Chapter 156: Trial – Two
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
In the main hall of the secret society.
The Pope saw everything Lian and Tapir did. Lian soon felt that a few Lords of Nightmare of the secret society were already onto her.
“Hey… Qiu Ren can’t be considered as a target of your trial, can he?”
Lian wasn’t scared at all, though. In fact, a sword made of blood had already extended from her hand… Tapir reached her hand out and stopped her impulsive behavior.
“That kid indeed isn’t one of the targets, but he’s the key of this plan. He can’t leave with you. However, don’t worry… Once the plan succeeds, I won’t stop you from going anywhere.”
Tapir couldn’t care less about her mother’s words. She knew that her mother was someone who would do anything to achieve her goals.
If not, Tapir wouldn’t have run away from home. Qiu Ren might just be a p.a.w.n for her mother to achieve her goal, and his personal safety didn’t really matter to her.
The worst thing was that the situation in the Dream Dungeon of The Ravages of Time suddenly changed…
Qi Qian escaped the besiege of Dong Zhuo’s army under the lead of “Xiao Zhou” and came to the border of Luoyang City.
Two a.s.sa.s.sins, Guo Ang and Zhang Lei, were here waiting for her. These two people were both natives of the Dream Dungeon of Romance of the Three Kingdoms and were the right-hand men of Mr. Shuijing and Qi Qian.
“Sister Qian! Are you having fun?” asked the a.s.sa.s.sin leader, Guo Ang, as Qi Qian rode on her horse.
Qi Qian glared at him, which made this a.s.sa.s.sin shut his mouth right away…
“Sister Qian, who’s this Dream Maker?” Zhang Lei noticed “Xiao Zhou,” who was riding the horse behind Qi Qian.
People from Qi Qian’s party normally had great hostility towards Dream Makers.
“Just an unimportant person. How’s the situation now?”
Qi Qian didn’t really care about Xiao Zhou. An agent from the Dream Hunting Bureau, who had just the Level-C authority, didn’t have any combat power at all, whether in the Dream Dungeon of The Ravages of Time or in other dungeons.
“The plan is going smoothly. Those reviewers are basically immersed in the world of The Ravages of Time. I haven’t partic.i.p.ated in such a complicated and exciting battle in Luoyang City for a long time. However, Sister Qian, the most important thing we need to do right now is to leave Luoyang City as planned,” Zhang Lei said.
Qi Qian also agreed with Zhang Lei’s suggestion. Under his lead, everyone came to a secluded city gate of Luoyang City according to the original plan.
When Zhang Lei led his subordinates to open the city gate, the situation suddenly changed. There were a lot of people, or an entire army, standing outside of the gate.
Someone was being detained in front of the army. Qi Qian recognized that it was her Master at first glance, the core dream consciousness of The Ravages of Time, Mr. Shuijing.
And those standing behind Mr. Shuijing… were the reviewers who were playing important roles in The Ravages of Time.
“Mr. Shuijing!”
Seeing this scene, Zhang Lei wanted to run forward and save Mr. Shuijing, but the premonition of danger behind him made him pause for a second. When he tried to turn around, it was already too late.
A spear abruptly stabbed Zhang Lei’s back and penetrated his chest. The huge impact nailed him straight to the wall on the other side.
Guo Ang on the other side also reacted extremely quickly, but the person behind them was even faster. Before Guo Ang could put up a resistance, that person kicked Guo Ang down from his horse and choked Guo Ang’s neck with his knee, making Guo Ang “unable to breathe.”
“You…” Guo Ang glanced at the side. The person next to him was “Xiao Zhou,” who came with Qi Qian.
“I don’t get it.”
Qi Qian’s expression still didn’t change when she saw the desperate situation of her two friends being knocked down by “Xiao Zhou” consecutively and Mr. Shuijing being controlled by the official Dream Makers.
“I know that you aren’t on our side, but your character shouldn’t have the power to take down two a.s.sa.s.sins…”
In Qi Qian’s a.n.a.lysis, the character of “Xiao Zhou” was still a pa.s.serby general. His combat strength wouldn’t possibly be strong enough for him to defeat two a.s.sa.s.sins in a blink of an eye.
“Why would my character not have such power…?” “Xiao Zhou” said as he exerted some force and knocked Guo Ang unconscious with his knee.
“Who else can you be? Gao Shun? Li Chang? These two… don’t seem powerful enough either.” Qi Qian tried to guess which generals in Dong Zhuo’s army could compete with the two a.s.sa.s.sins.
However, whether it was Gao Shun, Li Chang, or Guo Bang… Guo Ang and Zhang Lei wouldn’t possibly lose so quickly. Perhaps he was Zhang Liao?
“Wrong guess… My role is a military general and one of the top forces in this world, Lu Bu!”
When “Xiao Zhou” told Qi Qian the real ident.i.ty of his character, Qi Qian’s pupils shrank slightly. She then glanced at Lu Bu, who was holding Mr. Shuijing hostage, on the other side.
“I’m one of the generals under Lu Bu’s command, Zhang Wenyuan.”
Zhao Yanqing, who was wearing the outfit of “Lu Bu,” reported the real ident.i.ty of the role he played.
Qi Qian soon understood the scheme set by “Lu Bu” in this production of The Ravages of Time, but there should be another layer in this scheme…
That was…
“So, what’s your real ident.i.ty?”
Qi Qian looked at “Xiao Zhou” again. Such an important character like Lu Bu wouldn’t possibly be played by Xiao Zhou, this Level-C reviewer.
“Qiu Ren… Unfortunately, I don’t have other words. I have just these two simple words for my introduction.”
Qiu Ren directly revealed his real ident.i.ty. Qi Qian was first slightly dumbfounded, then suddenly burst into laughter.
This was the first time Qiu Ren had seen her laugh so heartily ever since he had contact with her.
However, her laughter stopped abruptly. She put on an expression that gave people a chill down their spines.
“Why are you doing this?” Qi Qian asked, “This will put you in an awkward position. Do you want to go against all the dream consciousnesses?”
What Qiu Ren was doing right now was like working with the Dream Hunting Bureau, which was the Imperial Court, to fight against the dream consciousnesses of the world of Dynasties led by Qi Qian.
This was like standing on the opposite side of all the dream consciousnesses.
Not only the dream consciousnesses in the world of Dynasties, but even those in Qiu Ren’s world might also have to re-examine him again.
“Go against all dream consciousnesses? What a big hat… I only stand on the side of those… who truly need help, whether it’s human beings or dream consciousnesses,” Qiu Ren said.
Qiu Ren’s riddle-like remark confused Qi Qian.
On the other side of the main hall of the secret society, when Lian saw Qiu Ren standing next to a group of agents from the Dream Hunting Bureau alone and in front of the dangerous “dream consciousness,” Qi Qian, she only wanted to run over to him.
“Hold on…” Tapir lowered her voice and stopped Lian, who was about to start a fight, once again.
“Why again this time?” If it weren’t for the contractual relationship between Tapir and Qiu Ren, Lian would have already punched her in the face.
Tapir didn’t explain too much. She used her remaining bit of authority in the secret society to show Lian a monitor screen on a street in the real world.
“This is…”
Lian looked at the scene presented in front of her eyes and found that the scene in “The Ravages of Time” was shown on all the devices that could display a picture on the entire street.
It happened to be a close-up shot of Lu Bu, played by Qiu Ren.
“When…”
Lian watched Tapir switch to a few other monitor screens again consecutively. Not only this street, but perhaps all the display devices in the entire country were also live broadcasting the plot development of “The Ravages of Time.”
“The review of the production of The Ravages of Time has already started… live broadcasting… It seems that many people… like… this story,” Tapir said as she looked at Qiu Ren, who was standing arrogantly in front of everyone.
Perhaps Qiu Ren couldn’t see this right now, but as a dream consciousness, Tapir could see that many streams of emotions were surging towards him from all directions.
These streams of emotions came from the simplest and the most natural… feelings of the audience, thinking that the production was wonderful and enjoyable. They were in awe at the same time.
These feelings turned into Qiu Ren’s power, which was infused into the body of Lu Bu, the G.o.d of War.
However…
“But how did he do that?” If Lian remembered correctly, the government in this material world was against Qiu Ren. How would they possibly promote it with the power of the whole country?
Even though Romance of the Three Kingdoms was the second important production of the government, it wouldn’t be promoted in this way.
Tapir turned her gaze to the Pope of the secret society, Zhu, who was also her mother.
“Who exactly… are you helping?” Tapir asked.
She knew that this was the strategy of the secret society. Perhaps the secret society was the only one who had enough energy to interfere with the official live broadcasts. The c.u.mbersome bureaucracy over the years had allowed the secret society to infiltrate the government to a certain degree.
However, after broadcasting The Ravages of Time with the power of the whole country today, the secret society was also completely exposed.
This was a big gamble for the secret society. If they won, they could change the situation where the current Imperial Court dominated the world alone or even overthrow the Imperial Court. However, if they lost, they could only wait for the endless hunting and killing.
“Have you forgotten… I’ve always liked to bet on both sides.” Zhu seemed very calm. “And Qiu Ren has potential.”
“Has… potential?”
Tapir didn’t know what potential Qiu Ren could have. In her eyes, Qiu Ren was just a very outstanding Dream Maker. As long as Qiu Ren stayed in seclusion behind the scenes, building dreams would be his job.
But now, her mother had dragged Qiu Ren into the war in this material world.
Qiu Ren also told Tapir what he really wanted to do with actions.
“Those who need help? I’m not sure what you’re talking about.”
Qi Qian didn’t notice that people in the whole country were watching her every move. The Dream Dungeon of The Ravages of Time was like an island isolated by the secret society.
The reviewers inside were controlling the dream consciousness of The Ravages of Time, Mr. Shuijing, with the authority of Dream Makers after Qiu Ren informed them.
However, all the exits of The Ravages of Time had been blocked by the nightmare pollution of the secret society. They were now trapped inside, and news from outside couldn’t be delivered inside.
This also provided Qiu Ren an opportunity.
“I have a sister. Her situation reminds me of a possibility… Mr. Shuijing behind you, is he really purely a dream consciousness?” Qiu Ren questioned the other party.
“…”
Qi Qian pressed her lips gently and didn’t say anything. In order to prove his idea, Qiu Ren signaled Zhao Yanqing standing next to Mr. Shuijing to make a move.
Zhao Yanqing hesitated for a while when he saw Qiu Ren’s hand gesture, but there wouldn’t be any impact at all if a dream consciousness was killed in a Dream Dungeon. Thinking of this, he no longer had any mental burden. He picked up a sword, slashing directly at Mr. Shuijing’s neck.
However, Mr. Shuijing raised his hand and grabbed the sword.
Mr. Shuijing, who was originally restrained by the reviewing Dream Makers, stood up slowly after grabbing the sword in Zhao Yanqing’s hand.
The reviewers all showed astonished looks on their faces.
The reason behind their shock was very simple. A dream consciousness… had no combat power at all in front of the Dream Makers. The reviewers here more or less had the power to interfere with the Dream Dungeon of Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
Under their suppression, Mr. Shuijing would have no power to resist if he was caught.
This was also the most direct reason why dream consciousnesses couldn’t fight with Dream Makers.
However, the problem was that Mr. Shuijing… wasn’t a dream consciousness, but… a Dream Maker?
A… Dream Maker who had lived almost three centuries!
“I knew it… Letting Princess Wenping run away will definitely create chaos.”
After breaking the sword in Zhao Yanqing’s hand, Mr. Shuijing stood up and moved his shoulders.
“Success was originally right in front of my eyes after centuries of planning, but you and the Princess messed it up. I wonder if it’s G.o.d’s will.”
“Centuries of planning? What are you?”
The reviewers behind him were a little fl.u.s.tered when they saw that they couldn’t control Mr. Shuijing. One of the reviewers who played Wen Chou wanted to capture Mr. Shuijing again but was directly beheaded by him…
Not only was the character, Wen Chou, beheaded but also the Dream Maker in reality, who played this role.
“I’ve been hiding my ident.i.ty for so many years, so it’s normal that you’re so disrespectful. I’m the founding general of the Ding Zhou dynasty, Ren Zheng!” Mr. Shuijing said a name that Qiu Ren was extremely unfamiliar with.
However, the reviewers, who were better at history, all froze for a second. This name wasn’t a fict.i.tious character but a real figure that truly existed in the history of this material world!
“It seems to be true.”
Qiu Ren carried the Fang Tian Halberd on his back. He looked at Mr. Shuijing, who kept absorbing the energy of the Dream Dungeon of The Ravages of Time, and said, “I’m afraid the world of Dynasties has already developed the ability to extract your own consciousness and put it in a Dream Dungeon three centuries ago.
“You old people think you can continue playing your royal characters when you hide in different Dream Dungeons in the form of your souls to absorb the power of the Dream Dungeons to extend your lives. Now though, technology has been developed to put consciousness in Dream Dungeons back into bodies in reality again.”
Qiu Ren turned around and looked at Qi Qian, “So, what you’re doing isn’t releasing your fellow dream consciousnesses and overthrow the rule of Dynasties. No, you’re holding a candle to the devil! You’re helping these old people, who have been secretly ruling this world for a few centuries and absorbing the nutrients of people in this country, get back to the real world! Up till this point, I should ask you… and everyone else, are you really willing to continue to let these old people rule another few centuries?”