Chapter 932: The Weekend Arrives

“Not bad, a decent batch of popcorn.” After leaving the theater, Francia savored the taste for a few seconds and remarked sincerely.

Beside her, the crowd exiting the theater streamed into the already closed mall, heading toward a single functioning elevator under dim lighting.

Jianna fell silent for a moment, then spoke with a mix of longing and melancholy:

“With movies now, will anyone still watch theater performances…?”

Francia understood why Jianna said that, and replied in a comforting tone:

“People still watch them—plays and operas have their own unique qualities and charm, and they’re still appreciated by a significant portion of the audience, just no longer the societal norm.”

“And…”

Francia deliberately lightened her tone:

“Stage actors are actors, and TV and film actors are actors too.”

Jianna instantly slipped into thought:

“True, but the performance setting has changed, and many acting techniques must be adjusted, or they’ll seem overdone…”

When the exiting crowd thinned out, Lumian mused aloud:

“If the power of the ‘Mother of Desires’ leaks out of Mushi Hospital, wouldn’t actors be especially vulnerable to its influence?”

“Uh…” Francia hesitated, then sighed. “Possibly. Some of them live in luxury and are flooded with desires.”

Lumian nodded, took Ludvig’s hand, and followed the remaining audience toward the elevator designated for theatergoers to exit after the mall closed.

Along the way, Francia felt the environment was extremely dim; the few remaining lights barely illuminated the floor and obstacles, enough only to prevent tripping or bumping into things.

“It has a ‘weird tale’ atmosphere.” Francia remembered that their outing tonight was meant to test the boundaries of the phrase “Beware the Night,” and from the data provided by the Major Arcana cards, she knew the “Diviner,” the Rank 4 path of the “Fool,” was called the “Weird Magician”—so she deliberately used “weird” to describe the story, not “ghost.”

Hearing this, Jianna, already highly alert, grew even more wary.

Lumian acted as if nothing had happened, leading Ludvig into the elevator—but as Francia and Jianna followed him in, he kept the door open button pressed, turned his body slightly, and smiled at the others in the elevator:

“Sorry, I’ve got one more companion who hasn’t come in yet.”

The exiting audience instinctively glanced outside—and saw no one in the elevator lobby, no footsteps approaching from afar.

Their hearts suddenly lurched.

Lumian released the button and smiled at everyone:

“Alright, alright, he’s in now.”

The eyes of the others in the elevator froze.

They hadn’t seen anyone enter.

Bam—Francia slapped Lumian’s shoulder and laughed:

“Having fun playing pranks, huh?”

Since entering the Dream City, influenced by online information and daily surroundings, she’d gradually regained the local way of speaking.

After scolding him, she quickly apologized to the others in the elevator:

“Sorry, sorry—my friend’s mind often glitches. Please forgive his unstable mental state.”

The exiting audience, whose anger had begun to rise, found it hard to hold onto it when such a beautiful woman sincerely apologized; they merely turned their gazes toward Lumian.

He had to apologize too!

Lumian immediately bowed slightly:

“Sorry, I went too far with the joke.”

The people in the elevator sized up Francia and Lumian—some regretted such a lovely flower had chosen a mentally unstable guy, others thought the guy’s face was wasted, wishing they could crowdfund to fix his brain.

At that moment, the elevator doors slowly closed and began descending.

Suddenly, the elevator’s lights flickered.

Everyone’s hearts rose to their throats.

Francia and Jianna thought of “Beware the Night”; the others recalled Lumian’s earlier prank.

Fortunately, the flickering didn’t disrupt the elevator’s operation—some exiting audience members got off on the first floor, while others, including Lumian’s group, descended to the underground parking lot.

Back in the rented gray sedan, Francia didn’t remark, “Everything’s normal; that was just a minor interlude.”

She firmly resisted any behavior that might invoke a jinx.

She turned to Lumian and asked curiously:

“Why did you suddenly pull that prank?”

Lumian chuckled:

“At that moment, I suddenly wondered—if Anthony’s ‘Psychological Invisibility’ were uncontrollable, might something similar happen? So I tried it.”

Upon hearing Anthony’s name, Francia and Jianna instantly turned to look at the back seat.

Seeing Anthony, they both exhaled in quiet relief.

Good, good—he really got in the car.

I remembered he got in!

Lumian continued:

“Also, this moderately harmless prank, combined with the relatively enclosed environment of an elevator and the factor of night, might trigger some observable effects without drawing unwanted attention.”

“Did it trigger anything?” Francia pressed.

“I’m not sure if the elevator lights flickering afterward was a result of the experiment,” Lumian replied thoughtfully.

“Is that even considered one?” Jianna thought it was merely a mechanical malfunction, and nothing unusual followed.

Lumian smiled:

“Don’t you feel the flickering lights made it feel even more like a ‘weird tale’?”

“My prank was deliberately designed to lean into that ‘weird tale’ direction.”

Francia, now driving the car out of the parking space, suddenly understood:

“So this is based on the Major Arcana cards’ description of the ‘Weird Magician’—testing whether it can trigger the dream’s subconscious instincts to produce a certain, controllable change?”

“It’s more likely to happen at night—it’s part of the dream’s darker, more malevolent side,” Lumian had entertained similar thoughts before leaving.

They dared not conduct further experiments, returning to their rented neighborhood by car, fearing they might provoke the Celestial Lord and draw His gaze.

Nothing unusual occurred along the way.

Back in the rented apartment, Lumian looked around and said:

“So far, it seems that unless we interact with Mr. Fool or key dream figures, or investigate occult matters, even going out at night won’t lead to abnormalities.”

“Of course, this is only the result of one night’s experiment—it can’t yet be a conclusion. We need to repeat it multiple times to verify.”

Francia and Jianna exhaled, their tension easing.

Ludvig’s face lit up with joy:

“So can we go eat barbecue now?”

Francia glanced at the innocent boy and muttered inwardly:

The main reason we don’t take you out for barbecue at night isn’t “Beware the Night”—it’s that we’re broke!

…………

Weekend. Inside the rented apartment.

A blackboard formed of frost was stuck to the wall, its surface pinned with sketches and photographs, each surrounded by sticky notes in different colors, each bearing words or descriptions.

These sketches and photos corresponded to different target individuals; white sticky notes recorded the team’s observational findings, while corresponding excerpts from the Major Arcana cards’ data were copied onto light green sticky notes and placed side by side on the frost board.

Lumian, whose “Conspirator” ability had been suppressed to Rank 7, stood before the frost blackboard, stroking his chin, scanning back and forth, searching for subtle details that might be problematic yet overlooked by the Major Arcana cards.

“No particularly valuable findings, except for that unfortunate incident,” Francia shook her head after reviewing the board seven or eight times.

Anthony nodded along.

Jianna checked her phone and said:

“We should head to Dream Tutoring Center.”

Ludvig, who had been watching an animated show and constantly “ordering food” based on its content, immediately drooped his face.

“Mm.” Lumian pulled his gaze away and slid the frost blackboard into Jianna’s “Traveler’s Satchel.”

After parking the car opposite the Dream Tutoring Center, Lumian opened the door and stepped out with Ludvig.

He told Francia, Jianna, and Anthony:

“From now on, keep your distance from me and Ludvig—no phone calls, no WeChat messages. Neither I nor Ludvig will return tonight. We’ll meet up with you tomorrow at dawn, once we confirm everything’s safe.”

Francia and the others nodded solemnly, offering no objections.

This was because Lumian would likely encounter Mr. Fool’s dream incarnation, Zhou Mingrui, at the Dream Tutoring Center, and exchange a sentence or two—something that might be detected by the Celestial Lord and cause him to be ejected from the dream. The team had to split—no one could be ejected and drag the whole group down.

Each person could only be ejected from the dream three times—absolutely no wasting chances!

After closing the car door, Lumian took Ludvig’s hand, crossed the pedestrian crossing, and entered the Dream Tutoring Center.

“Ah, Li Lu’s here,” the dark-skinned receptionist recognized Ludvig.

He wasn’t impressed by the boy—he was impressed by the boy’s mother.

Ludvig’s face remained grim; he didn’t respond.

The dark-skinned receptionist turned to Lumian:

“You need to sign in. Who are you?”

“I’m Li Lu’s father,” Lumian replied calmly.

The receptionist was stunned:

Li Lu’s mother looked young enough, but how come his father also looks so young?

Early romance, early marriage, early parenthood, right?

After signing in, the receptionist led Lumian to the entrance of the English beginner class.

Foreign teacher Anderson stood at the front of the classroom, a handkerchief covering his left fist, smiling at the children in the room.

“Guess what I can make appear?”

“Flowers!” “Table tennis ball!” “Panda!” the children responded cheerfully.

Anderson lifted the handkerchief—nothing was there.

“I made air appear!” he announced loudly.

The children made mocking noises, but Anderson still smiled warmly.

He spotted Lu Mi and Ludwig at the door, walked over, and said to Lu Mi:

"You're here for the English beginner class too?"

“Though you’re a bit older and your mind is set, it doesn’t matter—willingness to learn is always good, though good intentions don’t always yield good results.”

“I’m Li Lu’s father,” Lu Mi said, pointing to Ludwig, unfazed by the provocation.

He added casually:

“Teacher Anderson, can I add you on WeChat? If Li Lu misbehaves, you can reach out to me anytime.”

Anderson looked at Lu Mi for a few seconds, then laughed:

“Sure.”

Through scanning the code, Lu Mi added Anderson Hu De on WeChat.

The foreign teacher’s WeChat name was “A Name That Will Impress You.”

(End of Chapter)