After spending more than two months on board, Anping finally stepped on land again. For once, he didn't practice or study. He just fell into a deep sleep.
As he slept, he entered the dreamland again. It was the same town as in his last dream, but this time it was night.
He was in the same spot as before, under the archway at the entrance of the town. The difference was that the writing on the archway was no longer blurred. Through the dim light of the street lamp, Anping could make out the three words on the stone plaque: An'an Town.
He couldn't help but grumble. What kind of person would give such a strange name to a small town?
He looked into the town. It was deserted at night, and the quiet dreamland felt even more eerie. He moved to the town square, where the stage from before was set up.
It was exactly the same as the scene after the mutation at the previous banquet. The fairy tale-style stage contrasted sharply with the realistic town.
Just like before, Anping couldn't leave the dream or the place where he was. If it was because of the key that he was trapped in this dream, he didn't understand the purpose of it.
He waited until the sky began to brighten. Then he saw the door of one of the houses open. The moment the door opened, the whole dream shattered.
Anping sat up from the bed and took a few breaths to calm his chaotic thoughts. At the same time, a silver light flashed, and Gu Yuena appeared in front of his bed in her pajamas.
She looked at him with concern. "What's wrong with you? Is there something wrong with your cultivation? Do you want me to call Brigitte to check on you?"
Anping shook his head slightly. "I'm fine. It was just a dream."
Gu Yuena thought for a moment. She asked in surprise, "Were you dreaming about that small town again?"
Anping nodded. "Yes. Based on the time in the dream, the location should be somewhere in the Star Luo Continent. I don't know how far it is from where we are now."
Gu Yuena said, "In the Star Luo Continent? That's too vague. It would be hard to find a town whose name we don't even know. How about we ask Mr. Xiong to find some official from the Star Luo Empire tomorrow and ask them?"
She thought that if they went to the Star Luo Empire official themselves, they would be seen as having bad intentions. So she suggested that Mr. Xiong use his strength and ask for them.
Anping shook his head slightly. "No need. I have a way to find the town. And this time, I saw the name of the town. It's called Anxi Town."
"What a weird name." Gu Yuena complained. She asked doubtfully, "How can you find it? Didn't you say before that you couldn't do anything about those spells?"
Anping explained, "I couldn't before. But do you remember the change at the previous banquet? After that, the shape of my magic source changed a bit. I can feel that it was caused by the key, and that it's trying to guide me to the town."
He had told Gu Yuena about this when they were on the boat, but she had been more worried about his physical condition then. She didn't pay much attention to what he said.
She thought for a moment. She said, "You mean the key that appeared out of nowhere?"
Anping nodded. "Yes, that's the key. That's also why I think the town is on the Star Luo Continent. It's been trembling ever since we got here."
He had refused to join the competition that Ling Hongchen had mentioned. Not only because he didn't like meaningless fights, but also because he wanted to use this time to find the town.
He had been curious about what was in the town that was connected to him, ever since he first dreamed of it.
The change that happened at the banquet on the ship had shown him that the thing was sentient. It had also restored his memory of the town.
Otherwise, he and Gu Yuena would have forgotten about it. They didn't want to lose their memories of something that had happened so recently.
Someone must have tampered with their minds. If that was true, they wouldn't have noticed. Anping guessed that it was Tang Hao or A Yin who had found the anomaly in the town and made everyone else forget it.
He reasoned that only the will and life core of the planet could do such a thing on Douluo Planet.
But the thing in the town was both dreamlike and visionary. It wouldn't do something so unnecessary. Why not just contact Anping directly?
He told Gu Yuena his theory. She frowned slightly and said, "If you're right, then they won't let anyone else enter the town?"
Anping shook his head slightly. "No, that's not it. I compared the two dreams and I realized that they were happening in real time. Do you remember the first dream I showed you? There was a soul-guided car entering the town."
"So they can't stop outsiders from entering the town. They must have done something to the town itself. But because of the thing in the town, the effect might not be very strong."
Gu Yuena recalled the image of the soul-guided car passing through her body that Anping had shown her. She laughed.
Anping pursed his lips. Gu Yuena stopped laughing and said, "Do you think it's dangerous?"
Anping shook his head slightly. "I'm not sure. Based on the changes in my magic source, the thing is probably a key."
"I don't know what will happen if I go there. If the anomalies in the town disappear as soon as I take the thing, they'll know."
"If they show up to investigate, they'll find out who we are. The alchemy tools I made can only hide us from their detection. If they look closer, they'll see something's wrong with us."