"I don’t think I am anyone, but why can’t I accomplish it?" Angel countered, his eyes still bright as ever.
Cicia was silent longer this time, and after a while, asked, "How do you plan to do it?"
Though Cicia didn’t express anything, Angel understood she could now barely qualify as a "conspirator."
"I hope Miss Cicia can tell me everything about the Wise Sovereign in detail."
Cicia replied, "I can, but what I say is limited by the oath’s constraint."
Angel said, "I understand that."
Cicia continued, "Then what? After telling you about it, what do you plan to do?"
Angel touched his chin and said innocently, "Well... I haven’t thought about it yet. Let’s talk about it later."
Cicia was speechless: "..." She really felt like she was being taken for a fool, following the so-called raging passion only to be doused with cold water, piercing and chilling.
Angel: "Don’t look at me with such a mournful expression. I really haven’t decided yet. At least, I have to catch the Wood Spirit first before I can slowly think about the rest."
Cicia snorted coldly, "Then I really want to see how long it will take you to find the Wood Spirit."
Angel, however, was quite confident, "Very soon."
Cicia didn’t respond to that, continuing, "Are you planning to listen to what the Wise Sovereign has to say now?"
Angel: "This can wait, let’s discuss it after you meet Popota. However, before you meet Popota, I have a question for you."
Cicia didn’t mind much at this point, waving her hand, "Ask away."
"If I arrange a meeting with the Wise Sovereign, do you have a way to get answers from him?"
Cicia asked in confusion, "What do you mean? Are you planning to have the Wise Sovereign come to find me?"
Angel smiled meaningfully, "This question will be clear to you once you meet Popota."
"Now, Miss Cicia, are you still tired? If not, it’s time to meet Popota. He’s probably been waiting for a long time. Although, as a junior, waiting for you, an ancestor, is quite normal, but wouldn’t you want to leave a good first impression when meeting across millennia?"
Cicia felt a mix of emotions and hesitation, but hearing Angel’s words, she couldn’t help but glare at him: "Ancestor my Ghosteye Witch! According to my pre-transformation age, I’m not much older than you!"
"Even back when I was an ordinary human, I wasn’t much smaller than I am now as an Official Wizard, let me think, only a bit..."
"Shut up!"
Angel: "Following your logic, you’re still telling me to shut up, truly hard to understand."
Cicia gritted her teeth, clenching her fist, speaking through gritted teeth with a warped voice, "I don’t want to argue with you now, just tell me, how should I meet Popota? Where is he now?"
Angel smiled brightly:
"In the dream, you know."
...
When Cicia stepped onto the Dream Bridge, it was as if Angel’s annoyingly cheeky words were still echoing in her ears: Popota, he’s in the dream, you know~
Cicia suppressed her urge to explode, gazing at this long-lost Dream Bridge, her eyebrows knitted tightly: "This is indeed the Dream Bridge, but it seems different from before. Are we really meeting in the dream? Is Angel really a Dream Witch?"
If it’s truly in the dream, that’s not a good thing.
The Dream Witches, though not famous a millennia ago, were renowned for trapping others by creating all sorts of traps in dreams.
Among these, there were stories of Dream System Witches creating the enemy’s intimate lover in dreams to lure them into a trap.
Cicia didn’t want to see this so-called "Popota" as a fictional creation by Angel in the dream.
Cicia really wanted to exit the Dream Bridge now, but after careful consideration, she ultimately held back.
Ever since her transformation into a box, her soul could no longer be sensed, and from that moment, Cicia never dreamt again, nor did she truly fall asleep. Her so-called rest was merely closing her eyes, emptying her mind, imagining herself in a void world to pass the time... although when she opened her eyes, it was still a void.
So, when she once again entered a dream and saw the long-absent Dream Bridge, Cicia hesitated.
"Even if it’s a dream, let me see how far you can go..."
With this thought, Cicia hesitated no more, stepping forward until her figure disappeared into the glowing Dream Gate...
...
Cicia had been in the Wilderness of Dreams for ten minutes now.
Or rather, she had been in a very plain, cramped room within the Wilderness of Dreams for ten minutes.
During these ten minutes, she had merely been repeatedly touching her body, as well as walls, tables, floors, feeling the various textures.
This tangible sensation, ever since her transformation into a box, Cicia had not felt it again.
"Am I dreaming?" Cicia clasped her hands together, rubbing them against each other, the soft texture as if returning to a thousand years ago.
"Yes, I am dreaming! This is a dream created by Angel!" Cicia suddenly realized.
Yet after that, the doubts in Cicia’s heart only deepened: Had the Dream Witches of millennia later been able to make dreams to such an extent? This level could no longer be described as ’vivid’ but rather as though it were real.
What on earth is happening?
After ten minutes, Cicia finally moved, as she wanted to find Angel to ask.
Since Angel was a Dream Witch, he must be here too, perhaps even watching her from the shadows.
With this in mind, Cicia pushed open the narrow room’s door.
Outside the room was a corridor.
The corridor was bright, not lit by candlelight, but with sunlight streaming in from the windows, bringing a natural and comfortable brightness.
Cicia walked step by step to the window, when the sunlight shone upon her, a warmth, unfamiliar for years, suddenly, unexpectedly encountered.
Gazing at the garden outside the window, and the shadowy outlines of buildings bathed in sunshine in the distance... Even though Cicia knew these were "fake," she inexplicably felt like crying.
Crying, too, was a long-unfelt sensation, with her nose tingling, eyes moistening... The feeling of crying was surprisingly distinct. While she was alive, she had never thoroughly experienced this emotion.
Cicia stood at the window for a long time, she really wanted to jump out of the window to embrace the long-lost blue sky outside.
But, she restrained herself.
"Angel is surely watching me, I can’t do this, I can’t. I’d be laughed at, I’d be laughed at. Must stay calm, stay calm." Cicia kept repeating this to herself.
Finally, with self-esteem interfering, Cicia suppressed her inner yearning—to leap out of the window, instead leaving the window, heading toward the depths of the corridor.
This corridor was a single path; she could even see the opened brown door at the end, as well as the red drapes hanging down by the doorframe.
With drapes? It should be a hall, right?
Then, Angel should be there, right?
With these doubts, Cicia continued to walk forward. Soon, she arrived at the door at the corridor’s end.
Nonetheless, after Cicia passed through the door, she did not see Angel, but rather a... familiar figure.