2 A haunting dream of strangeness and dread
On this cool night of early autumn, a gentle breeze slipped in through the window curtains silently, yet when it brushed against Zhang Yaoyang, he felt an unusual chill creeping over him.
Inside the dormitory, there was an eerie silence.
He had stayed up late playing video games in the dorm before and knew that even in the deepest of nights, there would at least be the sound of his roommates' breathing, occasionally accompanied by footsteps from other students in the hallway. But now, it seemed as if every student in the building had evaporated, leaving behind an unsettling quietness, not a single sound to be heard...
Was this the dreaded sensation of sleep paralysis?
Zhang Yaoyang took a deep breath, immediately recognizing his current state.
Yet he remained calm. As a youth of the 21st century, he understood that sleep paralysis was merely a normal physiological response, unrelated to ghosts or ghouls. So, though he struggled, he didn't panic. His only desire was to get his body moving again as quickly as possible.
Unlike those swayed by local superstitions, he knew that such physiological reactions were most likely to occur during the transition into or out of sleep.
Sometimes, the mind could awaken abruptly during sleep while the body remained trapped in slumber, resulting in the phenomenon known as sleep paralysis.
Feeling a tightness in his chest, he had to force himself to breathe just to prevent suffocation. It was an incredibly uncomfortable sensation.
To break free from the grip of sleep paralysis, he exerted all his strength to raise his hands and gently rub his eyes, hoping to awaken fully as soon as possible.
However, at that moment, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed something slowly approaching on the table by his bedside.
Instinctively, he turned his gaze.
In the dim moonlight, to his astonishment, he saw the grotesque figurine standing on the edge of the table, its hollow eyes fixated on him!
"Oh, damn it!"
The shock nearly paralyzed Zhang Yaoyang with fear. His head buzzed, a chill shooting straight to the top of his skull. Without thinking, he bolted upright!
In that instant of rising, he felt as if he had broken free from some kind of restraint, as though emerging from water, his entire body suddenly lightened! Meanwhile, the figurine miraculously came to life, its limbs twitching excitedly, its two eyes emitting an eerie red glow!
"Hiss!"
Zhang Yaoyang gasped for air, instinctively recoiling from the figurine. Yet, in that moment, a flash of realization struck his mind, a spark of enlightenment!
"I haven't truly woken up..."
Zhang Yaoyang froze, extending his hand to gaze at his palm in disbelief—
At this moment, the lines on his palm were slightly blurred, no matter how hard he looked, he couldn't see them clearly.
Not only that, many details in the dorm room were different from reality—the patterns on the walls, the decorations on the table, everything.
And, there was no one else in the room.
In the realm of dreams, Zhang Yaoyang found himself navigating the elusive landscape of lucid dreaming, a phenomenon known as "clear dreaming."
Having delved into the intricacies of the mind online, he understood that during sleep, while conscious awareness is dormant, the subconscious mind remains active, birthing the fantastical realms we traverse in dreams.
Every aspect of the dream world, he knew, was a manifestation of the subconscious—like the urge to seek a restroom stemming from a late-night drink, or the frantic sprint through the darkness representing moments of bewilderment in waking life.
Dreams, he realized, were the canvas upon which the mind paints its innermost desires and fears.
The concept of lucid dreaming, pioneered by Dutch physician Frederick van Eeden in 1913, held particular fascination. In this state, individuals possessed the rare gift of cognitive clarity within the dream realm, retaining the faculties of thought and memory akin to waking life. Some even wielded the power to manipulate the dream narrative while maintaining the awareness of their dream state.
In essence, lucid dreaming became a conduit between the subconscious and the conscious, a realm where the self conversed with its deepest instincts.
"Mere dreams?" Zhang Yaoyang mused, casting a fleeting glance at the eerie figurine perched on the table. In this ethereal realm, the notion of animated figurines ceased to be extraordinary.
Yet, he remained vigilant, turning towards the dormitory door and gently pulling it ajar.
Suddenly, the wooden door emitted a long-unheard creak, echoing through the pitch-black night, eerie and unsettling.
The door swung open, revealing not a dormitory hallway but a vast, ink-black sea!
The sea roared with rolling waves, its sound heavy and formidable, giant waves constantly churning. It was then that Zhang Yaoyang realized he was not in a dormitory but on a decrepit yacht!
"Indeed, this must be a dream," Zhang Yaoyang took a deep breath, unperturbed.
But why the sea? Dreams stem from the mind, so what could this dream signify?
"This is your subconscious ocean."
Just as Zhang Yaoyang pondered, a sinister murmur suddenly pierced the air. It wasn't human language; in fact, it seemed impossible for human vocal cords to produce such an eerie tone. Yet, it penetrated Zhang Yaoyang's mind, making the meaning clear to him out of thin air!
"Who!" Zhang Yaoyang raised his head abruptly, a bolt of lightning illuminating his fickle face, then fading away.
"Hiss…"
The voice let out a low murmur, seemingly chuckling.
At that moment, the sea bubbled up a series of enormous bubbles, each several times larger than the yacht Zhang Yaoyang was on, ominously signaling that the entire sea was beginning to tremble!
It seemed as though something immense was trying to break free from the ocean's depths!
Rumble…
In the profound darkness, a wave tens of meters high suddenly rushed towards him. Zhang Yaoyang instinctively raised his hand to shield himself, and the colossal wave was miraculously blocked by an invisible force.
It was only then that he saw, just a few hundred meters ahead, two massive blood moons rising from the sea!
No, those weren't moons, they were eyes!
Through the suffocating darkness, he saw in disbelief that beneath those eyes, there seemed to be countless thick tentacles, writhing and squirming like giant dragons!
The colossal creature was only partially visible, but even its upper body alone was thousands of meters tall, making Zhang Yaoyang's yacht-like vessel seem insignificant in comparison!
Upon seeing this nightmarish figure, Zhang Yaoyang felt as though his brain was about to explode, countless illusions running rampant in his mind. He was on the brink of permanent collapse in an instant!
Suppressing the despairing suffocation, Zhang Yaoyang abruptly turned away, unable to bear looking directly at the figure that could drive one insane. He exclaimed in horror, "What are you, and how can you enter my mind?!"
"Gurgle…" The sound did not come from the monster's mouth but seemed to control air vibrations directly. Yet again, Zhang Yaoyang understood the meaning of this murmur!
"A deal?! To inherit your power..." Zhang Yaoyang's pupils contracted, instantly recalling words like demonic transaction, soul contract, and reflexively asked, "What do I need to give in return?"
"Heh..." The nightmarish figure chuckled lowly, and a wave surged forth. The figure quickly submerged, disappearing below the sea's surface in less than half a minute, leaving Zhang Yaoyang standing there, dazed.
The final message of that voice seemed to say—
"You have already paid a sufficient price."