Chapter 310 - Chapter 310: Chapter 310 Co-manifestation (1/2)

Chapter 310: Chapter 310 Co-manifestation

Translator: 549690339

After confirming that there were no mutants in the hospital, Xiang Kun quietly left the hospital. He retrieved his hidden e-bike, put away the empty food containers, and prepared to go home.

But before getting on the e-bike, he sensed the pair of chopsticks he had given to Old Xia and unexpectedly became aware of a dreamland.

Had Old Xia just finished her late-night snack, returned to her duty room, locked the door, and gone to sleep?

Wondering if she would still hiccup after falling asleep…

Although Xiang Kun’s current brain processing capacity could handle biking and perceiving Old Xia’s dream at the same time, he had great expectations for her dream tonight and thus needed to concentrate on sensing it.

So, Xiang Kun parked his e-bike on the roadside, sat on the e-bike, and stared at his phone, pretending to be someone waiting and scrolling through his phone.

Once again sensing Old Xia’s dreamland, instead of seeing the sealed room that Xiang Kun was eager to observe, he found himself walking along the aisle of a restaurant.

Through Old Xia’s perspective in the dreamland, Xiang Kun noticed her short stature and the slender arm held by an adult next to her, indicating that this was a period from her early childhood, perhaps even before starting kindergarten.

The hand holding hers belonged to a stylishly-dressed and somewhat intellectual-looking young woman, and on her other side was a young man wearing glasses, who also seemed to be of academia or a technical profession. Xiang Kun speculated that this couple might be Old Xia’s parents.

It seemed that Old Xia was being taken out for a meal by her parents during her childhood.

Ahead, the restaurant server, also surprisingly short—even shorter than the young Xia by the looks of it, was leading the couple to their table.

Although he could only see her back, and through the sensation of an emotionally-infused projection, Xiang Kun recognised the girl dressed as a restaurant waitress: it was Liu Shiling, or rather, the projected image of the emotionally-infused chopsticks in the dreamland.

After sitting down at the table, dishes were quickly served—a rapidity which could only be attributed to being in a dream. “Waitress Liu Shiling” seemed to have teleportation abilities, serving two dishes at one moment and bringing two more the next second.

Most of the dishes on the table appeared blurry and were not easy to identify, except for one dish closest to Old Xia, which was a plate of crispy pig’s elbow and it was crystal clear to Xiang Kun.

“Here, Xiao Bing, try this ‘Golden Pig’s Knuckle’, it’s the signature dish of this restaurant, very tasty…”

Before the scholarly-looking lady could finish her words, Old Xia used no utensils and instead grabbed the pig’s knuckle with her hands and began to devour it.

In this dream, Old Xia’s emotions were intense, a prominent sense of hunger and desire for food.

“Slow down, Xiao Bing, have some soup…”

“Try some other dishes.”

“Eat slowly; there’s more.”

The two people who seemed to be Old Xia’s parents were advising her, but after finishing the crispy pig’s elbow in her hand, Old Xia stood up, picked another piece, and started devouring again.

As one could imagine, her eating manners were not so elegant, even somewhat frantic, just as during the previous dream where she was eating toast in the sealed room.

The voices of the two adults sitting next to her became blurred, and Old Xia’s attention in the dream was all on the food.

Just as Xiang Kun was wondering why Old Xia was so intensely fixated on food, all emotions retreated like a receding tide, replaced by calmness and rationality.

The next moment, Xiang Kun discovered that Old Xia’s perspective began to elevate. She stood and kept rising, evidently taller than the height of her child form who stood just now, and she wasn’t standing on a chair.

The following moment, all the previously blurry details now became clear to where her gaze fell, while the two young individuals sitting on her left and right aged significantly, looking almost like they were in their fifties or sixties, although their clothing seemed more modern and fashionable. Their eyes still held the same tender gaze towards Old Xia.

Xiang Kun knew that Old Xia had become “lucid” in her dream again, just as he had anticipated.

Right after she became “lucid”, she instantaneously transformed into an adult, and the two people believed to be her parents also aged significantly, which should correspond with her real-time memory in reality.

Of course, the “waitress Liu Shiling” not far from the table also changed into the appearance she had in Old Xia’s memory, identical to the previous dream appearance.

Xiang Kun’s spirit was uplifted, his attention highly focused, he was curious about Old Xia’s plan of action in this lucid dream after the previous experience.

He hoped that the dream would stay longer after she became “lucid” this time.

Old Xia looked down at the half-eaten crispy pork knuckle in her bowl, the next moment, the half-eaten crispy pork knuckle miraculously restored to its original state.

Or rather, it was not the same piece she had taken from the dining table previously, as there was a noticeable difference in shape and size.

Old Xia took a seat, and without using any utensils, she picked up the hunk of pork, opened her mouth wide, and took a slow bite, skin and all.

At first, there was no sensation in her mouth. She could neither taste nor feel the texture of the meat, as if she had bitten into thin air. But very quickly, the texture and flavor made their appearance.

And these were entirely different from what she had experienced in her dream when little Xia was munching on the crispy pork knuckle. The details were richer and more specific.

The texture, the taste, and even the appearance, Xiang Kun quickly realized that Old Xia’s “genuine crispy pork knuckle”, which was manifested in her co-manifested dream upon awakening, was his creation.

It appeared that Old Xia’s fondness for “crispy pork knuckle” had something to do with her experience of eating it in a special state when she was young. But for her now, it was apparent that her memory of the dish and its specific taste was derived from Xiang Kun’s “crispy pork knuckle”.

Moreover, when she started chewing the pork knuckle, her previously calm and rational state changed again and was filled with a satisfying and enjoyable feeling while eating. It was different from the “crazy food scramble” she felt in her previous dream.

Old Xia quickly devoured the “crispy pork knuckle”, then contentedly picked up a tissue from the side and wiped her mouth.

The next moment, she turned over her left hand, and three coins lay in her palm.

As soon as he saw those three coins, Xiang Kun immediately felt that he had a faint connection with them. He realized that the three coins in the dream were not merely conjured up from Old Xia’s memory. They seemed to have a tangible relationship with the three coins with a “super-sensory connection” that he had given to Old Xia.

In the dream, Old Xia held the three coins in her hand, continuously rubbing them together, letting them collide with each other. She then started to wander around the restaurant.

She observed the environment in the restaurant, just like last time, wherever her gaze landed, the details would fill in according to her memory.

Xiang Kun was somewhat worried that like last time, the dream would quickly collapse, and Old Xia would wake up.

But to his surprise, after Old Xia had made a round in the restaurant and returned to sit at the table, the dream persisted. Despite being in a “lucid” state, she had not woken up.

Next, all the different types of Chinese dishes on the table disappeared, then a Napoleon Cake appeared.

The Napoleon Cake was not large; it was just enough for one person.

Old Xia stared at the cake for a while, then it slowly inflated like a balloon, soon becoming as big as a computer casing.

The next moment, the cake shrank back to its original size.

Then the cake began to transform, turning into a rabbit, and then changing again into a goose.

Xiang Kun was moved at the sight of the ever-changing and shape-shifting cake. The three coins in Old Xia’s hand had disappeared, and the cake had taken their place, establishing a certain connection with him.

Xiang Kun realized that for some reason, Old Xia had conjured up the projection of the three coins in her dream. This projection was likely related to their “super-sensory connection” in reality, which was also linked to him.

The cake was those three coins.

Just like Liu Shiling and Xiao Pingguo, Old Xia was also “calling” upon his abilities through his “super-sensory connected” items – and this was occurring in the dream induced by his “emotion-infused” items!

The changes were not just limited to the cake. Xiang Kun soon found that his point of perception was no longer confined to Old Xia’s subjective vision. He could now switch to the viewpoint of the “Waiter Liu Shiling”, the projection who had been emotionally infused into the dream.

He immediately remembered the dream of Little Fatty Girl Liu Shiling that he had sensed on his way back to Citong, a dream he had interrupted halfway through “emotion-infused” items. In that dream, his point of view was from the “chopsticks” in Liu Shiling’s hand, which she used as a magic wand.

This suggested that both Liu Shiling’s dream at that time and Old Xia’s dream now were based not only on his “emotion-infused” items, so it was no longer necessary to maintain his synchronicity with the dreamer’s perception.

As to what underpins the integrity of the current dream, Xiang Kun also had a speculation. It was highly likely the three coins, or the abilities “called” upon by the three coins through their “super-sensory connection” with him.

Next, Xiang Kun saw Old Xia constantly changing the size and shape of the “Napoleon Cake” in the dream. She even turned it into a big piece of crispy pork knuckle, which then continued to change shape…but that was a bit wild.

Can you imagine a laptop made of crispy pork skin and meat, except for the screen, that can be used and eaten at the same time, and also emanates a delicious aroma?

Is this more cyberpunk, or more Lovecraftian?