Seizing Dreams

Chapter 161 part2

Street lights in every direction had gone out; the lights in thousands of households disappeared, and there was a chorus of surprised cries at the power failure. The car was parked at the roadside, and Chen Yekai immediately turned his head.

Ou Qihang: “Ren Chong is drawing the energy away.”

Fu Liqun, “What does he want to do?”

Everyone sensed danger at the same time.

Lights of thousands of households went out; the world returned to how it was supposed to look like at night. In the night sky, only the splendour of the bright moon remained that spilled all over the world.

In the underground research room, the Golden Crow Wheel chip emitted an intense light; bizarre rays burst out, so resplendent that no one could look straight at them! Ren Chong was still wearing his helmet, his eyes squeezed tight. Then, the Golden Crow Wheel chip released a pulse—

That pulse instantly swept across everyone in the hall who were the first ones to bear the brunt — everyone, including Qin Guodong, who was just one second away from pulling the trigger, the security guards, and the motorcade outside the factory, lost their surface consciousness in an instant and fell to the ground!

The Golden Crow Wheel flickered with a golden light and rose from the ground, started rotating slowly, and released a second pulse that diffused across the whole world!

The pulse swept by; Chen Yekai, Ou Qihang, Fu Liqun, and Huang Ting who were on the car instantly turned dazed and lay back in their seats.

Only Yu Hao and Zhou Sheng were lying on their respective seats, hand in hand, falling into a coma.

Mountains toppled, the earth overturned, dark clouds swept through the sky, loud blares rang out from the ground to the sky one after another, then echoed back to the ground from the skies; it was as if the hand of the Creator had suddenly descended and pressed down on the world, then grasped it — the world then shattered, drifted, and turned into swirling fragments before assembling itself back together again.

Along with the fierce eruption of that pulse, the colossal sand table of the world was sent out, and the surface world hovering in the universe was inverted! All knowledge was subverted; the world was like a coin that flipped over along its fixed axis; its whirl shook heaven and earth, then another thunderclap blared, and everything froze!

Billions of flashing dream world debris were recombined, putting together the grand world of the collective unconscious. At this moment, under the influence of the Golden Crow Wheel’s powers, all life in the world entered their dreams at the exact same time! Innumerable dreams constituted the spiritual sea of mankind — just like how the tide that had always concealed the deepest realm suddenly receded all at once, revealing the vast and endless wondrous sight that had existed since the beginning of time!

High-speed rail whizzed through the air like roller coasters; skyscrapers that hovered in the air spun like they were Rubik cubes, billions of doors in the sky and on earth opened, then slammed shut again, abstract lines formed sculptures standing on the curved surfaces of mountains and rivers. The stars transformed into candy in some places, while transforming into raging flames in others; at the end of the night sky, a giant bathed in flames lifted a heavy hammer and struck the tinfoil-like human-shaped pieces of paper under the smelting furnace. Panlong soared through the sky, then dove down and swallowed the cars on the ground in one big gulp. Whales grew wings and flew about freely above the palaces.

Fierce gales blew at plants. The fluff of dandelions turned into cats with wings that grew from its ribs, numerous of which flew through the city; a torrential downpour buffeted down, transforming into pink coins that drifted across the earth. Baffled pedestrians walked through the streets dressed only in their underwear, and there were even winged horses dragging floats behind them, gun salutes were fired, and they revelled heartily in the air.

Following which, all of the dreamscapes collapsed at the same time after they were released, retracted, and turned into countless hemispherical bubbles that floated to the surface of the ocean of subconsciousness!

In the Great Wall world, Yu Hao waited anxiously for the result of the Golden Crow Wheel’s search, but within a second, a rippling spatial fluctuation affected his dream, and with a ‘whoosh‘, the Golden Crow Wheel disappeared right in front of him!

Yu Hao shouted and fell from the sky. He immediately spread his wings out and shouted, “Golden Crow Wheel?!”

He didn’t get an answer. The world spread out in front of him with bizarre scenes; in the distance, a giant tree peeked out from the ground, one over the other, it kept growing, and countless dreamscapes emerged from the tree of the world, and like a jigsaw puzzle that was being pieced together, a new world was formed!

“What happened?” Yu Hao murmured, “Where is this place?”

Ren Chong’s voice travelled over from the tree of the world, “So the world of the collective unconscious looks like this…”

“Ren Chong?!” Yu Hao shouted angrily, “What do you want to do?!”

Once Yu Hao turned around, he left the soap bubble of his dreamscape and flew to the giant tree in the distance. However, there was a tremendous force in the air — a massive stone like a mountain range appeared above his head within a split second that was about to ram straight into him!

With a loud bang, Yu Hao exerted all his strength to avoid the mountains and brushed by its edge as he flew out; someone’s dream on the earth instantly shattered from the impact!

“In this collective dreamscape…” Ren Chong’s voice rang out slowly, “I will obtain supreme strength.”

Yu Hao said, “You lunatic, is that the voice in the deepest part of your heart?”

Yu Hao swooped down to the earth; the dreamscapes of mankind slowly floated to the top, standing in great numbers as they floated to the surface of the water like the boundless stars of the universe, but also like bubbles that appeared on earth. The fog of the subconscious spread out from below the giant tree in the distance. A mass of fog swirled towards Yu Hao. Yu Hao dodged and got out of its way, but even more fog shot swiftly toward him like missiles.

Yu Hao flew toward the tree of the world, but at that moment, a flashing, black scorching sun rose from the tree of the world and released another pulse that formed a fierce gale to blow him far away!

Yu Hao said, “Golden Crow Wheel?! Golden Crow Wheel! Are you still here?! Answer me!”

Yu Hao looked up; it seemed like the moon in the sky wasn’t far away. It coexisted with the Golden Crow Wheel, like an eclipse, forming a rather strange sight.

“The Overseer’s consciousness has been temporarily replaced.” The moonlight illuminated Yu Hao; like a spotlight on stage, a pillar of light followed him at all times to protect him from the influence of the integration into this collective unconscious.

Yu Hao’s staff lit up. He landed temporarily, saying, “Continue searching for the Overseer! Quick!”

“The Overseer’s dark self is hiding in one of the dreamscapes,” Golden Crow Wheel answered, “The master personality is under the tree of the world; he has already fallen into the sea of subconscious.”

The fog surged over. Yu Hao muttered, “What the hell is this guy trying to do?”

“Through the integration of the collective unconscious, accomplish the invasion of consciousness.” Golden Crow Wheel answered.

Yu Hao saw a large number of monsters hiding in the fog released by the tree of the world; they were currently invading everyone’s dreamscapes, and they kept attacking the soap bubbles on the ground, popping them by tearing them apart with their teeth before seizing complete control over them. Starting from where the tree of the world was situated, thousands upon thousands of soap bubbles were being broken one after another, while numerous aerial roots extended from the tree of the world under Ren Chong’s control took root in the ruptured soap bubbles, drew nutrients from them, and further expanded their scope of influence.

“Any self will do!” Yu Hao said, “Mark it for me now!”

Moonlight was cast upon a distant place; Yu Hao flew over — it was a bizarre, sky blue dream that was both clear and bright. The dream was currently emitting a beautiful layer of light.

He entered that dreamscape, saying, “Whose dream is this?”

In the garden where flowers were in full bloom, Zhou Sheng wore a suit of black armour, had short, jet-black hair, wore metal boots, and had pulled a chair out to sit on it in reverse. He hugged the back of the chair and was currently chatting with a beautiful girl. Yu Hao landed from the sky, shouting, “Zhou Sheng!”

Dark Zhou Sheng looked up and glanced at Yu Hao. Yu Hao was stunned.

“Satan?” Yu Hao said, “How did you get out? What kind of timing do you think this is?! And you’re actually here picking up girls?! Wait, no! You like girls?!”

“This is your sis-in-law.” Dark Zhou Sheng raised his hand as he wanted to hold Yu Hao’s hand, saying to that girl, “Greet sis-in-law.”

The girl wore a white dress and a wreath on her head, seeming just like a little princess. She was only about fourteen or fifteen years old. She smiled sweetly at Yu Hao. “Hello, sis-in-law.”

“Where did this sister of yours come from?” Yu Hao was stunned silly.

Dark Zhou Sheng said, “‘Kay, I’m leaving.”

“Be careful.” That little sister said.

Yu Hao, “……”

Dark Zhou Sheng said to Yu Hao, “I knew you wouldn’t be able to let go of me in your heart, and that you would come looking for me.”

“But, this…” Yu Hao could hardly believe what he was seeing, “When did you come out?”

“Right when Ren Chong initiated the solar eclipse.” Dark Zhou Sheng answered solemnly, “Are we going to look for my other self now?”

Yu Hao said, “Wait…hold on, why didn’t you come search for me in my dream?”

Dark Zhou Sheng opened his palm up, motioning for Yu Hao to hold his hand. He explained, “What if the enemy pursued us all the way into your dream?”

Yu Hao looked at the little girl again and said, “Then we’ll…we’ll…”

Dark Zhou Sheng hugged Yu Hao and kissed him on the cheek, then said to the girl, “I’ll give you a call when I’m free. Let’s go, Wifey, fly.”

Yu Hao, “……”

Yu Hao spread his wings out and could only start flying. When he heard the words ‘give you a call’, he instantly remembered that not long after he got to know Zhou Sheng, he had seen him smiling while calling someone — so it was her?

“She’s your younger sister?” Yu Hao asked.

Dark Zhou Sheng answered, “A girl brought over by my stepmother after her divorce.”

Yu Hao remembered that Zhou Laichun had married a rich woman after his first divorce, before divorcing again for a second time. That stepmother even had her own daughter! He never knew!

“You’ve never told me before!” Yu Hao said angrily.

“But you’ve never asked, have you?” Dark Zhou Sheng answered, “See, even lovers who are closest to each other have things they hide from the other party.”

Yu Hao said, “That’s not it at all, he must have just forgotten to say it.”

“You’re jealous?” Dark Zhou Sheng laughed.

“This is no time to be discussing this!” Yu Hao looked at the giant tree in the distance; the number of ruptured soap bubble areas was growing, and the giant tree’s aerial roots were controlling even more places as well. Yu Hao said, “I have to find Zhou Sheng.”

“He’s in the sea of the subconscious,” Dark Zhou Sheng, “How are you going to find him? Or just forget it ba, what do you think of me? Why don’t we just find some random dreamscape, replace its original owner, and live a simple life together there?”

Yu Hao threw Dark Zhou Sheng down from the sky. With a loud blare, black vapour erupted from the earth. Zhou Sheng turned into Satan and slowly floated up.

“Listen carefully to me.” Yu Hao placed his dagger against Satan’s throat, saying, “We made a bet last time, and you still owe me your wager.”

Satan smiled and used his palm to resist the tip of Yu Hao’s dagger. “If you can bear to, stab me right now. You definitely can’t bear to.”

Satan was showing him Zhou Sheng’s trademark mischievous grin. Yu Hao kept his dagger and said to Satan, “Now, fulfil your promise to me. You have to keep your word ba.”

“I’m the dark self.” Satan answered, “It also includes ‘going back on my words’. The dark me likes acting in bad faith and breaking promises, you should understand ba.”

Yu Hao, “……”

Previously, Yu Hao’s bet with Satan was to ‘promise me one thing’, but as for what would be promised, Yu Hao decided not to say for the time being then. He kept it so that perhaps in the end, during a decisive battle between Satan and Zhou Sheng, it may result in turning the tables. However, once Satan played this trick, Yu Hao was instantly helpless.

“That’s your other self!” Yu Hao said.

“That’s right.” Satan lifted Yu Hao’s chin, “But he’s also my mortal enemy. I’ve found that guy unpleasant to the eye for a very long time, he’s always unwilling to face up to his true thoughts…”

Yu Hao smacked Satan’s hand away. “State your terms.”

Satan said meaningfully, “You’ve never been all that smart, my angel baby. Look over there.”

Yu Hao turned his head and looked at the tree of the world. The giant tree’s area was still expanding continuously, and dreams touched by its aerial roots were all covered by the fog, their outlines turning indistinct. Satan said, “The subconscious is already under his complete control. His tentacles now are drawing nutrients from this soil…”

There were more and more aerial roots now, as if they had formed a boundless forest. Yu Hao said, “What will this turn into?”

“Every dream invaded by the aerial root symbolises a person’s self-consciousness.” Satan said, “He can already control these people’s minds at will, and he will only get stronger as the scope of his control grows.”

“…and the ‘me’ you want to fight is right below its roots.” Satan pointed at the tree of the world itself with a hint of a smile in his eyes, “That’s the collapsed Colosseum, that’s the soil where the tree of the world grows from. The bottom layer is our dream, while the upper layer is Ren Chong’s own dream.”

Yu Hao looked up at the top of the tree.

“Now, you just need to get close to it and go into the fog,” Satan said, “And you’ll immediately be discovered. The permissions opened up for you by the moon are shrinking. Once you go in to find him, the moon won’t be useful anymore.”

Yu Hao said, “Then please attract his attention, I’m leaving.”

“Yo, no, no.” Satan said with a smile, “That idea’s good, but it’s far from enough to rely on me alone. First of all, let’s try to stop him from expanding, come.”

Yu Hao frowned. “Come? How?”

“Use your totem to build your true Great Wall.” Satan and Yu Hao were suspended in the air, “I’ll light the help-seeking beacon fires for you and restrain Ren Chong from swallowing any more people.”

Yu Hao, “My totem has long since disappeared!”

“What’s that in the sky?” Satan smiled thoughtfully, “You haven’t realised?”

Yu Hao, “!!!”

The bright moon illuminated Yu Hao, its light growing more and more pure and holy. Yu Hao spread his wings out; one pair, two pairs, three pairs — the six-winged angel flew about in the air.

“My…totem.” Yu Hao instantly sensed the tremendous power that the moon was transmitting to him! The essence of the moon was the totem he once possessed! Just like how the Golden Crow Wheel’s power had transformed into a part of the sun in Zhou Sheng’s dreamscape before, Yu Hao’s totem had already transformed into the bright moon that always followed him around without his awareness!

Where the sunlight disappears, there would still be a bright moon illuminating the dark world…

The moon shattered into pieces with a bang and turned into countless light particles, flying toward Yu Hao like a heavenly road. Yu Hao’s entire body was so resplendent one couldn’t look straight at him. He wielded a dagger and swung it at the ground—

—The light arc drawn by the dagger turned into a silver Great Wall that unfurled and stood aloft in the dream world; the massive wall that has existed since time immemorial effectively withstood the fog coming from another side! It blocked Ren Chong from advancing!

Heaven and earth were separated by this formidable Great Wall; with a cut right across the middle, to the north was the tree of the world and the Golden Crow Wheel in the solar eclipse, while to the south was Yu Hao and Satan, who were standing atop the Great Wall, as well as the billions of dreamscapes behind them that they were guarding. Meanwhile, the moon had also disappeared completely along with what had happened.

“What do you think you are?! A mantis trying to stop a chariot?! Don’t overestimate yourself!” Ren Chong’s roar resounded through the sky!

The fog under the Great Wall began surging, and countless huge, roaring black wolves appeared within that were climbing up the Great Wall. Yu Hao said, “We can’t hold on with just this city wall alone!”

Satan turned into Dark Zhou Sheng once again. With a lighter clasped between his fingers, he twirled it, jumped, and held it tight; once he pushed the lighter, with a ‘click‘, meteor-like flames burst out of the lighter with a bang that scattered in all directions, flying toward the hundreds of beacon towers at the top of the Great Wall, and flame pillars burst into the air like tornadoes. Under every flame pillar, a whirlpool of fire dispersed, revealing the soldiers in Yu Hao’s dream!

Just behind them, in a dreamscape that was just like the sea, innumerable star-like totems rose and released light particles that flew toward the Great Wall; they turned into flying fighters irradiating a strong glow that rode fine steeds in the air, and this magnificent army with millions of troops charged at the huge dark wolves!

—

Juurensha: Omg, final battle time! Also, it’s so cool that Yu Hao is now the moon (and the wordplay with the name is really good)