Once again, I found myself in this kind of dream. But this time, it felt like a pleasant one. On a field of grass, Dreamborn and Dream Wraiths were playing together, no longer existing as two completely opposing sides like I had seen before.
By a small river, many people sat around a wooden table covered in green vines, eating and drinking. In the distance, across a small bridge, I saw Red Path—his massive figure was surrounded by many Dreamborn, clearly the center of their attention.
Standing by the river, I looked at myself: fangs showing at the corners of my mouth, my skin darkened, my body completely stiff. Big Mountain was right beside me, and Nolan and Susie were there too.
"Thank you, Ethan," Susie said as she leaned in. I smiled, twisting my stiff neck and moving a little.
"You're in bad shape right now, Ethan Zhang. Let me help you."
Big Mountain spoke, placing one hand on my forehead and reaching the other toward the river. I saw a golden glow appear where his hand touched my forehead, and a warm current instantly made my cold, rigid body feel like it was bathed in a gentle breeze, warming up.
Panting heavily, I sat down on the ground, gratitude in my eyes as I looked at Big Mountain.
"What's going on?"
Then Big Mountain, Nolan, and Susie all stepped back, looking solemn and respectful. Mona Ouyang came to my side and pointed at me.
"According to the laws of this dream, Dreamborn are not supposed to help anyone. But you are different, because you possess an instinct called coexistence. Now, get out of here."
"What?" I shot a glare at Mona Ouyang, who still seemed to dislike me.
"Can you tell me about the zombies?"
I asked sincerely. Mona Ouyang sighed and sat down beside me.
"Take my advice: stay out of Yuna Ji's business. If you drag those troublesome figures into this, the world of humans and ghosts—which is already chaotic—will become even more so. You'd better think it through. Once you step out, there's no turning back. The troubles you'll face will only multiply."
I looked at Mona Ouyang. This time, there was a hint of worry in her eyes, which made me smile.
"I've thought about it before. A lot of things, even if I don't face them, will come looking for me—just like your problems. This time, I only hope to help John Chou."
Mona Ouyang burst out laughing, then looked at me.
"Since you've made up your mind, I'll tell you a bit. At the top of the Nether Syndicate are three monsters whose lifespans far exceed those of us Ghost Sovereigns."
I was stunned. Mona Ouyang and the other seven Ghost Sovereigns have existed for at least a thousand years, yet the three monsters she mentioned have lived even longer.
"In the Nether Syndicate, there are three major clans. The Moonlight Revenants are led by Luna Quay—he's relatively easy to talk to and has some ties with John Chou, so he won't cause you trouble. But next, you need to be careful of the Blood Revenants; their leader is Luantian Xuekui. She was thoroughly defeated by John Chou before, so her strength is weak now, but she deeply hates John Chou. You should watch out for her."
"Lastly, there's an old man, the leader of the Three Suns clan—Tan Tian. This old guy is extremely powerful. So far, except for Red Path, no one has ever seen him take action. He and Red Path have a close relationship."
"Yuna Ji, I heard from that revenant named Lance Quinn that the Nether Syndicate is backing her, which is how she became a Ghost Sovereign."
"That's right. Yuna Ji is deeply connected to the Nether Syndicate. Back then, after she emerged from the Infernal Hell, she received strong support from those three old monsters of the Nether Syndicate, which allowed her to become one of the Seven Ghost Sovereigns. She's also the only Ghost Sovereign without a hundred ghosts."
Then Mona Ouyang told me that before the Seven Sovereigns' great war, John Chou had visited the Nether Syndicate once and caused quite a stir. For some reason, the leader of the Three Suns clan, Tan Tian, turned a blind eye, which resulted in Luantian Xuekui of the Blood Revenants being seriously injured.
After eating, I sat quietly on the bed, pondering Mona Ouyang's words about reversal in extremes. The baleful energy in my body is a mix of yin and earth energies, and at this moment, what I need to do is break their balance—first restore my connection to instinct, and once the balance is broken, I may be able to overcome the suppression of earth energy.
At that moment, everything around me appeared in my mind. It was as if my soul had left my body—at first, I could only see the table beside me and the large pit outside, but gradually, I could perceive the entire hilltop, and farther away, I saw the pile of scattered rocks.
In an instant, a vision appeared in my mind: the blood-sucking Flying Revenant swooped back from afar. I grew anxious—I'd just managed to sense the ghostly part of myself. But I forced myself to remain silent, using my will to slowly separate the earth energy and yin energy within my body.