I soared through the air, furiously waving my arms, manipulating Deathbane Aura to relentlessly destroy the Dream Wraiths surging toward me from all directions like a tidal wave.
Whenever one of these things was pierced by Deathbane Aura, it vanished instantly. The entire apartment building was rapidly disappearing, and I noticed a few Dream Wraiths with a different color—violet—mixed among them, as if searching for something.
It’s the Nightmare Stone. I immediately beat my wings, flying toward the Dream Wraiths inside the apartment building. In my hand, a black longsword formed—one slash, and I split a Violet Wraith in two. It whimpered, its form fading and vanishing.
The apartment building was shrinking fast. I roared, Deathbane Aura pouring from my body. Though it strained me, I shaped the aura into black arrows.
A sound like swishing filled the air as a rain of black arrows swept toward the mass of Dream Wraiths, wiping out a large swath of them. I kept flying, wielding the Nightfall Sword, prioritizing the elimination of the Violet Wraiths mixed among them.
“This can’t go on,” I muttered, glancing around. The pavilion—Yin Choujian had said not to let the apartment building disappear completely. I beat my wings and flew toward the Garden Pavilion.
Now, the only intact part of the apartment building was the small pavilion. The ground devoured by the Dream Wraiths revealed pitch-black patches beneath.
I could only hold this Garden Pavilion until dawn. The whole apartment building would vanish soon. Faintly, I saw a small box glowing violet where my room once was.
"Damn."
I was about to rush over, when I saw the Violet Wraiths trying to reach for the glowing violet iron box, but failed. No matter how they stretched, they couldn’t touch it at all. I instantly breathed a sigh of relief.
"Fools, hurry up and devour the pavilion too." Mona Ouyang's voice rang out again. All around, the gray and violet Dream Wraiths surged toward the Garden Pavilion like a flood.
I crouched down, placing one hand atop the pavilion, forcing Deathbane Aura to spill out and envelop the entire structure. Under my will, the black aura formed into sharp spears, waiting for the Dream Wraiths to rush in.
The first wave of Dream Wraiths was easily dealt with. Whimpering echoed all around, but the gray Dream Wraiths kept emerging from the surrounding space, like droplets, quickly forming human shapes and attacking in waves.
“Ethan Zhang, let’s see how long you can last. Hahaha…” Mona Ouyang laughed maniacally. As her mocking, discordant laughter echoed, the Dream Wraiths began to change, growing stronger.
With a crack, I stared in shock as an exceptionally strong Dream Wraith grabbed hold of my Deathbane Aura. Though it seemed to be in pain, it snapped the aura apart. I immediately raised the Nightfall Sword, stretching it out and sweeping it with force, splitting the Dream Wraith in two.
“It’s begun—the continuation of the dream. Go on…” Mona Ouyang said coolly.
These burly, strong Dream Wraiths weren’t numerous, but mixed among the others, I felt I was about to reach my limit.
“Ethan Zhang, do you know? Dreams change and become bizarre with time.”
Mona Ouyang spoke wickedly again. Suddenly, a massive roar came from the sky. As I looked up, I saw a huge, green, glue-like mass falling from above.
“It’s over, Ethan Zhang. You can’t escape.”
As I spoke, the green, glue-like mass slowly separated from the sky, falling toward me. Bit by bit, a face appeared—Vivian Ouyang’s face, but twisted and vicious, mouth agape as if to swallow me and the pavilion whole.
In that instant, I roared.
"Instinct, synchronization..."
The sound of swishing filled the air as Deathbane Aura transformed into a rain of black arrows, firing in all directions. I spread my Deathbane Wings, wielding the conjured Black Phoenix Blade, flying into the sky. The once fiery red wings on my back gradually turned black.
"I’ll fight you to the end!" I roared, as the enormous green face of Vivian Ouyang, as large as the apartment building, laughed uproariously and descended from above.
"You’re courting death, Ethan Zhang. Sleep—forever, in my endless dream..."
"Qingyuan, don’t be reckless! Come back!" Behind me came the shout of Tunjiu. I immediately stopped my assault; after a volley of black arrows, Dream Wraiths surged again toward the now undefended pavilion.
"It’s an illusion, Qingyuan. Don’t be fooled by anything in the dream. Guard your Core Dream."
Tunjiu’s voice seemed to come straight from my mind. I stopped my ascent, beat my wings, and flew back to the pavilion. Landing atop it, I spread my hands, palms down. In each palm, a swastika slowly formed from Deathbane Aura.
Faced with this situation, such a weapon might work. I shouted, throwing the two swastikas formed from Deathbane Aura. Manipulating them with the Specter Web, they spun wildly like meat grinders, instantly erasing the Dream Wraiths that charged in.
"Stinking monk, do you want to die?" Mona Ouyang's slightly angry voice came from above.
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"Get up, Qingyuan, wake up."
Slap, slap, slap—I snapped back to consciousness. Vincent Swallow was yanking my collar, while Black-Faced Fiend stood nearby, smacking my cheeks.
"Damn, what are you doing?"
Cold sweat drenched my body, exhaustion overwhelming me, but both sides of my mouth were swollen to different degrees. Black-Faced Fiend looked at me with a grin, awkwardly putting his hands behind his back. I clutched my burning, swollen mouth, glaring at the two of them in grievance.
"There was no other way, Qingyuan. You just wouldn’t wake up."
I pouted and said.
"Next time, please use a different method. Look at my face—look how swollen it is!"
As soon as I finished speaking, a burst of violet light flashed from my forehead. A violet hand shot out, grabbing Vincent Swallow by the throat.
"Stinking monk, do you have a death wish? Have you forgotten how your disciple and family died? Still want to meddle? Hahaha! Back then, you were so scared you pissed yourself, begging for mercy on your knees. I let you go…"
Black-Faced Fiend and I both reached out, but no matter how we tried, we couldn’t touch the violet hand. Vincent Swallow’s eyes widened; with a slap, he formed a Buddhist hand gesture. He seemed nearly unable to breathe, forcing out a few words.
"Yes, back then... I did... beg for mercy on my knees... But that was a dream—a lie you created. Ha..."
Vincent Swallow shouted, golden light bursting from his body. Instantly, the violet hand gripping his throat vanished.
"Buddha nature? Impossible, you’re from the Defiant Sect…"
"Get lost. One day, I’ll find you."
The golden light faded from Vincent Swallow. His eyes were cold, staring with contempt at my forehead.
Then, with a thump, Vincent Swallow slumped into a chair, uncorked his wine gourd, and gulped down a mouthful. He looked devastated, lost, and sorrowful, as if some heartbreaking memory had resurfaced.
"Master, are you all right?" I gasped, getting up and wanting to comfort Vincent Swallow, but Black-Faced Fiend grabbed me and shook his head.
We walked out of the room together. It was already 9 a.m. I was puzzled—normally, I’d wake up at eight, but today, I was slapped awake by Black-Faced Fiend.
"Whoa, Qingyuan, your mouth looks like a steamed bun! Haha…"
When I went downstairs, Hong Shi pointed at my mouth and giggled.
Everyone—humans and ghosts alike—came over when they heard. The female ghosts smiled at me. Embarrassed, I sat on the pavilion steps, feeling utterly exhausted. My eyelids began to droop.
"Qingyuan, I think you should sleep a bit more. You look like you haven’t slept all night," the Old Eccentric said. I nodded, leaned sideways against the steps, wanting to sleep. I didn’t want to go back inside—being with everyone made me feel safe.
"Lantern, hehe."
I leaned against something soft and a bit slippery, which gave me goosebumps. Turning my head, I saw Lantern, who had stretched out his tongue to cushion my back, grinning foolishly.
"Thanks, haha. Are you trying to use your tongue as my pillow?"
I leaned back anyway. Though it was sticky, I was too tired—just closing my eyes, I could fall asleep in seconds.
"Don’t sleep."
Vincent Swallow’s voice called out again, and I felt Lantern lift me up entirely.
"Qingyuan, wake up. You can’t sleep."
Vincent Swallow spoke as someone grabbed my collar and shook me awake—it was Black-Faced Fiend, raising his hand again.
"All right, I won’t sleep."
Vincent Swallow looked at me sternly and said,
"Qingyuan, remember this: Until you find a truly effective way to protect your Core Dream, don’t sleep. If you do, you might never wake up again."
A shiver ran through me, and I immediately snapped awake.