Chapter 621: Mutual Plans

As the burn mark appeared in an instant, the road outside the window suddenly began to rebuild itself.

The collapsed buildings on the street were rapidly restoring to their original state.

This scene made Tianlong pause for a moment.

He felt a bit puzzled in his heart: How could someone deeply immersed in a dream awaken in reality?

"Tianlong, it's truly a shame," Qi Xia said, looking at his wrist. "You were just one step away, perhaps."

"Is that so... Bai Yang, you're as impressive as ever."

Tianlong smiled, then gazed at the buildings quickly taking shape outside the window, and at the sun slowly turning away in the sky. Finally, he shook his head helplessly.

"You should know," Qi Xia said, lifting his head, "after this, you won't be able to enter my dreams again. I'll be on full alert, and I won't allow this to happen ever again."

"I believe you can do it," Tianlong nodded. "That's just who you are."

Qi Xia glanced at his wrist and slowly revealed a smile.

"I remember now..." he said.

"Hmm?"

"'Dreams' are truly a miraculous thing," Qi Xia said slowly, raising his head. "People often forget what they've dreamed when awake, and in dreams, they frequently forget where they came from. But I've remembered."

Tianlong stood with his hands behind his back, gazing at the sun in the sky. "How terrifying... Bai Yang, did you deliberately lure me out?"

"Lure you out...? No..." Qi Xia shook his head. "To be precise, I had no idea what I might draw out. I just wanted to know why I've always resisted falling asleep."

"You're quite the madman," Tianlong nodded. "Using yourself as bait to draw me in—you're really not afraid?"

"We're both in the same boat, aren't we?" Qi Xia looked at Tianlong and noticed that his facial features had vanished again, leaving only a flat face. "You're gambling too, right?"

"I hope the thin ice under your feet stays as solid as it is today."

"And I hope no one's dreams ever feature a monster like you."

"May all our hopes come true." Tianlong stood with his hands behind his back, staring blankly out the window.

Qi Xia felt the scenery around him growing increasingly blurry, with the walls speeding away from him.

He sensed himself waking up.

"Hah—!!"

Qi Xia gasped for air and instantly opened his eyes.

Before him was endless darkness and a foul odor.

But in that moment, everything felt extraordinarily real.

After a few seconds of recollection, Qi Xia remembered that this should be Di Hu's game arena.

Besides the stench in the air, there was also a scent of something burned.

Qi Xia touched his wrist, where a ring of burn marks now existed, sending a stinging pain through him.

He was grateful that the black strands from Tian Ma Shi Ke were indeed hair. When the many strands withdrew on their own, some had tangled and broken, and he had deliberately kept one as a precaution.

Hair is flammable, and after hardening and thickening, it became an excellent fuse.

And that fuse had saved his life at the critical moment.

"It seems the dreams invaded by Tianlong are different from ordinary dreams—only external disturbances can break them."

Qi Xia slowly stood up, reached out, and found a table and chair in the basement, then sat down gradually.

While the contents of the dream were still fresh in his mind, Qi Xia quickly reviewed everything Tianlong had said.

Although most of it aligned with his expectations, what about the "sun"?

After thinking for less than three minutes, Qi Xia reached up and slowly pressed his forehead.

He felt something off.

His brain seemed chaotic, similar to how it had been in the dream.

This didn't seem right...

Could he still be in a dream?

The thought made his back turn ice-cold.

No... that shouldn't be possible.

He had never dreamed of being in the Zhong Yan Zhi Di before. The few dreams he had were always in his own home.

And every time he dreamed, Yu Nian An was definitely there.

The situation was tricky now... Even if he guessed he wasn't in a dream, how could he prove it?

Or was there another possibility...

This wasn't a dream, but his brain and state of mind had indeed been damaged?

Due to Tianlong's intrusion, his subconscious had suffered real damage, so now his brain felt clogged?

Qi Xia felt a wave of fear. If Tianlong had continued in his dream, he might have ended up as a mindless fool.

He rubbed his forehead, trying to calm himself, then thought back to that strange sun.

Was the "sun" Yu Nian An?

That answer seemed too far-fetched...

Who had turned her into the sun? When did it happen? And what was the purpose?

"Her eye enlarged... and suspended in the air?"

He felt certain that Tianlong was behind this, probably to target him.

But there was another possibility...

That Tianlong was lying.

After all, everything before was just a "dream," and Tianlong seemed able to control it.

So, could all of it have been fake?

For example, the faceless Yu Nian An, the massive eye in the sky, the streets that collapsed and rebuilt at will.

Maybe Tianlong had fabricated it all just to unsettle his mind and make him completely break down.

Qi Xia carefully recalled everything from his memory, including all the strange phenomena and the sun in the sky. Since he had never thought in this direction before, reviewing it took him a lot of time.

Whether it was his intelligence declining sharply or the matter being truly absurd, no matter how he thought about it, Qi Xia couldn't find any evidence to prove the connection between Yu Nian An and the "sun," nor could he deduce Tianlong's real motive.

He stood up and stretched his muscles, feeling that the days ahead wouldn't be easy.

If he wanted to fully guard against Tianlong, he couldn't fall asleep again from now on.

Not even dozing off while sitting might be safe.

According to what Tianlong said, he had gone seven years without lying down to sleep, thinking it was seven years in reality, but upon reflection, it was likely the seven years since he became Bai Yang.

With the physical resilience of a Di Ji Sheng Xiao, long-term sleeplessness was possible, but now he was just an ordinary person.

Prolonged lack of sleep would definitely cause various side effects for an ordinary person, but he couldn't worry about that now. To escape this cursed place, he had already pushed himself to the brink, and this was just one more step.

"Hope this will all end soon..."

In the long night, with the rustling insect sounds outside, Qi Xia sank into deep thought.