Chapter 054

Chapter 54: Wan Wan, I’m Still Alive Too

It was Shen Nan Zhou at age three. The little boy stared at Ye Wan Wan as if she were a stranger, then turned and ran. Ye Wan Wan chased after him in big strides, but inside the Dream Realm the boy kept growing as he ran.

From three to four to five…

Ye Wan Wan witnessed Shen Nan Zhou’s growth. She saw his small body covered in wounds. She saw the teenager wade step by step through the Blood Sea. She saw him fight on battlefields, taking a path completely different from his previous life, yet still walking toward death.

Ye Wan Wan called out: “Shen Nan Zhou!”

Shen Nan Zhou did not look back. Ye Wan Wan’s eyes cooled as she said: “What did you do?”

Dream Spirit, stung by the accusation, sounded aggrieved: “I didn’t do anything. He blew up the Illusory Dream Realm himself, and now it’s like this. He’s the one in control of the Dream Realm now.”

Then Dream Spirit added in a low, eerie voice: “Oh, I forgot to mention something. If he doesn’t wake up, you can’t get out.”

Right now, Shen Nan Zhou was trapped in his own Dream Realm. And Ye Wan Wan had walked right into the net. As long as he did not wake, the Dream Realm would not disperse, and Ye Wan Wan would never get out.

Ye Wan Wan gave Dream Spirit a long, deep look until its grin faded and it didn’t dare smile anymore. She then looked calmly at Shen Nan Zhou running farther away and did not chase him. She stopped.

Dream Spirit asked: “Why aren’t you going after him?”

Ye Wan Wan said: “Didn’t you say he’s looking for me? I’ll wait for him to find me.” She tapped the Spirit Locking Spell. It shrank to the size of a lantern, squeezing Dream Spirit down into a single glowing ball. Ye Wan Wan pulled a twig from her storage, hooked the little red lantern, and, using the faint light Dream Spirit gave off, walked in the opposite direction.

Dream Spirit fell silent: [You’re using me like a lantern? Seriously?] Its glow dimmed at once.

Ye Wan Wan said coldly: “Right now your only use to me is lighting the way. Try going dark again.”

Dream Spirit’s scalp prickled. It forced itself to glow, lighting the path back the way she had come and helping Ye Wan Wan see clearly what was happening inside this teenager’s Dream Realm.

Ye Wan Wan asked: “Where is the night when his family was wiped out at age three?”

Dream Spirit pointed ahead.

Ye Wan Wan said softly: “I know you can take us straight there.”

Dream Spirit kept quiet.

Star Marsh climbed down from Ye Wan Wan’s shoulder, sat on the red lantern, and took a deep breath. In and out, it drew in a surge of power. Excited, Star Marsh chirped: “Master, I can eat it!”

Feeling its power getting sucked away, Dream Spirit shrieked: “Little one, what are you doing? How dare you try to swallow me! Stop, stop!”

It clutched itself in panic. Star Marsh only got more excited. It had only thought this spirit smelled tasty, but it hadn’t expected eating it would make it stronger. Swallowing drool, Star Marsh said: “Master, if you don’t want it, can you give it to me? I won’t make a mess.”

Dream Spirit felt sick with fear. With a sudden flare, it burst into bright light. The whole road lit up. As if making a very serious protest, it said in a solemn tone: “Where do you want to go? I will guide you.”

Ye Wan Wan said: “The Shen Clan massacre night.”

“Go.”

One step ahead, a blue green staircase appeared. Ye Wan Wan took a step and in an instant reached a grand estate. The ground was covered with bodies.

A three year old boy climbed out from a well. Among the corpses, he searched for his family, calling their names, but no one woke. The weak little boy tried to drag the elders’ bodies together, but the noise at the front gate grew louder. As the hinges creaked, Ye Wan Wan and the boy both stopped.

Ye Wan Wan looked toward the gate. She did not notice the boy looking at her.

She whispered: “Are they people from the Heavenly One Sect?”

That soft murmur seemed to land right in the boy’s ear. All at once he sprinted for the well and jumped in without hesitation. Ye Wan Wan froze at his sudden move.

The scene split apart.

Ye Wan Wan shouted: “Dream Spirit!”

Dream Spirit strained to answer: “His memory ends here. I can’t hold this much longer.”

The illusion cracked like a spider web. Before Ye Wan Wan could see who came through the gate, it shattered. As it broke, she saw a cloud of blood mist sweep Shen Nan Zhou away.

Her pupils tightened. It wasn’t white smoke. It was blood mist. Things had changed.

Ye Wan Wan tumbled out of Shen Nan Zhou’s Dream Realm. She staggered back three steps before she steadied herself. Looking up, she saw the little boy again not far away.

She asked in a chill voice: “Why did it change?”

If she was right, in the last life Shen Nan Zhou had been taken in by the Heavenly One Sect. Why was he carried off by blood mist now?

The boy looked at Ye Wan Wan and said: “You.”

Ye Wan Wan was puzzled: “Me?”

The boy slowly walked up to her and said: “I’ve been looking for you… for a long time.”

Ye Wan Wan blinked in surprise. Star Marsh hopped up and cried: “Watch out!”

Ye Wan Wan flicked her fingers. Five Golden Cores spun around her, forming a shield. The barrier blasted the illusion apart. The small boy vanished, but Ye Wan Wan’s heart did not calm.

[Not good. I have to figure this out.] She asked: “Does entering this Dream Realm change reality?”

Neither Dream Spirit nor Star Marsh had expected that question. Both spirits froze. “Of course not,” they said. “This isn’t traveling to the past. It’s only an illusion.”

Only what hearts think, want, and crave can weave an illusion that feeds private desires. How could that affect reality?

Ye Wan Wan murmured: “Then what does Shen Nan Zhou want?”

Carrying the lantern, she walked the same road Shen Nan Zhou had taken. She saw how his childhood rose step by step from real human battlefields, and she could not help but look at him with new eyes. In this life, Shen Nan Zhou’s road seemed different from before.

After a long walk, the fog ahead thinned. Ye Wan Wan saw a teenager sitting on the ground. She held the lantern and stayed still.

The young man slowly opened his eyes. They were bloodshot, his mood clearly unstable. But he still smiled, his lips curling in a teasing way as he said: “Senior sister, do you care that much about my past? You’ve watched it so many times.”

Ye Wan Wan studied him and said calmly: “I didn’t want to watch. I just can’t get out.”

Shen Nan Zhou lifted his hand. Blue fine threads twined between his fingers as he said: “How could that be? If senior sister wants to leave, you can. After all, you are senior sister.”

Ye Wan Wan wanted to roll her eyes, but she held back. [I hate those two words, senior sister.]

Dream Spirit trembled and warned: “The blue threads in his hand are the dream threads of the Illusory Dream Realm. They tie into the feelings and desires of everyone who came in. If they’re snapped, people go mad.”

Ye Wan Wan paused and looked at the threads between his fingers. She asked: “Whose dream threads are those?”

Shen Nan Zhou leaned his cheek on his hand and smiled: “What do you think, senior sister?”

Ye Wan Wan frowned. She had a guess she did not want to admit. [Bai Jian and the others got dragged in too.]

A deep, mature voice sounded at once: “Wan Wan, you didn’t treat me like this before.”

Ye Wan Wan’s eyes flew wide. She stared at Shen Nan Zhou and said in disbelief: “You…”

He met her gaze and said with a light smile: “I’m alive too. Happy?”

Ye Wan Wan turned and ran.