48 Hours a Day

Chapter 475 Missing Out

Rabbit was forced to move forward when the crowd shoved her from behind. Upon arriving at the bomb shelter, she could finally get to slow her pace a little. When the flames of the dragon came rushing into the cave, the crowd panicked again. Those wishing to live got away from the entrance as fast as they could. Before she could even catch a breath, Rabbit got pushed deeper and deeper into the bomb shelter.

When she finally stopped moving, she realized she was lost. The place looked the same from every corner, where numerous passages spiderwebbed through the underground city. It took her a long time before she finally returned to the entrance, where she met up with Zhang Heng. “Dang, what’s wrong with your skin?!” exclaimed Rabbit.

“Slight burns. No matter,” Zhang Heng replied, shrugging the injuries off. “Can you help me find some water?”

“Oh, oh, oh… no problem,” Rabbit nodded. After a while, she returned to Zhang Heng, handing over a tin kettle she found lying around at a corner. Zhang Heng fed Han Mu some water and told her to rest up, before standing up to talk to Rabbit.

“How is it?”

Rabbit had been waiting a long time ago to ask Zhang Heng the question. “Well, this dream is based on Han Lu’s memories of her first day in junior high. It’s her 13th birthday today. Her mother took the day off, wanting to bring her to the zoo to see the pandas. They had been planning this for a month, and I guess Han Lu is looking forward to this day’s arrival. She was so excited she couldn’t get a good night’s sleep. Alas, Han Mu received a call early in the morning. It turned out to be an important translation job, and finally, she had to give up on the plan she made with Han Lu. When she finally returned, she discovered that Han Lu had left home in a fit of rage. So, she came out looking for her.”

“Well… it is but a sad story. But why is a three-headed dragon in this dream?”

“I’m looking for an answer to that as well. What do you think it signifies?” Zhang Heng asked.

“Well, the two dreams we experienced so far were filled with catastrophic events—the tsunami in the previous dream and now the dragon. Whenever the dark clouds appear, it foretells of the disaster,” Rabbit said. “They all have one common characteristic, though, and that is that they have nothing to do with the dreams. We can rule out the possibility of Han Lu binge-watching disaster movies or playing action games recently. These disasters are probably not part of Han Lu’s original dream. It seems like something forcefully inserted these catastrophic events into her dreams.”

“The Dreamland of Death?”

Rabbit nodded, “Yes, these disasters are probably related to the Dreamland of Death.”

“Why does the Dreamland of Death need to destroy Han Lu’s dream? It doesn’t make any sense.”

“Good question. Many researchers are experts in the study of dreams. Even before humanity mastered the alphabet, the study of dreams had already begun. Unfortunately, until today, our understanding of dreams is still very limited. Not to mention how the Dreamland of Death is related to Hypnos. It’s always been one of the most mysterious Grade-B game items ever known.”

Rabbit paused for a moment. “Based on Han Lu’s reaction, she seemed very afraid of these disasters as well. Right before each disaster struck, she managed to go into hiding. We don’t know what would happen if she died in one of these disasters, and I strongly recommend that we do not let that happen to her. We need to locate her as soon as possible. Do you know where she’s hiding?”

“Han Mu did tell me some of the possible places that she may hide in. There’s a high chance she’d be in one of them. Han Mu also said that since she finds it hard to move around right now, she hopes we can find her daughter and bring her here,” said Zhang

Heng.

“Excellent, let’s start now,” Rabbit exclaimed, seeming filled with renewed hope. “Based on the previous dream, we should have at least half a day to look for her.”

’70s-era cities were way different from 21st-century modern towns. For safety reasons, the two chose to traverse the underground city tunnel until they found the nearest exit. From there, they would ascend up to ground level.

It wasn’t easy finding the right path amid the hundreds of tunnels that lined the massive underground city. Zhang Heng hired someone familiar with the place, hoping it could help them find Han Lu. Although the banknontes they had weren’t recognized at this point in time, the wallet could still be used for transactions. Bartering, however, was a popular alternatative to cash.

After examining the wallet and making sure it was made out of genuine leather, the person agreed to help them after Zhang Heng told him that it was all to save someone’s daughter. The person, however, would only guide them in the underground city. Up there, they were on their own.

Zhang Heng and Rabbit searched three possible spots. According to Han Mu, Han Lu would most likely come to these three places alone. One of the locations was engulfed by fire, and Han Lu wasn’t at the other two as well. Despite getting almost nothing, Zhang Heng and Rabbit weren’t discouraged, continuing to search for all possible locations and eliminating those with no Han Lu in it. In the end, they were left with only one place. There was a high chance they would encounter her over there.

As the two exited the underground city, the dark clouds in the sky rapidly thinned out.

Seeing what happened, Rabbit stomped her feet in frustration. “This is exactly what I worry about the most. Why must it come now? Technically, we should be left with at least thirty to forty hours before we transition to another dream.”

Zhang Heng frowned. The last place they could search was the house of Han Lu’s best friend in high school. It was just a street away, but the problem was that the dragon was resting on the roof. Most of the people who lived in the area were all gone, and if he were to rush there right now, it would be impossible the dragon wouldn’t notice him. After weighing his options, Zhang Heng gave up on the idea. According to his previous encounters, he found out that the dream would change every two or three minutes after the clouds cleared. It would not be easy to find an effective way to avoid the dragon’s attention. Now that the dragon was resting there, Han Lu might have even left that area.

Rabbit was a little discouraged to see what was taking place.

“After going through all that trouble, looking for her for the longest time, and almost getting cooked by the dragon, it appears all our effort is wasted.”

Zhang Heng remained silent. He kept looking at the dragon, pondering over something in his mind.

Rabbit felt desperate. “We are running out of time,” she urged. “We may never get this close again in the next dream. We should set a place to meet in advance.”

“You decide the place,” Zhang Heng said as he looking away.

Rabbit thought on it for a bit. “How about the plaza that we were at? I now remember what the place is! 40 years into the future, it’s become IKEA. Do you remember the name of the street?”

“We will meet there after that.”

Now, the dark clouds above Zhang Heng’s head had disappeared. Sunlight poured down over the dragon’s enormous wings, its scales radiantly glowing like it was made out of gold. The dragon raised its head and let out a roar toward the sky. The third dream had arrived.