Chapter 505: From the Nightmare Unraveling Confusion

Practitioners fear inner demons the most. This Hundred-Face Nightmare, however, takes in others' consciousnesses one by one; it's remarkable it hasn't driven itself mad. He Lingchuan raised an eyebrow: "To completely forget the past, isn't that equivalent to dying?"

"You could say that, or you could call it a new birth," the strange head replied. "In our world, memories are the least valuable things; otherwise, the Hundred-Face wouldn't continuously generate new self-awarenesses."

"Dreams also form their own world?"

"Of course. Dreams are a reflection of the real world, intricately linked with it."

He Lingchuan gestured around them: "This isn't a dream, is it?" The Soul-Capturing Mirror had said it wasn't, but he wanted to confirm again.

"Of course not. We originally thought this was a soul realm, a lingering place for deceased souls!" The strange head's eyes widened. "But we just observed it closely, and no soul realm looks like this. It's too strange; unlike any we've visited."

"You've been to other soul realms?" What did that mean? Had the mirror's understanding of Hidden Dragon City been wrong too?

He had only asked casually, but unexpectedly, he'd stumbled upon something peculiar.

"Dreams and soul realms sometimes intersect by chance. When we travel at night, we occasionally wander into soul realms." The strange head's eyes darted around. "Soul realms are naturally formed and often naturally perish; they're beyond human control. But this... this place of yours seems to be alive!"

As it spoke the last few words, its fear was undisguised. He Lingchuan's heart stirred: "Alive? What do you mean?"

The strange head pondered deeply, only speaking after He Lingchuan prompted it twice: "When summoned by a sorcerer, we occasionally enter the real world. Transitioning from illusion into reality encounters strong resistance; not all nightmares can cross this barrier."

He Lingchuan nodded; this was understandable. The boundaries between two worlds should naturally be distinct; otherwise, if everyone frequently visited each other, what a chaotic mess the world would be?

"When we found you, we thought this was just an ordinary dream," the strange head said, its voice filled with bitterness and grievance as it recalled how it had been tricked. "It was only when we tried to alter it that we discovered it wouldn't obey us at all! We've only experienced such a strong sense of rejection in reality, as nightmares can't change reality. As for soul realms, my true form, Hundred-Face, once forcibly made partial alterations to them, relying on its immense power."

*Your true form was dragged into the bottomless abyss by the guardians of this world*, He Lingchuan silently thought, swallowing the retort.

The power of the Hundred-Face Nightmare was beyond doubt; its sheer size and aura upon appearance were a clear indication.

If the red giant hadn't intervened, He Lingchuan would never have been able to defeat it.

"This place even knows how to disguise itself and trick us into entering; what else could that be but alive?" the strange head added. "Being 'alive' means having self-awareness, knowing what it needs to do. You could even say it's awake. What soul realm is like that?"

This fellow finally realized, feeling incredibly stifled. After all, He Lingchuan was no match for the Hundred-Face's true form, yet it had lost without even unleashing any of its major abilities.

"So, what kind of place is this?"

Even the well-traveled Hundred-Face Nightmare's clone could only honestly admit, "I don't know. All I know is that it harbors deep malice toward us and has been constantly spying on us!"

The soul realm—no, Hidden Dragon City—had been spying on them?

He Lingchuan recalled that during his first two visits to Hidden Dragon City, he'd also felt watched, as if there was nowhere to hide from unseen eyes.

That feeling had disappeared later, but he hadn't forgotten it. Now that the nightmare brought it up again, He Lingchuan also sensed something amiss.

Indeed, what soul realm looked like this? Compared to Hidden Dragon City, the Soul-Capturing Mirror's soul realm was as pure as a newborn infant.

What exactly was this place?

Was everything happening here truly just a reenactment of past history? He knew a bit more than the nightmare: Hidden Dragon City was inside the Great Square Vase.

So, were these anomalies coming from the Great Square Vase?

"What's that eye on your forehead for?" The vertical pupil on its forehead was now closed, leaving only a slit.

He Lingchuan hadn't forgotten how unpleasant it felt to be stared at by that large eyeball, as if his deepest secrets were being pried into.

"It can see into the deepest fears of a person's heart," the nightmare said, licking its lips. "That's how we adapt dreams accordingly. But it's very strange; you don't have any."

"I don't have what?"

"I couldn't find any true fear in your heart."

"Oh?" He Lingchuan scratched his head, a little pleased. "Am I truly fearless?" "Fear isn't necessarily cowardice; it can even stem from worries and regrets. In short, every human heart has a weak spot. Otherwise, you practitioners wouldn't need to painstakingly cultivate your mindsets and 'slay the three corpses' to attain enlightenment. But you..." The strange head eyed him with a peculiar gaze.

"You have nothing."

In this person's heart, there was no fear, no worries, no anger, and no regrets. At most, there was a tiny bit of apprehension, but that concern for life and death was too vague to be materialized or exploited.

The strange head asked him, "What kind of monster are you?" He Lingchuan gave a wry smile.

What kind of situation was this, to be asked such a question by a monster?

Was it because his life before transmigrating had been muddled and uneventful? Wasn't that just the norm for ordinary people?

In his world, didn't most people live like that? Working themselves to death at their jobs, only to rest peacefully after being buried.

If one had such significant emotional fluctuations, how could they be a diligent screw in the machine?

He changed the subject. "Alright, seeing as your answers were quite candid, you can choose whether to live or die."

"If you want to die, go to that," He Lingchuan pointed at the Julo Tree by the water. "If you want to live, find Cheng Yu for me!"

"Find Cheng Yu?" The strange head's eyes flickered. "I made a pact with him: as long as he doesn't deal with us, we can't harm him."

When dealing with such monsters, sorcerers would naturally take safety precautions.

"You don't need to act. Just find his whereabouts for me." He Lingchuan smiled faintly, "You're not going to tell me you can't even find him, are you?"

"If he doesn't summon me, I'll need something personal of his."

"Blood."

"Alright," the strange head replied, much more straightforward this time. "But I need rest! I'm willing but powerless right now; I can't break through the barrier to locate him in reality!"

"When can you?"

"For the next seven or eight days and nights, you'll need to make incense offerings to me, and it would be best if you could find me some food."

"Food?"

"Souls."

"Oh," He Lingchuan shook his head. "None."

Of course there were souls in the soul realm, but these were heroic spirits; this strange head probably couldn't devour them.

The strange head sighed deeply. "It's a pity our idol is gone; it stored incense power for a long time."

"The original body?" He Lingchuan's heart stirred. "Was it carved from wood?"

"Yes, yes, it was carved from undersea wood," the strange head said, looking at him eagerly. "Did you take it?"

He had brought back some wooden fragments from the fire, and when pieced together, they did form an idol. "I did get some fragments from Cheng Yu, but this is a soul realm, uh... But that thing was left in reality, so it shouldn't be able to enter the Hidden Dragon dream realm... right?"

"Give it to me, give it to me! Of course, you can bring it in!"

He Lingchuan tried reaching into his robe and indeed pulled out a cloth bag.

Untying it, he saw that it was indeed the idol fragments.

The strange head cried out repeatedly, "Give them to me, give them to me!"

He Lingchuan held the bag, weighing it in his hand. "You'll recover if you consume these?"

"Yes! I can recover a small portion, enough to find someone for you."

The more eager it was, the calmer He Lingchuan became. "Then let's establish a pact first."

This was to prevent the strange head from not working diligently for him.

The nightmare had no choice but to swear a terrible oath to him, vowing that if it dared to feign compliance, harm He Lingchuan, or even merely prevaricate, it would be devoured by a hundred worms, suffering excruciating torture until death.

It didn't know what "a hundred worms" were and was secretly pleased that it was just an empty curse, when it saw several wisps of pale red ethereal smoke flying from the south. They seemed unremarkable at first glance, sometimes coalescing into red in the air before immediately dispersing again.

As they arrived, the strange head's voice echoed in the air.

The words it had just spoken were replayed several times consecutively, filling the air with murmuring whispers, as if a hundred strange heads were swearing.

Upon hearing this, the strange head's expression changed, and it looked at the ethereal smoke as if it had seen a ghost.

"Three-Corpse Worms!" it shrieked. "How can there be Three-Corpse Worms here, and how are you still alive!"

It was the first time it had seen Three-Corpse Worms—whose instinct was to bewitch minds and who fed on malevolent thoughts—appear in a soul realm, let alone coexist peacefully with the natives here and with the man before it.

This completely shattered its understanding.

Even a nightmare didn't like being so close to Three-Corpse Worms.

He Lingchuan smiled, extending a finger, and the Three-Corpse Worms circled around its tip, appearing remarkably docile. "Remember, you just swore a solemn oath to them. If you break it, they will be your executioners."

The strange head shivered violently.

In fact, He Lingchuan himself was a little surprised.

Although he saw these Three-Corpse Worms every time he passed through the city gate, they had never paid him any mind.

Why had they suddenly changed their ways this time? Were they showing him a little respect in front of an outsider?

Or had he attracted the Hundred-Face Nightmare's true form, allowing them to feast, and consequently, they had developed a liking for him?

By the way, could Three-Corpse Worms even have "liking" for a person? These things weren't even considered "living beings," were they?

They circled around his fingertip, chilling him to the bone. Before his teeth could chatter, He Lingchuan quickly withdrew his finger. The Three-Corpse Worms then flew towards the strange head and, under its terrified gaze, burrowed into its nostrils and ears.

"Ah, no, no, no, no, no!" Was resistance any use?

The Three-Corpse Worms still burrowed into its mind. The strange head shrieked, "Don't eat me!"

"If you keep your promise, they won't eat you," He Lingchuan yawned. "They're just going to lie dormant inside and monitor you at all times."

Otherwise, he knew too little about monsters like nightmares and might easily fall into their traps. The nightmare's face elongated, looking as grief-stricken as if it had lost its parents.

"Alright, get to work!" He Lingchuan paid no mind to its mood, lifting the strange head closer to the idol fragments.