manynovel Chapter 1 Imprisonment
Chapter 1 Imprisonment
"Ding ding ding—dong! dong! dong!"
The sharp sound of iron bars scraping against the railing jolted Ron back to reality from his daze.
With a dull, unbearable headache, he propped himself up on the cold, rough cement floor, and the unfamiliar touch on his fingertips instantly seized him.
The glaring light made him squint instinctively, and after his pupils adjusted, Ron's breathing suddenly stopped.
Surrounded by cold iron bars, the walls were covered with mottled stains, and the air was thick with the smell of rust and mildew. It was clearly a stuffy, airtight prison cell.
He looked down at himself, and the number "3017" on the left chest of his faded gray prison uniform stood out conspicuously.
Before the shock could subside, a gruff male voice came from the upper bunk, full of impatience: "Hey! I've called you several times, didn't you hear me?"
Ron looked up and saw a bearded man in his fifties lying on the upper bunk opposite him. He had a fierce look in his eyes, but his gaze held a calmness that came from having weathered many storms.
Before he could speak, the man said in a deep voice, "You're relatively calm, unlike the others who panicked and cried. But I'll only say this once, don't keep asking questions. You already know what you need to know—understand?"
Ron suppressed his doubts and quickly glanced at the other two:
The two sat facing each other on the lower bunk, looking flustered. The red, swollen handprint on one of their cheeks was particularly noticeable.
The handprint was a silent warning. Ron's heart sank, and he immediately nodded: "Go ahead and say it."
"This is not reality, it's a bizarre dream." The bearded man's voice was low but unusually resolute.
"Our only goal is to survive. If you die in your dream, you will die suddenly in your sleep in reality, and the forensic doctor will not find any abnormalities."
"quiet!"
A stern rebuke pierced the air, and the entire building fell silent instantly.
Ron looked in the direction of the sound and saw a short, stout prison guard standing downstairs.
He held a roller, his large belly protruding, his bulky figure wrapped in a blue prison uniform, with a badge belonging only to the warden pinned to his chest.
The thud of the iron bar hitting the ground made one's heart tighten.
"Everyone stand half a meter behind the door for roll call!" The prison guard's voice was icy, his eyes sweeping over the four men like they were lambs to the slaughter. "Lights out at 10 p.m. Anyone who dares to move or make a sound will be dealt with severely!"
The bearded man nimbly jumped off the bed, pulled the two stunned young men to their feet, and Ron followed closely behind, standing to his left. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that the young man with slap marks all over his face was shaking violently, and his body was swaying.
"My name is Lao Zeng, Zeng Xiang. I used to be a security guard," Lao Zeng said quickly in a low voice. "This is Liu Runyu, a college student, and that's Su Zixu, a lawyer. We're all Chinese. What about you?"
Just as Ron was about to speak, the prison guard responsible for checking the number of people arrived at the door:
"Quiet! Roll call! 3015! 3016! 3017! 3018!"
"arrive!"
The four responded in unison, and Liu Runyu's sobbing voice was particularly jarring in the quiet corridor.
The prison guard's expression softened slightly after checking the number:
"Your performance last week was acceptable. This week, cleaning the men's bathroom and changing clothes and sheets are your responsibility. I'll show you the procedures after your break tomorrow. If you dare to slack off, you'll be in for a rude awakening!"
The four quickly agreed, and only when the prison guards' footsteps faded into the distance did their tense nerves relax slightly.
The group sat in pairs on the lower bunks, but the oppressive atmosphere in the cell remained undiminished.
"My name is Ron, I'm Chinese, and I'm a professor of bioengineering in the United States." Ron broke the silence first, looking at Liu Runyu and Su Zixu, "This is the first time I've encountered something like this, is it the same for you?"
The two nodded. Su Zixu remained relatively calm, cautiously surveying the prison cell.
Liu Runyu's face was deathly pale. He clutched the hem of his clothes and kept shaking his legs. He didn't even dare to lift his head, and his breathing was trembling.
Ron noted their reactions, then turned to Old Zeng and asked, "Is it just the four of us now?"
"It's hard to say, there are too few clues."
Old Zeng frowned, his tone grave. "This is the third time I've entered this kind of dream. The first time was the zoo instance, where we were searching for lost animals. Out of eight people, five survived."
"How can you be sure the other three are dead?" Ron pressed, his tone carrying the rigor of a scholar, for every piece of information at this moment was a matter of life and death.
Old Zeng's eyes were bloodshot, filled with lingering fear:
"The two people left their addresses before they died. After the dream ended, I went to their homes and saw their bodies with my own eyes. The forensic doctor concluded that they died suddenly in their sleep, exactly the same way they died in the dream."
"Brother Luo, there's only one rule here—unity is the key to breaking the deadlock!"
Old Zeng's voice trembled slightly, but every word was clear: "Strange things are about to happen. The more panicked you are, the faster you'll die. Only by staying calm can you survive!"
"How can I escape?" Ron tried to calm himself down.
"Both breaking through the dream or exhausting the dream will result in a 'dream core'," Old Zeng said, a glimmer of hope in his voice.
"Dream Core? What is that?"
As soon as he finished speaking, all the lights in the building went out, and darkness instantly enveloped the four of them.
Old Zeng lowered his voice: "A palm-sized glowing sphere; if you touch it, you can escape."
"Get into bed quickly!" Old Zeng said urgently. "No matter what you hear or see at night, don't make a sound or move around. It will be safe when it's light!"
Ron groped his way onto the bed, lay down, and quickly pieced together the clues:
First of all, the building is rectangular, with five floors and ten rooms. They were in cell number 306 on the third floor, but the entire building had no windows.
Right now, we must rest up and wait to gather more clues tomorrow.
As he pondered, fatigue gradually overcame him, and Ron fell asleep amidst his chaotic thoughts.
After an unknown amount of time, a biting cold wind rushed in.
Ron was woken up by the cold in his daze. He reached out to pull the blanket, but his fingertips only touched the cold iron bars.
A chilling aura swept over him, and something gently fanned his face, carrying a bone-chilling cold.
"Click".
Something landed steadily on the edge of Ron's bed.
The faint friction sound was amplified in the deathly silence, like fingernails scraping iron, jarring and eerie.
Ron was wide awake, his hair stood on end, and cold sweat soaked his forehead.
He lay there stiffly, breathing as softly as possible, not daring to make the slightest movement.
The friction sound suddenly stopped, and the cell fell into dead silence, with only the sound of his violent heartbeat remaining.
Ron mustered his courage and squinted his left eye. In the dim light, he saw a pair of golden eyes staring intently at him, their pupils filled with cold scrutiny, as if they were sizing up prey.
Ron's heart raced, and he felt as if an invisible hand was squeezing his heart, almost suffocating him.
He gritted his teeth and closed his eyes tightly, his body stiff as a stone sculpture, firmly remembering Old Zeng's words.
A moment later, the chilling aura moved, accompanied by the soft flapping of wings, and the thing flew to the bedsides of Liu Runyu, Su Zixu, and Lao Zeng.
Ron could clearly feel that cold gaze lingering on everyone's face; every second was torture.
Only when the chilling aura completely disappeared did Ron slowly relax, his back already soaked in cold sweat.
In the darkness, he lay there with his eyes open, repeatedly recalling those golden eyes.
What exactly is that thing? How much danger is there here?
Live on, you must live on.
This idea took deep root in his heart and grew stronger and stronger.