Seizing Dreams

“You…” Yu Hao stared at Chen Yekai in disbelief. Chen Yekai’s handsome face looked uneasy, and his shadow stretched far behind him as well. But right at that moment, Yu Hao suddenly noticed something—

—the sun hasn’t set yet? But almost three hours have passed!

“Try shooting?” Zhou Sheng suddenly opened his eyes, revealing a smile like he had just played a prank. “I bet there’s no bullet in that gun.”

Before anyone could register it, the entire world collapsed with a loud rumble. A rainforest rose steeply from the level ground all around them. Zhao Liang looked blank at first, but his expression changed in an instant.

“This…is still in a dream?!” Zhao Liang muttered with a panic-stricken expression.

“Bin-go!” Chen Yekai and Zhou Sheng shouted angrily at the same time and each drew their respective weapons; Zhou Sheng swept out with his rod and instantly flung Zhao Liang’s car away and sent it flying. Yu Hao was immediately dumbstruck; he was currently in another dream! But not long ago, they were still fighting in Huang Ting’s dream, so why…

“Catch him!” Zhou Sheng shouted, “Don’t let him run this time! It’s up to you! Kaikai!”

Chen Yekai threw his flying scalpel out, Zhao Liang turned sideways to avoid it. Just as he was about to escape, vines began curling over from all sides and wrapped Zhao Liang up tightly. Yu Hao flew forward, clutched Zhao Liang’s collar, and took him up to the sky.

Yu Hao, “This reversal is too fast isn’t it?!”

Chen Yekai and Zhou Sheng whistled; the black dragon crossed through the sun into Chichén Itzá’s world. Zhou Sheng flipped over and landed on the back of his dragon. Chen Yekai’s Feathered Serpent God flew over from afar and took off him with on its back. Yu Hao threw Zhao Liang to Chen Yekai, who then threw him out again to Zhou Sheng. Zhou Sheng’s dragon caught ahold of Zhao Liang with its claws, and it flew to the apex of the pyramid.

“Your dream feels so real!” Yu Hao shouted.

Chen Yekai answered, “I designed an area in my dream that’s almost exactly like the environment in reality, and we just so happened to obtain an exceptionally good opportunity. The two of us, as well as this guy, came straight back to my dream from Huang Ting’s.”

Zhou Sheng said, “Next, after I woke Huang Ting up…”

Yu Hao, “You then left the maze world!”

Zhou Sheng, “Correct— after that, I continued sleeping and returned to Kaikai’s dream, then cooperated with him in acting out this play. Pretend to be unconscious, get Kaikai to notify Zhao Liang of my position, and get caught by him…Fortunately, Huang Ting’s memories contained the specifics of the research laboratory. Otherwise, your environment wouldn’t have been able to be established in the end.”

“Which is why I said I had to meet him at least once,” Chen Yekai said, “before I could obtain all the details. Yu Hao was of great help too.”

Yu Hao said, “Why didn’t you guys make this clear in advance? You two hid this from me for so long!”

“We were afraid that you’d realise you were still in a dream.” Zhou Sheng said, “As long as I’m not by your side, your dreamscape will start to become unstable. When you realise that you’re in someone else’s dream, it’ll be too easy for you to be awakened, and once you’re awake, you’ll disappear from Kaikai’s dream. If that happened, Zhao Liang would become suspicious.”

Chen Yekai said, “Before entering the maze, the last dream we were in was the world of Chichén Itzá. I tried giving myself some autosuggestions to construct a dream of you waiting for Zhou Sheng in your home, and so…”

Yu Hao, “Yeah! I thought it was a little strange too, why would I wake up right after passing through the moon when I should’ve returned to Chen Laoshi’s dream instead. The two of you are really…”

Yu Hao finally had a rough understanding of the trap set by Zhou Sheng…one ring interlocking another, it was truly amazing!

Chen Yekai said, “This requires your cooperation, so that you would always waver in your doubts that I might betray the two of you but still choose to believe me in the end. Otherwise, in your dream, you wouldn’t leave your home with me.”

“But even if I did trust you without any reservations at all, I would still follow you, wouldn’t I?”

Zhou Sheng continued, “If you didn’t have that doubt, you would trust Kaikai, so you’ll easily sense that something was wrong.”

“What would be wrong?” Yu Hao asked.

“The one picking you up should be Zhou Sheng, not me.” Chen Yekai said, “It’s only when your subconscious convinces you to believe that Zhou Sheng had been betrayed by me that the one arriving at your doorstep would be me.” Then Chen Yekai started gesturing at Yu Hao while he stood on his Feathered Serpent God. He continued to explain, “Although this thought doesn’t appear in the surface consciousness, as long as the logic in your subconscious is discordant, you would sense this discordance very strongly and further question yourself, then suddenly wake up in the end.”

Yu Hao could roughly understand it. “How did you know that he would follow me back to Chen Laoshi’s dreamscape?”

“We have the same scene designed in both our dreams.” Zhou Sheng said, “I guessed that he has the ability to interfere with and to invade dreamscapes and discussed it with Kaikai several times. Originally, we just wanted to trick him into my dream and take care of him there, but Kaikai insisted on a backup plan…”

“See, it’s good that you listened to me ba?” Chen Yekai said to Zhou Sheng.

“Wu.” Zhou Sheng said, “At first I thought that I could have just agreed to taking him into my dream, but…”

Zhou Sheng explained to Yu Hao for a long time, and it was only then did Yu Hao know that Zhou Sheng and Chen Yekai had already targeted Zhao Liang before this and set up a complex trap to deal with a ‘dream invasion’. After all, as long as the Golden Crow Wheel was in Zhou Sheng’s hands, he was almost invincible. Chen Yekai suggested to set up a scene that was almost identical to that of reality, and no matter who was the one making a move in the end, to just trick them over before dealing with them.

However, Huang Ting’s dream went beyond their imagination. Zhao Liang even injected himself with a stimulant that greatly increased his strength. In the end, Zhou Sheng thought it over for a long time, came up with a way to throw him into Chen Yekai’s dreamscape, then used this dream to take countermeasures against Zhao Liang.

“We’re done, my dear Zhao Laoshi.”

The black dragon and Feathered Serpent God stopped on the platform. Zhao Liang had been thrown into the center, and his whole body was tied up with vines. There was even an apple stuffed into his mouth so he was unable to speak and could only cry out with wuwus.

“Seems like you haven’t figured everything out yet,” Zhou Sheng frowned as he looked at him and casually said, “The effects of the stimulant haven’t died down yet, right?”

Then Zhou Sheng went forward and harshly kicked Zhao Liang. Yu Hao just thought that this scene was really too absurd; right before this, Zhao Liang was still beating them up so energetically until they didn’t even have a chance to fight back, but now, the situation had actually been reversed so forcefully, and he was trussed up like a dumpling?

Chen Yekai said, “Don’t talk to him anymore, he might still have tricks up his sleeves. Get down to business quickly.”

“Letting you off easy then.” Zhou Sheng answered, “Eat the apple, eat it, eat it, eat the damn apple.”

Yu Hao, “……”

While he was unaware, Yu Hao had completed this perfect cooperation with them. Now, he just felt exhausted. “I want to go out and take a bath. I don’t want to play anymore.”

“Okay.” Zhou Sheng said to Yu Hao. Chen Yekai raised his hand, and the vines took root in the ground before rising upward with Zhao Liang. Zhao Liang was still uttering muffled wuwus, his pleading gaze signalling that he wanted a chance to explain himself.

But Zhou Sheng ignored him. He raised his hand and forcibly pressed it on Zhao Liang’s forehead.

Zhao Liang’s eyes widened in an instant and looked almost despairingly at the flashing pictures of his memories. Yu Hao was stunned; scenes were flashing by one by one. Chen Yekai said, “Zhao Laoshi is a rather upright man ma.”

Zhao Liang’s life from when he was young to the time he went to college, found a girlfriend, fell in love, settled down, his wife and son going abroad — all of those experiences could be seen at a glance. In this brief moment, Yu Hao saw almost the entire life of this middle-aged man who was nearing his fifties; being misunderstood, getting refuted, demoted, taking up post as a martial arts instructor at first and getting a transfer afterward because of making a mistake, but he was asked by Qin Guodong to join him and enter the investigation team.

Zhao Liang had personally solved several major cases, and he was promoted by Qin Guodong himself and got targeted by Ren Chong. Zhou Sheng’s brows furrowed deeply. The three of them viewed Zhao Liang’s life just like this.

Until he started getting in touch with STA and caught the one in-charge of STA’s workshop, then Chen Yekai said in a low voice, “He got caught indeed.”

Zhou Sheng said, “When we rescue Huang Ting, we have to save him too.”

Yu Hao said, “Let me look at this section?”

Zhou Sheng made a slashing gesture with his finger and let Yu Hao see the group meeting Qin Guodong, Ren Chong, and Zhao Liang partook in. There was no one else at the meeting. Zhao Liang and Ren Chong started arguing and became extremely agitated, their faces turning crimson from anger. Qin Guodong never spoke, and in the end, he was the first to get up and leave.

What they were discussing was whether they should continue tracking down the Golden Crow Wheel, and how they should deal with Zhou Sheng and Yu Hao. In the end, Qin Guodong decided to leave his post, while Ren Chong promised that he wouldn’t lay a finger on Zhou Sheng.

Zhou Sheng tapped on one of the scenes — it was Zhao Liang’s most secretive intention.

Once he got the Golden Crow Wheel and the ability to run freely around dreamscapes, Zhao Liang thought that he would be able to change anyone’s mind from now on and level the score with one move. He had really had enough with the investigation team; with both his hands and feet tied up, he had too many misgivings about elements in reality and couldn’t do anything. The Golden Crow Wheel could place the entire organisation under his control; he wouldn’t need to exhaust so much effort in convincing others to accept his own views, and he would never have to worry about any of the constraints of whatever he does.

“It’s pretty ideal.” Chen Yekai assessed, “Wanting to change the world through this sort of way.”

“It’s a bit crazy.” Zhou Sheng assessed as well, “You were once a good person, why turn to crime? The power over life, death, rewards, and punishment, all of that consolidated in your hands; after letting someone like you get the Golden Crow Wheel, once you let yourself run wild, it should be quite terrifying.”

Zhao Liang gazed at Zhou Sheng, reluctance evident in his eyes.

“Even if you do get to sit in that position, you still wouldn’t be able to do whatever you please.” Chen Yekai evaluated.

Yu Hao said, “But according to his logic, as long as he can get the Golden Crow Wheel, he can do whatever he pleases.”

“Un.” Zhou Sheng answered indifferently, then started looking at the analysis report in Zhao Liang’s memories regarding the Golden Crow Wheel. Within the twinkle of an eye, a huge volume of reports gushed out in an instant through the scenes.

Yu Hao saw the future Zhao Liang imagined—— Zhou Sheng sitting on a chair, Zhao Liang sitting on another, with the Golden Crow Wheel placed in the middle while it was connected to a circuit. The Golden Crow Wheel shone with a blue, electrical arc light.

“This is the ‘cooperation’ you were talking about?” Zhou Sheng answered, “It doesn’t seem very comfortable, look at this.”

Zhou Sheng took another memory out and presented it in front of Chen Yekai and Yu Hao — it was a discussion meeting regarding the Golden Crow Wheel. The researchers started offering their speculations about the operating mechanisms of the Golden Crow Wheel and their views of analysing it, as well as naming it the ‘brainwave integrator repeater’. The basis of their research was very limited; most of it revolved around a copy of the analysis report obtained when Chen Yekai handed the Golden Crow Wheel to the STA. One of their conjectures was that the Golden Crow Wheel lacked the energy to support its operation; once it had enough energy, it would connect people’s dreams through the collective unconscious.

The meeting also verified Yu Hao’s other speculation — even if the Golden Crow Wheel didn’t exist, people could enter dreams as well. It’s just that the influence of a dream without the Golden Crow Wheel is very unstable, and the ‘self-consciousness’ one could feel in a dream would be even more indistinct. On the other hand, the Golden Crow Wheel could strengthen and stabilise the signals of the brain waves that produce dreams, which gives humans the ability to control their own selves and the conscious world in their dreams.

At the end of the meeting, everyone agreed unanimously that they needed to get the Golden Crow Wheel before carrying out further research. It would be best if they could bring Zhou Sheng over as well and get his cooperation. However, if they wanted to obtain Zhou Sheng’s powers of control over the Golden Crow Wheel, they would need to continue their fine tuning—— connect Zhao Liang and Zhou Sheng’s consciousness first, then think of a way to let Zhao Liang ‘swallow’ Zhou Sheng’s totem. Assimilate their conscious worlds…

When Yu Hao saw this, a chill ran down his spine.