Gu Shen sighed softly.

The second hypnosis was inevitable. Zhou Yexin was indeed more perceptive than others. She even noticed his Blazing Fire.

However, before hypnotizing her, he decided to tell her the truth that she had been seeking.

“That fire… is something similar to your pocket watch,” Gu Shen said calmly. “There are indeed phenomena that science can’t explain in this world. Your experimental research direction is right, and there’s nothing wrong with your thinking. Dreams and the material world are inextricably linked and influence each other. Matter affects the mind, and the mind, in turn, determines matter.

“That’s… one of the reasons why Mr. Tang Qingquan sent me.”

Gu Shen affirmed Zhou Yexin’s experimental direction.

But unexpectedly, she didn’t show a relieved or relaxed expression.

Calm.

Very calm.

Just calm.

Exploring transcendence in the world of ordinary people was a lonely path full of thorns, a lonely journey through storms and snow. From studying in the Central Continent to sampling and collecting data in Dadu, this woman’s experiments had undoubtedly faced countless challenges.

“I know.” She smiled lightly as she looked at the pocket watch. “… My experiments are correct. I’ve always known.”

She looked up. “Is Mr. Tang the same as you?”

“Yes. In a sense, we’re all the same. It’s just that a small number of people are a bit luckier.”

Gu Shen didn’t know what made Sister Xin so determined.

Suddenly, he thought of the Awakening Act and what Cui Zhongcheng had said by the lakeside. Transcendental awakenings could be artificially controlled. If the act were really enacted one day, then everyone would have the possibility of becoming a transcendent.

Perhaps, in the future, the secrets of transcendents would no longer be secrets.

After a moment of silence, he locked eyes with Zhou Yexin’s eyes and said seriously, “People like us… are called transcendents.”

“Transcendents…” Zhou Yexin murmured softly. She lowered his eyes, and strands of hair covered her face.

No one saw the slight moisture in her eyes.

She took a deep breath, wiped her face, and looked up. The Blazing Fire appeared on the young man’s forehead again.

“Sister Xin, thank you for your care these past few days,” Gu Shen said softly. “It’s not time yet. Please forget all of this.”

The Blazing Fire flickered.

The pocket watch vibrated. This time, it seemed to be fighting against Gu Shen.

Zhou Yexin smiled in relief as she grasped her pocket watch.

The next moment, as the will of its owner succumbed to sleep, the hands of the pocket watch stopped moving…

“Finally, it’s your turn.” Gu Shen’s gaze focused on the malfunctioning pocket watch. His Blazing Fire flew out and slowly merged into the center of Zhou Yexin’s forehead. “Let me take a good look at your true origin in the dream.”

…

Vehicles sped by.

The sunlight was dazzling.

When Gu Shen opened his eyes, he saw the cars zooming past on the asphalt road, the sudden roars and clamor rapidly sweeping past him into the distance.

This was the first time he had entered such a bright and warm dream. There were no oppressive black clouds nor strange rules. It was like an afternoon in reality, and even his mood was cheerful.

His intention was to use this hypnosis session to enter Zhou Yexin’s dream to investigate the origin of the pocket watch. Although the aura emanating from this transcendental item was weak, it was still a sealed object after all.

Is her first memory of the pocket watch from childhood?

Gu Shen lowered his head.

He saw a young and fair hand.

Then… he felt himself slowly walking forward. Although his vision could move freely, he couldn’t control the movements of his limbs.

The owner of this body was the childhood Zhou Yexin.

Although he had entered the dream, he was only a spectator, or rather, a ghost inhibiting the body of the host.

“Be careful.” A broad and powerful hand landed on his head.

Gu Shen saw a tall man in a suit holding ‘him’. This man’s voice was warm, making people feel inexplicably at ease, but his face was covered by a jumble of garbled characters…

Is he… Zhou Yexin’s father? Gu Shen was stunned. But… why is his face missing?

The girl in the dream said aggrievedly, “Dora is gone. I’m going to find her.”

The man squatted down. Garbled characters flowed across his face, but his voice was still soothing. “Don’t cry. Daddy will buy you another one.”

“But… if you buy another one… it won’t be Dora…” The girl sobbed as she wiped her face hard and tried her best to look across the street. Her voice was breaking. “I lost Dora… I want to find her…”

The man, whose face remained obscured, reached out and wiped the tears off the girl’s face. “Don’t cry. Crying will make your face look bad. Daddy will bring you to find Dora.”

He pulled the girl across the street and then across a lawn.

Gu Shen noticed… the colors of this dream suddenly changed. The originally warm sunlight began to dissipate, and the clouds were shrouded in gray. There were no longer any noisy car honks around, and the entire world became silent and lonely.

But the man holding her hand remained steady, giving off a strong sense of security.

Finally, the two of them stopped in front of a villa with red bricks and white tiles.

Daylight had faded away.

Heavy clouds loomed overhead.

At this moment, the dream was no longer as warm as it was at the beginning. Instead, an immense sense of oppression was coming from all directions.

“Daddy, I see Dora!” the girl shouted happily. Under the eaves of the villa, there was a rabbit plushie hanging, its small body swaying in the wind.

She had just taken a steep step when her joyful expression froze, and her voice came to an abrupt stop.

The originally clean little rabbit doll had its chest pierced through and its body hollowed out. It was suspended by a thin red string, swaying and covered in grime.

“We found Dora,” the man said softly. “Little Xin, stand here and don’t move. Daddy will help you bring Dora home.”

He walked toward the villa.

A clap of thunder rumbled in the heavy clouds.

With the sound of thunder, the villa in the dream suddenly exploded. Large shards of glass shattered, and a fierce blaze erupted from inside, shooting flames into the sky. The towering tongues of flames instantly swallowed her father.

The girl stood frozen in place, her pupils reflecting a ferocious, crimson sea of fire.

She was standing at the edge of the inferno.

A small flame sprouted from the wild grass at her feet, only to be extinguished immediately by the pouring rain.

Thunder rumbled, and rain poured down in torrents. The entire world was cold and silent, except for the ruined villa dancing in the flames. This place felt as hot as purgatory.

A tall figure was hit by the massive impact at the core of the explosion and sent flying backward. He landed heavily on the ground, but he didn’t die. Instead, he struggled to get up, knelt on the ground, and slowly crawled. Finally, he reached the boundary of the heavy rain and the blazing tide. With trembling hands, he handed over a doll.

The surface of the rabbit doll was coated with a light red coating, and as though time had reversed, it was restored to its original clean and unblemished appearance.

“Daddy…” The girl’s voice was very soft as she took the rabbit and hugged it tightly in her arms. She recognized the man burned beyond recognition.

This time, the man didn’t wipe her tears away.

He raised his palm reluctantly, wanting to touch her, but he restrained himself in the end. “Little Xin… Be good from now on…”

The man smiled gently. The crimson flames had completely devoured him, making him look like a miserable bloody man. These were flames incomprehensible to ordinary people. They were as dazzling as blood and seemed to be able to devour and burn everything.

The wind howled, and in the torrential rain, the blood-red flames swayed wildly like malicious ghosts laughing maniacally.

Her father’s figure was consumed by the fire, extinguished by the wind, and shattered by the rain.

The inferno raged on for a long time. The girl stood in the pouring rain, hugging the rabbit doll tightly. Countless passersby moved by in the dream world. They were all insignificant figures, merely dark silhouettes and blurry faces in the dream.

Finally, the wail of sirens came, and an ambulance arrived.

Many people gathered in front of the burning sea of fire, observing, investigating, and collecting evidence.

But there was nothing left here.

Not even a scape of clothes could be found. All traces proving this man’s existence had been incinerated into nothingness.

Only a lone survivor remained… a little girl holding a rabbit doll.

After a long time, everyone dispersed.

After the fire, this dream never saw a sunny day again. It was forever shrouded in gloom and rain.

The little girl felt a hard object in Dora’s body.

Tick.

Tick.

In the silent dream, an orderly and monotonous ticking sound appeared.

The girl took out the only relic her father had left in the fire from the rabbit doll.

It was a pocket watch.

The pocket watch was severely damaged. The dial was broken, making it impossible to tell time correctly, and the hands were permanently fixed at the twelve o’clock mark.

But…

It was still ticking.