Chapter 323: The Other Side of the Underground City
Knock, knock, knock—
As a series of knocking sounds echoed, the room where Sister Bai was located turned out to be just as I expected—empty.
Speaking of which, this underground city isn’t that big, is it? Sister Bai has been going out every day, but I don’t really know what she’s looking at.
But just like Sister Bai doesn’t understand what I’m busy with, I also don’t understand what she’s doing.
Maybe… it’s related to her topic.
Besides brushing up on her knowledge of rune literature and magic, the most important thing for Sister Bai is, of course, her topic.
Letting out a slight sigh, I had no intention of giving up. With a wave of my hand, complex rune rituals began to flow, forming an exquisite spellcasting ceremony.
This was a spell I learned while deconstructing spellbooks from the vast collection of Sister Bai’s spellbooks—a spell that searches for a specific target within a certain range.
Although this is a non-attack spell, the construction of the spell ceremony is quite complicated, because its effects are too convenient. The ease of using the spell comes at the cost of a lengthy spellcasting ceremony.
If this were a spellbook, casting would take only a few seconds, but as I’m doing it by hand without using a magic source, it took a lot longer.
“Hmm… in this direction.” Looking at the clear and straightforward indicator arrow generated by the spell, I understood where Sister Bai was headed.
Following the direction of the arrow, I stepped back onto the streets of the underground city. Even though I had been in this underground city for many days, I hadn’t taken the time to walk around and see the sights. My route had been quite fixed; the most unusual times were just accompanying Fool Dream home.
Now, I found myself in an entirely unfamiliar neighborhood. The dome of the underground city exuded a soft light from the earth veins that connected the top layer to the ground. This earth vein provided the most natural light source for the underground city, and the artificial structures that concealed the earth veins—initially thought to be built to harness earth vein energy—now I realize were meant to obscure the light emitted by the earth veins, simulating the darkness of night.
Of course, the base of the underground city is quite adept at utilizing earth vein energy; I don’t deny that.
However, as I walked further in this direction, the surrounding environment began to bring me great shock. I had thought the route from my residence to the base was the most accurate depiction of the underground city—a high-end technology level coupled with the lowest living standards.
This made me recall what Ninglan Qiuyue said about most of the residents here; they are basically the families of scholars and researchers who once worked at the base.
I had assumed that those with such high intellect would have offspring who would similarly be brilliant, at the very least a young genius. Unexpectedly, it turned out to be a genetic mutation.
The people here had lowered my perception limit. Once upon a time, I thought such scenes could only be seen in jokes online, but now they were right before me.
Even the thugs on the street seemed to be doing quite well in their existence. More so were the beggars, and just by looking at the tattered tents by the roadside, I could tell that was the home of some nameless beggar.
They walked around here, with trash cans serving as their economic source, and the frail homeless even lacked the means to scavenge through the bins.
There were too many people homeless, and I seemed to understand the controversy aroused when Fool Dream, also an outsider, had a place to stay—even if it was just a small house, they might need to accommodate a dozen or even dozens of Fool Dreams.
I felt that I was not in an underground city developed by extraordinary technology to such a level but rather in a slum.
I could even see excrement by the roadside; and there wasn’t even a public toilet established using extraordinary technology’s public machinery to clean up here.
“Strange… why does Sister Bai come here every day?” Ignoring the gazes peering from dark corners, I looked around.
However, I did not see Sister Bai’s figure. I fiddled with the guiding spell, wanting to see if it was malfunctioning.
Just then, a slender finger tapped on my shoulder. This sudden touch startled me, but when I turned around, I saw a familiar face.
“B-Bai Sister? Whew—scared me to d*ath.”
“Scared you? What’s wrong? Did Xiao Han commit a guilty act?” Sister Bai raised a slight smile, I couldn’t tell if it was because of seeing someone she missed or something else.
“No, how could I have done something guilty?” I instinctively reviewed my recent memories and, ensuring that there was nothing, I felt more confident.
“By the way, Sister Bai, how did you end up here? There’s nothing much to see here.” I walked alongside Sister Bai, curious as I asked.
“How could there not be something to see? Experiencing the myriad of human conditions is also part of cultivation.”
“Cultivation? What is Sister Bai cultivating? Heart realm?”
“Something along those lines. You could also call it knowledge; many experiences require a broader perspective, a more active attempt, or one may have extraordinary experiences different from what they imagine. Perhaps this is one of the joys of life.”
“Then there’s really no need to be here, right? Aren’t you afraid of getting dirty?” My gaze swept around as I spoke.
“The dirtiness doesn’t matter, but Xiao Han, did you specifically come to find me for something?”
“Hehe, it’s because I haven’t had a proper conversation with Sister Bai in a few days. Today, I happen to have nothing to do and just want to chat with Sister Bai.”
“Oh? You finished what you were busy with? I know you went out of your way to catch a nightmare.”
“Alas… you know about this? I didn’t say anything…”
“But that doesn’t mean I didn’t know. This sort of news circulates quite widely in the underground city. Even without mentioning names, I could guess who did it.”
“Oh, that’s why.”
“Of course, but… I see you looking like you want to say something, so you should just say it. If we keep talking, I might lead the conversation astray.”
“You can even tell? Hahaha, Sister Bai really understands me.” I scratched my head, feeling slightly embarrassed as I smiled. I truly was too inexperienced in conversation.
“Of course, Xiao Han, you should really engage more with others. Eloquence is also an important quality for a person.”
“I’ve been trying! When I’m in the base, chatting and debating academic issues with those scholars is … quite … harmonious, you know…”
“Xiao Han, are you sure it’s harmonious and not you against the whole world?”
“Ah… yeah…” I recalled the scholars in the laboratory who had fallen silent at my words… could it be that bad?
“Alright, let’s get back to the main topic; do you want to share something interesting with me?”
“Oh… right, almost went off track again.” I quickly recovered and said seriously, “That… today, that Ninglan Qiuyue came down and found me again.”
“Oh? Ninglan Qiuyue? Did she come to you for something?” Bai Yu nodded, recalling the girl who brought them down at that time.
“She told me about some interesting things that have happened recently in Ninglan New City. Quite fascinating.”
“Fascinating? To get such an evaluation from you, I really want to hear it. Honestly, I’m a bit curious about what Ninglan New City is like now.”
“Ninglan New City now, huh? It’s probably in chaos. I heard that the city lord we met in the meeting room chose to ally with the Dream Demon at a critical juncture, using their power to deal with the Nightmare. They’ve already started a manhunt against us outsiders.” I explained briefly to Sister Bai with a smile.
“Ah?” Upon learning of such an outcome, Bai Yu instantaneously became speechless; everything happening was far too dramatic, right? However, Bai Yu had many questions in her heart, and the set of developments felt counterintuitive.
“How could this happen? Doesn’t that mean…”
“Doesn’t mean what? That as outsiders, we’ll be at a disadvantage?”
“Exactly.” Bai Yu nodded.
“But what can we do? It’s just that our group of Extraordinary Academy students cannot exist harmoniously and unite against the outside. After all, the humiliation from the previous Dream Exchange Competition hasn’t faded yet, and those Dream Demons might have come prepared. This isn’t a situation two people like us can reverse.”
“So, are you just going to watch? Or do you have a plan, or don’t you care?”
“Plans change with circumstances. But it’s true that I don’t care. If they don’t suffer a little, they won’t even realize they’re attending the Extraordinary Academy; they might think this is kindergarten.”
“True, but Xiao Han, your tone… sounds like a teacher’s tone. Aren’t you all in the same batch?”
“That just means I’m more mature than they are, at least in this aspect.” I explained.
“Okay, okay, Xiao Han is more mature than them. But I’m still curious; even if Ninglan New City joins forces with the Dream Demons, they shouldn’t pose a threat and issue manhunts against all students, right? Many students at the Extraordinary Academy are affected by this sleep curse. Even if we can’t interfere in reality, they could easily create troubles for Ninglan New City.”
“Yeah, I had the same reaction as you when I first heard it, but… before explaining, I want to ask you, Sister Bai, do you know what would happen if we died in the dream right now?”
“Of course, we would d*e… wait, we’re in a dream…”
Bai Yu instinctively spoke up, but quickly realized something was off.
“Exactly, we’re in a dream, so we won’t d*e. After d*ath, we would respawn, which essentially means we are permanently trapped in the dream.”
“But what does this have to do with Ninglan New City being able to withstand students who hold extraordinary power?”
“Ah ha~ there’s a connection. I’ve heard that the city lord has allowed parts of the city guard to enter the dream using the Dream Demon’s power, which is the foundation for their boldness against us. They can also respawn infinitely, cannot be killed, have more numbers, and their commands are followed.”
“They… can also…”
“Of course! We’re human, and they’re also human; don’t you know this very well, Sister Bai?”
“Yes…” Bai Yu nodded. “But the fact that they are just ordinary people doesn’t change, does it? They have to face students who wield extraordinary power. Do they also have a rewriting spell like yours? Can their strength be easily altered?”
“How is that possible? They don’t have my talent, but…”
“But?”
“Right, but they have control over a method that’s even more terrifying than my Dream Rewriting Spell.” I said solemnly.
“What method?”
“Ninglan Qiuyue didn’t describe it to me in detail, but it generally manifests as the ability to annihilate soul material, which means they have a way to entirely k*ll us, who remain invincible in the dream.”
“What?!”
“Ah~ Sister Bai, your expression now is just like mine when I first found out!”
“Alright, Xiao Han, it’s best not to joke about such matters.”
“I know, Sister Bai, I’m not joking. But… this only means it’s possible to k*ll us. We should know that it’s different in reality; we can’t d*e, right?”
“This… is different.”
“It’s the same; it’s actually quite fair. Sister Bai, remember the two Dream Demons we killed? They experienced true d*ath! We can k*ll them, and they can k*ll us. It’s a fair competition, but the current situation is just leaning in the Dream Demons’ favor.”
As I explained, Bai Yu still seemed a bit uneasy. Earlier, she was unaware of anything, but now that she knew, an inexplicable sense of restlessness and anxiety began to arise in her heart.
“Don’t worry, Sister Bai, why are you so worried? This method is just to scare the inexperienced; why are you scared?”
“Because I’m afraid you’ll get hurt. After all, soul material is essentially something that, even when damaged, is quite troublesome.”
“There’s no need for you to worry about that. I’m very strong, at least I’m very strong here. This isn’t arrogance but absolute confidence. Sister Bai… are you tired of this environment here?”
“Why does Xiao Han ask this?”
“Because… I’m thinking about causing a big stir in Ninglan New City.”
“Causing a big stir? Xiao Han, are you planning something outrageous again?”
“Ah~ no, no, it’s just that don’t you think our side in the Extraordinary Academy is too disadvantaged right now? Perhaps they need a little help, and… I also want Sister Bai to cooperate with me in trying something new.”
“Trying something new? What is it?”
“Well~ don’t you think we’re too passive, stuck in the dream? That city lord can think of ways to attack me in the dream, so… why can’t we do the same? That city lord can treat us outsiders so confidently, assuming we cannot harm him, while they have ways to deal with us.”
“You… Xiao Han, are you implying?!”
“Exactly, I seem to have a thought process, so I want to borrow one of Sister Bai’s spellbooks.”
“Which spellbook?”
“Um… the teleportation spell for anchoring space nodes.”
