Chapter 298: True Dream
“Teacher Wumu, we’re still at the book signing event right now.” The cute girl dressed like a neighbor girl whispered into the ear of the dazed man beside her. Seeing that he had been out of sorts since they met in the morning, she couldn’t help but feel some concern. “Are you feeling unwell?”
The girl’s warm, moist breath brushed past his ear. Fang Mu slowly came back to his senses. Seeing the worried beautiful eyes at his side, he stiffly turned his gaze to the fan boy in front of him who was holding his newly released work. The boy was strongly suppressing his excitement and wanted to shake hands with him, his eyes shining. Fang Mu stiffly pulled at the corner of his mouth and grasped the other’s hand. “Tha… thank you for liking my books.”
“I super like your Teacher Wumu. The identity of the protagonist Lin Peng in your new work had an ultimate reversal at the end. It was really unexpected, making the entire story’s tone suddenly become even more terrifying and suffocating…” The fan boy was clearly his loyal reader. He quickly expressed his insights on the content of the book in his hand, the adoration in his brows and eyes unmasked.
Fang Mu could tell that the person in front of him really liked the books he wrote, but he was somewhat dazed. He actually hadn’t heard clearly what the other said later. He just pretended to listen seriously, his eyes dull. In the end, he repeatedly said thank you, his tone mixed with a hint of apology.
“Ever since I read your books, for some reason I haven’t been able to sleep well. It might be because they’re too stimulating. I even dream of huge toad frogs…” The fan boy scratched his head sheepishly, picked up the signed book, said one last sentence, and left.
Hearing this, Fang Mu inexplicably shuddered, as if a silver needle had pierced deep into his soul. A cold stimulating sensation deep into his soul surged into his brain. In his mind flashed the image of a crouching huge shadow with several enormous red eyes eerily gazing at him, but in the blink of an eye, everything disappeared.
Rumble… Patter patter…
The sudden rain kept falling outside the Dragon City Central Library where the new work book signing event was being held. Thick dark clouds like gloomy anger, thunder like roars, issuing accusations and warnings to humans who had lost their sense of awe toward the primal nature. The readers who attended the book signing event returned home laden with signed books, unconcerned about the downpour.
“Hey.” Fang Mu, who was signing like a machine, heard this call, sluggishly lifted his head, and raised his gaze. A handsome smiling face came into view. It was a youth around twenty years old, with a faint scent of burning incense emanating from him.
The fragrance entered his body with his breath, refreshing and heart-soothing, making his muddled brain suddenly clear up a lot.
“Um, hello?” Fang Mu looked at the white-clothed youth in front of him and inexplicably felt a sense of closeness, but he felt the other probably wasn’t his book fan, because he was the only one who hadn’t brought any books. Out of courtesy and caution, he inquired of the other, “Excuse me, is there anything I can help you with?”
The white-clothed youth smiled and said he didn’t need any help, and instead asked if he needed help.
Fang Mu originally wanted to say he didn’t need any help, but upon looking closely, he discovered that this smiling youth’s eyes weren’t fully curved in a smile. His eyes were half-closed, and beneath the slightly open eyelids was a pair of calm eyes, emotions completely different from the mild smile on his exterior.
Fang Mu swallowed, his heart faintly stirring. “I… I think I had a dream.”
Looking at the youth, he felt awe and closeness, inexplicably wanting to pour out his heart to this stranger. “But I don’t remember what dream I had.”
“Oh.” The arc of Lin Ling’s mouth widened a bit. “Was it a nightmare or a beautiful dream?”
Nightmare, beautiful dream…
Fang Mu was stumped by the question. For a moment, he couldn’t figure out how to describe the feeling when he woke from the dream. After thinking for a long time, he came up with a not entirely accurate description and answered, “It was a very real dream.”
“You can’t even remember it, so how do you know it was real?” Lin Ling asked with a smile.
Fang Mu was at a loss for words, involuntarily scratching his ear and cheek, his breathing becoming chaotic. “…It felt real. I don’t remember the content, but some feelings are still there.”
“Everything can deceive you, but your heart won’t.” Lin Ling nodded lightly, seemingly quite satisfied with this answer, his words pregnant with meaning.
Fang Mu subconsciously touched his heart. Suddenly his breathing quickened, and he felt a wave of dizziness, but he didn’t want to pass out like this. It was as if he had grasped some key, but that key was like an eel, hard to hold onto, constantly trying to escape from his thoughts.
“Are you really dreaming?” Lin Ling’s smiling eyes gazed at Fang Mu’s chaotic eyes.
A chill ran down the back of Fang Mu’s head. In an instant, it was as if he heard some terrified scream. He felt it as well. Looking at Lin Ling was like seeing a terrifying monster, but his appearance hadn’t changed at all in his eyes. Yet from that unchanged appearance, countless emotions could be read, making one’s heart chaotic.
No! No! It’s not me who’s afraid!
I’m not afraid!
It’s not me! Who is it!?
Who’s afraid!?
Fang Mu excitedly stood up, but his legs gave way, and he fell from the seat.
He fell to the ground, but no one helped him up, not even the little assistant who had been so attentive to him earlier. No matter how he shouted, nothing around him responded to him anymore, not even the torrential rain outside stopped its wailing.
Fang Mu then discovered that the surroundings seemed to have stopped. Everyone wasn’t ignoring him; they were frozen in this moment of spacetime, like a 3D scroll painting.
Fang Mu wanted to question Lin Ling who he was and what he had done, but when he turned his head, that person was already gone. The frozen spacetime resumed flowing, and the chill at the back of his brain slowly dissipated.
The crowd at the book signing event saw Fang Mu suddenly fall from his seat and were all shocked, hurriedly helping him up from the ground and expressing concern.
……
The book signing event ended hastily, just like the earlier heavy rain. It was thought to be an intense storm, with the weather broadcast issuing a “red alert” just an hour ago, but now it awkwardly reported it was a false alarm. Next, sunny and clear, suitable for going out.
“Teacher Wumu, if you weren’t feeling well, you should have told me in advance. You scared me to death earlier.” The little assistant unscrewed a bottle of energy drink for Fang Mu and fed him water.
Fang Mu drank several mouthfuls, smacked his lips, and stared blankly at the energy drink again.
“What’s wrong?” The little assistant saw Fang Mu’s puzzled look. She nervously snatched the bottle to check it, even took a sip from the mouth of the bottle, smacked her lips savoring it. “It’s not expired…”
“No… it’s just that the taste feels somewhat nostalgic.” Fang Mu gave a dry laugh.
“Ah, yeah, that’s true. This is an old brand. It was produced even in my grandfather’s generation, and it was quite precious back then.” The little assistant replied. She seemed to know some history on this, but she didn’t linger on the topic. Continuing from earlier, she said, “Teacher Wumu, you’ve been touching your chest all the time. Is your heart unwell? Sigh, if I had known you were going on a long trip, I would have stopped you. It must be because you were traveling alone outside, without me by your side to take care of you, and you didn’t look after yourself well.”
Hearing the other’s words, Fang Mu straightened up. That feeling of grasping the key surged back to the top of his head again. He pointed at himself in shock and doubt. “I went on a long trip?”
