"The Netherworld's Dreamscape, and a world of dreams, huh..."
Wordlessly, Hao Xuan laid back in the warmth of the moldy blanket. He couldn't help but take another look around the room.
It was where he had spent most of his teen years locked in. Day in and day out, he would stay in there cut off from the outside world without any ambition or aim, just living one day at a time.
It was not a place he wanted to recall but was now forced into coming here.
"Is that it?"
He asked after a moment of silence.
Gavril was dazed for a second hearing that.
"I just told you about another plane of existence, a world where all your dreams and nightmares live, and you don't want to know anything about it?" Gavril asked, somewhat stupefied. This was not the reaction he was expecting.
Hao Xuan shook his head with a blank expression.
"Too much to do, too much to take in. I've kind of become numb to it at this point. I still haven't been able to wrap my mind around this new world yet it seems like every single day new and even more bizarre things keep coming up. I'm just....tired of it all."
Hao Xuan closed his eyes. He let out a deep sigh before a self-deprecating chuckle escaped his lips.
"Haha, I think I'm reaching my limit, man. There are times when I feel like a stranger in my own body. I feel like crying while laughing, and so utterly alone amid crowds. I look up at the sky and don't recognize any of the stars."
He opened his eyes halfway and stared at the ceiling while Gavril silently listened.
"Everything feels new and strange. I always dreamt about a place like this back then, a world of fantastical wonders. But now all I want is to go to sleep and never wake up. There is so much I have to do that I don't even know where to start."
"I have no training for this, no guidebook to tell me where to go and what to feel. I hear voices when there are none, see things that shouldn't exist. How am I supposed to deal with this?"
He let out another chuckle and met Gavril's gaze.
"I met a girl when I came to this world almost 4 years ago, you know. She was so pretty and kind, and I thought she really liked me too. But now I find out that apparently, all of that was a lie. And then there's the shit with the shapeshifting creatures or whatever the hell those things are."
"I don't want to go back but I know I have to, and I can already tell a lot of people will get hurt. BUT! Even if I wanted to, I couldn't do that right now. I have to find the stupid world spirit, Ryfon's niece, deal with the prison, and somehow kill an OP crown prince and not get blamed for it and MAYBE then I can leave in one piece."
"This shit...I did not sign up for it," Hao Xuan lowered his head and started rubbing his temple.
"And there's the migraines hahaha!"
His laugh sounded almost maniacal, giving Gavril goosebumps even in this dreamland.
Seeing Hao Xuan's dispirited self, Gavril couldn't help but say a few words of comfort.
"I'm sorry, I had no idea...If you want, I can tell you a spell that was often used by Orc warriors in the past. It suppresses emotions and was used whenever they had to undertake especially cruel and brutal missions," he offered a temporary solution but Hao Xuan declined the offer in a heartbeat.
"No, I don't want to use anything like that."
*Sigh*
"The Old King, he used to say this a lot; 'Heavy is the head that bears the crown'. I think that describes your situation pretty well right now."
With his head still low, Hao Xuan let out a quiet laugh, "Shouldn't it be "wear" instead of bear?"
Gavril nodded, "Normally yes but in your case, I think this is more of an apt description."
For a moment, Hao Xuan couldn't help but frown heavily but as soon as he understood what Gavril meant, he let out a heartfelt laugh.
"Indeed it is! Hahaha."
Gavril stayed with him for a while longer and told him everything he had managed to find out.
Gi-An was the name of the man that was solely responsible for creating and organizing the resistance against the invaders.
Until just a year ago he was a poor son of a farmer. And now he had become strong enough to pose a threat to cultivators like Hao Xuan.
He was the first person that had managed to create this new system of using the words of power and was the highest authority on the subject.
He also had a lot of knowledge about things he should not have been able to understand in such a primitive world.
"There are times when he just disappears for days and no one knows where he goes. He is definitely hiding something. I will try to find out more but don't count on it too much," Gavril said at the end before Hao Xuan woke up.
He looked around and found himself sitting at the same place as before, overlooking the same forest.
He checked the time, less than 5 minutes had passed out here.
He stood up and dusted his clothes.
"Time to head into the monster's lair I guess," he mumbled and clicked on his Spirit Band.
"Where is the nearest entrance to the prison?"