11 Dream interference

As a taxi approached, Tang Ning immediately waved, and the taxi pulled up beside him.

"Go to the Extraordinary Internet Cafe," Tang Ning said without much thought, opening the car door and sitting in the passenger seat. The car then drove off onto the main road.

Sitting in the car, Tang Ning glanced at the driver, a middle-aged man with an ordinary appearance, wearing a light blue shirt and humming a tune.

"Could you stop humming, please?" Tang Ning couldn't help but frown, feeling annoyed.

"Sure, sure," the middle-aged driver shrugged, then, under Tang Ning's gaze, turned on the radio. Suddenly, a nursery rhyme filled the car.

"One, two, it will come for you."

"Three, four, lock your door."

"Five, six, hold your sheets tight..."

Upon hearing this nursery rhyme, Tang Ning suddenly shivered. "What's going on? This song..."

"Hehe, it's a popular nursery rhyme lately," the middle-aged driver chuckled strangely. "Haven't you heard of it?"

"So that's it?" Tang Ning relaxed, somewhat surprised. "I heard it earlier when I was leaving home. A few girls were singing it."

"Were they girls in white?" the driver asked.

"Huh, how did you know?" Tang Ning was surprised. "Did you see them too?"

"I may or may not have, but many people have heard of this urban legend," the driver lowered his voice, speaking with a mysterious tone. "They say there's a demon from hell that can travel through dreams. And when it's nearby, three little girls will appear. Once they do, it means the demon has set its sights on you."

"Travel through dreams? Are you talking about Freddy from 'A Nightmare on Elm Street'?" Tang Ning nervously chuckled. "Driver, that's not a funny joke..."

"I'm not joking," the driver grinned eerily. "So, you know about Freddy too?"

"I do," Tang Ning rubbed his arms, feeling cold. "Freddy, the monster with a burnt body, wearing a top hat, and having clawed hands. I've seen many horror movies, and he's the one that left a deep impression on me."

As Tang Ning pondered his words, a grim voice suddenly sounded beside him. Tang Ning instinctively turned, only to see the driver, who had previously appeared normal, now completely transformed into a face covered in scars from burns. Moreover, his right hand had turned into razor-sharp claws, lunging towards him!

"Wow!"

In the dormitory late at night, another horrifying scream echoed!

Tang Ning sat up abruptly, panting heavily. He looked around the dark dormitory, but the next moment, several people also sat up, cursing loudly.

"Damn it, Tang Ning, what are you doing? You scared me!"

"You can have nightmares, but why shout so loudly?"

"Why the fuss? Can't you let us sleep? We have classes tomorrow!"

The disturbed roommates all scolded Tang Ning, but he didn't have the mind to argue. He just got up shakily, poured himself some cold water under the moonlight. If the light were a bit brighter, they would have seen how pale Tang Ning's face was, as if he had just recovered from a serious illness.

A feeling of weakness spread through his body, and Tang Ning trembled as if he had lost his soul. Under his roommates' reproach, he could only crawl back into bed, feeling restless.

Meanwhile, Zhang Yaoyang silently observed Tang Ning's every move in the darkness. He glanced at Tang Ning and then at the interface, noticing that the value under "Illusion Creation" had changed to 2910.

"Wow, that's quite a rise!" Zhang Yaoyang exclaimed with a hint of surprise. "If I remember correctly, before this experiment, my illusion creation value was 2794 points. Then I gained the ability to disguise dreams, which cost me 1 point of illusion creation value. Then setting up illusions of three little girls consumed 10 points, and the taxi ride cost 1 point, totaling 12 points of illusion creation value."

But now, he found himself with an additional 128 points, meaning that he had earned a whopping 116 points from that dream alone!

"Is it because Tangning's dream was even more eerie, thus terrifying him more?" Zhang Yaoyang pondered. "In other words, the scarier the dream I set up, the more illusion creation value I can gain?"

"Unfortunately, everyone's psychological endurance has its limits. I didn't even have time to take the next step before Tangning woke up scared," Zhang Yaoyang lamented.

Just a moment ago, as he reached out his claws towards Tangning, he immediately sensed signs of collapse in Tangning's dream. Fortunately, he had been prepared and swiftly withdrew, so his SAN value remained unaffected.

"If only there was a way to prevent the other person from waking up," Zhang Yaoyang sighed helplessly. But just then, he was once again astonished to find a new skill on his interface.

Skill: Dream Detection (Basic), Dream Intrusion (Basic), Dream Disguise (Basic), Dream Interference (Basic).

"Dream Interference?" Zhang Yaoyang's eyes lit up. "From the name, it's obvious that this is an ability to alter the other person's dream, like the one I tried to create those three little girls in Tangning's dream. By interfering with the other person's dream, making it even more terrifying..."

After all the commotion, Zhang Yaoyang felt a bit tired. Anyway, there was plenty of time ahead, no need to rush.

With that in mind, Zhang Yaoyang slowly closed his eyes and drifted into a deep sleep.

A dreamless night.

The next morning, Zhang Yaoyang was awakened by a commotion. He groggily opened his eyes to see several other dormmates standing by Tangning's bed, loudly discussing something.

"What's going on?" Zhang Yaoyang's heart sank as he quickly sat up.

"It's bad," Liu Yang turned around, with a wry smile. "We don't know what happened, but Tangning looks pale. He asked for water just now, and we thought he was sick. But when we poured the water, we found him fainting again. We can't seem to wake him up now."

"Oh?" Zhang Yaoyang immediately got out of bed and went to check. He saw Tangning lying there, eyes shut tight, face pale, forehead covered in sweat, tightly wrapped in blankets.

Placing a hand on Tangning's forehead, indeed, it was burning hot.

"If things don't improve, we should call an ambulance," Zhang Yaoyang said nervously, picking up the phone and dialing 120.

"It seems we have no other choice," another dormmate, with dark skin, nodded. This roommate was named Wang Hao, also in the same class as Zhang Yaoyang. However, due to the tight bed situation, they were assigned to dorms in different classes. It was his invitation that brought Zhang Yaoyang and Liu Yang to this dorm.

Shortly after calling for emergency help, the ambulance arrived on campus. Several medical staff quickly carried a stretcher up to the sixth floor, briefly examined Tangning's condition, and then lifted him onto the stretcher.

"Doctor, what's wrong with him?" another dormmate asked anxiously.

"He has a high fever, seems a bit weak, perhaps exhausted from staying up late. We'll need to observe him at the hospital for more details. Where's your counselor? Let him come with us," the medical staff carrying the stretcher said, as they wheeled Tangning out of the dormitory.