"DREAMCATCHER"

Jiangzhe Province, Lugang District, Jiangxin Island.

Jiangbei and Jiangnan were separated by the rushing Oujiang River, which was most famous for its corpse retrievers. No one who fell into the river ever survived. Families would pay a hefty sum to hire these retrievers, but whether a body could be recovered depended on luck.

One year, during the Great Cold season, frost covered the plants, and the villagers predicted that there would be no harvest the following year. Fear spread among the villagers. At that time, a Taoist priest, known for his wisdom, passed through the area and offered guidance. Due to the severe cold, the river had frozen over, and in the middle of the river lay a deserted island, also known as Jiangxin Island.

Following the priest's advice, the villagers crossed the frozen river and built a temple on the island, naming it Jiangdu Temple. The priest spent the entire year traveling back and forth, directing the villagers in the construction. According to the priest, the temple was to be dedicated to the Four River Gods, and the Great Cold would end once the temple was completed. When incense was lit in the temple, his words came true.

The once turbulent river became calm, and those who fell into the water no longer needed the corpse retrievers; anyone with basic swimming skills could save themselves. The crops sprouted again, and spring brought an unexpectedly abundant harvest. Grateful, the villagers offered the priest money, but he refused. Instead, he asked them to build rafts and send the money to Jiangdu Temple to continue worshiping the Four River Gods. The villagers followed his instructions, holding small ceremonies every three days and large ones every five.

The priest, satisfied, prepared to leave the village. The villagers prepared wine and meat to bid him farewell. Though the priest initially declined, he eventually drank with them. After several rounds, the villagers were drunk, their faces flushed, and the leader of the corpse retrievers, emboldened by alcohol, asked the priest about Jiangdu Temple. The priest, perhaps without realizing, let slip the truth.

"What did the priest say?" Lu Qiao asked excitedly.

"Hold on, let me finish. One sip each. The cold on the island bites—take a sip to warm up, and I'll continue the story," Da Hai laughed, pulling a silver flask from his waist, taking a swig, and passing it around. Everyone followed suit, one sip each.

"Whoa! That's strong. What kind of alcohol is this?" Lu Qiao asked.

Da Hai slapped Lu Qiao's arm. "Seventy-proof 'Knockout Mule.'"

"My head's already spinning," Lu Qiao blinked, his eyelids growing heavy.

"Same here! Didn't even have time to brace myself before getting tipsy," Li Xia laughed.

Han Dong pulled out some bags of chips. "I brought snacks!"

This was a deserted island, accessible only by ferry, and the place was also known as Jiangxin Island. However, there was no temple on the island, just a large, empty, abandoned patch of land.

The four-person group stood on the island, as all the boats had left. Da Hai had arranged for the ferryman to return at nine the next morning to pick them up. From the island, Lu Qiao could see the bright skyscrapers of Jiangnan and Jiangbei in the distance, but the island itself was dark, not even a firefly in sight. He pulled out his phone, which showed no signal, scratching his head as he pondered how to solve the signal problem.

By now, Lu Qiao's vision was blurring. He was a small-time planner from Lugang, a third-tier city, earning a monthly salary of 3,000 yuan. His company had an outdoor adventure streamer known as Snake Uncle, with 630,000 followers on a popular short-video platform. However, Snake Uncle's metrics had been fluctuating, and his viewership was on the verge of plummeting. In an effort to find new live-streaming content, Lu Qiao had been given the task of coming up with a trending idea within a week.

Out of desperation, Lu Qiao joined a local ghost-hunting group in Lugang. The chat was full of people boasting about exploring haunted houses, but after two days of discussion, they rented a boat, pooled their deposit, and in the end, only four people showed up: Da Hai, Han Dong, Li Xia, and Lu Qiao.

Lu Qiao had no choice but to join, hoping to find something suitable for a live stream to solve the company's dilemma—and his own salary issue. Who would have thought that, shortly after arriving, Da Hai would set the mood with such a story, spilling out unexpected gems of information? Lu Qiao's recorder, strapped to his waist, had captured it all, even though he was too drunk to focus. This part of the story would be invaluable.

Struggling to stay awake, Lu Qiao asked again, "What did the priest say…?"

Da Hai took another sip, screwed the cap back on, and said, "The atmosphere's about right. Let's sit down and talk."

Han Dong and Li Xia had already found two patches of grass and sat down, while Lu Qiao crouched beside a stone and slowly sat down as well. Da Hai patted his pants and sat back down, chuckling as he began to tell his story.

After everyone had fallen asleep, the Taoist priest, in a daze, was coaxed into speaking by the leader of the corpse retrievers. The priest smiled and revealed the secret: "There are no Four River Gods, only a person who drowned in the river. Their intense resentment turned them into a water ghost. They appeared to me in a dream, and I thought that by building a temple and offering incense, it would help them gather spiritual energy and cultivate. The ghost is a good one; it knows how to show gratitude and has calmed the waters, preventing the Oujiang River from claiming more lives. It also brought us a bountiful harvest and good weather."

The priest spoke without much thought, but the listeners took it to heart.

While the others were drunk, only the corpse retrievers remained sober. They gathered that night and, to protect their future livelihood, drew lots. The unfortunate man who drew the short straw carried the priest on his back, paddled a raft to Jiangdu Temple, and left the priest there. Then he pulled out a flint and set the temple ablaze. The flames roared high, and as the man tried to return to Jiangnan by raft, he was swept away by the river before he could even cry out.

That night, everyone was drunk, except for the corpse retrievers, who heard the priest's anguished screams and were in deep pain, clutching their mouths and noses.

The next morning, the villagers woke to see the river raging again, the temple in the distance charred black from the fire, and seventeen men—each one a corpse retriever—dead, with blood streaming from their eyes, ears, nose, and mouth.

Da Hai laughed and said to the group, "The place we're sitting right now is the site of the old Jiangdu Temple."

Li Xia waved a hand dismissively. "Who are you trying to scare? There aren't even any burn marks here!"

Lu Qiao, barely able to handle his alcohol, sneaked a hand behind his back and turned off the recorder. He thought to himself that this story was definitely captivating. With a bit of creative tweaking and fixing the signal issue here, his company's top streamer, Snake Uncle, would have an explosive story to tell!

Da Hai picked up some dirt from the ground, let it go as it blew in the wind, and said softly, "Of course you won't see any burn marks now—it's all been cleaned up. This happened hundreds of years ago. They even tried to convert this place into an amusement park, but within a year, a terrible typhoon and the river's moisture corroded the huge Ferris wheel, and it collapsed. It's too dark to see anything now, but if you look to the east during the day, you should be able to spot the old amusement park ruins."

"I'm curious, how do you even know this story?" Han Dong asked, his words barely coherent before he slumped to one side.

Li Xia, realizing something was wrong, held his head but fell over before he could speak.

Two of the four had fallen, and Lu Qiao was barely holding on. He glanced at Da Hai, who was the only one still sober, and felt something was off.

Had they been scammed? Were they in danger? Something was definitely wrong!

Da Hai smiled and said, "The story is 70% true, 30% made up. Sorry, I lied to you guys earlier. What I gave you to drink wasn't just alcohol—there was a little something extra in it. But don't worry, I'm not after your kidneys, and I'm not interested in your money. I have a more pure goal in mind."

Lu Qiao wanted to react, but his mind was no longer obeying him. His vision began to blur.

In his hazy view, Da Hai pulled a stack of dreamcatchers out of his bag, smiling. "Don't be afraid, just sleep. I told you an interesting story so you'll have strange and vivid dreams. I'm not interested in you—only in the dreams. If the dream is interesting, it will come, and I've been waiting for it for years. My instruments have pinpointed its location again. This is my third attempt to catch it. Sleep peacefully!"