Exploring a dream realm

Qinyang and Bao Zhi sat in a small sampan boat surrounded by thick mist and pale white water.

Other boats dotted the foggy horizon of this artificial secluded domain of heaven and earth.

"What is this place?" Qinyang shivered. "It gives me the creeps."

Bao Zhi felt familiar suppression. "This seems like a segment of the River of Time!"

"But shouldn't we be inside the grotto heaven?" Qinyang wondered.

As a former rank eight gu immortal, Bao Zhi had more experience. The water around them unmistakably came from the River of Time, its dense time path dao marks suppressed other paths.

His investigative killer moves were greatly reduced. Only Human Qi Sensation worked, revealing many gu immortals nearby from various paths: soul, transformation, time, wind, dark path and others.

Voices drifted through the fog as immortals debated cooperation and competition. The aged voice of Shi Ji boomed above the rest: "I am here for the inheritance. I do not mind if you follow me, but if you dare stand in my way... Hehehe."

The gu immortals discovered how to control their boats via gu worms, moving at arduously slow pace.

One gu immortal attempted to fly above the fog.

Woosh! Splash, splash!

Two huge splashes followed by silence. "There is something in the water!" Someone alarmed.

Hui Hui, the ancient desolate year beast lurked beneath.

An ethereal chime sounded everywhere: "Contestants of Time Fisher Grotto! You have passed the first trial. Now, let the second stage begin. Take your fishing rods."

Simple fishing rods materialized on each boat.

"If this test is about embodying the clue, then it's about patience, achieving tranquility," Bao Zhi pointed out.

Soon clashes erupted. A purple arrow striking a boat, wind blades retaliating. The grotto's arrangement didn't disqualify them, confirming such conflicts remained within rules.

Strangely, the time path gu immortal Shi Ji encountered the most trouble from the water beast. "This damnable beast!" he cursed as waves nearly capsized him.

Bao Zhi and Qinyang sat idle until Qinyang activated a killer move in her aperture.

"[BOOT SEQUENCE START]"

"[1/27] - CIRCUIT CHECK... [OK]"

"[2/27] - POWER SOURCE CHECK... [4%]"

"[WARNING]: INSUFFICIENT ESSENCE"

"[3/27] - AUXILIARY POWER... [ON]"

...

"[27/27] - GENERATING SUMMARY... [OK]"

"[INFO]: BOOT PROCESS COMPLETE"

"[INFO]: REDUCED FUNCTIONALITY"

"WELCOME USER: QINYANG"

"So far so good. The stuff I added seems to work." Qinyang glanced at the messages scrolling before her mind's eye.

"[ERROR]: SYSTEM LOG FILE ALREADY EXISTS WITH CURRENT DATE"

"OVERRIDE EXISTING LOG FILE? [Y/N]"

"Huh? What is this?" She quickly read the messages.

"This is the first time I'm using this system. Why are there already log files here? Did Jue Shi forget to wipe the storage before giving the gu to me?"

She was just about to confirm overwriting, when she realized something.

"What do you mean log files for the current date? That's not possible! Is the date set wrong?"

"Cancel, don't override. Move the existing file to another location."

"FILE MOVED TO USER DIRECTORY. NEW SYSTEM LOG CREATED."

"Let's see what this was..." She checked the date and size. "Sure enough, it is not empty."

"Open this file."

"FILE IS CORRUPTED. ATTEMPT DATA RECOVERY? [Y/N]"

"Do it."

"DATA RECOVERY RATE 89%. UPDATING FILE..."

"Most of it seems intact, let's see it then."

The information streamed into her mind at a fast rate.

It contained various system information, conversation logs, and records of external events.

Qinyang combed through the mundane records with innate finesse until she found something shocking.

"These are my records?" She read the internal conversation logs with the system. "But it can't be, this is the first I'm using this new version of the system!"

She continued with increasing incredulity as the logs not only depicted a very similar alternate reality but continued into the future too.

The external recordings also matched her current circumstances on the boat.

"This makes no sense. Did it already start overriding the file in the beginning?"

She arrived at the corrupted part, there was a jump in the continuity as the scenery suddenly changed while she replayed the events.

There was no longer any familiarity. The events took place from a middle aged man's perspective.

Intense anticipation, then a chaotic battle for a spiritual herb.

"This makes no sense whatsoever. These are someone else's memories. It is most likely from the previous inheritor of the Golden Red Armor inheritance and the files got mixed up."

Nearing the end of the recording, the huge explosion buried this person, and another wave of information entered Qinyang's mind.

"???"

These were her own memories that the person she was spectating suddenly remembered.

"Maybe I shouldn't open corrupted files. This is giving me a big headache." She thought.

"I am Qinyang and not Zhou Yang!" The final thought played out and the recording ended.

Qinyang mentally paused. There was too much going on here to be a mere coincidence.

"Why would I see these? In what scenario could this all make any sense?"

"There is something wrong with this place. It is either making the system malfunction, or worse... I am hallucinating."

She opened her eyes, about to ask Bao Zhi if he could detect some kind of anomaly. But she was encased in solid ice.

Crystalline Time!

Bao Zhi sat calmly frozen as well, fishing rod in hand.

The fog receded, improving visibility. Qinyang noticed the water surface wasn't level, they were accelerating!

All boats closed in, their occupants frozen solid in eerie silence as well.

Gazing at the horizon, Qinyang saw an impossible sight: behind the curving river water, like an upside-down mountain carved from the river, a huge vortex drew the tiny fishing boats down and forward.

"Oh no, no, no! This can't be real, this can't be real." She panicked.

"..."

"But if it isn't real, then... is it a dream?" She was grasping at straws. "This all must be a dream realm!"

"Then the thing I saw, was that the second stage of the—"

"[WARNING]: INTERNAL CLOCK OUT OF SYNC... CORRECTING... OK"

"What?" She had no time to finish her speculation, the little boat continued to accelerate in a downward spiral at breakneck speeds.

"[WARNING]: INTERNAL CLOCK OUT OF SYNC... CORRECTING... OK"

"Don't tell me this is the source of the corrupted file?"

"[WARNING]: INTERNAL CLOCK OUT OF SYNC... CORRECTING..."

"Shit! I don't have the time! I need to— Uhmm..." She hurried in her mind, fumbling to issue one last command.

"Set reminder! Set reminder to—"

"[ERROR]: UNKNOWN ERROR"

"REBOOTING"

* * * * *

Silver Wind Valley

Zhou Yang crouched in his hidden spot near the base of the ancient tree where the moonlight lotus was beginning to bloom.

He distinctly heard a faint sound.

"What?" He checked his surroundings suspiciously. "Someone is using a sound path gu worm to target me!"

He focused on the annoying sound, eyes closed, and activated his defensive gu worms.

But the sound continued to ring in his mind louder.

Ding! Ding! DING! DING!

He drew in a sharp breath and opened his eyes suddenly.

"I'm here again." Qinyang scanned her surrounding with surprise.

"Just as I thought, I'm in a dream realm." She studied the body she now embodied.

In her mind she muted the distorted sound of the alarm.

She called upon her self-made system. It took a while for it to respond and the mechanical voice sounded muffled and very distant.

"It seems the power of my system killer move is greatly reduced in this second stage of the dream realm."

She reviewed the events recorded in the logs once again, now with heightened attention.

Next, she checked the aperture.

There was as set of gu worms in Zhou Yang's aperture that Qinyang had trouble identifying.

Some of them had an information path aura, she activated one.

"To disciple Zhou Yang. Proceed immediately to Silver Wind Valley and retrieve the moonlight lotus. The spiritual herb blooms at sunset on the seventh day of the second month. Secure the herb for sect use. The use of force is permitted, but avoid unnecessary conflict. The lotus takes priority over all other considerations. Return within ten days of departure."

As soon as Qinyang regained her lucidity within the dream realm, Zhou Yang and his memories from the original events were no more.

"Dream realms are like historical puzzles. I have to figure out the condition that fulfills this dream realm. Then the scene will advance to the next, or its exploration succeeds if it's the last scene."

"From the records I can see there will be a sudden explosion. I need to get away from here as fast as possible."

She still felt suspicious about future records she had no recollection of, but other concerns were more pressing at the moment.

She left her hiding spot and made her way up the other side of the valley.

"That's Zhou Yang, where is he going?"

"Is he giving up?"

"He must have figured something out. Someone follow him!"

"He isn't even using his movement gu, this is definitely just a diversion. Which one of you is working with him?"

Huf. Huf.

Qinyang was out of breath from climbing the hillside in big strides.

"More, I need to make distance." She glanced back over her shoulder.

The commotion from the moonlight lotus reached her ear at this moment.

"Not good, I only have a few minutes left until the explosion. I won't make it!"

She took some deep breaths.

"This isn't real. This is only a dream realm." She reminded herself. "I won't die. Everything will be fine."

"But then shouldn't I take more risks?" She glanced at her abdomen and chose a gu worm.

She channeled the rank four yellow golden essence and activated the gu.

A small paper crane materialized in her palm and immediately burst into flames, crumbling to ash.

"Wrong one!" Panic crept into her voice.

That was a messenger crane gu, completely useless for movement.

She chose another gu from her aperture, a crystalline beetle that looked like it was made of transparent glass.

The moment she activated the gu, her body became completely transparent. She could see right through her own hands.

"This is concealment!" Through her translucent form, she could see the commotion in the valley intensifying. Flashes of techniques lit up the area around the lotus.

She grabbed a third gu, this one resembling a small golden quill pen. "Please be movement, please be movement!"

The contract quill gu activated with a burst of golden light.

Suddenly, glowing text began appearing in the air around her, writing out a formal agreement in bold script.

The words "HEREBY AGREE TO..." floated past her face in shimmering golden letters.

"Are you kidding me right now?" Qinyang looked at the floating contract text in dismay.

She was surrounded by a legal document written in light, still completely transparent, while precious seconds ticked away.

The sounds from the valley were reaching their climax. Time was running out.

Her hands shook as she chose another gu. This one looked like a tiny silver butterfly with inscription marks on its wings. "Fourth time's the charm."

The moment she activated the butterfly letter gu, her mouth opened involuntarily and she began speaking in someone else's voice: "Dearest brother, the harvest this year has been bountiful and mother sends her regards—"

"I'm going to die because I'm delivering someone's mail!" She clamped her hands over her mouth, but the message kept trying to force its way out between her fingers.

She grabbed the next gu without even looking at it properly. A small jade token with carved footprints. "Come on, come on!"

This time, she felt it immediately. The swift messenger gu activated and power surged through her legs like lightning.

"Finally!" She thought.

Qinyang launched herself up the hillside in massive bounds. Each step carried her dozens of meters as the swift messenger gu propelled her with urgency.

She was still completely transparent with a trailing floating contract text behind her like some kind of bureaucratic ghost.

Words kept forcing their way out of her mouth as she raced up the slope: "—the steel grass gu have been multiplying nicely, and Elder Zhang finally approved my request for that liquor worm gu we discussed. Oh, and don't forget to feed your thick beard gu twice weekly or it gets moldy—"

She reached the crest of the opposing hill just as a tremendous detonation erupted from the green hill where Hong Ting and Liu Shu Xian had met.

A pillar of white light shot into the sky, followed by a shockwave that turned the very air visible. The earth beneath the valley cracked and split. Massive boulders the size of houses tumbled down in an avalanche that buried everything.

The destruction consumed the entire area where the lotus competition had been taking place.

But then the shockwave reached her.

She frantically reached for what she hoped was a defensive gu.

Guh! She suffered a backlash from the wrong gu's activation.

She tried another one, a gu that looked like a tiny silver ear.

The listening wind gu activated and suddenly she could hear every sound within miles, including the deafening roar of the approaching shockwave amplified a hundredfold. She screamed and covered her ears.

The blast wave hit her like a giant's fist. Even at this distance, the force was overwhelming. She was thrown backward, her transparent body tumbling across the rocky ground. Sharp stones tore at her invisible skin. Her ribs cracked with audible snaps.

Qinyang rolled to a stop against a boulder. Every part of her body screamed in pain. Through blurred vision, she watched the distant valley settle into an eerie silence, completely transformed into a landscape of destruction.

"Note to self." She thought, spitting floating drops of blood. "Learn to identify information path defensive gu before the next time."

The contract text continued to swirl around her cheerfully, as if trying to get her to sign something even while she lay there broken and bleeding.

"—give my love to little sister and tell her the primeval stones I promised is in the usual hiding spot. Your loving sister, Xiao Lan. Lastly, the gu house rent is due next month, don't forget!"

Then her world turned even more blurred and this stage of the dream realm came to an end.

* * * * *