Chapter 829: Sage Xiao Han and the Three Heroes
“Are you the sage who can save us?” The leader of the “Fool Dream” took a few excited steps forward, coming to stand in front of me.
Due to the difference in height, she struggled to lift her head to look at me, her gaze filled with anticipation.
“Wait… Can you tell me what a sage is? Also, what’s going on here? And… who are you?”
My mind was chaotic at this moment; although I wanted to follow my instincts and embrace this strong sense of déjà vu, rational thought, bolstered by the Great Knowledge Tree, remained predominant.
At this moment, Yu Lan, Yu Yun, and Yu Guo shrank back behind me, clearly unfamiliar with these “Fool Dreams” that resembled them.
“A sage… is a great being we honor as the one who can save the Fool Dream Clan. She possesses profound wisdom and holds countless knowledge. May I ask… are you the sage? I sense the aura of the sacred object from you.”
“Sacred object?”
I repeated this question in confusion. If something originally belonged to Fool Dream… I could only think of one thing.
That is the Grand Wisdom Enlightenment Spell.
To be precise, it is the Extraordinary Knowledge that shapes the Grand Wisdom Enlightenment Spell.
“Yes, the sacred object. As for what is happening now, even we cannot provide an answer; however, we have some guesses. As for me… I am the village head of Fool Village.”
“Is it really Fool Village?!”
Upon hearing this concept, I immediately recalled the Fool Village Secret Realm from earlier.
But it was obvious this was no longer the same secret realm; this was the real “Fool Village”!
After a brief mental brainstorming session, I quickly understood why there was such a coincidence.
These familiar concepts, “Fool Dream,” “Fool Village,” etc., were all translation issues. I could not understand their words, but I grasped what they were expressing.
It was never about the names, but rather the meanings contained beneath the concepts.
With the village head and villagers’ warm welcome, we were received into the true Fool Village.
Along the way, the village head began to passionately recount stories to me.
Once they sensed the aura of the sacred object, they were welcoming the heroes’ “triumph.”
And this “hero” undoubtedly referred to Yu Lan, Yu Yun, and Yu Guo.
Moreover, not just them, but all Fool Dreams I recognized were the “heroes” in their words.
The deeds of these heroes represented another “ancient” story.
After all, in the Primordial Dream World, there is no concept of distance or space, and even less so the concept of time.
Thus, expressions like “a long, long time ago” were used to describe past events.
Once I entered Fool Village, I discovered that the real Fool Village didn’t seem like the primitive forest of the previous Fool Village Secret Realm.
Or rather, it should be described in a more dreamy manner; it was like a fairy tale world, without detailed material structures, only conceptual symbols and representations.
Walking here felt like entering an interactive story theater.
As I walked by, I noticed that the “residents” seemed like characters from a storybook; they didn’t genuinely live worry-free but continuously lived within a certain narrative.
This feeling was as if the plot and behavioral patterns of the story were deeply ingrained in their instincts, naturally “performed” like the habits of ordinary people.
Perhaps from their perspective, everything was harmonious, but from my viewpoint, I realized they lived within an inescapable framework.
However, abandoning this restrictive perspective to view this “world,” I found it to be enviably peaceful and harmonious.
It felt like a beautiful dream that didn’t require concern, and in such a world, each “Fool Dream” was the protagonist of their own lives, achieving a perfect harmony and mutual restraint between objective and subjective perspectives.
Thus, I said it seemed like a fairy tale.
Because everything was beautifully unreal.
“A long, long time ago, the sacred object descended here. It bestowed us with reason, allowing us to think and escape the ignorance of dream creatures, and thus, Fool Village was born here.”
“We worship the sacred object day and night, hoping for it to give us prophecies that guide us, but it spoke not a word. Eventually… we learned that it was itself an unconscious vessel, yet we continued our offerings… because we believe this is a sacred object left here by a great sage.”
“That sacred object descended here?”
In response, I posed my question. If everything was genuinely so… then why did this Extraordinary Knowledge relate to Fool Dream?
Was it merely because the rationality and recognition of Fool Dream were granted by it?
“This is a story… passed down from a time before the Fool Dream Clan existed. The true situation, no fool dreams have witnessed… so it can only be personally explored by you, Sage Xiao Han.” The village head shook her head, smiling as she spoke to me.
This was a very contradictory question; no Fool Dream could provide a correct answer.
Or rather, whether the answer was correct or not was irrelevant.
What mattered was that this story “presented” the supreme concept of a sage.
And to this day, it has continued to exist that only those who truly master and control the sacred object are the concept of a sage.
This was the main reason the village head referred to me as “Sage Xiao Han.”
This “Fool Village” was situated in the Primordial Dream World.
No one could depict where it was in the Primordial Dream, as there are not many objective spatial concepts in dreams; only conscious perception brings about fragmented visual spatial ideas.
Thus, my arrival here was merely a part of the coincidence.
What truly brought me here was when I touched the Grand Wisdom Enlightenment Tree at that moment; the “sacred object,” as an anchor, led me here.
“Can you tell me about the heroes you mentioned? If I guess correctly, did the heroes leave Fool Village with the sacred object?” I inquired.
“Yes, the heroes embarked on a journey to find the sage, and we bid them farewell.”
“Village head, you even remember such distant events?” I asked curiously.
Dream creatures have a vague concept of memory; dream consciousness enables dream creatures to exist, yet the memories held by dream creatures become the accumulation of the Primordial Dream itself.
“The one who remembers these is never me… but the Dream World Scroll. It… is like a long scroll that records our history, and as the village head, my sole mission is to protect these scrolls.”
“Dream World Scroll? What kind of existence is that?” I asked with curiosity.
“That is… part of the sacred object, a foundation preserved in Fool Village, and it is fundamental to maintaining the existence of Fool Village.”
“Part of the sacred object?!”
Upon hearing this description, I was immediately taken aback. According to my understanding, the sacred object is the so-called Extraordinary Knowledge. Then, if it’s part of the sacred object, wouldn’t that mean it is a fragment of Extraordinary Knowledge?
Is the Extraordinary Knowledge within the Grand Wisdom Enlightenment Spell actually incomplete?
This fact… was too shocking to my understanding. Can incomplete Extraordinary Knowledge still produce a Great Spellbook?
After pondering for a moment, I realized that perhaps… it was indeed feasible!
But now was not the time to dwell on this.
“Yes, it is part of the sacred object. I’m sorry, but that part I cannot give to you, Sage Xiao Han, at least not now. If Fool Village loses it, then the existence of Fool Village will be swallowed by the Primordial Dream.”
“Fool Village… is not the Primordial Dream?”
Once I asked this question, I felt I had acted foolishly, akin to saying the world is merely a part of the void.
But if the world were to perish, could the lives within it still survive?
“Fool Village is a part of the Primordial Dream,” the village head replied. “But this is the home we constructed, a sanctuary of order. Should it be completely destroyed, the home and order we established will be instantly engulfed by the chaos of the Primordial Dream… and even we would lose our reason and become beings like the dream creatures in the Primordial Dream…”
“I see. Don’t worry; I won’t destroy this place. But could you take me to see that Dream World Scroll? I want to take a look.” I said.
“Of course, the path I’m taking you on leads to my dwelling, and there is where the Dream World Scroll is stored.”
The village head pointed to the tallest building in the village, indicating that it was her residence.
“Does that tall building have a name?” I asked, gazing at the tower-like structure, somewhat in a daze.
“That’s the Starlight Tower, the tallest building in Fool Village and the one closest to the sky and starlight. There, the Dream World Scroll records everything that happens in Fool Village with starlight as its brush.” The village head enthusiastically began introducing it to me, as if it were a sacred act.
I followed Yu Lan and the others as we walked towards the Starlight Tower, and the “residents” we encountered along the way greeted us warmly.
When the village head opened the grand door of the Starlight Tower for us, we began to climb the spiral staircase upwards, until we reached the top of the tower.
Pushing open a small door, I found the world outside seemingly dimmed slightly. Looking up, I realized the outside world was no longer daytime but had transformed into a not-so-dark night.
The deep sky was dotted with starlight, and these twinkling stars gathered like a galaxy, casting their shimmer across this world.
The starlight converged into ink, and above the sky appeared an invisible brush, dipped in stardust, crafting strokes that formed a… childish yet somewhat adorable picture.
This scene left me so stunned I found it hard to speak.
I had initially thought the Dream World Scroll was akin to sheets of paper, but no one had told me it could be as grand as this.
After the shock, what remained was endless curiosity.
After accepting such a setting, I realized this seemed like a larger sketchbook.
The Starlight Tower was akin to a child’s crayon, painting innocent yet naive scenes.
But upon closer inspection, I noticed it wasn’t just random doodles.
These were brief stories and scenes; it wasn’t until I saw a familiar scene that I suddenly realized these images… were all pages “performed” by the residents of Fool Village!
These pictures depicted simple yet warm living scenes, unreservedly illustrating what everyone was doing…
I took a rough glance at these images until at a certain moment, my gaze paused.
Because I saw a familiar scene.
That was the gate of Fool Village.
There, me, along with the three little Fool Dreams made an appearance.
Then we traversed through Fool Village, and on the Dream World Scroll, we continually appeared as the main thread, moving through various stories, appearing in every subtle corner, until… we reached the top of the Starlight Tower.
And the image stopped at a bird’s-eye view of the Starlight Tower, depicting the full scope of the Dream World Scroll covering the sky above Fool Village, with each scene on the scroll corresponding to the interwoven stories within Fool Village.
“Are there other Fool Dreams that have come here?” I instinctively turned to the village head and asked.
“No, only the village head can come here and protect the operation of the Dream World Scroll,” the village head replied.
“Then, if what you say is true, you are not the only village head? What term are you in? Where is the former village head?”
“I am indeed not the first village head, but even I am not clear on which term I am. Perhaps only by thoroughly examining the entire Dream World Scroll would the answer surface, but it is obvious I cannot do that.”
“Even as dream creatures, do you have a lifespan limit and thus perish?”
“Lifespan? We have no such concept, yet we will d*e…”
“d*e? Why? Where does the danger come from?” I continued to question.
“The danger… naturally comes from outside Fool Village. The Primordial Dream beyond Fool Village, any dream creature is a formidable enemy to us, and the nightmares they carry can disrupt the stability of Fool Village.”
“Nightmares?!” Hearing this concept again startled me, then I realized that none of the residents of Fool Village, including the village head, seemed to possess the unique nightmares of dream creatures!
“Yes, nightmares, a terrifying curse that causes Fool Dreams to lose their rationality and become enemies to everyone, and as the village head, I naturally need to protect everyone.”
“I see. Is that how it is?” Although I still had many questions.
For example, how do Fool Dreams deal with dream creatures? Also, did every village head engage in battles with dream creatures and nightmares?
And… how does a village head come to be?
But these questions clearly weren’t appropriate to ask.
“Yes, oh… I got carried away with saying all this. You are a sage who has traveled from afar to enter Fool Village, bringing back the three heroes… So I would like to ask the sage to help us with something, for Fool Village and for all Fool Dreams…”
“Help with what? Is it to help you become true lives?” I asked.
After all, this obsession was deeply engraved in the consciousness of Fool Dreams; otherwise, I couldn’t think of any other possibilities.
“To become… true lives?” Upon hearing what I said, the village head’s eyes were filled with disbelief, “This indeed is our ultimate dream, to become true lives… Originally, I wanted to ask you to use the sacred object to grant us power, enough for us to stand here. Although Fool Village provides us with eternal protection, it has become a cage we dare not break. Therefore, we want to master the power; we do not ask for too much, just enough strength to protect ourselves, I just wish to prevent another tragedy from occurring in this world.”
