Chapter 366: Can't Wake Up! Wake Me Up Inside
"So Dion, how far until we reach Siren City? Where are we?"
As Miaomiao wasn't certain about their present location, he asked Dion.
Ding
[You are 8,500 kilometers southeast of Siren City.]
"I thought I flew at least 3,000 km today! How come we only moved 500 km closer?"
[Your estimation was wrong. You haven't traveled a lot today.]
Miaomiao didn't believe that he was lost. Instead, he was certain that the detour route wasted their time and energy. However, their progress was still slow, considering that they had flown all day.
While Miaomiao had been consulting with Dion, Zhu Qiao also asked her system for advice.
Unlike Miaomiao, Zhu Qiao was the embodiment of an all-rounder heroine. She simply took out another talisman and tore it.
Then, a silver pigeon appeared and flew northwest, leaving a trail of an aurora.
Miaomiao looked at the bird, "What's that?"
"A messenger pigeon. I told it to send a message to Siren City, but I attached aurora dust with its wings. The bird will fly directly to your city and leave a direction hint for us."
"Smart."
"Hah! It's about creativity! Well, my carpet is going to run out of energy soon. I need to recharge it."
"Okay."
As both of them had discussed earlier, they would take a short break at one of the caves by the south hills. Although these caves might connect to the forbidden mine, they believed that as long as they didn't venture too deep, they should be fine.
Zhu Qiao and Miaomiao flew south and picked an empty cave on a hill, south of their location.
Although they saw it as a hill, it was the giant lump of a massive dark gemstone, which connected to the massive mountain range.
As soon as Zhu Qiao got closer to the nearest hill, she exclaimed in astonishment.
"Whoa!"
Before Zhu Qiao was a massive hill of purely raw black amethyst. As she had never seen something like it on earth, she couldn't imagine how much she could fetch had she sold this thing to the modern world.
While Zhu Qiao was stunned by the hill of useless gemstones, Miaomiao had a deep frown on his face as he stared at the sole cave of this hill.
The cave, aka the tunnel, was clearly manmade. The wall surface, the ceiling, and the U-shaped tunnel were too smooth to be formed naturally.
Moreover, a long rail for minecarts was there.
Miaomiao didn't even need to guess as this place was once a mine. As this hill was also connected to the Blind Eagle Mountain Range, he was worried if there might be danger inside.
"It's decided! I'm resting in this cave!"
Without Miaomiao's consent, Zhu Qiao rushed into the tunnel.
He wanted to follow her. However, his right eyebrow twitched like the AC/DC's drum playing the Highway to Hell song.
Miaomiao pulled his legs away and hovered above the hill, taking a deep breath. He waited and observed the situation, using Zhu Qiao as a guinea pig.
10 minutes passed, nothing happened.
20 minutes later, nothing happened.
An hour later, everything was still quiet.
Because nothing happened, it was too unusual.
"She should have run out and complained that I didn't follow her or I've been stalking on her. She also has my phone number..."
Miaomiao closed his eyes and tried to sense her life signature with his Qi.
However, as soon as his Qi reached the gemstone cave, the Qi was repelled by something invisible and sticky.
He couldn't see or sense anything within the tunnel!
"Hoh?"
Miaomiao smirked and stared at the uncanny gemstone hill, which was weaving death flags in the air.
He thought of the first survival rule when one got himself into a horror movie-like situation - Be smart!
Being a hero in this situation was the shortcut to trouble, injuries, or death. Even though he might gain something had he overcome the ordeal, he didn't want to risk his life at the moment when his plot armor power was disabled.
Without hesitation, he turned around and flew away, leaving the silly girl behind.
"RIP Zhu Qiao. You won't be remembered!"
Just like that, Miaomiao flew away.
That was what he thought.
...
An hour later after Miaomiao had flown west, he discovered something unusual.
The scenery below seemed... familiar. Miaomiao sensed a déjà vu as he felt like he had seen several landmarks around here before.
Moreover, at the south, Miaomiao found another black amethyst hill with a U-shaped mine tunnel.
"... Huh?"
He closed his eyes and tried to recollect his memory, trying to recall the scenery of the metal dragon mine, where Zhu Qiao had entered.
Miaomiao couldn't exactly remember everything, but he got goosebumps. Moreover, his right eyebrow twitched so hard as if it was rapping in Eminem's song.
"..."
For assurance, Miaomiao landed in front of the mine tunnel. He unsheathed Killer Queen and doodled a dick picture at the wall surface with the katana.
Strangely, KQ was obedient. She didn't complain a single word.
Afterward, Miaomiao sheathed KQ and flew west.
...
An hour later, Miaomiao found another black amethyst hill. Again, the hill had only one cave was there in front of him.
While having a blank expression, Miaomiao stopped by the mine entrance to inspect the wall nearby.
The dick doodle that he had drawn was still there.
"Hohoh? I guess I'm trapped in a loop array or some sort. No wonder why I only traveled a few kilometers even though our flight speed wasn't that slow."
Confirmed that he was trapped in a mysterious array, Miaomiao opened his system menu.
"Why didn't you warn me, Dion?"
Ding
[There is no array.]
"Huh?"
Miaomiao was confused. As he was immune to hypnosis, brainwashing, or mind control spells, the only explanation was - He was trapped in a loop formation array.
Yet, Dion said that there was no array.
"Then, how do you explain this!?"
[You have been idling at the same spot for hours now.]
"Wait. Am I not immune to mind control or hypnosis skills? If it's not an array, then what is this?"
[Before you do anything stupid, try to wake up from your dream.]
"???"
Now, Miaomiao was even more confused. If he was really sleeping, his soul or consciousness should have entered Isolation Training Space instead of having a normal dream.
[Well, I know that a stupid master like you won't be able to comprehend the current situation. The most efficient and shortest explanation should be... Freddy Kruger's power. Ring a bell?]
"!!!"
Miaomiao widened his eyes in astonishment. As Freddy Kruger was a famous horror villain, Miaomiao could vividly think of his face and his nightmarish abilities.
Nightmare
Dream
Without hesitation, Miaomiao gathered his Qi into his finger and grazed his cheek.
SWUA
The slight scratch caused a bit of pain.
As soon as Miaomiao sensed the pain, a wave of dissonance in the reality and his consciousness was visible in the air. It felt like he had been having a realistic dream during the early morning, but he didn't realize that he had been dreaming.
Miaomiao mustered his willpower and tried to feel his eyelids, trying to open them even though he could sense that they had been opening the entire time.
Suddenly, Miaomiao sensed a vague sensation on his eyes. They were closed, but he could control them a bit.
Still, the connection between his consciousness and his real body was disconnected midway.
"Wow, what the hell!?"
If this was really a dream, it would have been the toughest dream that Miaomiao had experienced. He could sense his sleeping body, but he couldn't wake up.
"So, this place is my dream?"
[Yes. You are dreaming.]
"Why am I not in my Isolation Training Space, then?"
[Someone has controlled the dream and your brain.]
"But I'm immune to brainwashing, mind attacks, and hypnosis!"
[The immunity only applies to the power of 8th-stage cultivators or below. You are still vulnerable to the mind attack of 9th-stage cultivators or immortals.]
That explained a ton!
Dion hinted that he was hit by an extremely strong individual!
"Then, how are you still operating in my dream? Can you use your power or broadcast the live steam now?"
[No. Like when you're in Isolation Training Space, all spectators can't see you in here. They can only see you in the mortal world.]
"Okay. Can you help me? Wake me up, please?"
[Sure. But it will be extremely painful.]
"Fine with me. Do it."
[Roger that. I'll zap you in 3... 2... 1...]
...
BZZZZ
As if Miaomiao had been electrocuted by lightning, he snapped opened his eyes in shock.
The deep pain to the bone and the tingling numbness from his skin gave a new sensation of being tortured. Miaomiao managed to open his eyes to see what had really happened to his real body.
He found himself in a dark tight space. His arms, legs, and torso had been wrapped by a sticky substance.
Still, Miaomiao was not panicked. He spread his sense to check his surroundings.
However, as soon as his Qi sense touched the sticky substance, he felt as if something had blocked his power.
It felt similar to when Miaomiao tried to examine the amethyst cave inside his dream!
Miaomiao tried to take a deep breath, but he couldn't inhale any air into his lung. Without a choice, he circulated his essence into his organs to replace the necessary oxygen.
[OG-Buddha is glad that you've finally woken up.]
[The suspense and the development excites the Sun Crow and many anonymous spectators.]
[The Sun Crow and two anonymous spectators have donated 50,000 essence cores.]
Ignoring the reaction of the dao gods, Miaomiao summoned his menu screens to talk to Dion.
'So, Dion. Can you explain what had happened to my body and how the fuck I got stuck in that strange dream world? I still remember that I and Zhu Qiao had been flying all day.'
Ding
[While you were flying over the Blind Eagle Mountain Range, both you and Zhu Qiao were hit with the mind attack of a 9th-stage monster. You fell unconscious instantly, and spider monsters dragged both of you into its mother's nest.]
That explained a lot, but it didn't clarify how he got stuck in a realistic dream.
'For that, I kinda understand. What about the dream?'
[The spider was a mutated child of an Arachne and an ancient incubus. She used a dream spell on you when you were out. She pretty much trapped you in the dream, so her prey can stay fresh until her children want to eat you.]
'But I have ancestor incubus bloodline. Shouldn't I be immune to that?'
[The power difference played an important factor. After all, the culprit was a 9th-stage monster.]
"..."
Miaomiao had a chill running down his spine. All of a sudden, he got stuck in a powerful monster's nest.
'So what is happening outside? I can't see a thing.'
[Try to burn the spider web. Use your brain for once.]
"..."
Miaomiao sighed and slowly injected dragon fire essence into the spider web. The white sticky substance was instantly ignited on fire and freed Miaomiao from the restrains.
He was dropped down to the ground.
At long last, Miaomiao could see where he was.
Currently, Miaomiao was inside a black amethyst cave. 50 human-shaped cocoons contained several victims, aka food of the mysterious spiders. The ceiling was also covered with messy white spider webs everywhere.
The room had only one entrance, but everything seemed to be covered in thick spider webs. If Miaomiao wanted to leave here, he needed to burn everything before he could leave.
But that meant, he might alert the 9th-stage spider!
'Crap. So, this is why my eyebrow has been twitching!'
Intimidated by the spider, Miaomiao activated his stealth mode to sneak out of the cave.
But then, one of the cocoons suddenly dropped the recent victim of the mind attack. Zhu Qiao managed to free herself and got out of the restrain.
The girl didn't notice Miaomiao's presence. Different from the girl that Miaomiao knew, Zhu Qiao reverted back into her succubus form and spread her Qi sense.
A minute later, Zhu Qiao breathed out pink gas to cover the entire room with the succubus miasma, after which she brought out a talisman from her cleavage.
She tore it.
WINK
Her body dispersed into pink gas, blending with the miasma that she had released. The mass of gas moved together, exiting the cave in a flash.
Miaomiao was astonished by Zhu Qiao's resourcefulness and wisdom. Then, he looked at his sleeve pocket, where the bundle of 100 talismans was inside.
Zhu Qiao had given him these talismans, but she didn't tell him what they did. She said that she forgot, but Miaomiao didn't believe her.
'Is there anything useful in here? Can you identify them, Dion?'
Ding
[I'm unable to identify these talismans. You should avoid using them since they were produced by another system.]
Unable to use a similar talisman to get out of this predicament, Miaomiao could only rely on himself.
Slowly and carefully, Miaomiao navigated through the exit passage while trying not to touch the spider webs. Still, he burnt some of them to open a path.
...
Both Zhu Qiao and Miaomiao hadn't realized this yet. Behind them within the same room, an Arachne, which had been crawling on the ceiling, had been watching them with interest.
"An incubus and a succubus couple? How rare..."
The 9th-stage Arachne grinned. She crawled down and followed Miaomiao while she hid her presence.