They stepped out of the forest, their feet sinking into the soft earth. The air was fresh, yet there seemed to be an unnameable sense of oppression in it.
Before them, the plain stretched endlessly, calm and silent. In the distance, the outline of a small town gradually came into view, faint lights scattered along the edges of the town. The buildings here were not tall, a few scattered high-rises mixed with low, modest houses. The streets were neat, but there were few people around.
Even so, Lu Yunfei still felt that everything around them seemed unusual. The buildings seemed like they had been forgotten long ago, standing silently in place.
"Let's go," Li Yecheng suddenly broke the silence, nodding toward the town. The two quickened their pace, slowly approaching the seemingly neglected town.
They walked through a quiet street, passing row upon row of shops, their doors and windows tightly shut. The air was devoid of voices, as if everything had come to a standstill. Occasionally, they glimpsed a figure behind a window, but no one stepped outside or greeted them. Even the animals in the town seemed lazy, wandering aimlessly at street corners with hollow eyes.
The closer they got, the more they could sense a strange solitude and silence.
"This place feels wrong," Lu Yunfei muttered softly, his eyes scanning the surrounding desolate buildings. He could feel an unsettling strangeness. There were no bustling voices or conversations, as if this world had been stripped of warmth.
As they continued walking, suddenly a distant light caught their attention. It was the only light shining in the depth of the town—a tavern, with warm light spilling through the window frames, like the only crack of light in the darkness.
Li Yecheng stopped and fixed his gaze on the window. "Don't you think this light is drawing us in?"
Lu Yunfei nodded and frowned, pondering for a moment. They had no other choice, so they headed toward the tavern.
When they pushed open the old wooden door, the warm air of the tavern greeted them, as if the temperature of the place had been condensed in this single beam of light.
As they pushed the door open, a faint bell rang, and the door closed with a light breeze.
The air inside the tavern was thick with the smell of alcohol and tobacco. Under the dim yellow light, several wooden tables were scattered on the floor, their corners gleaming faintly. The bottles on the bar were neatly arranged, each one shimmering with a different light, as if waiting silently to be opened.
A few people were sitting in the corners, speaking in low voices, occasionally letting out soft, deep laughter.
The bartender behind the bar was busy, his hand pouring liquor from one bottle to another, the liquid making a soft clinking sound as it flowed down. Glasses slid along the bar, emitting faint sounds of their own.
There were almost no loud voices in the tavern, and the atmosphere was a bit oppressive. On the walls, several photos hung, the scenes in them blurry, the colors faded, as if they had been brought from some distant place.
A man wearing a shirt sat near the window, a glass of nearly finished liquor in front of him. He looked down at the table, occasionally lifting his head, his gaze cold.
The tavern staff moved between the tables, each step unhurried, performing the same tasks, their eyes showing no emotion. Everyone seemed to live in their own world, indifferent to the scenes around them.
Lu Yunfei and Li Yecheng entered and silently looked around. Everything in the tavern appeared ordinary, yet it also subtly hinted at something unusual.
No one welcomed them, and no one seemed to notice them, as if their arrival had caused no ripple.
"Let's sit down," Li Yecheng said in a low voice, his eyes scanning the empty seats. They walked to the bar and chose a seat in the corner.
"Hello, what would you like to drink?" The bartender asked, his tone seemingly calm but carrying a hint of mechanical detachment, as though this was something he said every day. His gaze lingered on them for a moment, then seemingly absentmindedly moved away.
"Anything," Lu Yunfei replied.
Li Yecheng nodded and waited in silence.
The bartender began to mix drinks, his movements practiced, but he didn't speak again. The whole scene was quiet, as if they had entered a parallel world.
Lu Yunfei politely asked, "What's the name of this town? Is it far from the big city?"
The bartender paused his actions, raised his head to look at them, and smiled, saying, "Well, this is a remote place. It's far from any economically developed city, and the transportation is inconvenient. There are almost no people who come here; only some outsiders pass through occasionally."
He spoke in a flat tone, but his gaze seemed unfocused, drifting as though he was avoiding certain questions.
"No wonder it feels lifeless," Li Yecheng muttered softly, but he didn't press the matter further. The two exchanged a glance, and an uneasy feeling began to rise in their hearts.
Lu Yunfei quietly said to Li Yecheng, "Don't you think it's strange? From the moment we left that room, we encountered a madman, the farmer, and now this town—everything feels off."
Li Yecheng glanced around, whispering, "Yeah, the people here look like robots. The bartender's response had no emotion at all."
Lu Yunfei lowered his voice again, "Do you think we're in a dream? I feel like the world in dreams is always like this—blurred and unreal."
Li Yecheng turned to look at him, his eyes cold. "So, you're not real?"
Lu Yunfei's lips curled into a faint, ironic smile. "Maybe you're not real."
Li Yecheng didn't answer immediately. He just stared at him, and after a moment, said, "But I know I'm real."
The air fell silent between them, and each man sank into his own thoughts. The silence between them felt like an invisible tension.
Finally, Lu Yunfei broke the silence. "If it's a dream, how could two real people appear in the same dream together?"
Lu Yunfei took some paper bills out of the farmer's bag and paid for the drinks. Then, he turned to the bartender and asked, "Is there a hotel here?"
The bartender looked up again, still wearing the same unchanging smile. "There's an Owl Hotel on the right side of the street. It's the only hotel in the town."
Lu Yunfei and Li Yecheng exchanged a glance and nodded. They left the tavern. After walking for a short while, they indeed found a dim hotel. The words "Owl Hotel" on the sign appeared a little blurry in the yellow light. They rang the doorbell, and the door creaked open.
Standing at the door was a woman in her thirties. She glanced at them and politely asked, "Do you need rooms?"
Lu Yunfei nodded. "Two rooms."
The woman said, "Please follow me." She turned and led them inside.
They followed her down the hallway, where she showed them to their respective rooms, then silently left.
The door behind them closed softly, and the hotel fell quiet again. Lu Yunfei stood in his room, yet his mind was still not at ease.