It was raining heavily again, and it hit the red umbrella wetly.
The man with the umbrella disappeared into the gray rain.
No. 9 looked at the direction where the red umbrella was leaving, a little light flashed in his dark eyes, and a strange emotion grew and spread in his chest.
Perhaps the other party's red umbrella was too dazzling. After he left, this barren city soaked in rain became gloomy and monotonous. All the colors were washed away by the afternoon rain, and the rest of the time became dull.
When the world is completely dark, No. 9 realizes that the night has finally come.
Chi Nan. He should never forget the name.
He suddenly had a thought, when the next time they meet, he wants to call each other "Brother Nan".
…
"Brother Nan?"
You Yu woke up in the heavy rain, and his blood cooled immediately without Chi Nan's response, "Brother Nan, are you still there?"
The 229 days of Chi Nan's disappearance made him suffer from gain and loss.
You Yu wiped the wet rain on his face and opened his eyes, and found himself in a neon light shadow with a pool of water on the ground. After confirming from the reflection that his right eye still belonged to Chi Nan's green, he tightened his grip. The nerves relaxed a little.
At this moment, Chi Nan finally woke up from his consciousness, and his voice was still a little sleepy and hoarse: "I just... synchronized with the consciousness of the Dream God."
You Yu frowned, but quickly cleared his mind from the chaotic status quo: "Is it the memory you lost?"
Chi Nan hesitated, "Yeah."
"It should be the reward clue we got for clearing the second layer of Dreamland." You Yu said.
He thinks from the perspective of a dreamer, and puts all the ridiculous things at the moment neatly into the regular box, so that everything looks orderly.
Chi Nan: "I also saw the number 9 when I grew up from this memory."
You Yu: "Have you also seen the birth of "The Crying Boy"?"
"Yes," Paused Chi Nan and continued, "I... saw you too."
"Huh?" You Yu's heartbeat stopped.
Chi Nan: "Number 9 is you."
"what?"
The pattering world came to a standstill in front of You Yu, and his mind went blank for a moment.
"You Yu, number 9 is you."
Chi Nan repeated it in a clear and affirming voice.
Through the "sensory sharing" system, Chi Nan can empathize with You Yu's current state of muscle tension, blood and heart still functioning.
Through the puddle illuminated by neon lights, he saw You Yu's face was cold and white.
But this state didn't last long, and You Yu pulled away from the overwhelming shock.
He smiled lowly: "So that's the case... I should have thought of it earlier."
You Yu looked back and thought, in fact, there were clues and hints buried everywhere after the two met.
When they met on the carriage for the first time, his usual keenness and vigilance did not perceive the existence of No. 9, presumably because they were originally one person, and their breath and presence were highly similar or even identical, and they were mixed in a small space. Being together is indistinguishable from each other, not an 'outsider' who needs to be vigilant.
And in the short dozen or so hours after getting along, he felt familiarity from each other countless times, and some kind of intimacy or even tacit understanding that seemed to be innate... and the indifference in the face of death and fear .
Even the tragic childhood experiences of the two being sold as sacrifices by their biological mothers are highly similar... You Yu secretly tutted, suddenly not knowing whether to feel pitiful or ridiculous.
It turns out that he himself is the artist of "The Crying Boy"... In this way, many previous doubts have been found. It is not lucky that he can become the most senior dream maker. His death proves that the pocket watch will become the key to unlocking the authority. explain.
All things have long been buried for cause and effect.
"I'm really... I was jealous of myself before." You Yu said with a smile
Chi Nan: "Well, you are quite boring."
You Yu clicked his tongue: "However, even if I know that the 9th is 'me' from another time period, it doesn't prevent me from being jealous of 'he' now."
Chi Nan: "…"
Even knowing that You Yu was the painter who created "The Crying Boy" back then did not prevent Chi Nan from thinking that he was a complete pervert.
Chi Nan quickly told You Yu all the memories he had seen in the subconscious mind of the God of Dreams.
"So, we came back from hundreds of years later through the copy, and came to the time when you were the god of dreams, and successfully rescued No. 9...that is, the 'me' of this time period from the sacrifice ceremony organized by the wizard, And through the so-called conditions of closing the deal, let No. 9 settle in Dream City and become a down-to-earth street painter."
"On a very ordinary afternoon, on the 9th, a dream god who turned into an ordinary boy and went out for a walk finally came, so "The Crying Boy" was born."
"It's really bad. No. 9 actually speculates that the other party is an ugly old man in front of the dream maker," You Yu tutted in dissatisfaction, "It's no wonder that the first meeting gave people such a bad impression. We can't meet again in a hundred years, right, Nange?"
Chi Nan only said coldly, "Your drawing skills were better than you are now."
You Yu choked: "..."
Chi Nan took the focus back: "So in this nightmare copy, our time flows in a circle."
The future self goes back to the past and becomes an important part of driving events.
"Maybe it's not just this copy... The entire dream world is a time ring." Chi Nan lowered his voice and added another sentence.
You Yu took a deep breath: "In this annular structure, there is still a crucial event point missing."
"How on earth did the Dream God get sealed into "The Crying Boy"?"
The two spoke almost in unison, and then fell silent.
"But compared to this, I care more about the final result of this dungeon," You Yu's eyes darkened, "Brother Nan, this place is different from all previous dungeons. If the God of Dreams dies in this world, you will also Disappeared in reality, right?"
Chi Nan didn't answer, the answer to this question was clearly in front of him.
In this circular time structure, once there is an error in one of the links, the stability of the structure will be broken, and the present Chi Nan will also disappear due to his own death in the past.
After that... Maybe just like the 229 days when Chi Nan disappeared, everyone lost their memories of Chi Nan, and even the entire dream world disappeared...
Perhaps the rain was too cold, Chi Nan felt You Yu's body was trembling.
Chi Nan suddenly had an urge that he had never had before. He wanted to hug You Yu, who was standing and trembling secretly in the rain, took his wet shoulders into his arms, and whispered 'it's okay' in his ear until the other party stopped. Trembling and then letting go... or not letting go, it's okay to just hold it like this... even if the tears won't stop because of the deep touch...
It's a pity that he can't do anything now. He can only inhabit the senses of Yu Yu, trying to appease the other party in the way he is least good at.
"You Yu, I won't disappear," Chi Nan's voice was always calm, "The fact that I can appear here now shows that another 'I' has completed this cycle hundreds of years ago."
You Yu wiped the rain off his face, forced his lips, and said in a tone that was almost coquettish to his younger brother and elder brother: "Brother Nan, the gods have made a promise that must be fulfilled."
Chi Nan said with certainty: "Well, I will honor it."
"If it is a circular time structure, then there must be a connection from the past to the future," You Yu calmed down and analyzed, "For example, we have completed the "ghost tunnel" that traveled through time several times. "
Chi Nan: "From the past few times, the ghost tunnel appeared through some medium each time, the broadcast of Highway 404, the windows of Zicheng 206, and the paintings of the office building of Liming Base. It was the paintings that brought us to the At this point in time, so…”
"The entrance to the ghost tunnel is in The Crying Boy."
The two spoke in unison again.
"Brother Nan, it seems we are going back to your old house." You Yu looked at the towering dawn tower in the rain.
"It seems that we have nowhere else to go." Chi Nan said.
From the memory of the Dream God, it is known that the "Crying Boy", which most likely hides the entrance of the ghost tunnel, has been brought back to the Dawn Tower by the Dream God.
"Lord God, is this the first time you have brought a boy home?" After less than two seconds of seriousness, You Yu returned to a stern look and teased.
Chi Nan: "…"
"But I don't understand one thing, is there any special role for the God of Dreams to give the pocket watch to No. 9?" Chi Nan muttered.
You Yu: "Maybe you just want to provide the identity information of No. 9?"
After a pause, he said thoughtfully, "There may be other intentions, but we can't know right now."
"Well, let's go to the Dawn Tower first."
The Dream City they are in now is much more dilapidated than what Chi Nan saw in the consciousness of the gods.
Rain shrouded the city's brightly lit night, but there was no one on the neon-flickering streets. When I looked closer, all the buildings were covered with moss and mildew. This city soaked in rain was completely deserted.
Chi Nan deduced that the current time should be a few years after the birth of "The Crying Boy". The negative emotions of human beings have deepened the pollution of the spiritual value of the Dream God, and the entire Dream City has been reduced to a ruin of negative energy.
Even those lunatics and criminals chose to leave here, or... those people have been buried here.
The Dawn Tower is the tallest building on the entire land. Just like the office building at Dawn Base, it stands tall and desolate on the horizon.
Before getting close to the tower, an invisible force rushed towards the face.
"Those people in the shaman organization have set spells around the tower, and these energies will cause damage to the Dream God."
You Yu had studied some witchcraft knowledge for the reason of compiling dreams, so he could immediately discern the energy field under the Dawn Tower.
He is also fortunate that Chi Nan is now hiding under his sensory system in the form of a 'parasitic', Chi Nan can only feel what he feels, and just perfectly avoids the harm and pain of these energies to him.
Are these just coincidences
You Yu never believed in coincidences, and was more inclined to believe that the system was designed to protect Chi Nan.
He quickly bypassed the inverse pentagram and blue flame snake pattern painted on the ground to the entrance of the tower, but he couldn't open the closed door of the Dawn Tower no matter what, even using Chi Nan's right eye to identify it, he was indifferent.
"It seems that the entire tower has activated the emergency closure system out of self-protection, and we can't go in now." After You Yu tried everything in vain, his tone was rarely impatient.
The rain was getting heavier and heavier, and the magic totems on the ground glowed in the puddles. You Yu knew that the energy field of the magic was strengthened.
At this moment, the cold voice of the system sounded—
[Congratulations to the two of you successfully entering the third-layer dreamland, please make the right choice based on the clues you have mastered, and wish you good luck]
Chi Nan just wanted to ask for a hint, the system seemed to be smart enough to master his behavior, and this time he took the initiative to say—
[Hint: At this stage, the witch formation under the Dawn Tower is a foregone conclusion. Dream participants don’t need to waste energy trying to destroy witchcraft. Please use your time and ability where you can make changes]
[Reminder: There are still 2 hours left until the spell completely destroys the Dawn Tower, please hurry up with the two]
After the cold explanation was completed, the system was silent again.
You Yu: "..." He patiently collapsed his lips into a line, and even had the urge to smash the system into scrap and sell it.
"The clues we have grasped are nothing more than the relationship between No. 9 and me, the relationship between the Dream God and you, as well as this nightmare, and even the dream world operates in a circular time structure."
You Yu frowned and concluded, but this information could not help them enter the self-enclosed Dawn Tower, much less save the gods.
Chi Nan will quickly go through all the details in his mind when he enters the copy, and suddenly Fu Zhixin: "You Yu, we need your pocket watch."
You Yu's dark eyes suddenly lit up, and Chi Nan continued, "The entrance from the first-layer dream to the second-layer dream is also "The Crying Boy", the prompt given by the system at that time was "Time and the Illuminati will guide us." Into a dream.” Correspondingly, time and light can also guide us to leave the dream. "
And the death pocket watch, which symbolized "time", was lost in the second-level dream, and appeared next to the dream-making god in the third-level dream, and the dream god personally handed it to the painting No. 9.
These are no coincidences!
"Only by finding the current number 9 can we get the 'key' to open the Dawn Tower." Chi Nan's voice dropped.
But the timeline has jumped several times. It has been several years since No. 9 created "The Crying Boy". It is still uncertain whether No. 9 has left Dream City. They only have two hours. It is impossible to find No. 9.
"I might be able to know where No. 9 is," You Yu raised his eyelids and looked at the vast desolate land and dark rain curtain behind the Dawn Tower, "if he is still alive."