5. A Vast Expanse of White

In the alley, Lin Doudou directed her team with methodical precision, ensuring every trace of their presence was wiped clean from beginning to end, leaving not a single clue behind.

Watching Lin Doudou work with such professional ease, Lu Feng couldn't help but feel she was born for this line of work—anything but the manager of a leisure bar. The feeling was oddly intense.

As dawn crept into the sky, sleepiness washed over Lu Feng. To be precise, ever since his fight with Xiaoxue ended, he’d felt utterly drained, as if sleep could claim him at any moment. He’d forced himself to stay awake only because the situation had been uncertain.

He leaned against a column at the back, his eyelids heavy as lead, slowly drooping shut while his body curled in on itself.

Gradually, Lu Feng drifted into sleep.

…

Tap, tap, tap...

In a hazy world, Lu Feng walked alone.

Around him stretched a boundless expanse of pale white, his lone shadow trailing behind as he wandered aimlessly, guided only by a faint, ambiguous light.

The silence of the world was almost frightening, broken only by the steady echo of his own footsteps reverberating through the vast emptiness.

"Ah, this dream again," Lu Feng sighed, glancing ahead helplessly.

Ever since he’d been diagnosed with brain cancer, he’d had this dream often.

And lately, it was growing ever more frequent—almost every night he slept, he found himself here.

He’d spoken to no one about it except Lin Doudou, and that was only because she’d coaxed it out of him. Looking back now, it seemed Lin Doudou was far more calculating and prepared than he’d realized.

Night after night, Lu Feng wandered this desolation, taking the same steps countless times. No matter which way he walked, no matter how far, the expanse before him never changed—endless and unbroken.

"Is anyone there?" he called out in frustration.

"Is anyone there?"

"No one?"

"Someone?"

…

After the echoes faded, silence reigned once more.

"Is there any living soul here?" he shouted again, louder this time. "No one? Even a dog would do!"

Just as Lu Feng was about to give up hope of a reply, a languid voice yawned behind him, "Why all the yelling? Can't a person get any peace and quiet in their sleep?"

Startled, Lu Feng spun around—someone was actually here.

He turned to find a shiny, bald head gleaming before him.

A monk?

Looking closer, he saw the monk wore a green short-sleeved shirt on his upper body, his bronzed skin gleaming under the light, and a pair of floral shorts on his lower half.

A flower monk?

How could there possibly be a flower monk in his dream?

But Lu Feng had never had any peculiar tastes—this outfit was clearly something someone would wear to buy seafood at a seaside market.

Meanwhile, the monk was eyeing him up and down, his gaze gradually settling on Lu Feng's lower half.

Lu Feng suddenly felt a twinge of discomfort below the waist…

"You're the dog. Your whole family are dogs," the monk muttered after sizing him up, then stomped off to the side, ignoring Lu Feng.

After a few steps, the monk casually fell backward, hands cradling his head. Instantly, a beach chair materialized out of nowhere, perfectly catching his plump body and settling him gently to the ground. Next, a sunshade appeared overhead, sheltering him from the imaginary sun. He reached out, and a glass of orange juice appeared in his hand.

The scene was so surreal it seemed as if the monk were a magician conjuring with spells.

Lu Feng stared, dumbfounded.

"Um…"

"Um… monk, why are you here? Who are you?" Lu Feng shuffled closer, asking timidly, his hand unconsciously guarding his rear.

"I've always been here," the monk replied, sipping his juice with obvious enjoyment.

"Even when I was wandering around here before? You were here?" Lu Feng pressed.

"Of course."

"Then why didn’t you say anything?"

"You never called for me. Why would I call for you?"

Lu Feng was at a loss for words—the monk did have a point.

Previously, Lu Feng had never spoken here, only wandered endlessly. His mind had been too occupied with finding a way out to think of seeking anyone.

Thinking it over, Lu Feng let the matter drop and asked another question, "So, who are you, monk?"

"Who am I? I don’t know who I am… Who am I, really?" The monk scratched his head, frowning in concentration as though confronted with a calculus problem he couldn’t solve.

Lu Feng realized it was a pointless question.

Fine, that was a wasted effort.

"So, what are you doing here?" Lu Feng moved on.

"Waiting for you, of course," the monk replied, untroubled by his own lack of identity.

"You’ve been waiting for me? I’ve wandered this place so many times and you just watched, never saying a word?"

Lu Feng’s frustration was about to boil over—he could almost see a thousand imaginary horses galloping by, all spitting in exasperation.

"Oh, I was asleep."

Asleep…

Asleep, yet you still know I’ve walked here so many times? What kind of half-baked answer is that?

Calm down, calm down. Lu Feng had always thought of himself as even-tempered, but for some reason, in this dream, he felt unexpectedly liberated, his emotions freer, more unruly.

Don’t get mad, don’t get mad—it’s just a dream.

Monk, may you never have children.

Wait, you’re a monk.

May you be a monk for ten lifetimes, a hundred lifetimes.

Lu Feng cursed him in his heart, doodling circles of spite.

"So, why are you waiting for me?" After a moment, Lu Feng asked, his tone now calm.

"To tell you a great secret, of course. Haven’t you ever read a novel?" The monk’s eyes were full of scorn, as if to say: Surely you don’t think I’m here for anything else?

"Alright, go ahead. I’m listening," Lu Feng replied, unconcerned.

"I’ll tell you, but only if you call me Uncle," the monk said, deadly earnest.

Ah, this…

Judging by his looks, the monk was at most three or four years older than Lu Feng—calling him Uncle was just too much, far too awkward.

"So, do you want to hear it or not? If not, I’m leaving," the monk threatened, impatient.

"Uncle…" The word came out weak as a mosquito’s whine.

"What was that?"

"Uncle."

"What?"

"Uncle!!!"

Driven to desperation, Lu Feng shouted at the top of his lungs, his voice echoing for a long while before fading.

"Geez, what’s wrong with you? Shouting so loud when you’re this close. I’m not deaf," the monk clicked his tongue in mock annoyance.

"Enough with the nonsense, just spit it out!"

Lu Feng felt his patience wearing thin, ground away bit by bit by this monk.

"Alright, listen carefully. The great secret is… you’re not really my brother’s biological child. My brother’s body can’t produce children."

With that, the monk leapt off the beach chair and bolted, cackling as he ran away at top speed.

At that moment, Lu Feng’s composure shattered. Words failed him as he shouted after the monk, "Monk, go to hell! I’ll skin you alive, you dog-faced bastard!"