Autumn Ease was dead. That was beyond doubt.

For the first time, he knew that after death, humans truly had souls.

He couldn’t see his own soul, but he could see his body lying in a pool of blood.

His memories were like a scratched painting—blurry and indistinct.

He sank into thought, recalling what had happened before his death—

…

At five in the early autumn morning, the sky was still pitch black. The silent city hadn’t yet woken from its slumber.

A cold wind, from who knows where, made the already old window creak and rattle.

Autumn Ease opened his eyes. The room reeked of alcohol.

It made him cough uncontrollably.

“Cough… cough…” Last night, he hadn’t so much fallen asleep as passed out from drinking too much.

His mind was a mess. His body felt heavy and filthy, as if churned in a mud pit.

He sniffed his clothes. They reeked of alcohol and vomit.

“Ugh…” Autumn Ease rubbed his temples hard and sat up from bed.

The hangover was worse for him—he rarely drank.

He remembered why he’d drunk so much.

It might sound laughable.

Yesterday, he’d had a dream—a long dream, like a lifetime.

In that dream, he had a beautiful, gentle wife. Not someone else. Himself. Specifically, himself as a woman.

The male Autumn Ease and the female Autumn Ease fell in love, married, and had children…

Many things happened during that time. Even though the dream was now hazy, recalling it still filled him with happiness.

But it was just a dream. After waking, there was no girl version of himself by his side. He felt lost and empty.

His buddies thought he was upset because the former school beauty had married. They took him to a KTV to drink. He didn’t explain. He used it as an excuse to drink heavily all night.

Was it ridiculous to suffer more than a heartbroken person over a girl who didn’t exist in reality?

Autumn Ease chuckled self-mockingly. But the smile on his face was forced.

Because she felt so real. That unforgettable feeling… just thinking of her made his heart twitch.

His phone rang.

It was the classic Tom and Jerry theme song. But he couldn’t find any comfort in its cheerful tune.

When someone’s in a bad mood, even a happy melody sounds sad.

The caller ID showed GuanPeng.

GuanPeng was his best friend since high school.

“Hey, Autumn Ease, are you asleep?” GuanPeng’s voice came through. Usually light and cheerful, it was now serious.

“No, I’m awake.”

“Can’t sleep either?”

“I guess…” Autumn Ease stared expressionlessly at the hazy city outside. He felt utterly drained.

He didn’t want to sleep or get up. He could just space out all day.

“Last night when you were drunk, you said you dreamed about a girl named Leaf Grace, right?”

“Yeah… ha… Actually, I’m not sad because our class beauty got married. I’m sad because she from the dream isn’t real… heh, sounds ridiculous, doesn’t it?”

“No… not at all.” GuanPeng paused on the other end. Then he said slowly, “Actually, I had a similar dream too. She was in it.”

“Huh? Ha… Don’t joke to cheer me up. I’m not in the mood.” Autumn Ease felt touched. He knew his old friend cared.

“Her name is Leaf Grace, right?” GuanPeng asked.

“Did I say that when I was drunk?”

“No. Because what you described matches my dream.”

“Really?!” Autumn Ease’s voice turned excited instantly.

“Yes. I dreamed of that girl, many things. They felt so real. I even remember you walking down the aisle with her—yesterday you were drunk, so I didn’t tell you. But I couldn’t sleep all night.”

“Coincidence?” Autumn Ease’s eyes lit up.

“No. Do you think our memories were erased? But we still remember fragments, making us think it was a dream?”

“Impossible…” Autumn Ease said. But hope surged in his heart.

“Let’s talk in person. It’s hard to explain over the phone.”

“Okay, I’m coming to your place now!”

“No, no. I’m dead tired. I’ll nap first. I’ll text Brother Lei to bring breakfast. We’ll talk in detail later.”

“It’s fine. I’ll go to your house first. It’ll take time anyway.”

“Taking a bus is fast… fine, you’re probably biking, right?”

“Yeah, saving money.”

“Suit yourself. Call me when you arrive.”

“Okay.”

Autumn Ease stood up excitedly.

To others, he’d look like an immature chuunibyou teen.

Obsessing over just a dream?

Because Autumn Ease had never had such a vivid dream.

It felt so real he questioned if this world was the dream.

But… he pinched his thigh. It hurt.

So this was reality, not a dream.

Without GuanPeng’s words, he might have forced himself to forget the dream. Dreams were just dreams, never intersecting with reality.

But now it was different.

GuanPeng had the same dream. Could that prove something?

Autumn Ease wasn’t a theist or a pure atheist.

He believed the world was vast. Anything was possible.

What if… that girl really existed in reality?

Or, was there a hidden mystery behind their connected dreams?

Autumn Ease took a quick, shivering cold shower. He changed into clean clothes and rushed out.

At a little past five, the small town was quiet. Breakfast shops were open, but owners were hidden in the steam, indistinct.

Autumn Ease rode a bicycle that rattled everywhere except the bell.

To reach GuanPeng’s faster, he took a shortcut through alleys.

These alleys wound between illegally built five- or six-story peasant houses.

No streetlights here. Only the faint dawn light illuminated the path.

“Squeak—!”

Suddenly, at a corner, Autumn Ease slammed his brakes. A man stood there.

If he hadn’t reacted fast, he’d have crashed right into him.

“Damn, scared the hell out of me!” Autumn Ease muttered. He was about to pedal again but froze.

The man stared at him expressionlessly.

That face was so familiar.

So familiar he couldn’t place it at first.

Yes… it was Autumn Ease’s own face.

He rubbed his eyes, confirming it wasn’t a mirror.

If it were a mirror, it’d be creepier—he moved, but the man didn’t.

In fact, there was no full-length mirror. A living person stood before him.

A man identical to him in looks and build…

Autumn Ease couldn’t recall having a twin brother.

Before he could process it, a chill hit his chest.

Then pain registered half a second later.

“Ugh—!!!” Autumn Ease’s eyes widened in disbelief.

The man identical to him plunged a sharp knife into his heart. Still expressionless, but his eyes held a hint of relief.

“Ah… uh…” Autumn Ease felt suffocated, unable to speak. His face twisted from the sudden agony.

He wanted to ask who this man was and why he was killing him.

But… he couldn’t utter a word.

Naturally, he got no answer.

The bicycle clattered aside as Autumn Ease collapsed to the ground.

The knife was yanked out. Crimson liquid gushed from his chest.

The man, identical to him—like another him—calmly walked away.

This was an alley, rarely visited.

Autumn Ease lay in a pool of blood, waiting for death.

But after darkness, light returned.

He found himself still there. His body lay on the ground.

Autumn Ease was dead.

But he still didn’t understand what had happened.

One mystery unsolved, another emerged. A huge vortex gave him a headache—could souls even get headaches?

Looking up, the night sky was pitch black. Only the brightest stars were visible.

It wasn’t dawn. It was night.

He thought it was instantaneous. But a whole day had passed.

But more surprises awaited.

He watched his corpse’s wound heal. The blood on the ground vanished. Only stains remained on his clothes.

Then… his body changed like clay molded by unseen hands.

Height decreased. Frame shrank. Facial features softened. Skin whitened as if bleached.

It transformed into a girl’s form.

“This…!!” Autumn Ease would never forget her face.

Because this was the girl version of himself from the dream!

The very girl who had haunted his dreams.

Leaf Grace.

A powerful force pulled him. His lifeless body seemed to call his soul back.

He felt like a magnet. His body was a larger one.

Then… his soul, or consciousness, returned to his body.

“Ah—!” He sat up abruptly. It felt like an incredibly vivid dream—a dream where he was killed by himself.

But clearly—this wasn’t a dream.

(Setting: Dawn is breaking.)