You have to wake up

The nagging voice and twisted eyebrows made her smile, and so she made her way inside, landing with a plop on the couch. "Why'd you call for me?" She grinned.

Mo Yiling's fingers paused for a moment and he sent her a deep look.

What did that look mean? She wondered. But that didn't keep her from trying to rile him up. "You know, if you keep working your ass off at your office, you're never going to get a girlfriend. You should try stepping out for a bit." She sent him a knowing look, expecting him to scoff at her and berate her for saying something 'idiotic' or something. Instead, however, he just pursed his lips and swiveled his chair to look at her fully.

"Shadow fox."

"Hmm?"

"You should go back to the present." He said the words with so much conviction and certainty, but his statement was only met with confusion in the woman's eyes.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "What do you mean?"

"You shouldn't be here."

"In your office? But you called for me—"

"In your memories or your thoughts, or whatever. In this place."

Ying Yue only became more perplexed, and she cocked her head to one side. It was apparent that she didn't understand – which, in other words, meant that she was getting immersed in this alternate reality. "Huh?"

"This… this isn't real." Mo Yiling put his hands together in front of him. "If you stay here too long, you'll never be able to wake up."

"I don't quite understand—"

He pointed a finger at her. "Take a look at your left arm."

She raised a brow at him, but did as she was told anyway. And when she followed his line of sight, she became appalled to find a blown-out gunshot wound to her arm. "Oh my gosh!" It didn't look like it was healed. She poked it carefully. Thankfully, it wasn't bleeding, and neither was it painful. "What the hell is this?"

"Lift your shirt."

"Excuse me?" Ying Yue whipped his head towards him only to find Mo Yiling looking dead serious.

He nodded at her encouragingly, as if to say that he didn't mean any harm by saying those words.

And so hesitantly, Ying Yue lifted up her shirt – just a little. But that little gap between the hem of her shirt and the top of her jeans was enough to reveal a nasty shot to her right abdomen. "Sh*t!!! What in the world?" She exclaimed, her eyes widening and turning to the man in the room before looking back at the injuries she had on herself. "When did this happen? I haven't even gone out on a mission yet!"

Mo Yiling was quiet until his expressionless face softened a little. "Try to remember what really happened. You HAVE to remember," he stressed. "If you get too comfortable here, you'll never be able to wake up."

She frowned, putting her shirt back in place. "What?"

"You have to wake up."

"Yiling, I don't understand!"

His jaw clenched and he looked away. He looked a little... remorseful. There was sadness in his eyes. "I'm sorry for what happened."

Sorry? About what? What exactly happened? She rubbed her chin in frustration. She felt like she was supposed to know something – but forgot all about it. Gun shots on her arm… Mo Yiling being sorry…

She thought about it long and hard.

What...

And then as if she was hit by lightning, Ying Yue stiffened as a flash of bright light blinded her and then her head started to pound heavily. She squeezed her temples with both hands, groaning and screaming alternately at the pain she was feeling. Her arms started to hurt, too, and so did her stomach. She felt weak and helpless, and she cried out loud.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" She rocked herself back and forth as the memories started to flood in.

Wang Longwei's crazed look… Mo Yiling betraying them… Big Boss getting killed… Fei Huangjin getting shot… Song Yinan disappearing… Her taking over Juyan… The mission she went on… Fei Huangjin injured… Song Yinan trying to kill her… Su Jianjun trying to kill Fei Huangjin… Her protecting him…

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" The pain and exhaustion on her body made her feel out-of-breath and hopeless, until she finally thought of letting go and disappearing. Dying was better than feeling that way.

Love you… Tell that to me later…

Fei Huangjin…