"Miss Tolina, you mean...?"
Gilan seemed lost in thought.
"Is the rainy day actually a hallucination caused by my emotional instability?"
"Well... not entirely."
The girl thought for a moment and then said.
She said something meaningful:
"It may be real. However, only the beast within you can see it."
"Do I have a way to solve this problem?"
Gilan humbly sought advice.
He has always been troubled by his mental state, and even the psychologist in his previous life had no good solution. If this continues, he may really head towards self-destruction.
In Gilan's view, the wheelchair-bound girl in front of her was no ordinary person.
Perhaps I can get the answer from her.
The girl pondered for a moment, then nodded.
"Your spirit belongs to Crimson, the Spring Sword."
"Within the triple spiral of the Path of the Flaming Sword, there are Tier 2 ' Warrior ' of the ' Shell Sword ', Tier 2 ' Actor ' of the ' Furnace Sword ', and Tier 2 ' Clown ' of the ' Spirit-Communing Sword '."
"If you want to solve this problem within yourself, I suggest you climb the second of these three paths, which leads to the ' Actor ' essence in February."
Upon hearing this, Gilan's eyes showed a thoughtful expression.
His choice of the second-order proto-substance was still undecided.
One reason is that he lacks a deep understanding of the matter and therefore has no way of making a choice.
Secondly, it's because he lacks the corresponding knowledge, making it difficult for him to advance.
To ascend the second Origin Rank, one needs to re-imbue one's spirituality with its essence, building the foundation of the Mind Kingdom, thus stepping firmly onto the ground.
However, the choice of the original substance must first be in line with one's own elements; otherwise, future promotions will be much less effective, or one may even spend a lifetime in vain and remain stagnant.
Secondly, relevant knowledge is also needed as a guide.
Otherwise, with only a primitive name, there's no way to begin. If you blindly try to figure it out, who knows how long it would take?
In the " Branding Iron Secret Record," it is mentioned that there is a special term in occultism for guiding knowledge about the primordial substance, which is called "secret transmission."
The "secret teachings" are precious and rare. They are valuable experiences left by predecessors who climbed to the top, and a "shortcut" summarized by them based on their own experiences and understanding.
Each "secret transmission" records different methods and approaches; even for the same original substance, each person who has experienced it has different insights.
However, it is undeniable that it serves as an extremely important reference for beginners like Gilan.
Thinking of this, Gilan suddenly realized something.
He looked up at the girl.
He hadn't revealed anything, yet the other person had seen right through him. The mysterious aura surrounding the wheelchair-bound girl seemed to intensify.
Tolina, unfazed by his surprise, continued speaking to herself:
"The path of ' Actor ' for February Director's ' Director ' journey—learning to play other people's roles and understand their feelings—may help you better control yourself and tame the beast within."
"Thank you for your guidance, Miss Tolina."
Gilan expressed her heartfelt gratitude.
I will seriously consider your suggestion.
"You're welcome." The girl smiled.
That's a topic for now.
The two then chatted for a while over some " Nightfall " flower tea.
For some reason, the girl seemed to know very little about the outside world, and asked him many questions about the Bremen Empire. She was even interested in what the people in the capital ate and wore.
Even though she tried her best to hide her curiosity, the curiosity flashing in her eyes and her tendency to ask follow-up questions after Gilan finished speaking all revealed it.
A moment later.
The pot of flower tea was emptied.
The girl answered Gilan's question, and he wanted to do something in return. So, after finishing his last cup of tea, he said:
Is there anything I can do to help you?
Tolina paused slightly, seemingly quite surprised by those words.
She pondered for a moment, then suddenly laughed:
"Then, could you please push me up to the very top tower of ' Black Castle '? I'd like to gaze out over the distant Dream Sea."
"Of course, no problem," Gilan said with a smile.
For him, it was just a simple matter of lending a helping hand.
So Gilan stood up, pushed the girl's wheelchair out of the tea room, and followed her instructions to navigate the vast and intricate Castle.
We walked through corridors and staircases, continuously ascending.
Gilan underestimated the size of the Castle.
It took him nearly half an hour to get the girl to the very top of the Four-Sided Tower.
This is the highest point of the Castle, a square platform of several tens of square meters, without windows or railings, only four pillars and a pointed roof.
At your feet stands the large round clock.
The girl sat in her wheelchair, gazing quietly into the distance.
Gilan stood beside her, not uttering a sound to disturb her.
I don't know how much time has passed.
With a loud bang.
The tower's clock struck by itself.
The bell tolled twenty-one times, indicating that the dream had reached nine o'clock at night. From three o'clock in the afternoon, five hours had passed, and it jumped directly to nine o'clock.
Just as Gilan was beginning to wonder about this.
Tolina gave a soft "hmm" and pointed into the distance.
"Is that your friend?" She turned to look at Gilan.
Gilan looked in the direction she was pointing. With her exceptional eyesight, she spotted a small, grayish figure doing something on a small island that had just appeared.
'It's Miss Sparrow...'
Gilan muttered to herself.
He nodded to the girl in the wheelchair in affirmation.
"Then you should go over there; it seems she's reached the final stage."
Tolina laughed.
Gilan glanced at the girl again, thinking that Miss Sparrow's Mind Kingdom being located near this Castle didn't seem like such a bad thing.
After all, this girl always gave him an unfathomable sense of mystery. If anyone with ill intentions tried to invade Miss Sparrow's mind, they would surely be noticed and eliminated by this girl.
"Hmm." Gilan removed his hat in a gesture of respect. "Then I shall take my leave, Miss Tolina."
"You're welcome to come visit again sometime, Mr. Gilan."
At that moment, the girl in the wheelchair smiled.
"I'll treat you to afternoon tea again."
"Okay." Gilan smiled and nodded in agreement.
Although he met the girl by chance, he found the process of drinking tea and chatting with her to be quite relaxed and enjoyable.
Perhaps due to their similar experiences, Gilan was more able to empathize with her. Furthermore, through his interactions with the girl, he also gained considerable knowledge of the mysterious realm.
Compared to the upper-class circles in reality, he would rather get closer to this mysterious girl from his dreams.
But then, something else occurred to him.
If I want to visit " Black Castle " again in my dreams, I'll probably have to rely on Miss Sparrow's dream, which is somewhat inconvenient.
As if sensing his predicament, Tolina handed him something.
Gilan took it and was taken aback.
This is a small and exquisite ox horn comb, crescent-shaped, with long and fine teeth, and an overall amber-like beige luster.
"This is my keepsake."
The girl in the wheelchair explained.
"You can use it to summon my messenger, or you can use it as a medium to directly arrive at ' Black Castle ' after entering a dream."
"Thanks."
Gilan carefully put away the ox horn comb and bid farewell to the girl once more.
Immediately, it took off and flew towards the distant sea.
The girl remained seated in her wheelchair, quietly watching them leave from the tower's platform.
a long time.
She recalled the young man's first words when they met, "You must be... in a lot of pain too, right?"
His eyelids drooped unconsciously.
A gust of wind blew by, lifting her long black hair and the empty hem of her skirt.
"You're the first person in all these years to understand my true feelings, Mr. Gilan Iros."