Ch154.1 – Fear
Yu Hao and Zhou Sheng were drenched from head to toe. Zhou Sheng was half naked, and water trickled down his lean muscles, while Yu Hao’s shirt was plastered onto his body, revealing its contours. Zhou Sheng grabbed Yu Hao’s hand tightly. When they couldn’t walk any further at the gap between two walls, Zhou Sheng held Yu Hao, shook his jingubang, and leaped onto another wall as if he was pole vaulting.
Another light flashed — it was Chen Yekai’s gun. Continuous gunfire could be heard at the end of the corner, sounding like he was engaged in a battle. Yu Hao and Zhou Sheng immediately picked up their pace.
In a maze corridor that led to the end of the black fog, Chen Yekai and Huang Ting wielded a gun each. A roaring monster appeared from within the fog, and there were mechanisms all around them. Chen Yekai shouted, “Where did these mechanisms come from?! Can you get rid of them?”
Huang Ting placed one arm on Chen Yekai’s shoulder and answered, “I don’t know! This is how my dream is like! I…”
“Careful!” Chen Yekai pressed down on Huang Ting and rolled to a corner; several flywheels shot out of the wall opposite that brushed past the top of their heads. The flywheels flew across the corridor and instantly cut the rotten monsters behind them into two. Black blood splattered everywhere before turning into smoke that dispersed as it vanished.
“Run!” Chen Yekai kept gasping and pulled Huang Ting up again. He half carried and half hugged him as they staggered away in their escape.
Huang Ting’s left leg was already fractured and was being dragged in a strange position. He looked back at the black fog that was closing in on them, and the vague outline of an even more powerful monster could be seen looming in the it.
“What would happen to us if we get caught?” Huang Ting asked.
Chen Yekai said, “We’ll fall into the subconscious and lose all consciousness.”
Huang Ting shook his head slowly, “You guys really shouldn’t have come to save me.”
The black fog closed in once again, and it would soon swallow up the two men. A mad roar rang out from the fog, and dozens of shadows instantly shot out like a flurry of arrows.
“How could we not save you?!” Zhou Sheng’s voice burst out overhead like a thunderclap, and before anyone could register it, he and Yu Hao descended from the sky!
Yu Hao shouted, “Get out of the way!” Chen Yekai and Huang Ting dodged, Zhou Sheng swung his rod around, looking as if he was dancing, and instantly sent the monsters in the fog flying everywhere in the sky. Yu Hao assumed a sideways stance while wielding his staff, and a resplendent, intense light burst forth from the head of his staff.
Within a split second, the intense light materialised and shone through the fog. The black fog surged once again and kept retreating under this dazzling moonlight. A colossal being let out a low growl within the fog and dodged in panic, retreating toward the periphery of the maze.
“You’re so much thinner now.” Chen Yekai said as he carried Huang Ting.
“I always feel like I became this thin because of my illness in reality,” Huang Ting said, “So even my impression of myself grew weaker too, but it’s actually not that exaggerated.”
Zhou Sheng led the way while Yu Hao supported the rear. Chen Yekai was in the middle with Huang Ting on his back. Yu Hao heard Chen Yekai say,
“What’re you so stubborn about? Can’t you dwell less on it?”
“When you encountered your problem, you were as stubborn as I am.” Huang Ting answered, “So don’t laugh at the one who retreated a hundred steps when you took fifty steps back yourself.”
Chen Yekai said, “You’ll get better.”
When Yu Hao heard their conversation, he suddenly felt a little moved. When Huang Ting got into trouble, Chen Yekai was indeed quite anxious and had even urged Zhou Sheng and Yu Hao to come and rescue him as soon as possible. On the other hand, he and Zhou Sheng weren’t that close to Huang Ting after all. So, most of the time, what they were considering was the problem of their own safety.
He didn’t know why, but Yu Hao could never get close to Huang Ting. Perhaps it was because of the Golden Crow Wheel, or perhaps it was because as a policeman, it was too easy for Huang Ting to see through people’s hearts. As a result, whenever Yu Hao faced him, he didn’t like talking too much in order to avoid revealing something by accident. However, Chen Yekai and Huang Ting truly were very good friends. Even if they hide a lot of things from each other—— just like how Huang Ting wouldn’t tell Chen Yekai that when he left Ying City in despair, he had already bought a ticket to Argentina, ready to stop him in advance.
Chen Yekai also wouldn’t tell Huang Ting how anxious he had been when he found out that he had gone missing. Yu Hao had no doubt at all that if Zhou Sheng had rejected his suggestion to come find Huang Ting in his dream, Chen Yekai would have begged him to.
After leaving the fringe of the black fog, at a corner of the maze, Chen Yekai set Huang Ting down. Yu Hao checked his wounds and said, “Why did his leg get fractured?”
Chen Yekai said, “He was almost dragged into the subconscious. A tentacle had entangled itself with him, and during the fight, his leg was twisted by the tentacle and fractured as a result.”
Zhou Sheng suddenly said, “Look, the rain is letting up.”
After they found Huang Ting, the thunder stopped, and the dark clouds in the sky had retreated slightly, revealing gaps from which faint rays of moonlight sneaked in.
Yu Hao felt like his powers strengthened under this moonlight. He said, “We have to set his calf straight before treating it. Zhou Sheng, lend him a hand. Chen Yekai, you hold him.”
“It’s so troublesome even in a dream.” Zhou Sheng glanced at Huang Ting and said, “You’re too rigid in adhering to rules.”
Chen Yekai held Huang Ting’s upper body while Zhou Sheng pressed down on Huang Ting’s knee and straightened out his left calf. Huang Ting grunted, and his hold on Yu Hao tightened so much that it was like an iron hoop. Yu Hao released his powers, and under the illumination of the ball of light, the bruises of the fracture slowly faded. Huang Ting let out a prolonged breath, patted Chen Yekai’s shoulder, then slowly stood up. He turned his head to glance at the depths of the maze, then looked at them again. His lips moved, and he looked a little blank.
“You guys shouldn’t have come.” Huang ting said.
Zhou Sheng made a gesture and answered, “Don’t say anything.”
Huang Ting looked doubtful, but Zhou Sheng said, “Please excuse me, Huang Ting, this might be offensive.”
Then Zhou Sheng pressed his hand against Huang Ting’s forehead. Within the darkness, countless pictures of his memories flew around him, just like when they had erased Ou Qihang’s memory, they formed scenes that slowly revolved around Huang Ting.
The light of other memories dimmed a little, and only a first person perspective of Huang Ting being hoisted and pushed against the chair device were presented to them in its entirety.
After Zhou Sheng finished watching, he especially tapped on a few scenes with his finger, slashed through, and threw the scenes to Chen Yekai.
Zhou Sheng’s hand left Huang Ting’s forehead, and all of his memories dissipated in an instant.
The moment he saw Huang Ting’s memories, Yu Hao was stunned. Zhao Liang even has a way to monitor the Golden Crow Wheel? But when he looked at Zhou Sheng, Zhou Sheng didn’t react at all, as if he had already known about it long ago. How did Zhou Sheng know about that? Yu Hao suddenly remembered — in the desert, the flickering of Zhou Sheng’s dragon! Has the existence of the Golden Crow Wheel been monitored and interfered with since then? That is to say, the apparatus Zhao Liang possesses has such an effect on the Golden Crow Wheel?
Yu Hao wanted to ask, but Zhou Sheng made a ‘shh’ gesture, then said, “Continue moving forward. Help Huang Ting seize his totem back first.”
Zhou Sheng set his jingubang vertically on the ground, held Yu Hao with one hand, and rose to the top of the maze’s high wall. Both of them clambered onto the wall. The rainstorm was gradually becoming lighter. Yu Hao spread his wings out; he should be able to fly now without being disturbed by fierce gales. However, the walls of this maze are too weird, so he decided against flying for now.
Zhou Sheng brought Huang Ting and Chen Yekai up as well. The four of them stood on the wall, overlooking the central area of the maze in the distance.
Yu Hao had always been worried that if Zhao Liang could monitor the operations of the Golden Crow Wheel through the analysis and reconstruction of brain waves, then he would also be able to eavesdrop on their conversations in the dream? From the fact that Zhou Sheng wasn’t saying anything, that may indeed be the case. However, since he had already thought of this scene, then he must have started thinking of a way to deal with it.
Yu Hao looked at Zhou Sheng worriedly, yet Zhou Sheng said, “Shh, don’t be afraid.”
So Yu Hao nodded. He looked back at Huang Ting and Chen Yekai, who were walking slowly on the top of the high wall.
Huang Ting said, “Nicky, listen to me, all of you should go back while there’s still time now. As for the rest, I can handle it by myself.”
Chen Yekai answered, “It’s not a problem.”
Yu Hao said, “Now that you’ve finally gotten the chance, how do you feel?”
“To tell you the truth,” Huang Ting answered, “It’s quite different from my guesses. It feels too real. I’ve never had such a realistic experience before in my dreams.”
“Under the influence of the Golden Crow Wheel, dreams will become more realistic.” Zhou Sheng bridged across a narrow wall with his jingubang and walked across it like he was performing a circus act. “You wouldn’t usually dream in detail, but once the Golden Crow Wheel is involved, you’ll be able to clearly sense everything that you’re experiencing.”
Yu Hao, “So that is to say, everyone actually has the ability to shuttle through their own dreamscapes. They just can’t be like how we are now, where we have a high degree of conscious self-control?”
Zhou Sheng said, “Of course. Didn’t you dream before the Golden Crow Wheel appeared? You did ba? The Golden Crow Wheel just gives us the ability to control dreamscapes.”
Huang Ting said, “The situation isn’t as simple as you guys think now. Zhou Sheng, take them away, you’re a smart person.”
Chen Yekai, “No way! Huang Ting, throw away that idea of yours. It’s precisely that kind of thinking that will land everyone in danger!’
Huang Ting said, “There’s no need to put all three of you in danger just for me alone! Zhou Sheng! Don’t you care about Yu Hao’s safety?”
Yu Hao, “I’m alright, you don’t need to worry about me. You should worry more about yourself ba.”
