Chapter 45 The Land of Freedom (End) Who is he?
This is a long passageway, but it lacks traditional walls and floors; there's only another door at the end. The rest consists of bizarre and fantastical images.
It's like extracting fragments of someone's memory and playing them around continuously.
Occasionally, glimpses of mundane scenes and unfamiliar faces flash by.
“Actually, this is my real dream,” the girl said casually as she walked ahead. “Or rather, the control center of my dreams. I usually find material here and then create some trouble for you guys.”
"Of course, it doesn't mean anything else, so don't worry about it."
She opened the door at the end again, and the space changed once more. This time, they were walking down a school corridor.
To the left are classrooms filled with students, their voices rising and falling as they read and teach. A warm breeze blows in from the windows, and to the right, looking down, a tall cedar tree grows freely in the sunlight.
The bell rang, and the quiet corridor became noisy. Young boys and girls rushed out, playing and laughing as they walked through the corridor. Their youthful faces were like a refreshing breeze passing through everyone.
Real and vivid, Xia Zhu thought she had returned to the campus. The familiarity made her feel dazed, but she realized that it would be difficult for her to return to a peaceful life. A sense of separation without any emotional bias arose in her heart.
At the end of the school corridor, there was still a conspicuous door. The girl led the group behind the door once again.
"What's going on? They really brought us sightseeing?" Xia Zhu heard Ji Luochi mutter.
Behind the third door is a long and narrow room that has been distorted by space.
“That’s…” Feng Feng stared blankly at the two people arguing in the room, one tall and one short, one thin and one fat.
The argument wasn't loud; it was even somewhat muffled, like two wet pieces of wood colliding.
Xia Zhu also noticed that the two familiar faces were no longer as radiant as before. The woman's face was ashen, with fine lines like a dense net. There were no sparkling jewels on her thin earlobes, only a rusty ear piercing hidden in the shadows.
The man was no longer dashing and handsome; a cigarette butt, now only a short piece, dangled from his lips. He smacked his lips and irritably combed his hair with his fingers.
Warm yellow sunlight slanted in through the frosted, dust-covered glass window, like a sticky, melted sugar cube. Countless tiny dust particles danced in the light, giving the room an old, worn feel.
The whole room looked like an old, yellowed, curled photograph full of creases.
Because of the distortion of space, the arguing couples were replicated without limit. The girl silently and quickly led everyone past couples whose faces were gradually becoming blurred, leaving behind the seemingly endless arguments.
Feng Feng seemed to understand something. She turned around and met Xia Zhu's gaze. An ambiguous light flashed in both of their eyes.
They are like a real sightseeing tour, quickly passing through someone's life.
Pushing open the door again, the narrow passageway was lined with towering shelves filled with densely packed goods. Each item defied common sense, appearing larger than a real person. The repetitive, oppressive feeling caused the group to cough in unison.
It felt as if there was a dry, astringent lump stuck in my throat, something I couldn't swallow or spit out.
"Okay, okay, we're almost there!" The girl seemed to think that coughing was a form of protest or dissatisfaction. "I feel really uncomfortable every time I walk this road..." she muttered softly.
"The last door!" She stopped by the door, looking both excited and nervous.
"Ta-da!"
Xia Zhu smelled the scent of snow. Dazzling sunlight flashed by, and the space was incredibly vast. The boundless salt lake was like a giant mirror, reflecting the clear sky and a huge statue of a celestial maiden.
"Oh, I see."
No wonder she always felt that the short-haired girl looked familiar; it turned out that she was the celestial maiden who guided her in her dream.
The celestial maiden statue stands solemnly in the center of the salt lake, her hands clasped together, holding a huge sword. Behind her are snow-capped mountains stretching for miles, with divine eagles circling overhead.
The short-haired girl stepped into the salt lake and skipped and hopped towards the statue. Halfway there, she stopped, turned around and said to the crowd, "This is a rare opportunity. I originally wanted to be the hero myself, but I suddenly feel that the protagonist of a hot-blooded story is not as interesting as a villain who plots and schemes but ultimately chooses to give up on himself."
She stood quietly in the lake, beneath a statue with the same face.
"So I've arranged for you to be the protagonists of this game, traversing mountains and rivers, chasing stars and the moon to achieve a goal and attain a certain accomplishment. Isn't that awesome! Life is only exciting when you go crazy occasionally, just like breaking the rules once, or running into the rain once!"
"After all, everyone wants to be a hero in an adventure game, and everyone wants to be the center of the world, right?"
The group watched in silence as the girl delivered her final passionate speech, or perhaps it was the curtain call at the end of a performance.
A heavy rain? Xia Zhu stared at Feng Feng's back. If there were such a heavy rain in her life, then the one who would hold her hand and rush into the rain would definitely be the Feng siblings.
She seemed to understand why this ghostly dream existed.
"So, this is your desire? To play an adventure game in a dream? And then automatically log off and go home for dinner when the game is over, without any regrets?" Ji Luochi still didn't understand. Her life had never been ordinary from beginning to end. An adventure game? It was far inferior to a real-life dream of demons and monsters.
"Yeah, yeah, don't you think it's cool? It gives off a feeling of someone who keeps their achievements hidden!" She walked to the giant sword hanging in the air. "But I've also planned a really cool ending for myself. As a villain, the way I exit the story can't be sloppy!"
The girl opened her arms and looked up, and the statue behind her slowly lowered its head, their two identical eyes meeting.
Xia Zhu heard her say, "Games are just for fun. Real life is still waiting for me to experience. After all, life is short and only happens once."
"I can't bear to give up."
Under the watchful eyes of everyone, amidst the blazing sun and the eternal ice, the giant sword in the celestial maiden's hand slowly descended. For the first time, Liang chose to end his own life in front of all the unidentified officials.
They could get the stones simply by watching, like a large-scale immersive performance, with no one speaking.
Just as the giant sword was about to touch the girl, she suddenly winked at everyone and gave them a sly smile.
Everyone heard her last words.
"Don't go away, there's a surprise coming up later!"
"Bang!"
Countless glittering sequins shot out from her body, and the girl was like a balloon full of surprise being punctured by a sharp sword tip. The sequins fluttered down onto the lake surface, reflecting the golden sunlight.
“…”
"That's it?" Feng Feng was still in shock as things ended too quickly.
“That’s a naturally formed stone.” Feng Mian pointed to a red stone rising from a pile of glitter in the distance. “It seems that it really is over.”
The red stone was extracted, indicating that the spirit in the dream had died, but no one stepped forward. Everyone looked at each other, seemingly still not understanding the situation.
"Alright, since Liang has taken his own life, let's not waste any more time. Let's hurry up and get the stone out of the dream. I want to go in another one." Ji Luochi took the lead and stepped into the salt lake. Xia Zhu and the others followed her and approached the stone.
The red natural stone was hanging right in front of him, and Ji Luochi was about to reach out when Feng Feng slapped it down.
"We'll take it first!" he said, giving Xia Zhu a push to signal her to take the stone.
Xia Zhu took a step forward and, under Feng Feng's expectant gaze, reached out her hand to the crystal-clear, translucent red stone. She first touched its coolness, and just as she was about to tighten her fingers, a soft, colorful light flashed by, and the Natural Stone disappeared.
Immediately, Xia Zhu felt a sharp pain on her forehead, as if something had hit her hard. She couldn't help but squat down, clutching her head, and a shiny object fell to her feet.
When Xia Zhu saw what it really looked like, she felt the pain in her head completely disappear.
"An Easter egg." She picked up the object in a daze, held it up to her eyes, and felt its soft texture slide between her fingertips. Its golden luster was small but dazzling.
It is a tiny golden bean.
Genuine gold.
Although it was this very thing that hit Xia Zhu on the head.
"What happened!" Feng Feng rushed over and helped Xia Zhu up from the ground. "Where did Shi Tou go!?"
The Natural Stone vanished into thin air before the eyes of six pairs of people. Ji Luochi snapped out of her astonishment, grabbed Xia Zhu's arm, and demanded sharply, "What did you do? Where's the stone?!"
"What are you doing! Let go, let go!" Feng Feng slapped hard at the hand that Ji Luochi was holding Xia Zhu's hand. "Didn't you see that A-Zhu was also hit on the head by something!"
“By the way,” she leaned in, “what is this?”
Xia Zhu felt her cheeks burning and her eyes shining brightly. She pinched a golden bean under Feng Feng's eyes, her face full of sincerity.
"Gold."
"Huh? Gold!"
Ji Luochi was exasperated. She felt like she was going to go crazy. These two were still talking about trivial things.
"What gold and silver! Stones! Where did the stones go!" She was so angry that she gripped the Sun Chaser tightly, wishing she could pull out an arrow and pierce each of them.
"Luo Chi." Ji Yinxiu patted her shoulder. "The stone is over there."
"What?" She looked up blankly, following her brother's gaze.
On the salt lake not far away, stood a tall, thin man. To his left lay a monster shaped like a tiger, with a colorful tail longer than its body, the tip of which was curled around a red stone.
It is a naturally occurring stone.
The monster's speed was terrifying; it snatched what was in their hands right before their eyes.
With a flick of its tail, it handed the stone to the man.
"There are other unknown officials in the dream!?" Feng Mian was clearly uneasy and shocked by the person who suddenly appeared in front of him. "Who is he?" How could he hide in the shadows until they reached the end and then reap the benefits?
The man played with the natural divination stone in one hand. A blood-red ring adorned his pale finger bone, its brilliance mirroring the red stone in his hand. No one dared to make a move, for beside him, beside the incredibly fast tiger-shaped beast, was a seemingly harmless, cat-like creature with one eye and three tails, yet it was extremely eerie.
This man of unknown identity was actually protected by two demon gods.
"Who cares who they are! Anyone who steals our stones deserves a beating!" Several vines sprouted from beneath Feng Feng's feet, crawling forward like giant snakes.
"Xiao Feng! Stop!" Ying Ya, who had been hiding in the shadows, suddenly grabbed Feng Feng's hand to try to stop her, but it was too late. The vines broke through the water's surface two meters in front of the man, like a python about to attack, rushing towards the natural stone in the man's hand.
“I know who he is…” Ying Ya frowned and subconsciously took a step forward to block Feng Feng.
Just as the vines formed sharp spikes and were about to touch the red stone, the man suddenly reached out and flicked his fingertips forward. A golden bean burst out, instantly shattering the vines with a force that could deflect a thousand pounds with four ounces.
Seeing the stranger's technique, Ji Yinxiu beside him immediately understood. He paused for a moment, then murmured, "Turning stone into gold... He is..."
"Ying Huo." Ying Ya continued.
If there is anyone in this world who possesses a unique power that does not belong to any family, it can only be him.
With the ability to turn stone into gold, Ying Huo is the god of wealth of the Shao Hao clan, a relative of Ying Ya, a lover of demon gods, and an illegitimate child who has been living away from home.
-----------------------
The author's note: The male protagonist also makes his debut with a string of titles.
Nobody's reading, it's getting a bit hard to write, but perseverance is key to victory.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
