After Lan Shiyu and the Enforcement Squad departed, the institute returned to silence. Xiao Lin stayed in the water bar, where the residual warmth lingered, contemplating matters of the future.
For the time being, he need not worry about survival. The institute had a supermarket and a cafeteria; the reserves were sufficient for him to survive for a long time.
But setting aside survival, what should he do?
Find a way to travel back to the past? This was what Xiao Lin desired most, but he knew it was unrealistic.
Because strictly speaking, he had not time-traveled; rather, he had missed two hundred years. Those two hundred years had passed, second by second.
Since there was no traveling to here, there was no way to travel back.
Then, should he go find Yang Qi and avenge Yue Taizhou?
Thinking of this, Xiao Lin's heart became incredibly complicated. On one hand, he couldn't summon any hatred for that close friend of yesterday."
On the other hand, the other party was a powerful demigod, an existence capable of destroying cities. Xiao Lin suspected he might not even be able to defeat a chicken in this world.
Xiao Lin's mind was muddled. Although he had drunk a lot of coffee, he was still feeling somewhat drowsy.
He raised his head to glance at the wall clock. It was already ten o'clock in the evening.
Things being as they were, it was better to sleep first. Tomorrow's matters could wait for tomorrow. Just to be safe, he closed the institute's main gate, followed his usual routine, returned to his dormitory, washed up, changed into pajamas, and fell into a deep slumber.
Perhaps due to being in a state of mental tension for so long, he slept very heavily this time. He dreamed of many things.
He dreamed of past experiences with Yang Qi, dreaming of them working together in a restaurant.
He also dreamed of Yue Taizhou celebrating his birthday. That was the first birthday of his life; although it was simple, many people came.
Amidst the congratulations of the crowd, a trolley was pushed over. On it was his "birthday cake."
It was a gigantic white spherical cake, looking somewhat irregular, like an oversized chocolate truffle.
Everyone began to cut the cake in a chaotic flurry. Crimson juice flowed out, spilling all over the floor.
For some reason, Xiao Lin felt a sense of unease. He moved to the front, and suddenly a shiver of horror ran down his spine. He saw Yu Shuang's face beneath the visor. This was... Yu Shuang's corpse!
At this moment, her face was bloated and swollen, filling the entire helmet, staring at Xiao Lin with eyes squeezed into distortion:
"Why are you the only one alive? Why?"
Xiao Lin then jolted awake. He sat on the bed in a daze, his mind chaotic for a few minutes before he suddenly realized something.
His dreamscape had been unlocked; he was no longer only dreaming of that Stone Gate.
What did this mean?
Xiao Lin felt a headache coming on. If it were those old professors in the institute, they could surely analyze a lot of information from this.
Alas, he was a idiot who couldn't even sit still for culture classes, let alone knew anything about subliminal psychology.
He shook his muddled brain and looked at the mechanical flip clock on the desk. It was already nine o'clock in the morning. The room was soft and serene; the temperature and air were refreshing.
Xiao Lin sat up from the bed and began to repeat the pre-sleep ritual: washing up, changing clothes, and then preparing to go out.
Today Lin Niannian should be bringing him the map; he could just use this opportunity to have her act as his tour guide.
Thinking this, Xiao Lin opened the room door, only to find himself staring face-to-face with the person outside who was about to knock.
Qi Haisheng, Yue Taizhou's student and assistant, the first person Xiao Lin had met at the Tianyan Research Institute.
Xiao Lin was stunned for a long moment: "You... you time-traveled too?"
"Are you not awake yet?" Qi Haisheng looked at him with a face full of confusion.
Xiao Lin's gaze moved past his shoulder to look further away. The laboratory corridor was bustling with people; hurried footsteps and voices of debate rose and fell one after another.
Just like every morning Xiao Lin had ever seen!
Half an hour later, in the office, Yue Taizhou told Xiao Lin everything that had happened yesterday.
"Your memory is not mistaken. You did agree to go behind the Stone Gate to explore, but you fainted in the preparation room."
"
"Fainted?" Xiao Lin was baffled.
Yue Taizhou nodded: "Vasovagal syncope. It might be because you were too nervous and excited, and then not quite used to breathing from the oxygen tank. However, this type of fainting is benign, so we sent you back to your room to rest."
Xiao Lin was stunned, speechless for a long while. So, everything he saw behind the Gate, and everything he experienced, was actually all a dream?
Could it really be that simple?
He suddenly remembered that phone call he made and hurriedly asked: "Then, Professor, did you receive a strange phone call?"
"A strange phone call?" Yue Taizhou received many calls every day. He thought for a moment and shook his head, "No, just some acquaintances and work-related calls."
Xiao Lin let out a long sigh of relief. He could finally confirm it now.
Everything he saw behind the Gate yesterday, and that town, and those people, were nothing more than an outlandish dream.
He leaned back in his chair, his neck tilted back, murmuring like a puddle of mud: "Professor, I thought I would really never see you again."
The Professor paused for a moment, then smiled: "You are my student, and also the blade I have cultivated. No matter what, I would never let you be alone."
He spoke very casually, but his tone was serious.
He then poured Xiao Lin a cup of black tea: "Come, taste this. Someone gave it to me, saying it has a calming effect."
Xiao Lin took a few small sips. Whether it was a psychological effect or not, he did feel somewhat calmer.
"Would you like to discuss your dream?" Yue Taizhou sat back in his chair, asking in an inquiring tone. "Your dreamscape has changed; this is very valuable information, especially regarding what is inside the Stone Gate."
"I saw the Creator inside the Stone Gate," Xiao Lin replied softly, holding his teacup.
"The Creator?" Yue Taizhou's movements stiffened slightly.
"Yes. But He is dead. His corpse is polluting the entire world. Ai Sheng and Yu Shuang are both dead. I escaped alone, but that was already two hundred years later." Xiao Lin continued: "At that time, the institute had already collapsed. I found a notebook there..."
Just as Xiao Lin was recounting the events he dreamed of last night, Qi Haisheng pushed the door open: "Professor, you have a meeting to prepare for in ten minutes."
"No matter what meeting it is, cancel it first, or delay it by an hour," Yue Taizhou said without hesitation.
Qi Haisheng's expression was somewhat unnatural: "This one is probably uncancelable. The Research Progress Report Meeting. You know, the kind..."
Hearing the name of this meeting, Xiao Lin knew Yue Taizhou was about to be harassed again.
The Research Progress Report was a briefing to local administrative bodies, the academic circle, and investors.
Those people were simply greedy and radical. Every time during the progress report, they would express dissatisfaction with Yue Taizhou, demanding accelerated progress.
Yesterday, he had fainted in the preparation room, causing the Mysterious Journey to fail. They would definitely come to hold him accountable.
But in the final analysis, they weren't bad people.
After all, it was them who were funding the research development; they had the right to demand a return.
"Alright, then I will attend the meeting first." Yue Taizhou rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Xiao Lin, can you write reports?"
"Yes, I've written university internship reports," Xiao Lin nodded.
"Then I'll trouble you to organize the things you dreamed of before I return, and we will discuss them later."
"Okay." Xiao Lin readily agreed.