Psychological Dream, Psychological Dream Prologue Fenghuang Web

  People know there is a network world outside the real world, but they don't know there is also a dream world.

  A round moon hangs high in the night sky, and the moonlight spills onto the earth, but it can't penetrate the dense forest. The cawing of crows from time to time in the forest, as well as the howling wind, reveal that this place is not peaceful.

  A young man is walking in the woods, it's too dark to see his face clearly, only roughly making out a casual outfit. So late at night, a young man wearing casual clothes comes to a forest, raising suspicions.

  The young man's walking direction seemed to have a purpose, heading in one direction. After about ten minutes or so, the young man walked out of the woods, and moonlight fell on his body, clearly revealing his appearance.

  The young man's appearance is not particularly special, just an ordinary face. What makes people notice is his eyes, which have no focus, or in simpler terms, no spirit. It's as if the young man's soul is not in his body.

  To be exact, it's not walking out of the woods, because in front of the young people is relatively open and treeless, but there are still trees around. Suddenly a shout rose, a cry that contained fear, tearing, and pain. The crows around were startled and flew away.

  The young man heard the shout, his eyes slowly gained focus and became spirited. He made out that the sound was not a human voice, but a dog's bark, more precisely, a bark of a dog encountering a threat to its life.

  The young man stopped in his tracks and began to take in his surroundings. The first thing that caught his eye was a small wooden hut in front of him, which looked very old. The second thing he noticed was the dark night sky around him, with no sign of the moon anywhere. The only light came from an old oil lamp in front of the hut, which cast an eerie glow over the entire scene. The third thing that caught his attention was a faint reddish color coming from the gap under the door, although he couldn't quite make out what it was due to the dim light.

  "Ah!" The second sound echoed again, and the young man heard it very clearly this time, as if it was ringing in his ear, shaking his consciousness. It was a scream, a woman's scream, filled with fear, horror, and more, a sense of despair, but he had no idea where the voice came from.

  "Stop, stop, stop!!!" The young man shouted three times to stop, and then his consciousness became blurry.

  "Ahh..." The young man, wearing pajamas, sat up from bed, took a few deep breaths, letting the moisture in the air slowly moisten his dry throat, and muttered to himself.

  "What a nightmare, fortunately I can stop dreaming, consciousness is strong enough, otherwise I would be scared awake."

  Obviously last night's forest, wooden house and sound were all a dream.

  Have you ever had a dream that was cut off halfway, and you were startled awake or woke up on your own?

  Chapter One

  Can dreams change?

  "Ding, ding, ding!" The alarm clock rang out, and on the third ring, a hand pressed down on it from above, silencing the sound. The entire room fell back into silence, except for some faint sounds outside. The alarm clock displayed 7:00.

  Lin Fang had gotten used to waking up earlier than his alarm clock every day, and then turning it off. He couldn't remember when this habit started, but in his impression, after learning from a book how to stop dreaming, he would wake up before the alarm clock rang every time.

  A very simple room, one bedroom, one living room, one bathroom and one kitchen, with a small balcony. Although it's not cheap to rent such a good house in the city, it's within Lin Fang's budget since it's far from the city center. After finding this place, he looked at the environment and hardened his heart before renting it out, and the contract couldn't be rented for half a year, had to sign for one year.

  But here, in addition to price and configuration, Lin Fang has another reason to buy it.

  Lin Fang put away all the tableware and dressed neatly before leaving for work at 8:00.

  Because the rental house is relatively far from the city center, and the company is also near the city center, Lin Fang has to take two buses to get to the company, which takes nearly 40 minutes.

  Because of rush hour, Lin Fang arrived at the company at 8:55.

  "Hurry up and clock in, or the genius will scold people." Lin Fang rushed to the elevator on the first floor, just as it was about to close.

  "Wait, wait!" Lin Fang shouted loudly, he didn't want to be late.

  The elevator didn't close and someone inside was holding down the stop button.

  "Xiao Fang, why are you so late today?" Lin Fang only noticed that the person holding down the stop button was his classmate, Ye Man, after he entered the elevator, and at this time there were no other people in the elevator.

  "Hey, rush hour at work, what about you, why so late?" Lin Fang let out a breath and started talking to Ye Wei.

  "Hey, my university classmate came to see me last night. She's my best friend from my student days. She just broke up with her boyfriend and was feeling down, so she came to find me to take her mind off things. I accompanied her out for a night of fun, but we got back a bit late and didn't get much sleep." Ye Mei is truly beautiful, with a natural feminine charm that's elegant without being flashy. When she dresses up, she exudes an air of sophistication. Since she's a bit older than Lin Fang, she calls him "Little Fang".

  "So, have you comforted your girlfriend well?" Lin Fang joked.

  "Of course, otherwise how can we say that she is a close friend? I told her, there are many men in the world, don't hang yourself on one tree. If he doesn't want you, it's his loss. This kind of man has no vision and isn't worth being sad about." Yemian started talking non-stop.

  "That's right, there is a good-looking man in front of you!" Lin Fang knew Ye Mei's personality, liked to talk and wouldn't have any troubles. Plus she was a beautiful woman, so she got along well in the company. Lin Fang also had a relatively close relationship with Ye Mei.

  "Alright, you dare to tease your sister! Look for a beating!" Ye Mei suddenly got angry and lightly hit Lin Fang's head.

  "How did I mock you?" Lin Fang also pretended to be in pain, holding his head with his hand.

  "You said you're a man with good taste, we've known each other for so long, and yet you didn't discover me, are you mocking my sister and me for not having good taste?" Ye Mei pretended to be very angry, but the slight curve at the corner of her mouth and the smile in her eyes couldn't be hidden.

  "Alright, sister, you win." Lin Fang put on a timely display of being in a bad mood.

  "Hehe!" Ye Mei couldn't help but let out a light laugh.

  As they chatted and laughed, the elevator arrived at the 22nd floor, which was their company's floor.

  "Good morning, Ye Mei!"

  "Good morning, Ye Mei!" All of Ye Mei's colleagues greeted her.

  "Let's not talk about it now, let's go punch in, or we'll be late." Ye Man also responded.

  However, no one greeted Lin Fang. Lin Fang had been working here for a year and due to his personality, he hadn't handled interpersonal relationships with his colleagues well.

  "Drip!" Lin Fang picked up his time card and turned around to head back to his seat, preparing for another dull day of work.

  "Xiao Fang, wait a minute, let's go shopping together after work." Ye Mei said to Lin Fang.

  "Want to buy something? Alright, I don't have many daily necessities at home either." Lin Fang thought for a moment and agreed.

  "Alright, I'll find you when we get off work." After seeing Lin Fang nod in agreement, Ye Man smiled lightly and walked away to attend to her own matters.

  Lin Fang sat in his own seat, staring at the computer screen in front of him, an Office Word document. To be honest, Lin Fang didn't like this job, although it was very simple and didn't have too much difficulty, and the salary wasn't low either. However, the ordinary working hours from 9 to 5 had already worn away the passion and tension he had when he first entered society.

  Because he had nothing to do early in the morning, Lin Fang's thoughts turned to his own affairs, and he recalled a sentence he had read from a book.

  "Dreams are also a kind of thought, just the thoughts with implicit meaning. However, all thoughts can be transformed and stopped." This sentence added a fun to Lin Fang's life, making it not so dull. Because he tried to consciously dream, controlling the process of dreams from unconsciousness to consciousness, allowing Lin Fang to swim freely in the world of dreams, no longer feeling so dull.

  This is also one of the reasons why Lin Fang chose this rental house, quiet and suitable for his own dreams. However, recently it has been puzzling him because he can no longer control his dreams at will, which was his only pleasure, unlike others who have friends to socialize with, sports to vent, and hobbies to pass the time. Dreams are an indispensable part of his life.

  Lin Fang's recent dreams have all been very negative, like the one he had today. In a dark environment, despairing voices and dark red blood clots symbolizing guilt appeared. Such negative dreams cannot help Lin Fang release his stress every day, but instead bring him some anxiety. This situation has already lasted for almost a week.

  "Halt!" A single word echoed in Lin Fang's mind, and his thoughts immediately ceased. This "halt" was also the mantra that stopped his dreams in his sleep.

  "Alas, these dull days, when will they end?" Lin Fang sighed.

  "Haha, are you bored?" A magnetic voice came from Lin Fang's left side. Lin Fang knew who that person was, his colleague sitting next to him, just like Ye Wei, had good interpersonal relationships and a masculine magnetic voice.

  "It's Lord Ningzhiyuan, yes, it's extremely boring." Lin Fang didn't even look in the direction of the sound, his voice just came out of his mouth.

  "Haha, you little kid, always so idle and bored with work. That's because you haven't found the fun in working yet...” Ning Zhiyuan was older than Lin Fang, and his appearance was quite impressive, clearly a big brother type, but before he could finish speaking, he was interrupted.

  "There's also the usual need to exercise more, talk to others and communicate, if not then read books, there will always be something that interests you." This sentence was said by Lin Fang, but in a tone as if Ning Zhiyuan had said it.

  "Right, right, you finally understand the good intentions of your brother." Ning Zhiyuan walked over to Lin Fang with a kindly old man's expression and patted his shoulder.

  "Sir, I've heard this sentence many times already. Although not every day, but at least 5 times a week. Can't you remember?" Lin Fang said helplessly.

  "It's good to remember the good words, it's worth my effort, right? Haha." Lin Fang didn't know what to say about Ning Zhiyuan, this old good man with a thick skin. But he was very grateful to Ning Zhiyuan, because that book was also discovered in the bookstore after Ning suggested him to read it.

  The book says: "Dreams are the world of the subconscious, under the pressure and joy that the main consciousness bears. In dreams, they will be magnified many times. If there are more positive emotions than negative emotions, then the dream, the subconscious will let the main consciousness enjoy more in the dream. On the contrary, if there are more negative emotions than positive emotions, the subconscious will start to retaliate and make your dreams full of fear."

  "While dreams are not uncontrollable, they can be changed through suggestive methods that alter the subconscious, thereby changing the dream..."

  "Lin Fang, what are you thinking about? I'm talking to you, did you hear me?" Ning Zhiyuan patted Lin Fang's shoulder, reminding him to pay attention to his words.

  "Oh, sorry about that, I was just thinking of something. What were you saying?" Lin Fang apologized and indicated that he had been distracted earlier.

  "I just heard that the company is going to give colleagues a benefit in a few days, to go on vacation at a villa, and the list is limited." Ning Zhuyuan didn't take Lin Fang's words seriously.

  "Vacation? Villa? Even if there is, it won't be my turn." Lin Fang didn't suspect Ning Zhiyuan's words because Ning Zhiyuan had a good relationship with the company, both superiors and subordinates respected him, not because of his strong abilities, but because he had a large social circle and could talk to anyone anywhere.

  "Haha, don't be discouraged, maybe there's a chance for you." Ning Zhiyuan comforted Lin Fang.

  Lin Fang simply shrugged and the two of them, being seatmates, chatted casually. No one else would pay attention to their conversation anyway, especially since Ning Zhiyuan's words carried weight.

  The two of them didn't chat for too long, and Ning Zhìyuǎn went off to attend to his own matters. As a diplomat, he was busy dealing with personnel from other companies. Lin Fang, on the other hand, was just an ordinary employee. Although he and Ye Wei were in the same workgroup, their relationship was limited to Ye Wei coming to find him; otherwise, Lin Fang wouldn't go out of his way to look for anyone, except when it was necessary for work. He had simply come to this job thinking that as long as he wasn't bored and could make a living, that would be enough. With a personality like this, Lin Fang's interpersonal relationships weren't as good as Ye Wei's or Ning Zhìyuǎn's; in fact, you could even say they were subpar. But he didn't mind himself.

  Ning Zhiyuan left, Lin Fang also stared at the computer screen, rushing a document. In a dull environment, Lin Fang worked for 2 hours until 11:30 when lunchtime arrived.

  But Lin Fang didn't shut down the computer immediately, instead he continued working on his files. Lin Fang disliked noisy environments and preferred quietness, so at noon he would usually wait until everyone went to eat before enjoying the peace and quiet in the office, then go for lunch.

  One by one, his colleagues left, and Lin Fang also stopped thinking about the file, leaning gently against the back of the chair, closing his eyes, taking slow deep breaths, feeling the comfort of oxygen entering his lungs through his nose, and the relaxation of exhaling waste gas from his body.

  It was quiet around, with only the sound of computers running and the coffee machine operating, because on the 22nd floor, the sound of vehicles downstairs wasn't very clear. These sounds kept Lin Fang from falling into a daze.

  Just as Lin Fang was enjoying this brief peace, a voice broke it.

  "Xiao Fang, what are you doing sleeping here? Why aren't you going to eat?" It was a female voice, and the only woman who would look for Lin Fang in the company was Ye Mei.

  "I'm not sleeping, just leaning against you." Lin Fang opened his eyes to see Ye Mei's face with light makeup in front of him.

  At this time, Ye Wei was bending down, her upper body close to Lin Fang, looking at the pair of eyes behind Lin Fang's glasses. Lin Fang was startled by Ye Wei's movement and pushed his entire body along with the chair backwards.

  "Yeh sister, don't scare people!" Lin Fang touched his forehead with his hand, making Ye Mei unsure whether he was really scared or just pretending.

  "Hah, it's not that easy to scare you off, why don't you go eat instead?" Ye Mei smiled lightly, revealing a curved crescent moon shape.

  Ye Man had once scared Lin Fang when he came out of the toilet, but after Lin Fang heard a sudden noise behind his ear, he only looked in that direction and didn't have much reaction, just asking Ye Man "what's wrong?". So whenever Ye Man had the chance, she would scare Lin Fang, but never saw him having too big of a reaction.

  Lin Fang glanced at his watch and saw that it was 12:01. It was a digital watch, which Lin Fang didn't particularly like, although he couldn't quite put his finger on why.

  "It's already 12 o'clock, I'm going to go eat now. By the way, Ye Jie, how do you have time to scare me? Aren't you going to go eat?" Lin Fang said.

  "What was I doing? I just finished a client's order, planning to come back and put things down before going out for dinner. Then I saw you sleeping here, so I was about to ask if you want to go eat together." Ye Mei always spoke with a smile on her face.

  "Okay, where do you plan to go for dinner? I don't have any money, haha." Lin Fang could tell that Ye Mei's smile was not just a polite gesture. The two of them had tried eating together before, and from the start, Ye Mei had never let Lin Fang pay the bill.

  "Alright, little brother, shall we go eat at that noodle shop from last time?" Ye Mei grabbed Lin Fang's arm and was about to pull him up when she said this.

  "Never mind, I'll get up myself." Lin Fang said helplessly. It seems that this time again, he would be looked down upon by everyone. Every time he went out to eat with Ye Wei, they would be despised by others. No other reason, just because Ye Wei's temperament was too excellent, and his own temperament didn't match hers. Others probably looked at him like a pretty boy.

  Lin Fang and Ye Wei arrived at an ordinary noodle shop, the two of them simply ordered two bowls of noodles. They didn't have high expectations for food. Ye Wei had already eaten too much with clients every time, so she felt a kind of fatigue towards eating. Lin Fang, on the other hand, was content as long as he could eat his fill, and he didn't have strong desires or pursuits for material things.

  "By the way, Ye Jie, I just heard Ning Ge mention something, don't know if you've heard it." Lin Fang was eating and saw that others were indeed looking at him with strange eyes. Although he didn't mind and didn't want to affect Ye Mei's appetite, he casually found an excuse to make a phone call.

  "What?" Ye Wan stopped holding her chopsticks and looked at Lin Fang.

  "It's like this, I just heard Ning say that the company might arrange for some employees to go on a villa vacation, and there are limited spots. If it's true, I guess you're one of them, Ye Jie?" Lin Fang looked at his own empty bowl, then at the half-full noodles in front of Ye Mei, and suddenly felt a little embarrassed.

  "What's this? Hehe, does Little Fang want to go?" After hearing the news, Ye Mei smiled lightly and didn't answer Lin Fang's question, but instead asked if Lin Fang wanted to go.

  "So, this news is true then? And sister Ye was also selected?" Lin Fang didn't answer Ye Mei's question either, but from Ye Mei's expression and tone of voice, he knew the credibility of this news.

  "Little rascal, are you going or not? You haven't even answered your sister's question yet." Ye Mei said with a pretended angry expression to Lin Fang.

  "I'm not really interested, it doesn't matter whether I go or not. Besides, this isn't something I can decide on my own. With my usual poor performance, why would they choose me? I'm no match for you, Ye Jie, with your excellent results." Lin Fang spread his hands out, his face showing little change, a truly nonchalant expression.

  "You also know that you usually perform poorly, so why don't you do better?" Ye Mei didn't dwell on whether Lin Fang wanted to go or not, and instead asked another question, with a hint of curiosity in her eyes.

  "It's that simple, isn't it? If I behave well, what benefits will I get? More money and more power. So if I have these two things, it's just to make my material life better. But I'm already very satisfied with my current situation. Even if you give me more money, I'll just waste it everywhere, I don't like excessive material desires. Besides, my parents have rental income from our old house, so I don't need to worry too much about them. They also don't support me doing anything big, so I'm just living a simple life." Lin Fang said more than usual this time, and it was something he had never said before. He looked at Ye Mei's reaction and knew.

  Ye Mei opened her eyes wide, a pair of beautiful big eyes staring blankly at Lin Fang. She indeed didn't think it would take so long. A person who had satisfied his basic needs for food, clothing, and shelter, with not much responsibility as a son, without great burdens, and no girlfriend - that was what she knew.

  "So you don't have any goals, ideals, or even dreams?" Ye Wei asked persistently, refusing to give up.

  "My goal is just to live a life without worrying about food and clothing, as for ideals, I'm just an ordinary person, I don't have too big of an ideal, as for dreams, I really don't have any." Lin Fang said, looking at the ceiling.

  "Didn't you have any dreams when you were young?" Ye Wei grasped the last word, biting down on it and leaning her entire body forward, trying to get a clear look at Lin Fang's expression.

  "What's going on?" Lin Fang murmured these three words, his eyebrows slowly furrowing, deeper and tighter, with a strong sense of confusion in his eyes.

  Ye Wei clearly saw the confusion in Lin Fang's eyes and was about to speak when Lin Fang spoke first.

  "When I was young, I don't remember having any dreams. Even if I did, they must have been very boring. Alright, if you don't eat now, there won't be time to eat later." Lin Fang's expression returned to its previous state, and he changed the subject, making people wonder whether what he said earlier was true or false.

  "Alright, let's finish eating and go back." Ye Man didn't continue speaking, picked up the chopsticks in her hand, and continued eating the noodles. She had already lost feeling for what she was eating or what it tasted like.

  "Boss, bill." Yemeng only ate a few bites and stopped eating. Then she called the waiter to pay the bill.

  The two paid and were about to leave when Ye Mei's phone rang.

  Ye Man took out her mobile phone from her handbag, greeted Lin Fang and said she was going to the toilet, then walked towards the toilet while listening to her phone.

  After Lin Fang responded, he was about to go out of the store to wait for Ye Wei. As he turned his body to the right, all objects followed his line of sight and became blurry during the turn. At the farthest right in Lin Fang's field of vision, on the wall, there was a faint red color, a true red, like blood, with a deep hue, unlike the dark red block that had already solidified in Lin Fang's dream. It flowed down gently, and below it, there was still a couple, but they were completely indifferent to this red color.

  Because Lin Fang saw that flash of crimson in the corner of his eye, he was just about to take a closer look when he turned his head and looked directly at it. It was just a painting hanging on the wall with a big red flower blooming on it, its color like blood. Lin Fang merely furrowed his brow and didn't think much of it, went out the door, and waited for Ye Wei to come out.

  "Are you tired?" Lin Fang seemed to hear a voice coming from behind him, it was very light, but the voice was very familiar. When Lin Fang turned around, he found no one behind him.

  Perhaps it was just a misunderstanding and misinterpretation.