Chapter 71.2 Dream
In rainy weather, it is always pleasant to drink a pot of warm tea, eat some exquisite pastries, and chat with friends about the past.
It was a pity that the old friend had become so strange, as if he had never known him, so even though Song Qingluo picked up the tea cup, he did not put down the knife in his hand.
Cui Gaoyu sat opposite Song Qingluo. Compared with the alert Song Qingluo, he leaned lazily on the soft sofa, holding an exquisite tea set in his hand, and took an elegant sip. He said: “You don’t have to be so I’m nervous, I just wanted to chat with you.”
Song Qingluo stared at him coldly: “Chat? Why didn’t you chat with me before?” Cui Gaoyu did not appear in his first-level dream at first, that is, until Lin Banxia came to his class to find him. After that Cui Gaoyu appeared next to him. This change made Song Qingluo clearly realize that many things were beyond his control. Cui Gaoyu, who should have left the dream a long time ago, had reappeared. Did this mean that the truth they knew was actually a lie? Cui Gaoyu never sealed this dream, and he even become a heretical companion a long time ago.
“I can’t help it.” Cui Gaoyu said with a smile, “As the fulcrum of the world, I have to do something. If I stop, you will all die.”
Song Qingluo said: “Then why do you have time to care about me now?”
Cui Gaoyu said: “Of course it’s because I found an opportunity to be lazy.”
Song Qingluo looked at his friend with very complicated emotions. Cui Gaoyu successfully came out of the dream as one of the few remaining survivors. Everyone thought he had become a hero. Unfortunately, his partner soon discovered that Cui Gaoyu’s mental state was not very good, so Cui Gaoyu was forced to recuperate for a long time. However, this recuperation did not seem to be of any benefit to him. His mood became more and more irritable, and his memory declined rapidly, and gradually he became unable to recognize the people around him. Everyone thought this was the sequelae of sealing the dream. After some time, Cui Gaoyu lost control of his emotions and actually killed a recorder who was responsible for monitoring him. At this point, he was expelled. Taking into account his mental condition and the sealed heresy, he was not punished substantively, but imprisonment and restricted movement were still inevitable. Even so, Bai Luze never gave up on his partner. He began to try to find heretical things that could ease the mood swings and maintain Cui Gaoyu’s mental state. Unfortunately, the progress was not smooth.
During this period, Song Qingluo also met Cui Gaoyu several times. The two had little conversation. They even said that he almost did not recognize Song Qingluo. In reality, Cui Gaoyu became weird and withdrawn, full of violent tendencies, and the gentle and gentle friend in Song Qingluo’s memory was completely different.
In their line of work, these changes were not uncommon, including madness, violence, self-mutilation, and finally choosing to end their lives. They were in close contact with heretics and had long become accustomed to these things.
It was already a miracle that Cui Gaoyu survived.
“Old friend, I’m really happy to see you again.” Cui Gaoyu sighed, “Although I had expected such a day, I still feel a little emotional when I actually see you.”
Song Qingluo almost understood: “You became its companion?”
Cui Gaoyu said: “Yes.”
Song Qingluo: “Where are you in reality?”
Cui Gaoyu said: “It’s me too. Of course, if you must distinguish carefully, it would be more appropriate to describe it as my body. After all, it is just a poor soulless creature.” He smiled and raised his teacup, “Times have changed, and you have changed a lot.”
Song Qingluo was silent.
Cui Gaoyu said, “I know you have a lot of questions.” He raised his hand and looked at his watch, showing satisfaction, “We still have a lot of time, I can tell you everything, slowly.”
Song Qingluo said: “Then tell me what happened to you back then.”
Cui Gaoyu told the story of that year.
It was a distant and long story that he had almost forgotten. As a monitor, he, like Song Qingluo, entered the dreamland and encountered a series of bizarre and weird things, the constant deaths of friends, and the repeated superpositions of the dreams around him. Cui Gaoyu kept looking for ways to leave the dream. He had always been a smart man, so he soon discovered that he could not leave. This dream was a terrible trap, and those who entered had no way to leave. They all thought wrong. The dream had no scope or limit. It was everywhere and could devour everyone greedily. However, it did not do that simply because it did not want to.
“If living things want to maintain life, they need to continuously absorb nutrients.” Cui Gaoyu said, “When humans eat food, they can get energy from food. It also needs to absorb energy, but the food it eats is different. Its food is human will and spirit. Its dreams need a structural fulcrum, just like the dodder flower needs a majestic big tree. It constantly absorbs nutrients from the big tree.”
Song Qingluo said: “You became that big tree?”
Cui Gaoyu said: “Yes.” He poured himself another cup of tea nonchalantly, “Even if it was not me, it would be someone else. This thing cannot be sealed, at least not in a human way.”
Song Qingluo said: “Is this the price you pay for leaving here?”
Cui Gaoyu said: “That’s right.” He knew that his friend was smart, so he thought Song Qingluo should also understand. He paid a heavy price to leave. When he returned to reality, he no longer had any memory of the dream. In reality, he foolishly thought that he had gone out, but in fact he had not.
He would still fall asleep every night until the sun rose again.
This was an extremely bad state. He began to feel dazed, fearful of sleeping, and became irritable and violent. However, the saddest thing was that Cui Gaoyu in reality had no idea what happened. He had no memory of the night. He thought that the physical changes were the sequelae of leaving. He was constantly being torn apart, between reality and dreams, and it was divided into two parts.
Cui Gaoyu felt that it was a miracle that he had not gone crazy. He could not even enjoy the peace of death. Over the past few years, the dreams had squeezed out almost every detail from his memory. It forced him to build one world after another until it got tired of it. He was like a ball of clay in its hands, which it molded into the shape it desires.
When Cui Gaoyu said this, his expression was so calm. He said: “But you know, these heretics are greedy things. In three years, they had already completely analyzed me, so they wanted to look for some new fun… so it started to spread again.” He took another bite of cake and mumbled, “You shouldn’t have come in, at least you shouldn’t all have come in, and now you all can’t get out… It’s really a pity.” He said regretfully, and showed a regretful expression, as if he was feeling sorry for these friends.
Song Qingluo stared at him and said nothing for a long time.
Cui Gaoyu didn’t care at all and continued to eat the dessert in front of him. As he ate, he became furious again and reached out to throw all the desserts to the ground: “It’s so disgusting. It’s so disgusting.” He had eaten the food countless times, and it all tasted the same. It was like a movie that had been shown thousands of times. He already knew the next plot before it entered his lips. It was driving him crazy.
Song Qingluo stared at Cui Gaoyu: “Why didn’t you tell me these things at the beginning?”
“Actually, it’s not that I don’t want to tell you.” Cui Gaoyu smiled, “It’s just that it’s still hesitating.”
Song Qingluo: “…” He had already guessed what Cui Gaoyu was going to say.
“It’s still hesitating about who to choose as the next big tree. After all, there are so many qualified people.” Cui Gaoyu said, “It’s normal to be hesitant.”
He looked at his watch again and said warmly: “Did I forget to tell you that Bai Luze also came in that year, and no one noticed it… Because Bai Luze would still wake up during the day, I refused it initially, but it threatened me with Bai Luze, so I had no choice but to agree.”
Cui Gaoyu’s eyes squinted happily when he mentioned Bai Luze, as if no matter how many times he said it he could taste something else from this name: “If you and your partner were just ordinary friends, maybe you would be more comfortable.” He shrugged, “Both died suddenly. Looking at it now, it’s actually pretty good. At least I think it’s much better than it is now.”
“It likes to watch stories where people become each other’s weakness.” Cui Gaoyu said, “Look, you like Lin Banxia, and Lin Banxia also likes you. You can both sacrifice for each other, just to let the other person get out alive or die cleanly.” He covered his face and sighed, “Sorry, I forgot about Li Su and Li Ye. No wonder it enjoyed it for so long this time.”
Song Qingluo’s eyes became extremely cold.
Cui Gaoyu didn’t realize it. He looked at the time again and said with a smile: “I hope it and your partner are having fun.” He saw Song Qingluo’s expression, not afraid at all, but showed regret. “Don’t look at me like that, old friend, I’ll be upset.”
Song Qingluo said coldly: “You shouldn’t touch him.”
The rich expression on Cui Gaoyu’s face faded and turned into indifference. He said: “It’s not me, it’s it.”
He is its companion, its nourishment, and what it wants, he could only give it. He couldn’t refuse it, and couldn’t escape it. It was not until he was completely scorched and turned into useless ashes that he would be released.
The author has something to say:
Lin Banxia: We can’t die together!!!
Song Qingluo: Yes! We want to go out together!
Lin Banxia grabbed Song Qingluo’s collar and shook it violently: At least one person must be left to inherit the bank card!!!
Song Qingluo:…………
If possible please consider supporting me on Patreon or Ko-fi. I will be working on a stockpile for Patreon where you can read advanced chapters for as little as $3 a month. Alternatively, I will release an extra chapter for every Ko-fi donation I receive. It might not be on that exact day, but it will be released within the week.
