Watchmen Chapter 16

Jiu Jie once again started walking on the road to the door of dreams.

He went past the green-tiled plain, the evil black swamp, the whispering flower garden, and finally, he reached the door of dreams.

It's just that on the road, he didn't see the two men that had given him directions.

Looking up at the unusually imposing large arched door, Jiu Jie gave a knock.

Before long, the doors opened, and the large time bird appeared again.

"Why is it you again?" The time bird roared.

"I want to pa.s.s through the door of dreams." Jiu Jie calmly said.

"No key means you cannot pa.s.s through. My patience is limited. Mortal who doesn't know your own strength, regarding your repeated offence, I’ll make you suffer!"

Saying so, the time bird spread its large wings and let out a piercing shriek. Even the most bold and powerful beast would turn tail and retreat,

Jiu Jie's face didn't change. He slowly held up the key in his hands, and the black spoon briefly emitted a very brilliant golden light. The blinding light practically swept the whole time bird along.

"Is this the key you want?" Jiu Jie asked.
The time bird folded its wings, lowered its head, and muttered, "I can't believe it. I thought that you were just an ordinary dream person that unwittingly arriving here."

"Can I go across it?" Jiu Jie questioned.

The time bird had no answer; it just s.h.i.+fted to one side to reveal a road.

Jiu Jie didn't rush to the door, he just looked back, and turned toward a lush tree in the flower garden.

He smiled and asked, "Do you want to come with me?"

The question reverberated, but there was no sound except for the sound of the birds singing.

"Just come with me. You're always so far away, you won't be able to see things clearly." Jiu Jie said.

Following his words, a person slowing came into view from behind the tree.

It was a beautiful lady. Her hair was ebony, skin just like snow, an elegant figure, and had tempting curves.

Looking at her figure, it really was Gu s.h.i.+ Chen. She had lost the gla.s.ses though and her long hair was draped over one shoulder, looking less scholarly and more charming.

Gu s.h.i.+ Chen slowly walked closer. "You knew that I was following you?"

"Of course." Jiu Jie said. "I also know that I’m in a dream."

"Very few people who are in dreamland are able to tell that they are in a dream. Since you can do that, you're not that simple." Gu s.h.i.+ Chen praised.

"For ordinary people, being able to do this is not simple. But to me, doing this is the most basic skill. We should move quickly." Jiu Jie pointed at the time bird and told Gu s.h.i.+ Chen. "Look at its face, it has obviously waited until it can't wait anymore."

"Oh, right…" Jiu Jie suddenly stopped and asked the time bird, "I'm bringing a person inside, you don't mind right?"

"Since you have the key and you are willing, bringing in a few people is no problem." The time bird informed him.

"Thanks." Jiu Jie replied politely.

Jiu Jie and Gu s.h.i.+ Chen pa.s.sed through the door of dreams, and the road in front of them suddenly changed into a labyrinth.

They walked along a complicated winding corridor, and past a bizarrely serene pavilion. Past a serene pond, and then a highly refined mountain stone. From the beginning to the end, they went past a gigantic screen separating the middle of the pa.s.sage.

In front of the door of dreams, the palace that could

be seen was obscured by the gigantic screen.

The two of them walked for a while. The gigantic screen finally disappeared, but a fork in the road suddenly appeared.

The two roads were obscured by a very heavy fog, they couldn't make out what was behind it.

"Which route should we take?" Jiu Jie asked.

"This is your dream. You pick." Gu s.h.i.+ Chen answered.

Jiu Jie shot her a meaningful grin that looked a bit crafty, it was ridiculing and had a trace of confidence.

"Then, let's go this way." Jiu Jie pointed at the left lane.

"Okay." Gu s.h.i.+ Chen nodded and agreed.

Jiu Jie held out a hand to her. "Let's hold hands. The fog is very thick, I don't want us to be separated."

Gu s.h.i.+ Chen hesitated for a moment before she also held out her hand and grasped his. One person behind another, they continued onward through the densely fogged left road.

The fog was very thick, practically blinding them. Jiu Jie couldn't even make out his hand. Only her soft and flexible hand was there to remind him that Gu s.h.i.+ Chen was following behind.

They didn't know how much time had pa.s.sed in the fog, but it was gradually thinning out and the s.p.a.ce seemed to have widened up.

There was a low canyon just beside them that had a small pond. From the mountain, clear water trickled into the pond that slowly increased the water level.

Standing in the middle of the pond was a lady. Her back was facing Jiu Jie and Gu s.h.i.+ Chen. She stood there unmoving, even as the water reached her waist level, and was continuously rising, she had no visible reaction.

Beside the pond was a young man in neat clothes staring expressionlessly at the lady in the pond. He was holding hands with a young girl who was shouting incessantly at the lady in the pond, tears of anxiety flowing from her eyes.

Jiu Jie and Gu s.h.i.+ Tong stopped at the same time, focusing on the strange situation.

"Daddy, quickly go save Mummy!" The young girl cried and wailed.

The young man just stood there, ignoring the young girl's crying.

"Daddy, what's wrong? Hurry up and save Mommy! Why are you both so strange, what's wrong with you!?" The girl continued wailing.

The young man still had no reaction.

"Daddy, Daddy, you're being scary! Say something!"

The girl was crying and pulling on the man's hand to move him, but the man was like a block of wood that was nailed down, he was unmoving. He didn't speak nor move, just stood there in a daze and stared at the lady.

The water increased quickly. In a few seconds, it had reached the lady's chest.

The girl was getting more and more anxious. She saw that the man had no reaction and screamed, "Since you're not saving Mommy, I’ll go! Let go of me!"
The girl pulled with all her strength, trying to get her hand free from the man's hands. The man's hands were like the mouth of a tiger though, he clamped down tightly on her wrist. No matter what she did, she couldn't get loose.

"Let me go! Daddy, what's wrong with you! Quickly, let me go! I want to save Mommy!"

The girl's charming face was red from crying. She realized that the man was never going to let go, so in a fit of anger, she opened her mouth and bit his hand hatefully.

Blood poured out from the wound mixing with her tears and snot that flowed down, dripping onto the floor.

Even though the man had one hand bitten down to the bone, he still didn't let go. No matter how much the girl struggled and weeped, he was unmoving.

At this time, the water in the pond had reached the lady's neck.

Jiu Jie, who had been watching at the side, couldn't continue watching anymore. He s.h.i.+fted, about to go forward, but his hand was gripped tightly by Gu s.h.i.+ Chen behind him.

Jiu Jie looked back and saw Gu s.h.i.+ Chen shaking her head at him.

"Even though I don't know what's going on, I feel like we should help that little girl." Jiu Jie said.

Gu s.h.i.+ Chen shook her head. "No, we shouldn't interfere."

"Why?"

"Do you remember where we are?" Gu s.h.i.+ Chen asked.

"We just pa.s.sed through the door of dreams." Jiu Jie stated.

"What is the door of dreams? What is behind the door of dreams?" Gu s.h.i.+ Tong continued questioning.

"The door of dreams leads to the subconscious mind, so behind it is naturally the subconscious."

"Not bad. Since it's like that, then everything that we see, what do you think it is?"

Jiu Jie felt relieved. "I understand your meaning. You're saying that what we're seeing are merely projections. They're forgotten memories hidden in our unconscious mind, right?"

Gu s.h.i.+ Chen nodded. "Not bad. Sometimes the human brain will forget or deeply bury some memories that hurt us deeply as a form of protection. These memories are not deleted, but are rather placed at the furthest corners of the unconscious mind. With the pa.s.sing of time, they are not just unlikely to fade, but rather become like fermented alcohol, they become worse as time pa.s.ses. If you don't feel it, they can unknowingly affect your behaviour. Many psychological problems stem from this."

"Then, the scene here is a deeply buried memory?" Jiu Jie pointed at the situation and asked.

Gu s.h.i.+ Chen nodded her head.

The water increased quickly. While the two of them were speaking, it had risen above the lady's face, but she just continued standing there, unmoving, just like the man standing at the side of the pond.

The girl cried herself hoa.r.s.e. She had bit the man's arm until it was bleeding profusely, but she was still unable to throw him off. In the end, she could only gaze despairingly at the slowly disappearing head.

"Why did you not save Mommy! WHY!?" The girl wailed.

The man didn't answer, but two drops of tears slowly trickled down his stern face.

"You're not my father! You're not my father! I hate you! I hate you!"

The little girl's despair-filled cries; even if they had hearts made out of steel, it would still be hard for them not to feel emotion.
Gu s.h.i.+ Chen sighed. "Jiu Jie, this is the trauma that you've buried inside your heart, right?"

"What did you say?"

"I said it before, you have a very serious psychological problem. You're strongly suppressing your own moodiness. Since we saw this scene today, maybe we can find the root of the problem." Gu s.h.i.+ Chen said.

"What problem did you see?"

"You have hate in your heart. You've always hated your father for letting your mother die, right?"

Jiu Jie objected, "How can you be so sure? It can't be that you feel that the scene just now was a projection from my subconscious, right?"

"That is obviously a projection from your subconscious, what else could it be?" Gu s.h.i.+ Chen shot back.
　　

　　"你看清楚，那是个小女孩，而我是男的。"鸠杰反驳说。
"Look closely. That's a little girl, while I'm a man." Jiu Jie retorted.

"A male projected as a female proves that your Yin (feminine) personality traits have been severely suppressed. This further confirms my earlier a.s.sessment."

Jiu Jie laughed at her. "No, you're wrong."

"I'm wrong, how am I wrong?"

"The front portion is correct, but the back is all wrong. That little girl isn't my projection."

"How can that be? This is your subconscious. If it's not yours, then whose is it?"

Jiu Jie slowly turned his head, and smiled meaningfully at Gu s.h.i.+ Chen while pointing a finger at her. "It! Is! Yours!"