Chapter 34: Wake-up Call

The surroundings fell into silence, and Fang Xiaoling soon drifted off to sleep. As soon as she began to emit a faint snore, Jung punched her squarely in the face.

Fang Xiaoling’s flattened face puffed back up like a balloon, returning to its original shape. She rubbed her eyes and mumbled groggily, "What are you doing? I hadn't even decided yet if I wanted to make up with Shen Yi..."

"Wake up! You failed. Don't forget your true purpose for entering the dream world!" Jung shook her shoulders with all his might. "You cannot enter a state of deep sleep; you must retain half of your consciousness in the Astral Plane."

"Alright, alright! I know," Fang Xiaoling said reluctantly. "I'll remember this time. As soon as I enter the dream, the first thing I'll do is wrap my consciousness around the mouth of the bottle."

Fang Xiaoling collapsed back to the ground, and within moments, her snoring resumed. Jung slammed a bag filled with sand onto her head.

After repeating this process seven or eight times, Fang Xiaoling reached her breaking point.

"This is torture! Can't a person just get some sleep?" She sat up abruptly. "I’m done, I’m done! I can't even realize I’m dreaming, let alone think about the bottle's mouth while inside it!"

Jung also realized this wasn't working. He pondered for a moment and said, "How about this: take me in with you, and let me remind you that you are dreaming."

"Huh? I know you can go on missions together, but can you go into dreams together?" Fang Xiaoling asked listlessly. "Besides, aren't you guys incapable of dreaming?"

"It’s not that I’m actually entering; it’s that you dream of me. Once you see me, you’ll wonder why I’m appearing before you, and that will make you realize you’re dreaming."

"Good idea." Fang Xiaoling stared at Jung for a while, trying hard to memorize his face, and then lay back down.

After about three or four attempts, Fang Xiaoling finally dreamed of Jung. However, the Jung in her dream didn't remind her she was dreaming; instead, he was teaching her about dimensions.

The snoring began again. Jung grabbed a handful of sand and threw it in Fang Xiaoling's face. After a dozen experimental trials, Jung discovered that throwing sand was the fastest and most efficient way to wake her up.

"Failed again?"

"I dreamed of you this time, but you were a university professor in the dream, giving me a lecture at school..." Fang Xiaoling looked up at the starry sky helplessly. "It’s too hard. The dream world is always trying to find ways to control my consciousness."

Jung poured the sand from his left hand into his right, then back again, repeating the motion until the sand was almost gone. Finally, he said, "Try this: imagine something you have never seen before and let it be the thing that reminds you."

"Something I’ve never seen? How can I imagine that?"

Jung replied quickly, "Through combination and modification. Many mythological creatures are just humans taking animals they’ve seen and stitching them together—for example, the Sphinx."

"I see, let me think..." Various animals, mythological beasts, and even demons flashed through Fang Xiaoling's mind. Finally, she envisioned a young girl wearing a hat in the shape of a cartoon frog. "I've thought of a pretty little girl. I’m certain I’ve never seen her before. Will this work?"

"You should use something more distinctive, like a centipede with wings or something similar."

"Eww, no way! I’ll just let 'Dream Shadow' be the one to remind me!" Fang Xiaoling had already named the girl. She closed her eyes and murmured, "Dream Shadow is a very clever, beautiful girl. She will definitely find a way to remind me that I’m actually dreaming..."

"You are completely wasting your time doing it this way." Jung grabbed another handful of sand, seeming ready to use it at any moment.

But this time, Fang Xiaoling didn't start snoring for a long while.

"Are you asleep?" Jung asked tentatively.

"Yes," Fang Xiaoling whispered, though she seemed to be fast asleep at the same time.

Jung knew she had succeeded, so he waited quietly on the sidelines for her to complete the next step.

Suddenly, Fang Xiaoling’s body shook violently, and she snapped her eyes open. She breathed rapidly and said, "I found the mouth of the bottle; it was right on the edge of a cliff. But the moment I focused my attention on it, a hurricane blew me off the ledge, and I was frightened awake."

Jung nodded, patted Fang Xiaoling on the shoulder, and said, "That’s the dream world trying to stop you. Don't be afraid. Even if you fall, you can use your imagination to sprout wings and fly back up."

This breakthrough left Fang Xiaoling feeling confident. She immediately lay back down to sleep. Only ten seconds later, she let out an "Ouch!" and woke up, rubbing her head repeatedly. "I just entered the dream, and a meteorite fell from the sky and smashed into me."

"The dream is trying to expel you. It knows your target is the bottle's mouth; that is an extremely dangerous thing for it." Jung opened his notebook and recorded quickly. "I need to document the ways the dream bottle retaliates—it might come in handy later. First, the cliff fall; second, the meteorite strike..."

"Boring." Fang Xiaoling lay down again. This time, she lasted for a minute. "I dodged the assassin’s attack, only to die in a barrage of artillery fire from an army."

Jung recorded everything. The Milky Way in the night sky flowed and stopped, repeating more times than he could count. Fang Xiaoling’s time spent within the dreams grew longer and longer.

Her struggle with the dream world seemed endless. Yet, each time she broke through one of the dream's attacks, it gave Fang Xiaoling a sense of thrill. Although this thrill was far inferior to the terror she felt upon waking, it kept her steadfast in her attempts. After hundreds of tries, Fang Xiaoling felt as if she had lived through many lifetimes. Even though each was a life spent being hunted, it inevitably made her think of Roland, who had lived through a hundred generations.

"She must have completed her mission and returned to the real world long ago..." After saying this, Fang Xiaoling closed her eyes once more.

Meanwhile, Roland was sitting in Pan Long’s office chair, staring at the headphones on the table without a word.

Neither Pan Long nor Old San knew what the person on the other end of the line had said to Roland, but they could clearly sense that the situation was tricky—so tricky that this omnipotent young woman had been lost in serious thought for five minutes.

"Grandmother, is there something that has you spread too thin? Why not let us handle it for you?" As he spoke, Pan Long gave Old San a look.

Old San immediately poured tea into Roland’s cup. "That’s right. Our Boss Long is a person of status in Canglan City. There’s basically nothing he can’t resolve."

"Is that so?" Roland didn't even lift her eyelids. She picked up the teacup and took a small sip. "Then can you help me rescue Tian Hu?"

"T-t-that’s impossible!" Old San quickly stepped back. "Tian Hu’s case is already closed. Going in to snatch someone is against the law!"

"Do I need you to run your mouth? Haven't you broken enough laws already?! Get out!"

Pan Long’s reprimand almost moved Old San to tears. He hadn't expected that even in such a situation, Boss Long would allow him to slip away first. He quickly agreed and took the opportunity to flee.

Pan Long said timidly, "Grandmother, now that it's just the two of us, there is something I would like to discuss with you."