Operation Flying Light

The night deepened, and the moonlight was partially obscured by drifting clouds.

Xu Feng sat on the bed in a daze while Weijiu slept soundly beside her. All the problems had been dumped onto Xu Feng’s lap. She didn’t know how Weijiu had lost her memory, and she knew even less about what her own future held.

If I hand Weijiu over to the Dream Protection Bureau, I might as well throw myself in with her. I’ll just let the person known as “Xu Feng” cease to exist in this world, or be marked as missing for unknown reasons.

As this thought crossed her mind, Xu Feng felt a sudden, sharp pang in her heart.

What about my parents? And my sister? Even if it’s not much, they do love me after all. They would be devastated. What am I thinking!

Xu Feng slapped her own cheeks, remembering the magic Weijiu had mentioned.

“As long as I’m not caught… there won’t be a problem.”

Xu Feng clenched her fists and made a silent vow: she would never let the secret of her transformation into a girl be exposed.

3:56 AM

Fei Guang crushed his cigarette butt and tossed it into a trash can. Glancing at his watch, he felt the time was about right.

“I hope there’s a heavy fog tomorrow morning.” He swung his leg over an old bicycle and began pedaling through the moonlit city.

The roads were much wider than during the day, occupied only by a few late-night drivers and the occasional long-distance cyclist. A phone was clipped to Fei Guang’s handlebars, occasionally flashing with a news notification:

Recently, a brief, unexplained thick fog appeared at the Shanghuai Intersection. Weather experts claim it may be a malfunction in the city’s smog-control systems; an investigation has begun at nearby construction sites.

“Sigh… I did overdo it a bit. If Teacher sees this, he’ll have a headache negotiating excuses with those experts.” There was genuine apology in Fei Guang’s voice, but he continued with the task his boss had given him. After all, this was how he put food on the table.

The bicycle sped past a school, through several traffic lights, and past an old residential complex. Fei Guang slowed down in front of the complex. Feeling something, he glanced at the apartment buildings and took a mental note—and a photo—before pedaling away.

4:23 AM

Fei Guang arrived at his destination: a cluster of unfinished, abandoned buildings.

“These guys really know how to pick a spot.” He hid his bike and scouted the surroundings.

Weeds grew tall across the open concrete, and foxtail grass swayed in the night wind. The abandoned structures were deserted; far from the city center, not even the homeless bothered to live here.

Fei Guang took cover in a corner of a building and lit a cigarette. This time, he simply smoked, refraining from laying down any mist. According to his boss, this was the drop-off point where the person sabotaging the trade would flip the “Dreamseed Feed.” The deal would go down at dawn.

Fei Guang waited, closing his eyes while keeping his ears sharp.

Tap—

It sounded like someone had kicked a stone. Fei Guang opened his eyes and immediately pulled back into the shadows.

Tap-tap—

The sound of the stones seemed to be a signal. Fei Guang watched the path ahead, where the concrete walls and gates were overgrown with tall grass.

Tap-tap-tap!

Finally, two figures emerged from the tall grass on either side.

The man on the left wore a long black coat and a tall hat, acting furtively while clutching his chest as if hiding something precious. The man on the right was stout with large ears, wearing floral boxers and a large unbuttoned shirt that exposed his belly.

They met face-to-face and wasted no time starting the transaction. Fei Guang exhaled a cloud of smoke; the mist began to deploy.

“Five million per seed! No lower!”

“Our boss doesn’t think they’re worth it. One million is already a high price. Can you guarantee these seeds will actually sprout high-quality Dream Fruits?” The man in boxers picked at his ear, looking like he’d walk away if the price didn’t drop.

“I risked my life for these! Do you know how many people I betrayed?! Someone might be hunting me right now!” the man in black roared in helpless fury.

The man in floral boxers remained unmoved, even offering a sneer. “Oh, you risked your life? What’s that got to do with me?”

“You bastards—!”

The man in black was about to curse when he realized his surroundings were growing blurry.

“What’s going on?!” The boxer man looked around, starting to panic.

“It’s an ambush! You damn fool! Where did you leak the meeting spot?!” The man in black grabbed the boxer man’s shirt in a rage, but a surge of mist lunged toward him.

“You be my shield!” The man in black shoved the boxer man forward. The boxer man was struck by the mist and sent flying through the air!

Thud!

The man in boxers hit the ground hard, his belly turning a bruised red. “Motherf—!” He scrambled to get back at the man in black, but a voice echoed from within the fog.

“Get lost if you don’t want to die. I’d rather not hunt an irrelevant bystander.”

“Who do you think you are?!” The boxer man snapped. He grabbed a brick from the ground and hurled it into the mist, but it hit nothing.

“Leave!”

The mist coiled around the man in boxers, hoisted him high into the air, and threw him clean out of the abandoned site. A loud crash echoed from a distant trash heap.

Now, only the man in black remained in the mist. He clutched his chest, staying alert for any incoming attacks.

“You’re from the Dreamhunters, aren’t you!” the man in black shouted into the void. Fei Guang couldn’t be bothered to answer.

The sooner I finish this, the sooner I’m done.

Fei Guang commanded a dozen clusters of mist to pounce on the man. Seeing his packets of seeds being snatched away by the vapor, the man in black roared in a fit of uncontrollable rage.

“Don’t you dare take them! No one takes them! NIGHTMARE-IZE!”

The man dropped to his knees. His body began to emit eerie green sparks. The points of light glowed brighter as his body began to swell and bloat.

“Dreamhusk-ification? So he planted a seed in himself beforehand.” Fei Guang retrieved the seed packets, his gaze turning sharp.

The man’s clothes shredded. Those green sparks turned out to be vines that burst through his flesh, surging into the air as if they could automatically track Fei Guang’s position.

“Dissolve.”

Fei Guang calmly turned into mist. The lashing vines struck nothing but air, leaving deep gouges in the concrete of the abandoned building.

“Aaargh!” The man had lost his sanity. His body continued to grow larger as more and more vines erupted from his skin.

“I have to end this completely.” Fei Guang stood amidst the ruins, stowing the seed packets away before raising his left hand.

“Sever!”

Fei Guang’s hand swept down. A dozen razor-sharp blades of mist flew toward the man.

Shing!

There was no resistance. The vines collapsed into a pile of withered husks, and the man in black—struck by the mist blades—fell apart, his body split into pieces.

Fei Guang waved his hand to disperse the fog. He walked to the remains of the man, snapped a photo, and sent it to his boss. Seconds later, his phone rang.

“Hello? Boss, I can leave now, right?”

“Of course. You did well, Fei Guang. Leave the mess to the Dream Protection Bureau. Just bring the seeds back.”

The call ended with its usual abruptness.

Fei Guang pushed his bicycle, spared one last glance at the remains, and rode away from the ruins.

5:12 AM

The man’s corpse began to attract flies. Amidst the buzzing, beneath the withered vines, one forgotten packet of seeds had already begun to take root in the soil, quietly sprouting its first bud.