It was early morning.

Lu Yibei woke up screaming from his bed, his sweat-soaked pajamas clinging tightly to his back, sending a chill through him. He took off his eye mask, fumbled for the light switch, and saw his bed in disarray.

He had a nightmare.

He dreamt of Mr. Rabbit, and then of the poor woman attacked by Mr. Rabbit.

At the last moment, he saw Mr. Rabbit's three-lobed lips curl outwards like a blooming flower, and his mincing-knife-like fangs easily severed the artery in her neck, hot blood gushing out.

The woman's tragic death in the nightmare was so vivid that even though he only watched like an outsider, Lu Yibei still had the illusion of having experienced it himself.

Even after waking up, he could vaguely feel the phantom pain of being torn by sharp teeth lingering on his neck.

He touched his neck with lingering fear, feeling a sticky, wet liquid. His fingertips trembled, and his heart suddenly skipped a beat. It took him a while to realize it was sweat and not blood.

That Mr. Rabbit definitely had a big problem!

He subconsciously wanted to contact the police, but then he thought that if he reported it rashly, no one would believe what he said.

Reporting a nightmare, even if that nightmare was as vivid as if it were truly happening somewhere in this world, would probably make people think he was crazy, right?

But if he just let it go...

Will it be my turn?

This thought popped into Lu Yibei's mind, startling even himself, and he quickly shook his head.

No, no, no!

Why would I scare myself for no reason?

That's right, maybe it was just a nightmare, and I was just too nervous after coming into contact with Mr. Rabbit, which is why I had such a nightmare.

He comforted himself in this way, and the surging fear in his heart seemed to calm down a little because of it. What the hell!

How could anyone calm down so easily after encountering something like this in the middle of the night?

The calmness on his face was not true calmness!

He looked expressionlessly out the window; it was pitch black outside.

It was 4:50 AM, at least nearly four hours until dawn.

Leaving his residence at this time and going outside would not be safer than staying at home; it might even be more dangerous!

In this situation, this is the only way, isn't it?

Thinking this, Lu Yibei got up and went to the living room downstairs.

The living room was silent. The usual sighs, dripping sounds, and rustling noises that occasionally came from the darkness seemed to be afraid of something, all hiding away.

The dimly lit living room was dead silent, and in this dead silence, the slight rustling sound of the Coat hanging outside the window, ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) blown by the wind, seemed particularly jarring.

"Whoosh—whoosh—!"

Hearing the sound, Lu Yibei glanced out the window. Under the hazy moonlight, the Coat, like a person with only half a body, excitedly waved its arms in the wind.

"Gulp—!" His Adam's apple slowly bobbed. Lu Yibei swallowed, gathered his courage, walked forward, and pulled the curtains shut.

Out of sight, out of mind. This might not be effective, but at least it provided some peace of mind.

He turned on the light, walked to the mingwang statue, put his hands together, and respectfully bowed to the Mingwang. Then, brazenly, he spoke.

"I've taken good care of you for a thousand days, and now I need your divine power for a moment. I haven't neglected you on a daily basis, and what happened tonight is truly bizarre. I'm doing this out of necessity, so I hope you don't mind!"

After speaking, Lu Yibei quietly stared at the mingwang statue. The brass statue had wide, angry eyes, a majestic and solemn appearance, and bulging muscles carrying a nuclear warhead, which immediately gave people an inexplicable sense of security.

"Alright, since you're not speaking, I'll take it as your tacit approval!"

With that, Lu Yibei took a few steps forward, picked up the half-human-tall statue weighing dozens of catties, and turned to walk towards the upstairs bedroom.

He carefully placed the statue on the bed, turned on the smart speaker on the bedside table, and selected the third chapter's theme song of "love and magical girls" passionately sung by White Little Flower. Only then did Lu Yibei return to his quilt.

Hugging the statue's solid and sturdy body and listening to White Little Flower's pleasant singing, his emotions finally gradually calmed down, but he was completely sleepless.

Just lie motionless on the bed like this, waiting for dawn?

Lu Yibei originally planned to "play dead" in bed and stay up all night, but unexpectedly, as dawn approached, he couldn't hold on and fell into a deep sleep.

In the last moment of consciousness, he vaguely saw a pair of blood-red eyes, like glass marbles, silently gazing at him from the deepest part of layers of blurry dreams.

Stared at by those resentful eyes, Lu Yibei felt his body sinking slowly as if falling into water, and a voice sounded in his ear.

It was like strange whispers, or an ancient, mysterious ballad.

Then, the voice gradually became clear...

...

"Auntie, press, press ~ ♪"

Lu Yibei woke up from his hazy dream, groggily turned over, and found his loudly ringing phone on the bedside table.

The call was from Shui Ge, who was initiating a video call with Lu Yibei.

Lu Yibei smacked his lips, lightly touched the phone screen to answer the call, and immediately a handsome, flamboyant face appeared on the screen, showing him a charming and wild smile.

"Yo, my dearest Xiao Bei, good morning!"

"Hmm, good morning," Lu Yibei responded expressionlessly.

Upon hearing this, Shui Ge pounded his chest in grief, "Wow, you're so cold! I'm so sad!"

"Tsk, what else do you expect? You can't expect a patient with facial paralysis to smile at you, can you?" Lu Yibei said impatiently.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot you had that problem! How pitiful!"

Lu Yibei looked indifferent, "Pitiful my ass! You damn gigolo, are you here to pick a fight?"

"I've told you how many times, that profession is now called a male escort, please show some respect!"

"Yes, yes, yes, Mr. Escort, can you just get to the point?"

Ever since his father told Lu Yibei that Shui Ge was Hua City's top male escort, he had never doubted it.

After all, besides that profession, what other profession requires one to dress so flamboyantly and work every night?

And every time Lu Yibei saw Shui Ge right after work, he looked mentally exhausted and his legs trembled.

As if using body language to explain what "I really have nothing left!" meant.

Lu Yibei did not discriminate against male escorts. Everyone works to make a living; there is no high or low status. He simply discriminated against Shui Ge as a person!

How can anyone stand a man who is extremely flamboyant, acts like a clingy person, constantly revolves around you, and babbles in your ear like an ancient god's whisper!?

Although Lu Yibei knew that all of Shui Ge's actions were out of care, he and his deceased old man had different interests!

It's unbearable!

"Actually, something happened to me last night, and after much deliberation, I called you today because I wanted to..."

Shui Ge was shot in the chest by Jiang Li last night. After deliberating for most of the night, he made up his mind and then called Lu Yibei, originally wanting to discuss with him the matter of taking him as his godson.

However, shortly after opening the video call, he saw the shy-looking statue on Lu Yibei's bed, covered by half a quilt. Lu Yibei's hand was accidentally resting on the statue's chest, ambiguously drawing small circles.

In an instant, something strange suddenly flashed through Shui Ge's mind, and then his whole being was not good.

"Holy crap! What the hell is that on your bed?!"

Shui Ge suddenly let out a ghostly shriek, startling Lu Yibei, who abruptly turned around and saw the statue that had been sleeping beside him for most of the night. Just then, Shui Ge's earnest and somewhat sorrowful words came from the phone.

"Xiao Bei, I always thought you were still a child and completely failed to consider that you've started to have physiological needs. I'm sorry! This was my oversight as your uncle, but you don't have to do this!"

"That's a statue! It's made of brass! It can get hurt! You..."

Shui Ge's words were cut off halfway as Lu Yibei expressionlessly ended the call.

What on earth was going through his head?

Soon, the phone vibrated again; it was still Shui Ge.

"Xiao Bei, I thought about it, and my words just now were indeed a bit extreme. I'm old, and I don't really understand you young people anymore! This is what they call copper fetish online, right? I..."

Lu Yibei hung up the phone with a dark expression.

"Holy crap! Don't hang up yet! I won't interfere with your personal interests. I called you because I wanted to tell you that after much deliberation, I want to take you as my godso..."

No! You don't want to!

Damn it! A good day ends with seeing Shui Ge!

He wants to take advantage of me first thing in the morning! I treat you like a brother, and you actually want to be my dad?

Lu Yibei hung up the phone again and also blacklisted Shui Ge's phone number, WeChat ID, and QQ ID.

However, not long after, his phone vibrated again.

He picked up the phone and saw a text message from an unknown number. The message read, "Didn't expect it, did you! It's still me!" Judging by the style of language, it was undoubtedly Shui Ge!

Just as Lu Yibei was about to blacklist Shui Ge's new number, his phone vibrated again. It was still a text message from Shui Ge, but the content was very serious.

"Tomorrow is the last day for your university registration. Take some time today or tomorrow to register quickly. Your two-year deferral limit is full. If you don't register this year, you'll have to go back and retake the college entrance exam!"

Lu Yibei held his phone in silence for a few seconds, then replied, "Got it, I'll go in a bit."

Then...

He blacklisted Shui Ge's new number.

Just as he put down his phone, Lu Yibei suddenly remembered the nightmare from last night. After hesitating for a moment, he still dismissed the idea of telling Shui Ge about the nightmare.

If he told him, he would definitely make a big fuss and cause a lot of trouble. Just thinking about it was annoying.

...

Si Ye Hui Headquarters.

Bai Kai, who was about to get off work, received Lu Yibei's reply, and a blissful expression, as if bathed in spring breeze, immediately appeared on his face.

A passing Night Watch member saw this and asked curiously, "Old Bai, what's making you so happy?"

Bai Kai shook his phone and said proudly, "I just took on a godson!"

"Oh! Congratulations then! For such good news, you'll have to host a banquet and treat us to a meal sometime!"

"Of course!" Bai Kai chuckled and patted the Night Watch member's shoulder, "However, I have to ask my dear son first. He's very tsundere and a bit introverted, so he might not like crowded environments!"

As he spoke, Bai Kai called Lu Yibei, but what he heard was "The number you have dialed is temporarily unavailable."

After several failed attempts to send text messages, Bai Kai finally realized that his new number had once again been blacklisted by Lu Yibei, and the smile on his face gradually stiffened...