Dream Makers

"My God, Disney?"

Gu Lili looked up and saw the pink castle that had always appeared in her dreams, on her phone, and in the boasts of her classmates and colleagues, now standing right in front of her.

"Just like Guannan Temple in Guannan, Sweet Dream Baby turned her studio into this, saying that seeing her work every day gives her motivation."

Fangfang shook her head helplessly and led the group into the castle.

"Grandma, what's that? Lanlan's scared. Grandma..."

Gu Lili looked in the direction of Lanlan's sobbing voice. The little girl was pointing to a castle-like structure dominated by a giant, dark, gloomy skull. The skull's empty eyes gleamed with eerie light, as if scrutinizing them. Its gaping maw, filled with fangs, resembled the castle entrance, but probably no one would dare to step inside easily—not even ghosts.

"That's the Nightmare Hall. Some souls, still harboring resentment, choose to spend points to haunt their enemies with nightmares. This is the department that handles this."

After Fangfang finished speaking, she turned around, picked up Lanlan, and walked towards the Sweet Dream Baby Palace. Lanlan tentatively rested her head on her shoulder, and seeing that the other party did not react, Lanlan slowly stretched out her little hands and hugged Fangfang's neck.

"Another palace remodeled by Nightmare Baby himself? It's terrifying."

"The director of the Nightmare Administration Bureau is Brother Nightmare, and the director of the Sweet Dream Administration Bureau is Baby Sweet Dream. These are titles they changed themselves later. They felt that no one in the human world knew them or offered incense, so they simply let themselves go and did whatever they liked."

"Nightmare Brother, Sweet Dream Baby? Pfft, times have really changed, even the underworld has become wonderful."

"Lady Meng Po, you should be more restrained when you're in the territory of other officials..."

Looking at the grinning Gu Lili, Fangfangfang felt utterly helpless. She couldn't listen to advice, and even if she did, she wouldn't change. In the underworld thousands of years ago, everyone had to be respectful, with a clear distinction between superiors and inferiors. "Fine, if the higher-ups don't care about her, then let her be," Fangfangfang thought.

"Hello~ lovely dream weavers, please scan your face to enter." A light pink plush doll-like PR person stood to the left of the entrance, waving a colorful magic wand and stopping the group.

"Here you go, dream weaver, please put your face inside the pink frame," the PR person on the right, dressed in the same creamy white outfit, instructed in a coquettish voice.

"Ah, here? Okay, okay." Gu Lili shivered, then obediently put her face inside the frame.

"Beep~" As the facial recognition system detected the identity, a projection screen displaying Gu Lili's identity appeared in front of her.

"Oh, it's our new Lady Meng Po from the Underworld's Reincarnation Office."

"Greetings, Lady Meng Po! Please come in, Lady Meng Po. I wish you a pleasant dream!"

Gu Lili hated girls with a coquettish manner the most when she was alive. Every time she encountered such a girl, she would avoid her with disgust and curse her as a green tea b*tch in her heart. But she couldn't bring herself to hate these two fluffy little rascals in front of her. They even obeyed her obediently as if they were under a spell.

After she verified her identity and passed through the gate, she looked back at the two plush toys at the entrance and thought: No wonder everyone says that men like green tea girls the most. I can't resist this kind of cute "green tea girl".

"Next dream maker, please verify your identity."

"Beep, this is Lady Meng Po's personal PR representative. Please come in."

"So, who is this adorable little dream weaver next? Beep~~ Oh? It's our departed soul, Lanlan! May your dreams come true and your wishes be fulfilled~!"

The two plush toys, one in front and one behind, one on the left and one on the right, left Gu Lili and the other two confused and happy, their hearts filled with sweetness and all the previous tension gone.

After entering the gate, the machines on both sides of the passage automatically conducted security checks on the group, and then they followed the signs to the director's office.

Fangfangfang straightened her clothes in front of the door, then knocked and said, "Hello, I am Fangfangfang from the Underworld Reincarnation Office. I've come with Lady Meng Po to create dreams for the departed souls."

"Please come in." With that greeting, the door opened automatically.

"Wow, how dreamy." Lanlan, who was still being held by Fangfangfang, slowly let go of her embrace, stood on the floor, and looked around.

Each wall was covered with several giant picture frames, each containing different scenes from fairy tales and images of cartoon characters. Lanlan unconsciously walked toward a giant painting of an ice castle in the corner.

"It's the princess's castle, and it's my favorite cartoon princess." Lanlan saw her favorite cartoon character and gradually became excited. She turned around and shouted to Gu Lili and Fangfangfang, "Grandma Meng, Sister Fang, this is my favorite cartoon. Look at my clothes, they are the same princess dress that my mom bought for me."

Lanlan became more and more excited as she spoke, her fingers unconsciously reaching for the picture frame. Before Fangfang could stop her, the frame flashed with golden light the moment it was touched. Suddenly, a horse's head emerged from the frame and grabbed Lanlan's skirt. Then, with a flick of its head, the horse pulled Lanlan into the painting. The moment she entered the painting, Lanlan's hair suddenly turned golden, her skirt became longer and more beautiful, and it was decorated with shimmering snowflake patterns. The gorgeous blue velvet hem naturally trailed on the snow.

The horse slowly walked up to Lanlan and lowered itself. Lanlan gently grasped the light blue saddle and patted it. The horse then raised its head, stamped its front hoof, and neighed. Instantly, a long horn grew from its raised head, and a pair of wings appeared on its sides. After flapping a few times, it carried Lanlan into the ice and snow castle.

"Lanlan!!!" Gu Lili couldn't help but shout.

"It's alright, Meng Po. The unicorn will take her to fulfill her dream."

A little girl with pink pigtails got off the pink office chair, took the lollipop out of her mouth, walked to Gu Lili's side, looked up at her and said something.

"But this wasn't her dream when she came here."

"Oh? Well... it's okay, consider this a free gift. I'm in a good mood today, buy one get one free."

Gu Lili was shocked; "It can...it can be like this?"

"Hey~ As long as you don't make any big mistakes, nobody cares about the dream-making business, the old gods are too busy."

"Can we consider them all as gifts?" Gu Lili asked, tilting her head thoughtfully as she leaned closer to Sweet Dream Baby.

"Well... that won't do. Our Dream Bureau also needs to generate revenue."

Sweet Dream Baby had heard about the new Meng Po's recklessness, but seeing her today still shocked her. She could only mutter to herself, "Times have changed. The souls of the dead are getting fiercer with each new batch."

As the saying goes, those with nothing to lose are not afraid of those wearing shoes. Hearing that even Lord Guannan couldn't handle her, Sweet Dream Baby didn't dare to make a fuss. After all, she still wanted to continue working at the Dream Bureau, a relatively free and well-paid job.

"So when do we start making dreams?" Gu Lili looked around. She wasn't interested in this place, and she had to attend a Ghost Festival party that night. She just wanted to finish as soon as possible and get off work as soon as possible.

"You can start now. Please go out and turn left to the Dream Pre-collection area, fill out the form, pay your points, and bring the receipt back to me for Dream Creation. After verifying the information, we can enter the dream." After Sweet Dream Baby finished speaking, she waved her lollipop at the painting that had taken Lanlan away. A moment later, the horse returned with Lanlan. Lanlan slowly slid down, holding onto the saddle, and the horse nudged her with its head, pushing her out of the painting frame.

"good."

Fangfangfang, who had been silent all along, finally spoke up. It wasn't that she didn't want to talk, but when Gu Lili tried to take advantage of the Dream Bureau for free, she felt it was better to remain mute.

"Let's go, take Lanlan and let's go pay the money, oh no, pay the points." Gu Lili took Lanlan's little hand and walked towards the door.

"Grandma, it felt like a dream. I saw a unicorn carrying me and flying towards the ice castle. The servants in the castle cheered and called me Princess Lanlan. And when the demon attacked, my hand..." Lanlan raised her right hand to Gu Lili: "Look, Grandma, this is the hand that can cast a spell and freeze the demon's hands, scaring it so much that it cried and ran away."

"Really? Our Lanlan is so amazing! That's fantastic."

"Hello~ Dear Dream Maker, this dream creation requires a fee of 1 million points. Please stand inside the circle to be scanned."

Fangfangfang has already filled out the form and submitted the Dream Creation application to the public relations department of the pre-sale department.

"Beep~ Points deducted. Your remaining points are 190,000. Dreamer, please take the receipt to the director's office and wait to enter the dream."

When the group returned to the director's office, Sweet Dream Baby was waving her lollipop at the largest blank picture frame on the wall.

"Come here, little friend, do you think this is the person who received the dream?"

Lanlan slowly approached, and a woman appeared in the huge, previously blank picture frame, standing in front of the temple of gods and Buddhas, praying with her pregnant belly.

"Thank you, gods and Buddhas. I've come to fulfill my vow. I'm really pregnant again. I had someone check this morning and it's definitely a girl. My Lanlan can go back to her mother's belly. My Lanlan, waaaah."

"Wife, don't get too excited. For the sake of the child... don't tire yourself out. Let's go back first." The man who had been waiting outside the hall rushed forward and embraced the woman, then walked towards the outside of the hall.

The woman turned around and bowed to the Buddhas in the hall with her hands clasped together. "Amitabha" then bowed to the lay Buddhists residing in the hall to say goodbye, and with the man's help, she gradually walked away.

“Mom, that’s my mom. Grandma, those are Lanlan’s mom and dad.” Lanlan pointed to the two people in the picture frame and looked at Gu Lili.

"If everything is correct, then let's prepare to enter the dream world." With that, Sweet Dream Baby raised her lollipop, ready to cast a spell.

"Wait, didn't Lanlan's mother just leave? How can she dream if she's not asleep?" Gu Lili glanced at the screen and then at her phone. It was a little past 5 p.m.

"We don't teleport into dreams; it's a journey of quite a distance, so don't worry, it'll be fine." Sweet Dream Baby was unhappy that her spellcasting was interrupted, but remembering that the other party was not someone to be trifled with, she put on a smiling face and patiently explained.

"Before entering the dream, I must warn you that there may be dream-eating beasts causing trouble along the way. Do not be misled, or you may be trapped in the dream forever."

"What is a dream-eating beast?" Gu Lili grabbed Sweet Dream Baby, who was about to step into the painting. Poor Sweet Dream Baby's short legs were already difficult to walk, and with this pull, Sweet Dream Baby stumbled backward and sat on the ground.

"Sweet Dream, I'm sorry, our Lady Meng Po..." Seeing this, Fangfangfang dared not pretend to be mute anymore, and hurriedly helped Sweet Dream up while apologizing.

"Oh, it's alright, it's alright. Oh well, I forgot for a moment that our Meng Po has been replaced, and I don't understand the ins and outs of the Dream Bureau." Sweet Dream Baby stood up and patted her bottom: "Luckily, the PR team cleaned the office on time this morning, otherwise my new dress... never mind."

"The dream-eating beasts are a species that originated from the Dream Center itself. They exist in the Dream Corridor and feed on dreams. Once a dreamer wants to pass through the corridor to enter a dream, they will follow behind and look for an opportunity to eat the beautiful dream."

"Can't you even control that?"

"I can't control it, that thing existed long before me."

"What if they come?"

"They will be identified and driven away by the dream defense system if they follow directly, so there's no need to worry about that. But some dream-eating beasts are very clever. They will project the dreamer's fond memories to lead the dreamer in the opposite direction, and then transform themselves into the dreamer's appearance to go into the real sweet dream and eat the sweet dream."

What if Sweet Dream gets eaten?

"Then the dream weaver's dream will be impossible to realize, and he may even be lost forever in the dream corridor. There have been several waves of dream weavers, but they have not emerged for hundreds of years. Now they are probably trapped in the dream world woven by the dream-eating beasts, sinking deeper and deeper into despair."

"Huh??? That's so dangerous, why didn't you say so sooner?"

"You wouldn't have gone if you'd said so earlier?"

"Lanlan must go! Lanlan must go back to find her mother." Lanlan answered first after hearing the conversation between Tianmeng Baby and Gu Lili.

"Okay, let's go then."

"You go in first." Sweet Dream Baby didn't want to fall on her bottom again, so she pouted and let Gu Lili go first.

Gu Lili didn't say much. She picked up Lanlan, then pulled Fangfangfang along, and together they stepped into the picture frame.