Nightmare

He seemed to be getting shoved around roughly. He seemed to be cornered at the classroom's back door, kicked, beaten, cursed out. He seemed unable to pay his tuition, thrown out of school by the teacher, wandering the streets like a stray dog, wailing, helpless, drifting in despair—until reality set in, and with head bowed, he begged door to door for work and shelter. He seemed to have been sent to a foster home, enduring icy glares. He seemed to have been rushed to a hospital, covered in severe burns, on the verge of death. He seemed... suddenly, once again, to have returned to ten years ago! The nightmare's rewind never stopped. It surged forward with a roar, brutally exhuming every fragment of the past until at last it smashed through every barrier, effortlessly seizing the core of despair! "Found it." Nightmare grinned savagely, reawakening the true horror buried deep within those memories! In that instant, the blue sky turned into a scorched vault. A crimson glare reflected off leaden black clouds; the earth split apart, and embers rose and fell across the charred ground. Wails and shrieks died out among the ruins. Raging flames consumed the wreckage of the train cars. Ji Jue was once again swallowed by memory. So calm. Nightmare could not comprehend it. This was not a lucid dream one could escape by simply remembering who one was, nor an illusion that lost its bite once seen through. This was a genuine wellspring of anguish, a malicious art designed to plunge an opponent straight into the abyss. Yet right now, he saw neither panic nor despair on Ji Jue's face. Only a serenity that sent a creeping chill down his spine. As if he had returned to his own home, returned to a soft bed, Ji Jue looked calmly at everything around him, letting the agonizing memories wash over him. He strolled forward and sat down on the rubble. "Ah... how embarrassing." Ji Jue scratched his cheek and let out a soft sigh. "Just the other day I said I probably wouldn't come back, but who'd have thought someone would end up sending me right back here." No one answered. Only from far away did the faint sound of singing echo, ceaseless and eternal. In that instant, the incorporeal Baku suddenly lost its power and plummeted into the dust. A freezing wind howled past, carrying with it the dying wails of countless souls. Stunned and aghast, Nightmare looked down at the grime and ash on his hands. He took a reflexive step back, only to tumble to the ground. He looked around in bewilderment. His control over the dream had been seized! "What is going on?!" He scrambled up instinctively, wanting to take back control, only to see a silver glow slowly lighting up across the ground. A solemn contour, intricate as a circuit board, was spreading like an invisible net, trapping him inside! *Tick, tock, tick, tock...* An illusory sound echoed in his ears. So crisp and clear. And so, frozen time flowed backward here, and everything buried beneath the dust reappeared. Right amid the scorched earth and ash, blurred silhouettes—anguished bodies—reconverged, returning from death, weeping, screeching, praying, or roaring. At last, they—no, *it*—all turned their heads. And looked at the dazed Baku. On those mangled, charred faces were no eyes, only two pitch-black cavities like holes leading into the abyss. Yet within those hollows, a blazing light suddenly erupted. As if mountains had been set ablaze and the oceans brought to a boil, heaven and earth came apart in a tide of destruction. That was a genuine... —Catastrophe! Amid the intruder's final, terror-stricken shriek, the Catastrophe that had destroyed everything ten years ago emerged once more from the edge of the world. True despair and ruin swept forth in a mighty deluge! When a nightmare shatters, it bursts like a bubble. When a soul is incinerated down to nothing, it is no different. Such was the dream-eater's final end. . . "Sir? Sir?" Late at night, outside a private lounge at the aerodrome, an attendant knocked on the door again and spoke in a gentle, reminding tone: "Your flight is about to board, sir. Can you hear me? Sir?" There was no response, only dead silence. When the door was pushed open, a terrified scream instantly rang out. Chaos spread, and before long, the area was cordoned off inside and out, police tape strung up. Responding police officers raised their cameras and photographed the scene inside. The man on the sofa had long since stopped breathing. His rigid face was completely contorted, locked forever in the terror and despair of his final moments, never to unwind. "Probably sudden death in his sleep." The arriving medical examiner took off his gloves and delivered his conclusion, though before leaving, he couldn't help taking one last look back at the corpse curled in a pugilistic posture. He truly could not fathom it. Why did the body look like it had been burned to death? . . When Ji Jue opened his eyes again, he saw sunlight streaming through the window, warm and gentle. Birds were singing on the branches, spreading their wings to take flight into the sky. In this unspeakable tranquility, he lay on the floor, stretched slowly, and let out a content groan. He hadn't slept this long in ages. He had been so exhausted. Last night he hadn't even realized when he had fallen asleep. Sleeping on the floor all night hadn't left him uncomfortable or aching; instead, his whole body felt completely rejuvenated. Peaceful and relaxed. He seemed to have had a very long dream, but it was all jumbled up and impossible to recall. Still, feeling this well-rested, he was certain it had been a wonderful dream. However, when he raised his hand, he froze in surprise. On the dial's progress track, the numeral [1] was actually half filled with gold! Over fifty percent?! Before bed it had only just reached thirty percent, so how had it jumped so much the moment he opened his eyes? Was balancing work and rest really this overpowered? Ji Jue scratched his head in confusion. It couldn't be that some fierce ghost had actually entered his dream to give him an empowerment and transfer its cultivation, right? A single night's sleep had boosted the progress bar by twenty percent—could such an incredible thing really happen in this world? It was completely absurd, but he loved it. Keep 'em coming! Humming a tune and swaying his hips, he finished washing up and getting dressed, then looked outside. The sun was shining bright in a cloudless sky—what a fantastic day to turn screws, pick through salvage, and grind progress! Time for another happy day on the grind! However, not long after stepping out the door, he noticed someone nearby—unshaven, pale as a ghost, looking like a man with one foot in the grave. The moment the guy saw Ji Jue walk out, he looked as if he had just seen a ghost. *Maybe he's sick?* Ji Jue cast him a pitying glance, shoved his hands into his pockets, and strolled casually into the distance. Only after they passed each other did Qi Qin remain rooted to the spot, staring dumbfounded at Ji Jue's receding back, wondering if he was hallucinating. Any target marked by Nightmare, after enduring that kind of torment, would at best end up with a private room in a psychiatric ward the next morning. How could someone bounce out of the house full of pep and ready to turn screws? Something was wrong! He felt that something had gone terribly awry. Looking down, he checked the messages on his phone—dozens of unread inquiries sent out, and still not a single reply! Something was wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong... *wrong!* What the hell happened? He wished he could pin that son of a bitch down and whip him with a brass-buckled belt until he spun like a top: *Damn it, I waited up for you all night! Did it work or not? Say something, will you!* Yet no matter how he badgered, called, texted, or emailed, there was no response whatsoever. As if the guy were dead. "You'd fucking better be dead, you bastard." Qi Qin's eyes were bloodshot. By now, watching the other man play dead and ignore his messages, how could he fail to understand? That bastard had probably really dug up something last night, and by now, he had probably already skipped town! If he had simply fled, that would be one thing. What terrified Qi Qin was that Nightmare might realize the intel was a priceless commodity and go looking for a more generous employer to sell it for a fortune! But just what kind of unholy secret had he unearthed? Nobody knew! And time was running out... "Playing that game, huh? Motherfucker, you're dead meat!" Without hesitation, Qi Qin dialed a number. "Boss, we've got trouble. Nightmare skipped town!" After hearing the rundown of the situation, the old man on the other end of the line was equally stunned. Fury with nowhere to vent simmered in his voice, followed by the sound of something shattering. "Useless trash! If you want to die, just go buy yourself an urn and be done with it! Why drag me down with you?! Why are you only telling me this now?!" Qi Qin's face twitched. He opened his mouth, but held back. He had never imagined that a casual cast of his fishing line would hook such a massive fish. Not only was the rod on the verge of snapping, but he was about to get dragged into the sea himself! Even weirder, now that that bastard Nightmare had run off, they had no way of confirming what was hooked at the end of the line. It could be worthless ocean trash, or it could be a maneater shark that wouldn't stop until blood was drawn! Whether it was "Ji Jue might be the Celestial Conscript who's been throwing half of Haizhou into chaos lately," or "he's been secretly shacked up with Wen Wen for years and they even have a kid who just turned a month old," they couldn't afford to drag their feet any longer. If Nightmare sold the information and Wen Wen caught wind of it, putting her on guard, they might never get another chance. Even if it was only a "possibility," if something went wrong, would "those people" let them off the hook? Don't make me laugh! Rats like them, scraping for scraps in the gutter, spent their days doing dirty work that could never see the light of day for the big shots. If they were useful, they were kept around; if not, wouldn't they just be replaced? Chamber pots were sometimes just like Pals. If you didn't want to do it, plenty of others would! "Make a direct move," Jiang Jin said, taking a deep breath. "Find someone to grab the kid first! I'll go contact a Celestial Chosen aligned with Heart Pivot to dig up his entire background!" Qi Qin hesitated. "But he spends every day in Ye Xian's workshop. If Ye Xian finds out..." "He's just an apprentice, not her flesh and blood! If we show her respect, we call her a Master. And if we don't, so what? Would she dare lift a finger?!" Unable to restrain himself any longer, Jiang Jin roared, "Besides, can't you lure him out?! Is this your first day on the job? Do I have to teach you how to do your fucking work?!" *Click.* The call disconnected. Amid the shrill dial tone, Qi Qin shivered instinctively, as though plunged into a pool of ice. Then, a ruthless gleam surfaced in his eyes. He dialed another number.