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墨書 Inktalez
Chapter 221: The Old Saying of Dream Fright
The air was filled with a suffocating smell, and everything around me was still pitch black; I could see and hear nothing.
My arms felt empty, as if I were standing in the void. Suddenly, I became aware that something was wrong—Cold Snow was gone!
I wanted to move, to open my eyes and search for her, but after struggling for a long time, it felt as though my body was fixed in place; I couldn't move at all.
I was sweating profusely, feeling desperate and helpless. Gradually, various sounds began to fill my mind—women crying, babies wailing, and men screaming. The sounds were disturbingly vivid, as if they were happening right in front of me.
What was going on?
We must have fallen into a trap. Xue Er, yes, Xue Er was still tied to me. But why did it feel so cold in my arms? It felt empty, as if no one was there.
Could it be a nightmare?
A nightmare is commonly referred to as Sleep Paralysis, which occurs when one is startled awake from a dream and feels unable to move or is aware of something pressing down on them.
This term is often used to describe terrifying experiences. When one suddenly wakes up while their muscle nerves are still asleep, they may find themselves clear-headed yet unable to move; this phenomenon is called a nightmare.
However, it could also be considered a bad dream because I could currently feel an overwhelming sense of oppression and tightness in my chest.
I kept reminding myself that nightmares are just a normal psychological phenomenon and have nothing to do with ghosts or monsters!
They usually occur under conditions of high stress, extreme fatigue, irregular sleep patterns, insomnia, or anxiety. Science indicates that nightmares are caused by transient cerebral ischemia during sleep. When a person experiences transient cerebral ischemia during the day, they may suffer from terrifying symptoms such as dizziness, palpitations, chest pressure, blurred vision, tinnitus, and various neurological dysfunctions.
Nightmares can also be caused by incorrect sleeping positions. For example, placing your hands on your chest while sleeping can inadvertently create a feeling of breathlessness, leading to nightmares. Both sleeping on your back and side can easily trigger nightmares as well. Therefore, the position in which you sleep is very important.
Some people experience nightmares due to excessive stress. Generally, everyone will encounter nightmares at some point in their lives, so there is no need to be afraid; these are normal occurrences. However, if nightmares happen frequently, it is something to pay attention to.
As for me, I was tied together with Xue Er and sleeping while in free fall. In such a situation, I still managed to fall asleep, which I must commend myself for. But damn it, could you not play such a cruel joke on me with nightmares?
I am very busy and do not like or want Sleep Paralysis!
Speaking of Sleep Paralysis, which is essentially a nightmare, I experienced it many times during my school years. Almost every time, I would have some dreams—perhaps they should be called hallucinations!
Those dreams were always terrifying. When I didn’t realize I was dreaming or hallucinating, I would often be in a state of extreme anxiety, tormented by monsters or chased by villains and beasts, or finding myself and my loved ones on the brink of some disaster. At that moment, I wanted to scream but couldn’t; I wanted to escape but found it impossible. It was often a helpless situation where I felt suffocated.
In the moments between waking and sleeping, I frequently felt my body and limbs were immobile as if something was pressing down on me. It took considerable struggle before I could fully awaken.
But despite my struggles and attempts to remain calm, why the hell could I still not move? Why couldn’t I wake up?
Just as I was pondering this, suddenly the surrounding darkness receded, and it felt like I had entered another scene.
Could it be that hallucinations were about to appear again?
I could hear my Heart pounding loudly; my blood felt like it was boiling. This situation seemed different from previous instances of Sleep Paralysis.
Even when my eyes could see things, my body remained immobile.
My head felt heavy and dazed, surrounded by a thick fog; I had no idea where I was now.
I looked around at the White Mist in confusion, feeling a sense of familiarity deep within my Consciousness. However, after thinking for a moment, I couldn't recall when I had experienced something similar, as if it were a case of déjà vu.
Déjà vu is simple; it is the sensation of Familiarity, where events or scenes that have never been experienced seem to have been encountered at some time and place.
The feeling of Familiarity results from the interaction between the perceptual system and the memory system in the human brain. It is that moment when one sees something familiar but cannot recall anything at all.
Psychologists have pointed out that the sensation of Familiarity may arise because people have received too much information without paying attention to its source. Familiarity can come from various channels, some real and some illusory.
When you encounter a situation described in a novel that you have forgotten, you might mistake it for a memory from a past life. Or, when you find yourself in a real scene from a movie you once watched, even though you have completely forgotten about the film on the surface, your mind may still evoke thrilling memories. Psychologists also note that sometimes people do not need real memories; the brain can create a sense of familiarity on its own.
So, what will happen next? Will it be real or illusory?
Before I could think too much, the scene suddenly changed again. The mist transformed into pitch-black night, and twinkling stars seemed to be right before my eyes.
I felt as if my body could move again, so I turned around in place, feeling as if I was amidst the starry sky—no, amidst the universe! The sight before me shocked me and left me speechless!
Looking up at the vast sky filled with stars shining magnificently, big and small stars adorned the heavens, constantly sparkling with diamond-like Radiance. In an instant, I felt the vastness of the universe and my own insignificance.
The visual shock had already made me forget everything. A more familiar feeling brushed against my heart like a feather; just as I wanted to grasp it, it vanished in an instant. When I tried to search for it again, the Cosmic Starry Sky had disappeared, leaving only desolation behind. The earth was cracked, mountains collapsed, rivers vanished—like an apocalypse—a dead silence remained, filled only with endless sorrow and desolation.
My heart ached so much that I could hardly breathe, as if an invisible hand was tightly gripping me. As everything spun around me, the air trembled, and the ground roared. Boundless Death Qi spread through the air like a devil's roar, deafening! My Internal Organs felt shattered; blood began to seep from my body, and my Seven Holes were also bleeding. The pain was extraordinarily real; everything happening was indeed real! The only feeling in my heart was this: this is real; I must leave!
Really? Leave?
I suddenly froze. This scene—this scene—I had indeed seen it before!
I suddenly remembered that a while ago, when I was climbing Nanshan with Rophie and the others, I had a dream. That dream was exactly the same as what I am seeing and feeling now!
At that time, I had stopped struggling and looked in the direction of the sound.
I saw a slender figure standing ahead, with familiar brows, familiar eyes, and a familiar appearance. Together, they were both familiar and strange. He told me that it was his dream, the only dream he had every day and every year!
He looked just like me, yet he was not me.
At that moment, he floated towards me, coming closer from afar. Looking at him felt like looking into a mirror, except his eyes were so cold that I dared not meet them. His three-dimensional features were strikingly handsome but emanated an air of aloofness and detachment, both noble and cruel.
He said he didn’t know why he was inside my body, but he would give me strength, only asking that I uncover this secret.
He also said he was not my second personality; he just hoped everything would end soon and wanted to transfer all his knowledge into my mind. However, he might remain asleep for a long time afterward.
A surge of excitement welled up in my heart, one that I couldn’t fully understand. I shouted, “Zi, have you woken up?”
From that moment until now, although not much time has passed, it hasn’t been short either. Now that I see these things again, does it mean that “Zi” has already woken up?
I eagerly awaited his response. After a long time, just when I thought he hadn’t woken up, a tall and thin figure gradually appeared before me. The outline was both familiar and strange.
There was a hint of hostility between his brows and eyes as he coldly stared at me, filled with resentment. Confused, I looked at him as he resentfully asked me, “How much longer are you going to occupy my body?!”
“Zi? You?” I looked at him in disbelief, momentarily at a loss for words. What did he mean by asking how much longer I would occupy his body? Isn’t this my body rather than his?
Yet he continued to glare at me with anger and unwillingness in his tone. “You impostor! You’ve lived gloriously for over ten years; it’s time for me to take control of this body!”
As I spoke, I felt my body—no, my soul—being forcefully pulled out of my body. But it seemed like my body and soul were glued together, which directly led to my soul being tugged outward while my body was being pulled inward, causing me unbearable pain!
"Zi, stop it!" My head felt like it was about to split open, and every cell in my body was rapidly dividing and dividing again. I felt like everything was spiraling out of control.
"Stop? Why should I stop?" He seemed to find it extremely amusing and burst into laughter. "The owner of this body has always been me. You deserve to die! Once you're dead, I can completely reclaim this body that belongs to me!"
"No!" I gritted my teeth. "This is my body!"
Yes! Ever since I was born—no, ever since I have memories...
Ever since I have memories?
At this thought, I suddenly froze.
I had no memories before I turned ten. I suddenly recalled that the first time I woke up, I was in a dimly lit room, and at that time, I seemed to be very ill...
As for why I said "seemed to be very ill," it was because the moment I first woke up, I realized that I was not a baby. My dad and others said that I had been playing around and fell down a slope, hitting my head and resulting in amnesia...
Before I turned ten, I didn't have a single photograph. Before I turned ten, I had no memories at all...
Thinking of this, I suddenly couldn't be sure anymore. Am I really—truly—Feng Zi?
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