Chapter 18: The Direction of Dreams

  For the convenience of future contact between my brother and me, I didn't return to my dormitory this time, but returned to my brother's dormitory. His dormitory is on the 2nd floor of another higher dormitory building (with the same number of floors as mine), room 2222, a single room. My brother Gaofeng said according to his memory: "The first floor is too low and the light is too dark. People usually choose the second floor. To say nothing of others, he still has good eyesight." I also agreed.

  As I entered my brother's dormitory, I suddenly felt the unfairness of the treatment. But after careful consideration, it was still that sentence: strength determines treatment. This is an eternal truth, and even more so in a world of cultivators. As for what specific differences there are, I won't elaborate one by one. To put it simply, everything is available as it should be.

  I sat in my brother's dormitory for a while, and suddenly I felt hungry. If it were usual, I would have been starving by now, but today I didn't feel hungry until now. It reminded me of the ripple effect - my brother's stomach also growled. We looked at each other and smiled. My brother took me to a nearby canteen for dinner. There are twelve canteens in our college, each with two floors. This time we went to the first floor of the first canteen. Since it was a holiday and New Year's Day, there were not many food options available. The people eating here were sparse. My brother and I spent three red stones to buy six buns, and then spent another two red stones to buy two cups of soy milk to take back to the dormitory.

  Due to the richness of species, the fillings of the Interdimensional Baozi are diverse and varied. After finishing dinner, we went to bed early that night and quickly fell into a dreamland. My brother's dream was no longer the same as mine this time; my brother dreamed that the Dragon God Xiao Tian ate something and split into two, while I dreamed of an unfamiliar place where ancient trees reached the sky, strange flowers and grasses were countless, ordinary wild beasts roamed about, and my shadow floated like the wind, traversing mountains and rivers without startling a single wild beast. It seemed to be drifting forward with a specific goal in mind, always feeling that there was something ahead that was attracting me.

  I clearly remember that I had floated over three mountains, two rivers and a forest, when suddenly I floated in front of a large mountain. The mountain was bare and didn't match the surrounding environment at all, but it was clear that some kind of attraction came from within the mountain.

  I circled around the mountain, searching for a way up. Why did it stop drifting on its own when I approached? I thought to myself: This must be an obstacle set by heaven for me. So I had no choice but to use my legs to climb and search all over the mountain, but couldn't find any direction. The attraction was clearly there, but I didn't know where it came from. However, I have a strong curiosity. For that obsession in my heart, I would make 100% effort. So even if I couldn't find it for a while, I wouldn't get angry, but instead became more motivated, as if my desire to explore was ignited. Until I felt my legs getting heavy, as if they were tied up with huge stones, and the lactic acid fermentation feeling gradually numbed my legs. I persisted in crawling, hoping to find some clues. My hips, abdomen, waist, and hands slowly became powerless. At this time, I clearly felt that the attraction was just ahead, but... but my vision gradually blurred.

  I struggled to open my eyes, wanting to see what was in front of me. Suddenly, I heard my brother calling me: "Gaoming, hurry up and get out of bed! Today we still have to continue showing you around the campus." In an instant, all my efforts turned into a dream bubble, and I could only helplessly stretch and get out of bed. This can't be blamed on my brother; after all, who knows what others are dreaming about? He was just being kind.

  My brother saw my expression and seemed unhappy, knowing he had disturbed my beautiful dream. He teased me, saying: "Haha, didn't you have a spring dream that I ruined? Your face looks really bad!" I couldn't help but laugh and cry at the same time, saying: "You're thinking too much, your mind is so evil!" After finishing speaking, I made an innocent face, and surprisingly, my brother was also shocked by my sudden state. However, after a while, he reacted again, laughing slyly and saying: "We're already over 20 years old, what's the point of pretending to be pure? Go deceive some little loli, hehehe..."

  I was speechless, unable to utter a word, and my brother's words left me tongue-tied. Although I hadn't lied, the dream was only known to me, and during the day, my nickname "Little Plum" had been seen by my brother. So it was my brother who said this, leaving me truly at a loss for words, silently thinking of how to get back at him. But I have another trait - I'm forgetful. Once I've mentally balanced out an unpleasant matter, I tend to forget about it.

  I've already prepared for the conversation, had breakfast and headed out to meet at the place we parted ways yesterday.

  Today, Rose wore a pink short skirt, with a pink bracelet on her hand and a pink gemstone necklace around her neck. Her long red hair was styled in a bun, resembling a half-open rose, exuding elegance and playfulness. Little Plum had two ponytails made from her black hair, wearing a pink long dress that made her look like a jasmine flower no matter how you looked at her. My brother wore a white outfit as snowy as snow, with his black hair casually fluttering about. When he smiled with his head raised, he showed off the demeanor of a carefree hero. As for me, I wore a tight-fitting plain outfit, with my black hair neatly draped over my shoulders. My round face still had a gentle smile, and although I was slightly chubby, I stood tall like a pine tree.

  We exchanged a few pleasantries and resumed yesterday's formation. My brother took the initiative to attack, wrapping Rose in one direction, I don't know what he said, but it made Rose laugh with a silvery bell-like laughter all the way.

  I walked with Xiaomei, and she pointed out some interesting places to me, explaining them one by one. I would occasionally ask questions, then suddenly come up with strange ideas, asking weird questions or making comments that often made Xiaomei's eyes widen in surprise, staring at me intently as if afraid of missing a single word. Often, voices like "Wow, really? Ah, amazing! There's such an expression!" could be heard, like the chirping of birds, and I couldn't help but feel secretly pleased with myself - after all, my experience of over 20 years was not something that a little loli like her could compare to.

  Unconsciously, night fell, and they reluctantly parted ways, agreeing to meet again at the farewell place the next day.

  At night, my brother and I repeated the dream of last night. This time, I finally arrived at the bald mountain with ease, and after some effort, I finally found my target - a narrow cave in the pile of rocks. Just as I was about to enter, my brother woke me up. This time, he didn't tease me, but instead asked me seriously: "Gaoming, what did you dream about?"

  I couldn't help but feel a shiver run down my spine, and I replied seriously: "I dreamed of a magical place that felt like it was within the academy, but I didn't know where it was. The mountains and waters were all unfamiliar, as if something was drawing me in. Just when I was about to find it, you woke me up."

  My brother's eyes lit up, and he hastily asked, "What's the situation like? For example, what level are the monsters?" I replied, "It seems to be just wild beasts, I don't know if there are any monsters." My brother was excited, saying, "It should be that place, no mistake." I asked doubtfully, "Which place?" My brother explained, "That place is an independent space, a new-born practice ground. It can't be seen from the outside. Let's go take a look later." As soon as I heard this, my energy was boosted, and I quickly got dressed, washed up, and ate. Under my brother's lead, we bought some outdoor equipment and then told Rose sister where we were going to meet up.

  I just wanted to let them know that I was going, but as soon as they heard, they got excited and asked to come along. We didn't have any objections, and it seemed like there wouldn't be any danger or confidentiality issues, so we agreed.