" Awakened? Great Dream Mentor?" Qingmu seemed to have heard these terms somewhere before.
Duwa nodded. "Speaking of Kitano Masatake, one must mention an organization— the Awakeners' Alliance."
" The Awakeners' Alliance? What's that for?"
Duwa smiled without saying a word, turned and bowed several times to the Buddha statue, then said to Qingmu, "Please follow me."
She rose from the prayer mat, stepped barefoot onto the ground, and walked towards the back door of the main hall. As she passed the low couch, she glanced at the sleeping Yu Meiren, clasped her hands together, and said, "What a beautiful and kind child!"
Qingmu followed her out the back door, through a dense and quiet bamboo grove, and into the temple's rear hall. The architecture of the rear hall was distinctly different from the front hall; the stone walls were somewhat dilapidated, and the vermilion paint on the arched doorways had peeled off, making it appear all the more ancient and desolate. Beyond the archway was a narrow passage about two meters wide, with many niches carved into the walls on both sides, each containing a stone Buddha statue.
Passing through the passage, we entered a stone house. The walls were bare, with nothing inside. In the center of the house was a meadow, which gave it a bit of the feel of a Buddhist abbot's quarters.
Duwa walked into the house, picked up the meadow patch in the middle, and asked, "Do you recognize this?"
Carved on the stone ground beneath the meadow is a symbol—an equilateral triangle with two vertices connected, and a line segment passing through this connecting point, linking the center points of the two triangles.
Qingmu had seen this symbol several times. The first time was when the woman who came to the bar and smelled strange drew it on the table; the second time was on Professor Mei's phone, in a photo of the underwater pyramid ruins in the Tushu; the third time was in the cave where Kitano Masatake created his dream.
If we include this time, it would be the fourth time.
"I've seen it before, but I don't know what it is," Qingmu said honestly.
Duwa stared silently at Qingmu, seemingly trying to discern the truth in his words, before finally chuckling self-deprecatingly and saying, "Looks like I was being paranoid. You had no reason to lie to me. But, if you're not part of the Alliance, where did you get such powerful Mental Power?"
"To be honest, I'd like to know too, but I really don't remember," Qingmu said, scratching his head.
Duwa laughed, "Why do you have such powerful Mental Power yet be a dreamless person with no memories? You puzzle me even more than Situ."
Qingmu asked suspiciously, "Does this have anything to do with that Alliance you mentioned?"
Duwa said, "I'm not sure about that. But people like you, Situ, or Kitano Masatake, without proper constraints, can do whatever they want in this world. Compared to that, the bad things Wu Suotun and Mu Ka did are insignificant. That's why I'm unwilling to teach Mu Ka anything before he abandons his worldly ideals, but his subconscious mind refuses to compromise with me."
Qingmu was startled. This was a question he had never considered before, because he had never carefully assessed his own abilities, nor had he ever imagined that he would be facing off against a group of semi-professional soldiers. These things happened naturally, and just before they happened, he did it so calmly, as if he knew he could do it.
Now he has witnessed his own abilities, and the truth is likely even stronger than he currently understands. Although he doesn't know who he is, he is certain he is not God. Since he is not God, it's impossible that he is the only one in the world with such abilities. God wouldn't allow one person to surpass everyone else.
If one were a heinous villain, the consequences would be unimaginable. Just like Kitano Masatake and his books, which could help the Japanese army create a "pig cage" dream to train suicide squads. Moreover, it's conceivable that if Japan hadn't been defeated, this dream could have continued to expand, drawing more and more people into it, and covering an ever-widening area.
If Duwa hadn't taken Muka as his apprentice before Mu Ka abandoned his worldly ideals, it would have been a disaster, given Mu Ka's talent and will. Fortunately, the subconscious mind doesn't lie, and Mu Ka couldn't deceive Duwa.
"I understand. This so-called Alliance you mentioned is used to restrain people like me," Qingmu said. "I'm the kind of person you're referring to as Awakened, right? Then why has no one ever told me about this? Like, why hasn't any secretary from the Alliance sent me a notification or something?"
"Strictly speaking, you're not Awakened, because you don't dream," Duwa said, then sighed, "And the Alliance no longer exists!"
"It no longer exists? Why?"
"I don't know," Duwa said. "All I know is that the Alliance split during the war, and Alliance ceased to exist after the war. My mother brought me here shortly after the war ended. She later became a devout Buddhist, and when I asked her about the Alliance again, she wouldn't say anything."
Qingmu felt a pang of disappointment. "Then there must be other people like you still alive. Don't you all keep in touch with each other?"
"It's said that Awakened only communicate through the Dream Corridor, and with the demise of the Alliance, the Dream Corridor has also disappeared." Duwa saw Qingmu's disappointment and smiled, "If you're interested in the Alliance, you can ask Situ. He's just as mysterious as you, but he knows more than you do."
"Where is he?" Qingmu asked.
Duwa shook his head and said, "I don't know about that."
"What else did he say to you?"
"Oh, well, let me think. Situ is a very interesting person. When he first came to me more than ten years ago, he also asked me about the Alliance and Kitano Masatake, but unfortunately I didn't know as much as he did. He put forward a bold idea at the time."
What's the plan?
"He said World War II was a hoax, a dream shared by people all over the world," Duwa said.
Qingmu's eyes widened, his mouth agape in astonishment. He had never been so surprised, not even when Professor Mei Yiqiu spoke of the underwater pyramid.
He found the idea absurd, utterly nonsensical, but he didn't know how to refute it. A rational person probably wouldn't even consider such a question!
"Aren't you surprised?" Duwa said with a smile. "I was just like you back then, but after so many years, with my understanding of dreams and my insights into Buddhism, I feel that anything is possible. And Situ isn't just guessing blindly; he's been searching for evidence, and I've heard he's found some."
Qingmu's mind was a bit of a mess; he seemed to be remembering something, like a dream, but he was someone who didn't dream. He felt a slight headache and decided to stop thinking about it.
"You led me here and said so much, but if it's not to avenge your disciple, then what is it for?" he asked.
Duwa said, "My mother died peacefully, but I know she was injured. Her death must be related to the disappearance of the Alliance. I've been trying to find people from the Alliance to learn more about the truth. Like you said, there must be some remnants still alive! I thought you were one, just like I thought Situ was one a decade ago."
"So neither of us are it?"
"It's hard to say right now. At least you yourself can't be sure of your own identity, can you?"
Qingmu had to admit that this was indeed the case.
"So, how about we make a deal?" Duwa looked at Qingmu with a smile.
What agreement?
"If you ever have any news about the Alliance in the future, please be sure to tell me. Of course, I will reward you," Duwa said mysteriously.
"How can I tell you?" Qingmu asked.
"You can write a letter, send an email, or add me on Facebook. I may be getting old, but I don't reject these new things. Of course, if you want to keep it a secret, we can agree on an online code word," Duwa said. "Like Situ, who recently posted a thread with a contact tag on some obscure forum, saying he had discovered aliens."