Chapter Thirty-Six: A Strange Dream

The master and disciple had toiled through the entire night, finally completing the inspection of all the equipment. The deafening noise from the previous night had not affected any of the apparatuses.

“Let’s go get breakfast,” the teacher suggested.

Rubbing his eyes and with his stomach grumbling, Zhang Mingyang had reached the limits of his endurance. He had spent the whole previous day running around, and after another sleepless night, his mind was muddled and dizzy. He desperately needed food to replenish his energy.

Stepping out of the laboratory into the morning sun, a wave of vertigo struck him so suddenly that he nearly lost his balance.

“What’s wrong?” Lin Guangming hurried to support him, his face filled with concern as he saw how pale Zhang Mingyang looked.

“A few hours ago you were reminding me to rest, and now look at you—you’re the first to collapse. How many times have I told you both in school to pay attention to your health? You’re still young, yet your physical condition is far too poor.”

Leaning against his teacher, Zhang Mingyang caught his breath and replied, “Please, teacher, don’t blame me. Senior brother Liu is in even worse shape. You never said anything to him in school.”

Lin Guangming pushed him away. “You have the nerve to talk! Liu An weighs nearly three hundred pounds. I’ve told him to lose weight, but do you think he actually does it?”

After resting a while, Zhang Mingyang felt much better. “Yes… it’s all my fault. I didn’t heed your wise advice before. I promise I’ll exercise more from now on—twenty-pack abs, I’ll build up those muscles!”

Lin Guangming shook his head at him. He knew Zhang Mingyang’s character too well; whatever he said today would be forgotten tomorrow. There was little use in lecturing him further.

“Forget it—let’s go and get something to eat, quickly.”

“Let’s… go…”

At nine in the morning, the cafeteria was not crowded; almost everyone there was staff who had worked overnight on inspections.

Lin Guangming didn’t let Zhang Mingyang fetch food; instead, he told him to sit and rest, promising he knew what foods would quickly restore his energy. He told him to wait.

Sitting at the table, watching his teacher bustling about, Zhang Mingyang felt a surge of warmth. With no parents, only his grandparents and a few aunts, Teacher Lin Guangming was the closest person he had in the world.

Before the food arrived, Zhang Mingyang pulled out his communicator and logged onto the external network to check the latest news.

“Why are all the headlines about last night’s loud noise?”

Scrolling down, it was the same story everywhere. Clearly, everyone was concerned about it.

“All right, stop reading. Eat up,” his teacher called, carrying over a tray. Zhang Mingyang looked at the contents: two eggs, five meat buns, and a bowl of sweet dumplings. He didn’t know what to say.

“Teacher, are you trying to fatten me up like a pig?”

Glancing at the tray, Lin Guangming replied, “This is a lot? When I was your age, five steamed buns per meal was barely enough.”

“Then you should eat more yourself,” Zhang Mingyang said, placing three buns and one egg onto his teacher’s tray.

Lin Guangming sighed, but said nothing more. “Fine, I’ll eat.”

Zhang Mingyang grinned. “Teacher, have you seen the news online? It’s all about last night’s loud noise.”

He opened up the news and they both read it together.

“At 10:25 last night, a sudden thunderous sound was heard around the world. As of seven this morning, fifty-six countries and 425 cities and regions had issued safety warnings. Our country also had thirty-five cities affected by the noise...”

Reading the news, Zhang Mingyang asked his teacher’s opinion.

Lin Guangming shook his head. “I don’t know. We’re not experts in this field. Who knows what it was?”

Zhang Mingyang continued reading. “There’s an update. Experts say the noise originated around ten thousand meters above the ground—so high up that it didn’t affect anything on the surface. A few passenger planes were affected, but there were no casualties or property damage.”

“Well, as long as no harm was done. I suppose this counts as a natural disaster.”

After finishing their meal, they read the news a while longer, until fatigue set in and they decided to head back to the dormitory for some sleep.

Back in his room, Zhang Mingyang washed up quickly, set his alarm for six in the evening, tidied up, and lay down on the bed.

Before long, he began to drift off, his eyelids growing heavy. As he faded toward sleep, his mind wandered to strange places. Suddenly, before his eyes appeared a peculiar structure—though to call it a building seemed wrong; it looked more like a spaceship.

It had a rounded body and four pairs of outstretched wings, propelled by four massive thrusters at its rear, hurtling toward an unknown destination.

Abruptly, the scene shifted. The ship was now in space, surrounded by a sea of stars, yet it kept moving in the same direction, its destination a mystery.

Who knew how long passed before the ship suddenly halted in front of an orange star.

At that moment, a spherical pod separated from the ship and headed straight for the orange world. Upon landing, two figures emerged from the sphere. Whatever their reasons, they leapt and cheered on the orange-hued ground as if celebrating something.

Just as they were about to begin their exploration, a sudden, thunderous noise jolted Zhang Mingyang awake.

“Whoa…!”

He shot up in bed, staring around to find himself back in his dormitory. It had all been a dream. The alarm clock beside him was beeping incessantly.

He switched off the alarm and breathed a sigh of relief. So the thunderous noise was just the alarm.

Looking at the time, it was already six in the evening.

“So soon?”

It seemed unbelievable to Zhang Mingyang. His dream had felt so short, less than an hour, yet it was already six!

Not dwelling on it, he threw off the covers to get up—only to realize he was drenched in sweat, his bedding soaked through as well.

“This isn’t right!” Zhang Mingyang thought back to his dream. It hadn’t been a nightmare, so why was he soaked? Wasn’t it only nightmares that made people sweat like this?

He couldn’t make sense of it.

He got out of bed, went to the bathroom, and turned on the shower. As the hot water cascaded over him, Zhang Mingyang felt nearly overwhelmed by the comfort.

After a quick wash and changing into clean clothes, he gathered up his sheets and duvet cover to dry them.

Just as he opened the door, Teacher Lin Guangming came out too. Seeing the sodden bedding in Zhang Mingyang’s arms, Lin Guangming stared in astonishment.

“Mingyang… did you… have an accident?”

At first Zhang Mingyang didn’t understand. “An accident?”

“You know—an accident!”

Suddenly it dawned on him, and he hastily replied, “Teacher, have you ever seen anyone have this much of an ‘accident’?”

Approaching, Lin Guangming felt the bedding. He had never heard of anyone having an accident that soaked the entire sheet and cover.

“Then what happened to you? The whole bed’s wet.”

Outside, Zhang Mingyang hung his bedding in a hidden spot, hoping to avoid another mistaken assumption from his teacher.

“I really don’t know. I didn’t have a nightmare, and suddenly I was drenched like this.”

Lin Guangming pressed his hand to Zhang Mingyang’s forehead for a moment, but felt no heat. He didn’t seem to have a fever.