[Rat Cat] Eternal Night

The nights in Bianjing are always mysterious, whether they are feasting, or quiet, no matter who they are, they can find their heart in the embrace of the night.

Zakongdao, a bar in a remote place in the north of Bianjing, does not use a large number of neon lights to attract customers like other nightclubs.On the contrary, there are often some unknown singers here to sing, bright lights and soft music, all of which calm the impetuous hearts of urbanites.

At this moment, the clock has just passed 08:30, and there are not many customers in the hollow island—some people are sitting quietly in the corner reading, and some people are chatting together in a low voice... Only the bar in one corner is deserted , only a young man in white was chatting with the bartender for some reason.

"So, you met that person again?" Jiang Ping put the cup in front of the man in white, wiped off the splashed water on the bar with a towel, and put a low-key and luxurious platinum bracelet on his right hand, "How many times is this the first time?" What the hell is he doing?"

Bai Yutang picked it up and took a sip, grinning his teeth: "I said fourth brother, this is too sour, how many slices of lemon did you put in?"

Jiang Ping glanced at him, and looked at him with a half-smile.

"Ahem, um." Bai Yutang picked up a cherry, "I can't remember too. His name is Zhan Zhao, he works...in the government office, and follows a fat black man with a moon scar on his head."

"Government?" Jiang Ping raised his eyebrows in surprise, "I remember that you kid is a big thief, how could you have anything to do with people from the government. What did Liu Qing say?"

Bai Yutang frowned slightly, picked up the wine glass as if to cover up and drank it down in one gulp.

"You didn't...you didn't tell him, did you?" Jiang Ping narrowed his eyes, and approached the ruddy man, "Bai Yutang, don't I need to remind you of the importance of this matter? You are a dream catcher. "

"He knows that I have reported to the supervisor." Bai Yutang curled his lips and comforted him, "The first time I saw Zhan Zhao, Liu Qing knew that someone interested me appeared in my dream. He just didn't know , I met him every time I had a latent dream. Zhan Zhao...he was the first person who never disappeared in my dreams."

This is such an interesting thing, why should he share it with others, even if this person is the supervisor of his symbiosis.

Yes, Bai Yutang is the dream catcher, and Liu Qing is his watcher.

I don't know when, human beings lost the ability to dream.

At first, people thought it was a good thing, whether it was a newborn child, a busy young man, a troubled middle-aged man, or an old man who was dying, everyone stopped dreaming and fell asleep every day. Tian woke up in a daze.No more waking up in the middle of the night from nightmares and keeping them awake at night.

But gradually, people discovered that being unable to dream is a terrible thing.Artists were the first to perceive the connection between dreams and imagination, and without dreaming, they could no longer create new works.

Human beings are gradually losing music, art, literature... Losing the ability to feel beauty, nowhere to vent their emotions, people become irritable, and can no longer maintain inner peace.

There is a scar on the heart, how much can the reason be restored?The flames of war spread and almost engulfed all the places where human beings live.

At this time, a small number of people who can still dream appear in the crowd. They have the ability to materialize dreams, and these dreams turned into crystals save everyone.

These gifted people are revered as dream catchers, and the dream crystals of dream catchers are highly suggestive of emotions, which can soothe people's emotions and allow them to regain their sanity and tranquility.

Every dream catcher is precious, in order to prevent them from any problems during the dream hiding process, there will be specially trained people to take care of them during the dream hiding time, this is the monitor.

Bai Yutang's supervisor is Liu Qing, whenever he feels that he is about to submerge his dream, he will contact Liu Qing.Then, that person will carry a small suitcase and live in the guest room of Bai's house.Bai Yutang had seen everything in the suitcase - earpiece, thermometer, syringe, drip bottle... and all kinds of medicines that could be used.

Sometimes Hou Bai Yutang would also wonder, what was Liu Qing doing when he was asleep... brushing Weibo while holding his tablet that never changed the desktop picture?Or wander through empty houses and study what's hidden behind those locked doors...

Jiang Ping looked at Bai Yutang's fascinated look, and secretly sighed, this is not a good thing.

"Don't worry about my affairs, I have my own ideas." Bai Yutang twisted the lemon slices in the cup and put them in his mouth. It was slightly sour, then bitter, and then... brought a little bit of sweetness, just like, like that same as people.

Jiang Ping sighed again, and suddenly felt that he was much older: "Since you know what's in your heart, I won't say anything more. It's just the fifth child. You have to promise brother one thing."

Bai Yutang looked up at him, the smile faded from his cynical face, looking very serious: "Fourth brother, tell me."

"Be careful with everyone you meet in your dreams, and..." He bent down, leaned closer to his brother's ear, and whispered, "Don't trust him too much."

he?who?Zhan Zhao?

Bai Yutang raised his eyes, but Jiang Ping had already packed the bar and rang the closing bell.

"It's nine o'clock, and the empty island is going to rest." Jiang Ping's voice was rough but not rough, "customers, please come back tomorrow."

Except for some of the first-time guests who were surprised, the rest packed up their things and left the bar.This is also one of the characteristics of the empty island - after nine o'clock, there are no customers in the store, and there are no exceptions so far.

Bai Yutang walked last, but he still didn't understand what Jiang Ping meant until he left Xingkong Island.He only felt that before closing the door, Jiang Ping's eyes hidden behind the glasses flickered slightly, and then silently disappeared into the boundless darkness.

Standing across the street, Bai Yutang watched as the lights in the sunken island hall on the first floor went out. Someone lit up a flashlight and walked up the translucent corridor to the second floor. The lights on the second floor lit up and went out after a while.

He looked up for a while, then silently lit a cigarette and turned back, still not quite understanding what Jiang Ping meant.

The fourth brother is always mysterious, making people unable to understand.For example, inexplicably thinking that he is the fourth child, so that he can only be the fifth child; another example is opening a nightclub that is the most unlike a nightclub, and driving people away at nine o'clock every day; or he is always dragging himself to a nursing home to do volunteer work , every time I go to a different place...

So it's not surprising that he was asked to guess charades again this time. Why did I become sworn brothers with him in the first place?Obviously a person whose temperament is completely left...

"Hey, good evening, Yutang."

Bai Yutang raised his head, Liu Qing was wearing a navy blue overcoat, standing under the street lamp.

"What a coincidence, I went out to buy supper, and I didn't expect to meet you." Liu Qing raised the paper bag in his hand, "But it seems that I bought a little too much, do you want some?"

He only drank a glass of water at night, his stomach was empty, Bai Yutang sniffed the familiar smell, and nodded involuntarily.

------

So what the hell is he doing?

Getting kicked out of a nightclub drinking juice, then eating a hamburger on a park bench?Although there is someone like him around...

"Tuna burgers are only available in the one in the east of the city." Bai Yutang chewed a couple of mouthfuls, then picked up a paper cup, which contained his favorite black tea.

Liu Qing smiled slightly: "Well, I bought it because I wanted to eat it, and I don't know if it suits your taste."

"I remember that the Overwatch Council is in the west of the city..." Bai Yutang took another sip of hot black tea. Liu Qing didn't have a private residence in Bianjing, and had been living in the Overwatch Council's dormitory.

"Live alone, of course it's more casual." Liu Qing said nonchalantly, he had a super Big Mac in his hand, and he had only eaten half of it now, but the ice coke beside him had already been drunk.

Well, it's really casual to walk across half of Bianjing to buy a midnight snack, and then make a detour to meet by chance.

"It's also interesting to say. I've heard about the fame of the empty island. I wanted to drop by to have a look, but I didn't expect to be late." Liu Qing gnawed at the hamburger one by one, as if looking for a topic, "Far away Looking at the familiar figure of Ge from a distance, like you, I waited a little longer." He raised his eyes and glanced at Bai Yutang quickly, then turned his head to look in the direction of the nightclub, and said with a light smile, "It really is you .I didn't expect, I didn't expect you to go to nightclubs too."

Bai Yutang rolled up the wrapping paper, threw it into the trash can, and clapped his hands: "What's so strange, I also have a normal social life."

"That's right." Liu Qing asked curiously, "How about the empty island? Is it really that fun?"

Bai Yutang hooked the corner of his mouth, but didn't answer.

Liu Qing wanted to ask again, but suddenly heard a loud "boom—" and a burst of fire suddenly appeared in the distance, which was particularly conspicuous in the dark night.

"Uh, Bai Yutang, that direction seems to be..." Before Liu Qing finished speaking, the tall man beside him rushed out.He regretfully looked at the half of the hamburger left in his hand, threw it into the trash can casually, picked up the black tea on the chair and drank it upside down, and then hurriedly chased after it.

------

When Bai Yutang arrived, the explosion had not stopped yet, and the fire engines had already arrived.He looked at the hollow island that had turned into a sea of ​​flames, and his heart ached inexplicably.

"Fourth Brother—"

"Fourth brother, where are you?!"

"Did any of you see my fourth brother?! The one who lives on the second floor! Did he come out? Did someone rescue him?! Ah?!"

"Answer me, where is my fourth brother?! Jiang Ping! Jiang Ping!"

Liu Qing, who finally chased after him, grabbed the crazy Bai Yutang and dragged him behind the cordon: "Yutang, calm down, maybe he's fine, it's useless if you do this, we'd better wait for someone to rescue him."

"Fourth brother, he must be fine!" Bai Yutang still wanted to dive into the sea of ​​flames, but Liu Qing had no choice but to hug his waist, not letting him take a step away.

"Bai Yutang, calm down!" Liu Qing shouted, "Aren't there no casualties now?!"

However, just as he finished speaking, two firefighters came over carrying a stretcher.Lying on the stretcher was a half body of a charred man. On the withered right wrist, a string of platinum bracelets was particularly conspicuous in the firelight.

Bai Yutang pulled Liu Qing's hand away, walked towards the stretcher step by step, and knelt beside the man.

"Fourth brother...don't joke with me...it's not funny at all...fourth brother..." He stretched out his hand, trying in vain to wipe off the soot on Jiang Ping's still intact half of his face, but When he approached the end of the man's nose, he suddenly retracted it.

"Four! Brother!——" The man in white knelt on the ground, hugging a half-burned corpse tightly in his arms, tears pouring down his face, but they couldn't wash away the pain in his heart.

Standing in the distance, Liu Qing shook her head slightly, took out her mobile phone and made a call: "Is it the Overwatch Council? I am Liu Qing, the supervisory employee number csm914, please send someone to Zhuolin District in the north of the city immediately, the location is like GPS... "

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