The Hall of Stars.
Hastur sat high at the head of the long table, his gaze passing through the Hall of Stars as he once again examined the forest where his physical body was located.
The originally unremarkable forest, under the gaze of the stars, had nowhere to hide, restoring itself to its original appearance.
A faint, thin mist could be seen shrouding the sky above the forest.
The mist was almost transparent, so much so that it was nearly impossible to distinguish with the naked eye, especially under the darkness of night.
Calling it mist was not entirely accurate; this thin layer was closer to some kind of forest miasma.
However, there was clearly Beyonder power within it, so it could not be treated as ordinary fog or miasma.
Hastur shifted to a higher vantage point, overlooking the entire forest, with his own Aster Manor and Earl Hall's Manor where Audrey resided all coming into view.
With his current abilities, accomplishing this was not difficult.
As long as he treated himself as a star, he could, through the Hall of Stars, look down upon everything around him.
Under this view, the movements of the mist or miasma were clearly visible.
The originally continuous expanse of thin mist now had a portion that turned into thread-like streams, flowing from one end of the forest toward Earl Hall's Manor.
More precisely, it flowed into Audrey's body.
This should be the reason why Audrey was unable to wake up.
Hastur swept his gaze around again, finally locating the source of the thin mist, at a position slightly northwest of the center of the forest.
It was deeper than the place where he and Maric had previously encountered Count Richard conducting a ritual.
That should be the most hidden and secluded spot in the entire forest.
Hastur zoomed in his view, passing through layers of branches and leaves, and finally saw a tall tower hidden deep within the woods.
The tower had long since fallen into ruin. On the outside, only the rough stone framework remained, while everything inside had already dried up and decayed.
The source of the mist was slowly seeping out from the top of this tower.
It was like a small spring suddenly emerging from underground, its water continuously flowing outward, eventually soaking a large area of land around it.
When Audrey arrived, she stepped onto the soaked ground, got herself wet, and then carried those traces back home, eventually being affected.
At this point, Hastur had roughly understood the process.
As for the specific details, he would need to investigate that tower in the forest to be completely certain.
In this mode, he was still unable to see everything clearly and could only grasp the general situation.
After finishing all this, Hastur withdrew his gaze and closed his eyes. He intended to obtain corresponding revelations of fate about the tower in the forest through peering into destiny.
In the dark world, a gigantic dragon covered head to toe in silvery-white scales appeared, along with a towering spire. At the top of the tower, there was also a figure painting a mural.
The image on the mural was precisely a mind dragon that roared through the mind world and eventually sank into the subconscious world.
Upon seeing this scene, Hastur had already vaguely understood the origin of that tower.
That tower was likely built by a worshipper or researcher of a mind dragon. There should once have been the presence of a mind dragon there, and perhaps a small portion of its power was left behind.
Audrey's arrival, due to her identity as a Visionary-pathway Beyonder, drew the unconscious, instinctive attention of the mist.
A tiny bit of power was separated and fell upon Audrey, becoming a weight she could not bear, causing her to fall into an unending sleep, trapped deep within the mind world.
This was the most reasonable speculation Hastur made based on his own observations. He did not dare claim it was one hundred percent accurate, but there was absolutely more than an eighty percent probability that this was the case.
Hastur sat for a while longer in the Hall of Stars, thinking about some matters, before returning to reality.
"Woof! Woof?" Hearing the movement, Susie ran over. Even though she was pretending to be a dog that could not speak, Hastur still understood her meaning clearly.
"Don't worry. I've already found some key clues. What comes next will be an adventure belonging to us." Hastur gently patted Susie on the head, and a question inexplicably came to his mind.
Susie was also a Seer-pathway Beyonder and had experienced the mist, so why hadn't she become trapped deep in the mind world?
"Susie, did you dream last night?"
"Woof?" Susie looked at Hastur with a confused expression, not knowing how to answer this question.
What was a dream?
Were a dog's dreams and a human's dreams the same in terms of cognition?
Had she ever dreamed? Did dogs dream?
Was dreaming a privilege only humans could enjoy?
After the confusion, Susie fell into deep contemplation. She lay down on the ground, her legs unconsciously drawing together in front of her, revealing a thoughtful expression.
"..." Hastur glanced at her and chose not to remind Susie.
He was now very curious about what Susie did every day at Audrey's house.
Did he need to quickly get a pair of gold-rimmed glasses for Susie?
That way, she would look more scholarly.
"..." After pondering for quite a while, Susie finally remembered that she was just a dog. She hurriedly stood up, glanced at Hastur, then pretended that nothing had happened and urged him on with a bark.
"Let's go. It won't be easy to walk once it gets dark. Don't get lost, or Audrey will cry over you."
"Woof!" Susie wagged her tail and followed behind Hastur, advancing toward the deepest part of the forest under the cover of night.
....
Within the mind world, it was still filled with mist and bare trees. Although every tree had its own distinct characteristics, and the areas she passed through never overlapped, she still could not reach the end.
Audrey felt that she was probably trapped in a maze, a huge mind maze. Relying on herself alone, it would be very difficult to break through and leave; she needed help from external forces.
"Should I pray to Mr. Fool for help?" Audrey had the thought of seeking help, but could Mr. Fool intervene in things happening within dreams?
Although Mr. Fool was mysterious and unfathomable, Audrey felt that He should not yet be able to do this.
"If not Mr. Fool, then there's only Mr. Hastur. He should already know what's happening to me, right?"
Audrey thought about it. Given her father's temperament, he would definitely contact Mr. Hastur at the first opportunity and ask him to handle this matter.
"Will Susie be sad because of me?" Audrey rested in place for a while before continuing onward.
In this misty dream, she would not feel her feet grow sore from walking too much, nor would she feel hunger, but her mind grew increasingly weary.
This misty dream seemed to be feeding on her mental strength.
Or more accurately, this dream was sustained by her own mental power. The longer it persisted, the more exhausted her mind became.
Had she fallen into a mind world woven by herself?
Audrey began to think, recalling the conversation she had with Susie when the forest mist first attacked.
The current misty dream fit her imagination at that time very well.
"Woof!" A familiar sound interrupted Audrey's thoughts.
It was Susie's voice!
Audrey hurriedly looked in the direction of the sound. After jogging for a short distance, she kept adjusting her direction based on where Susie's voice came from.
Finally, Susie's figure appeared in her field of vision, along with the figure of Mr. Hastur.
Had Susie brought Mr. Hastur here to help her?
Audrey first steadied her emotions, then slowly walked forward.
"Mr. Hastur, why are you here?" Audrey stopped about two meters in front of Hastur and asked.
But no response came, not even a single word.
Mr. Hastur seemed unable to see her and continued walking forward on his own.
"Susie, I'm here. Can you see me?" Audrey tried to communicate with Susie, but failed again.
Susie also could not see her, and instead kept following behind Mr. Hastur. Sometimes, the man and the dog even seemed to be conversing about something.
Audrey jogged to catch up and deliberately spread her arms, blocking the path in front of Hastur and Susie.
Yet Hastur and Susie passed straight through her body, continuing deeper into the forest.
"..." Audrey seemed to understand.
This was her mind world, not a real world, so it was normal that Mr. Hastur and Susie could not touch her.
Perhaps the Mr. Hastur and Susie before her only appeared because she now needed help.
Had her consciousness changed this mind world?
Audrey felt this was a very reasonable line of thought. Without thinking further, she chased after the figures of Hastur and Susie again.
Since the appearance of Mr. Hastur and Susie was meant to help her, then following them should allow her to leave this misty dream.
There was also another reason: the dream had finally shown a bit of change, and she naturally could not miss it.
Gazing at the figures of Hastur and Susie, Audrey could not help but imagine their conversation.
It was surely Mr. Hastur speaking at great length, while Susie only needed a few simple barks to convey everything.
"I wonder if there's any communication barrier between Mr. Hastur and Susie?" Thinking this way, Audrey quickened her steps and moved to the front of Hastur and Susie.
This dream adventure would of course have Miss Justice act as the vanguard.
As they went deeper, Audrey suddenly noticed changes beginning to appear in the surrounding scenery.
There were not only trees anymore, but also pools of water and scattered boulders.
And there was also a silver-white tower standing tall in the distance.