Everything has a fixed number

"The predecessor of the Dream Bureau?" Gu Lili asked, puzzled.

"Yes, the Dream Bureau is different from the Underworld. It did not exist since the beginning of heaven and earth. Instead, it was created by a powerful being from the heavens. After seeing that the wandering souls in the Underworld were unwilling to be reborn due to their resentment, he devoted himself to research and finally discovered the secrets and essence of dream creation on the Dream-Eating Beast. Based on this, he established the Dream Bureau, creating a place for the souls who could not let go of their obsessions to fulfill their dreams."

"However, during the first dream creation attempt when the Dream Creation Bureau was first established, it was attacked by Dream Eaters, resulting in the failure of the dream creation. The souls of the dead and the sweet dreams were all eaten by them. In response, the Underworld actively responded and gradually improved its defense system. Over the past thousands of years, the number and attack intensity of Dream Eaters have been completely within a controllable range."

"Until the last time you entered the Dream Corridor, the Dream Eater actually evolved on its own, bypassing all the defense systems and bringing the so-called Black Water with it. Both the Dream Eater's evolution and the so-called Black Water are things we've never encountered before in millions of years."

"So actually, I advise you..." Nightmare Brother rambled on and on to himself before finally stopping.

"What's wrong, brother?" Gu Lili asked, puzzled.

Nightmare Brother looked around warily, then leaned closer to Gu Lili and said, "In my experience, this Dream Eater evolution event is very unusual. I advise you not to rely on the defense system. When you enter the Dream Corridor again, you should have your own strategy to deal with it."

Gu Lili frowned, her mind racing. Nightmare Brother seemed hesitant to speak, as if he was afraid and wary of something.

"Lady Meng Po, creating dreams is dangerous, shall we continue?" Fangfangfang asked.

Gu Lili remained silent. What she was about to do was not her job, and she would not receive any reward. Those hideous dream-eating beasts and that sticky, foul-smelling black water—she could have avoided them and enjoyed a leisurely ghost life in the Yellow Springs, with a nine-to-five job and everything done for her. Was it really worth it to risk it all again?

Number 178, who was choosing a nightmare ahead, stopped in her tracks and stood there motionless. Although the other person did not turn around, Gu Lili knew that she was waiting for her choice.

"What are Lili's dreams? What does Lili want to be when she grows up? A doctor, a teacher, or a police officer?" Gu Lili was lost in memories, and the conversations she had with her grandmother when she was a child came to mind.

"I... um..." Young Gu Lili pouted, her big eyes staring blankly ahead, as if pondering a complicated problem.

"Oh, our Lili is so cute and pretty, it wouldn't be bad for her to be a big star in the future." When Grandma saw that she didn't answer, she quickly threw out another option to tease her.

"Grandma... I want to be a fairy," said Gu Lili, pointing to the Journey to the West TV series that was playing.

"Oh? Haha... Our baby wants to be a fairy? Why does Lili want to be a fairy?"

"The gods can conjure up delicious food, heal Grandma's back, and make lots of money so Grandma won't have to work so hard..." said Gu Lili.

"Good girl," Grandma said affectionately, patting Gu Lili's head.

"But gods have their own responsibilities. They have to defeat demons and protect us mortals. Moreover, they also cultivate themselves little by little to become gods. You only see their majestic side, but who knows the hardships they endure behind the scenes?"

"Then I will also work hard to cultivate, I want to protect mortals, I want to protect Grandma..." Little Gu Lili sat up on the bed, put her hands on her hips, and said stubbornly.

"Okay, okay... Our Lili wants to be a fairy. When you become one, you must work hard to protect Grandma and mortals. Don't just think about eating delicious food~" Grandma smiled and gently pinched Gu Lili's little nose, and then the two of them laughed together.

"Lady Meng Po? Lady..." Fangfang called her softly several more times when the other party did not respond.

Gu Lili heard the call and came back to her senses. She looked at the lonely figure of No. 178 and said, "Don't rush her, don't rush her. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Let her choose carefully, let her pick the scariest nightmare, and we'll tear that scumbag apart together."

Fangfangfang looked at Gu Lili in surprise and didn't say anything more. Meanwhile, No. 178, who was silent by the wall, trembled slightly before continuing to select murals.

“You look a lot like her,” Nightmare Brother said.

"Her? Sweet Dream Baby?" Gu Lili asked.

“The former Meng Po was also stubborn about the souls of the dead, unlike most of the ghost messengers here.” Nightmare Brother sighed softly, turned to look at the mural wall and continued, “Many of the nightmares here were created by her.”

“She used to always come to me and Sweet Dream Baby with a small notebook. The notebook recorded the strange things she heard about the living world from the dead and other ghost messengers. She would share the interesting ones with Sweet Dream Baby, and the horrifying ones she discussed with me about making them into nightmares to leave for the dead to punish the living who did evil in the living world.”

Nightmare Brother seemed to be reminiscing about an old friend, and a smile unconsciously crept onto his lips.

Gu Lili felt a little embarrassed. How the former Meng Po was replaced had already spread throughout the underworld. She knew very well why the Bai family's public relations were avoiding her and why Fang Fangfang disliked her. However, the essence of Meng Po was on her body, and even Guan Nan could not remove it. What could she do?

"When will she be able to come back? I want to give this position back to her."

Gu Lili didn't have much attachment to the position of Meng Po. She wanted to be an indifferent person, strong-willed and unafraid of gossip. But now, under the spotlight of others, she felt like a villainous supporting character in an online novel. Perhaps when the current Meng Po returned to the underworld as a dead soul, she would return the original source and the position to her, so that these ghost messengers wouldn't think she was taking advantage of them.

“You don’t need to worry about this. Those shallow PR people wouldn’t understand.” Nightmare Brother was halfway through his sentence when he suddenly remembered that Fangfangfang was still there. He glanced at her and met her cold eyes. He sensed the criticism Fangfangfang was putting on him in her heart, and quickly added, “I meant those shallow Bai family PR people.”

Seeing Gu Lili's surprised expression, Nightmare Brother continued, "High-ranking officials in the Underworld all have the ability to read minds. You didn't know that, did you?"

Gu Lili's already low spirits were instantly plunged to rock bottom by Nightmare Brother. So, it seems the other party already knew that she hoped Guan Nan would log off soon so she wouldn't have to pay back the points she owed? What a disaster!

"Haha, you're really something. Even Lord Guan Nan didn't hold a grudge against you for this? But don't worry, once you learn to control your origin as soon as possible, you can block our mind-reading ability. Your Meng Po origin is a very magical and mysterious thing."

Seeing that Gu Lili remained silent, Nightmare Brother continued the previous topic, saying, "You don't need to worry about you and Qinglian anymore. She has lived in this underworld for a long time, longer than Sweet Dream and I have existed, but she has never been able to see the outside world. She doesn't understand why dynasties change, why male ghosts suddenly went from braids to short hair, why ghosts say they died in a plane crash, and how people without magic could ascend to heaven. So she kept writing in a small notebook, and the stories told by those ghosts and their obsessions became her spiritual food. Until the era of mobile phones came along, she longed for the human world even more."

"Is Qinglian her name? It's a beautiful name."

"It's a name she chose herself. She's like an orphan; nobody knows where she came from, not even herself. But everyone has a name, and she wanted to be like everyone else, so she came up with this name herself. Every time she comes to me, she asks us to call her Qinglian."

"Are you suggesting that she might prefer to be reincarnated?"

"From what I know of her, that is indeed true. But she is not a reckless person. Among these millions of souls, there must be something special about you that led her to choose you. Even Guan Nan cannot control your very essence, so how could she recognize a mortal soul as her master? In the darkness, everything is preordained."

“But the people in the underworld all think that I stole her official position and forced her to leave.”

Nightmare Brother chuckled softly and shook his head: "That's because they're jealous of you. Do you know how many people in the entire Underworld and even the Three Realms covet Meng Po's position?"

Gu Lili sighed, feeling that the other person was angry with her: "What's so good about such a boring soup-making job? Is it worth other people's interest?"

"Hehe, you're new here and don't understand yet. Once you truly accept Meng Po's true nature, you'll know the secrets. As for those sour grapes... Meng Po's position only obeys the Underworld and is not actually governed by the Three Realms. Who made you unhappy? Just act like you did when you were a dead soul and do it."

"Pfft!" Gu Lili burst out laughing: "Your words are quite down-to-earth."

Under the influence of Nightmare Brother's words, Gu Lili's brows finally relaxed. She finally understood why the former Meng Po was willing to come and talk to this muscular man who looked like a monster. The saying "don't judge a book by its cover" was now a reality.

"Lady Meng Po, I would like to choose Nightmare Number Three." Number 178 turned around and said to Gu Lili.

"Is choosing number three okay, Nightmare Bro?" Gu Lili threw the question back to Nightmare Bro.

"As long as you have enough points, there's absolutely no problem. The ghost you brought has good taste. Number three is the mural that just scared you. Because it has a very strong curse, whatever the dreamer fears most in their heart will appear in the dream. Even living people with weak mental strength may be affected by the curse and trapped in this dream for a long time."

Nightmare Brother walked up to mural number three, crossed his arms, looked up at the mural, and said, "This work was created by Qinglian. She used it to deal with some ruthless people in the real world, and it was quite effective."

"Let's go pay our points now, and then we'll begin our dream journey."

Gu Lili is now very familiar with the procedures in the underworld. Points are the first thing you need to do, and these points are like the ghost currency of the underworld. Once you have enough points, things will be easier to get done.

"Fangfangfang, take number 178 to pay the points," Gu Lili said.

"Yes, Lady Meng Po," Fangfangfang replied, then took No. 178 out to find the office to pay her points.

Seeing that No. 178 and Fangfangfang had already walked away, Gu Lili asked Nightmare Brother again, "What if an evil spirit wants revenge on someone and creates a dream with such strong curses as No. 3? For example, what if an evil spirit was brought to justice by the police in life, and its resentment is too deep after death, and its ancestors happened to have enough points to create dreams?"

Nightmare Brother laughed, "True evil spirits don't have the chance to create dreams. Haven't you noticed that none of the people drinking your soup are evil spirits? Those sent to you are all selected. Humans, after all, are a complex and ever-changing race. Only souls destined for the human realm need to drink your soup. Evil spirits have a special management office for the dead, imprisoning various souls whose resentment is too deep to be reborn. As for those who are reborn as animals or plants, they won't carry any memories of their past lives, so they don't need to drink your soup."

"Besides, if it didn't move you, who would risk coming to help the dead create dreams? Not everyone in the underworld has the authority or the leisure to bring the dead here to create dreams. Just like in the human world, most people live by the principle of 'it's better to avoid trouble.' You and Qinglian are both special, but this specialness is also like a double-edged sword. Do you understand what I mean?"

"Yes, I understand."

"That's good. They'll be back soon. If you have any questions in the future, you're welcome to come anytime."

"To be honest, I didn't really want to come. Your corridor is too scary."

"Haha, next time you come, I'll definitely try a cute style, the kind that you girls will like."

The two smiled at each other and didn't talk anymore, just quietly waiting for No. 178 and Fangfangfang to return.