Like a dream
690 Words
Yueya woke up from her daze after an unknown period. She looked around and realized she was lying in the same guest room she had stayed in before. Recalling the dwarf and others, she hurried downstairs.
“Where’s that dwarf?” Yueya slammed the counter in anger, questioning the long-bearded old man behind it. The old man, squinting, looked at Yueya and said, “Dwarf? What dwarf? I don’t understand what you’re talking about.”
“You don’t know? Who are you trying to fool? Hand over the dwarf and the others now, or I’ll burn this place down!”
The old man looked innocent, as if he didn’t understand Yueya’s words.
“Miss, we really don’t have any dwarfs here. If you don’t believe me, feel free to search. If you find the people you’re looking for, I will definitely not stop you.”
“You said it. Don’t go back on your word.”
“I will not go back on my word,” the old man assured confidently. Yueya surveyed her surroundings.
Everything seemed familiar except for the fact that the Forgetful Tavern was still the same Forgetful Tavern, but everything else was strange. The staff was no longer Dunlu and Pitia, and the customers were different. Yueya thought of the Stop Room and quickly went upstairs. The old man signaled to a staff member, who nodded and followed Yueya.
They arrived at the Stop Room. Yueya looked at the lock on the door. It was the same lock. She smiled in satisfaction and turned to the staff member.
“Open the door for me!”
“Uh…”
The staff member pretended to hesitate. Yueya threatened, “If you don’t open this room, I’ll set this place on fire.”
“Alright, alright. I’ll open it, I’ll open it,” the staff member quickly relented, taking out a key and unlocking the door. Yueya pulled the staff member and pushed the door open. The room was pitch black, and she couldn’t see anything.
The staff member entered the room and lit a candle. The room was filled with wine jars, and the smell of wine was strong. The staff member said, “This room is used by our owner to store wine. Our Forgetful Tavern’s wine is famous far and wide. To prevent theft, the owner locked this room to keep outsiders out. Since you insisted on coming in, I can’t stop you. Just remember, you can’t take even one jar of wine.”
“Who wants your crappy wine!” Yueya was angry. The staff member, puzzled, scratched his head and asked, “Then why did you insist on coming in?”
“I…” Yueya was momentarily speechless and didn’t want to argue with the staff member. She turned and went back to her room. The staff member watched Yueya’s retreating figure with a strange smile.
Back in her room, Yueya sat in a chair, deep in thought.
Strange. It’s really strange. Everything that happened before feels like a dream. But how could it be a dream? Or is it that this is the dream?
Yueya pinched herself hard, feeling pain and biting her lip.
It hurts? It actually hurts. So this must be real. Then, was what happened before just a dream? But how could that be? It shouldn’t be!
Yueya looked around the room again.
This place is so eerie! I better get out of here as soon as possible!
Thinking this, Yueya quickly went downstairs.
When she reached the first floor, the long-bearded old man spoke to her.
“Little girl, did you find the dwarf you mentioned?”
Yueya looked at the old man, feeling his smile was quite eerie. She then looked at the other people in the tavern. They all had similarly strange smiles. Yueya felt a chill down her spine and an inexplicable fear in her heart. She didn’t think much and ran out of the tavern.
At the same time, the old man and the staff member peeled off their face masks, revealing their true identities. They were none other than Chunhua and Qiuyue in disguise.
- Writer
