The Book of Troubled Times

Chapter 1 Dream

In the university class, the professor was talking about the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms with great interest.

A burst of snoring came suddenly, and the professor stopped talking and looked at the source of the sound with an expressionless face.

The classmates also suppressed their smiles and turned around to look. In the corner seat in the last row, a tall young man was lying on the table, sleeping soundly.

"It's him again."

"What's going on with Zhao Changhe lately? He's obviously a vigorous athlete? Is he a young model in a club every day or is he studying Spring and Autumn at night?"

One roommate replied sadly: "No, he has been having nightmares every day recently. He wakes up in the middle of the night sweating profusely. Sometimes he shouts, which makes us all noisy."

"What is this, a ghost?"

The students' comments were heard in the professor's ears. The professor shook his head, but did not wake anyone up. He knocked on the podium calmly: "Continue."

Little did he know that Zhao Changhe had evolved to the point where he not only had nightmares at night, but also had nightmares even when he lay down and took a nap in class...

The noise in the classroom lingered in my ears in a daze, turning into the chaotic sounds in my dream. The sounds of footsteps, shouts of death, curses, screams, and the clash of gold and iron swords all mixed together.

The environment quickly became clear from blur, and Zhao Changhe knew that he had once again entered the dream that had been repeated these days.

It's the same ancient martial arts drama every time, with the same **** battles in different scenes.

You can already feel the familiar weight in your hand. It is a thick broad knife, about one and a half meters long and more than ten centimeters wide. Zhao Changhe must hold the long handle of the knife with both hands because he cannot swing it with one hand. Heavy stuff, even **** the hands.

The first time I didn't have it in my dream, I was chased and chopped with my bare hands, and I grabbed it casually next to a nearby corpse in a panic. From then on, it was fixed in every dream.

Zhao Changhe was not sure if there was such a knife in reality. It felt too heavy and could not last. It should not be a conventional weapon, but it was at least very useful in low-end melees, as long as you could swing it.

"Whoosh!" The sound of a sharp weapon breaking through the air came from the side. Zhao Changhe shouted loudly, twisted his waist, and used his waist strength to drive the heavy knife in his hand and sweep away.

The knife moves and the wind blows!

The attacker broke out in a cold sweat and subconsciously held up the long sword in his hand.

With a "clang" sound, the long sword broke, and the head flew up, leaving only a headless corpse holding a broken sword awkwardly, with blood pouring from its neck.

Destroy everything!

"That's right. You want to use a long sword and a dagger to wield a broad sword? What a fuss..."

The headless corpse was sprayed with blood mist, and the **** scene was extremely horrifying. However, Zhao Changhe no longer felt the discomfort he felt when he first saw it, and he was even ready to complain.

Suddenly, there was a sharp wind behind him, and Zhao Changhe's skin tensed up instantly, with goosebumps appearing on his skin.

There is a sneak attack with a sharp weapon!

He turned around subconsciously, and a dagger quietly passed by on the right side.

The fragrant wind blew by and the moment the dagger hit the air, a ghost-like figure had already arrived to the left.

If this heavy sword has any fatal weakness, it is that its movements are too slow. Zhao Changhe tried to drag the knife around, but it was already a beat too slow.

The dagger sliced ​​across his throat lightly, a bone-shattering pain came, and the dream collapsed.

The last image was of a slender and graceful body, walking away with a chuckle.

Zhao Changhe was furious: "You're such a witch again, sooner or later I will kill you!"

I didn't realize it until I said the words, and my throat was stuck. How could I still be so angry?

Zhao Changhe opened his eyes. In front of him was a silent classroom. Everyone from the professor to his classmates looked at him strangely.

The professor's face was expressionless: "How did you do it with the witch? Please tell me in detail?"

Zhao Changhe: "..."

A tragic social death is more painful than having one's throat cut.

The professor showed off his cards: "I have endured this for a long time. I will stand at the door and wake up."

Zhao Changhe left the classroom silently. He was not willing to stand still and left directly.

He has never been a good student who followed the rules, not to mention that his current mental state is not right.

Being in a **** battlefield day after day, the mental pressure is as real as ever. I feel more tired when I go to bed than during the day. If this continues, my body will collapse. Moreover, this dream is extremely real. Every time, someone is either hacked to death or his throat is cut by a sneak attack, and some die from unknown AOE. The heart palpitations and pain are so real that they can really drive people crazy.

Go to the doctor. The doctor said that you are obsessed with playing games or reading novels. He suggested staying away from the Internet, but he almost said that you would undergo electrotherapy.

But Zhao Changhe knew that he hadn't played games for a long time, not to mention that these scenes were not the same as those games he was familiar with, and only some elements were similar - martial arts fantasy stuff was not all swords, guns, swords and halberds, so he couldn't drive a Gundam.

Is the novel possessed? But the novel that Zhao Changhe secretly posted on Qidian.com failed miserably. It has been a **** for several months, and he has not even opened the Qidian APP in the past few months.

You usually work out, play ball, and are a member of the archery club. What a healthy lifestyle, why is it like this?

I walked out of the school gate in a daze. The student street was relatively deserted during the morning class time. However, there were quite a few bad guys and girls skipping class to go shopping and eat. One bite of a piece of grilled sausage made Zhao Changhe roll his eyes.

He just wanted to stuff the sausage into the witch's mouth.

In fact, there is not a little bit of jealousy in the hearts of single people... Zhao Changhe curled his lips and refused to watch the show of affection between the couple, and suddenly turned around and walked into the alley of the student street.

This is a dead end alley, filled with storefronts, most of which are closed at this time. Zhao Changhe walked to the end of the quiet alley, where there was a small shop open. On the door was a plaque with the words "House of Troubled Times" in black seal script, and a sign beside the door that read "Fortune Telling and Dream Interpretation".

This is a fortune-telling hut that has just been opened for three days. It is extremely low-key, but its reputation spreads quickly.

There is no other reason than that the fortune-telling shop owner is a woman and very beautiful. A group of animals waiting to be fed have been talking with each other for two or three days. Zhao Changhe also came to see it after hearing the news yesterday. Of course, the reason for his coming was different from others. He really wanted to interpret the dream.

Walking into the store, the lights were not turned on and it seemed a bit dim. A woman with short hair was sitting quietly in a corner, arranging the cards on the table with her eyes closed.

She was wearing a black ancient warrior costume, just like something out of a martial arts movie. She was indeed very beautiful. Especially the way he closed his eyes gently, like a quiet statue. But as Zhao Changhe looked at it, he could only feel something mysterious and strange.

Can ordinary people organize things with their eyes closed? "Closing your eyes can create a better feeling when telling fortunes for others. Why do you close your eyes when you are packing things in a squatting room?" Zhao Changhe suddenly said.

The woman didn't even raise her head, as if she had already known his arrival: "Why can't it be because I'm really blind?"

"You don't even have a cane, who are you trying to fool?"

"I don't need it." The woman responded calmly: "But you, yesterday you scolded me for being sick, and you came here again today, did you finally understand that you are the one who is sick?"

Zhao Changhe said: "Because the dream treatment you mentioned sounds too fake. If you tell anyone, who won't accuse you of being sick?"

The woman said calmly: "That's not necessarily true. I told others that several people sincerely invited me to accompany them in their dreams... I think you can probably find the answer to why you don't have a girlfriend from here."

Zhao Changhe, who was slapped in the face, only regretted that he had revealed too much real-life privacy in order to understand the dream yesterday. He regretted it and said with a pinched neck: "Who cares so much about dreaming with you... Speaking of which, why can your expression and tone be so indifferent when you say this? Like a robot?"

The woman said: "Explaining the facts doesn't require any expression or tone."

Damn it... Zhao Changhe directly changed the topic: "No matter how fake it is, I'm here to try it anyway. What do you mean by dreaming?"

"Ordinary people have lucid dreams like yours where you can completely control your behavior. You are omnipotent in your dreams. You can get whatever results you want in your dreams. Have you ever had a similar dream?"

"Yes." Zhao Changhe felt that her choice of words was starting to look strange. For example, the word "zhi" shouldn't be used by normal people?

The woman continued: "But your dreams these few times can only control your own actions and nothing else. Everything always goes against your wishes, right?"

"right."

"You are trapped in nightmares and the cycle is endless because the unfinished thoughts in the dreams are not completed. If you complete it, you can transcend." The woman asked: "So what result do you want to achieve? ? For example... defeating an opponent? Or just leaving the battle? No matter how difficult it is, it requires your true thoughts, otherwise it is meaningless. "

What result do you want to achieve?

A beautiful figure in black suddenly flashed across Zhao Changhe's mind, and he blurted out: "Of course I want to kill that witch!"

The woman's calm expression twitched slightly.

"What? The sixth child must die. Is there a problem?"

"No." The woman regained her composure and said slowly: "What result you want to achieve is your business. I can't go in and help you. I just want you to confirm the goal, know what to do, and how to end it. That's all."

"Since you can't help me, I still can't defeat the witch after falling asleep. How about going in and sending me away?"

The woman silently pushed over the arranged cards in her hand: "Draw three."

"What's this?"

"The first one adds an ability to you in the dream to help you realize your wish."

"Is this called a bonus golden finger?"

"After all, it's a dream, so it's not surprising if something strange happens to it."

"That makes sense...where's the second one?"

"Determine your initial location. It won't be directly in the most dangerous place, so you can be prepared."

"This is good, this is good. Where's the third one?"

"Clues to achieve your goal, such as who she is or how to find her."

Zhao Changhe was stunned for a moment and said curiously: "If you have any clues, just tell me directly. Why do you have to draw it yourself?"

"Because I don't know what it is. I can only answer it based on the cards you drew. You can think of it as divination."

Zhao Changhe glanced at the cards on the table, said nothing, and casually drew three cards from the middle.

In fact, until now, he doesn't really believe what the woman said. It's basically a dead horse and a live doctor. If he tries it, if it doesn't work, he will be defrauded of dozens of dollars, and he will give it to his friends as Crazy Thursday V.

I casually turned over the first card. The main image was a huge eye, and there was a blurred background on the card surface, like a person's back.

The second picture is a round jade pendant carved with a dragon, with a magnificent background, like a dragon chair in a palace?

The third one is pitch black, like a pure black curtain, but with a faint hint of gold, it outlines a face like a **** and Buddha, but the details cannot be seen clearly.

The woman remained silent for a long time.

Zhao Changhe was also speechless: "Why are you still closing your eyes? Can you see?"

"This first one is nothing more than a behind-the-scenes look." The woman finally woke up and slowly spoke: "It can slightly increase your eyesight, and more importantly, it allows you to see what is behind you."

You can really see it... Zhao Changhe was stunned for a moment, and suddenly felt something interesting.

What I hate most is being attacked by surprise. Isn't this a coincidence? Regardless of whether this woman deliberately interpreted her dream after hearing it, at least the eyes in the painting are indeed the ones behind it.

Could this card drawing actually reflect my subconscious mind?

"Then...the second picture is the location? What does this jade pendant represent?"

The woman was silent again. After a while, she suddenly said, "You'll know when you go in."

Zhao Changhe: "???"

The woman suddenly reached out and picked up the eye card. Zhao Changhe didn't even see the movements of her hand clearly, the card was already pressed on his forehead.

The next moment, the world was spinning, and Zhao Changhe disappeared, as if he had never existed here.

The eye card also disappeared, while the other two remained on the table.

The woman picked up the last black card, sat quietly for a few seconds, and whispered to herself: "I didn't expect...he could really pull out my base..."

She slowly opened her eyes, her pupils as dark as ink, like a desolate night, cold and dead.

"Kill the witch? Ha...I'll wait for you."

(End of chapter)