Chapter 392: Who Taught You to Weave Dreams Like This?

Inside the dim prison cell.

Su Mu sat upright in a wooden chair, cradling a cup of hot tea. He blew on the rising steam and took a gentle sip, his expression perfectly relaxed.

Across from him sat Yuchi Hong, securely bound.

Spiritual energy as vast as an abyss silently invaded Yuchi Hong's soul, twisting his thoughts bit by bit.

After a long while, Yuchi Hong slowly drifted awake. His face was completely expressionless, yet his eyes burned with fierce fanaticism when he looked at Su Mu.

"Leader!"

"Mhm. Tell me about that Gold Nightmare in Haibin City," Su Mu said. He crossed his legs and picked up his teacup, taking a leisurely sip. The dim lighting of the cell cast shifting shadows across his pale face.

"Yes, Leader!" Yuchi Hong answered without a shred of hesitation, immediately spilling everything he knew.

"That Gold Nightmare is named the Dream Weaver..."

"What Weaver?" Su Mu lowered his teacup.

"The Dream Weaver."

"Heh." An inexplicable smile tugged at the corner of Su Mu's mouth before he picked up his teacup again. "Right in my area of expertise."

Yuchi Hong continued, "The Dream Weaver has no physical body or frontal combat capability. Its sole ability is to infiltrate dreams, where it transforms into various terrifying monsters to attack. Anyone it kills in a dream will also die in reality, manifesting the exact corresponding wounds."

Su Mu nodded. Now he understood exactly how those Nightmare Apostles had died, and why every single corpse showed a different cause of death.

"Furthermore, it cannot be killed. Even if it dies in its current dream, it can simply resurrect in the dreams of others it has infiltrated. Unless every single person who has ever dreamed of it dies, it is effectively immortal.

"I let my guard down recently and allowed it to invade my dream. Overcome with fear in the dreamscape, I was completely outmatched, and it wounded my soul."

"Why didn't it kill you?"

"The Dream Weaver possesses high intelligence. It knew that killing me would draw the Empire's attention, which would in turn bring down more powerful experts. Not wanting to take that risk, it threatened me instead. It offered me a chance to live, on the condition that I wouldn't interfere with it entering dreams to kill people and devour souls."

"I see." Su Mu drained the rest of his tea in one gulp and slowly stood up.

"If the Dream Weaver visits your dreams again, tell it that I have taken over Haibin City. Tell it you don't want to die, and beg it to invade my dream to kill me instead."

"Yes, Leader!"

Su Mu said nothing more and simply walked out of the cell.

He was absolutely certain the Dream Weaver would come. The creature clearly didn't want to be exposed, preferring to grow its strength in the shadows. Now that control of Haibin City had changed hands, the Dream Weaver wouldn't be able to resist taking action.

Besides, the Dream Weaver had dared to casually infiltrate the dream of a Gold tier expert. It wouldn't hesitate for a second against a Silver tier like him.

All he had to do now was get some sleep.

Dream Weaver? He was quite curious to see what level of skill backed up such an arrogant name.

........

........

Drip, drop.

Freezing rain pounded the flagstones of a dilapidated alleyway, splashing up tiny bursts of water.

The alley was extremely narrow and reeked of dampness. The mottled walls looked only more foreboding as the rain washed over them.

Puddles on the ground reflected the erratic flickering of a few streetlights, casting swaying shadows.

Scattered pedestrians carrying black umbrellas silently wove through the alley. Viewed from above, those moving black umbrellas looked exactly like ominous flowers blooming in the dark of night.

These pedestrians were all dressed in solemn black suits. Their footsteps were hurried yet completely silent, as if some mysterious force were driving them toward a funeral.

Su Mu stood quietly in the alleyway, wearing an identical black suit. The only difference was that he held no umbrella.

He casually glanced at the pedestrians passing by. Beneath their black umbrellas, their faces had no features—nothing but smooth, deathly pale skin.

It wasn't just one pedestrian; everyone else was exactly the same, as if they had all been stamped from a single mold.

Suddenly, the men in black all swarmed toward him. The space around him filled with bodies as several black umbrellas locked together, completely blocking out the gloomy sky above his head.

Their bodies were stiff and freezing cold, like corpses that had been dead for a long time. They simply stared at Su Mu in total silence.

Without warning, a soft chuckle escaped Su Mu's lips.

He casually scanned his surroundings and offered a critique. "The setting is cramped, the elements are monotonous, the environment feels entirely artificial, and the premise is a complete cliché. But worst of all... you lack basic common sense."

Su Mu shook his head in disappointment. "An alley this old, yet the flagstones don't have a single speck of moss? Is this really the best dream you could weave?

"I wouldn't just say it has no redeeming qualities—it's an absolute pile of garbage.

"Who taught you to weave dreams like this?"

Perhaps his words had struck a nerve in the Dream Weaver's fragile soul, because the faceless men in black sprang into action.

They crowded around Su Mu and shoved him forward. Su Mu didn't resist, simply letting them herd him deeper into the alleyway.

Gradually, the scene at the end of the alley came into focus. It was an ancient, weathered estate. Flanking the peeling red-lacquered doors hung two white lanterns, each bearing a massive black character—Mourning!

Su Mu glanced up at the plaque hanging above the old estate's doors. Weathered by wind and sun, the plaque bore the words: Su Manor.

"Sigh." Su Mu let out a heavy breath. "You should have used traditional characters here. Do I really have to teach you basic common sense?"

Woooo...

A funeral-like wailing echoed from within Su Manor, as if responding in anger.

Su Mu stepped into the old estate. It was already packed with men in black who had come to mourn. He walked straight into the mourning hall and saw a Crystal Coffin resting in the center. Several women in black mourning clothes knelt before the coffin, weeping bitterly.

However, they didn't have faces either.

Su Mu frowned slightly as he looked at the Crystal Coffin. "I'll give you one last chance. The person lying in that coffin had better not be me. Yes, seeing a human corpse triggers a primal, genetic fear, and that fear deepens the more the corpse resembles the observer.

"But... it's just so cliché. I despise being able to guess the ending. There's not a single bit of—"

"Enough!!!"

Bang!

The lid of the coffin was thrown open from the inside. A deathly pale, furious-looking Su Mu sat up from within.

The moment this second Su Mu appeared, the entire estate began to violently shake. The wailing around them grew utterly deafening.

The sky outside turned exceptionally gloomy as gale-force winds began to howl, looking exactly like a scene out of a low-budget horror movie.

"Sigh, I knew it."

Su Mu stared at his identical double sitting in the coffin and shook his head in absolute disappointment. "Why haven't you improved at all? Did you not listen to a single word I just said?"