CHAPTER 1766: CHAPTER 1760 CLEARING

Lu Xiaojie’s words made Tang Ye’s face change; he just realized that the drowsiness that had always been there had disappeared without him knowing when!

Is this a sign that he is becoming more and more part of this place?

"This..."

"The structure here is very complex, and it’s hard for me to explain it to you in a short time. It’s like me asking you a question: Are you dreaming? Do you know you are dreaming? You know you are not dreaming, right? But can you realize you are dreaming while in a dream?"

Lu Xiaojie said a string of words that Tang Ye couldn’t understand, then gave him a chance to respond, and continued, "Don’t argue with me about ’lucid dreaming’; it’s just a waking fantasy you can have anytime. Like now, I’m imagining in my head that I’ve already gotten out, into the real world, and I’m turning Earth into a square—oh hey, Earth really turned into a square! So, that’s it, on to the next one."

Lu Xiaojie’s speech was rapid, seemingly deliberately making it difficult for Tang Ye to understand, but what she didn’t expect was that after a few seconds of contemplation, Tang Ye uttered something that left her in a daze.

"So, this is a dream?"

"...Well, it seems you understand..."

Tang Ye took a deep breath, and it seemed clear to him why Lu Xiaojie wanted to hide certain things. Judging by Lu Xiaojie’s reaction earlier, his suspicion was correct: the place they were in was indeed a dream, and the real world wasn’t the actual reality but what Tang Ye considered the surface world. In this illusion, the surface world where the convenience store existed was the "real world." In the real world, he existed, but in a dream, he naturally didn’t. But once he completely belonged to the "dream," would his self in the "real world" still exist?

"Then..." Tang Ye still wanted to ask more questions, but Lu Xiaojie interrupted him just as he said a word.

"Listen, Li Henian, if you want to continue asking questions like this, I advise you to shut up. I’m doing this for your own good; it’s you who wants to get out, not me! Plus, since you understood what I just said, you should also understand that spending too much time here is no good, so quickly, second question."

Upon hearing Lu Xiaojie’s words, Tang Ye could only halt this line of questioning and proceed to ask the next question.

"I remember our goal is to find that Dream Forest, right? Then does what we’re doing now have anything to do with finding the Dream Forest?" After speaking, Tang Ye looked into Lu Xiaojie’s eyes. Fortunately, his question seemed to be within Lu Xiaojie’s scope to answer.

She took a deep breath, then asked back, "Do you think we seem like we’re searching?"

"Not really." Tang Ye shook his head, realizing he’s gotten used to Lu Xiaojie’s enigmatic way of speaking.

"Do you know where the Dream Forest is then?"

"Is it around us?"

"Hmm." Lu Xiaojie nodded, and Tang Ye suddenly realized that in the few paintings they dealt with earlier contained elements that were not pleasant, likely things Dairya disliked. What they were doing was removing things Dairya didn’t like, leaving only the good stuff. And if only the good remained, wouldn’t that be her yearned-for Dream Forest?

"Alright, thank you for your answer, I understand now. Let’s go find that sheep next." Said Tang Ye with a smile to Lu Xiaojie, but for some reason, he noticed her freeze slightly. This subtle movement was captured clearly by Tang Ye’s eyes, making his brow furrow. Did he still not guess everything?

At the same time, neither this person nor the zombie noticed, not far off on the bare mud, a few blood-red distorted lines appeared out of nowhere in the air but quickly vanished!

Before long, Lu Xiaojie’s slightly stiff expression eased, appearing somewhat relieved, but that relief didn’t last long; her mood quickly dropped, confirming to Tang Ye that he indeed hadn’t guessed everything. Lu Xiaojie was acting like a child trying to hide a pet from their parents, hoping they wouldn’t notice, but also wishing they’d guess and accept the pet so she could raise it openly.

If the former was satisfied, she’d successfully raise a pet in secret, while the latter would be a cause for celebration but would come with certain risks.

In general, whether the former or latter, the pros and cons weren’t significant, but people always pursue "more" while fearing loss, making human nature struggle between the two.

His analogy might not perfectly fit the actual situation, but it was probably close. However, what exactly the situation was, he’d need to explore further.

"Is it related to Dairya..." With a silent sigh, Tang Ye walked forward, but then noticed Lu Xiaojie wasn’t following him. He turned back to see her shaking her head.

"You go find it yourself; I’ll check some other places," she said, not caring whether Tang Ye agreed or not. Seemingly upset, she headed in the opposite direction, getting farther away, her body starting to fold as she walked away. Watching her back, Tang Ye’s ears twitched and his eyes narrowed. At the moment she disappeared, he seemed to hear Lu Xiaojie mutter something, but the distance was too far, and the murmur too soft, combined with her folding disappearing form, making even Tang Ye, a Level 9 Zombie King, hear only indistinctly.

"Everything has its positives and negatives, without nightmares, is a dream still a dream..."

Shaking his head, Tang Ye’s gaze swept across the surroundings. The place was barren with nothing around, no clues to find anything. Taking a step forward, apart from the plain before him, there was nothing else in sight, but the plain seemed endless. Intuition told Tang Ye that walking further might lead to nothing.

At this moment, unsure if it was tinnitus or something else, Tang Ye heard some sounds, very faint. He touched his ear and remembered something, calming down. When the surroundings grew quiet, he began surveying the area.

Woo~

A faint breathing sound suddenly came to his ear, like a mosquito flying by at night, creating the illusion of hearing hallucinations in unnoticeable conditions.

"Strange sound..." He murmured to himself, realizing there might not actually be nothing around, maybe he just couldn’t see it?

Remaining still, Tang Ye waited for a while, but the sound didn’t reappear. Scanning the area once more, he squinted his eyes, and cautiously stepped forward, listening intently for any sound around him. After a step, there was no sound, and again he took another, still no sound. Then, throwing caution to the wind, he began walking forward with larger strides, but shortly, that faint "woo" sound came again!