I Can See Health Bars in Real Life

Chapter 570 48: Shared Dreamscape

Black night, silent city, hurried footsteps and gasping breaths.Zhou Yang ran forward frantically, not daring to look back, fearing that he would see the streetlights extinguishing crazily, darkness catching up and consuming him in an instant, his fear completely overwhelming his rationality.

He ran until he was exhausted, only then did this out-of-shape college student stop, even though he hadn't run far, he felt his lungs burning, his legs heavy as lead. Finally, he leaned on his knees, panting heavily by the roadside.

While panting heavily, he glanced back at the street behind him, seeing that it was completely black, all the streetlights extinguished.

Quiet as can be...

Seems like there's nothing...

—Seems.

His heart was pounding, yet he didn't have the courage to look back anymore, he could only grit his teeth tightly, praying that his buddy wouldn't have any problems... No, perhaps he didn't need to worry about that guy at all, it was more likely he himself was caught in something weird alone.

So what was going on, why would it become like this, he tightly clenched his fists, took deep breaths forcefully, anxiously looking at his surroundings.

Though Zhou Yang might be considered more mature and steady than others his age, it was just a little more, so facing such bizarre circumstances, he also didn't know what to do, even though he kept telling himself he must remain calm... remain calm...

How could he stay calm, even if he did, he still didn't know how to face this situation or solve it.

The surroundings seemed to be the old town streets, he seemed to have run onto the main road of the city in one breath, the streetlights here emitted a soft, dim glow, he now stood right under one, as if only when the bright light illuminated the surrounding darkness, he could gain a little sense of security.

It might not be useful, but at least the streetlights along this road were continuous, even if that frightening situation happened again, he could have some reaction time.

His panic slightly calmed, nervously observing the surroundings, Zhou Yang tried to determine the direction.

However, the scenery reflected in his eyes under the dim streetlight revealed a strange chaotic sight, in the relatively dim environment, although he could only vaguely discern some contours, he could still see some old buildings were fresh as new, as if just built...

But there were also some dilapidated tile houses from who knows where, appearing blurry and distorted, with stacks of wood piles or broken wooden carts at the edges, at first glance seeming like scenes from last century or earlier, incongruous and making his hair stand on end.

He swallowed hard, slowly looking up along the main road ahead into the distance, taking in the city's panoramic view with wide-open eyes, his mouth gradually opening wider—

Asphalt roads mixed with muddy yellow dirt roads intertwined... At the far end of the road, somehow stood the shadow of a leafy old tree...

The sky was thick with thunderous clouds, the round moon quietly reflecting in the night sky... At the city's far end were the silhouettes of rows of buildings, behind which unseen sky hinted at thunder, intermittently shimmering with lightning...

This seemed like a bizarre, logicless dark world, with time and space and scenery totally misplaced and irregular, presenting an unrivaled chaotic reflection that filled him with dread, face pale, instinctively staring at the distant thunder clouds.

Complete darkness.

Even brief flashes of lightning couldn't penetrate the lead-heavy darkness, as if the city here was completely isolated from the outside, trapped in something like the Demon Realm.

"Where... is this place, someone save me..." His overwhelming panic turned into a soft, powerless mutter, trembling as he picked up his phone, hoping to grasp this last lifeline, yet the result was naturally disappointing, there was no signal here.

He tried making several calls, yielding the expected silent response.

Bang...

Something made a muffled noise from afar, the ground seemed to tremble slightly, Zhou Yang's body instantly stiffened, already in a nervous state where a rustle seemed threatening, he instinctively looked at the street he had just escaped from.

All streetlights extinguished, darkness enshrouding, yet still it was quiet.

The commotion didn't seem to come from there, but from further away, as if something extremely heavy and huge was moving, each step vibrating the ground.

Bang! Bang!

Zhou Yang shuddered with fear, subconsciously recalling a film he'd watched about resurrected dinosaurs, where the man sat alone in a car on a forest path, hearing the ground tremble, feeling the massive presence drawing closer...

Wasn't this the same feeling? Like his throat being choked, stomach grasped tight in breathless discomfort.

The sound seemed not to be approaching, but he felt he couldn't stay here, even though leaving the light's range made him nervous, he wished he could stay here till dawn, yet the situation didn't allow it, what if greater terror was nearing...

Biting his teeth to determine the direction of the sound, he was forced to start advancing cautiously in the opposite direction on the road.

Even though he was on edge throughout the journey, nothing seemed to happen. He tried hard to walk in the glow of the streetlights, not wanting to step into the darkness at all. He didn't even glance at the eerie alleyways or the yellow dirt roads that extended outwards, keeping his eyes straight ahead, fearing he might see something he shouldn't if he looked around.

But the stretch ahead was just where that sinister big tree stood...

Zhou Yang glanced around, realizing there was no way to detour.

Unless he wanted to tread on those seemingly more bizarre yellow dirt roads, or the dark unlit creepy alleys beside them, or perhaps into the gray, hazy mist. What was in the mist was unknown, just a sprawling, unlit gray void, obscuring everything from sight.

The dull sound from behind was advancing step by step, with a rumbling vibration that seemed to be closing in... His earlier thoughts and decisions weren't wrong, something was indeed moving in this direction, and if he stayed where he was, who knew what might happen.

Listening to the once heavy sound gradually approaching, Zhou Yang, who absolutely didn't want to know what it was, braced himself and moved forward step by step, slowly entering the shadow of the big tree.

The old tree was very dense, casting a wide shadow, seemingly exuding an unknown coldness that invaded him. He felt chills run through his body, his hair standing on end, only able to inch forward bit by bit, simultaneously repeating in his mind, reassuring himself that this was nothing, the tree was nothing...

He had carefully observed it from outside and saw it clearly.

However, just then, an eerie wind seemed to blow in, causing the leaves to rustle.

His mind went blank, his entire body stiffening in place because he suddenly felt as the wind blew, something was swaying and bumping against the back of his head... And mixed in the wind was the sound of rope tightening around an object, creaking...

He didn't even know what he was thinking, or maybe it was instinct as he slowly turned around to look behind him.

A pair of red embroidered shoes were swaying in mid-air with the wind...

This was his last conscious thought. The intense shock and accumulated fear completely exceeded his threshold, causing his body to sway a few times before he fell backward.

......

He had no idea how much time had passed, feeling as if someone was patting his face. Zhou Yang groggily opened his eyes.

"Awake?" A mild voice came through.

Startled, the remaining haze of sleepiness from a college student entirely disappeared. He sat up abruptly, instinctively scanning his surroundings, only to find himself somehow back under the bright streetlights, with the tree still standing silently not far away.

The overwhelming terror before he passed out surged back into his heart, causing his body to tremble uncontrollably. He looked next to him, teeth chattering.

There was a tall man, wearing a slightly old-fashioned Sun Yat-sen suit, with a black umbrella in one hand and a strange white lantern in the other. His somewhat weathered face showed little expression, but his eyes were scrutinizing, looking down at him.

"Did you... did you save me? Thank you..."

Shivering and shaking, Zhou Yang stammered, feeling a sense of having survived a great ordeal.

"Are you an ordinary person? How did you get into the Land of Dreams?" The man nonchalantly nodded and asked, his gaze still measuring Zhou Yang up and down.

"I... I don't know, I also don't know how I got here. I just... just went out the door and discovered the street was empty..." Zhou Yang stammered in explanation, desperately wanting to know why he ended up in this ghostly place.

"Was it sudden? It seems you might have awakened..." The man nodded thoughtfully as if he had thought of something.

Zhou Yang hesitated for a moment, then cautiously asked, "Sir, do you know what's going on here?"

After the series of shocks and wash of terror, he no longer had any doubts and believed he had indeed touched the unknown side of the world.

"This is the Land of Dreams, the sea of deep consciousness of all beings, a shared dream of all humans..." the man said, "You surely haven't come here for the first time, perhaps some of the dream in this area are also partially mapped from your memory, it's just that you should be entering it so lucidly for the first time now."

"Shared... dream?" Zhou Yang instinctively looked around.

He previously had this strange feeling, always thinking that this was a dislocated, bizarre world, without rules or logic. Many things from different eras and styles were inexplicably piled and fused together, like an unreasonable... dream.

"That's right, everyone's dreams converge here. Along with the mutual blending, distortion is bound to appear. Even regarding the same object, each person's memory mapping might have certain differences, and this is where the distortion comes from..."

The man explained, accustomed to such things:

"Dreams are thus divided into many layers. For example, a room with seven or eight overlapping realms might arise from the memory mappings of different tenants from different times converging and overlapping, ultimately causing such a situation. This makes the Land of Dreams very complex, with ancient memories possibly entrenched in the deepest layers of dreams..."