Danger in a Dream
The picture frame was pitch black, and there was no way to see anything. Until Sweet Dream Baby lifted her short legs and stepped in, holding up her ever-eating lollipop and swinging it forcefully, the lollipop instantly transformed into a scepter, the tip of which emitted a dazzling light that illuminated the surroundings.
"Huh? The Dream Corridor... it really is a corridor?"
To Gu Lili's astonishment, Fangfangfang also looked around. The long corridor was covered in dust and seemed to stretch on and on. On the walls on both sides hung many picture frames of the same size, all in the same position, except that they were all eerie black frames and had no content.
In the past, there had been instances of wandering spirits creating dreams, but that was always the Bai family's job. She had only escorted Bai family members and wandering spirits to the outside of the castle and had never participated in entering the dreams. However, since Gu Lili took office, officials throughout the underworld have been speaking ill of her, and in order to avoid trouble, the Bai family has also pushed this job onto Fangfangfang.
“That’s right, otherwise why would it be called the Dream Corridor? The corridor is not under the control of the underworld; it’s another dimension. Follow me closely, and whatever you do, don’t look into the picture frame, and don’t turn around no matter what you hear. Once we reach the end, we’ll be safe.” Sweet Dream Baby said, her short legs moving incredibly fast as if she were riding on wheels of fire, as if she was wary of something.
The dark and cramped corridor made Gu Lili feel uneasy, so she reached out and pushed Lanlan in front of her: "Fangfangfang, come to the front and protect Lanlan. The souls of the dead are fragile. I have my source protecting me, so I won't be afraid of those filthy things."
"Yes, Lady Meng Po." The souls of the dead are indeed fragile, especially since Lanlan was just a child when she passed away. Fangfangfang agreed and then cautiously protected Lanlan as they walked forward.
"Then, Meng Po, you have to be extra careful standing at the back. That thing is quite cunning. Remember, never look back under any circumstances." Sweet Dream Baby gave her these instructions while still kicking her little legs and desperately walking forward.
The group walked forward quickly in a line, with no end in sight. Only the light from Sweet Dream Baby's scepter barely illuminated their path. Time and space seemed to be frozen, showing no signs of change.
"Baby, how much longer until we get there? It feels like this road never ends."
"That depends on when Lanlan's mother falls into a deep sleep. The entrance in front will only open when she is sound asleep."
"Huh??? Then why didn't we come in later?" Gu Lili asked.
"Because there are dream-eating beasts here. If I'm not here when the entrance opens, the dream-eating beasts will rush to eat the dreams first, so we have no choice but to stay here and guard it."
"The underworld is so advanced, can't it have some kind of surveillance or teleportation vehicle? It's so dark, it's terrifying to have to wait here all the time."
"Otherwise, why would we charge 1 million points? Do you think we're ripping off ghosts? We earn our money through hard work. Besides, the Dream Corridor is outside the Six Realms, so many spells become ineffective there. The Underworld and Heavenly Court are unwilling to waste time and effort intervening, since there aren't many souls willing to spend 1 million points to enter a dream. Over time, the corridor has become more dilapidated, and the Dream-Eating Beasts have become more rampant, but..."
Suddenly, Sweet Dream Baby, who was walking at the front, stopped and stopped talking. The scepter in her hand stood straight on the ground, and the atmosphere became strange.
"Baby?" Gu Lili tentatively called out the other person's name.
"Sweet Dreams..." Fangfangfang, who was standing third, reached out to touch her to see if there was anything wrong.
"Don't move."
Sweet Dream Baby, who had been silent all along, finally spoke, but her tone was serious and authoritative, as if she had become a different person.
"So you've already arrived."
Sweet Dream Baby gripped the scepter and continued speaking.
"Who...who's here? Fangfangfang, what happened up ahead?"
The narrow corridor couldn't accommodate several people walking side by side, so they had lined up in a single file. Sweet Dream Baby was in the first position, and Gu Lili was in the last. So she could only push Fangfangfang in front of her to let her see what was going on.
"I don't know, Lady Meng Po, I can't see clearly either. But I can sense a dangerous aura..."
"I can feel it even without you feeling it. I'm terrified by the stillness in the environment. It's like I'm on the world's most thrilling roller coaster, and then the machine breaks down and I'm hanging upside down in the air."
Gu Lili interrupted Fangfangfang and spoke to herself.
"Meng Po, don't you find this strange?"
"What's strange? I'm curious why you suddenly stopped saying these weird things."
"Because I discovered that the Dream Eater had already arrived."
"Huh? Where? Where..."
Gu Lili remembered Sweet Dream's instructions: not to turn around or look at the photo frame. So she just glanced at it from side to side and didn't notice anything unusual.
“It’s right here, right among us,” Sweet Dream Baby continued.
Upon hearing Sweet Dream Baby's words, Gu Lili's hair stood on end. She clenched her fists, took two steps back, and tried to summon her source.
"Wait, Lady Meng Po. Don't hurt Lanlan." Fangfangfang sensed that Gu Lili was about to make a move, but she had only recently acquired the Origin and was not yet able to control it freely.
"Lanlan?" Gu Lili asked.
“We’ve all been talking since we came in, but Lanlan has been quiet the whole time. That’s not normal for a child, especially considering Lanlan’s usually playful nature. She should be chattering away because she’s scared.”
Fangfangfang calmly analyzed her speculation, while Lanlan in front of them remained silent, standing with her back to them and her arms hanging vertically in place.
"There's no other way but to start the war. It's likely that it possessed Lanlan as soon as we came in. Being possessed by such a filthy thing for too long might damage Lanlan's soul."
As she spoke, Sweet Dream Baby turned around to face Lanlan and pointed at her with her scepter.
"Hehe, hehehehehehehehehehehehehehe..."
Lanlan let out a series of extremely eerie laughs, and at the same time, the walls on both sides of the corridor began to distort, and black water flowed out of the picture frames on them.
Sweet Dream Baby gripped the scepter and silently recited a scripture. Then, she let go, and the scepter transformed into a pair of tweezers. She pinched and pulled at Lanlan's head, dragging the Dream Eater out and throwing it against the wall. The enraged Dream Eater stood up, looked at the scepter warily, and then turned to pounce on Lanlan.
"Oh no, Fangfangfang, quickly protect Lanlan!"
Upon hearing this, Fangfangfang hurriedly picked up Lanlan and retreated. At this moment, Gu Lili flashed forward, protecting the two of them behind her. A ghostly green light appeared on her hand as she glared fiercely at the monster before her.
The two sides remained locked in a standoff. Meanwhile, the black water gushing from the picture frames in the corridor had gathered together and reached up to everyone's ankles.
Suddenly, a claw emerged from the dark water, grabbed Gu Lili's ankle, causing her to lose her balance and fall to the ground.
As she fell, several ghostly claws surged from the black water on the ground, gradually enveloping her and pulling her down. She tried to summon her source, but the black hands covered her mouth and nose, making it impossible for her to breathe. The spells cast by Fangfangfang, who was holding Lanlan, and Tianmengbao were all absorbed by the black water, leaving them helpless.
Just as Gu Lili was about to be submerged by the black water, a golden light suddenly appeared from afar, piercing into the black water and enveloping her, lifting her to the surface. Then, a spatial rift appeared in the air, and a man in black slowly emerged from the rift.
The man gathered a blue aura in his hand, which then condensed into a long sword. He turned and slashed backward, the sword energy reaching the end of the corridor. Several dream-eating beasts hidden in the corridor revealed their true forms. They were mutated humanoid creatures, hairless, with scarlet eyes, and their skin was a strange grayish-white color covered with filthy slime. One of them clutched the wound slashed by Guan Nan's sword energy, let out a few mournful cries with its companion, and then disappeared into the darkness.
As if sensing something terrifying, the black water scattered and eventually climbed up the wall into the picture frame, disappearing from sight.
"Ah, Lord Guan Nan!" Fangfangfang was holding Lanlan and it was inconvenient for her to bow, so she could only lower her head respectfully.
Sweet Dream Baby rubbed her hands guiltily: "Your Majesty... what brings you here?"
Guan Nan raised an eyebrow and said sternly, "What, you think you can handle this?"
"No, no, no, thanks to Lord Guan Nan's timely arrival, these demons have somehow become much stronger."
"Oh? I don't know why, but you've probably been lazy and haven't been checking the corridor properly. You didn't even know these monsters broke through the defensive barriers and leveled up. I'll punish you when we get back."
Guan Nan's aura was not something that ordinary ghost messengers could withstand. Although the Dream Bureau was in a gray area between the heaven and earth, its headquarters were still under the jurisdiction of the underworld, so it was naturally under his control.
Come to think of it, she hadn't entered this corridor for over a decade. No wonder the monsters had evolved and couldn't trigger the corridor's defense system anymore; she had no idea.
"Yes...it is Lord Guan Nan." Knowing she was in the wrong, Sweet Dream Baby didn't dare to argue any further and could only obediently agree.
"And you, she's a newcomer, and so are you? Why didn't you report it when you brought her to this dangerous place?" Guan Nan turned to Fang Fang Fang and angrily rebuked her.
"Cough cough cough, alright alright, instead of scolding them, you should save me first." Gu Lili was getting impatient listening from the side, because the black water had almost drowned her mouth and nose, making her feel nauseous. That stuff was extremely smelly, like fresh sludge just dug out of a ditch, smelling very fresh.
Upon hearing the sound, Fangfangfang put Lanlan down and quickly approached Gu Lili; "Lady Meng Po, you..."
"Do you have any wet wipes?" Gu Lili interrupted the other person.
"No...no."
"mineral water?"
"without"
"Towel? Tissue?"
"No, Lady Meng Po. We came here to enter a dream, we didn't bring any worldly things."
Gu Lili looked helplessly at Fangfangfang. This girl always had a cold and wooden demeanor. Everyone says that times have changed, but she seemed to be living thousands of years in the past, and she always had a serious and unsmiling look on her face, making her seem bland and uninteresting.
“Baby…” Gu Lili turned to look at Sweet Dream Baby, who was sitting in the corner reflecting on her mistakes.
"No, neither do I." Sweet Dream Baby interrupted the other person's question without even turning her head, afraid that it would remind Guan Nan of her again and make him angry with her once more.
Gu Lili then looked at Lanlan. The little girl was still wearing that cute blue tulle dress, so cute that it didn't even have any pockets, so there was no need to ask her.
"Is it my turn now?"
Gu Lili looked in the direction of the sound and saw Guan Nan leaning against the wall, looking at her with disgust.
"You brought it?" Gu Lili asked in surprise.
"I didn't bring it."
"you....."
“But I can summon someone to deliver it.”
Guan Nan condensed his Qi and drew it into the air, creating a spatial rift. From the rift, someone handed him a small basket filled with wet wipes, tissues, a mirror, and even a little perfume lotion.
"Oh dear, why didn't you say so sooner? Thank you, brother, thank you so much!" Gu Lili was overjoyed. She grabbed the basket, opened the wet wipes, and quickly started cleaning herself, wiping her face, arms, and hands several times.
"Baby, come and help me shine some light."
Sweet Dream Baby had been hiding in the corner. The only thing that could shine here was her scepter. She was standing too far away, and Gu Lili couldn't even see her clearly in the dim light of the mirror.
"Can't you come over here, Grandma?" Sweet Dream Baby was both angry and annoyed by being called that, and said irritably.
"Hahaha, here it comes."
Gu Lili, carrying a basket and holding a mirror, walked to Sweet Dream Baby's side, cleaned herself up again in the light, and then handed the trash and small basket to the Emperor of Fengdu: "Thank you for your trouble."
“You…” Guan Nan was speechless.
"Look, the entrance is opening, we can enter the dream now."
Everyone looked ahead, where a beam of light was slowly unfolding, gradually transforming into a large white door emitting a faint glow, standing at the end of the corridor.
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