It felt as though someone was pushing me around brutally.

Like being cornered at the classroom's back door, kicked, beaten, and insulted.

Like failing to pay the tuition fee, getting kicked out of school by the teacher, walking on the streets like a dog, wailing, powerless, and desperately wandering until after seeing the reality, I lowered my head and went door to door, begging for work and shelter.

Like being sent to a foster home, enduring cold stares.

Like being admitted to a hospital, my body severely burnt, as if I was about to die.

Like... suddenly, once again, I was back ten years ago!

The nightmare's regression never ceased, thundering forward, mercilessly digging up all past fragments until at last, it broke through every barrier and effortlessly grasped the heart of despair!

"Found it."

The nightmare grinned, restarting the true nightmare hidden within memories!

In that instant, the blue sky turned into a scorched firmament, with the crimson glow of the fire reflecting on the leaden black clouds, the earth cracked, and sparks danced upon the scorched ground.

Cries of agony and wails died out amidst the ruins.

Flames blazed atop the wreckage of train carriages.

Ji Jue was once again engulfed by his memories.

So calm.

The nightmare found it incomprehensible.

This wasn't the kind of lucid dream that you could escape by realizing who you were, nor some illusion that couldn't harm you if you saw through it. This was a genuine source of pain, a vicious skill designed to plunge its victim into the abyss.

Yet at this moment, on Ji Jue's face, I saw no trace of panic or despair.

Only a calm that vaguely chilled the nightmare.

It was as if he had returned home, back to his soft bed, calmly surveying everything around him, letting painful memories swallow him whole.

He walked casually forward and sat atop the ruins.

"Ah... How embarrassing."

Ji Jue scratched his face, sighing softly, "Just the other day, I was saying I might not come back, yet somehow, it seems I've been brought back here."

There was no response, only a distant song echoing endlessly.

At that moment, the invisible nightmare suddenly lost its power and fell into the dust.

A cold wind howled past, bringing with it countless cries of death.

From the daze and shock, the nightmare looked down at the dust and ashes on its hands, took a step back instinctively, but then fell to the ground.

It looked around blankly.

It had lost control over the dream!

"What's going on?!"

It got up instinctively, trying to regain control, but then saw, rising from the ground, a silver light gradually brightening, its complex outline as solemn as a circuit, like an invisible net, enveloping itself within it!

Tick tock, tick tock, tick tock, tick tock...

The illusory sound rang in its ears.

So crisp.

Thus, time, which had frozen, began to flow backward, and all that had been sealed away reemerged.

Amid scorched earth and ashes, blurry outlines, bodies writhing in pain, reassembled, returning from death, wailing, screaming, praying, or roaring.

At last, they, no, they all turned their heads.

They stared at the stupefied nightmare.

On those shattered and charred faces, there were no eyes, just two black voids, like caves leading to the abyss. Yet from within those voids, suddenly, a fierce light emerged.

As if mountains ignited and oceans boiled, the sky and earth disintegrated from the flooding tides of destruction.

That was a real...

—Catastrophe!

From the final screams of terror of the intruder, the catastrophe that destroyed all ten years ago emerged again from the end of the earth.

Real despair and destruction came surging forth!

When the nightmare shattered, it was as fleeting as a bubble.

And when the soul was burnt out, it was the same.

This was the Dream Eater's ultimate end.

"Sir? Sir?"

Late at night, outside the airport's private lounge, the attendant knocked on the door once more, gently reminding, "Your flight is about to take off, sir, can you hear me? Sir?"

There was no response, just dead silence.

When the door was pushed open, a scream of terror suddenly rose, chaos spread, and soon, it was cordoned inside and out, with isolation lines drawn.

The police officer arriving took a photo, capturing the scene inside.

The man on the sofa had already stopped breathing.

His rigid expression was completely twisted, stuck in the fear and despair of his last moments, never to fade.

"Probably died suddenly in his dream."

The arriving coroner took off his gloves, making his pronouncement, but before leaving, he couldn't help looking back one last time at the curled-up corpse. It simply couldn't be understood.

Why did the body look as if it had been burned to death?

When Ji Jue opened his eyes again, he saw the sunlight pouring in through the window, warm and comforting. Birds were singing on the branches, spreading their wings and flying into the sky.

In this indescribable tranquility, he lay on the ground, slowly stretched his body, and let out a contented groan.

It had been a long time since he'd slept so much.

Too tired.

Last night, he didn't even remember when he had fallen asleep. Sleeping on the ground all night didn't make him feel uncomfortable or cause back pain; on the contrary, it seemed as if his entire being had been thoroughly rested.

Content and at peace.

It seemed like he had a very long dream, but it was all a jumbled mess, nothing he could recall. Yet such ample rest assured him it must have been a good dream.

However, when he lifted his hand, he couldn't help but freeze for a moment.

On the display of the progress, the number [1] was already half filled with gold!

More than fifty percent?!

Surely before sleeping, it had only just reached thirty percent. How had it increased so much upon waking up? Could it be that a combination of work and rest was that effective?

Ji Jue scratched his head in confusion.

It couldn't really be that some ferocious ghost had infiltrated his dreams and transmitted some sort of power to him, could it?

To think that the progress bar would increase by twenty percent overnight. Was there such good fortune in this world?

Ridiculous, but I like it, bring on more!

Humming and swaying his hips, after he had washed and tidied up, he looked outside. The sun was splendid, the sky cloudless. What a perfect day to tighten screws and pick up trash, pushing forward with progress!

Time to start a happy day of work!

But just as he stepped out, he saw a man not far away. The man had a scruffy beard and a pale complexion, the kind that suggested his life would not be long. Watching Ji Jue emerge, his expression was as if he had seen a ghost.

Perhaps he's sick?

Ji Jue cast a pitying glance at the man, inserted his hands into his pockets, and strolled leisurely away.

Only after passing by did Qi Qin, who had been standing rooted to the spot, remain there, staring dumbfounded as Ji Jue's silhouette disappeared into the distance, wondering if he was experiencing an illusion.

A target haunted by a nightmare, tormented for so long, should be at best confined to a room in a mental hospital the next day. How could there be anyone bouncing around, ready to tighten screws?

Something was not right!

He felt that there was a problem somewhere, lowering his head to scroll through the messages on his phone—he had sent dozens of unread inquiries, and there had been no responses until now!

Not right, not right, not right... not right... Not Right!!!

What's going on?

He wished he could grab that bastard by the collar and whip him with a copper belt, spinning him like a top: Damn it, I've been waiting for you all night. Did it work or not? You could at least say something!

But no matter how much he urged, phoned, texted, or emailed, there was no response.

As if dead.

"Damn it, you better truly be dead, son of a bitch," Qi Qin's eyes were bloodshot.

Now, as the other party started to play dead and not reply to messages, how could he not understand?

That bastard probably really dug something up last night and by now had bloody well run off!

But if he had just run off that would be one thing; what he feared was that the other party might think the news was valuable and plan to find a more generous employer to sell it for a big price!

But what on earth had he actually unearthed?

Nobody knew!

However, time was running out for him...

"Playing it like this, huh, you damn cur? Wait for death then!"

Qi Qin dialed a number without hesitation, "Boss, there's trouble. The nightmare ran off!"

After reporting the specifics, the elder on the other end of the phone was also stunned, suppressing the rage with nowhere to vent, and only the sound of something being smashed could be heard.

"Useless trash! If you want to die, just buy an urn and be done with it, why drag me into it? Why are you only telling me now?!"

Qi Qin's expression twitched, and he half started to speak but then hesitated.

He never expected that casting out a random line, he would actually hook such a big fish. Now, not only was his fishing rod about to break, but he was also getting dragged into the sea!

Even more baffling was that after the nightmare took off, they had no way to confirm what exactly was hooked to the end of their line. It could be some inconsequential marine debris, or it could be a man-eating shark that wouldn't rest until it drew blood!

Whether 'Ji Jue might just be the Chosen Summoner who has been creating chaos throughout Hai Province lately,' or 'he's been secretly involved with someone surnamed Wen for many years and they even have a child who just celebrated their one-month-old birthday,' they couldn't keep dragging their feet.

If the nightmare sold the news and Wen Wen got wind of it, becoming alert, there might be no more chances.

Even if it was just a 'possibility,' but what if something went wrong? Would 'they' let him off the hook?

Don't make me laugh!

These rats scrounging in the gutter, working for those big shots, dealt mostly in activities that couldn't bear the light of day. Useful? Keep using them. No longer useful? Wouldn't they just find a replacement?

A chamber pot is sometimes like a Paru.

You don't do it, there are plenty of others who will!

"Take action directly."

Jiang Jin took a deep breath, "Find someone to catch that kid first! I'll contact the Chosen Ones from the Heart Core to thoroughly dig out his background!"

Qi Qin hesitated for a moment, "But he's always in Ye Xian's workshop, if Ye Xian finds out..."

"Just an apprentice, not her biological son. Give her face, call her 'Master.' Without giving face, what then? Will she dare to act?!"

Jiang Jin could no longer restrain himself and roared, "Moreover, can't we lure him out? Are you new to this job, needing me to teach you how?!"

Snap!

The call was disconnected.

Amidst the jarring busy tone, Qi Qin subconsciously shivered, feeling as though he had plunged into an ice cave.

Immediately after, a fierce look emerged in his eyes.

He dialed another number.

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