The moment she woke up, Hu Xing felt the soreness in her lower abdomen again, and the urge to urinate returned.
She held back.
She saw the lamp on the bedside table, but she didn't touch it.
She knew she wasn't awake yet, and what she was seeing was just a dream created by her own consciousness.
Then, she felt herself turn into a silkworm pupa, tightly wrapped in silk, and the wrapping became tighter and tighter until she couldn't move at all.
"Relax... relax..." she told herself, trying to maintain even breathing and stay conscious. She knew she couldn't struggle; if she did, she might wake up completely.
Then, she drifted back into her dream.
She found herself back in her university dormitory. Her roommates were all asleep; no one was playing cards or games. Her chest heaved slightly, and her breathing became a little rapid.
This is a dream.
She was very aware of this.
A slight ripple appeared in the distance, as if some invisible force was squeezing her, and a powerful force was twisting and pulling at her body, making her feel as if she were about to fall apart.
But she held on, and she successfully maintained a lucid dream without Qingmu's help.
Then, she saw Qingmu emerge from the void before her.
"I see you, you intruder!" Hu Xing said smugly.
"How do you know I wasn't created by yourself?" Qingmu asked.
Hu Xing thought for a moment and said, "I don't know, but I just know you're an intruder."
Qingmu looked at her and smiled.
Hu Xing asked, "What are you laughing at?"
Qingmu said, "Congratulations on mastering the technique of entering a lucid dream so quickly. You're a genius."
"Really?" Hu Xing asked excitedly.
"Of course it's true," Qingmu said. "You've passed this first lesson."
Hu Xing was taken aback. "The first lesson?" Then she realized, "Ha, when will you teach me the second lesson?"
"Ah, that depends on my mood!" Qingmu looked up at the ceiling and said, "Oh dear, people nowadays have lost all the traditional China virtues, they don't even know how to respect teachers anymore?"
Hu Xing chuckled, clasped her hands in a fist and said, "Okay, teacher! I'll buy a pork hock and bring it over tomorrow."
That's more like it.
"So, teacher, may we begin the new lesson?"
"Don't try to become a fat man overnight!" Qingmu said. "Your Mental Power isn't enough to sustain you in a lucid dream for very long right now."
"Oh, I see." Hu Xing was a little disappointed. "Then at least tell me what I'll be learning next?"
Qingmu said, "I haven't systematically taught any students either. Well, it's basically about training your Mental Power, learning to change and control your dreams, and ultimately, of course, becoming a qualified intruder."
"Just like you?" Hu Xing said excitedly.
Qingmu said, "Hey, don't look at me like that, like you've seen a thief."
Hu Xing said, "But when you invade other people's dreams, aren't you just like a voyeur? You see everything they do in their dreams! Tell me, do you often peek into your tomboy and those pretty girls like this?"
Qingmu raised his hands and said, "Hey, hey, hey, that's not fair! But if you want to peep at some handsome guy, I can help you."
"Hmph, no way!" Hu Xing said.
"Alright, alright, now I have some serious business to discuss with you," Qingmu said.
Seeing Qingmu's serious expression, Hu Xing nodded and said, "Okay!"
Qingmu said, "First of all, even if it's just extra content included in this course, you know I'm an 'intruder,' so you think I wasn't created by your subconscious. But you're wrong! I was indeed created by your subconscious."
"Huh?" Hu Xing exclaimed in surprise, "How is that possible?"
Qingmu said, "A dream is a void space, constructed by your subconscious extracting your memories. All the images originate from your memories. I am merely a consciousness, do you understand?"
Hu Xing was completely confused and asked, "I know, so what?"
Qingmu said, "How can consciousness have an image exactly like the body?"
"Ah! I understand!" Hu Xing exclaimed. "You mean, what invaded my dream was only your consciousness, and consciousness is an intangible thing. After I discovered you, my subconscious actively personified you. In other words, I am actually talking to a ball of... 'qi'... or... a 'shadow'?"
Qingmu nodded and said, "That's pretty much the gist of it. But aren't you just as angry yourself?"
Hu Xing was startled. She looked at her own body, then at Qingmu, and her mind started to race.
Before she could figure it out, Qingmu continued, "The second thing is, I just noticed that the landlady and the girl who sang the song aren't here. It's so late, and I can't get through on the phone, not even Xiao Qi. I feel like something might have happened, so I have to go out."
Hu Xing said, "Then where are you going to look for them? Should I notify the police station to check the surveillance footage?"
Qingmu said, "No need for now, I have a plan."
Hu Xing said, "Then I'll go with you."
Qingmu said, "Forget it, when you're in a lucid dream, your Mental Power is depleted very quickly. You might sleep until dawn, or even noon, and you'll feel very tired when you wake up. If the Boss Coal comes to bother you tomorrow morning, just take some braised pork hock from the fridge, heat it up in the microwave, and give it to him."
Hu Xing nodded and said, "Okay, what's the third thing?"
Qingmu smiled mysteriously and said, "You know you're dreaming, don't you?"
"Yeah, what's wrong?" Hu Xing suddenly felt a little insecure, looking at Qingmu's smile and feeling that he had ill intentions.
"It's really nothing," Qingmu said. "I told you, lucid dreaming isn't a very pleasant thing. Before you can control your dreams, you have to face a lot of trouble. Besides encountering all sorts of 'accidents' in your dreams, there's also the fact that you have to find a way to 'get out'."
"Go out?"
Have you ever heard of the "Dream of the Huang Liang "?
"Yes, I've heard of it."
"If you don't want to spend your whole life in this dream, you have to find a way out—leave this dream."
A mysterious smile appeared on Qingmu's face again, and then his figure slowly faded away, leaving only an indistinct outline in the void.
"Get out... and live out my life..." Hu Xing murmured to herself, suddenly breaking out in a cold sweat. Yes, how could she get out?
"Hey! Hey! Explain yourself clearly!" Hu Xing shouted, reaching out to grab him, but she grabbed nothing.
She wanted to open the door and run out, but she knew that whether it was the California sun or the Arctic glaciers outside, it was still just a dream.
She was awake, in her own dream. Now that she was awake, how could she wake up again to return to reality?
"Don't go!" Hu Xing became a little scared. She desperately called Qingmu's name, but received no response.
The dormitory was eerily quiet. Her classmates lay on the beds, all looking exactly as they had in college. Hu Xing could clearly see their blinking eyelashes and the way they blew their noses as they breathed, but she knew it was all an act.
My roommate, a lovelorn woman who loves writing poetry, suddenly sat up in bed, rubbed her sleepy eyes, and said, " Hu Xing, why aren't you asleep yet?"
Hu Xing didn't know whether she should respond. A deep sense of helplessness and an unprecedented fear, more terrifying than death, was creeping over her...