Ashes Of Deep Sea
Chapter 520 - Chapter 520 Chapter 521 Trapped in a Dream

Chapter 520: Chapter 521 Trapped in a Dream Chapter 520: Chapter 521 Trapped in a Dream Outside the dream boundary of the elven girl, another elf appeared.

Heidi’s mind instantly became alert.

Under normal circumstances, no other “mental entities” should appear outside the boundary of a dream because this area is essentially the chaotic projection formed by the interaction between the dreamer’s subconscious boundary and the “real world.” Here, the rationality of the dreamer no longer functions, the broken and chaotic subconscious is disturbed by the deeper layers of the world, generating various unimaginable or dangerously strange “shadows”–these shadows are so dangerous that the human’s own “mental barrier” must operate at full capacity to block the boundary’s information from infiltrating “inward.”

Heidi still vividly remembered what her teacher at the Academy of Truth had said–everyone is essentially “blinded” in their own dreams, and if they truly saw the real appearance of the edges of their dreams, then everyone in the world would go mad.

Therefore, under normal operation of the mental barrier, the dreamer would never “recognize” the “outer region” of their dream and would not generate any mental entities in this area.

Heidi gripped the gold cone tightly again, while silently chanting Rahm’s name in her heart, endowing the gold cone in her hand with the suggestive power to kill dream intruders, because she knew very well that the “figure” appearing here was either a “doctor” like herself or… another invader.

The figure, with its back towards her, seemed completely unaware of the psychotherapist madam gradually approaching from behind, still standing there dumbly, maintaining a slightly raised head posture as if intently observing the tree crowns that obscured the sky.

Beneath the tree crowns, sunlight dappled the forest–if not for the discordant presence of this figure, it would actually be a rather nice landscape.

Heidi reached behind this mental entity and then abruptly raised her hand, pressing the gold cone against the back of the other’s head–but just as she was about to thrust the gold cone down, she forcefully stopped her own motion.

Not an invader!

Endowed with Rahm’s blessing, the “gold cone” was a surgical tool to treat neurological disorders in the real world and a “suggestive carrier” with various transcendent powers in the spiritual realm–it could be used both to eliminate shadows in the mind and to establish temporary mental contacts. At this moment, a clear and stable thought reaction, accompanied by the contact of the gold cone, transmitted into Heidi’s perception, and along with it, the close connections between this mental entity and its surroundings, allowed the well-trained psychotherapist madam to instantly determine the situation–

She had come into contact with another “dreamer.”

This was not the “outer region” of the elven girl’s dream; this was the dreamscape of another elf!

A huge sense of astonishment and confusion surged up instantly. Since her graduation, Heidi had never encountered such a bizarre situation in her professional field. She saw another dreamer in a “patient’s” dream; the two dreams had merged together, and she couldn’t even discern their “boundary”!

An unstoppable thought emerged in Heidi’s mind–she had her next journal paper, but if she really wrote about this incident, she feared even those most imaginative psychologists at the Academy of Truth would rush by boat to Prande to challenge her…

With thoughts flashing through her mind like lightning, Heidi had already retracted the gold cone the first chance she got, and it wasn’t until she had hidden the gold cone behind her that the figure with the slightly hunched back and messy blond hair finally seemed to realize her presence and slowly turned around.

A face marked with weariness and confusion appeared in Heidi’s view.

The latter’s first thought was of some awe-inspiring cram students she had met during her studies at the academy.

They didn’t eat, sleep, or rest–and still failed.

“Hello,” the face, full of fatigue and as if it hadn’t really slept in this lifetime, spoke in a slow tone, as if still half-asleep, “Are you also here to kill me in the dream?”

The somewhat chaotic thoughts in Heidi’s mind suddenly cleared, and she quickly responded, “Also? Has someone attacked you in your dream?”

“A few,” the blond, disheveled middle-aged elf nodded and pointed to the ground not far away, “Look, there they are.”

“How… how many?” Heidi was a bit startled, following the direction of the pointed finger, but she only saw a few small, scorched objects on the ground, “They are…”

“I don’t know where they came from. I just asked them a few questions, and they ended up like this,” the middle-aged elf spoke slowly, looking lethargic as if he might fall asleep at any moment, then shook his head, “All from previous key points I’ve covered…”

Heidi frowned slightly.

The mental state of this elf seemed off; he seemed to be confusing some things in the dream, he spoke hazily about “covered key points”… Was this due to his identity and activities in real life? Was he a teacher? Or a scholar?

This elf knew he was in a dream, and he knew he had been attacked in the dream, but his cognition also showed clear confusion… Was it because he was damaged in the previous attacks, or because he was influenced during the process of entering the dream?

“You haven’t answered my question yet, madam,” as Heidi was rapidly pondering, the middle-aged elf’s voice reached her ears again, “Are you also here to attack me?”

“No,” Heidi immediately shook her head. Although the elf in front of her maintained a deliberate and unhurried demeanor despite the eerie tension, she chose to reveal her identity, “I am a mental health therapist.”

The other party frowned upon hearing this, “A mental health therapist?”

“Yes, a mental health therapist,” Heidi nodded decisively, and naturally retrieved the “gold cone” that represented her profession from behind her, then brushed her hand across her forehead and eyes, “and I am also a follower of Rahm.”

“Oh, a professional,” the middle-aged elf slowly nodded, speaking in a dazed tone, “it seems my students have summoned you–have they finally realized their teacher is trapped in the Dreamscape? I thought they’d take the opportunity to take a couple of days off…”

The unfamiliar elf before her seemed to have misunderstood something.

However, Heidi had no intention of clarifying this misunderstanding–an “intervention reason” approved by the dreamer themself was clearly a good thing, as it could help her stay more steadily in this dream.

“My name is Heidi, I’m pleased to have found you successfully,” Heidi said politely, “how did you end up in this Dreamscape?”

“How did I end up in this Dreamscape? I’m not sure,” the middle-aged elf frowned, “but I do remember what I was doing before… I was observing the sun from the tower, the sun… Yes! The sun! Miss Heidi, the sun had gone out, I was taking this chance to observe its surface structure–what’s the situation like outside now? Was the sun still out when you came?”

“The sun has reignited,” Heidi quickly processed the clues provided by the elf while guessing where this elf might physically be in the real world.

The elf had mentioned a “tower,” but Pland had no towers specifically for observing the sun–if this elf’s mention of “observance” was research in a professional capacity, he must have been in a well-equipped high tower.

Where could it be? Moco? Asudi? Or Light Breeze Harbor?

And observing the surface of the sun during its outage… Such a bold move was beyond the courage of a usual “scholar,” even her own father might hesitate to do such a thing. What was the origin of this elf? Which City-State would have such daring and restless scholar elves?

Just as a few guesses emerged in her mind, the middle-aged elf before her spoke again.

His gaze swept over the gold cone in Heidi’s hand, pondering slightly, as if he had just suddenly remembered something.

“Miss Heidi,” he asked politely, “did you just poke my neck with this thing?”

Heidi: “…”

Why is he suddenly asking about this now?!

…

“Is Master Taran El still unconscious?”

Lucricia frowned, looking at the elf master who was still lying quietly on the bed with his eyes tightly closed, showing no signs of waking, her expression slightly stern.

She had returned to the Brilliant Starship with the “manuscript” left by Taran El, but after an initial inspection had no leads, she had decided to come to Light Breeze Harbor to inquire about his condition, only to find the elf scholar still deep in slumber.

This City-State had many skilled doctors and outstanding scholars from the Academy of Truth, yet they could not awaken Taran El from his sleep?

“Yes… Yes, Miss Lucricia,” a young person attending to the scholar in the hospital room nervously said, facing the “sea witch” renowned for many eerie tales, the young apprentice was clearly anxious, “the doctor says the teacher has not been injured or poisoned, it’s more like he’s trapped in a nightmare, maybe because of the ‘effect’ of the sun’s outage…”

Lucricia frowned, her gaze sweeping over the other figures in the room, among the apprentices, she spotted a vaguely familiar face.

“Joshua, your teacher should know mental and psychological protective techniques, right?”

“Yes, Miss Lucricia,” the young apprentice who had previously been caught running in the corridor by the “sea witch” quickly responded, “Teacher often needs to handle some strange objects found in the border regions, so he also performs mental barrier training…”

“That means Taran El has skills to stay lucid and protect himself in nightmares. Under normal circumstances, he could free himself from the Dreamscape–yet, the current situation has exceeded his capabilities.”

“We’ve already called for a mental health therapist!” Joshua blurted out, clearly panic-stricken, “they should arrive soon!”

“A regular mental health therapist probably won’t be much help; this isn’t a normal nightmare,” Lucricia shook her head, “I’m going to take him to the Brilliant Starship. My lab there should prove useful.”