Otherworldly Desert Dust-Chapter 316 - 271: Converging Dreams

The "Yu Yu" before him widened her round eyes, her small cheeks filled with great shock!

"You... I..." Yu Yu’s words tumbled out confusingly, as if she was struggling to explain, but then she remembered she was supposed to be mute, the words reached her lips but she couldn’t speak them.

Soon, Yu Yu’s cheeks flushed red, and a pink glow shone through her neck. Interestingly, very fine feathers, as white as jade and snow, appeared on her reddened skin, covering her cheeks and neck.

"So what are you, and why create such a scene, even pretending to be my sister?"

"No, to be precise, you’re not pretending to be my sister. You’re applying a kind of Spell on my mind that resembles an illusion, making me see images from my memory and even altering some events in my memory..."

"You should know that human memory doesn’t exactly record the scene at the time, but rather, it’s mostly contrived by the brain’s neurons from impressively remembered snippets. Thus, when people recall the past, it’s often from a third-person perspective. Similarly, my sister being able to talk and her voice sounding like an exaggerated anime girl is also a product of my memory’s own making. Are you reading my memory and weaving an illusion?"

Wu Hen stood before this "Yu Yu," clearly articulating these thoughts.

Seeing Wu Hen speak so clearly, Yu Yu sighed, and the youthful clarity and innocence in her eyes turned into a pool of cold snow water.

"The moment you opened your eyes, did you see through it?" Yu Yu asked.

"Not exactly, but the bright morning light and the old street’s lively atmosphere made me doubt for a few moments, suspecting that I might still be trapped in a virtual game called Otherworldly Dust. It is also my wishful thinking that everything that has occurred since I put on the Virtual Helmet is all content from this virtual game, which has become so real that it simulates all characters and scenes from reality, twisting them into a grand narrative, immersing me in a way that I cannot awaken... But the human brain actually has a strong ability to distinguish, including each person’s thoughts having clear recognition. There’s no essential difference between the real and the false; the distinction lies in which one is ’more unreasonable,’" explained Wu Hen.

"The more unreasonable one..."

Yu Yu bowed her head and pondered.

She was actually reflecting on where the unreasonable points in her own creation lay.

"Well then, you are an awake traveler. In that case, why did you get lost?" Yu Yu asked.

"First, tell me what you are, and what all this I am seeing is," Wu Hen said, gazing at the Li City that seemed to have reverted in time.

New novel chapt𝒆rs are published on ƒгeewebnovёl.com.

"If I were to use your language for a name, I should be called an Ancient Dream Demon," Yu Yu, calling herself a Dream Demon, said.

"Dream Demon? Are you crafting dreams for me?" Wu Hen asked, somewhat surprised.

"Yes, you’ve stepped into the Desolate Land, a place where life shouldn’t wander, yet there are always some lost Otherworldly Travelers who stray here. They get lost here... A life faced with being lost is painful; they release a flavor similar to that of a Bitter Lotus Seed. We have been here for a long time, hoping that those who are lost do not end their journey in such agony, so we ingest their memories and weave them a dream before they are completely lost. This dream is the day they most wish to return to," Yu Yu explained.

"Sounds impressive, hopefully, you truly bear no ill will," said Wu Hen.

"We don’t have concepts of good and evil; we also feed on dreams, and within other’s dreams, we are immortal," Yu Yu explained.

"That makes sense, good and evil are judged by us. For now, I’ll consider you a benign and simple Dream Elf, but I don’t need dreams to sustain my journey, I acknowledge your goodwill," Wu Hen said.

"You can walk around and see if there are any flaws in the dream I’ve created. Not every traveler from Desert Dust is as courageous as you to face everything head-on. Their spiritual pillars are already not part of this world, and I hope when they truly arrive at the dreamscape I carefully prepared for them, they won’t have so many doubts as it affects their experience," Yu Yu expressed.

"Sorry, I have other matters to attend to. Since you can ingest my memories, you should know that my sister is waiting for me ahead. I don’t know whether the Otherworldly Immortal who took her away is good or evil, even if it’s benevolent, whether it’s magnanimous or the kind that obliterates individual thought. Tear down this dream fabric; I need to explore more bizarre regions of Otherworldly Dust and gain higher levels of Perception," Wu Hen said.

"Very well, you truly are a rational traveler. Once you leave the dream, please walk towards that rainy area, it should guide you out of this Desolate Land," Yu Yu said.

Wu Hen nodded, his gaze returning to the familiar Li City. Truth be told, the world created by this Ancient Dream Demon was as frighteningly virtual as any – endlessly spiraling down, until the day you lift your head and find the light from the world you originally belonged to growing fainter and dimmer.

The surroundings began to fill with dream fog, blurring everything nearby: the sun in the sky, the distant mountains, the old city streets, the nearby old buildings, the bright young girl in front of him...

Suddenly, Wu Hen remembered something!

He hurriedly grabbed the willowy arm of the girl before him and urgently said, "Wait, wait a second."

Yu Yu, puzzled, lifted her head, a flash of joy passing through her eyes as she thought this calm traveler had changed his mind and actually wanted to linger in this dreamscape.

"Being able to control dreams is a very delightful thing. Here is a dream, so you can also do things you once dared to think about but never dared to do. Since you’re aware that this is a dream, why not stay a while longer, consider it a tour," Yu Yu said with a smile.

"You misunderstand. My classmates and I woke up together, and if I descended into the body of a traveler on the edge of being lost, and that traveler was captured by you to serve as a host for your Dream Nest, what about them? Are they in the same situation as me, also captured by your Dream Demon companion and now deep in a profound dream?" Wu Hen asked.

"You mean, you are the Awakeners, not the original souls of the Lost Ones?" the Ancient Dream Demon suddenly let out a sigh of relief, even thinking her created dreams were too crude. If a lost person saw right through them at a glance, she could no longer hold her head up in front of her fellow Dream Demons.

"Yes, my classmates and I woke up together, and since I’ve descended at the edge of the Desolate Land where your kinds of Ancient Dream Demons roam, they must be nearby too. Please help me look for them. They might not have the clear awareness I have. They could become trapped inside the body of the Lost One and might never wake up," Wu Hen said.

"But if they don’t wish to awaken, doesn’t that indicate that the world they desire is right here? They are tired too and want to rest. Not everyone has the clear awareness, the fixed direction, the unyielding spirit like you do. They just want to comfortably, joyfully, and uneventfully live out their lives," Yu Yu said, puzzled.

"I promised them that I would take care of them," Wu Hen said.

"But maybe they are very happy, and they don’t need your protection. Your goodwill is also imposing," Yu Yu said.

"I never said I was a good person. What do I care if they are happy or not? But as young people with aspirations, if they waste their time in internet cafes instead of studying, I as their classmate would also slap them a few times," Wu Hen said.

"..." Yu Yu was left speechless.

"Where are they?" Wu Hen asked.

"Just like you, they are also on the edge of the Desolate Land, likely within the dreams woven by my kin," Yu Yu said.

"Then please have your kin stop dreaming for them; we have other things to handle," Wu Hen said.

"I can’t do that, but our dreams actually have no barriers. If the dreams your classmates are having are similar to yours, then your dream worlds will slowly merge, and you can meet within the dream," Yu Yu said.

Dreams merging with dreams?

According to conventional understanding, each person’s dream should be an independent world, infinite and nonrecurring, and parallel to the dreams of others.

Yet, the Dream Demon said their dreams would intersect.

"Then don’t wake me up yet. I’ll go to the school to look for them and see if they are NPCs in the dreams, or if they are Awakeners like me," Wu Hen said.

"Yes, you can go and see. I must accompany you since you are a lucid dreamer and skeptical about everything in the dream world. This kind of skepticism will cause everyone around you to be hostile as you are trying to erase this world. My presence will ease this hostility and provide you with cover," Yu Yu said.

"Alright, I hope they don’t do anything out of line," Wu Hen said. Find more chapters on novelbuddy

"That’s hard to say. Some lucid dreamers do things in their dreams that are unspeakable," Yu Yu said.

Wu Hen’s mouth twitched, realizing that this Ancient Dream Demon had witnessed the diversity of humanity.

...

Everything in Li City was usual. Wu Hen passed through Old City and reached the boundary between New City and Old City; the school gate loomed ahead.

There was a security guard at the gate.

He had a sharp gaze, sizing up Wu Hen thoroughly.

"Weren’t you expelled? What brings you here so early in the morning if you were expelled?" The security guard exuded a strong hostility, clearly having no intention of letting Wu Hen enter the school.

Wu Hen furrowed his brow, already feeling the "hostility" the Dream Demon had mentioned.

"I forgot something and came to pick it up, and I want to bid farewell to my classmates of two and a half years," Wu Hen explained.

"What thing? Tell me, and I’ll fetch it for you. As for saying goodbye, there’s no need for that. They are about to tackle tough exams soon; there’s no need to disturb their studies," the security guard, full of malice, even intentionally obstructed.

Wu Hen couldn’t help but smile wryly.

Lord Wu Hen, the man who had saved the world, who could cover the sun, moon, and stars, who could slay high-dimensional insects, and who was the unparalleled, supreme warrior chosen from billions, was being blocked by an overbearing school security guard?