Translated by: DMlations/Zryuu
Edited by: Amelea, FistFullOfDollars, Juurensha and Sora
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"Finally found you." Yu Hao said wearily.
Chen Yekai answered, "Where is this place?"
Yu Hao suddenly realized their conundrum. Now that they found Chen Yekai, how should they explain this to him?
But Zhou Sheng interjected, "Follow us."
"Where to?" Chen Yekai asked.
"There's no time, I'll explain later." Zhou Sheng said, "Hurry! Kaikai! Trust us!"
Chen Yekai hesitantly walked towards them. Yu Hao thought, nice one. Zhou Sheng signaled to Yu Hao with his eyes.
"Yu Hao." Chen Yekai said, "Are you angry with me?"
Yu Hao didn't know how to respond. Zhou Sheng said, "Yeah, everyone's angry at you. Why would you leave without saying anything?"
Chen Yekai sighed. Yu Hao asked, "Chen Laoshi, where are you going?"
Chen Yekai answered, "Back to New York, then transferring to another flight to Mexico."
Zhou Sheng secretly gave Yu Hao a thumbs up. It meant that Chen Yekai will be sleeping on the plane for a while, so they wouldn't need to panic.
"We're going to Argentina now." Zhou Sheng brought Chen Yekai to the path they had come from, then got into the car, "You drive." As he spoke, he sat in the back seat with Yu Hao. Chen Yekai turned around to cast a doubtful look at Yu Hao and Zhou Sheng before he started up the jeep, then drove it away from Mt. Tianqing and towards the center of his conscious world.
Yu Hao leaned in to whisper very quietly into Zhou Sheng's ear, "Are you sure that he won't discover the truth?"
Zhou Sheng answered quietly, "He won't. This is just a dream to him. Think about it, there's barely any logic in dreams. Just like with Shi Ni, she did whatever we asked her to do. As long as we don't agitate him too much, the dream won't change much."
The jeep emitted a bright light as it travelled through the dark rainforest. Chen Yekai focused intently on driving the car.
"Did you realize something?" Zhou Sheng moved closer to whisper into Yu Hao's ear, "Why are the monsters not attacking us anymore?"
Yu Hao suddenly realized that ever since they discovered how the shirt could be used and defeated that Tyrannosaurus Rex, the panthers no longer harassed them.
Yu Hao said quietly, "Perhaps in his conscious world, there's a tacit rule to not attack the people wearing this shirt?"
Zhou Sheng replied quietly as well, "But I think there's another possibility: all the monsters that attacked us are under......" As he spoke, he pointed to the center of the rainforest that they were steadily approaching, "......the control of a certain existence."
Yu Hao shuddered. If that was the case, then the monsters appeared to be extremely clever. Panthers wouldn't chase the car anymore. He connected it with the time he went down the mountain - he had vaguely heard a whistle then, and didn't think much of it because he had thought it was Zhou Sheng, but now that he recalled it, it could have been a signal to attack. Someone was commanding them.
"Aside from Kaikai, there's someone else who's issuing orders......"
"Shh." Zhou Sheng motioned for Yu Hao to not let Chen Yekai hear them. Chen Yekai was still driving attentively. The jeep passed by the cliff again, and the inn at the top was now in ruins.
"Ryuusei......"
The car slowed down slightly. Zhou Sheng quickly said, "Ryuusei isn't there anymore."
"He is." Chen Yekai said stubbornly, "I found him. He's in the room."
Zhou Sheng signalled to Yu Hao. Yu Hao immediately answered, "He's not there. I went there to look for him, so I'm sure of it. Chen Laoshi, do you trust me?"
Chen Yekai thought about it, "I trust you."
Yu Hao, "Then let's go ba!"
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The roaring of the waterfalls in this conscious world would sometimes sound distant and sometimes close. Chen Yekai drove attentively, and he eventually made a turn in the dense forest. They arrived at a wide clearing and a magnificent waterfall suddenly came into view - that encircled an imposing and towering pyramid at its center!
Behind the pyramid was the Iguazu Falls, which seemed as formidable as the mountain ranges.
"We're here." Chen Yekai alighted from the car and murmured, "The Argentina and Mexico of my dream, I'm back."
Yu Hao tried to compose his thoughts. Chen Yekai said, "Where should we go next?"
Zhou Sheng raised a finger, "Do you see that pyramid? At its center is a treasure. You will only truly be able to overcome yourself when we seize it back together."
The Iguazu Falls is located in South America, while Chichén Itzá is in Mexico. But in Chen Yekai's dreams, they strangely overlapped in one place. The three sides of the ancient pyramid of Chichén Itzá were surrounded by the Iguazu Falls. Within this dark world, the turbulent waters roared endlessly in a torrential downfall.
Chen Yekai had a bewildered expression. He looked at Yu Hao and Zhou Sheng, then looked at the pyramid of Chichén Itzá.
"Together?" Chen Yekai frowned.
"Together." Zhou Sheng said.
Chen Yekai answered, "Okay, but please give me some time first."
Chen Yekai slowly walked towards the huge waterfall, while Yu Hao and Zhou Sheng quickly made preparations in the car.
"The bullets in the gun are infinite." Zhou Sheng said, "As long as we both take one, it'll be enough, and also take one more for Kaikai."
Yu Hao looked at Chen Yekai's back as he stood in front of the huge waterfall - it was a lofty and spectacular sight. As he stood in the open space outside the ancient city, the waterfall almost seemed to encompass the world, and Chen Yekai's figure seemed utterly insignificant in its presence.
Yu Hao momentarily fell into a complicated mood, "Will he discover the truth?"
Zhou Sheng whispered, "Don't worry, even if he knows, then so be it. It won't matter much even if he does. I still have one more trick I can use to make him forget everything. Only I can use it, remember the night before New Year's Eve?"
Yu Hao, "!!!"
That night, Zhou Sheng had pressed his hand against Yu Hao's forehead to try and force him to forget.
"But it failed when you used it on me." Yu Hao said.
Zhou Sheng said, "Because I took your totem, so the Golden Crow Wheel tacitly acknowledged us as partners. When we leave, you definitely can't take anything away from his conscious world. If he finds out the truth, then we need to think of a way to trick him into coming back from New York. I will then make him lose all the memories he has of this conscious world."
Yu Hao, "Will there be any consequences?"
Zhou Sheng, "None, but it's better if I don't use it too often ba." As he spoke, he drew slightly closer again and said to Yu Hao, "I'm guessing that later, you may have to fight a decisive battle with Nakagawa Ryuusei......so take this gun......"
Yu Hao said, "I can't do that!"
Chen Yekai turned and eyed them suspiciously from where he stood in front of the waterfall.
"Shh." Zhou Sheng placed his arm around Yu Hao and whispered into his ear, "There are two possible identities for the one who seized the totem: it's either Lin Xun, or the dark Kaikai himself. On our way to the totem......"
Yu Hao, "There will be a gatekeeper."
Zhou Sheng snapped his fingers, "Yes. Just like what we saw in your dream, Ryuusei will be extremely strong."
Yu Hao said, "What if he transfers his feelings?"
Zhou Sheng thought about it then said helplessly, "His feelings were transferred a long time ago, and you'll need to defeat Ryuusei so that he can be released from his dark world."
Yu Hao's eyebrows were locked in a deep furrow as he remained silent. Zhou Sheng continued, "Yu Hao, think about it carefully. He'll only be able to find himself again after the sun rises. Otherwise, it's too dangerous for him with his current mental condition. As long as Ryuusei exists in this world, it's almost impossible to win."
Yu Hao thought of what he had discussed with Zhou Sheng earlier, then answered, "Okay then, I'll try my best."
Chen Yekai, "What are you guys talking about?"
Zhou Sheng and Yu Hao immediately separated. Zhou Sheng acted as if nothing had happened; there were two guns in his rear trouser pockets and a shield on his back.
"We were saying," Zhou Sheng said casually, "That we wanted to go see Ryuusei with you, and undo the past."
Chen Yekai gazed at them with slightly melancholic eyes, then suddenly said to Zhou Sheng, "The shirt you're wearing is mine."
Zhou Sheng, "Oh, then you want to swap?"
Yu Hao, "......"
As soon as he spoke, Zhou Sheng and Chen Yekai's shirts simultaneously flashed and were exchanged. Yu Hao thought, could you guys not swap? But even though the heavens are great, the earth is great, the owner of the dreamscape is even more great. Just think what you want ba......
"I'll protect you guys; especially you." Chen Yekai said to Yu Hao.
The corners of Zhou Sheng's mouth twitched. Chen Yekai looked around, seeming to have made his resolve as he turned around and walked towards the grand square in front of Chichén Itzá like a solitary warrior.
Zhou Sheng frowned, "What is he doing?"
Yu Hao, "Zhou Sheng......did he guess something?"
Zhou Sheng said, "Impossible, he's not that smart." He motioned to Yu Hao as he spoke, and the two of them followed Chen Yekai. Within this dark world, the three of them stood in the centre of the grand square in front of Chichén Itzá. An iron ring was floating mid-air in the middle of the pyramid's entrance, and beside it was a huge brazier. Mounds of skeletal remains could be seen underneath the brazier.
In front of the pyramid of Chichén Itzá, there was a mystical light that enshrouded it like a barrier blockading the entrance.
Zhou Sheng approached it and reached out to touch the barrier, but was unable to pass through it. He was about to quietly discuss it with Yu Hao when Chen Yekai said abruptly, "Zhou Sheng, I have something to ask you."
Yu Hao's heart lurched and he suddenly felt that Chen Yekai's tone had changed.
The three of them stood in the middle of the square. Chen Yekai asked, "This is my dream, right?"
Yu Hao looked at Zhou Sheng. Zhou Sheng replied, "Yeah, you just realized that?"
Chen Yekai said, "Why haven't I woken up? Whenever I realize I'm in a dream, I should awaken."
Zhou Sheng motioned for Yu Hao not to speak and that he would resolve it himself, "It's your own dream, how would I know if you're awake or not?"
Chen Yekai looked at Zhou Sheng suspiciously, "Why did the two of you appear in my dream?"
Zhou Sheng, "You dreamt of us, is it really that strange?"
Yu Hao found it very amusing to witness this absurd spontaneous dialogue. He recalled the first time General entered his dream. Perhaps, because of his frame of mind back then, he had accepted it very quickly and didn't question it at all. In contrast, Chen Yekai has been doubting them the entire time, and now that he thought about it, Chen Yekai had seldom spoken on their way here not because he was in a daze, but because he was in contemplation.
I guess this is the difference between a curve wrecker and a slag student......Yu Hao thought. After all, when Chen Yekai was tutoring him in Higher Mathematics and encountered a problem with no clear solution, he would thoroughly think it through and wouldn't give up until he managed to figure it out.
"Are the two of you the Zhou Sheng and Yu Hao from reality, or impressions from my memory?" In the next moment, Chen Yekai very accurately grasped the crux of the situation.
Yu Hao, "!!!"
Zhou Sheng hardly hesitated as he answered straightforwardly, "Are you crazy Kaikai?! We just chatted this morning! And now you don't know who we are anymore?!"
Yu Hao instantly cheered loudly for Zhou Sheng in his heart. It was dangerous no matter how they answered that question, as it could trigger even more questions that Chen Yekai could use to interrogate them with to get to the heart of the matter. If Zhou Sheng answered "we are impressions", Chen Yekai would definitely get suspicious.
How could there ever be a situation where a person in a memory would say "I'm a memory"?
And Zhou Sheng definitely couldn't answer with something like "I don't know what I am either" or not give a reply. If he had done so, Chen Yekai would have found it even more difficult to make a judgment.
"No no." Chen Yekai said, "What I meant was......are the two of you real?"
"Weren't you the one who said it yourself, that you wanted us to help you?" Zhou Sheng prompted Yu Hao, "Yu Hao?"
"Yes." Yu Hao said, "We are the guardians of your dreamscape."
With these words, Chen Yekai's thoughts that he had just straightened out were instantly in disarray again.
"Really?"
Yu Hao couldn't help but sigh ruefully in his heart. Zhou Sheng's IQ was clearly on the same level as Chen Yekai. Zhou Sheng's this smart, so why are his results always so average?
Zhou Sheng said, "Let's hurry and go look for your totem, and don't dawdle anymore. We'll go together."
Yu Hao, "We'll accompany you to the end."
Chen Yekai ruminated for a moment, then took a step towards the square. Within an instant, all the braziers that surrounded the square burst into flames and illuminated the dark world until it looked as bright as daytime.
In stark contrast to Yu Hao's world of consciousness, the flames in the square burned blue, seeming like ghost fire. The entire world of Chichén Itzá seemed to transform as the atmosphere was pervaded with a sense of surrealism and fantasy.
A whistle penetrated through the horizon. Yu Hao immediately thought of the signal he had heard when he was hunted by the group of panthers, and as expected, thousands of dark panthers covered in asphalt emerged from all around the square and encircled the three of them. The skeletal remains under the numerous braziers began to assemble themselves together and stood up, as if the dead had just been resurrected. The scene became incredibly strange and horrifying.
"You came back." A voice rang out from within the pyramid and resonated through the dark sky.
Yu Hao immediately turned around to look at Zhou Sheng, and Zhou Sheng motioned for him to stay calm.
Chen Yekai stepped forward, but three skeletons immediately rose and blocked the way towards the pyramid.
"But you came back too late." That voice said, "I've already entered the world of the dead. Do you still want to enter to pay respects to your God?"
Chen Yekai said, "I've come to accompany you. We made a promise before: neither of us is allowed to go before the other."
"You liar who's full of deceit!" That voice suddenly let out a shrill roar, "Even now, you're still trying to deceive me!"
"I'm not!" Chen Yekai seemed to be enraged as he roared angrily without regard for anything else.
By his side, as if a storm had been set off, the eerie blue flames began curling in all directions. Under the twilight sky, lightning frequently struck down, triggering the wide-scale destruction of the tropical rainforest.
"Who did you bring?" That voice said with great sorrow, "Have you finally decided to forget me?"
Chen Yekai couldn't stop gasping for breath. Suddenly, with a loud rumble, three blue flames flew out of the braziers in the square and converged into a sphere that landed in front of the three of them.
Chen Yekai said, "This is my oath. It has nothing to do with them, Ryuusei!"
"Let's fight one round ba." That voice said gloomily, "Fulfill your oath in front of me. If you want to enter my temple, you must win."