Chapter 1637: Chapter 700 Time Disordered Forest_2

The three of them looked around, and sure enough, all the spheres of light around them were displaying dream scenes – sweet dreams, nightmares, mundane dreams, joyful dreams… a variety of strange and bizarre dreams, showcasing the full spectrum of human existence.

All kinds of human desires were vividly portrayed within these spheres of light.

The four traveled silently, observing the Dream Spheres along the way, and gradually, some block-shaped Barriers began to appear along their path.

Each of these Barriers was a perfect cube, a hundred meters on each side, forming neat squares on the ground.

The originally vast and level Dream World was split by these sudden cubic forms, becoming somewhat chaotic. Some of the cubes were connected in series, like a Great Wall, blocking their path, forcing them to detour.

“These blocks, could they be…?” Mu You looked at the shape of the cubes and realized something.

“These are backpack spaces,” Vivian nodded, “but these spaces have been cut out from the dreams, turning from virtual to real space, while in our current Dream State, we can’t enter these areas.”

Just as expected…

Mu You approached one of the cubes and reached out to touch the Barrier before him.

Inside this invisible Barrier was a layer of hazy white mist, obscuring the view of the interior.

When looking from the edge of backpack spaces outward, they saw the same scene.

This kind of barrier dividing reality and illusion could likely only be crossed at will by Dream Travelers like Mian Mian.

“Hmm?”

While lost in thought, Mu You furrowed his brow suddenly, turning to look at a cube not far behind them.

“Still hiding? Come out.”

At Mu You’s shout, a little girl came out from behind the cube, smiling sheepishly, scratching her head, and looking at them with a hint of embarrassment.

“Didn’t I tell you to stay at home?” Mu You looked helplessly at the girl who emerged.

Someone who could appear here was, of course, Mian Mian.

“I was at home, but once I fell asleep, I automatically came here. What can I do?” Mian Mian spread her hands, her eyes shifting as she sought an excuse.

As she spoke, a pink pig snorted out from behind her, sniffing around with its snout, finally arriving at a Dream Sphere displaying a nightmare. It lifted its snout and pressed it against the sphere, inhaling powerfully.

The nightmare within the Dream Sphere was sucked away instantly, leaving only a pure, colorless sphere of light.

The Dream-eating Tapir seemed to have eaten a tasty snack, chewing with satisfaction displayed on its face.

“Yes, I usually have to feed the pig. None of you take care of it. If I didn’t often bring it in to ‘eat dreams,’ it would have starved long ago,” the little girl justified herself confidently while riding on the Dream-eating Tapir’s back.

The Dream-eating Tapir didn’t reject her, seemingly accustomed to her presence, as a gentle mount carrying the little girl aimlessly through the space.

“It really was you who did it…” Mu You raised an eyebrow.

Previously, Riley mentioned a pink ‘pig’ that resolved anomalies in the Dream World, leading him to suspect it might be the Dream-eating Tapir, as the timing matched since the Tapir appeared in the pet shop three months ago.

This little creature served no purpose other than eating nightmares and was regarded as a mascot by people, largely neglected, with only Mian Mian sticking to it daily.

Unexpectedly, the two little ones quietly resolved a crisis in the Dream World.

“What did I do?” The little girl was puzzled.

“Nothing, well done.” Mu You patted her head, offering a smile of encouragement.

The little girl’s eyes lit up, “So I can go exploring with you now?”

Mu You hesitated for a moment but didn’t refuse. After all, it was the Dream World, where there was no danger to their lives.

“Stay close and don’t wander off.”

“I know, I know!” The little girl grinned broadly, tapping the Dream-eating Tapir and riding the pig to catch up with the four.

Vivian led them on a roam through the dream, which lasted an entire day.

She didn’t walk in a straight line but followed a winding path that led Mu You to suspect at times that she might have been lost, taking them in circles.

Until the following evening, Mu You suddenly realized they had returned to their starting point!

Indeed, they’d been going in circles…

But at the same time, a dense forest he’d never seen before appeared before his eyes.

“What is this?” Mu You wondered, looking at Vivian; he was sure this forest hadn’t been here before.

“This is the Illusory Dream Forest. You can think of it as the ‘moat’ around the Heart of Time. As long as you pass through this forest, you can reach the Heart of Time.” Vivian explained.

“How is that possible?” Mu You was curious about how they’d come here. Had this forest existed initially, but they had to circle around to see it?

“Dreams are theoretically a boundless world; their specific size depends on the number of living beings in the world. The more living beings there are, the larger the Dream World becomes.”

“In such a vast Dream World, trying to find a specific place is impossible by just walking,” said Vivian.

“Then how…”

“In the dream, to go anywhere, you only need to keep thinking about that place in your mind, with details as clear as possible. As long as your focus doesn’t waver, the place will inevitably appear before you within a day. The time required depends on how significant the place is.”

“I see…”

Mu You sighed in relief. No wonder Vivian had taken them in circles; in the Dream World, the concept of being lost didn’t exist. As long as they walked, direction didn’t matter; they’d eventually reach their destination.

“Wow, so many spheres here…”

Little Ya curiously walked to the front of the forest, shading her eyes with her hand, looking inside, and saw an abundance of Dream Spheres within the dense forest.

Mu You and Lin Xue also noticed that the Dream Spheres in this forest were significantly denser than in other areas. The forest was deep and dark, with no end in sight, giving off an ominous sense of no return.

“The Dream Spheres here are denser than elsewhere because we’re near the Heart of Time. These spheres comprise ongoing dreams and dreams from the past and even the future.”

“In short, time inside this forest is distorted. Any creature entering it sinks into another’s dream at random, usually a nightmare. We must find the dream’s owner within the dream and help fulfill their wishes, turning the nightmare into a sweet dream to leave the forest,” explained Vivian.

“That’s so troublesome?” Mu You frowned.

Entering someone else’s dream is one thing, but fulfilling their wishes… what if the dream’s owner is twisted and wishes to destroy the world or something?

“It’s a self-preservation mechanism of the Heart of Time; otherwise, if any creature could breach the Heart of Time indiscriminately, things inside would’ve gone haywire long ago,” Vivian shook her head.

“What happens if we can’t fulfill the dream owner’s wish?” Lin Xue asked.

“You’d be trapped until the dream owner finishes dreaming. You’ll be kicked out of the dream and wake up, unable to enter the Dream World for a long time,” Vivian said.

Noticing their tense expressions, she reassured them, “But don’t worry. From what I know, the first dream those entering the Illusory Dream Forest encounter is usually of someone familiar, and their wish typically isn’t too hard to fulfill.”

Mu You sighed in relief, “That’s good, then. When you know someone, you generally understand them better, making communication easier.”

Besides, with their current abilities, they could manipulate most dreams, so as long as they’re not exceedingly unlucky, passing through shouldn’t be too hard.

The only thing to note was that the dream’s time was random. It could be a past dream, a future dream, or a dream from a person’s infancy. The dream of the same person from different life stages could differ greatly.