In the hospital ward, a comatose man lay on the bed. He had entered the rapid eye movement (REM) stage.
The so - called REM stage is a certain phase before a person wakes up, the period when dreams occur. During this time, people are dreaming. They can roam in their dreams and also have a slight perception of the real world. It can be said that the REM stage is a moment when fantasy and reality intertwine.
In his dream, he saw a helpless child scavenging for food. His parents were dead, and he had nothing left but a miserable life. In a blink of an eye, the child grew into a young man who started fighting everywhere, committing crimes, and occasionally robbing the rich to help the poor.
Later, a middle - aged uncle took him in. From that day on, the uncle became his new father.
Following this father, the young man traveled far and wide, braved the elements, and faced life - threatening situations on a regular basis. His life gradually improved. They went from living in a shabby communal bungalow to a building, then an apartment, and finally a seaside villa with a view of the mountains. Everything seemed to have reached its peak.
The young man became middle - aged, the boy turned into a man. His well - built muscles turned into flabby fat, and his bright, shining eyes became the dead - fish eyes of a lecher. A once - great hero had thus fallen.
Finally, during a mission, due to his already - depleted body being no longer what it used to be, he was captured. The enemy pointed a gun at his head and said, "You've endured all the hardships you should have and enjoyed all the blessings you could. It's time to end it all."
Saying that, the enemy pulled the trigger.
After a deafening noise like a ringing in the ears, he saw a blinding light that made it hard for him to open his eyes.
"Was that a life - review just now?" he murmured to himself.
It is said that before a person dies, all the experiences of their life will flash before their eyes like a carousel, dreamy yet real.
He squinted his eyes and slowly adapted to the bright light around him. There were white walls everywhere. It was hot without air - conditioning, and the smell in the air was strange, like something rotten that had been sprayed with disinfectant to preserve it.
Slowly, his eyes got used to the light, and he could see everything in reality clearly.
What's going on? There was something sticking to his face, and there was something in his nose. It was an uncomfortable feeling, and he couldn't even open his mouth. He really wanted to tear them all off.
He thought so in his heart.
So he moved the fingers of his left hand and found that some strength had returned. He then raised his left hand to pull the things on his face and in his nose.
With one strong tug, the tape on his face came off. With another hard pull, the tube in his nose was pulled out.
It was so long that even when he stretched out his hand fully, he still hadn't pulled it all out. It seemed he needed his other hand to help.
He thought to himself.
He moved the fingers of his right hand again but felt nothing. He was a bit surprised, but then he remembered that his right hand had been pierced by an arrow. He guessed that he had had surgery and the anesthesia hadn't worn off yet.
So he tried to move his arm, but there was still no response.
This made him even more convinced that his right hand had undergone surgery because he remembered that the place where he had been hit by the arrow was on his right forearm.
Let's try one more time. This time, see if he could lift his hand and wrap it around the tube a few times?
So, this time he tried to lift his right hand.
He strained his shoulder and lifted it up. A bare, bandaged stump of an arm came into view.
He only felt a ringing in his ears, his brain was vibrating, and his heart seemed to stop.
He didn't believe it. He put his hand down and tried again.
It was the same. There was only a short, bare arm wrapped in bandages, just like a woman's bound feet when that cruel custom still existed.
His pupils constricted continuously. For a moment, the world and time seemed to stand still...
"Where's my hand?! Where has my hand gone?!" he began to scream hysterically, struggling regardless of the freshly sutured wounds on his mouth and face and the blood that had just stopped flowing from his hand.
"Brother Hang, Brother Hang, calm down!" The people around him tried every means to hold him down, as if they were the evil spirits guarding the punished in hell.
He didn't listen, didn't want to listen, and was unwilling to listen. He firmly believed that this was a dream, a nightmare of a loser. The more he struggled and resisted, the greater the chance of waking up.
After waking up, he would still be that heroic young man, brave and true, ready to share life and death with others in a moment of conversation, and as good as his word.
However, obviously, this was a harsh reality. All his struggles and hysterical screams would be regarded as short - term stress reactions caused by mental stimulation.
Doctors were quite experienced in dealing with such things. While everyone was holding him down, a shot of tranquilizer immediately solved all the problems.
After seeing him fall asleep, everyone wiped the sweat off their foreheads, straightened their clothes, and sighed, saying, "Alas, how many times has this been? Brother Hang still can't accept the reality..."
"Yeah, always using tranquilizers. Will it damage his brain? Will the situation get worse?"
"Brother Hang is so unlucky. Just because he didn't handle one thing well, someone came to hold him accountable, and General Manager Jin had his hand chopped off. He didn't even care about their old friendship..."
"Cough, cough. What are you whispering about? If you don't want your tongues, you can send them to the kitchen to improve the food."
An old but powerful voice sounded, interrupting their conversation.
"Hello, General Manager Sun!"
Everyone lowered their heads, not daring to say a word. They just greeted him softly. After all, just now, these people had been discussing the shortcomings of their biggest boss.
"Is Ah Hang awake?" the old man asked.
"Yes, he just woke up. But like the previous times, he couldn't accept the reality. He just got a shot of tranquilizer and fell asleep," the young man beside him said.
"Alas, such a good kid. Just for the sake of a woman's beauty, he ended up like this. Alas..."
The old man sighed continuously, shook his head, and turned to leave.
Just as he stepped out of the ward, a well - dressed young man rushed out and knelt in front of the old man, saying, "General Manager Sun, I know. I'm currently planning to deal with them. Please give me a chance. Please, General Manager Sun!"
The old man looked at him and said, "Young man, strictly speaking, all our plans involve risks. You may lose your life or end up in jail. Aren't you afraid?"
The young man shook his head. His eyes were full of determination, which even moved the old man in front of him.
It had been a long time since he had seen such a determined look in someone's eyes! the old man thought to himself.
The young man fought back his tears and said, "General Manager Sun, I swore a solemn oath in front of Brother Hang's hospital bed: I will make Mu Junze, Meng Nianchu, Bai Ling, and that Ju Zisheng pay for their crimes with blood! No! Pay back double! No! Ten times, a hundred times, a thousand times, ten thousand times..."