Chapter 4: Time
The plush carpet was laid under the luxurious sofas. The inside of the fireplace was dark and black. It appeared like there were ashes from burnt wood. Night had taken over this world. They shouldnt be able to see things so clearly, but the crystal chandeliers above their heads still shone. The refracted light cut the travellers into pieces.
The bungalow still had a power supply.
We should look around first. The muscular man pulled back his gaze on the chandelier. Stick together and dont split up.
Soon, they found a lot of food in the dining rooms fridge. There were vegetables, grains, meat and even snacks. There was a basket of eggs in the deepest part of the fridge. They looked fresh, like they were placed there one hour ago.
However, based on dust on the ground, that was impossible.
The groups focus was not on that either. The man looked at the food, and his expression didnt change. Eventually, he merely said, At least we wont die from starvation.
Suddenly, the sound of water came from behind them. Jiang Cheng looked around and saw the woman with the mole twist on the faucet. Clean water flowed out. She turned the faucet off and looked at the others before saying casually, We wont die from thrist either.
After that, they found a lot of wood in a small room that felt like a storage. The woods were piled neatly on top of each other.
The second floor was the living space. There was a main bedroom, a study, and two small bedrooms. At the end of the corridor was a locked room. It was clear that both the muscular man and the woman with the mole were interested in the locked room. However, neither of them made a move to fiddle with the lock.
The stairs that led to the third floor were blocked by a locked black iron door. The muscular man tried pushing it, but the door didnt budge. The group of people retreated to the first-floor living room.
The group had stayed more than half a day in this world. They were cold and hungry, especially since they had just trekked through the forest.
The muscular man assigned everyone jobs. He and the middle-aged man would go grab the wood to start a fire. The woman, Jiang Cheng and Fatty, would make dinner. The innocent woman and the young man would clean up the place.
Jiang Cheng looked at the table of ingredients in confusion. The woman smirked and then walked away. Thankfully, Fatty was a good cook. He showcased good knife skills and cooking skills. Soon, fragrant dishes were served. He even kindly fried an egg for everyone. The area around the living room sofa had been cleaned. Everyone sat around the fireplace and ate, holding their bowls. The fire in the fireplace crackled. After dinner, they started to discuss the mission.
However, the discussion only ended with the muscular man and the woman with the mole arguing. This was inevitable. The mission had just started, and they had very few clues. The two of them were also the most opinionated. Based on the way they carried themselves, they had completed several missions already.
The night deepened.
The muscular man wanted everyone to sleep in the living room, but the woman insisted that they use the second-floor bedrooms. Her reason was that there might be clues there.
In the end, the two left with dissatisfaction. The innocent girl chose to go with the woman. They walked towards the stairs. As they were about to get on the steps, the male government worker rushed to join him. Jiang Cheng believed that the two slaps from the muscular man had scarred him.
Just like that, the muscular man, the middle-aged, balding man, Jiang Cheng and Fatty stayed in the living room while the other three went upstairs to the bedroom.
Idiots! The muscular man looked at them and cursed under his breath.
The people in the living room were all dudes. There were three long sofas. One of them would take a sofa each, and the last person would stay up to keep vigil.
The muscular man offered to take the first shift. Then, he took out a pocket watch from his chest. He flipped it on and placed it on the small table in the middle. Its around 10 pm now. The sun will rise around 6 am. Thats 8 hours. There are four people here. Each person will stay on watch for 2 hours each. That way, everyone will have ample time to rest.
No one objected to it. The muscular mans arrangement was very reasonable.
Just as the man finished, he saw Fatty look at the watch on the table with a strange gaze.
Stop looking. The time is not accurate. The man explained, Any watches or clocks brought into the dream realm would be broken. The only function it has now is to record time.
The time on the watch was 4.18 pm. That was clearly untrue.
Since Jiang Cheng and Fatty were both new, the muscular man added more explanations. He told them what kind of situation happening in the dream realm that violated normal scientific knowledge could be expected.
What they needed to do was to look through the anomalies, search for the hidden clues, solve the mission and leave the dream realm.
Jiang Cheng raised his hand. The muscular man looked at him and asked, Do you have a question?
Since youve already escaped from the dream realm before, why do you come back?
Because the dream realm will always be present. Once youve opened that dream, it will always be there for you until you die. By the way, The muscular man remembered something, The full name of the dream realm is the nightmare realm barrier.
Barrier?
Yes. It is like a barrier wall that separates the real world and the false world. No matter how heavily youve injured yourself in the dream realm, as long as you still have a breath left, you will be returned to real life unscathed. He chuckled bitterly, Isnt that an appropriate name?
Then, how can we fully leave this realm barrier? The one who spoke was the balding man. His voice was hoarse and gave people an uncomfortable feeling.
The muscular man glanced at him and said, Dont ask stupid questions. Youre not new. You should know that your question is similar to asking which timeline this world is on. Its an unanswerable question.
The middle-aged man darkened his face and stopped talking.
Jiang Cheng raised his hand again.
The muscular man was helpless as he turned to him, Just ask if you have a question. Theres no need to raise your hand.
We should be sometime between the end of March and the middle of September in 2006, Jiang Cheng said sincerely.
The muscular man was startled. The person who reacted similarly was the middle-aged man with his head lowered. Fatty also looked at Jiang Cheng in confusion. They had no idea what he was talking about.
How can you tell? The muscular man asked.
Jiang Cheng took out a small bag from his pocket. When he moved it closer, the rest could see that it was a small bag of bread.
Jiang Cheng turned the bag over and pointed at a small detail, Production date 18 March 2006. Preservation Period: 6 months.
Jiang Cheng opened the bag with everyone watching. He tore off a piece of the bread and tossed it into his mouth. He chewed for a while and swallowed. He thought about it and commented, It has a nice chew and is quite fluffy. The moisture is still there. Considering it was stored in the fridge, I believe were in the earlier months of 2006.
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