Who Am I?

Having made it through the first chapter, Lu Ziqi let out a breath, half satisfied and half regretful, wiping the sweat from his forehead.

The Dreamscape was a good one, but if this kept up, he really was going to lose his mind.

The Dreamer's aftereffects were too strong. Part of him desperately wanted to know what happened next, while another part rejoiced that he had finally escaped that dream, where truth and falsehood were impossible to distinguish, and returned to reality.

His roommate watched him worriedly and said with concern, "Ziqi, you've been immersed in the Dreamscape these past few days. This won't do. You haven't gone to Heaven-Gazing Cliff, and you've been slacking off in your studies. Your sleep time may have gone up, but not having enough time to study is no good either. The employment situation for Heaven Origin cultivators is already pretty bad. At this rate, you won't get into college or find a good job."

"I know," Lu Ziqi said wearily. "But this Dreamscape is too interesting. I can't just stop playing. You... forget it, I don't recommend it to you. It's fine for ordinary cultivators, but people in our Visualization System had better stay away from it."

"So that's what you think. Then are you still going to play?"

"No. The first chapter is over, so the author probably won't release a second one. The quality of this Dreamscape is too high. There's no way they can make a second chapter so quickly."

His roommate breathed a sigh of relief. Just as he was about to welcome Lu Ziqi back, Lu Ziqi's phone rang.

The moment he saw the incoming message, Lu Ziqi's face changed.

Holding up his phone, he wailed, "The second chapter is here..."

"Ziqi!"

"I'll only play for half an hour. If I'm not awake after half an hour, shake me awake."

"You can't say things like that! People who say that usually never wake up!"

"My mind is made up, so stop trying to stop me! If you're my brother, let me play."

"Lu Ziqi!"

Unable to wait any longer, Lu Ziqi entered the Dreamscape and immediately picked up where he had left off.

The new Dreamscape began to merge with the old one, connecting his previous progress. Once the fusion was complete, he immediately sank into the Dreamscape and sat beside the campfire with his companions.

The forest was quiet and cold at night, while the campfire was lively yet desolate. A fat sheep hung over the flames, great drops of grease falling like a light rain, sending ripples of fragrance through his nostrils.

The scent gradually washed away Lu Ziqi's exhaustion, but the moment he saw Sun Huowang, anxiety seized him again.

Compared with when they had first met, the other man had changed completely.

His hair had become even more disheveled, his expression more listless. His red Daoist robe was stained with blood and chunks of flesh, making it increasingly filthy.

The mouth hidden beneath the copper coins was dry and peeling. His eyes were weary and lifeless, as though he had been through who knew how much.

The surrounding senior and junior disciples had instinctively kept their distance from him. Their gazes held fear, yet they did not dare stray too far away, afraid of being Devoured by the silent forest.

Looking around, Lu Ziqi found that the environment here had become even more refined.

All kinds of paid assets had made the Dreamscape vividly lifelike. Dark Crow cries rose and fell, making the forest seem even more secluded.

Compared to the darkness outside, the campfire before them was their only safe harbor. Yet Sun Huowang was becoming more and more abnormal, always on the verge of erupting.

With a sigh, Lu Ziqi sat down in front of him and placed a hand on his knee.

Sun Huowang's knee was as hard as stone, his skin as cold as ice. Only after being touched did he faintly come back to himself, staring blankly at Lu Ziqi as though waking from a great dream.

"Huowang, they may have been at fault first, but you went too far. How could you turn them inside out? People aren't clothes. Turning them inside out kills them. And doing it once would have been enough, but you actually did it a second time. Still, there's something I need to praise you for. You didn't turn that old man inside out; you just cut off his head. That was good."

"You could have just set a fire when you left. Why bury the ones who escaped after setting the fire? They kept crying and staring at you while you buried them, and you even smiled. Afterward, you asked me whether the roses you planted looked nice. Those were people, not roses. There's really something wrong with your head."

As Lu Ziqi lectured him, Sun Huowang merely stared straight at him, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.

Feeling ignored, Lu Ziqi grew angry as well. He rose and viciously kicked Sun Huowang, then frowned in pain.

This kid really was hard as bone.

But he did not want to give up on him yet. After all, Sun Huowang was like him, someone who could travel between reality and this place. They naturally felt close to each other.

Pulling over a junior disciple nearby, Lu Ziqi rolled up the boy's sleeve and pointed at the bruises on his arm. "Fine, maybe you don't care about strangers, but you should care about your junior brother, right? Look at the injuries on him. You did all this."

"You did it," the junior disciple said softly.

Lu Ziqi froze, then said in confusion, "Junior Brother, you can't say things like that. Sun Huowang clearly did this."

"...Senior Brother, you are Sun Huowang."

"...How is that possible? I'm Lu Ziqi!"

The junior disciple hesitated for a while before whispering, "Senior Brother, you are Sun Huowang, the Sun Huowang who led us out of the cave. Um... who is Lu Ziqi?"

A chill surged from Lu Ziqi's feet to the top of his head. Every hair on his back stood on end, making his back itch and ache.

Lowering his head, he heard copper coins knocking against his face. His lips were covered in dry cracks, and the slightest lick drew blood.

His bright red Daoist robe was covered in bloodstains. His black cloth shoes were smeared with mud and unidentifiable matter. His hands, with not an inch of uninjured skin left, were covered in blood, every line upon them carrying a human life.

Turning his head again, Lu Ziqi anxiously looked toward Sun Huowang, only to sigh in relief when he saw him.

Pointing at Sun Huowang, he laughed. "Junior Brother, you're trying to cheer me up again. Isn't Huowang right there? Look closely. That's Sun Huowang, right? It's Huowang, isn't it? Tell me it is!"

The junior disciple before him was nearly in tears.

He wanted to run, but Lu Ziqi's expression was twisted, and his hand clamped tightly around the disciple's arm, leaving him unable to retreat.

At last, unable to bear such immense pressure, he shouted, "Senior Brother, get a hold of yourself! That isn't Sun Huowang, it's a stone! It's the stone you brought out of the cave! You've been talking to a stone this whole time!"

"Impossible, that's impossible! Huowang, say something! Huowang..."

When he turned his head again, Lu Ziqi discovered that there was no Sun Huowang where he had been before. There was only a cold, human-shaped stone.

Staring blankly at the stone, Lu Ziqi staggered over and reached out to touch it.

In his eyes, the stone before him was sometimes a stone, sometimes Sun Huowang, sometimes his attending doctor at the hospital, and sometimes himself.

After standing there dumbly for a long time, he pointed at himself and asked, "I am... Sun Huowang?"

"Yes." The junior disciple beside him nodded cautiously.

"Then who is Lu Ziqi?"

"I don't know." The junior disciple shook his head carefully.

Lu Ziqi looked around in confusion, his eyes hollow and unfocused.

When he realized he could not find Sun Huowang, he collapsed to the ground and asked blankly, "Then who am I? Who am I?"