梦吟忆述 — Mengyin Yishu

The company's owner appears to know about a recurring dream Lin Yi has never shared. Architectural drawings inside the office resemble places from that dream, and a journey to meet an old woodworking family reveals an unexpected connection to his deceased father.

What initially appears to be a series of coincidences gradually becomes evidence of a much larger mystery involving inherited dream abilities, a secretive family with a history spanning centuries, and a black object that has repeatedly appeared at critical moments in Chinese history.

Dreams in this world are not always imaginary. A small number of people can witness fragments of the past or future, observe another person's dreams, guide someone into an existing dream, or even retrieve unstable objects from places that may not belong to physical reality.

At the centre of these events is a mysterious black box associated with historical rulers, lost families, unexplained disappearances, and rumours of longevity. Its true nature remains uncertain, allowing the mystery to develop through dreams, photographs, family records, architectural evidence, personal testimony, and real-world investigation.

The narrative uses a first-person perspective and remains closely aligned with Lin Yi's limited knowledge. He reacts as an ordinary person would: questioning improbable explanations, searching for rational alternatives, becoming frightened, and occasionally using humour to manage situations he does not understand.

The complete first-volume outline defines the purpose, conflict, information progression, emotional movement, and ending hook of every chapter. Dedicated continuity documents track what the protagonist knows, what the reader knows, which clues have been introduced, and which narrative promises still need to be resolved.

The project is being reconstructed from an earlier draft into a more coherent and scalable version. Markdown-based documentation and a rule-driven writing workflow help preserve narrative consistency across a story containing multiple time periods, families, locations, abilities, and layers of hidden information.