(1)
Zhu Ying had seen many monsters in the dream world before.
But they were always cold mechanical monsters.
Never something so twisted, yet still appearing as a living creature—a giant monster like this one.
Its entire body was composed of exposed flesh and blood, like a massive heart that had grown limbs and a head. At such close range, she could feel the heat radiating off it, hotter than magma. Every muscle in its fleshy body twitched violently, producing sounds like bamboo splitting.
It opened its mouth, its tongue covered in densely packed teeth, and let out a spine-chilling roar.
It was as if all the corpses of humanity from a dying civilization were piled together, their unwilling vengeful spirits unleashing an undying hatred upon the world.
“Ying Ying… run!” Wang Xinru suddenly shoved Zhu Ying aside, only to be buried by a pile of falling building debris.
Even half a broken wall weighed far more than an ordinary person could bear.
“Xiao Ru—! Xiao Ru? Are you okay?”
But no sound came from the rubble.
The monster only wanted to destroy everything in its sight, but unfortunately, Zhu Ying and the remaining half of the school building stood in its way.
In the dream world of the past, the giant humanoid mech that always appeared in times of crisis never descended from the sky—the silhouette that fought until the very end, never giving up, welcoming the bloody setting sun amidst pain… did not appear either.
This was supposed to be a dream, yet it was colder than reality.
Zhu Ying watched as the monster raised an arm made of countless flesh knots and lymph nodes, slamming it heavily onto the school floor.
The building crumbled like tofu, easily shattering and collapsing.
Zhu Ying followed the ground, sinking slowly in what felt like frozen time.
“Xiao Jing…” Zhu Ying couldn’t make any movement; even her thoughts seemed to freeze in the icy time. “Where… are you…”
An Jing had said that no matter where she was, she would do everything in her power to come to Zhu Ying’s side.
But the spark of hope was slowly extinguished as she fell.
Maybe An Jing couldn’t be everywhere. Maybe even in dreams, she wasn’t omnipotent.
There were always things that couldn’t be saved or undone. Even if she was filled with confusion and unwillingness now, it was all useless—
(2)
Beneath the azure sky, a gentle breeze brushed across An Jing’s face. On the unmanned roadside stall, several colorful pinwheels spun slowly in the wind.
The red sunset was gradually sinking below the horizon, and the boundless night seemed ready to fall at any moment.
It felt as if once night arrived, this world would inevitably slide into an abyss of no return.
An Jing stared blankly at the giant monster roaring and raging, subconsciously clenching her hands.
Her eyes were filled with unwillingness, but no matter how hard she tried, in this uncontrollable dream, she still couldn’t do anything.
“Hey!” A voice suddenly startled her. She looked up instinctively and saw a petite girl with green eyes sitting on the utility pole above her head, gently swinging her legs. “Kid! What are you spacing out for?”
“I… I can’t do anything. I can’t save this world…”
“Don’t talk nonsense!” The girl frowned and shouted in dissatisfaction. “After the sun sets, tomorrow will come again. This world will never perish!”
“I…”
An Jing bit her lip tightly. “I can’t be omnipotent in this dream…”
“So you lose courage just because you can’t be ‘omnipotent’?” The girl pulled off her right canvas shoe and threw it hard, smacking An Jing squarely on the head. “Only being willing to save others because you have great power—someone like that can’t be called truly strong!”
“But I… if I run over like this, what’s the difference from walking to my death…”
“As long as you believe you’re omnipotent, then you are omnipotent! As long as you believe you can save everything, you can save everything! This is the world of dreams. The power of the heart is what matters most here!” The green-eyed girl pulled off her other canvas shoe and smacked it against An Jing’s back. “If you shrink back in the world of the heart, how can you keep moving forward in the real world? Go! The future you want to save is right in your heart!”
An Jing looked deeply at her, then slowly closed her eyes.
She said to herself in her heart: ‘I promised Xiao Ying. No matter what, I’ll do my best to get to her side. I definitely—absolutely won’t give up!’
(3)
Zhu Ying was about to give up.
She hadn’t yet fallen to the ground with the floor, but many broken stones had already struck her. Now, a shadow larger than her body completely enveloped her…
“I’m sorry, Xiao Jing. I’m probably… a selfish person. Maybe I don’t deserve the love you have for me. Maybe… I should just stay in this broken dream… forever… never wake up.”
“Don’t give up!!” The roar of someone fighting against destiny with all her strength echoed from the depths of her heart. Then, a soft yet powerful hand firmly grabbed her.
“Xiao Jing…” Zhu Ying, though her eyes were closed, slightly lifted the corners of her mouth. “Is it too late?”
“As long as you believe in me, it’s never too late!”
Zhu Ying slowly opened her eyes and saw the owner of those golden eyes smiling at her.
It was An Jing, dressed in gorgeous red-and-white robes with intricate patterns, and wearing a golden jewel crown on her head.
Time seemed to freeze. Around them were shattered stones flung up by the force. An Jing stretched out her arm, gripping Zhu Ying tightly, then raised her other palm and gently pressed it against the broken wall.
The next second, the entire broken wall turned into swirling dust, obscuring the azure sky.
“Xiao Jing…” A hint of sly amusement appeared on Zhu Ying’s face. “Lord Deity, please save everyone who needs saving.”
“Don’t worry, Wangwang is fine.” A golden light supported another figure falling with the rubble. Then An Jing abruptly turned her head. The giant flesh monster, as if hitting an invisible wall, melted away at a visible rate like soap in boiling water…
On a streetlamp in the distance, the petite girl swinging her bare legs withdrew her gaze and murmured with a faint smile, “Hmph… looks like this kid doesn’t need my help.”
(4)
Zhu Ying looked down. The ground below was rapidly receding, and she was being carried horizontally in a gentle embrace, flying through the clouds toward the ever-closer sky.
The robes of the “Anhai Deity” rustled in the wind, and the beaded curtain on the golden crown collided, producing crisp, pleasant sounds.
Although the high-altitude wind was cold, Zhu Ying felt warm all over.
It was a happiness and satisfaction beyond words—as if she could entrust everything to the other person, having no worries about any future, and no fear of hardships or obstacles that couldn’t be overcome…
Even if there was a path that couldn’t be walked, it would feel like the final destination of their lives.
And the afterlife would never be cold and barren. She would be guided by a golden light, ascending to a divine kingdom filled with light and warmth, where a deity who belonged only to her was waiting for her to return to her embrace…
“Xiao Jing, thank you. Once again…”
“It wasn’t me who saved you. You lent me the power from your dream.” An Jing lowered her head slightly, her lightly pursed lips lifting at the corners, her calm golden eyes fixed on her. “You saved yourself… The me you imagined… is the manifestation of your power and imagination.”
“The Anhai Deity?”
“An Anhai Deity that belongs only to you.”
(5)
Zhu Ying felt something shatter like glass, as if certain chains binding her heart were breaking one after another.
“I think I heard some noise?”
“The fourth and fifth layer dreams are breaking apart.” An Jing looked up at the sky. They were now nearly flying out of the Earth, heading into the vast, boundless universe.
“Breaking apart? Why? I thought we’d go up layer by layer, finding the ‘solution’ for each one.”
“You’ve already broken free from something, so those seemingly different but actually repetitive dreams can no longer trap you.”
“I see.” Zhu Ying nodded lightly and looked down. She saw a beautiful blue planet—she didn’t know if this was what Earth really looked like, but it was no different from any movie or documentary she remembered. “So beautiful. First time in outer space—even if it’s just a dream.”
“Yeah… Though it’s not exactly peaceful, it’s a beautiful planet.” An Jing sighed a little. “We’re about to leave the atmosphere.”
“The moon is getting closer—it’s huge.”
“Theoretically, it’s just a big rock that looks like the moon. Even if you jump up there, there’s not much detail. You could grab a handful of dirt and put it in your mouth, and it would taste like chocolate.”
“Pfft. Because it’s a dream?”
“Right.” An Jing nodded firmly. “I vaguely sense something happening in reality… so we need to wake up quickly.”
“Oh… I remember now. I couldn’t sleep last night, so I came out for a walk, and then I saw you sleepwalking.”
“Sleepwalking?”
“Mm.”
“And then?”
“And then… I can’t recall clearly. I think I fell asleep the moment I hugged you.”
“Looks like my intuition was right… Anyway, we need to wake up fast.” An Jing took a deep breath. “Ready? We’re going to… fall now. From the atmosphere back to the ground. That’s the strongest falling sensation—enough to wake us from any dream.”
“Okay!”
“Hold on tight!”
Zhu Ying nodded slightly, slowly closed her eyes, and then felt herself plummeting tens of thousands of meters toward the ground below…
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