. You’ve been dragging me down.”

“Hey!”

Chen Shi opened the door, and Gu You was standing outside with a box of eggs. Chen Shi knew what they were—fresh eggs that could be cooked to make tender, delicious dishes or cracked directly onto rice for a tasty meal.

“Am I disturbing you? Last time you treated me to oysters, just a small token of appreciation,” Gu You said.

“Thank you!” Chen Shi accepted the gift. “Would you like to stay for dinner, Miss Gu?”

“Huh, you’re cooking so early?”

“This lazy guy slept until the afternoon. This is lunch for him,” Chen Shi said.

Lin Dongxue punched him playfully. “And you say I’m lazy? You just got up yourself.”

“You two are so sweet. Actually, I heard you both were home and thought of inviting you for dinner. Today I have the rare chance off too.”

“Miss Gu, do you have something you want to discuss with us? No need to be formal with old friends,” Lin Dongxue said.

“Oh, come in!” Chen Shi invited Gu You inside.

He poured her a cup of tea, and she began, “There’s something I’ve been thinking about for a long time, but I couldn’t find the right opportunity to bring it up. You see, I once counseled a very special psychiatric patient. His symptoms and background were extremely unique. After many years, I want to see him again, to check on his current state. It’s urgent because he’s scheduled for execution next month…”

“Execution? Is this patient still in custody?” Lin Dongxue asked in surprise.

“Yes.”

“You should be able to visit him in prison. You were his former doctor; the prison shouldn’t deny your request,” Lin Dongxue suggested.

“The prison isn’t the issue, but he refuses to see me. So, I thought of using the police to have him brought out for questioning. That way, I might get a chance to see him. That’s why I’m seeking Officer Lin’s help.”

After pondering for a moment, Lin Dongxue realized it wasn’t a difficult matter. “What’s his situation?”

“His name is Chen Fengde, somewhat a colleague of mine. He used to be a psychology professor at Long’an University. When I first met him, even I couldn’t determine if his symptoms were paranoia, dissociative identity disorder, or just regular psychological issues… By the way, do you know what a lucid dream is?”

“We do,” Lin Dongxue replied. “I’ve had one myself. You know you’re dreaming and can control the dream, which is very interesting.”

“It is indeed interesting. Chen Fengde was particularly fascinated with lucid dreaming. When people dream, the neurons fire rapidly, often triggering extraordinary inspiration in the dream. Chen Fengde wanted to improve his work efficiency through lucid dreaming, which initially seemed like a good idea. However, he became obsessed. He developed a method to control dreams, with one key element being a ‘cue.’ For example, if you always see an oil painting in your dreams, you keep telling yourself that seeing this painting means you’re dreaming. This idea gets ingrained in your neural reflexes. The next time you see the painting, you instinctively realize you’re dreaming.”

Lin Dongxue was curious. “Dreams can vary greatly. How could there be something that appears consistently?”

“In reality, there can indeed be such things. For example, some people repeatedly dream of deceased spouses. If they can’t find the ‘cue,’ there’s a simple way. You probably haven’t noticed, but human dreams are in black and white.”

Lin Dongxue opened her mouth in surprise. “Come to think of it, that’s true.”

“Environmental changes and physical sensations can also serve as cues. Chen Fengde identified his cue X and reinforced this concept continuously. Initially, things went smoothly. Whenever he saw X, he knew he was dreaming and could wake up his consciousness, thus manipulating the dream. Through constant training and suggestion, he gradually achieved consecutive lucid dreams. In his dream world, he had a glass cabin deep in the forest where he could revisit the books he read during the day, contemplate, and even write. He was working in his dreams!”

“Incredible.”

“Let me guess,” Chen Shi interjected. “One day, cue X appeared in his real life, and he mistook reality for a dream.”

“You’re quite perceptive,” Gu You smiled. “Exactly. X, which should never have appeared in reality, suddenly did. The neural reflex to automatically recognize X had deeply imprinted in his brain. He compulsively believed the real world was a massive dream. His life suddenly became chaotic…”