Within the entire Xia Family manor, Mei Yiqiu can only trust Qingmu, and Qingmu can only trust Hu Xing, Xia Tian, and Yu Meiren, who came to visit.
After returning from Professor Mei's lab, Qingmu began unconsciously examining the mental state of those around him and even people he encountered on the street. He would also try to enter their dreams whenever possible, but he didn't find a single suspicious figure. However, this aligned with their theory that these alien life forms primarily targeted outstanding individuals among humanity—those who wielded real power, wealth, and technology—while ordinary people appeared safe for the time being.
However, the Xia Family family was completely different. Since they had chosen Xia Wenyuan as their target, and since they couldn't take Xia Wenyuan down in a short time, they had no reason not to target the people around him. Among these people, Xia Wenyuan Xia Wenyuan's wife, two sons, private doctor, and bodyguards were definitely the first targets.
Qingmu intuitively felt that Wu Lixia was fine, but it was just an intuition and not reliable.
So, at Mei Yiqiu's insistence, Wu Lixia and Peter both left Xia Wenyuan's study. Wu Lixia was worried about Xia Wenyuan and hoped that a relative would be by his side to take care of him. After obtaining Qingmu's consent, she called Hu Xing, who was playing with the children, over.
Thus, only Xia Wenyuan, Mei Yiqiu, Qingmu, and Hu Xing remained in the study.
Xia Wenyuan said, "Professor, can you speak now?"
Mei Yiqiu shook his head and said, "Not yet." He looked at Qingmu, "Could you perhaps deal with his shadow a little more? Make sure it's half-dead, if not completely dead."
"We can give it a try," Qingmu said, looking at Xia Wenyuan.
"Hey, take me with you." Hu Xing said hurriedly, not knowing when Qingmu would activate the hypnosis.
Qingmu told Xia Wenyuan close his eyes and rest, then looked at Hu Xing and asked, "How's your lucid dreaming practice going lately?"
Hu Xing said, "I've gotten a bit of a feel for how to wake up, but I'm not very skilled at it yet; I mainly rely on the alarm clock."
What about the control of dreams?
"I can control some of my behaviors, but not completely. It's exhausting to control them, and I feel powerless."
"That's right," Qingmu said. "Your Mental Power has improved considerably."
Hu Xing said, "Really? You can tell just like that?"
Qingmu said, "Of course, you can try to sense your grandfather's brainwaves now."
"Brainwaves? How could anyone sense that?" Hu Xing found it unbelievable. When she looked at Xia Wenyuan, she found that Xia Wenyuan was already asleep, but his eyes weren't moving. "My grandfather hasn't been dreaming yet, has he?"
"He's already dreaming. You need to carefully sense his brainwaves while he's dreaming; that's the only way you can enter someone else's dream," Qingmu said with a smile. "Consider today a lesson for you."
"Really?" Hu Xing, somewhat incredulous. "How does it feel?"
"Of course, it's through your Mental Power," Qingmu said.
Hu Xing then tried to use her Mental Power to sense it.
In truth, she still doesn't quite understand what Mental Power is, but after constantly practicing lucid dreaming, the power her consciousness possesses in dreams is indeed increasing, and the space of her dreams is also expanding.
She never imagined that she could use her Mental Power while awake, yet she did sense some unusual, invisible fluctuations in the surrounding space.
She began to focus her attention on Xia Wenyuan, staring at his head. But Xia Wenyuan slept peacefully, and no information emanated from him.
"No!" Hu Xing, a little disappointed. "Is it because my Mental Power isn't strong enough?"
"Take another closer look at it, and remember to relax and not be tense," Qingmu encouraged.
Hu Xing nodded and began to adjust her breathing, trying to relax her whole body. At this moment, she suddenly felt a strong fluctuation, like a fish suddenly surfacing and bubbling, creating ripples.
However, the bubbles and ripples did not originate from Xia Wenyuan's head, but appeared out of thin air in front of Hu Xing, their position somewhat erratic, sometimes within reach, sometimes out of reach.
"Ah, I understand!" Hu Xing suddenly exclaimed, "I'm already dreaming!"
Startled, Xia Wenyuan and Mei Yiqiu before her turned into two blurry, misty figures. The walls of the study suddenly went black, and then the surrounding shadows rapidly compressed towards the center. Hu Xing knew that her dream space had collapsed, and she wanted to hold on, but there was nothing she could do.
Qingmu reached out and pulled Hu Xing up. Hu Xing clung to Qingmu's arm desperately, like a drowning person grasping at a straw. Then, she felt herself being pulled out of a dark space all at once.
She saw white walls all around her, and nothing but a white ceiling light. She and Qingmu sat on a spotless bed, the blankets neatly folded.
"Is this your dream or mine?" Hu Xing asked. "This is definitely not my grandfather's dream."
"How can you be so sure?" Qingmu asked.
"This is your room, and my grandfather has never been in your room, so of course he couldn't have dreamed about it."
Hu Xing spoke confidently, touching the clean bed sheet with her palm. Suddenly, she noticed a puddle of water on the sheet, which seemed to be steaming.
Her heart leaped into her throat, pounding wildly. Taking advantage of Qingmu's inattention, she quickly shifted her position, using her body to block Qingmu view, and covered her burning face with her hands, wondering if her face would turn red in her dream.
Qingmu said, "Now you can feel your grandfather's brainwaves again."
Seeing that Qingmu didn't seem to notice her odd behavior, Hu Xing secretly glanced at the bed sheet again and saw that the water stain was slowly drying. She was relieved when it completely disappeared.
She tried to relax her mind, regulate her breathing, and then use her Mental Power to perceive her surroundings.
Bubbles and ripples, like those stirred water by a fish, appeared in the void, this time even closer. Hu Xing concentrated, and the ripples became clearer, eventually turning into a deep black area, like a black hole in an unknown space.
The black hole possessed immense gravity, drawing Hu Xing in. She felt it was a door to another dimension, one she could step into. The moment this thought arose, her body was already at the door. She gently stepped inside, and after passing through a period of darkness, she saw light once more.
Then she saw a reservoir, very similar to the one outside the Xia Family manor, but the surrounding mountains were quite different. The water in the reservoir was also much cleaner and clearer, almost comparable to the water quality of the Silfra Fissure in Þingvellir National Park, Iceland.
From Hu Xing's vantage point, she could see the entire reservoir, like a giant sapphire embedded in the green mountains and forests, just like an aerial view; she could also see the close-up view of the reservoir, where every fish swimming in the water could be clearly seen.
This scattered perspective effect, reminiscent of China painting, can only be seen in dreams. Ever since entering lucid dreaming, Hu Xing has become extremely suspicious that the origin of traditional Chinese painting was to depict dreams.
Xia Wenyuan sat quietly on the shore fishing, his reflection clearly visible in the water, as still as he was.