Chapter Forty-Three: Dream Tapir

Damn! Lu Mingze’s nerves were shattered, his fists clenched tight.

Is it possible that Funina exists only in your mind—not because she’s disconnected from the world, but simply because she doesn’t exist at all? Otherwise, how could I, a being similar to her, fail to detect her presence? Is it possible you only hear her voice and sense her blurred image because your imagination is lacking, because imagining a voice is easier? And now you want to strengthen communication through learning psychic Word Spirits—do you dare dream so boldly? Are you planning to split your mind, dividing a part of yourself into this so-called “Funina”?

Expression: Old man, subway, cell phone.

“I need to learn psychic Word Spirits now—it’s really important to me!”

“Hey, why aren’t you saying anything?”

“Don’t you believe me? I’ve confessed everything, I trust you completely, I’ve told you the whole truth, so why won’t you believe me? I just want to learn psychic Word Spirits, can’t you let me? Say something, just say a word! Your silence is really hurting me, disappointing me. You’re acting just like a scoundrel—deceiving someone and running away. At least green tea would pretend; you don’t even bother to act!”

...

Lu Mingze clutched his head, enduring Lu Mingfei’s endless chatter. His mind threatened to split apart at any moment.

Finally, he couldn’t take it any longer.

“Ah! Enough!!”

The little devil roared in fury, his golden eyes blazing, swirling with anger, sadness, helplessness, and pain—a mixture so complex that no adjective could capture it. It was something indescribable.

He reached out, tapped Lu Mingfei’s head, and the world in Lu Mingfei’s eyes spun and shifted, his body tumbling into an abyss, falling endlessly, sight swallowed by darkness.

“Ugh!”

In a daze, Lu Mingfei suddenly awoke, instinctively sitting up in the familiar hotel room, feeling as if he’d just emerged from a dream.

His expression changed, and he called urgently to the empty air beside him, “Hey, Lu Mingze, where are you? Hey, where did you go? Hello?”

“I still have so much to say!”

“Why did you run off... Seriously, I give up!”

“Ugh...” As he spoke, a sudden pain shot through his head, and a new chain of memories surfaced in his mind—memories about the Word Spirit Dream Eater and its usage.

Word Spirit: Dream Eater

White King’s origin Word Spirit

Effect: Drag your enemy into a dreamscape of your own creation, forcing them to face their greatest fear. If they die in the dream, they die for real.

So this was the Word Spirit?

Lu Mingfei deeply suspected that the little devil wanted him to kill Funina in his heart, hence giving him such a powerful psychic Word Spirit.

But it didn’t matter. He could analyze the principle behind Dream Eater’s effect, learn how to wield psychic authority, and gain better mastery over it to achieve his desired outcome.

He didn’t need to rely on the little devil for power; the only prerequisite was that Lu Mingfei wholly recognized his own existence, fully accepted his dragon side. Otherwise, his pure human heart would only suppress the strength of his dragon blood.

Lu Mingfei’s acceptance of his dragon lineage happened almost instantly. Upon learning he was this world’s greatest monster, related to dragons, his first thought wasn’t about being despised by the world, but rather that Funina also had a water dragon beside her. Even if he was a dragon, it didn’t matter—having dragon blood was not something hard for him to accept.

In fact, he even felt a little happy.

The reason was simple: he had no one in this world he cared about, and in a world where nobody cared for him, it didn’t matter if others couldn’t accept him. He was, after all, a nobody, unwanted by anyone.

Compared to such trivialities, what mattered more to Lu Mingfei was how those who cared about him felt. Funina’s approval was the best key to fully accepting himself.

He was human, and he was also a dragon.

...

Thus, Lu Mingfei’s daily life began to change: attending classes, researching psychic authority, perfecting the Thunder-type Divine Eye, while the little devil would pop up to drag him into stories about Teyvat, boasting about how beautiful Funina was.

And then, he would run off on his own.

During this time, Lu Mingfei often caught sight of Chu Zihang on his way to and from school. The stoic senior always watched him quietly, observing his every move.

Lu Mingfei figured it was normal—he’d performed so well and so brilliantly that it made sense for people to notice him. If no one paid attention, he’d wonder if something was wrong.

But in reality, the Academy hadn’t instructed Chu Zihang to monitor Lu Mingfei; he simply wanted to make sure his junior wasn’t led astray by a wicked woman. It was pure concern and care, with no other motive.

After Lu Mingfei completed his studies, Chu Zihang could have applied to leave, but out of concern and affection for his junior, he chose to stay and keep watch for a while longer.

Principal Angers supported this decision and suggested Chu Zihang and Lu Mingfei give each other an early introduction to the lore of dragons and teach some basics of dragon-slaying.

In Angers’ view, S-class Lu Mingfei was the most likely candidate to slay the Dragon King. He was a true lion, possessed unparalleled talent, and was a worthwhile investment. Having Chu Zihang accompany him for a period of training and study was acceptable.

To slay dragons, you don’t need the majority—you need a select somebody, like Lu Mingfei.

“Hey? That guy looks so familiar. Lu Mingfei, doesn’t he look like Chu Zihang?” The little goddess tugged on Lu Mingfei’s sleeve.

Lu Mingfei glanced at the familiar figure, at that stoic face. Being watched made him a bit annoyed, so he put on a surprised expression and said, “Wow, someone at our school is actually cosplaying Senior Chu Zihang! No wonder he’s a legend—people even cosplay him!”

“He’s not even wearing a school uniform. How is that cosplay?”

“Ah, you don’t get it. Senior Chu Zihang graduated ages ago. To cosplay accurately, you can’t wear the school uniform, otherwise how would anyone know it’s him?”

“Hm... that actually makes sense?”

“Right? Right?”

...

On the other side, Chu Zihang, who had been watching Lu Mingfei and Su Xiaoqiang all along, couldn’t help but smile. He turned politely, then strode away with elegance, his steps unwavering and confident.

Though he wanted to linger and watch these moments, he knew that once others saw them, their essence would be lost—the original feeling would fade.

Better to leave them some space.