Chapter 42: A Stream of Clear Water
The nightmare's roar transformed into a physical, visceral assault, slamming fiercely into the "bridge of the heart" the four had constructed. "Hold on!" Chu Yun growled. He channeled all his willpower into stabilizing this hard-earned connection. He could feel every joint of the bridge trembling violently, as if it would collapse at any moment. Li Ge and Mo Li suffered equally, their consciousnesses drawn back into their respective "prisons of the heart." The hideous resentful spirits and mocking visions of officials became even clearer and more violent than before, assaulting their minds with frenzied intensity. Amidst this mental storm, a clear and peaceful consciousness flowed through the "bridge of the heart" into the three of them. "It's so lively here..." It was Zhilan. Her voice was free of fear or panic, only childlike curiosity. Chu Yun, Li Ge, and Mo Li subconsciously shifted some of their attention across the "bridge of the heart" to Zhilan's "prison of the heart," and then they were all stunned. There was no terrifying sight around Zhilan: no sea of fire, no resentful spirits, no cage of traps. Her world was a peaceful, grassy hillside. Several translucent bunnies, made of soft light, sniffed curiously at her feet, unfazed. "Zhilan, you..." Chu Yun's voice was filled with confusion. "Big brother, why is it so dark over there?" Zhilan's consciousness inquired curiously. "My world is also quiet, but there are many glowing little creatures to play with me." "Glowing little creatures?" Mo Li's consciousness immediately grasped this crucial information. "Yeah." Zhilan "reached out" and gently stroked the head of a bunny. "They said they're scared. There's a huge, dark monster out there that's hidden the sun, so they have to hide here." "You can... talk to them?" Li Ge's voice was filled with shock. "Yes," Zhilan replied matter-of-factly. "They can talk, you just can't hear them." This conversation gave Chu Yun and the other two a completely new understanding of the world they inhabited. They had always believed that this dream world was made of pure nightmare and despair, but now it seemed that was not the case. "Zhilan," Chu Yun tried to guide her as clearly as possible, "Ask them what they mean by 'sun'?" Zhilan was silent for a moment, as if communicating with the small creatures made of light. After a while, her voice...
The nightmare's roar turned into a tangible mental shock, slamming heavily into the "bridge of the heart" built by the four people.
"Hold on!" Chu Yun roared. He channeled all his willpower into stabilizing this hard-earned connection. He could feel every node of the bridge trembling violently, as if it would collapse at any moment. Li Ge and Mo Li were equally distressed. Their consciousness was once again pulled back into their respective "mind prisons." The hideous resentful spirits and mocking officials' illusions became clearer and more violent than before, frantically attacking their minds.
In the midst of this spiritual storm, a clear and peaceful consciousness flowed along the "bridge of the heart" into the perception of the three of them.
"It's... so lively here."
It was Zhilan. There was no fear or panic in her voice, only a childlike curiosity.
Chu Yun, Li Ge, and Mo Li all subconsciously shifted their attention, passing through the "Heart Bridge," to Zhilan's "Heart Prison." Then, they were stunned. Zhilan's surroundings were devoid of any terrifying sights: no sea of fire, no vengeful spirits, no mechanical cages. Her world was a tranquil, grassy hillside. A few translucent rabbits, composed of soft light, sniffed curiously at her feet, unfazed.
"Zhilan, you..." Chu Yun's voice was full of confusion.
"Big brother, why is it so dark over there?" Zhilan's consciousness asked curiously, "My world is also very quiet, but there are many little glowing creatures to play with me."
"A little guy that can glow?" Mo Li's consciousness immediately captured this key information.
"Yeah." Zhilan "reached out" and gently stroked the head of a little rabbit. "They said they were scared. There's a big, dark monster outside that has hidden the sun, so they can only hide here."
"You can... talk to them?" Li Ge's voice was also full of shock.
"Yes." Zhilan answered as a matter of course, "They can talk, but you just can't hear them."
This conversation gave Chu Yun and the other two a completely new understanding of the world they lived in. They had always believed that this dream world was made up of pure nightmares and despair, but now it seemed that this was not the case.
"Zhilan," Chu Yun tried to guide her as clearly as possible, "Ask them what they mean by 'sun'?"
Zhilan was silent for a moment, as if communicating with the small animals made of light.
After a while, her voice rang out again on the "Heart Bridge": "They say that the 'sun' represents everyone's happy memories. For example, what Aniu thought about when he carried the wheat home during last year's bumper harvest; and what Granny Li saw in her heart when her grandson first called her 'Grandma'. They say that in the past, there were many 'suns' in the village, and the whole world was warm. But then that very sad adult came and snatched away all the 'suns' and hid them away, so the world has become what it is now."
These words were like a bolt of lightning, splitting the fog in the hearts of Chu Yun and the other two.
"I understand!" Mo Li's voice was filled with the excitement of sudden enlightenment. "This world is not unipolar! Just like the real world, it also has 'yin' and 'yang'! Those recurring nightmares we saw before were the combination of all the villagers' negative emotions, the 'yin'. And those glimmers of hope and beautiful memories that Zhilan saw were the combination of positive emotions, the 'yang'!"
"And the nightmare..." Li Ge took over her words, his voice solemn, "What it is doing is suppressing the 'yang' and amplifying the 'yin'. It feeds on negative emotions, so it must create a world of only despair and pain to nourish itself. We have all been deceived by it. We thought this world was hell, but in fact, it was it who turned it into hell with its own hands."
"Does that mean," Chu Yun's thoughts became clearer, "that as long as we can find those hidden 'suns' and release them, we can fundamentally weaken the power of the nightmare?"
"That's the theory!" Mo Li replied affirmatively, "This is a confrontation at the 'rules' level! We don't need to defeat it, we just need to... restore the 'balance' that this world should have!"
This discovery gave the three of them an unprecedented surge of excitement. For the first time, they saw hope for victory in this hopeless world.
"Zhilan." Chu Yun's voice became extremely serious. "Can you still feel those 'little guys'? Do they know where the 'sun' is hidden?"
"Well... let me ask." Zhilan's consciousness calmed down again.
This time, the silence was prolonged. Chu Yun and the other two could sense Zhilan's spiritual power spreading in an extremely subtle manner throughout the dream world, like invisible, gentle tentacles, exploring something. This process also alerted Nightmare.
"Roar!" That angry roar reverberated throughout the world once again. Within the "heart prison" of Chu Yun and the other two, the attacks became even more fierce.
The "father" illusion in front of Chu Yun revealed a painful and ferocious expression on his face: "Don't be stubborn anymore! Accept your fate! Otherwise, everyone around you will die because of your 'naivety'!"
The resentful souls around Li Ge began to condense into the image of her sister, staring at her with their hollow eyes: "Look, A Li, this is the person you 'saved'. They are all cursing you and resenting you. Your 'Tao' was wrong from the beginning."
The mechanical cage in front of Mo Li began to shrink inwards frantically. The faces of all her clansmen who had died unjustly appeared on the cold steel wall: "Why... why didn't you save us... You clearly have the ability... why didn't you save us..."
All three of them were experiencing an unprecedented mental shock. They desperately guarded their minds and used all their willpower to maintain the existence of the "bridge of the heart." They knew that all their hopes now rested on Zhilan.
"Found it!" Just when they were about to collapse, Zhilan's voice with a hint of excitement was like a clear spring, injecting into their will that was about to dry up.
"Found it?" The three of them were excited at the same time.
"Yes!" Zhilan's consciousness answered affirmatively, "Those little guys said that all the 'suns' were hidden by that sad adult in a place that least resembled a 'cage'."
"What do you mean?" Mo Li asked.
"They say," Zhilan said with a hint of confusion in her voice, "that place seems to be the happiest, most joyful, and most painless place in the entire village. There are no nightmares there, only beautiful dreams. That sad adult used the most beautiful illusion to build the strongest 'cage', locking all the 'suns' and itself inside."
This answer once again deeply shocked Chu Yun and the other two. They finally understood that the core of the nightmare wasn't in the darkest, most terrifying corners of the world as they'd imagined. Quite the contrary, it lay hidden... in the brightest places. It used the false illusion of "bliss" to mask true despair, and the most alluring "dream" as a deadly weapon to erode all resistance.
"Zhilan," Chu Yun took a deep breath. He could feel that Nightmare had focused most of his attention on them, and their "heart prison" was becoming increasingly unstable. "Can you... take us to that place?"
"I'll try." Zhilan's consciousness pointed in a certain direction of the "Bridge of Heart". "All the 'little guys' are gathering in that direction. They said they want to be closer to the 'sun' so it will be warmer."
"Okay." Chu Yun's will became incomparably firm. "Li Ge, Mo Li, gather our strength. We will no longer fight alone. We will focus all our will on the direction guided by Zhi Lan. We must forcefully break through these 'heart prisons'!"
"Understood!" Li Ge and Mo Li responded at the same time.
The three ignored the madly attacking illusions around them. They united all their beliefs—Chu Yun's "protection," Li Ge's "redemption," and Mo Li's "creation"—through the "Bridge of Heart." An unprecedented, pure spiritual force, woven from the combined wills of the four, coalesced at the tip of the "Bridge of Heart," forming an invisible yet indestructible "drill."
"Now!" Chu Yun shouted.
"rush!"
The will that condensed all the hopes of the four people rushed towards the direction indicated by Zhilan!
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