Chapter 56: Mom, Dad, Grandmother, and Sister

"Ah!! You animals!" Pinned to the ground, Yang Dongqing's eyes were splitting with rage. He watched the villagers endlessly bite and tear at his body, and without hesitation, he opened his mouth, his metallic-gleaming teeth clamping dead onto a villager's throat.

In this life-and-death crisis, Su Mu was finally on the verge of success.

"Big brother, the hands are already pointing to twelve. Where are Mommy and Daddy?" Tingting's eyes were hollow and lifeless; she had clearly entered a deep hypnotic state.

Su Mu put away the Pocket Watch and slowly stood up. Behind him lay countless severed limbs and mangled corpses, a shattered earth, and a broken sky.

He smiled gently. Amid this apocalyptic scene, he reached out and rubbed Tingting's head. "Tingting, close your eyes and listen carefully. Mom and Dad are calling you."

Obediently, Tingting closed her eyes.

"Tingting..."

"Mom and Dad have come to pick you up..."

A doting male voice and a gentle female voice rang out in succession, followed closely by Grandmother's aged voice.

"Tingting, you must be hungry. Hurry and come home with us. Grandmother will make dumplings for you."

"Sister, hurry up and play with me."

These voices flooded Tingting's ears. Her small body trembled slightly, and even though her eyes were shut tight, they couldn't hold back the sparkling tears.

"Tingting, open your eyes. They've come to take you home," Su Mu said gently.

Tingting opened her eyes, trembling as she turned around.

In that expanse of nothingness, her mom, dad, Grandmother, and little sister all stood quietly. Warm, doting smiles graced their faces as they waved to her.

"Mom, Dad... Grandmother... Sister..." Tingting sobbed. "I missed you so much!"

The little girl threw herself into her family's embrace without looking back.

In this moment, Tingting was happy. She had finally found her family.

Su Mu stood quietly in place. In his vision, he saw only Tingting crying all by herself. In truth, even the voices just now were an imitation, produced using ventriloquism skills he had learned from a dream.

He didn't know whether he had succeeded or failed. He had indeed successfully hypnotized Tingting, but it seemed a nightmare could never truly transform into a beautiful dream.

"Tingting, come home with Mom and Dad." The unfamiliar man and woman affectionately stroked her hair.

Tingting nodded vigorously. A smile returned to her innocent face, pure and brilliant as a newly blooming flower in spring.

She followed her family, walking step by step into the nothingness. Slowly, her small body began to blur and fade, as if she too were merging into the void.

But just then, Tingting stopped in her tracks.

"Mom, Dad, Grandmother, Sister, wait for me for a second." The little girl turned and ran back, stopping right in front of Su Mu with a sweet smile.

"Thank you, big brother. Thank you for helping me find them."

"You're welcome. Hurry home, Tingting," Su Mu said with a gentle smile.

"Mhm!" Tingting nodded hard. A hint of hesitation appeared on her face before she leaned close to Su Mu and whispered, "Big brother, let me tell you a secret. I actually lied before. I secretly hid a dumpling."

As she spoke, she reached into her pocket with a grubby hand and pulled out a wrinkled, sour dumpling.

"I know big brother hasn't eaten either, so I wanted to save this dumpling for you..." Tingting's voice trailed off, like a child feeling guilty after doing something wrong.

"Big brother, am I a bad kid for lying?"

Su Mu took the dumpling. He bent down and gently wiped the damp tear streaks from Tingting's face. When he spoke, his tone was mild yet firm, as if stating an absolute truth.

"Tingting is the best child in the world."

"Really?" Tingting looked up, her large eyes sparkling with surprise.

A gentle smile rippled across Su Mu's face as he patted her head. "Of course it's true. Because big brother... never lies."

"Yay! I'm the best child in the world!"

"Go home. Don't make Mom and Dad worry."

"Mhm. Goodbye, big brother!"

"Goodbye, Tingting."

Tingting walked away. Su Mu watched her go further and further, her figure becoming increasingly illusory. Yet even so, she continued to wave vigorously, a happy smile gracing her fading face.

In a daze, Su Mu seemed to see several blurry phantoms surrounding Tingting, looking exactly like the people in that family portrait...

Boom!

The world completely collapsed, and everything was swallowed by the darkness...

...

...

Vipers Gang Headquarters.

Su Mu opened his eyes. He looked around and found himself still lying on the soft bed, as if everything before had just been a dream.

However, a distinct stench of blood filled his nose.

"Ah!" Yang Dongqing suddenly let out a furious roar and sprang up from the floor. Once he took in his surroundings, a flash of bewilderment crossed his eyes. "We're back!?"

"Leader! Are you hurt?" Covered in blood, Zhao Chaoyao limped over to the bed.

Su Mu slowly sat up. His gaze swept the area, realizing that out of the entire room of people from before, only Yang Dongqing and Zhao Chaoyao remained.

At that moment, a man in a white lab coat rushed over frantically.

"Leader, you're finally back. You were missing for three whole days."

"Bring me the previous video footage," Su Mu ordered.

The man in the white coat quickly brought the recording. Su Mu focused on the screen, watching the scene of everyone falling asleep. About two minutes after they nodded off, the entire group vanished into thin air, as if completely wiped away. This proved that when a Nightmare Apostle entered the Nightmare World, it was not their soul that went in, but their physical body.

In truth, Su Mu had already figured this out. If only their souls had entered, he would never feel this weak. Given the strength of his soul, he was undeniably the strongest among everyone there.

"Alright, all of you can leave."

"Su Mu, you..." the heavily injured Yang Dongqing hesitated.

"I said, everyone leave." Su Mu drove them all out. He lay alone on the bed, staring calmly at the ceiling.

Yes, he was going to die.

"So I still failed in the end?" he muttered. There was not a shred of fear toward death in his eyes—only endless emptiness and boredom.

He had thought that entering the Nightmare World would allow him to become a Transcendent. Who knew that fate would play such a trick on him? Even though he had successfully resolved this nightmare, there was still no hope of reaching the Transcendent Tier.

His physical body had reached its absolute limit. He was entirely certain that if he fell asleep just one more time, his overflowing spiritual power would undoubtedly burst his body apart the moment he woke up.