Chapter 334: The Trouble Fool's Dream Encountered
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 334: The Trouble Fool's Dream Encountered
I stood up, my gaze piercing through the obstacles to see the person outside the door. They were wearing a Ground Patrol uniform and looked quite anxious.
After a quick judgment that it wasn't suitable to simply open the door and greet them, I used a Dream Rewriting Spell to open a hole in the side of the wall and stepped out into the corridor.
"Does the Ground Patrol have business with me?" I asked.
"Um... Huh?! You... Scholar Xiao Han, you were outside?"
Clearly, my sudden appearance startled him. But I was currently in a dream state; he couldn't even see the door I had "opened." He was standing so close to it—did he really expect me to walk out through the actual entrance?
"Just tell me what’s happened."
Though I had suppressed the slight irritation from earlier, his manner of pounding on the door had left a poor impression.
"Right, of course!"
The young man nodded, though he was grumbling inwardly. If he had known it would be like this, he wouldn't have mentioned the matter in the first place. Just a casual remark had turned him into an errand boy. He had searched all over the Beyonder Research Base without luck, only finding this place after asking around for her residence. It had been a real ordeal.
"Scholar Xiao Han, those cats you were interested in... oh, no, those Fool's Dreams. Something has happened. Not long ago, we received a flood of calls from citizens across the district saying the cats have gone mad. There have been several serious incidents of people being attacked."
"What?"
The news took me by surprise. The Fool's Dreams had gone mad? And they were attacking people?
How was that possible? How could those Fool's Dreams ever hurt anyone?
If they really were attacking people, then... Nightmares. That was the only possibility I could think of.
"Take me to the scene," I said in a low voice.
"Yes, please follow me."
Just as the patrolman was about to lead me to the site, Sister Bai’s door opened.
"Xiao Han, what’s going on?"
"Sister Bai, something happened to the Fool's Dreams," I said grimly.
"What? I’ll go with you."
"But my... actually, that works. I’ll prepare a few things. Give me the location, and I’ll meet you there directly." I had originally worried about what to do with my physical body, but since Sister Bai was coming along, I could just go in my main body. That way, if any accidents occurred, I could intervene directly.
* * *
By the time we arrived at the area, the incident was already over.
All that remained were the cordons set up by the Ground Patrol and a large crowd of onlookers who had yet to disperse.
"They’re gone?"
"I'm sorry. It took quite a while to find you, so perhaps..."
"I see. It’s not your fault."
I gave a brief reply and walked into the area with Sister Bai. I could sense the lingering aura of Nightmares here. Even if the Ground Patrol had used Type I Nightmare Killing Weapons, they weren't me. The Nightmares hadn't been cleaned up properly; plenty of Nightmare fragments remained. They had treated the symptoms, but not the cause.
However, the people gathered there were chatting and laughing as they gossiped.
"That Nightmare just vanished in an instant."
"I told you there was something wrong with those cats. Why else would the Nightmares be fixated on them?"
"You’ve got it all wrong. That guy earlier was right—sacrificing a cat to save a person? What a bargain."
As I drew closer, snippets of their gossip reached my ears. They noticed me walking toward them.
"Excuse me, what happened here just now?"
"You don't know?"
"Sorry, I just got here. Was there another Nightmare invasion?"
"Exactly. But this time was different. I heard someone saw a whole group of those cats suddenly run out, and then, boom, the Nightmares swarmed this place. Too much of a coincidence, if you ask me."
"And then, get this—that guy had a stroke of genius. He grabbed one of the cats and chucked it right into the Nightmare zone. The Nightmares stopped going after people immediately and went straight for the cat."
"Wait... what do you mean?" Listening to them, I pieced it together. The Fool's Dreams had come out, and then the Nightmares attacked. Nightmares were once a part of the Fool's Dream, but the Fool's Dreams possessed an innate fear of that part of themselves. It was natural for them to seek safety and avoid harm. But... what kind of mindset did that person have to throw a Fool's Dream into a Nightmare invasion?
"Why would that person do such a thing?" I blurted out.
"What? Are you from that Wild Cat Protection Association or something? Is a beast's life supposed to be more important than a human's?"
"A beast?" I stared intently at the man who had spoken. Suddenly, he felt a bone-chilling cold wash over him.
"What? Am I wrong? Just go, get out of here! we don't care to talk to you 'cat protection' types."
"Xiao Han, stay calm."
Sister Bai’s voice came softly from behind me.
"Right..."
Hearing her voice, I regained my composure. There was no point in getting angry at a crowd like this. Aside from making things worse, it wouldn't do a damn bit of good.
In fact, even speaking another word to these people felt like a stain.
Later, I gathered more information from others. The Fool's Dreams invaded by Nightmares had seemingly gone mad in an instant. Unlike humans, who fall into a deep slumber when invaded by a Nightmare, a Fool's Dream combined with a Nightmare becomes a chaotic, disordered dream creature. It can even manifest a physical shell in reality. To an ordinary person, this state of disorder looks no different from madness.
I also learned that once people realized the Fool's Dreams could attract Nightmares—even causing those already invaded to wake up—they began spontaneously rounding up the fleeing Fool's Dreams and throwing them back in, forcing them to bear the brunt of the Nightmare's damage.
The people who had initiated this were the first ones scratched by the maddened Fool's Dreams. Only then did they call the police. When the Ground Patrol arrived to assess the situation, they found that the Nightmares had been "solved" by these people in such a manner, and they proceeded to round up the maddened Fool's Dreams and take them away.
That was why so many Nightmare fragments remained. Not all of them had chosen to invade the Fool's Dreams. It seemed the Ground Patrol was quite fond of taking the easy way out.
The lingering Nightmare presence here guaranteed that before long, these people would suffer from nightmares. The Nightmares would feed on their fear and other emotions to grow stronger until they invaded reality once again.
Using Fool's Dreams to deal with Nightmares... they certainly were "creative." However, since they had brought this upon themselves, I wasn't about to clean up their mess.
"Xiao Han, are you alright?"
"I'm fine..." I took another deep breath, adjusting my emotions. It was in situations like this that one's will was truly tested in its ability to master one's own feelings.
"Those people simply returned to the Fool's Dreams the part that originally belonged to them," I said in a flat tone as I walked with Sister Bai toward the Ground Patrol headquarters.
Bai Yu remained silent after hearing my words. If one were to think deeply about the essence of the problem, it was clear that Xiao Han was in a very bad mood. Faced with such an event, shouldn't the most direct and obvious reaction be anger?
What those people had done was enough for Xiao Han to level the place, yet here she was, probing the fundamental roots of right and wrong.
"Xiao Han, don't suppress yourself like this. You just know more than they do, but that doesn't mean what those ignorant people did was right."
"Is that so... Sister Bai, you're... not wrong. If no one knows the truth, then it's as if it doesn't exist. Their behavior reminds me of savages in primitive tribes sacrificing the lives of others to pray that calamity won't fall upon them. Superstitious, foolish, and selfish."
Of course, I wasn't saying their selfishness was "wrong"—at least, it was right for them. But they couldn't afford the price of that selfishness. Therefore, the boundary between right and wrong would have to be defined by me.
"Society develops, civilizations shift, lifestyles change, and cognition improves... but humans just can't change certain things etched into their very bones."
A silence fell between me and Sister Bai as we made our way to the Ground Patrol. I only hoped the people there hadn't done anything stupid.
Even if a human life cannot be measured by value, the truth is that the subjective difference in value between one human and another in people's eyes is often greater than the objective difference between a human and a dog.
In the entire underground district, the most valuable things to me were those Fool's Dreams. Their value was even higher than that of the scholars in the Beyonder Research Base. Now, I slightly regretted not revealing that fact to them.
"Scholar Xiao Han, you're finally here! We're short-handed at the Ground Patrol, and these cats are driving us to our wits' end."
As soon as I arrived, a temporary captain in a Ground Patrol uniform came to me to complain.
"Where are the Fool's Dreams? Take me to see them," I said, ignoring his grievances.
"They... we've locked them up for now. We originally thought about sending them to the base for containment, but then we heard you place great importance on these cats... er, Fool's Dreams, so we held them here. I'll take you there."
As I followed him, I saw that the Ground Patrol had a facility similar to a prison for detention. Along the way, I saw people locked up for various offenses, and the place was currently in a state of total chaos.
"Hey, hey, hey! What do you think you're doing?"
"Captain... these cats are too small. The gaps in these cages are too wide; they slip right out. We're trying to move them to something more secure..."
"No need. I'll do it." I stepped forward and waved my hand, and the Fool's Dreams were instantly bound by a Restraint Spell.
"Sch... Scholar Xiao Han!"
"This doesn't concern you. Everyone else, leave," I commanded. The patrolmen quickly scurried away; my words were seemingly more effective than the temporary captain's.
"Um... Scholar Xiao Han, these Fool's Dreams..."
"They've been invaded by Nightmares."
"Invaded by Nightmares? But shouldn't they fall into a slumber? These little things scratched quite a few civilians."
"Scratched quite a few civilians? Shouldn't you be wondering why those people threw innocent Fool's Dreams into Nightmare zones to act as bait? The ones who got scratched were those same people, weren't they?"
"Well... while that is true... but..." The temporary captain wanted to say more, but seeing my dark expression, he didn't dare. After all, he didn't want to offend a scholar from the Beyonder Research Base for the sake of those people.
"We'll go and arrest those people right away. Trespassing into a Nightmare blockade, using improper methods to handle Nightmares without authorization..."
"Do as you wish. Also, the Nightmares in that area weren't cleaned up properly. They'll likely invade again in a few days. Tell the people there to pray for themselves."
"Not... not cleaned up?"
"Are the Nightmare Killing Weapons I developed for you just for show? You actually thought about using these Fool's Dreams to handle it? What do you think this is? A primitive ritual? Sacrifice one to save one? I won't hold it against those ordinary people for being stupid, but you are the Ground Patrol. I do not want to see this happen again."
"But... we don't have enough manpower. Most of them have gone to the surface. If those fools insist on acting this way, we can't keep up with them, Scholar Xiao Han..."
"Then gather all the Fool's Dreams. I will apply for extra housing at the base. You will be responsible for relocating all the Fool's Dreams in the underground district there. If anyone deliberately goes there to cause trouble..."
"This..." The captain felt a massive headache coming on. With things turning out like this, no one was having a good time. He could only curse those idiots in his mind.
Why did those people have to mess with the Fool's Dreams? Hadn't the previous notices explicitly said not to touch them? These little creatures had a scholar backing them.
And now, he realized this scholar was quite protective... what a nightmare.
"I'm taking these Fool's Dreams with me."
"Of course, of course. You can take them right now. Safe travels!" the temporary captain said hurriedly. Having these cats here was nothing but trouble for them; if the scholar was willing to take the responsibility, they were more than happy to let her.
* * *
After leaving the Ground Patrol, I led the restrained, maddened Fool's Dreams toward the Beyonder Research Base. If possible, I hoped to apply for an Independent Domain to house them, keeping them away from malicious people.
It wouldn't be much longer anyway. The actions of Tan Han and Ninglan Qiuyue guaranteed that this incident would be resolved soon, and we could return home legitimately.
At the same time, I would give them a warning: do not let Fool's Dreams come into contact with Nightmares, or suffer the consequences.
"Xiao Han, is it very difficult to deal with these Fool's Dreams?"
The base had already arranged a containment room for the maddened creatures. Aside from the Fool's Dreams, only Sister Bai and I were inside. Even if other scholars noticed, I didn't let them get involved.
"Of course it's difficult. There is a trace of Luck within the Nightmares, and now they have formed a symbiosis with the Fool's Dreams. This means the driving force of the Script is trying to drag these Fool's Dreams down with it."
"Xiao Han, you...!"
"Oh, that contract of mine has been nullified. Sister Bai, you can't speak of it, just listen to me," I said with a smile. "I know you might still be confused about many things, but I don't have much time to explain everything to you bit by bit."
"I understand. You don't have to say anything you don't want to, Xiao Han."
"Thank you for understanding, Sister Bai. In short, these Fool's Dreams are in a bit of trouble. I have the means to destroy the Nightmares on them, but if I do, the Luck they carry will transfer to me. That is the main reason I haven't killed a single Nightmare until now."
"But as for separating the Nightmares perfectly... I don't have that kind of confidence."
"If I want to sever the Ley Line Shackles and break my connection with the Main World, it's best if I don't touch the Main World's Luck. Otherwise... unknown complications might arise. But at worst... I'll just die once," I said, smiling.
In truth, dying once doesn't automatically transfer Luck. It depends on how one dies to achieve the transfer—much like the Luck transfer duel the Academy Dean had arranged.
Perhaps... being killed by a Child of Destiny would allow their Luck Seed to plunder my Luck.
So... was that why the Academy Dean gave me the Resurrection Spell?
There was also the revelation brought by the dream invading reality: after losing my physical shell, my consciousness becomes the main body, which is equivalent to death. My life enters a "state of life and death." Resurrection is simply creating a new shell to carry the essence of my life.
"Die once? Xiao Han, what kind of nonsense are you talking?"
"It's fine. The Academy Dean has already made arrangements. Besides... there's something I've never told you, Sister Bai..."
"What is it?" Bai Yu asked, suppressing the unease in her heart.
"The essence of my life is my soul. As long as the soul is not extinguished, death is nothing more than changing shells for me."
"How... is that possible? Wait, Xiao Han, death isn't just 'changing shells.' Don't think of death so lightly!"
"I know. That's why I said it's the worst-case scenario. Aren't our current efforts meant to ensure things don't head toward the worst outcome?" I comforted her.