I alone have my own laws; I start by fabricating myths and legends of mountains and seas.

Su Fan: "It seems everyone remembers this."

Bai Ze's most loyal servant (Chen Yang): "I have more than just an impression! Brother Su, this is definitely not an ordinary dream! How can five people from all over the world have the exact same dream, wake up and remember the details so clearly, and still be exhausted? This is definitely a supernatural event! A collective time travel? A mental link? Or... did we really encounter gods and get pulled into a tea party?"

I've already spent money to commission a statue of Bai Ze based on his appearance in my dream. I'm going to worship the great god Bai Ze; who knows, I might even become an immortal someday.

Construction site worker Wang (Wang Jianguo): "Xiao Chen is right, it's too unbelievable. I've lived most of my life and never encountered anything like this. Is that Bai Ze... really a mythical beast?"

Su Fan: "I don't know about that, but the image matches the description in the Sancai Tuhui very well."

Ning Jing Zhi Yuan (Li Bowen): "Speaking of which, Xiao Su, you were the first to recognize Bai Ze in the dream. It seems you're quite knowledgeable about this? What do you think happened? Was it... an unusually vivid collective dream?"

Su Fan: "I'm not sure either. I was able to recognize Bai Ze just because I like to read some anecdotes and supernatural tales. I'm not sure about these things."

Jiang Yuhe (Jiang He): "The 'exceptionally clear collective dream' that Teacher Li mentioned is indeed the most natural association. I asked some friends who know about this, and from a psychological perspective, there are usually only a few explanations for this kind of phenomenon."

"Memory bias and post-construction: This is the most common reason. An individual's dreams are vague and fragmented, and are easily forgotten or unintentionally altered. When people communicate afterward, they often unconsciously adjust their memories, emphasizing or even 'creating' similarities and ignoring differences, ultimately forming a 'seemingly shared' version of memory that cannot withstand close scrutiny."

"Shared cultural background or recent experiences: If there are social events or cultural products that have recently garnered common attention, they may provide similar material to the subconscious of different people. In psychology, this is called the 'collective unconscious,' and it is believed that different individuals may touch upon certain deep shared images."

Jiang He's post had barely lingered in the group chat for a few seconds when Chen Yang jumped out almost immediately, his words revealing obvious urgency and disagreement.

Bai Ze's most loyal servant (Chen Yang): "Sister Jiang He! I've never heard of these theories you're talking about! But this time it's different! They don't apply at all!"

Bai Ze's most loyal servant (Chen Yang): "Memory discrepancy? Our memory discrepancies are too perfect! The floating island, the Seven Treasures Tree, what Bai Ze said, who spoke first among the five of us, what each asked, and even how we 'disappeared' one by one... When everyone was going over the details just now, was there even the slightest discrepancy? Could this be something we all made up and then just happened to make up exactly the same thing? The probability of that is lower than winning the lottery jackpot! At least I don't believe it."

Bai Ze's most loyal servant (Chen Yang): "Shared cultural background? Yes, we all share a common cultural background, but the five of us come from all over the country, with such different professions and ages. That world is clearly a fantasy world, and I don't believe Uncle Wang knows much about fantasy culture. We don't even know Bai Ze. And the dream environment, the interaction details, even the 'exit mechanism' are all constructed so seamlessly? How strong must this 'collective unconscious' be?"

Jiang Yuhe (Jiang He): "Chen Yang, the points you raised—consistency in details, precision of connection to reality, unified physiological aftereffects, and a clear sense of process management—are precisely the core contradictions that I believe conventional 'collective dream' theories cannot fully explain in our experience."

Her reply was clear and direct, affirming the key point that Chen Yang had observed.

Jiang Yuhe (Jiang He): "I listed common psychological explanations not because I thought they were sufficient to draw conclusions, but to illustrate that even within the most 'conventional' academic framework, our case has shown significant anomalous characteristics. Therefore, I cannot agree with my friend's explanation."

Jiang Yuhe (Jiang He): "The high degree of consistency and stability in the details goes beyond the scope of memory construction or cultural archetypes that can be naturally generated. It is more like a 'stable scene' that exists in advance or has rules for being constructed in real time. The low probability of achieving such precise connection in reality greatly reduces the reliability of the explanation of 'coincidence'."

Furthermore, the highly similar and persistent mental fatigue, not stemming from staying up late or illness, strongly suggests a 'cost' or 'backlash' from some mechanism that exceeds normal physiological and psychological expenditure. The clear and orderly process of leaving the body directly points to the existence of some management or scheduling mechanism, rather than the natural end of sleep.

Jiang Yuhe (Jiang He): "Therefore, my current conclusion is that existing conventional psychological models, and even the broader 'parapsychology' framework that attempts to study anomalous phenomena, are insufficient to fully explain the event we encountered. It exhibits overly distinct regularity, interactivity, and cost characteristics, resembling more of an independently operating 'system' or 'protocol' than a random, chaotic product of the subconscious."

Jiang Yuhe (Jiang He): "But this does not mean that we should completely categorize it into the realm of 'mysticism' or 'the unknowable'."

I firmly believe that any phenomenon, as long as it exists, manifests, and has an impact, no matter how "extraordinary" its nature may seem, is in principle observable, analyzable, and potentially understandable—perhaps not with all our existing tools and theories, but through systematic methods and accumulated evidence, we can always take a step closer to the truth.

Su Fan roughly understood from this that Jiang He, as an intellectual, advocated epistemology and disdained the agnosticism of mysticism.

Jiang Yuhe (Jiang He): "Simply labeling this matter as a 'miracle,' 'fate,' or 'an incomprehensible mystery' is, in my view, a cognitive surrender that also closes off the possibility of in-depth exploration. Admitting that we 'cannot explain it for the time being' and asserting that it 'will never be understood' are two different things."

Jiang Yuhe (Jiang He): "Therefore, my suggestion is that we should treat it as a special 'research case.' Let's temporarily set aside the debate on its essence, focus on the phenomenon itself, collect data, and look for patterns."

Su Fan: "Jiang He makes a good point. However, when it comes to unusual dreams, the ancients actually have quite a few records, not just vague images, but some of them also sound very 'regular'."

Su Fan: "I remember that the 'Seven Tablets of the Cloudy Bookcase' mentions that someone dreamed of entering a celestial cave and receiving guidance from immortals on how to refine elixirs and take medicine. After waking up, they prepared the medicine according to the prescription, and it was said to be quite effective. There is also a story in 'Miscellaneous Morsels from Youyang' about 'receiving an inscription in a dream.' Someone was led to see an ancient stele in a dream, and after waking up, they wrote down the inscription from memory. When others checked it, it turned out to be a fragment of an ancient site that had long been lost, and it was exactly the same word for word."

Su Fan: "Some of the more mysterious ones, like some cultivators in the 'Biographies of Immortals,' claim that their Taoist methods were not passed down from a master, but rather they encountered a divine being in a dream and received a 'heart-to-heart' connection, and upon waking up, they suddenly understood everything."

For example, there's the story of King Huai of Chu and the goddess of Wushan in ancient times, or Zhuangzi's dream of the butterfly, or the dream of the Yellow Millet.

These accounts are a mixture of truth and falsehood, which the ancients often attributed to "divine intervention" or "serendipity." But setting aside their mystical aspects, they share a common thread: the content of the dreams is clear and concrete, and they can establish a definite connection or influence on reality.

Ningjingzhiyuan (Li Bowen): "That's interesting. The poem 'Dreaming of Mount Tianmu' by the poet Li Bai. 'I wish to dream of Wu and Yue, and fly across the moonlit Mirror Lake in one night,' 'Wearing Xie Lingyun's clogs, I ascend the ladder to the clouds'... The dream depicted in the poem is indeed magnificent and fantastical, with vivid details."

There is also the ethereal beauty of "the rainbow as my garment, the wind as my steed, and the cloud lords descending in droves," and finally, the abrupt awakening of "suddenly my soul trembles and my spirit stirs, I startle awake with a long sigh." This complete and transcendent journey in the dream, and the sense of loss upon waking, though imagined by the poet, subtly resonate with our own experiences in terms of the "realness" and "sense of departure" of the experience.

I used to think it was just Li Bai's strong romanticism, but now I realize he might have had similar experiences to us.

He paused briefly, then continued typing:

Ning Jing Zhi Yuan (Li Bowen): "Furthermore, regarding *Dream of the Red Chamber*, Baoyu's dream journey to the Land of Illusion reveals the register of the Twelve Beauties of Jinling, the celestial music of *Dream of the Red Chamber*, and the drinking of 'A Thousand Red Flowers in One Cave' tea and 'Ten Thousand Beauties in One Cup' wine… The scenes depicted in the dream subtly foreshadow the future destinies of these characters. Isn't this dream itself a self-contained system, containing information, and even capable of 'prophecy'? Although the novel is largely fictional, it also reveals the ancient concept that dreams can 'carry the Way' and 'reveal opportunities.'"

Tranquility Leads to Far-Reaching Vision (Li Bowen): "It seems that, whether in unofficial histories, Taoist legends, or in poems, songs, and extraordinary books, 'dreams' in our culture have never been merely a product of chaotic sleep. They are often regarded as a special 'interface' through which one can connect with the profound, express emotions, convey the Tao, and glimpse the secrets. Perhaps our experience this time has inadvertently 'touched' a more substantial aspect of this ancient concept? Of course, this is just a musing for everyone to ponder."

Bai Ze's most loyal servant (Chen Yang): "We're so lucky! Grandpa Li is right! We've stumbled upon something that's actually true, something written in ancient books and poems! Bai Ze is our destiny! Brother Su quoting classics, Grandpa Li discussing poetry and dreams—isn't this a confirmation from the heavens? Now I'm even more convinced that I made the right decision to worship Bai Ze! Maybe next time I 'log in,' I'll get something real!"

Chen Yang's excitement only grew stronger, almost overflowing the screen.

Jiang Yuhe (Jiang He): "Our current understanding of dreams is not comprehensive, but we still need to distinguish: cultural narratives are poetic and symbolic interpretations of phenomena; while our goal should be to explore the mechanisms of the phenomena themselves as objectively as possible."

Jiang Yuhe (Jiang He): "Based on the current discussion, I propose that we do two things next: First, as mentioned before, each of us should start to simply record our own state changes, especially fluctuations in mental fatigue, and any subtle abnormalities that may be related to the 'event'."

Secondly, let's each think about this: if—and I emphasize again—we were to re-enter that scenario, based on the information we have now, what are some safe and non-reckless points we could try to observe or verify? We can summarize our thoughts in our next discussion.