But Ruan Jiaojiao did not wake up.
She had fallen into a nightmare.
In the dream.
For some reason, she lay ice-cold in a pond with no visible shores, and she saw a little girl who looked exactly like herself walking by the bank, led by a woman. The woman was slender and of outstanding temperament, but her face was indiscernible, always shrouded in a mist.
When they reached in front of her, they suddenly stopped.
The woman turned her back and crouched down.
She heard the little girl call the woman mother.
The woman seemed to smile, leaned in to kiss the little girl, and said tenderly, "Jiaojiao is such a good girl, are you tired? Let Mommy carry you." With that, she picked the little girl up.
The little girl nestled in the woman's arms, facing her, and seemed to be smiling at her. But as she smiled, suddenly—she reached out and viciously strangled the woman who was holding her.