Lu Zong’s face flushed crimson as he rubbed it. He distinctly felt a heavy slap land on his cheek just moments ago, yet he had seen nothing, nor sensed any tangible shift in the environment. The only alteration lay in Ma Xiong’s vast, powerful hands.

Lu Zong touched his head, staring at Ma Xiong’s hands in disbelief. “What happened? Could it be that person was actually me?” But how could there be two of him in this world?

Ma Xiong replied, “Actually, this isn't you, and you aren't truly yourself either. We are currently existing within consciousness—meaning, we only exist as thought, not as material reality. Do you grasp this point?”

Lu Zong shook his head, puzzled. “I don’t quite understand. Are we in a dream right now?”

Ma Xiong nodded. “You could say that. We don't actually exist in this world. Right now, we are merely a state, a character in someone else’s—or perhaps even our own—dream. As for who this ‘someone else’ is, that’s a different matter.”

Lu Zong grew even more confused, urgently asking, “What exactly are you saying? I don’t understand a single word.”

Ma Xiong chuckled helplessly. “It’s quite simple, really. To put it plainly, we are not currently in our real, physical bodies; we are simply acting out whatever is in someone else’s mind.”

Lu Zong gasped. “Are you saying we are being controlled by someone else’s dream? That we are merely following commands issued by someone’s sleeping brain? Are we just actors in their thoughts?” Lu Zong could hardly believe everything Ma Xiong was saying, yet given the strange events unfolding, he had to accept it.

Ma Xiong quickly confirmed, “You are correct. We are currently being controlled by someone else’s thoughts. The only way out of this dream is for the dreamer to wake up. By the way, Lu Zong, did you hear anyone giving you orders just now?”

Lu Zong instantly recalled the Fatty instructing him to kill himself and quickly stated, “The Fatty just told me to kill this armored man! The Fatty was speaking to me just now.” Ma Xiong clapped his hands together and cursed, “I knew that old scoundrel Fatty was behind this. This brat clearly has malicious intent, dreaming up something so vile! Lu Zong, you must be extremely careful. Everything we do is currently under Fatty’s surveillance. This kid is even more insidious and cruel than I imagined.”

Lu Zong was astonished by what Ma Xiong said about Fatty. When did Ma Xiong learn that Fatty possessed such capabilities?

Ma Xiong glanced at the armored man, walked over, examined it, then turned to scrutinize Lu Zong, snarling, “Damn it! Fatty is so ruthless, coming up with such a dirty trick. Lu Zong, you idiot! Do you just do whatever Fatty tells you to? Do you realize you were nearly tricked into killing yourself?”

Lu Zong looked at the aggressive Ma Xiong with complete bewilderment. “Ma Xiong, what do you mean by that? I don’t understand at all. Can you explain it to me more clearly?”

Ma Xiong looked at the innocent face of Lu Zong again, almost crying and laughing at the same time. He sighed. “Alas, it seems your mind has truly degraded. Where has that sharp alertness you had on the battlefield gone? Ah, you, you are getting slower and slower. Alright, I’ll explain it to you.”

Ma Xiong cleared his throat, signaling that he was about to embark on a massive and arduous explanation.

He walked over to the armored figure and pointed at the helmet on its head. “Do you know who this person is?”

Lu Zong replied tentatively, “Isn’t this me? What, you don’t recognize him?”

Ma Xiong countered, “If this is you, then who are you?”

Lu Zong nervously touched the back of his head, asking with a hint of worry, “Could it be that I am this person’s soul, this person’s consciousness?”

Ma Xiong responded, “It seems you haven’t completely lost it yet; there’s still hope. This is your physical body. You are merely its consciousness. However, you have been influenced by Fatty’s brainwaves and have forgotten your true identity, constantly feeling as if you are a single, unified entity. If you had struck with the knife just now, you would certainly be dead.”

Lu Zong looked at the armored man, his heart pounding. He realized that if Ma Xiong hadn't arrived in time, he would have been finished. He touched his waist and felt an indentation—the result of having stabbed himself earlier. He slapped his chest. “Damn it, I didn’t realize Fatty was so vicious to devise such a cruel scheme to make me commit suicide.”

Ma Xiong watched Lu Zong finally achieve full comprehension and let out a sigh of relief. Since Lu Zong was unharmed, he no longer needed to worry about his safety. The most crucial matter now was figuring out how to find a way out.

He surveyed the surroundings. “This dream is vast. I never expected such a dullard as Fatty to conjure up a dream that’s as long and foul as a woman’s bound foot. Our only option now is to wait for Fatty to wake up. Until then, we must abide by Fatty’s arrangements.”

Lu Zong looked out at the boundless yellow sands and the tents fluttering in the wind. The world felt vast and empty, devoid of any sign of life. His hope seemed to be vanishing into nothingness.

He turned to Ma Xiong, who still looked calm, and asked, “Ma Xiong, do we really have no chance of getting out? Think again. Perhaps there’s still room for us to survive.”

Ma Xiong gazed at the desolate land. “There’s no way, unless we can manage to wake Fatty up.”

Hearing this, Lu Zong yelled toward the sky several times, “Fatty, I love you! Fatty, I love you! Wake up, you bastard!”

But after several loud shouts, he remained trapped in the barren expanse. This proved he had failed to rouse Fatty. That pig of a man slept unbelievably soundly.

Ma Xiong looked at the listless Lu Zong. “Save your energy. Even if you scream until your throat gives out, Fatty won’t hear you.”

Lu Zong asked curiously, “How is that possible? I was just communicating with Fatty earlier. Fatty could sense everything I thought. Why can’t he hear me now? Also, how did you know I was here? How did you find me?”

Ma Xiong replied impatiently, “Didn’t I just tell you? I am also just a dream someone is having. We are still in the dreamscape. That person dreamed of you, so I entered. Just moments ago, I was in someone else’s dream, and I never expected this person would conspire with Fatty even in his sleep to arrange things so meticulously for us. I arrived precisely at the moment you were about to kill yourself.”

Lu Zong pondered this. “That’s right. Who else could be having the same dream as someone else? I don’t believe we are in someone else’s dream. Could it be that we are being controlled by someone’s thoughts, rather than being in a dream?”

Ma Xiong refuted him. “Impossible! What thought could possess such immense power to control our actions? Impossible! Are you saying that whatever others think, we must do? Absolutely not!”

Speaking of controlling others with thought, Lu Zong suddenly remembered something: when they first entered Cao’s Tomb, they saw a snake, and Fatty had cursed, “Who’s been thinking nonsense again?” Combining this with Fatty’s previous behavior—seeing things in the coffin, and the Fatty-shaped figure standing on the stele in the great pit—could those things have manifested because someone thought them into existence? Were those merely the thoughts of others, or did merely thinking something cause it to appear, effectively making the dream come true, granting him some kind of special ability to bend reality to his thoughts?

Lu Zong was momentarily shocked by the scope of his own imagination and shared his idea with Ma Xiong. Ma Xiong looked at the stunned Lu Zong and said, “No way. Have you lost your mind? How could you imagine something so outlandish? Whose thought is powerful enough to turn imagination into reality? It’s impossible. I think we should just wait quietly here. Maybe we’ll wait until the clouds clear and the sun shines.”

Lu Zong looked at the endless Gobi desert and the scorching sun overhead. He asked Ma Xiong, “Look up quickly. With a sun this intense, I can’t just sit here. I think we should go back to where you came from. Maybe we can exit through that person’s dream. Since he arranged for you to save me, he must be our friend, at least, he’s my friend. If we enter his dream, maybe he’ll wake up. Wouldn’t that save us?”

Ma Xiong immediately looked up as if discovering a new continent, slapped his thigh, and exclaimed, “Right! How could I forget that?” He stood up, brushed the dirt off his backside, and surveyed the surroundings. The look of elation slowly faded from his face until it vanished completely.

Lu Zong, noticing Ma Xiong’s rapid change in demeanor, asked, “Ma Xiong, what’s wrong? Did you notice something amiss?”

Ma Xiong replied to Lu Zong with a crestfallen face, “It’s over. I forgot the way I came. It seems we can only wait here in vain.”

The last glimmer of hope on Lu Zong’s face burned out, leaving only a tiny ember of expectation. Perhaps soon, even that tiny hope would collapse. He felt this was the moment he had to save himself; he couldn’t wait any longer.

He suddenly recalled the path Fatty had pointed out to him earlier. It might be a way out. He turned to Ma Xiong and said, “Ma Xiong, do you think the place Fatty told me about might also be a possibility for survival? Since Fatty guided us to this location, he must have an arrangement. We are still useful to him; he wouldn’t let us die so easily.”

Ma Xiong fell into deep thought for a moment, then looked around in all directions.