Chapter 265 - 261: Dream Lizard

Chapter 265: Chapter 261: Dream Lizard

Luo Yuguang and Ping Lei immediately understood what the old man meant.

But with their own safety on the line, they had to swallow their pride and seize the opportunity.

Although their situation was bizarre, the whole story wasn’t complicated. As they walked and talked, they quickly explained everything that had happened to them, including the strange and grotesque nightmares they’d had for two nights in a row.

Elder Mo now had a grasp of their situation. He realized that what he had seen during his Perception last night was the core of their dreams.

"So, you’re saying you aren’t in your own dreams? You’re just watching a field of red?"

"Yeah, but the feeling was so oppressive. It just felt like I was completely helpless, surrounded by something terrifying..."

"Exactly! And there was that feeling of being unable to escape, no matter how hard you wanted to!"

In Elder Mo’s view, this didn’t seem like something had entered their dreams, nor did it seem like dream manipulation. It was a bit too simple and crude for that.

As Elder Mo was thinking, the three of them stood at a street corner. With people coming and going, they were rather conspicuous. He glanced at the breakfast they were carrying.

"You two should take that breakfast to your friends first. I’ll come find you a little later."

Hearing the old man say this, Luo Yuguang and Ping Lei couldn’t help but worry, though they felt it would be awkward to ask.

Elder Mo chuckled. ’These little rascals actually doubt my character!’

"Young men, if I really didn’t want to get involved, I wouldn’t have stopped just now. Besides, even though this old man is a few decades your senior, if I decided to run, you really wouldn’t be able to catch me."

The two of them were straightforward guys. On second thought, it was true, so there was no reason to be hesitant. They told him which dorm building they lived in, what floor, and their room number. They were ecstatic when they found out the old man had a phone and gave him a quick call to add his number to their contacts.

With everything settled, they said their goodbyes, and Luo Yuguang and Ping Lei headed back to the dorms with their breakfast.

This time, their mood was completely different from when they had left; they were clearly much more relaxed.

Humming a little tune, they made their way back to Room 509.

"Damn, what took you two so long? Did you go out to buy breakfast or to cook it yourselves?!"

The dorm head was already playing a game. Seeing his breakfast had finally arrived, he couldn’t help but complain.

"Seriously, I was about to pass out from hunger."

Ping Lei retorted grumpily.

"Next time, go yourself. Do you have any idea how many people were in line? It nearly stretched all the way back to our dorm entrance!"

After a round of laughter and joking, all six people in the dorm started eating breakfast.

The weather had turned cooler, but it wasn’t very cold yet. The breakfast items, kept together, were still warm and just right to eat.

While munching on a sticky rice ball, the dorm head suddenly asked a question.

"Yesterday, didn’t you two look like you owed money to a loan shark? How come you’re in such a good mood today?"

"Heh, let’s just say our luck has turned."

"Did you find some money?"

"Get outta here. We met an expert. We can’t talk about the specifics, but anyway..."

Luo Yuguang saw Ping Lei give him a look and trailed off.

"Damn, playing all mysterious. Don’t tell me you ran into a scammer."

"Just eat your food. You owe us for breakfast!"

"Would it kill you to treat your brother to one meal!"

"It won’t kill me, but it’ll make me poor!"

"..."

While the guys in Room 509 were joking around, Elder Mo and the members of the Celestial Traveler’s Hall had gathered at a Chinese fast-food restaurant.

Each of them grabbed two trays, bought a large pile of breakfast, and gathered at a row of tables in the corner.

They relayed the latest news to the Red Demoness over the phone, and ultimately, they came to the most likely conclusion: what Luo Yuguang and Ping Lei had encountered was likely a Floating Dream Worm.

This was a very special type of lazy-bug among creatures that could interfere with dreams. Yes, a lazy-bug.

It can’t actively kill a person or even a dog, but it transforms itself into a creature’s dream to continuously absorb its Spiritual Power.

The targets it can attach to also depend on its own strength.

Generally, the victim doesn’t die immediately. They might even feel like they’ve slept upon waking up, but it’s completely different from genuine sleep.

The Floating Dream Worm releases a kind of spiritual relaxant, similar to the substance a leech uses to prevent blood from clotting while it feeds, except this works on the spiritual plane, close to the soul.

This kind of "sleep" not only forces one to endure the torment of nightmares but also provides no rest. If one were to go without real sleep, a human would die suddenly in about 11 days, given their limits.

Just as the Demon’s name suggests, it is a Demon that moves by floating. The "lazy-bug" moniker also comes from its various characteristics.

Drifting wherever the current takes it and latching onto a target without letting go are some of its most prominent features.

Since the Floating Dream Worm doesn’t manipulate or infiltrate a dream, but rather becomes the dream itself, there’s no danger of the dream world collapsing. That’s because they *are* the dream. They just remain latched onto Luo Yuguang and Ping Lei’s spiritual plane, touching neither body nor soul.

Across the many worlds, some classify it as a living creature because it has many characteristics of one. Others believe it was originally a dream that underwent Demonization or some other form of fiendish transformation.

It’s considered a strange and controversial type of Demon.

"So how are we supposed to catch it?"

Someone asked this question. Given the nature of this Demon, the original plan to suddenly interrupt their dreams while they were asleep and then use a Magic Power seal seemed useless.

"Why don’t we just take the two of them to headquarters? Lady Red Demoness can definitely pull the two worms out."

"But then wouldn’t we have come all this way for nothing?!"

...

At that moment, Qin Xiaoxia, who was still on the island, also received a call from Doudou. The news had traveled even faster than Cui Ying’s intelligence report.

The moment he learned from the Red Demoness that it was a Floating Dream Worm, he immediately called his Big Cousin.

"Big Cousin, you have to give me one this time! There are two of them, you know? Two! Dream Lizards are too rare, I’ve never even seen a live one. I must have one!!!"

By the river where the Red Demoness was, Doudou was practically jumping up and down as he held the phone.

It took Qin Xiaoxia a moment to understand that Doudou was talking about the two male college students from Su Su’s last divination. The Celestial Traveler’s Hall had already found the subjects.

Dream-related monsters were indeed quite rare, so it was no wonder Doudou was the first to call.

’But this guy never learns his lesson. When has he ever successfully gotten his hands on any of the rare things he’s asked for?’

"Doudou, they haven’t even caught them yet. And even if they do, I can’t give one to you. What if they’re a male and a female? It wouldn’t be right for you to end up killing one of them."

"Why does everyone say I’m going to kill it?! Why?! I can eat turtles and rabbits, but I can’t eat a dream, can I?!!"

Suddenly thinking of something, Doudou covered the mouthpiece of the phone with his hand and whispered to the elegant figure beside him.

"Red Demoness, can you eat dreams?"

"Well, it’s not that you can’t. It would increase your Spiritual Power a bit and let you go without sleep for a while."

"What about the taste? Does it taste good?"

The Red Demoness chose to ignore that question.

Qin Xiaoxia: "..."

Seeing that the Red Demoness didn’t answer, Doudou asked another question.

"So, do Dream Lizards really have males and females?"

The Red Demoness thought for a moment, then nodded.

"Actually, I’ve never seen a Floating Dream Worm myself. I’ve heard they have males and females, though."

Sometimes, Doudou’s prankster-wired brain would come up with some very peculiar ideas. Hearing the Red Demoness’s answer, he shouted into the phone with righteous confidence.

"Big Cousin, if there happens to be a male and a female, I want the male!"

Qin Xiaoxia couldn’t even be bothered to respond. If they weren’t thousands of miles apart, Doudou would have surely earned a good knock on the head.

But before hanging up, Doudou quickly blurted out his idea.

"If, by some small, unfortunate, highly unlikely chance I happen to kill the male one, the female can still reproduce, right? Just get Gou Junbao on it!"

A ’Holy shit!’ exploded in Qin Xiaoxia’s mind.

Beside him, Su Su covered her open mouth with her hand, her thoughts a mystery.

Even the Red Demoness next to Doudou pressed two fingers to her lips, expressing a similar sentiment internally.

...

At that moment, Gou Junbao, who was touring the Los Angeles Branch with Xiao Lili, suddenly felt a dreadful chill shoot up from his crotch and glanced around nervously.

PS: Second Chapter for Monday.