Chapter 160: Dream

Chapter 160: Dream

"This is the apocalypse now; your heart can no longer be as soft as it used to be. It is true that everyone has the right to survive, but no one should ever cede their right to live. Surviving in this world for long is not easy. You must either possess extraordinary wisdom, mighty power, or peerless luck..."

"Yet, the absolute prerequisite for all of this is that you possess exceptional daring."

"Lacking nerve, lacking courage, and unable to harden your heart—even with wisdom and power, it will all be to no avail."

"Indeed." Recalling Li Qingshui's words, Liu Chang sighed silently. There were things Li Qingshui had said that he did not understand, nor did he care to understand. He had always been an ordinary student. It was not that he lacked the courage to face death at times, but he had always harbored an aversion to getting his own hands stained with blood.

"Unable to harden your heart, even with wisdom and power, it is to no avail..." The words Li Qingshui once spoke ultimately came true for the man himself—in the very end, it was because he could not harden his heart that he sacrificed himself.

Otherwise, relying on his wisdom and might, even if humanity truly vanished from this beautiful planet in the absolute end, he would have been the very last one to disappear.

"Sigh." Thinking of this person who appeared cold and merciless on the outside yet had a heart as soft as tofu on the inside, Liu Chang let out a heavy sigh. "Let's stop here for today; I'm tired."

"Oh, alright." Seeing that Liu Chang had lost interest in talking, Li Feng smiled and said in a slightly apologetic tone, "Look at me, I got so caught up listening about what the outside world is like that I lost track of time. You haven't had a proper rest in over ten days, haven't you? Come, I'll take you somewhere to rest. We have rooms in the back specifically for guests, follow me..."

Speaking as he went, Li Feng took the lead on his own accord. "In this day and age, food and water are hard to find, but empty houses are not. Come on, follow me..."

"Hmm." Liu Chang nodded and followed closely behind.

Bypassing the front hall and heading into the rear, he found a motel-style structure. The building was simple and cozy, making it a good place to live. After leading Liu Chang to a doorway, Li Feng smiled and bade him farewell.

"Get some good rest. I know you must be exhausted from days of continuous toil, but even if you don't do anything else, holding something soft while you sleep is still a spiritual enjoyment."

These were Li Feng's final words before leaving the room.

Watching Li Feng leave, Liu Chang promptly pushed open the door—and as he expected, he saw a woman inside. A gentle woman, a fair-skinned woman, a woman who was currently reading a book.

"Uh, I just want to sleep." Upon entering the room, Liu Chang issued an eviction notice. "You can leave now."

"Oh." Hearing the door click, the woman turned her head to look at Liu Chang. "You look exhausted."

"Yes, I haven't had a proper sleep in over ten days." He placed his carry-on backpack and firearm on the table. "Please go out, I want to sleep."

"Alright." The woman put down her book, opened the door, and walked out.

"Hey..." Seeing her comply so readily, Liu Chang, who had just prepared his defense lines for driving someone away, was left at a loss. "You really are..."

"Refreshing?" The woman stood in the doorway, looking back at Liu Chang.

"Hmm."

"Because I can tell that you're truly exhausted, and with me around, you wouldn't be able to sleep with peace of mind." The woman smiled and said, "So, rather than wasting words, I might as well just come find you tomorrow."

"Hehe, so that's how it is. You really are a strange woman." Liu Chang asked, "Then if you go back like this, how will you explain it to Li Feng?"

"No explanation needed. I'm hired help; I keep you company for a day, and I get a pound of food," the woman said. "Not a bad reward, so I hope you won't turn me down tomorrow!"

With those words, the woman gently brushed her hand across Liu Chang's chest, gave him a charming smile, and closed the door behind her. This teasing, tantalizing touch did indeed stir up some emotions in Liu Chang, but fortunately, he was simply too exhausted and weighed down by too many worries, so the fleeting emotion vanished the moment it appeared.

After setting down his belongings, he stripped off his clothes, crawled into the long-missed bed, and drifted off to dreamland with his ears perked up, maintaining a shred of vigilance.

That night, whether due to the soft bed or not, Liu Chang felt as though he had a very long dream. He dreamed that he had returned to the primordial era, an age of shifting seas and changing lands, an era without humans—it was as if memories buried deep within the most ancient layers of his genes had awakened, making the dream feel unimaginably real.

He dreamed that he had turned into a fish, contending with his own kind in the vast ocean;

He dreamed that he had turned into a frog, watching small flying insects darting back and forth right before his eyes;

He dreamed that he had turned into a bird in flight, gazing down from the sky at the boundless earth below;

He even dreamed that he had turned into a beetle, burrowing deep into the limitless ground...

Every fragment of the dream was crystal clear. Bizarre and fantastical though they were, Liu Chang felt that these things were utterly real, as if he had experienced them firsthand—so real that even long after waking up, he still could not fully snap out of it.

Sitting at the head of the bed, the morning sunlight shone upon his cheeks. Although the light was no longer bright and the world remained crimson, a sound sleep had indeed made him feel considerably better. Just as he was reveling in this rare peace and recalling the dream from the previous night, the door was knocked on with a "thud, thud."

"Are you awake?" A girl's voice sounded from outside the door.

"Hmm." Liu Chang acknowledged—he knew it was the girl who had left the night before. "Is something the matter?"

"I've brought you breakfast."

"Oh, come on in then!"

The door opened, and the girl walked in carrying a wooden tray. On the tray were two purple yam-like objects. They had been steamed, and their fresh fragrance could be smelled from afar.

"Li Feng asked me to bring this food to you." The girl handed the wooden tray to Liu Chang.

"Oh." Picking up one of the purple yams, Liu Chang sniffed it, still feeling somewhat suspicious.

"It's fine, definitely not poisonous. If you don't believe me, do you want me to taste it for you first?" The girl flashed a playful smile, picked up the other purple yam from the tray, took a large bite, and mumbled with her mouth full, "See, no poison..."

"It's not poisonous, and even if it were, it probably couldn't kill me anyway." Recalling the scene of the poisonous lizard mysteriously dropping dead in the woods days ago, Liu Chang felt reassured, bit into his food, and said, "Accompany me for a stroll around the city today. I want to understand the distribution of factions here; I have some business to attend to."