703 Dream's Altar

 

The Lake God Worshipping ritual wasn’t wrong. The problem was the people doing the ritual. Guan Miao glanced at Han Fei and didn’t continue this conversation lest he said something even more blasphemous. After the copper coin fell into the water, the wooden boat moved faster. The water ghosts appeared to have accepted the toll.

The water crashed against the boat. The water seemed to carry a certain lulling rhythm. The closer they went to the center, the quieter it became. They seemed to enter a dimension where there was only an endless lake and darkness.

It was hard to tell the direction. The people on the boat felt the changes too. They were sitting on the boat, but they felt like they were sinking. It was like they were trapped in a dream. Their consciousness could feel the cold water overwhelming their bodies and their breathing becoming more difficult.

“Don’t fall asleep!” Han Fei suddenly shouted. He injected his three mates with Xu Qin’s curses so that the pain would keep them awake. “The curse will not hurt you. It’ll only prevent you from being carried into the dream.” Han Fei was very effective. Even though this method was painful, it was efficient.

Yan Yue and the lifeguard winced in pain when they were cursed. However, when Guan Miao came into contact with Xu Qin’s curse, he felt a great unease. Blood oozed out of his scarf. Scabs that looked like scales fell. The scariest thing was black worms started to crawl out of Guan Miao’s wounds. The worms were similar to the ones that crawled out of the black cocoons. They were the complete opposite of the Butterfly. They gathered the world’s ugliness. The lifeguard wanted to move away from Guan Miao, but the boat was only so big. He curled up his body to avoid the worms.

“Uncle, are those parasites? Don’t you normally cook the water you drink?” The lifeguard finally asked.

“I have no idea when these things entered my body.” Guan Miao shook his head. He removed his bloody scarf and revealed his scary face. “I only remember having those strange dreams, and my body changed.”

“You’ll grow scales once you have a dream that you’ve been changed into a fish? Can dream really affect reality?”

The lifeguard was shocked after he examined the elders’ bodies. He thought dreams could only affect people mentally. He had no idea dreams could affect people’s physique.

“Endless nightmares will affect a person’s mind, but the real reason the bodies mutated is the cocoons.” Han Fei knew a bit about Dream. “Dream has many different kinds of cocoons. They will breed different kinds of worms, and those worms might be morphed from humans.” Han Fei remembered the human cocoons made by Butterfly. They were worms made from special human souls. They were inserted into people’s bodies so that they could be reborn.

The paddles caused ripples in the water. The boat sailed for another 20 minutes, but the island was still nowhere to be seen. The lifeguard and Yan Yue’s mother were anxious. The old man said they’d be there in less than 30 minutes, but they had rowed for more than 30 minutes already.

“Is it possible that we’ve been lied to?” Yan Yue’s mother stared at Guan Miao. She opened her mouth, and an adult woman’s face appeared down her throat. She didn’t care if Han Fei completed the ritual or not. She only cared about her daughter’s safety, and that was how Han Fei could control her.

“We should be there soon.” Guan Miao said uncertainly. He took a compass out of his shirt. He twirled the needle, but the needle wouldn’t stop moving. “What is happening?” Guan Miao picked up the flashlight in the boat, tied it to a rope, and lowered it underwater. The light chased away the darkness so they could see what was under the boat. “What is that?!”

Right underneath the wooden boat was a giant shadow. It had been following the boat.

“It’s so big!” The shadow was over 6 meters long, twice as large as the boat.

“A water monster?” The lifeguard had never seen such a large fish. Plus, the thing didn’t look like a fish!

Everyone on the boat panicked. Guan Miao’s body froze. He didn’t know if he should pull back the flashlight or not. The thing under the boat had noticed its light. The water became more rapid. The boat bumped. It could capsize at any moment.

“Quick. Turn off the light!” The shadow was surfacing. Guan Miao heard Han Fei’s voice and quickly pulled back the rope and switched off the flashlight. The surrounding became dark again, except for the weak light at the head of the boat.

“The water monster is following the light of the lantern. I think I know why the lantern can stop the water ghosts.” The lifeguard said, “The water monster is lured by light and moved to swim under the boat. The water ghosts are afraid of it, so they don’t dare to come near. They are not giving your ancestors face.”

Guan Miao had lived by the lake his whole life, and this was his first time seeing the giant underwater creature. He wiped away his cold sweat. “That might not be true. The culture of using the lantern to guide the way has been in the ritual since my ancestor’s time. Perhaps the water creature is my ancestors’ friend.”

“Shush.” Han Fei also saw the shadow underwater. His eyesight was better than most. He used the flashlight and saw the silhouette of the water monster. The water surface was rocky. Han Fei stood at the head of the boat and carefully observed the changing water pattern. His expression darkened. Then he shouted, “Grab onto the boat!” Just as Han Fei said that a giant force bumped into the bottom of the boat and the boat almost turned!

“Row forward! To the island!” They had been rowing for half an hour already. It was too late to turn back now. Before the boat stabilized, Han Fei grabbed the paddles and started to row. His over 30 stamina exploded. The collision was a signal. The darkness was shattered. The pools of black weeds rapidly retreated.

“Quick!” The four on the boat didn’t dare to delay. They rowed as fast as they could. The giant shadow didn’t plan to let them go. The collision earlier was just a test. Indescribable anxiety assaulted the four. The only thing they could do now was to protect the small boat. If they fell into the water, the end would be close.

The first to react was Yan Yue’s mother. She knew her daughter didn’t know how to swim, so if she fell into the water, she would die. To prevent that, she reached down her throat to pull out a bloody meat sac. “This is a lump of rotten meat with Dream’s presence. They should like it.”

The meat sac wasn’t big. Its surface was like an orange, with white and brown patterns. It pounded. Yan Yue’s mother swung and tossed the thing far away. The rotten meat sac oozed out black blood droplets. Just as it was about to fall into the water, a giant wave crashed. A titanic black shadow leaped out of the water, opened its maw, and consumed the meat sac.

“O my God!” The water drenched the lifeguard. He looked at the spot a few meters away from him. The image earlier was branded in his heart.

“Quick! Keep on rowing!” Yan Yue’s mother spat out blood. She grabbed the rope and tied Yan Yue to the boat. “The monster in the lake is very sensitive to Dream’s presence. They have all been affected by the ritual. Did Dream prepare a non-human vessel for itself?”

Sea of Brain was the city’s largest lake. The center of the lake was very deep, and it was connected to the underground river. Apparently, the underground water system could reach every part of the city. If the Sea of Brain was the city’s brain, then the underground river system was like the nerve vessels. There had to be a reason why Brain chose this place to conduct the ritual.

The monsters underwater were distracted by the meat sac. Han Fei’s group used this opportunity to row forward. Finally, a small island appeared. The island was barely visible in the dark. Hope was before them. The four rowed with all their might. As they got close to the island, the surroundings sunk into silence again. The water was filled with danger, but the lake surface was very calm.

“Did you hear children crying?” Guan Miao suddenly raised his head. His eyes had changed. They bulged like fish eyes.

“I do…” The lifeguard perked his ears. On the left side of the island was a capsized boat. The back of the boat was strung with a bamboo basket. It was stuffed with old clothes. The baby crying came from that basket.

“You people used babies as live sacrifices to the Lake God?” Han Fei glanced at Guan Miao.

“Of course not!” Guan Miao shook his head. “We only use animals and…”

“And what?”

“No matter what, we won’t sacrifice babies. That’s too heartless.” Guan Miao lowered his head to avoid Han Fei’s gaze.

“Then, we have no need to save the baby. Who would bring a baby to go fishing? The bamboo basket is carrying something else.” Han Fei was not heartless. He was merely extremely rational.

“Is it something else pretending to be a baby? But it sounds so real.” The lifeguard was a good person, or else he wouldn’t choose this profession.

“Listen to me!” Han Fei was the leader. He rowed towards the island without hesitation. As they moved past the capsized boat, the old clothes suddenly fell away. An ugly and scaleless monster fish leaped out of the basket and into the water.

“That fish can make a baby’s sound?!” The lifeguard sucked in a cold breath. He was about to say something when the capsized boat was turned over. The boat cabin was covered in teeth marks and blood. A lot of black stuff was crawling under the boat. If they had gotten closer earlier, they would have been engulfed by those black worms.

“What is wrong with this world?” This world was like a person’s personal apocalypse. There were endless monsters, and nowhere was safe.

After avoiding the capsized ship, Han Fei finally reached the island. With Guan Miao’s guidance, they tied the boat to the simple port, and the four of them got on land. “Don’t forget the stuff on the boat. Bring them with you!”

With solid ground under his feet, Han Fei felt better. He hugged the figurine and looked around. The island was very small. Other than various strange stones and trees, the most eye-grabbing was a three-story stone house.

“Put the Lake God figurine inside the altar, and the latter half of the ritual will be completed.” Guan Miao’s voice was filled with hope. He didn’t expect they’d get on the island. In his excitement, he didn’t notice his voice had changed. He sounded like he was gurgling underwater.

Han Fei carried the figurine and followed the path. He could feel something calling him. This was Dream’s resurrection ritual, but he felt pain in his heart like he was the one who was about to be sacrificed and tortured!

The closer he was to the stone house, the stronger the feeling. However, he wasn’t that worried. With Xu Qin and Rest in Peace, he could deal with most ghosts.

Soon, the four reached the stone house. The house was surrounded by locust trees, but most of them were wilted. Only a few closest to the house were still vibrant.

“You can enter after opening the door. You need to finish the rest of the ritual yourself.” Guan Miao gripped his hands nervously.

“I have to do this alone?”

“Yes. Normally, only the orphan can get on the island. The others will wait in the boat. After the orphan returns, they will return together.” Guan Miao explained.

“Is that so?” Han Fei pulled Guan Miao along. “All of you are coming with me.”

The stone door was pushed open, and they were hit by a horrible smell. The stone house had no floor. It was hollowed down, and it had a very deep well. There was something swimming under the murky water.

“The wooden ladder is on the left. The altar is at the top of the stone house. It’s used to protect the whole lake.” The old man pointed at the third floor.

Everyone followed his finger. A rotten wooden ladder was hanging on the wall of the decrepit house. The ladder led to the top floor. At the center of the stone house and the center of the lake was a wooden altar.

The altar was reinforced every year. It looked different from any of the altars Han Fei had encountered in the past. It was fully dark and covered in patterns of water, dream and divine worship.

“You only need to open the altar and put the figurine inside.” That was easier said than done. The wooden ladder had been severely worn. One wrong step and one would fall into the deep well. Plus, the figurine was heavy. Carrying it was hard enough. One had to be careful when ascending the ladder.

Han Fei picked up the figurine after some hesitation. “All the altars in the memory world are symbolic. I do wonder what kind of altar Dream has prepared for itself.”

Han Fei worked his arms and entered the stone house. He grabbed the wooden ladder with one hand and climbed up. The sound of cracking spread. Wooden splinters fell and dropped into the deep well. They disappeared instantly.