It felt as if he had suddenly dozed off.

Ji Jue opened his eyes on the floor, feeling an all-over body ache as if he had been pummeled, his entire being seemingly ready to fall apart.

He struggled to turn over, gazing at the familiar ceiling, trying to clear the dizziness and make sense of what had happened, but his forehead throbbed painfully, unable to recall anything.

Could it be that he had overworked himself to the point of collapse?

No, that's not right. He had crammed for an entire week before the third-level engineer exam at the library and still managed to squeeze in two sets of Emergency Lifeguard exam questions!

Getting old?

I'm not even twenty yet!

Ji Jue, clutching his aching head, slowly got up from the floor, took some deep breaths, but the air was filled with the pungent smell of mold. He didn't know when the window had been opened, letting in a lot of rain, dripping and dropping on the floor.

Outside, the sky was covered with heavy clouds, with no stars or moon visible.

Only from the dark alleys in the distance, where the lights couldn't reach, came a piercing cry, like the death whine of a wild dog. Ji Jue shivered, instinctively closed the window, and then saw the wall covered with large patches of mold and peeling plaster.

He was frozen on the spot.

How long had he slept?

A vague sense of fear and anxiety welled up inside him, making his breathing increasingly rapid and his forehead covered in cold sweat. When he lifted his hand and looked at his wrist, there was nothing there.

His watch was gone!

Even his powers had vanished without a trace, as if they had overloaded and crashed. Within his soul, there was nothing but emptiness.

Only the hair-raising sound of something scraping came from downstairs, getting gradually closer.

Ji Jue held his breath.

Carefully, he pushed open the door and peered into the swirling darkness. There was nothing in the dark, just a metal door creaking in the wind and rain, swinging on its hinges.

His heart suddenly spasmed!

It was as if it had been seized by an invisible terror, unable to beat, and although there seemed to be a faint laughter in the darkness, he couldn't hear it clearly. All he felt was a shudder.

Behind the veil of dreams, the Invisible Rhinoceros grinned, sucking the rapidly erupting fear with delight, moaning in satisfaction. Ever since he gained the Matrix of the Rhinoceros, such pleasures were never enough.

The Chosen One known as Nightmare never appeared before people, never even met with his employers or enemies.

What he loved most was to transform into a nightmare, infiltrate his opponents' dreams, and freely mock and torture his targets until their fear broke them down, crushed them, turned them into puppets and toys.

Now, all he had to do was move his fingers, and Ji Jue's most terrifying memories and thrilling scenes would emerge from his dreams, plunging everything gradually into Hell.

A chilled wind mixed with rain blew through the gaping doorway.

Long ago, a trail of muddy footprints had reached into Ji Jue's home, unnoticed, spreading like an invisible monster hidden in the unseeable dark.

And in that instant, a strange chewing noise came from the far end of the living room!

He staggered back a step, nearly losing his balance, the intangible terror peaking, taking on substance.

Too easy, too effortless, too simple.

The corners of Nightmare's mouth slowly curled up, merging into the shape formed by the fear, materializing as a shadow, stepping onto the stage.

——The game of hunting and trampling began!

He sneered, opened his eyes, and then... froze on the spot.

Blinking blankly, he looked forward, unable to comprehend why he was sprawled on top of the refrigerator?

And why, in his mouth, was he still holding half a chicken leg?

No sharp blades, no claws.

The withered and hunched figure lay on top of the refrigerator, confronting its reflection in the glass. Only then did he hear the terrified scream followed by the furious roar behind him.

"My chicken leg, my fridge, aaaaaaaaah!!!!"

Tears were nearly spilling from Ji Jue's eyes as he was utterly defeated by the scene before him, completely forgetting all reason and thought, he threw himself forward, "I'm going to fucking fight you!"

Bang!

Nightmare didn't even have time to turn around before he was struck on the forehead by a stick, hearing the crisp sound of his skull cracking as the world spun around him.

"Wait…"

He instinctively turned around, waving his hand, trying to tear Ji Jue to pieces, but his withered arm was swiftly snapped off by a stick, just like a stalk of wheat.

"That's not right!" he exclaimed with widened eyes, incredulous: "I…"

"What about you?!"

Ji Jue roared, smacking that bizarre face with a broken table leg in his hand and yelling, "You're going to pay for my fridge!"

Watching his recently repaired fridge door fall to the ground once more, Ji Jue's mind completely snapped, eyes bloodshot as he used fists and feet:

"You break into my house!"

"You eat my damn chicken leg!"

"You fucking ruined! My! Fridge!"

Bang!

Fueled by rage, Ji Jue managed to break the table leg, but without hesitation, he continued trampling on the body, grabbing a plate nearby and slamming it directly onto the opponent's forehead.

Crack!

Shards scattered, and the plate he had used for seven or eight years was completely shattered!

Ji Jue felt as though his heart was being sliced apart.

Then, it was the rolling pin stuck in the kitchen cabinet, his right hand scooped up the unwashed frying pan from the sink, using both hands to strike from left and right.

"Everyone's taking advantage of me, is that it? All you fuckers picking on a poor ghost like me!" Ji Jue challenged, bellowing, "I haven't even paid off my student loans! What have you done to my motorbike?!

Shit, where's my ox and horse?!"

Realizing that his little ox and horse had also been stolen, Ji Jue felt he was past the point of no return, his eyes so red they seemed about to bleed, wildly slapping the other's face with the frying pan, too enraged to stop!

"Wait a minute, I, no, you hold on... I…"

Within the tempest of punches and kicks, Nightmare instinctively covered his head, feeling darkness sweep over him in waves, puzzled over what the fuck had actually happened?

How could someone's worst nightmare be someone damaging their home fridge, and how could anyone's greatest fear be someone stealing their chicken leg?

Damn it, are you crazy?!

He couldn't help but want to accuse and question, but it was already too late.

As the bloodstained rolling pin came down again, the pain spread and the dream suddenly collapsed.

On the sofa in the airport lounge, Ji Jue screamed as he woke from his nightmare, opening his eyes to find blood oozing slowly from his eyes, ears, mouth, and nose, disbelief engulfing him.

Could it be, he had actually been killed in his dream?

"Sir? Sir!" A hurried knocking came from outside the door: "Do you need help? What happened?"

"I'm fine! Don't bother me!"

Ji Jue's uncontrolled roar, heedless of decorum and etiquette, sent a direct signal through the door, telling the attendant to buzz off and not come back.

In the silence that followed, only his heavy breathing remained, his eyes threaded with blood vessels, so ferocious.

"Ji Jue—"

From between his teeth, he squeezed out a hoarse voice, unable to swallow the humiliation he had never before experienced, "We're not done yet."

Without waiting for his turbulent spiritual essence to return to normal.

Ji Jue closed his eyes once more.

From afar, the nightmare roared toward him again!

In his room, Ji Jue had just opened his eyes and hadn't yet figured out what was going on when he lay down again, and snoring filled the air.

After a long period of dizziness and grogginess, he opened his eyes in confusion to see the afternoon sunlight.

Someone was gently pushing his shoulder, so tenderly.

"Wake up, Ji Jue."

Wen Wen, sitting beside him, looked down at him. "Fell asleep again?"

"Ah, sorry."

Ji Jue apologized subconsciously and rubbed his face: "I've been overworking recently, I..."

He looked up, his words ceasing abruptly as if lost in thought.

Wen Wen smiled, resting her chin on her hand, watching him.

"What's wrong?" She picked up the ice cream from beside her and took up a spoon: "Want to try? This place's ice cream is pretty good."

"Ah?" Ji Jue was puzzled.

"Come on, open up."

Wen Wen scooped up some ice cream and cream, bringing it to his lips: "Taste?"

"Ah... uh... no, thanks."

Ji Jue instinctively leaned back a little, giving an awkward smile: "I have high blood sugar, I can't have these things. But, Wen Sister, you being so nice to me makes me kind of nervous."

"Pfft, you're always lost in thought."

Wen Wen pouted and took out a cigarette pack from her pocket, placing one expertly at the corner of her mouth and was about to light it when she saw Ji Jue dutifully pass the ashtray from beside them.

"You kid, at least you're a Chosen One..."

She shook her head, as if about to say something, then saw Ji Jue's hand lifting the ashtray, aiming it at her forehead.

Bang!!!

With a loud noise, Wen Wen's head cracked open, blood streaming down, and the ashtray broke in two.

"Ji Jue, have you lost your mind?!" She roared.

"Who are you?"

Ji Jue stood up, holding the broken ashtray, looking impassively at the angry face before him, and asked deliberately: "You, who are you?"

"Are you muddled from sleep? I am Wen Wen, I..."

"Wen Sister never smokes anything other than White Star." Ji Jue shook his head firmly: "Not even the good brands."

"I just wanted a change of flavor!"

"Hmm, perhaps, maybe."

Ji Jue nodded nonchalantly and carelessly, but when he glanced down at her with disdain, he couldn't help sneering: "But Wen Sister would never laugh so disgustingly, like a fawning dog, greasily to death."

He had seen such smiles countless times since he was a child.

Every time someone smiled at him like that, they were plotting something.

But Wen Wen had never smiled like that.

Not even once.

"The perfume, the scent, the tone of voice, thinking carefully, there are too many flaws, even this face seems a bit off."

Ji Jue sighed lightly, telling the imposter in front of him: "I guess you either don't know her well, or, you know her too well, so well that... you wouldn't dare show your face in front of her."

His eyes discerning the gradually distorting expression before him, he suddenly understood: "So that's it, you don't dare look at her face, do you?"

In that moment, the bloodied and broken face suddenly changed, morphing into a sinister visage he had never seen before.

With features resembling some sort of beast.

So fierce.

The nightmare lurking behind was driven into a corner, and the Dream-eating Rhinoceros revealed itself in anger.

"I had intended to let you die drunk in a pleasant dream, but now, it seems unnecessary."

The voice of Ji Jue sounded, as if from everywhere: "You brought this upon yourself, Ji Jue."

Boom!

The ground shook violently, and the sky crumbled to pieces.

Ji Jue's brain throbbed with intense pain.

Everything before his eyes turned black.

As if invisible hands had entered his brain, violently excavating his past, gathering fragments of pain and despair into an ocean.

Drowning him completely!

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