At three o'clock in the morning, in Ed's mind palace.
"How's it going? Did you have a good time tonight?" Sylvie said with a subtle smile.
"Of course - if I don't end up falling into a puddle."
The mud pits in the city are completely different from those in the countryside. The slimy mud and moss are already the cleanest things there. In addition, there may be rotten fruit peels, saliva carrying germs, the carcasses of insects and small animals... and many other things that are best not to think about carefully.
For homeless people, falling into such a mud pit can even be fatal - wet clothing and contaminated water can cause illness.
He had seen countless similar cases where drunkards who were unconscious accidentally fell into a cesspool and died a few days later.
Fortunately, the physique of extraordinary people is far superior to that of ordinary people, not to mention that Ed took a shower and changed into new clothes after returning to the detective agency. As for the original clothes, they had to be sent to a cleaning shop.
"Speaking of which...since you know that yesterday was my birthday, why didn't you remind me?"
"Wouldn't that save a lot of surprises?" Sylvie said, "The eighteenth birthday is only once in a person's life."
"Strictly speaking, every birthday only comes once in a lifetime, right?"
Ed took out a small section of bamboo shoots cut from Quinn's body. The originally transparent, blood-vessel-like branches had gradually begun to become lignified:
"By the way, do you know what this thing is?"
The extraordinary nature contained in just this small tree branch exceeded the limit that the dream catcher could carry, so he had to take less than one-tenth of it.
Sylvie reached out and took the branch, stared at it for a moment, then shook her head and said:
"It's strange that there is no relevant record in the database of the Keeper program, but I can sense that it contains her dream coordinates. Maybe the cause of the mutation is somehow related to her personality crystallization. Do I need to export the coordinates? "
"Well." Ed nodded and said, "I can only test it first."
Of course he doesn't want Quinn to lose herself and go completely crazy like old George. But if you want to find out the cause of Quinn's physical changes, you may have to go to her dream. There are definitely risks involved:
If the unknown psychiatrist was right, Quinn's dream form was that of a giant wolf. Although Ed believes that Quinn should not be hostile to him, it does not mean that "it" thinks so too.
As for whether Quinn's lycanthropy can be cured using the Keeper's program, Ed is not sure:
Although Catalina's crystal malignancy is also an incurable disease, it is thanks to the Keeper program that she can re-edit the personality crystal to a certain extent.
The pathological root cause of lycanthropy is not clear. If the problem is not in the crystallization of personality, then there is nothing Ed can do.
"Dream Beacon: Darkwood"
The machine spit out the card. Ed inserted the card into the card slot in front of the door and pushed the door of the room.
…
The rectangular doorframe behind Ed is embedded in a towering old tree, and is incompatible with everything around him:
All traces of the creations of civilization disappeared before his eyes, as if they were just ridiculous hallucinations. As far as the eye can see, there is only the endless dark forest.
The intertwined ancient trees are beating like blood vessels, crawling, chewing, and swallowing like earthworms. The crystal resin flows along the trunks, like hot tears:
There are oak trees with bright red bark, withered blue-needle pines, flowering hawthorn trees, mistletoe and skyflowers clinging to tree trunks, moss wrapping white rocks, and many more plants that Ed can't name.
The sky was like a web of intertwined leaves, and he could see no shadow of the sun or moon. The fallen leaves under his feet reached Ed's knees, and something unknown seemed to be lurking among them, scratching the toes of his shoes.
Except for the sky covered by living leaves and the ground covered by dead leaves, any space parallel to the earth has lost its meaning.
He tentatively walked forward with his cane. The fallen leaves swayed like ripples, but he couldn't find the direction like a clock that was out of order. No matter which direction you go, you'll eventually come back to where you started.
Finally, Ed realized that searching for a way out would be in vain. He hesitated for a moment, then began to imitate the tune of "Unknown Moonlight Song" and hummed a short fragment of it softly.
…
Finally, dark green eyes emerged from the cracks in the leaves, and a black figure slowly approached Ed:
The dark back was as tall as a hill, and the head alone was as big as Ed's entire torso. It lay on all fours, its sharp claws cutting fallen leaves into pieces with every step it took.
This was not the half-human, half-wolf that Ed had seen before, but a pure-looking black wolf.
"Yeah..."
The giant black wolf roared vigilantly.
"Quinn, it's me...Ed."
As Ed slowly approached the giant wolf, he was ready to forcefully escape from the dream.
The low roar did not stop, the giant wolf still maintained its attacking posture, its sharp teeth shining coldly like rows of bayonets.
"I'm Ed, don't you remember?"
Just when Ed was about to retreat, the giant wolf finally recognized Ed's scent. It stopped growling, and its huge tail was like a long whip, crackling the trees.
"Great, I thought I was going to have another two weeks of headaches..." Ed finally breathed a sigh of relief.
The feeling of being forced out of a dream is not pleasant. After he was forced to leave Arthur's dream last time, he would still feel tinnitus and headache from time to time after two weeks of rest.
He stretched out his palm and touched the giant wolf's wet nose. The giant wolf also licked Ed's palm in response:
"Don't worry, I will find a way to restore you to your original appearance...to your human appearance." Ed reorganized his words halfway through, after all, it was hard for him to say which one was the original one.
"...Can you take me to find your birthstone? I won't hurt you."
"...?"
The giant wolf tilted its head, as if trying to understand Ed's language.
One person and one wolf were in a stalemate for a long time, and Ed had no choice but to give up——
It seems that it has completely forgotten human language.
"It doesn't matter, just wait until I think of a way to do it."
Ed sighed and put his cheek against the giant wolf's neck, feeling the soft and warm fur and hugging it gently.
Then, he turned around and left, returning to the Hall of Thought along the wooden door.
