Seizing Dreams

Ch47 – Rushing the Pagoda

—

The three ancient skeletons turned and approached the square. Countless jaguars surrounded the square and eyed those inside ravenously.

“Two out of three wins the match.” The voice said, and then the door to Chichén Itzá abruptly opened.

The skeleton soldiers each raised a foot and stepped on the blue ball of fire in front of them.

“Can you do it?” Zhou Sheng asked Yu Hao, glancing at the iron ring that floated in the distance.

“What do you think?” Yu Hao said, “How could I?!”

The ring was so far away that Yu Hao couldn’t even hope to shoot it in.

“Then it’s up to the two of us.” Zhou Sheng said as he looked at Chen Yekai.

Chen Yekai turned his head, looked at the skeleton soldiers, then said, “Yu Hao, you go first.”

Yu Hao thought, of all the things you could do in your dream, why did it have to be soccer?! Couldn’t you have chosen something I was good at?!

“I’ll try my best.” Yu Hao said, “Anyway, it’s 2 out of 3, so I’ll leave it up to you guys.”

Zhou Sheng conveyed with his gaze for Yu Hao to remain calm. Yu Hao surveyed his surroundings for a long time, then raised his foot and violently kicked the fireball. The blue ball of fire sailed upwards and whizzedthrough the air in an arc. Chen Yekai immediately began to cheer.

Zhou Sheng, “Nice!”

But in the next moment, that skeleton soldier suddenly kicked and another blue light catapulted through the air and collided with Yu Hao’s ball, which ricocheted off and passed by the floating ring of light at a sharp angle!

“That’s not fair!” Yu Hao was still immersed in the shock of actually scoring a goal a minute ago, but now he cried out furiously at the injustice.

That voice rang out again, “You have failed, await death ba, just like me……”

Yu Hao said angrily, “You cheater! There’s no way to win! He’s making his own rules!”

Zhou Sheng raised his hand to stop Yu Hao, then he stepped forward, “Mr. Nakagawa, 2 out of 3, that’s our deal. If you’re going to make a bet, then you should be willing to accept a loss. It’s our turn now, who’ll go first?”

Chen Yekai pondered for a moment, then looked at the skeleton soldiers beside them, “I’ll go first ba.”

Chen Yekai gestured to Yu Hao to reassure him. Zhou Sheng and Yu Hao took two steps back. Chen Yekai murmured, “Ryuusei, I still have a lot that I want to say to you. I have been waiting for this opportunity all my life.”

At the same time, Chen Yekai quickly moved forward, lifted his foot — while another of the skeleton soldiers beside him lifted its foot as well — and kicked the ball!

But the veteran Chen Yekai had feinted. He spun around, crouched slightly, and delayed for a moment before kicking the ball after the skeleton soldier had made its move!

Yu Hao and Zhou Sheng cheered loudly together. All that could be seen were two blue fire shots that rushed towards the ring one after the other; the ball that Chen Yekai kicked arced beautifully and knocked away the skeleton soldier’s ball before passing through the ring!

That voice suddenly burst into a rage, “You hypocritical scum!”

Chen Yekai looked up towards the pyramid and said calmly, “Take me away, Ryuusei, then everything will end!”

“Not yet!” Zhou Sheng said lazily. He walked forward and stepped on the flaming ball, “It’s the last ball, how could we let you go alone?”

Yu Hao immediately became nervous. That voice said coldly, “Then come ba, let me see how capable you are.”

“Te Ljb, ulnf wf ragfcuat.” Itbe Vtfcu aegcfv tlr tfjv jcv rboais rqbxf.

Te Ljb rafqqfv obgkjgv. Itbe Vtfcu gfwbnfv atf rtlfiv ogbw tlr yjmx jcv tfiv la lc tlr tjcv. Jtfc Tfxjl ogbkcfv, “Qtja jgf sbe vblcu?”

Te Ljb kjr fzagfwfis mbcoerfv. Itbe Vtfcu rjlv, “Helmx, pera ilxf ijra alwf.”

Yu Hao, “But I don’t have a lot of strength.”

Zhou Sheng, “Just give me as much as you have.”

Yu Hao tried to press his hand against Zhou Sheng’s back. Chen Yekai eyed the two of them suspiciously, but the shield in Zhou Sheng’s hand suddenly flashed and began to morph rapidly. Zhou Sheng shouted, “Get back!”

Yu Hao promptly retreated. Zhou Sheng stepped on the ball and quickly shook the shield to reveal the form of a shining jingubang——

“Fuck you!” Zhou Sheng roared angrily. He turned and swung his jingubang, harshly smashing down the skeleton captain on the other side of the square.

Yu Hao, “……”

Zhou Sheng briefly transformed into Sun Wukong while he was in the air. He did a mid-air somersault and swung his dinghaishenzhen down, immediately obliterating an entire whole row of tiles in the square along with the skeleton captain!

Chen Yekai was completely stunned. Next Zhou Sheng spun around in the air, returned to his human form, then kicked out a shot of blue light — it flew like a meteor whistling through the sky, and scored!

The third ball passed through the ring. The barrier that blocked Chichén Itzá’s gate disintegrated with a bang. The floating iron ring emitted a glaring light that formed a stairway up to the pyramid. Yu Hao and Chen Yekai both cheered, but Zhou Sheng shouted, “Go!”

With Zhou Sheng in the lead, the three of them rushed towards the stairway as that voice roared angrily, “You didn’t abide by the rules!”

Zhou Sheng mocked him, “It’s my rule.”

Within an instant, the whole world began to quake violently. All the panthers quickly advanced upon them as the stairway began to disintegrate. Chen Yekai was behind them. He shouted, “The two of you go ahead! Don’t worry about me!”

Zhou Sheng pulled Yu Hao upwards, and the two of them sprinted up the stairway and rushed towards the entrance to Chichén Itzá with Chen Yekai following closely behind. When Yu Hao looked behind him, his vision filled with imminently advancing lightning strikes that blanketed the sky and covered the earth. Chen Yekai turned around and guarded the stairway. From the periphery of this world, the storm of lightning bestowed by the heavens converged towards the center; all of the rainforest areas were ablaze with raging fires, and the panthers that had reached them were rapidly set ablaze one after the other by lightning before falling off right in front of the stairway!

“Kaikai!” Zhou Sheng shouted, “Go!”

Chen Yekai seemed to realise that he could control the lightning, so he immediately ignited all of the panthers that were almost upon them before turning around to follow the other two. While Yu Hao ran, he shouted to Zhou Sheng, “Everywhere outside is on fire!”

Zhou Sheng shouted, “Don’t be afraid! We have time! It’s safe inside!”

The area around the pyramid had already been engulfed in a sea of fire. The flames illuminated the dim conscious world into stark brightness. The three of them rushed madly into the entrance of Chichén Itzá, and the pyramid’s gate slammed shut.

The three of them then dashed into a spacious hall.

Zhou Sheng came to a sudden halt. Only another huge gate was visible before him; there were massive gems in a myriad of colours embedded into the gate in a haphazard arrangement, and the ceiling that surrounded them had grooves that looked like ditches. The gems filled the grooves and sparkled with a bright luster.

“And what the hell is this?” Zhou Sheng asked.

Chen Yekai stood in the middle of the hall with a blank face.

Yu Hao stepped forward and tried to press a gemstone on the gate that was near the ground. The gemstone lit up with a “ding”.

Zhou Sheng, “A mechanism?”

Yu Hao pressed another one, and the second gemstone that was of the same colour began to shine as well.

Yu Hao, “……”

Yu Hao pressed a third stone. The gemstones began to rotate and switch positions, and after they aligned in a straight line, they disappeared with a “dang”. The gemstones above them fell into place after the gems vanished with a few “thud”s.

“This can’t be ba?!” Zhou Sheng cried miserably, “Why the hell is there Anipop in your dream?!”

“Ryuusei liked to play that game!” Chen Yekai immediately said after recalling it, “Let me think of something! We need to open up this gate to get inside!”

Yu Hao immediately said, “I’ll do it! I know how to play this!”

The sound of surging water could be heard from the ceiling. Chen Yekai turned around and saw water gushing through the holes that the gemstones had vacated. Before Zhou Sheng could ask, Chen Yekai immediately said, “The water from Iguazu Falls is pouring in!”

As the water level began to rise, Zhou Sheng urged, “Yu Hao! Hurry!!”

“I’m looking for it!” Yu Hao had just cleared two lines. He suddenly noticed the two golden gemstones at the top, as well as the two hollow grooves in the middle of the gate and suddenly understood — he had to make those two gemstones fall into those grooves! He began pressing gemstones quickly — “ding ding, dang dang, thud thud” sounds blared out. All of the gemstones on the gate began to rapidly vanish, and gemstones from the grooves of the floor and ceiling quickly filled in the spaces left behind by the three gems that disappeared each time.

“I can’t reach the rest!” Yu Hao shouted. Zhou Sheng rushed forward and crouched down before the gate. He clasped his hands together and let Yu Hao jump on and step on his back; Yu Hao pressed a gemstone high up, while Chen Yekai rushed forward and copied Zhou Sheng. Yu Hao tapped thrice in succession, and “ding ding ding”——”dang”! The golden gemstone on the left fell into the groove and buzzed as it shone brightly.

Yu Hao, “There’s still one more!”

Chen Yekai and Zhou Sheng spoke in unison, “Hurry!”

The water relentlessly poured into the hall through the ceiling like a deluge as the gemstones vanished. The water level was rising persistently, and Zhou Sheng’s shoulders were now submerged. Yu Hao could press the gemstones that were higher up without stepping on him anymore, but he couldn’t get rid of the ones on the gate, so he could only swim to the other side.

“Over there! There are two of the same colour over there!” Chen Yekai alerted Yu Hao as he treaded water.

Zhou Sheng, “There’s some there too! The ones there are nearer!”

Yu Hao swam over and eliminated a set before he suddenly realised one problem.

Yu Hao, “Why do I know how to swim now?”

Chen Yekai, “Yu Hao, you don’t know how to swim?”

Zhou Sheng, “……”

Yu Hao immediately began to drown. Zhou Sheng grabbed him and shouted, “Don’t move!”

Yu Hao instantly understood —— Chen Yekai had not known that Yu Hao couldn’t swim. In his consciousness, Yu Hao knows how to, so Yu Hao could swim, but now that he suddenly discovered that Yu Hao couldn’t swim, Yu Hao almost drowned. Zhou Sheng responded very quickly. He immediately caught ahold of Yu Hao and shouted, “Just say where they are! Kaikai, go and press them!”

The last three were below Yu Hao and Zhou Sheng. Yu Hao was currently being embraced by Zhou Sheng. He calmed down slightly before pointing downwards. Zhou Sheng nodded, kicked out, and their upper bodies emerged from the waters. They took a deep breath at the same time before plunging back into the water together.

Underwater, Zhou Sheng brought Yu Hao along, and they saw those three purple gemstones. Yu Hao tapped thrice, and with a “dang” the gemstones were erased. A golden gemstone immediately fell into a groove on the other side of the gate. The gate began shining, then opened inwards with a loud rumble.

Before Yu Hao could even utter a sound, he had been swept inside by the strong current. Zhou Sheng firmly grabbed onto Yu Hao’s hand, and along with Chen Yekai, they were swept into the secret passage within Chichén Itzá.

Yu Hao was holding his breath, but he was at the limits of his endurance. After being tossed about by the current, he exhaled a large volume of air. Zhou Sheng was about to move closer to him to give him some air when a black figure suddenly rushed out from the depths in front and collided with them. Zhou Sheng didn’t expect an underwater sneak attack, so he was caught off guard and got forcibly separated from Yu Hao.

Yu Hao could only feel something tighten around his neck. He opened his mouth, but was unable to utter a sound. He was helplessly tugged away from Zhou Sheng and abruptly hauled into an expanse of darkness.

Zhou Sheng raised his hand, and his eyes widened. He wanted to shout, but no sound could be made. That dark form looked like a snake — it spread out its wings and coiled around Yu Hao before swiftly rushing to the other end. Zhou Sheng emerged from the water. Chen Yekai had swum over, but only saw a huge Feathered Serpent wrapping itself around Yu Hao. It unfurled its wings, ignoring Yu Hao’s struggles, and charged towards the light from the opening at the end of the passage and soared up!

“Yu Hao!” Zhou Sheng rushed out of the water and stepped onto the ground. He chased them for a few steps, but the exit at the top was surrounded by stone walls.

Chen Yekai coughed up a few mouthfuls of water and met Zhou Sheng’s gaze.

“He was captured by Ryuusei.” Chen Yekai said.

Zhou Sheng surveyed his surroundings to search for a way up. They had already entered the interior of Chichén Itzá’ and were currently surrounded by ancient rocks covered with moss and crawling vines. Crooked stone pillars stacked against each other, and at the centre of the temple stood a tall and upright Feathered Serpent God statue.

“Where’s the well?” Zhou Sheng asked Chen Yekai.

Chen Yekai, “Follow me, the path behind has been sealed off. We need to climb over.”

Zhou Sheng fell silent for awhile, then he suddenly roared, “Yu Hao——!”

Chen Yekai’s brows were locked in a deep furrow.

“Come and save him ba.” That voice said, “Nicky, I want to see just how powerful you can be……”

The voice faded. Zhou Sheng immediately flared up with unprecedented fury. Chen Yekai turned around and began searching for a path. Not a moment later, Zhou Sheng composed himself and said, “Until we meet Ryuusei, he should be fine. But we need to hurry.”

Yu Hao was harshly flung onto the ground. He constantly coughed and spat out several mouthfuls of water while he took in his surroundings through his peripheral vision. It was an empty space surrounded by stone pillars and corridors. Just like the empty space at the centre of the pyramid’s courtyard, in the middle of this open space, there was an altar-like well; a mist of black vapour curled exuded from the well.

No totem.

Where’s the totem? Yu Hao thought.

The Feathered Serpent that had abducted him glowed with a golden light and transformed into a statue carved out of pure gold. Its coiled up form was stood vigil to one side of the flat clearing.

A slender young man approached Yu Hao.

“Are you Ryuusei?” Yu Hao held the wall for support as he slowly stood up. He turned around and faced the young man.

“That’s my shirt.” Ryuusei answered with a trembling voice, “Give me back my shirt, I’m so cold.”

Yu Hao watched Ryuusei quietly. Ryuusei had a pale complexion and slightly long hair. His upper body was currently bare, and he had a very thin figure; there was overwhelming pain and fear within his gaze. Yu Hao thought of Zhou Sheng’s directives, and right now, what he should do is to draw his gun and shoot him. He didn’t know what would happen if he opened fire, but the first thought he had upon seeing Ryuusei was actually to go to him and give him a hug……

……this is not the real Ryuusei, he’s only the Ryuusei in Chen Yekai’s dream. When he thought of this, Yu Hao suddenly felt that it was extremely weird.

Ryuusei was so thin that he looked almost morbid, with protruding collarbones and slender arms. With a complicated gaze, he approached Yu Hao in an unhurried manner; his facial features appeared somewhat fierce from how his hatred had twisted them.

The hand that Yu Hao had behind him never stopped trembling.

“You want to kill me?” Ryuusei uttered in disbelief, “You snatched my shirt away, and now you even want to kill me?”

Yu Hao loosened his grip and didn’t try to draw his gun anymore, but Ryuusei let out an angry roar, “You want to kill me?!”

Suddenly, the gun in Yu Hao’s pocket flew up and away from him. Yu Hao cried out, and Ryuusei grabbed the gun and pointed it at Yu Hao.

“That shirt can’t protect you.” Ryuusei held the gun and levelled it at Yu Hao as he gnashed his teeth, “Take it off! Give it back to me! You thief! You took something that doesn’t belong to you! I’m its owner!”

Yu Hao gasped violently for breath, then suddenly said, “Why don’t you come over and take it off yourself?”

Tears slowly fell from Ryuusei’s eyes. Yu Hao stared at him in shock, and then finally, Ryuusei began to slowly lower the gun.

“Just wait.” Ryuusei said, “You’ll regret it.”

As he spoke, the Feathered Serpent god left its deity sculpture and wandered over. It coiled its body and created a small space — the Feathered Serpent God circled Yu Hao to prevent him from escaping.

Ryuusei approached the well and set down the gun. His skinny back faced Yu Hao, and his scapula was so distinct that you could even faintly make out the bones of his spine.

“Come ba.” Ryuusei slowly said into the well, “I want to……kill him with my own hands in front of you……”

—