The next morning, Mingke and liancheng are followed by a group of strange people, who crash their car into a guardrail and go into the sea. Mingke tries to get some men to look for them, but no one will help them. The narrator tells us that no one has ever seen Mingke or lingke in public, and that they have been stuck in the sea for a long time. He tells the narrator that he is afraid of being caught in the middle of a conversation in his sleep. He asks the narrator what he is most afraid of, and the narrator tells him that he's afraid to be overheard talking, to be seen talking, and to miss his bus stop while he is sleeping