Chapter 299: 295 A Real Dream

"Teacher Wumu, we are still at the book signing." The petite girl, dressed like a girl-next-door, whispered into the ear of the man who was lost in thought beside her. Seeing that he had been out of it since they met this morning, she couldn't help but feel a bit worried. "Are you not feeling well?"

The girl's breath blew a moist, warm breeze against his ear. Fang Mu slowly returned to his senses, seeing those beautiful, worried eyes beside him. He turned his gaze with slight stiffness toward the fan boy standing in front of him, who was holding his newly released work. The other party was trying hard to suppress his excitement to shake his hand, his eyes shining. Fang Mu stiffly pulled at the corners of his mouth and took the other's hand. "Th... thank you for liking my book."

"I really love your work, Teacher Wumu. The identity of Linpeng, the protagonist of your new book, had an ultimate reversal at the end. It was truly unexpected, making the tone of the entire story suddenly become even more terrifying and suffocating..." The fan boy was clearly a loyal reader. He quickly expressed his thoughts on the content of the book in his hands, the adoration in his eyes undisguised.

Fang Mu could tell that the person before him really liked the book he had written, but he was a bit dazed and hadn't actually heard what the other was saying later on. He just pretended to listen intently, his eyes devoid of light, and in the end, he said thank you repeatedly, his tone mixed with a trace of apology.

"Ever since I read your book, I don't know why, but I've had trouble sleeping. Maybe it's because it's too intense. I even dream of giant frogs and toads..." The fan boy scratched his head foolishly, picked up the signed book, and left while saying this last sentence.

Upon hearing this, Fang Mu shuddered inexplicably, as if a silver needle had pierced deep into his soul. A cold, stimulating sensation that penetrated his soul surged into his brain. A giant crouching shadow flashed through his mind, opening several massive red eyes to stare at him eerily, but in the blink of an eye, everything vanished again.

Rumble... pitter-patter...

The sudden rain fell incessantly outside the Longcheng Central Library where the new book signing was being held. The thick, dark clouds were like a gloomy, angry face, and the thunder sounded like a roar, issuing a complaint and warning to the humans who had lost their sense of awe for primordial nature. The readers who had finished the signing event returned home fully loaded with their signed books, completely indifferent to the pouring rain.

"Hey." Fang Mu, who was repeating his signature like a machine, heard this call and lifted his head sluggishly. His gaze shifted upward, and a handsome, smiling face came into view. It was a young man of about twenty, and a faint scent of incense radiated from him.

The fragrance was inhaled into his chest with his breath, refreshing and invigorating, making his muddled brain feel as if it had cleared up quite a bit in an instant.

"Uh, hello?" Fang Mu looked at the young man in white before him, feeling inexplicably close to him. But he felt the other party shouldn't be one of his readers, because he was the only one who hadn't brought any books. Out of politeness and caution, he asked him, "Excuse me, is there anything I can help you with?"

The young man in white smiled and said he didn't need any help, and instead asked if he needed any help.

Fang Mu had wanted to say he didn't need any help, but looking closely, he realized that this smiling young man didn't have his eyes completely curved in a smile. He was half-closing his eyes, and beneath those two-tenths open eyelids were a pair of calm eyes, a completely different emotion from the gentle smile on his face.

Fang Mu swallowed his saliva, his heart fluttering faintly. "I... I think I had a dream."

Looking at the young man, he felt both awe and intimacy, inexplicably wanting to pour out his heart to this stranger. "But I don't remember what dream I had."

"Oh." The arc of Lin Ling's mouth curled upward a bit more. "Was it a nightmare, or a sweet dream?"

A nightmare, a sweet dream...

Fang Mu was stumped. For a moment, he couldn't figure out how to describe the feeling he had when he woke up from the dream. After thinking for a long time, he came up with an imprecise description and replied: "It was a very real dream."

"If you can't even remember it, how can you feel it was real?" Lin Ling asked with a smile.

Fang Mu was speechless, unable to help but scratch his head, his breathing becoming somewhat erratic. "... I feel it. I don't remember the content, but some of the feelings are still there."

"Everything can lie to you, but your heart will not lie to you." Lin Ling nodded slightly, seemingly quite satisfied with this answer, his words carrying a hidden meaning.

Fang Mu subconsciously touched his chest. Suddenly, his breathing began to quicken. He felt a wave of dizziness, but he didn't want to faint just like that. He felt as if he had grasped some key, but that "key" was as hard to hold as a loach, constantly trying to escape from his thoughts.

"Are you really dreaming?" Lin Ling's smiling eyes gazed into Fang Mu's chaotic eyes.

A chill ran down the back of Fang Mu's head. For an instant, it was as if he heard a terrifying scream, and he felt the same way. Looking at Lin Ling was like looking at a terrifying monster, yet his appearance had never changed in his eyes. But within that unchanging appearance, one could read thousands of emotions, making one's mind feel like a tangled mess.

Wrong! Wrong! It's not me who is afraid!

I am not afraid!

It's not me! Who is it!?

Who is afraid!?

Fang Mu stood up excitedly, but his legs went weak, and he fell from his seat.

He fell to the ground, but no one helped him up, not even the little assistant who had been so attentive to him just a moment ago. No matter how he shouted, everything around him no longer responded to him, even the pouring rain outside stopped its wailing.

Only then did Fang Mu realize that the surroundings seemed to be frozen. It wasn't that everyone was ignoring him, but that they were solidified in this moment of space-time, like a 3D painting.

Fang Mu wanted to demand to know who Lin Ling was and what he had done, but when he turned his head, he found that the person was already gone. The frozen space-time resumed its flow, and the cold feeling at the back of his head slowly dissipated.

The crowd at the signing event saw Fang Mu suddenly fall from his seat and were all alarmed, helping him back up from the ground and asking after him with concern.

The signing event ended sloppily, just like the heavy rain earlier. It was thought to be a fierce storm; the weather broadcast had just issued a "red alert" an hour ago, and now it awkwardly announced it was a false alarm. Next, the sun would be bright, suitable for travel.

"Teacher Wumu, if you weren't feeling well, you should have told me in advance. You scared me to death just now." The little assistant twisted open an energy drink for Fang Mu and fed him the water.

Fang Mu drank a few mouthfuls, smacked his lips, and looked at the energy drink, lost in thought again.

"What's wrong?" Seeing Fang Mu's puzzled look, the little assistant nervously snatched the bottle to check it, took a sip herself, and smacked her lips in reflection. "It's not expired..."

"No... it's just that the taste is a bit nostalgic." Fang Mu laughed dryly.

"Ah, that's true. This is an old brand; it was produced back in my grandfather's generation. It was quite precious back then." The little assistant replied. She seemed to understand the history of this, but she didn't linger on this topic for too long, continuing from what happened just now. "Teacher Wumu, you keep touching your chest. Is your heart not feeling well? Sigh, if I had known you were going on a long trip, I would have stopped you. It must be because you were traveling alone and didn't have me by your side to take care of yourself."

Hearing her words, Fang Mu straightened his body. That feeling of grasping the key topped his head again, and he pointed at himself in shock. "I went on a long trip?"