"Where is this place, really?"
I shouted, panting heavily. My body was already battered beyond recognition, flesh torn and bloody, dripping with fresh blood. Even now, as a ghost, I was unable to heal. Deep down, a creeping terror took hold.
"Ethan Zhang, what do you think is the scariest dream for a person?"
Martin Ouyang laughed loudly, his voice echoing through the darkness.
I wasn't sure. For people, the scariest dream might be different for everyone. If it were me, maybe it would be dreaming of losing the one I love most. But now, I'm trapped in the Nightmare Realm—a place unlike any ghost domain I've ever known.
Here, I couldn't feel anything except danger. My body warned me: in this Nightmare Realm, one wrong move and I'd be dead.
"Hahaha, you never would have guessed, would you? Martin Ouyang became a Ghost Sovereign, and his domain is inseparable from his power."
As we spoke, I felt a faint wind brush past. I hurriedly raised my spectral weapon, Hell's Sentinel, as the sound of ghostly soldiers echoed in the distance. My shoulder was already stripped to the bone, flesh sliced away in great chunks.
I had to find a way out, or I would die here. Desperately, I rushed upward.
"Don't even think about escaping, Ethan Zhang. Do you know what this place truly is?"
"Where the hell am I? Damn it."
I stared at everything around me. Invisible blades kept slicing away at my flesh, piece by piece.
"Crucifixion Hell—if I say that, you should know exactly what I mean, right?" (Crucifixion Hell: a layer of torment in The Eighteen Hells, where souls are punished through crucifixion.)
I let out a confused sound, completely lost, glancing anxiously at my surroundings.
"Heh, Ethan Zhang, I just asked you—what's the scariest dream a person can have? If you dream of falling into The Eighteen Hells, wouldn't that be thrilling? Ethan Zhang, this is the power of dreams—transformed into his own Nightmare Realm, also known as The Eighteen Hells. Just now, you were in the sixteenth layer, Volcano Hell. Now, you're in the fifteenth layer. Not bad, right, Ethan Zhang? Enjoy yourself—there’s plenty to experience in these Eighteen Hells." (The Eighteen Hells: a cycle of supernatural torture realms within the Nightmare Realm.)
My heart skipped a beat. I looked around as a breeze swept through again. I gripped Hell's Sentinel tightly and swung it, but the pain of being sliced by invisible blades shot through my body. Gritting my teeth, I looked up at the jagged, blade-like stones overhead—trapped, unable to go up or down.
I vaguely remembered: if this really was The Eighteen Hells, then this was the fifteenth layer—Crucifixion Hell. One layer above would be the fourteenth—Unjust Death Hell. (Unjust Death Hell: a layer in The Eighteen Hells where souls who died wrongfully are tormented.)
"Damn it." I cursed. This was my first time witnessing the Ghost Sovereign’s Nightmare Realm. Before, at Redhair’s Banquet of Ten Thousand Ghosts, I’d seen many Specter Green ghosts who spoke of Yin Choujian’s Blood Vengeance Nightmare Realm—all terrified out of their minds.
Thinking again about Martin Ouyang’s Nightmare Realm—these Eighteen Hells. Though I knew it was all created by Martin Ouyang’s dream powers, right now, I had no idea what to do.
"Now do you understand how terrifying Martin Ouyang’s Nightmare Realm is, Ethan Zhang? Heh. Especially here, within this dream, his Nightmare Realm’s power is extraordinary. There are still more than a dozen hell layers waiting above you, Ethan Zhang—so, what will you do?"