Chapter 80

It was already late at night, and Hao Ren was making the final preparations for his journey to the Dream Plane.

Actually... what preparations? Just go to bed and you're in. No matter how much you prepare outside, it won't be of any use!

Lily had been quite exhausted over the past two days, and she needed to conserve her strength for the full moon in a few days, so she went to bed early, before nine o'clock. Only Vivian and Izax were left in the living room, busily helping Hao Ren. Vivian made a large pot of medicinal soup, which she claimed would help with one's vitality, and made Hao Ren drink two large bowls of it. She then looked at him with particular concern: "How do you feel? Is your mental state better?"

Hao Ren smacked his lips; the strange taste of the medicinal soup made his tongue numb. But seeing the serious expression on Vivian's face, he couldn't refuse, so he nodded: "Yeah, it works. I feel as refreshed as if I just woke up from a good sleep..."

"Then have some more!" Vivian was immediately delighted and grabbed the bowl to scoop out two more spoons of the black, oily soup, "Let me tell you, the herbs in this are no longer recognized by anyone, not even old Chinese doctors. This recipe was written down by Li Shizhen when he passed through a small village. Drinking it will invigorate and stabilize your spirit. Going to the Dream Plane is essentially having a nightmare, and as long as your mental strength is stable, even the most terrifying nightmare won't be a problem."

Hao Ren quickly waved his hands, asking Vivian to take the bowl away: "That's enough, enough. If I drink any more, I won't need to sleep at all. Come on, you guys don't need to be so nervous. I'm just going to sleep..."

"How can we not be nervous!" Vivian put the medicinal soup on the table, "I've heard it all. The Dream Plane isn't just a simple dream. Many people have died there. Raven 12345 only said she would ensure you don't die, but being half-dead still counts as not dying!"

Even Vivian could say such things, which showed how widely known Raven 12345's bad reputation was.

"If my blood magic worked on you, it would be great," Vivian suddenly sighed, "Blood magic has many spells specifically targeting the mind, which would be much more effective than making you drink this stuff. Why doesn't blood magic work on you..."

Even Raven 12345 couldn't explain this, so Hao Ren could only laugh awkwardly and brush it off. Izax took the opportunity to speak up: "I can try to use our magic to give you some protection?"

Hao Ren waved his hand: "Don't bother. My body is magic-resistant; even the buffs from my teammates don't work. What a lousy constitution..."

"How do you know if you don't try?" Izax was stubborn and had to try whatever he thought of. He didn't care what Hao Ren said and directly wrote a dark green rune in the air, then slapped it on Hao Ren's back, "See? It works, doesn't it?"

Hao Ren was completely taken aback. When he realized the demon had instantly cast a spell, he felt a sudden clarity in his mind, and his perception of the environment improved to a level he had never experienced before. He wasn't sure what mental strength was, but he could definitely tell that the rune Izax had placed on him had stimulated his mental power!

"But I'm supposed to be magic-resistant..." Hao Ren found the temporary boost in mental strength particularly novel, but what surprised him more was that he hadn't resisted the rune. A few seconds later, he remembered what Raven 12345 had said, "Partial resistance... I remember, that crazy woman said I'm partially magic-resistant!"

"Does that mean you're not resistant to demonic power?" Vivian looked at this scene in surprise and suddenly frowned, "Then be careful in the future. Don't think you're immune to magic. Getting tricked by other demons won't be fun. Not every demon is as friendly as the big guy."

Hao Ren nodded repeatedly and then stood up: "Alright, I feel better than ever. I'm going to bed now. Vivian, you stay up late, right? So you can help keep watch. Raven 12345 said that connecting to the Dream Plane might cause some anomalies around you. Help observe and note them down. I'll report to Raven 12345 later."

Vivian agreed, and Izax scratched his bald head and smiled: "I'll help keep an eye out too. I'm quite interested in your world's 'Dream Plane,' but I can't enter it, so I'll just watch from the sidelines."

Hao Ren thought to himself that he was finally a big shot. Just look, he hadn't even gone back to his room, and he already had a vampire and a demon as his bodyguards. What kind of person gets such treatment? But as he walked to the door with a proud and determined stride, he felt something was off. He thought for a moment and then said with a wry smile, "Hey, I'm just going to bed. Could you two not look at me like you're sending Jing Ke off to cross the Yi River..."

Vivian and Izax said "Oh" and lowered their heads solemnly, making the entire living room feel like a wake.

Hao Ren: "..."

He knew he couldn't communicate with these two, so he could only shake his head and go back to his room. He lay down on the bed, adjusted his mindset as Raven 12345 had instructed, and silently repeated the self-hypnosis phrases, placing the data terminal beside him and waiting for the Dream Plane to arrive.

Half an hour later, the door opened, and Hao Ren, wearing his pajamas, swaggered out. Vivian and Izax looked at him in surprise: "Landlord, is it over already?!"

Hao Ren scratched his face awkwardly: "...I just went to the bathroom. Those two bowls of soup were too powerful."

Vivian: "..."

After taking care of his urgent need, Hao Ren returned to his room and lay down again. Half an hour later, he finally realized something—Vivian's medicinal soup and Izax's magic had indeed strengthened his mental power, but they also had a common effect: they kept him awake!

What a lousy situation, he was now suffering from insomnia!

"I should have known that I don't have many reliable people around me and shouldn't have let them busy themselves like this!" Hao Ren suddenly sat up but then lay back down: What could he do by running out now? Could he let Vivian punch him unconscious? Or let Izax use magic to put him to sleep? Not to mention whether it would work, but forced sleep induced by external forces wouldn't allow him to enter the Dream Plane...

Hao Ren tossed and turned in bed, and finally, with no other choice, he touched the data terminal by his pillow: "Connect to Raven 12345."

Dialing the number 00000012345 on a phone wouldn't reach the crazy woman, only the data terminal could connect to the dedicated line. Fortunately, Raven 12345 was on duty and apparently hadn't slept, so her loud and boisterous voice quickly echoed in Hao Ren's mind: "Hey, Hao Ren, you've already taken a trip to the Dream Plane? That fast?"

"Not yet, I've run into a problem and can't get in..."

Raven 12345 sounded surprised: "Can't get in? Didn't I tell you the methods for mental adjustment and self-hypnosis? At the very least, the data terminal could guide you."

"It's not that. I'm suffering from insomnia."

Raven 12345: "...What the hell! Can you be a bit more reliable?"

Hao Ren really didn't want to be evaluated like this by a crazy woman, but reality forced him to laugh awkwardly and explain the situation. After listening, Raven 12345 was speechless for a long time before finally saying, "What kind of people do you have around you... What kind of people did I end up with..."

"Then... what should I do?"

"Don't worry, I'll think of something," Raven 12345 said with authority, and Hao Ren immediately felt a surge of hope, thinking that this crazy woman was finally willing to use her goddess powers to do something useful. But her next words were, "I'll sing you a lullaby..."

Hao Ren couldn't remember what happened next. He only remembered that the moment Raven 12345 started singing, everything went black.

When he opened his eyes again, he found himself in a vast grassland.

Two moons, one large and one small, hung in the sky. The night breeze blew across the grassland, and the stars above were brilliant and unfamiliar. The surroundings were familiar from his previous visit. Hao Ren realized he had successfully entered the Dream Plane, and... he was back in the same place as before.

A faint howl of wolves came from somewhere unknown.

"Damn!" Hao Ren was shocked, "Is this a dream that needs to be split into parts? Continuing from where I left off last time?"

Page AD starts

Page AD ends