"Tianmiao, who exactly are you?" Cheng Luo asked.
"She’s a goblin, she’s not a human! She’s a demon wandering in this desert!" Que Qiu said loudly.
As soon as his voice appeared, Cheng Luo’s body suddenly shook, as if she were falling from the sky in a dream, and then she opened her eyes.
She quickly unzipped her sleeping bag and sat up, gasping, still shaken.
Was it a dream?
Was it a dream?
"Hey Cheng Luo, you slept like a log, I’ve called you twice, it’s already eleven in the morning, what kind of sweet dream were you having that you didn’t wake up?" Xiao Wang teased her from the side.
"It felt like a long dream, a very magical dream." Cheng Luo answered dazedly, not fully awake from the dream.
Tianmiao squatted down and touched her head, then handed her a cup of water, saying, "Alright, have some water."
Hearing Tianmiao’s voice, Cheng Luo seemed to gain immense security, holding Tianmiao’s hand and said, "Tianmiao, I think I had a nightmare, like the Oasis Ancient City, everything was fine, then suddenly it was covered by sandstorms, many people were buried alive, and I dreamt of my senior, he ignored me, told me to go back. And also, the guide said you are..."
At this point, Cheng Luo suddenly stopped.
"What did he say I am?" Tianmiao asked with a smile.
"He said you’re a goblin, not a human, said you are a demon wandering in this desert." Cheng Luo blurted out, then gripped Tianmiao’s hand, "He’s talking nonsense! He’s slandering you."
But Tianmiao withdrew her hand and said with a smiling face, "No, he’s not wrong, I’m indeed not human..."
Then, under Cheng Luo’s terrified gaze, Tianmiao changed. Her attire changed, a golden crown adorned her head, encrusted with all sorts of stunning jewels, wearing a luxurious blood-red long dress, and on each wrist, she wore several beautifully crafted bracelets. She was still beautiful, but entirely different from before.
Before, her beauty was pure and gentle, now it was captivating and mesmerizing. Tianmiao smiled, holding Cheng Luo’s wrist: "Would you like to stay with me in this desert forever?"
"Ah—!" Cheng Luo screamed.
She suddenly sat up, only to find with shock that everyone in the room was still asleep.
Turning to look at Tianmiao, Tianmiao was also asleep.
That exquisitely beautiful sleeping face, like a serene angel.
What kind of dream was that...
Cheng Luo lay back down.
A dream within a dream...
Cheng Luo closed her eyes again, but couldn’t fall asleep anymore.
After a long while, people in the room began to wake up. Then they started to pack up.
Cheng Luo, after waking up, kept staring at Tianmiao.
"What’s wrong?" Tianmiao turned to look at Cheng Luo.
"Uh... nothing, nothing." Cheng Luo shook her head repeatedly.
"Am I scary?" Tianmiao asked with a smile.
"No, of course not, I just had a nightmare while sleeping." Cheng Luo said.
"What did you dream about? A nightmare related to me?" Tianmiao asked, tilting her head slightly.
"Yes." Cheng Luo’s voice lowered, "I dreamt... you went to fetch water, encountered a wolf pack, and those wolves listened to you and walked away, letting you safely fetch the water." She didn’t mention the part where the guide said Tianmiao wasn’t human. It seemed too impolite.
After Cheng Luo said this, she was surprised to see that several assistants who went to fetch water were looking at her in astonishment, including Que Qiu.
"What’s wrong?" Cheng Luo felt uneasy being stared at by those eyes.