Chapter 63: Dream Interpretation Isn’t Exclusive to Metaphysics

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Chapter 63: Dream Interpretation Isn’t Exclusive to Metaphysics

As the woman described her dream, Chen Yuan couldn’t help raising an eyebrow slightly, a strange expression appearing on his face. In fact, compared to methods like fortune-telling and physiognomy, which at least had some sort of established framework, anything involving dreams could hardly be described as merely mysterious. Dreams themselves were inherently illusory, and even the slightest outside influence could alter what happened in them. A classic example was that if someone had one hand placed in warm water while sleeping, they might dream about taking a bath or something similar and wet the bed afterward, regardless of their age.

At the same time, dreams were difficult to remember in the first place, and after waking up, people could easily and intentionally or unintentionally add all sorts of other elements to them, causing the dream to become completely detached from what they had originally experienced. That was why interpreting dreams was extraordinarily difficult.

More importantly, dream interpretation wasn’t purely a matter of metaphysics. Dreams could involve a person’s subconscious and reflect their mental state, which fell under the realm of psychology. They could also hint at a person’s physical condition, which belonged to the field of medicine. Dreams could even heighten a person’s so-called sixth, seventh, or eighth senses, allowing them to glimpse something that would happen in the future.

Dreams were simply far too complicated. Even if one looked at them purely from the perspective of metaphysics, the exact same image could have all sorts of different interpretations.

Chen Yuan said nothing, however, and quietly listened to the woman’s account.

“I dreamed that I was walking alone across the Gobi Desert. There was nothing around me as far as I could see, and I didn’t even know why I was there. There was no wind and no water. I just kept walking and walking, but I couldn’t find a way out, and I became more and more anxious. Then I started running.

“After that, I felt like the sun overhead was scorching me. My whole body started burning up. The more I ran, the hotter I got. It was terrifying. I desperately wanted to find somewhere with water, but everywhere I looked, there was nothing but endless Gobi and scorching-hot rocks. There was nothing else.

“Then I realized that flames had started rising from my body. Huge flames. My entire body was burning, and it was so hot, so unbearably hot. I tried everything I could to put out the flames, but I couldn’t. Then I woke up.”

As the plump woman described her dream, she couldn’t help tugging at the hem of her clothes when she reached the more bizarre parts, clearly still shaken by it.

“I actually used to have this dream too, but that was several years ago. Recently, I started having it again, and it keeps happening over and over. Especially this week. I’ve already had it three times.”

“Once I wake up from it, I basically can’t fall asleep again. I’ve been in terrible shape lately. I really can’t take it anymore.” As she spoke, the woman’s voice grew choked with emotion. She raised one arm to cover her face, trying to hide her reaction, but apparently realizing there was no point, she lowered her arm again and wiped the corner of her eye. “Master Chen, please help me figure this out. I’m so unsettled, I have no idea what to do. If I tell other people about it, they’ll just think it’s nothing because it’s only a dream. What am I supposed to do?”

Chen Yuan carefully went over the plump woman’s dream in his mind several times, roughly confirming his line of thought. He stood up, took a cup and some tea leaves from the cabinet, poured in some water, and brewed her a cup of tea, placing it in front of her as a gesture of reassurance.

This, however, earned him a resentful look from Yu Shenliu beside him. Why would he pour tea for her but not him? This was a classic case of vying for attention.

Chen Yuan silently watched Yu Shenliu’s expression. He endured it once, then again, and finally could endure it no longer. Holding back his irritation, he brewed a cup of tea for Yu Shenliu as well and set it down heavily in front of him.

And yet, even after all that, the shameless bastard could still put on a blissful expression and take a sip of the still-scalding tea.

Chen Yuan shot Yu Shenliu a sideways glance before sitting back down. Once the plump woman had finally regained her composure, he began speaking to her.

“Ma’am, actually, I don’t think your problem is a matter of metaphysics.” He chose his words carefully, slowly guiding her through it.

In fact, this wasn’t the first time someone had come to Chen Yuan with a question like this. People often asked him about things that seemed incredibly mysterious but, when you got right down to it, had little to do with metaphysics. The plump woman’s strange dreams were one such example, and those were relatively easy to explain.

What female customers loved asking him about most were matters of romance and marriage. No matter what happened, they would become suspicious and assume that they were simply fated to have bad luck, destined to marry late, or even destined to bring misfortune to their husbands. It was enough to leave Chen Yuan both amused and exasperated.

How could there be that many fates in this world? Chen Yuan himself believed in fate, but he didn’t agree with attributing everything to it. More often than not, it was precisely because people attributed everything to fate that fate became increasingly frightening in their minds.

As for fatalism… well, that was just…

“Huh?” The plump woman didn’t even bother wiping her eyes anymore. She stared blankly at Chen Yuan. She had always thought that she had somehow become entangled with some supernatural entity or something, only to have Chen Yuan tell her that what she was asking about had nothing much to do with metaphysics.

“Dreaming that you’re in an empty, vast, and remote environment like a desert or the Gobi Desert actually reflects your psychological state. That’s a matter of psychology. If you asked a psychologist, they’d tell you the same thing.”

Still, since Chen Yuan encountered similar questions so often, it wasn’t difficult for him to explain a few things himself. Or rather, people who studied metaphysics ultimately had to strive to become well-rounded in all sorts of fields. Otherwise, there was simply no way to deal with the huge number of customers who classified practically everything under the realm of metaphysics.

Seeing the plump woman’s expression grow increasingly astonished, Chen Yuan curled the corners of his lips and continued, “An empty, desolate environment with no one around reflects the loneliness and desolation you feel inside. In more concrete terms, it means you lack friends and someone you can connect with on a deeper level. You may have a tendency toward depression or social withdrawal.”

In fact, just looking at the plump woman was enough to tell him that. Although society liked to preach about inner beauty and all that, the reality was that society as a whole judged people by their appearance. Someone who was good-looking would generally leave a better first impression, and more people would be willing to approach them. By comparison, someone like the plump woman would inevitably make people want to keep their distance, regardless of what kind of person she actually was.

“As for the specifics, you can see a psychologist. I don’t know that much about this.” Chen Yuan only knew the basics of psychology. He had simply happened to encounter a customer with this particular problem, so he was only offering a few things he could infer himself. It would still be better for her to seek professional help.

However, in Chen Yuan’s opinion, someone in the plump woman’s situation might find a psychologist helpful for a while, but the problem would continue if nothing else changed. After all, if she couldn’t make any close friends, there was no way for her depression and tendency toward isolation to improve. Not everyone could maintain a healthy state of mind when the people around them unconsciously avoided and looked down on them.

Telling someone to “stay positive” was easy enough, but actually keeping your emotions steady, when emotions were such an intangible thing, was anything but simple.

“Next, the fact that you kept running because you were afraid means that you’re under a great deal of pressure in real life.” Dreams about being chased by monsters and the like carried the same meaning.

Chen Yuan lifted his teacup and took a sip before continuing with the next part of the dream’s interpretation. “As for the part where your body caught fire, that’s something you need to pay attention to physically.”

The plump woman repeated his words. “Physically?”

“Mm. According to traditional Chinese medicine, everything that happens in a dream is actually related to your physical condition as well. If you dream that your body is on fire, it means you’ve probably had too much internal heat lately. You might develop mouth ulcers or something similar, and you’re probably feeling rather irritable too. Pay attention to your diet. Eat some mung beans or something else that can help clear the excess heat, and take care of your body and your emotions.”

After being raised by the old Daoist for so many years, Chen Yuan had picked up a fair bit of knowledge about maintaining good health. It was no problem for him to give the woman a few simple pointers.

The plump woman hesitated before saying, “Thank you.”

Yet she couldn’t help feeling that something was strange. She had come to consult a master, so how was it that the advice he had given her sounded exactly like something a psychologist and an ordinary doctor would tell her?

Seeing the doubt on the plump woman’s face, Chen Yuan knew exactly what she was thinking. He didn’t find it strange. In fact, much of the advice he gave people didn’t require any metaphysical methods at all. He simply observed their mental and physical condition and used that to tell them what might be wrong.

In fact, this was also the sort of method ordinary fortune-tellers and charlatans generally used. Leaving aside the various tricks they used to deceive people, how many things in life actually required metaphysical methods? Metaphysical methods were supposed to be used with due seriousness. What, was he supposed to treat them like something as casual as reading horoscopes?

“That was the psychological and physical side of things. But if we look at your dream from a metaphysical perspective, it also foretells something.”

After all, the woman had come to him specifically for genuine metaphysical guidance, and Chen Yuan wasn’t about to cheat her. “If you dream of a sun blazing like fire, ma’am, you need to be careful about your eyes. The hidden meaning behind a sun blazing like fire is that you may develop an eye condition, and it could happen sometime in the near future.”

The moment Chen Yuan said he was going to explain things from a metaphysical perspective, the plump woman instantly became serious. She stared at him intently, listening carefully to every word he said, which left Chen Yuan both amused and exasperated.

What was this supposed to mean? Her dream was most likely much more strongly related to psychological issues, yet she cared far more about the metaphysical part of his explanation. Chen Yuan had confidence in his ability to interpret dreams, but he couldn’t help feeling that she had completely missed the point.

He now understood how the poet who wrote, “How pitiable! Past midnight, he leaned forward on his mat—a voided scene; Asked not of the people’s suffering, but of ghosts and spirits unseen,” must have felt.

Watching Chen Yuan’s subtle movements and expressions, Yu Shenliu immediately understood what was going through his mind. He leaned back against his chair with a smug look, thinking, Who told Chen Yuan to pour tea for that woman first? Chen Yuan hadn’t poured him any tea even after he’d been sitting here for so long. In the end, he’d only gotten a cup because he happened to be there. The facts had proven that he was the only one who truly understood Chen Yuan’s feelings, hadn’t they?

That was some completely unjustified jealousy.

Yet Yu Shenliu remained utterly convinced that this only made his own image all the more glorious.

After seeing the plump woman out, it was almost noon. Yu Shenliu stood up, casually draped an arm around Chen Yuan’s shoulders, and asked him cheerfully, “Yuanyuan, how about you interpret a dream for me too?”

Chen Yuan struggled a little, but when he realized there was no way to free himself from Yu Shenliu’s arm, he replied helplessly, “What dream are you going to have me interpret this time?”

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