Chapter 674: Entering the Dream?

"What do you mean?" Chen Junnan felt a sharp edge in Xiao Cheng's words. "What's wrong with where he slept?"

"Ah, nothing..." Xiao Cheng looked a little uneasy at Qi Xia, then shook his head. "Nothing."

"Do you know what's going on...?" Tian Tian asked with curiosity.

"I..." Xiao Cheng looked like he wanted to speak but hesitated, as if he had a head full of questions needing answers.

"To be honest... I think I've seen Qi Ge in this state before, but I can't be absolutely sure." Xiao Cheng said seriously. "Actually, I once 'harmed' someone to this extent myself."

"'Harmed'... what do you mean?" Chen Junnan was a bit confused. "Damn it, kid, are you involved in something illegal?"

"No, no, no..." Xiao Cheng quickly shook his head. "Chen Ge, that's way off the mark. It's not related to that. It does have something to do with my 'Hui Xiang' though..."

"I haven't even asked yet..." Chen Junnan said. "Earlier outside, there was that bell sound – was that your 'Hui Xiang'?"

"Yes, my ability is called 'Ru Meng'. It's really not very useful..." Xiao Cheng shook his head in frustration. "Most of the time, I can control someone's dream beforehand, making them dream about what they want."

"'Most of the time'?" Chen Junnan furrowed his brow. "What about the rest?"

"I..." Xiao Cheng seemed hesitant to speak; he avoided eye contact for a moment before saying, "Once, there was a guy in my room who kept targeting me. I sensed he wanted to kill me, so when we were sleeping, I 'invaded' his dream."

"Invaded...?"

The word piqued everyone's interest – could someone's "dream" actually be "invaded"?

"Damn..." Chen Junnan cursed in disbelief. "Like a Shi Meng Mo?"

Tian Tian nodded beside him. "It's a bit like science fiction movies..."

"It's nothing like what you're thinking..." Xiao Cheng shook his head. "Whether it's due to the limitations of my ability or how it's designed... even if I 'invade' someone else's dream, it basically has no effect on the dream itself."

"What do you mean?"

"Everyone has a 'Xin Li Fang Xian'." Xiao Cheng explained. "And in everyone's dream world, I'm an outsider. Everything in the dream rejects my existence, and my ability to influence it is very limited – I can't even pull up a single blade of grass from the ground."

"That's really something new..." Chen Junnan scratched his head. "So, what's the point of your 'invasion'?"

"That day... in that guy's dream, I exhausted all my strength and ground my hands until they were bloody, finally managing to crack a single blade of grass on the ground..."

Xiao Cheng's expression was clearly unnatural as he said this, as if he was hiding something.

"You went into that person's dream to weed?" Chen Junnan asked.

"It's not that simple..." Xiao Cheng said. "After he woke up, he ended up in a state similar to Qi Ge's, but he didn't lose consciousness – he was just dazed and confused, and in the end, he died in a game. It was like some kind of 'rejection reaction' in his body."

Everyone fell silent after hearing Xiao Cheng's words.

After a long pause, Tian Tian spoke up. "So, with Qi Xia..."

"No, no, no..." Xiao Cheng waved his hands quickly. "Don't misunderstand, everyone. I didn't even know Qi Ge before. I'm just saying this state looks a lot like the one I caused before... but I'm not saying I did this to Qi Ge."

"It's definitely not him." Qiao Jiajin nodded. "If this guy really did it to De Ren Zi, why would he admit it?"

"Yeah."

"So...?" Chen Junnan frowned and asked. "Kid, can you confirm that Lao Qi is in this state because his 'dream' was invaded?"

"I'm not sure." Xiao Cheng answered seriously. "I'm just saying it feels similar, but I can't be certain. After all, I'm the one with 'Ru Meng' – no one else should be able to cause this..."

Everyone exchanged glances, and after thinking for a while, Chen Junnan spoke up.

"Xiao Chen, how about you go take a look?"

"I... my surname is Cheng..." Xiao Cheng said awkwardly.

"Hey, I thought we were from the same clan." Chen Junnan patted Xiao Cheng on the shoulder. "Xiao Cheng, since you have this ability, why not go in and check while Lao Qi is dreaming? If there's any grass that's been pulled, just plant it back."

"This..." Xiao Cheng looked troubled.

Qiao Jiajin, standing nearby, thought the idea was unwise.

"Jun Nan Zi..." He pulled Chen Junnan aside and whispered, "Honestly, we don't really know this guy, and he said himself that 'invading' a dream could traumatize someone's mind. So, should we really let him go into De Ren Zi's dream?"

"What's there to be afraid of?" Chen Junnan smirked and glanced at Xiao Cheng. "We're both here to keep an eye on things. He can't just kill Lao Qi, right?"

Chen Junnan's words carried a hint of jest mixed with threat.

"Everyone... you might think I'm heartless." Xiao Cheng said quietly. "But I'm really too exhausted today – I can't enter Qi Ge's dream right now... Maybe we can try something else...?"

Zheng Yingxiong, who had stopped his nosebleed, removed the tissue from his nose. His pale face twitched slightly as he slowly spoke. "But brother, you're afraid."

Xiao Cheng was startled and turned to look at Zheng Yingxiong.

"Brother, I can smell the scent of 'fear' on you." Zheng Yingxiong said.

Everyone turned to Xiao Cheng again after hearing Zheng Yingxiong's words – he still seemed suspicious. If what he said was true, why was he afraid?

"I..." Xiao Cheng sighed softly and said, "Sigh, fine, there's no point hiding it now... Ever since I realized I could destroy someone's mind with my ability, I've tried 'killing' people on purpose several times. But my 'Ru Meng' has a huge drawback..."

"What drawback?" Chen Junnan asked.

"If something happens to me in the dream, I die in reality." Xiao Cheng replied. "If Qi Ge is having a nightmare right now, I could get dragged in. That's why I rarely use this ability anymore."

Seeing that everyone was still confused, Xiao Cheng explained further. "His 'Xin Li Fang Xian' is like 'white blood cells' in the body – they devour any invading 'viruses'. There's a chance I'd get devoured, and if I am, I'd lose my life in the real world."

Only then did everyone understand how genuine Xiao Cheng's fear was – he was afraid of dying.

"So that's how it is..." Chen Junnan pondered for a moment and said slowly, "In that case, forget it. I suspect Lao Qi's 'Xin Li Fang Xian' is extremely strong – even if all five of us went in together, we might not make it out. This isn't your fault anyway, so there's no need to risk yourself."

Tian Tian and Qiao Jiajin sighed in agreement. Everyone knew Qi Xia's capabilities; from what they'd seen, he'd wandered in the "Zhong Nian Zhi Di" for so long without truly losing to any "Sheng Xiao". His mental defenses were far beyond ordinary, and for someone like Xiao Cheng to go in would be suicide.

As they hesitated, Di Hou, not far away, seemed to notice something and slowly stood up, walking toward the group.

This chapter is not finished; please click the next page to continue reading the exciting content!