Chapter 23 Entering the Dream (1)
"Xan Yu, we're so tired, why don't we go wash our faces? Isn't there water nearby?" Little Green got up and opened the tent, and the dazzling sunlight poured in. "Not yet! It's dawn! Everyone look!" Little Green excitedly called us out of the tent, and Li Shan Yu also became excited: "Let's go! Let's go wash our faces! I want to wake up a bit!" After that, the two of them walked towards the riverbank not far away, and I kept watching them washing their faces by the river, still frolicking.
Ye Zi Ke walked up to me and asked, "Do you want to go wash your face and wake up a bit?" His complexion was slightly pale, and his good-looking eyes were staring at me. Before I could respond, Li Shan Yu and Xiao Lu walked over. "Wow! You're much more awake now, right?!" Xiao Lu said with a smile. Ye Zi Ke and I were stunned on the spot. "Are we in a dream or reality?" I asked. As soon as I finished asking this question, Li Shan Yu shouted, "Xiao Lu, your face is covered in blood!" Xiao Lu also looked at Li Shan Yu in horror and said, "You too!" Then the two of them sat down on the ground and started wiping their faces.
"I'll go take a look at the situation with the water over there, Ning Xiao, you stay here." Ye Zi Ke started walking towards the water's edge, I took a deep breath, it seems like it's a problem with the water. "Hahaha, hahaha." I turned my head to look at Li Shan Yu and Little Green behind me, they were desperately trying to hold back their laughter, occasionally giving me a strange glance, I retreated several steps, their faces didn't get any cleaner, instead becoming more and more terrifying.
Is it an illusion? When I looked again, the two of them were chatting and nothing was out of the ordinary. "Yezi Ke, wait for me, I'll go with you." I quickened my pace to the riverbank, not daring to look back at Li Shan Yu and Xiao Lü. "You be careful too." Yezi Ke said after finishing this sentence, then squatted down by the river to observe, while I squatted on a rock staring at the river water, wondering if there was something in the water? It felt like there were a pair of eyes staring at me from under the water, thinking about this made my body lean forward slightly, and a force pushed against my back, causing me to plunge into the water with a splash. "Ning Lie!" It was Yezi Ke's voice, the water wasn't deep, I was just about to get up, but my feet were stuck as if being held down by something, I looked underwater, and my heart stopped in that instant.
Innumerable hands under the water were pulling my legs down, I struggled desperately, but sank deeper into the water. A woman pinched my neck and mouthed to me: "Let's die together!" Was I dreaming or was it real? Why couldn't I wake up? Why did drowning feel so real? Powerless in my struggles, I drifted further away from the surface, the feeling of suffocation grew heavier, my consciousness began to blur...
It's cold, so cold! I shivered as I opened my eyes to find myself lying in a withered forest, where everything was dead silent. I got up and looked at my drenched body, which confirmed that I had indeed fallen into the water, but why did I end up here again? A gust of cold wind blew by, and I hugged my arms tightly, unable to think about anything else, it's so cold!
I walked for a long time, still seeing nothing but withered trees, occasionally fluttering down a few leaves. Suddenly I couldn't move anymore, a pair of hands wrapped around my waist: "Where do you want to go?" A charming face was staring at me, "Let go, I don't know you!" I shouted, the young man didn't show any signs of letting go, but instead stuck out his tongue and licked my neck, saying: "You look like you taste good! I love women with white necks." I stared at his two sharp fangs in shock, three words floating in my mind: Vampire! I pushed him away with all my might and started running wildly, but before long I fell to the ground, the key was that there was nothing to trip me up!
Turning back, at the stunningly beautiful face: "You're very disobedient!" His voice was filled with anger, and I carefully retreated backwards, only to discover that my legs couldn't move. "Can't move now, can you? This way you won't be able to run away!" He leaned in close to my neck, and my entire body stiffened up, feeling teeth scrape against my skin, but then he stopped. He looked at me and said: "I'll leave for a bit first, don't even think about trying to escape, or else you'll die a terrible death!" After he left, I tried to stand up, but my legs wouldn't budge. No way, absolutely can't stay here, I have to crawl away from this place. I gritted my teeth and started crawling forward, please let me find a place to hide! I don't want to die!
My body was getting colder and I didn't stop, continuing to crawl forward. Suddenly, I froze. In front of me, a huge python was lazily staring at me with its beady eyes. Oh my god! Where have I come to? It could swallow me in one bite. I quietly crawled to the other side, cold sweat dripping down. What should I do?! "Ning Lie." A familiar voice. I closed my eyes and shouted: "Ye Zikuo, hurry up! There's a python!"
My body felt light, and I opened my eyes to see Ye Zikuo holding me: "Why aren't you running fast, there's a snake!" "I know, I'll take you with me!" Ye Zikuo said calmly, just as the python was crawling towards us. "Put me down and run!" I shouted, but Ye Zikuo ignored me, holding me tight while running and saying: "Hold on!" The python behind us seemed to have stopped chasing, and only then did Ye Zikuo stop to catch his breath, saying: "You've learned how to crawl like a snake too?"
I hadn't even had time to respond when I heard a sentence: "That's because she doesn't listen." I started trembling again, staring at the young man opposite me, who was smiling with an enchanting smile. "He's a vampire! You'd better leave!" I wanted to push Ye Zikuo away, but he held me even tighter, whispering in my ear: "Ning Lie, we're both dreaming. These are just illusions, as long as we find the exit of the dream, it'll be fine."
"Give me back my prey, and I'll let you live!" The vampire walked towards us as he spoke, and I tensed up all over, trembling uncontrollably. Is this a dream? Why can't I wake up?! "Ning Lie, in dreams, magical artifacts are useless. So we have to save ourselves!" Ye Zikuo's confident voice made me look up at him, his beautiful eyes telling me three words: "Believe me!"
The vampire was getting closer and closer, I hugged Yezi Ke tightly and closed my eyes, but heard the wind whizzing past my ears. When I opened my eyes, Yezi Ke smiled and asked: "Not bad, huh?" We were actually flying, just like in a martial arts movie, Yezi Ke stepped on a tree and could fly really far. "What's going on?" I asked, looking at the high altitude of over 20 meters away from us.
"The power of dreams, I just hoped I could fly, and then I did." Yezi Ke smiled as she answered my question, the scenery in front of us rapidly retreating, but I could still see the vampire chasing after us in the distance. "Sometimes it's imagination that works in dreams, didn't we often dream about flying when we were kids?" Yezi Ke continued to explain, "You're really amazing, but why did you appear in my dream? I clearly remember we went to the riverbank together, and Li Xiangyu and Xiao Lü were there."
The words had barely left my lips when Ye Zikuo interrupted me: "At that time, we were already in a dream. When I saw you fall into the river, I jumped down with you. When I woke up, I found myself in this withered forest. Then I met you." Looking at the vampire not far away, I still felt a little uneasy: "So will we wake up if we are killed in our dreams?" Ye Zikuo looked at me seriously and said: "Ning Lie, maybe if we die in this dream, we won't be able to wake up. This is just my intuition, but it feels very real. From the moment we climbed the mountain, everything here has been mysterious and unpredictable. We are all being manipulated." I lowered my head and looked at the withered forest below, which was like a whirlpool that surrounded us, making it seem impossible to leave this forest.
