Chapter 168: Entrusted in a Dream

My body felt incredibly heavy. I couldn't lift my head or roll over; I could only stare numbly at the ceiling.

'Am I dreaming?' Everything around me was perfectly clear. The cabinets, the chairs, even the coffin next to the bed—I could make out every grain in the wood. 'No, this is my room.'

My eyes darted around. I was fully conscious, yet entirely paralyzed. It felt like something was pressing down on me.

'Wait! Someone is standing on my bed!'

My pupils constricted. I glanced down and saw a figure standing right on my stomach.

Its face was a blur. All I could make out was a thick, yellowish-brown coat, and long black hair that trailed out from the cracks in the coffin.

'That fierce ghost from the Guocun Construction Site!' After the initial shock, I quickly calmed down and scrambled for a plan. 'Why is he here? Did he follow the coffin back? But that night, I clearly saw him chase after the workers; he should have attached himself to one of them. Besides, to play it safe, I even had Er Gouzi drive around the busiest parts of the city a few times. How did he find his way here?'

I focused my eyes, staring at that tattered, rotting yellowish-brown coat. 'Did he track down the clothes he wore when he was alive? You really can't just take things from the dead.'

I couldn't move a single muscle apart from my eyes. This was my first time experiencing ghostly sleep paralysis.

The ghostly figure in the yellowish-brown coat stood on top of me. He slowly lowered his head, inching closer and closer. The face hidden beneath that black hair gradually came into focus.

The instincts I had honed through several life-or-death livestreams screamed at me not to let him get any closer. But I couldn't open my mouth, couldn't utter a word, and had no way to call for Bai Qi downstairs.

'What do I do?'

The black hair roiled like spilled ink, coiling around my body. It felt icy to the touch, freezing me to the bone.

His face stopped a foot away from mine. It was weathered and worn, but I didn't see any twisted malice or ferocity in it.

'He doesn't seem like a fierce ghost?' I had encountered true fierce ghosts during my livestream on the Route 14 hearse. Draped in blood-red robes, their eyes had overflowed with hatred and an overwhelming urge to destroy.

This shadow wasn't a fierce ghost consumed by resentment. Seeing that he was still wearing the clothes he died in, I was reminded of another "person." Back during that Route 14 livestream, an old man had stepped off the bus right as I boarded, and he had also been wearing the clothes he had worn in life.

'This shadow is probably just a ghost stranded in the mortal realm, unable to enter reincarnation because of lingering worldly ties.' Thinking of the old woman who had been crushed to death, I tried to communicate with the dark figure using my mind.

Thanks to my experience in Huang Xue's dream, my mental focus was much stronger than an ordinary person's. 'Old Master, every grievance has its perpetrator and every debt its debtor. You can't just kill the innocent. That black-hearted real estate developer is the real culprit! The workers at the site and I are all victims here!'

I didn't know if the old man could sense my thoughts. I wasn't even sure if I was dreaming or in reality.

But after hearing my words, the old man's face slowly pulled back.

'It worked! He can understand me!' I swallowed my pride and humbly made him a promise. 'Old Master, I know the old woman died an unjust death, and this grudge must be avenged. I'm begging you, trust me this once. Let me help you find that black-hearted developer who treats human life like dirt. Once I track down where he lives, I will personally invite you into his home, and you can take whatever revenge you want!'

There was zero hesitation when it came to choosing between my own life and that of a corrupt developer. He might be able to buy his way out of lawsuits in the Yang Realm, but I refused to believe he could dodge retribution from the Underworld.

Come to think of it, I received commissions from the Underworld during every livestream, so I knew the routine. Compared to all those baffling phone calls drenched in yin energy, the Old Master's entrance was a bit unconventional, but it didn't panic me too much.

'Old Master, trust me this once. I'll give you a satisfactory answer.'

The ghostly figure standing on my body still didn't leave. He seemed to be mulling it over. A moment later, the black hair flowing across the window shifted, twisting into several eerie characters.

"Before midnight tomorrow. If he is alive, I want to see the person. If he is dead, I want to see the corpse."

Seeing those words, the tension in my chest finally eased.

'Old Master, I accept your commission!'

The black hair receded, and the old man slowly faded from my vision.

My heart gave a violent lurch. My eyes snapped open, and I bolted upright in bed.

'Was it just a dream?' Sweat beaded on my forehead. I didn't dare look around, terrified of accidentally spotting something else, and scrambled to flip the light switch.

The warm glow of the bulb banished the darkness inside the shop. I stood by the door, studying the coffin next to my bed.

'The thread snapped?' I looked down and saw that the thin string I had tied earlier was broken. The coffin looked like it had been moved, too, and was now pressing directly over the array core of the incomplete Three Infants Spirit Gathering Formation.

A faint, ghostly wind drifted through the room. To my shock, I realized that the Three Infants Spirit Gathering Formation, which had only just taken shape, was already capable of gathering yin energy.

'An unexpected bonus. It turns out this Lacquered Wooden Coffin can act as an array core.' I patted the coffin lid with a complicated expression. 'The old man's yin soul has returned, and the Fate Ghost is still inside. Will putting the old and the young together trigger some unforeseen mutation?'

I tried to open the coffin, but it was no use. After pushing on it for a while, a draft of yin energy brushed against my back, and the ceiling light began to flicker ominously, plunging the room into fitful bursts of darkness.

'Great. There is absolutely no way anyone is sleeping in this shop ever again.'

I scooped up my quilt, preparing to make a bed on the floor downstairs. Before leaving, I cast one last glance at the window. The old man in my dream had left his message right there on the glass.

'Finding that developer before midnight tomorrow shouldn't be too hard.' I hadn't just been spouting empty words when I accepted the old man's commission in my dream.

Rather than being a pawn for powerful tycoons, I preferred helping the souls of the dead settle the karmic debts they left behind in life. It wasn't for wealth or power, but simply for peace of mind and a clear conscience.

I slept on the cold, hard floor wrapped in my quilt. Bai Qi nudged into my arms, seemingly curious as to why I kept coming down to steal his sleeping spot lately.

...

In a basement somewhere in Jiangcheng, Lu Xing was sharpening a knife. Beside him knelt a handsome, delicate-looking young man.

The young man seemed utterly terrified of Lu Xing. He didn't say a word, barely even daring to breathe.

"Your brother is dead. How do you still have the nerve to come back?" The knife was sharp, glinting with a cold light. Lu Xing slashed it through the air a couple of times.

"That painting should be in Gao Jian's hands now. The Heavenly Yi Nobleman Destiny is hidden inside it. We have to get it back as soon as possible," the young man said, not daring to say more for fear that Lu Xing might do something crazy.

"Are you telling me what to do?"

"I wouldn't dare. I just wanted to tell you what I know."

Lu Xing grinned, the scars covering his face twitching grotesquely. "Tomorrow during the day, figure out where he is. Wait for my signal at night, and we'll make our move together. Stealing the painting back is secondary; our main goal is to kill this anomaly."

His eyes were ruthless, and the injuries on his body hadn't fully healed yet either. "This guy is also collecting the Eight Characters Divine Fiends. He probably already knows the secret hidden in the Fate Pattern and wants to defy the heavens to change his destiny."

Hearing Lu Xing's words, the young man nodded in deep agreement. "Alright, we'll do as you say."

"We're done here. Go get some rest."

With Lu Xing's dismissal, the young man finally rubbed his numb legs and slowly stood up.

As soon as he turned around, Lu Xing's smile vanished. He pulled a finger-length red curse talisman from his sleeve, muttered an incantation, and flicked it at the young man's back.

The talisman melted away without a trace the moment it stuck to him. Having knelt for so long, the young man's entire body ached, and he didn't notice anything out of the ordinary.

Lu Xing watched him leave, an ugly smirk spreading across his face. "This time, you'll definitely succeed in avenging your brother."

...

I woke up just as the sky was getting light. Throwing on my clothes, I hurried out the door. After asking around, I finally confirmed the identity of that black-hearted developer.

I had seen him at Jiang Chen's wedding; he had close ties to the Jiang family. His real name was Wang Erjun, but he went by the nickname Second King.

He used to be a street thug, but after latching onto the Jiang family, he reinvented himself as an entrepreneur. The city had even named him an 'Outstanding Entrepreneurial Model' multiple times.

On the surface, he was a successful businessman, but in the shadows, he was a bloodsucking monster preying on ordinary people. His record was thoroughly stained, and residents in the district had reported him on numerous occasions.