Chapter 504: Who Killed the Robin (1)

The dim corridor had no end in sight. The apartment had no lights, so I used the Underworld Live Show Phone to illuminate the way. Its faint light reflected on the stairs, revealing only a long, crooked water stain trailing downstairs.

'After I finished the Hide-and-Seek Game, the door opened and the Plush Bear disappeared. Does this mean I've already beaten this layer of the Dream Realm?' Recalling my experiences in this room, my expression turned incredibly grim. 'The Dream Realm I've entered this time is extremely difficult. I need to prepare in advance.'

Compared to the unknown corridor outside, this apartment room felt a bit safer.

The door was ajar. I began checking my equipment. Not many items had accompanied me into the Dream Realm via the Paulownia Mulberry Talisman; after a quick search, I found only a few.

There was the stick-figure drawing Sakurako had left for me, the Good and Evil Asura Mask, a few Suppression Talismans, the Dream Wing Gu, and the plum blossom phone charm Xia Qingzhi had given me when we parted ways on the long street. The last item was entirely unexpected—the Buddhist Prayer Beads bracelet that Teacher Chen had gifted me had also made it into the Dream Realm, much to my surprise.

Elder Chen had given me the precious Buddhist Prayer Beads as thanks for saving Ye Bing. At first glance, this reasoning seemed flawless, but I couldn't help feeling it was a bit forced.

'The simplest relationship between people is mutual exploitation. I really can't see through Teacher Chen.' The Buddhist Prayer Beads were immensely useful to me, so naturally I wouldn't take them off. They contained merit and Buddha-nature, keeping ordinary ghosts at bay and preventing accidents when worn.

'This broadcast is way too complicated. You can tell from the Underworld Live Show's optional tasks—they involve nightmares, Traitors, and Ye Bing, and now there's an unidentified little boy and Chu Men thrown into the mix. With so many factions intertwined, it's best if I don't expose myself too early.' Hiding in the dark, uncovering the truth, and securing the maximum benefit was the Underworld Live Show's usual style, and it was also my favorite way of doing things.

I took out the Good and Evil Asura Mask and gently pressed it against my face. It fit my features perfectly and felt very comfortable.

The mask could hide my appearance, providing a solid layer of disguise.

After putting my things away and confirming there were no more clues in the room, I raised the Live Show Phone, pulled open the door, and walked out.

The moment I took a step, the dim corridor seemed to brighten slightly, and the twisted water stain dragged out by the Plush Bear was nowhere to be seen.

'What is going on?' The world seemed to change in a fraction of a second. I looked back, but there was no room behind me at all. I was now standing at the end of a long corridor.

'Did I directly enter the Middle Dream Layer?' Based on my knowledge of the Dream Realm, clearing a closed Shallow Dream Layer most likely led straight into the Middle Dream Layer.

'Come to think of it, what I just entered really was the Shallow Dream Layer, but wasn't the difficulty a bit much?' I touched the cold mask on my face. Feeling its chill, my mind became calm and rational, all negative emotions thoroughly suppressed. 'As expected of an item that costs twenty points to redeem. It even works within the Dream Realm. Definitely worth the price.'

I stood in place, refusing to move recklessly. Since I had already entered the Middle Dream Layer, I needed to be even more careful.

The Good and Evil Asura Mask only had two holes for the eyes. I observed my surroundings through them. 'Does this look like a school?'

Portraits of historical figures hung in the corridor alongside class plaques. What I found strange, however, was that the three classrooms along this entire corridor somehow covered all six grades of elementary school.

'A private school? Why does it feel so irregular?' The classrooms were tiny, sparsely furnished with battered desks and chairs of varying heights and sizes. The environment looked incredibly harsh.

'Why would the Middle Dream Layer construct a scene like this?' The Shallow Dream Layer was mostly formed from relatively clear memories, whereas the construction of the Middle Dream Layer could involve memories that the subject's conscious mind had forgotten but that still genuinely existed.

Memories were constantly updating. Important things were brought up repeatedly, while the past was gradually forgotten and buried deep within. There were things a person might believe they had completely forgotten, only to suddenly dream about them one day.

That sense of déjà vu might just be the result of entering the Middle Dream Layer for a split second.

'The architecture here must be constructed from the Dream Realm host's childhood memories. Are they Ye Bing's? Or the hunchbacked little boy's?' Thinking along these lines, I quickly arrived at an answer. This was likely the place they used to live—the orphanage.

Ye Bing was among the earliest batch of children taken in during the orphanage's founding days. Judging by how she had worked part-time while attending the police academy, sending money back to the orphanage even if it meant suffering hardships herself, she clearly harbored deep feelings for this place.

'Is this where Ye Bing spent her childhood? The place where someone with a mourning apparel, hanging guest, and mourning door destiny pattern lived?' During my time at the police academy, I had never once heard Ye Bing mention her background, nor had she ever said a single word about her parents, much less an orphanage.

'It's a bit strange. What kind of position does this place hold in Ye Bing's memories?' The makeup of a Dream Realm was determined by its host's memories. If the host felt joy and excitement, it would be a sweet dream; if the host felt terror and fear, it would most likely be a nightmare.

For dream invaders, bad dreams were the biggest headache. For one thing, according to the materials Chu Men provided before I entered the dream, the probability of encountering a nightmare in a bad dream was over a hundred times higher than in a sweet dream.

'The Middle Dream Layer consists of childhood memories. Combined with the previous dream, it's almost as if that Plush Bear brought me here on purpose.' According to Sakurako's descriptions at the time, most things in the Dream Realm carried a certain degree of symbolism. Reflecting on my ordeal in the apartment room, what did that Plush Bear represent?

'It was terrifying and hideous, and it wanted to kill me, but it ultimately opened the door for me. Could it represent the friend the Dream Realm's host has always longed for?' I couldn't be certain. Judging imagery within the Dream Realm was extremely complex and required multiple clues. I didn't dare make any blind assumptions right now.

Ever since entering the dream, I had been stuck in a passive state, and that situation hadn't changed at all.

There were no students in the dilapidated classrooms. Textbooks were scattered haphazardly inside drawers and across desks. These were likely old books donated by the outside world, covering various grades and subjects. They were filled with notes written in different handwriting styles, and a single book was often shared by two or three people.

'No teachers?' There wasn't even a chalk box on the podium; just four or five white chalk sticks of varying lengths were laid out.

I didn't find much in the three classrooms, so I returned to the corridor, preparing to leave the building.

Just as I reached the stairwell, the sound of children's laughter rang out from a simple dirt playground not far away.

'Someone's there?'

My spirits lifted immediately. Hiding myself carefully, I pressed against the stairwell door and activated my Judging Eye to take a look.

'What is that?'

The scene before me caught me slightly off guard. In the northwest corner of the playground, six or seven children had formed a circle, running and skipping while singing a song.

"Bamboo cage eye, bamboo cage eye."

"Little bird inside the cage."

"When will you come out to play?"

"In the evening of the dawn."

"The crane and turtle slip and fall."

"Who is standing right behind you?"

It sounded like a nursery rhyme, sung in unison by a few young children with clear, crisp voices.

Once the rhyme ended, they all stopped. Only then did I see another child kneeling in the middle of the group.

He was hunchbacked and had his hands covering his eyes as he called out a name.

The other children then giggled and laughed, all claiming he guessed wrong, before resuming their circling around the boy.

This repeated several times, but the boy never guessed right. The game continued endlessly, and watching from the sidelines, I began to see through it.

The game was very simple: once the singing stopped, the running children would halt, and the person in the middle had to guess who was standing behind them. If they guessed correctly, they swapped places, and the other person would cover their eyes in the center.

It was supposed to be a fair game, but the children on the outside were deliberately picking on the boy in the middle. No matter whose name he guessed, they all told him he was wrong.

'The little boy surrounded in the middle looks exactly like the child I saw in the photo. I suppose I've found the first key figure.'