Chapter 1335: The Curtain Falls...?
Tianlong was just about to slowly open his eyes when he realized something was wrong.
As his "Faith" gradually recovered, he could still sense many people who had not been put under "Dream Entry." These people were spread throughout his mental landscape, a vast and complex number.
It seemed he had indeed slipped up earlier, neglecting so many people.
While the "Faith" that Azure Dragon had bestowed upon him still lingered, Tianlong began to put all the people he could perceive under "Dream Entry" on a large scale. He continuously borrowed their memories, crafting dream spaces so real they could pass for truth.
That slightly sticky feeling of "Faith" appeared again. Faced with such a huge number of people, Tianlong couldn't even take a short break.
His "Dream Entry" seemed to be sucked in by something, forcing him to pour in his "Faith" to the very end.
Some people's "memories" seemed far vaster than imagined, instantly draining a large amount of his "Faith." He wondered what kind of places these people had experienced in the last two days.
This time, there seemed to be no accidents. Each "dream" that was born was a complete world, bustling with traffic and crowds of people.
However, every time Tianlong performed a large-scale "Dream Entry," he would find some people had been missed, forcing him to repeat the process of dream creation.
Having consumed so much "Faith" in one go, Tianlong's thoughts gradually began to grow chaotic.
When the dream for the last person was finally created, he slowly opened his eyes, turned his head to look behind him at Azure Dragon, only to find that even Azure Dragon's face had turned deathly pale.
"What in the world are you doing... Tianlong..." Azure Dragon withdrew his hand weakly, his face full of exhaustion. "Why did you need so much 'Faith'...?"
Tianlong naturally didn't know where the problem lay either, but at least they had managed to get things back on track.
"Maybe it's because I was forcefully awakened. Even now, I can't seem to shake the chaos from my mind," Tianlong said. "So you need to behave and stop pulling any more tricks. If you forcefully wake me up again to clean up your mess, the situation could be far more dangerous."
Azure Dragon shook his head helplessly upon hearing this and said nothing.
"At least it's done..." Tianlong stood up unsteadily. "While I still have a shred of sanity left... I'll go rest on my own..."
Azure Dragon and Celestial Hound could only follow behind, afraid that Tianlong might stumble and fall.
"Hey... start selecting new 'Zodiacs' as soon as possible..." Tianlong said with his last ounce of strength.
"Alright." Azure Dragon nodded. "Go get some rest. Leave this to me and Celestial Serpent."
"Celestial Serpent...?" Tianlong paused.
Celestial Serpent stood by the wall, his hair a mess.
He adjusted his glasses, his eyes shifting nervously as he replied, "I'm here. Don't you worry..."
"Mmm... good..." Tianlong's thoughts were somewhat jumbled, but he nodded in satisfaction nonetheless.
Leaning against the wall, he walked step by step toward the throne room.
The noisy sounds in the corridor began to fade. The other "Zodiacs" were starting to erase all traces of the "rebels."
They had two days to clean up the entire venue. As for the shattered walls and floors, they were being sealed off under Earth Dragon's organization, cordoned off as temporary restricted areas, waiting for several cycles to pass so that Tianlong's "Skillful Creations" could slowly repair them.
All the passing "Zodiacs" were declaring that the "Rulers" had once again emerged victorious.
A massive rebellion, as expected, had been crushed by the tenth day.
After two days of recovery, the sun of the first day would rise again.
No one could escape this place of despair. Just like every cycle.
All "Zodiacs" would welcome brand new "Participants" with a fresh state of mind. This would never end.
...
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(The End...)
...
...
Wait.
No... wait a minute.
Tianlong stood at the entrance to the throne room and slowly stopped.
A strange feeling began to envelop him. Something was not right.
Where was Aries's dream?
Not just that... now that he thought about it, there were far too many things that seemed off.
Had everything really been completely resolved... had things really gotten back on track?
The situation was so bizarre that he could barely move an inch.
A few seconds later, he stiffly turned his head like a puppet to look at the two people behind him. A chill began to creep up his spine.
Azure Dragon and Celestial Serpent were standing nearby, staring at him with puzzled expressions.
Tianlong struggled to stay alert. He squinted, thinking for a few seconds—what exactly was wrong?
He felt as if his "Faith" had been overdrawn, leaving his mind in a state of confusion.
So... was it his mind that was confused...
Or was the world itself in chaos?
He slowly turned his gaze toward Celestial Serpent.
Celestial Serpent was still Celestial Serpent—disheveled hair, thick glasses, shifty eyes.
But wasn't that strange...?
"Celestial Serpent..." Tianlong struggled to control his rationality, asking with slight uncertainty, "Have you been here the whole time...?"
"Me...?" Celestial Serpent looked confused. "Tianlong... what's wrong with you...? There have only ever been the two of us in this room..."
Tianlong's expression froze for a moment after hearing that, then he turned to look at Azure Dragon.
Only two people in this room?
No... that's still not right. The problem isn't here...
"Celestial Serpent, did you just say something about a 'precious grandson' or something like that...?" Tianlong felt his voice trembling slightly. He sensed that things were truly spiraling out of control.
"Me?" Celestial Serpent paused. "Precious grandson? What precious grandson?"
"I..." Tianlong pressed his temples in confusion, desperately trying to recall what had happened since he entered this room.
Ever since he had unleashed "Decomposition," things had been getting progressively stranger.
"Wait... you... just now..." Tianlong seemed to recall something. "Aren't you Celestial Hound...? When did you become Celestial Serpent?"
"I am Celestial Hound," the man before him said. "When did I ever become Celestial Serpent...?"
Tianlong looked up blankly. The figure in front of him was indeed the portly Celestial Hound.
An eerie silence began to permeate the room. None of the three spoke, yet each of them seemed to be harboring countless questions.
"Wait..." Tianlong took a slow step back. A wave of intense unease surged in his heart. "Wait... hold on..."
"Tianlong... what's wrong with you?" Azure Dragon asked from the side. "Have you overdrawn too much 'Faith'?"
"This has nothing to do with 'Faith'..." Tianlong said, a hint of panic creeping into his voice. "What's happening to me...?"
"What 'Faith'?" Celestial Hound asked from the side. "Tianlong... you've been talking to yourself since just now. Are you sure you're alright?"
Hearing this, Tianlong's mind began to explode.
He absolutely couldn't fall asleep now. There were far too many problems.
He fixed his gaze on Azure Dragon, doing his best to stay lucid, and then said, "Azure Dragon... ever since you met up with me... it seems like no one has spoken to you... am I right?"
"What...?"
"It seems like I'm the only one who can see you..." Tianlong slowly began to calm down. "You pretended to talk to the others... but no one ever replied to you... am I right?"
"What nonsense are you talking about?" Azure Dragon frowned. "Can't you tell whether I'm real or not?"
Tianlong slowly raised his hand and pressed it to his forehead. "This is wrong... Azure Dragon... earlier, I asked you to cast 'Silence' on me, but I could still hear the noise from the corridor. Now that I think about it, you never used a single 'Immortal Art' at all... You're not Azure Dragon... What exactly are you?"
"How could that be..." Azure Dragon chuckled softly. "I am Azure Dragon..."