Manual of the Monster in City

69 Dream

"problem occurs?"

    Jia Qingming heard Xiao Shanshan's breathless anxious voice on the phone and asked immediately, and Xiao Shanshan quickly relayed the whole story to him.

    After talking to Jia Qingming on the phone, Xiao Shanshan went to the home of Zhuang Yan according to his guess. Zhuang Yan’s mother was at home and welcomed her warmly, telling her that Zhuang Yan had indeed just returned home. She said that she had been in the hospital ward for a long time, so she felt a little bored and wanted to go home and lie down for a while.

    But when Zhuang Yan’s mother took Xiao Shanshan to knock on Zhuang Yan’s bedroom door, she never got a response, and the door was locked from the inside. Because of the incident that Zhuang Yan was in a coma last time, Zhuang Yan’s parents also felt a little scared, so they deliberately found out her room key to prevent something like that from happening again.

    After opening the bedroom door, I saw the solemn senior sister lying on the bed, seeming to be in a coma again, and at the bedside, Xiao Shanshan found the strange incense burner that Jia Qingming had discovered last time, and something was burning inside. Kind of strange incense.

    Now Zhuang Yan has been sent to the hospital, but various examinations have shown that everything is normal. The only thing that cannot be explained is that she is in a coma.

    Jia Qingming frowned, her body suddenly as if struck by lightning, unable to move, she stood still.

    He could only take a deep breath and finally said: "Okay, okay, I'll go right away."

    Putting down the phone, but he had no intention of continuing to eat, so he got up and apologized to Bai Ling and the others, and apologized for his departure from the table: "Ah, sorry, there is still a little bit of fish soup in the pot. Suddenly there is something urgent on my side..."

    "It's that guest's business?" Bai Ling looked at him, his sharp eyes seemed to have seen everything through.

    "Um...Yes. Something happened to Zhuang Yan."

    "Ah, then please wait a moment for Qingming..." But Bai Ling, who saw through everything, was not at all anxious, as if everything was in her expectation.

    "But my side..."

    Xiao Shanshan's voice on the phone sounded urgent, as if something serious had happened.

    "Even if you rush now, I'm afraid it won't have any practical effect? Why don't you come and talk to me." Bai Ling gently wiped his lips with a handkerchief, and then nodded to Xiao Hei and Xiao Bai, politely and thoughtfully He got up and left the meeting, and then led Jia Qingming into the inner room unhurriedly.

    Bai Ling sat on the wooden chaise longue, and Zhu lips lightly opened, and said, "I want to ask Mr. Qingming a question. That guest came when I was not in the store. Right?"

    "Yes... I was cleaning on the second floor at the time, and Zhuang Yan said that she had an appointment with Miss Bai Ling to get the medicine..."

    "Then Mr. Qingming gave her the incense?" Bai Ling asked.

    "What kind of medicine is that?...Miss Bai Ling," Jia Qingming raised his head, his body became tense, and a trace of hostility was revealed in his eyes looking at Bai Ling, "Miss Bai Ling, you know from the beginning That kind of thing...what is it?"

    "Very good eyes." Bai Ling looked at Jia Qingming's seemingly hostile look, covered his mouth and smiled softly, "However, that kind of thing was done by Mr. Qingming himself. It was Mr. Qingming himself. Put down the last straw that crushed the camel."

    The last straw that crushes the camel...

    "That thing...what is it?" Jia Qingming asked. He heard his voice trembling, as if he was afraid of the answer Bai Ling would give him.

    "The incense is named Zhuang Zhoumeng." Bai Ling chuckled and explained to Jia Qingming. Her gentle voice read ancient writings and always fit perfectly. "The former Zhuang Zhoumeng is Hu Die, vivid But Hu Die is also self-confident that he is right, and he does not know Zhou Ye. Suddenly, he feels like Zhou Ye. I don’t know Zhou’s dream is Hu Die and Hu Die’s dream is Zhou You?"

    "It's... the story of Zhuang Zhou's Dream die?" Jia Qingming reacted. This seems to be one of the texts in the Chinese language books. The content in the textbooks is probably the source of his few ancient literature literacy...similar to his peers .

    Bai Ling nodded and continued: "The article in "Qiwulun" said that Zhuangzi Zhuangzhou had a dream one day when he dreamed that he had become a flying butterfly. When he woke up from the dream, he didn't know whether it was his own dream. Has it become a butterfly, or has it dreamed of becoming who you are now?"

    "So the effect of this incense is..." Jia Qingming's eyes were serious.

    "It's a dream," Bai Ling said, "a dream that can be controlled by yourself. In that world, you can do whatever you want, but when the smell of incense is gone, you will wake up and the dream will disappear."

    "Why... give her something like this?" He looked at Bai Ling's gaze.

    "Zhuang Zhoumeng, it was originally a very important prop of the Stealing Pavilion. Many humans come here with strong desires, but those desires are hidden in their subconscious, and they don't know it. Sometimes they need such a little external force... Dreams always start with the scenes they are most familiar with, but the desire in their hearts will change the world of dreams a little bit..." Bai Ling slowly explained to Qingming, with a soft voice like music, but what was said People are terrified of thinking carefully.

    "So when the fragrance burned out, they woke up, and everything they had already got in the dream disappeared quickly with the dream. Then they understood what they wanted in their hearts and came to exchange with me. At that time, they would even be better than usual There is less hesitation. Like a person thirsty in the desert, eagerly praying for his wish to come true."

    This is simply a trick of profiteers! What's the difference between this and the kind of business that launches trial outfits with ghosts! Jia Qingming complained in his heart.

    but……

    "However, since Zhuang Yan has used it, she should already know what she wants... It is only right to exchange it with Miss Bai Ling, why... why now..." He asked puzzled.

    "Ah, this is a rare situation after all..." Bai Ling's face was full of seriousness, staring at Jia Qingming, there seemed to be a faint purple light in the deep black eyes. "Because after using Zhuang Zhoumeng, her wish has become Zhuang Zhoumeng itself?"

    "What...what?!" Jia Qingming was shocked.

    "That's right. But after waking up from the dream, she didn't want to realize her wish from me. She only needs Zhuang Zhoumeng herself. She wants this kind of dreamland that can be completely controlled by herself." Bai Ling fixedly stared at him. It seems that I am stating the simplest fact.

    Jia Qingming looked at Bai Ling, shocked and couldn't say a complete sentence. He didn't dare to imagine, would anyone really make such a sensational choice?

    That's why Zhuang Yan looked so haggard this time, is it because of this kind of dream?

    "Such a thing is not incomprehensible. Mr. Seimei has heard of... In the story of "One Thousand and One Nights", there is a story called a person who never laughs for life. It is said that there is a person who enters despite the persuasion of friends In a mysterious room, I experienced the most beautiful things in the world: food, wine, beauties... But a few days later, everything disappeared, and he returned to the original place, although it was also rich in clothes, but he But I can't feel happy anymore, so I sigh and sigh every day, sad to live..."

    Bai Ling said slowly, the elegant voice and the strange purple eye pupils were filled with an emotion that was far beyond human...

    That is compassion.

    Such eyes made Jia Qingming suddenly think of the ruined temple in the thunderstorm that day. When Bai Ling defeated the giant that was parasitized by the gods in the clay, he came down like a god with such compassionate eyes and posture.

    No wonder...

    It’s no wonder that Zhuang Yan would be like this, worrying all day long, and after school she came to Shell Road to find the location of Stealing Heaven Pavilion, but she can only rely on the constant accumulation and deepening of the desire for the "dream that can be completely controlled". Once again found the "way" to steal the Tiange, and once again got the addictive poison... "Zhuang Zhoumeng" from Miss Bai Ling.

    It's almost the same as hunger marketing!

    And after all, the kind of beautiful dreams that Zhuang Zhou dreamed of... It was a realm that was more perfect than anything else. Whatever you wish in your heart can be transformed into the most real experience in the dream, even if you realize your own in the real world. A desire will also produce new desires. In reality, people are full of contradictory areas, and the world cannot revolve around anyone.

    But in that place... In that kind of dream, what is usually hard to get, there is an unchanging iron rule.

    "That... so... Sister Zhuang Yan's... the price is..."

    "Zhuang Zhoumeng is not a commodity, it's just a bonus item for the service of Stealing Heaven Pavilion." Miss Bai Ling smiled slightly, "The bonus item does not require a price."

    but……

    but! Judging from Jia Qingming's experience, this is impossible. There is no free lunch in the world. Miss Bai Ling has always had no free things here. Even a simple meal he made can be counted as a price.

    So, like this, Miss Bai Ling didn't take the initiative to charge anything...

    Its price must be more terrible than those valuable commodities in the Stealing Heaven Pavilion!

    "Ah, did Mr. Qingming see through it?" Bai Ling squinted and smiled. The peony blooming Hanfu on her body exuded the scent of nothing. "Does Mr. Qingming believe that dreams are another world?"

    "Another...world?"

    "Yes, another world. It can be called a dream world... It is like a mirror that projects the real world into it and includes everything in it. It is better to say that everything in the dream is false than... there It is the spiritual world, the deep reflection of people in the mind, and the spirit that is taken to the dream world. That's why there can be infinitely close to the real world, whether it is scenery, characters, or touch. But..." Her voice suddenly became cold,

    "But when each of us enters the dream world, we are actually unconscious, so we are all just temporary visitors in the dream world, not the residents there. However...if one enters the dream world frequently, Especially with the help of things like Zhuang Zhoumeng to form a dream that changes with his own wishes, it will quickly consume his yang energy in this world. And the longer he stays in the dream, he will gradually be assimilated into a resident of the dream world ..."

    Bai Ling stood up and walked to the pear wood dressing table on the side. The dressing table was inlaid with a bronze mirror. She opened the drawer, took out a bright red lipstick, and opened a small mouth to gently squeeze it.

    "The... residents of Dream World?"

    "Yes, in reality you are in a coma, and you will never be able to leave the dream world until the yang energy of the present world is exhausted, lost in the dream world, and finally becomes..." She said that, and paused deliberately. The delicate lips were stained red as blood.

"...The nutrients of the dream world."