Facing an Ancient God for a Year

Chapter 530: Chapter 530 Alternative Deal_1 Chapter 530: Chapter 530 Alternative Deal_1 “Alright, at this time, let’s not talk about this anymore.”

Fu Qian seemed thoughtful here, while Tan Ying clearly didn’t want to dwell on the issue of appearance anymore.

“Come out with me to find someone!”

The next moment, she unexpectedly jumped over, grabbed Fu Qian without a word, and dragged him out, completely disregarding her composure.

…

The stability seems quite good.

Dragged outside by Tan Ying, Fu Qian casually surveyed his surroundings.

The two were currently in a four-story shopping mall that was one of the earliest buildings on the street. Considering its age, the flow of people was moderate.

Looking down from this angle, there were still small groups of students strolling around, their demeanor seemingly normal—just like their real selves.

That’s right, unlike before, the people in this building, though swept into the dream, had not entirely fallen into a deep slumber in reality.

With the upgraded Clear Dream Ring, Fu Qian could now handle many details.

First was the degree to which people entered the dream. For a group of ordinary people with normal willpower, controlling the depth of their immersion into the dream was no longer an issue.

These people in reality were just a bit dazed and did not significantly affect their own actions.

Compared to before, this was undoubtedly much more covert.

Moreover, Fu Qian believed that once he became more proficient, he could silently let these people complete a dream without showing any abnormalities.

Of course, the most important change was the ability to set an end condition for the dream, that is, the rules of the dream.

As long as the Clear Dream Ring was activated, unless he chose to end it himself, the dream would not conclude until that condition was met, or else everyone would remain trapped inside.

Obviously, those were just ordinary people; considering those demons and monsters he encountered in his missions, Fu Qian doubted that it would be so easy to bind those with strong mental resistance.

After some trials, it also became clear that the rules for ending a dream couldn’t be set too arbitrarily; they needed a certain degree of plausibility.

If it were something obviously against common sense, like fitting an elephant into a refrigerator, Fu Qian had already tried and found that the stability of the dream would be nearly instantaneously compromised, forcing him to modify the rules before everything unraveled.

This was why finding Pei Yanqing was set as the condition to end this dream.

That’s right, that was exactly what Tan Ying beside him was eagerly intending to do.

Of course, Pei Yanqing hadn’t met with any trouble. Tan Ying’s anxious demeanor was actually due to the influence of the dream’s rules.

When establishing the rules, one dreamer had to be chosen to leave clues for completing the rules of the dream, which was also a prerequisite for the establishment of those rules.

Fu Qian’s understanding was that this was akin to the concept of ‘ignorance of the law is no excuse’; without notification, there would be no binding force.

This was actually reasonable; otherwise, you could just drag an enemy into a dream, then set a condition that only a Herculean effort could surmount, and most people would probably remain trapped forever.

The last point he had just tested was that a simple change of thought allowed him to alter some details, such as Tan Ying’s attire.

However, this control wasn’t completely unrestricted; modifying too much could potentially affect stability.

Especially after setting the conditions for ending the dream, it became much harder to make changes.

Overall, a series of tests yielded quite a lot of insight.

The only problem was that he had intended to watch from the sidelines, but Tan Ying directly dragged him into action, which was a case of reaping what he had sown.

…

As Fu Qian was evaluating his work, he also noticed Song Hang not far away, who was sitting quietly on a bench next to the fence, his face somber.

After nodding slightly in acknowledgment to Fu Qian and Tan Ying, Song Hang’s gaze returned below, where several impeccably dressed bodyguards were searching around.

It was clear he had seen Tan Ying dragging Fu Qian out, and his expression grew slightly colder.

As for Fu Qian, he still wore a pleasant smile.

Of course, Song Hang would never understand the meaning behind that smile.

Regarding this individual, Fu Qian had only encountered her after arriving, which allowed him to understand the reason behind Tan Ying’s irritability.

He never had an interest in meddling with such melodramatic matters, but this time it sparked a unique inspiration in him.

The reason he showed up here today was to find some leisure activity to ease his nerves and incidentally test the effects of the upgraded “Clear Dream Ring”.

Although everything was happening without others’ knowledge, as a reasonable person, he couldn’t let Tan Ying help with the testing for nothing.

After confirming Tan Ying’s requests twice, Fu Qian ultimately decided to offer her an opportunity as compensation, a chance to rid herself of her troubles.

In essence, this was a transaction, and she was an essential element of the bargaining chip.

This feeling of being a puppet master was indeed distinctively enjoyable; no wonder villains are ubiquitous in movies.

…

“Hurry up, hurry up!”

Tan Ying clearly wasn’t as composed; as soon as they were out the door, she immediately tried to drag Fu Qian to find someone.

“Where are you planning to go?”

Yet Fu Qian just stood still and gave her a look.

…

At that moment, speechless, she had an instinctive intention to find Pei Yanqing driven by the rules, but this didn’t mean she had any actual plan.

“Those guys down there look very professional, probably won’t even spare the women’s restrooms.”

Seeing Tan Ying freeze, Fu Qian turned and pointed downward.

“Besides, they’re operating separately, definitely more efficient than your headless chicken routine.”

“I suggest you wait here for a while first and see what they come up with.”

“Um… okay.”

Tan Ying realized that her anxiety had made her lose her composure, so she immediately took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down.

“By the way, since when did you two get so close?”

While waiting, Fu Qian casually struck up a conversation to help her relax.

As a leisure activity, he didn’t want to make it too stressful.

In his memory, the interactions between Tan Ying and Pei Yanqing were not frequent, and given that one was a rich girl and the other had to work part-time to support herself, they shouldn’t have had much in common.

Yet suddenly they seemed close enough to go shopping together—was this the mysterious nature of female friendship?

“There’s a lot you don’t know!”

Asked that question, Tan Ying’s attention was somewhat diverted as she hummed at Fu Qian.

“Everyone has their secrets, and I’m supposed to tell you everything?”

Naturally, there was nothing wrong with what she said, but Fu Qian had a nagging feeling that she was alluding to his own mysterious behavior from before.

“Speaking of that, I suddenly remembered something.”

The next moment, Tan Ying frowned.

“After leaving your place last time, Pei Yanqing mentioned in passing that she found the layout of your home strangely familiar, as if she had been there before.”

“She fainted that time; you didn’t actually do something out of the ordinary, did you?”

Was this a woman’s intuitive curiosity?

Fu Qian nodded his head, offering no denial.

“Yes, I did take her home at that time.”