Chapter 516: Who Is She?

The sky was dark and gloomy. Heaven's Gate in Ye Bing's dream was utterly deserted; as I walked along the concrete road, not a single child was in sight.

'Abandoned? Impossible.' The fence had a fresh coat of paint, and the playground had been completely renovated. Compared to the scene in the Plush Bear's dream, this place was much cleaner.

'Not a single person? Isn't it a little too quiet?' The buildings inside the compound remained unchanged; the teaching building and the Rehabilitation Area were still here. 'The foundation of a Dream Realm is usually built on the most unforgettable memories. This orphanage was one of the most important places in Ye Bing's life, so what kind of image would she take on in her own dream?'

There wasn't a single soul in the orphanage. I walked a dozen meters or so, a chilly sensation creeping over my body. This dream felt even more bizarre than the Plush Bear's dream.

'I'll just search them one by one. If I'm lucky, I might even run into Chu Men.' I recalled what had happened in the Plush Bear's dream, my gaze sweeping across the various buildings as I considered their purposes.

My first stop was the teaching building. Out of all of Heaven's Gate, I was most curious about the director's office. During the Plush Bear's dream, I had been led around by the nose and never got the chance to investigate it. Now that I was in Ye Bing's dream, I certainly wasn't going to miss the opportunity.

The teaching building was exactly as I remembered it—a standalone three-story structure separated from the surrounding buildings.

'This dream feels entirely lifeless. Is something missing?' I knew the layout perfectly, so I headed straight up to the third floor and pushed open the door to the director's office. The interior arrangement was mostly identical to what I remembered.

I rummaged through the cabinets and drawers, searching for any information on Elder Chen. After looking around for over ten minutes, I had little to show for it. The old man was simply too mysterious and hadn't left a single flaw behind.

'Was he faceless just because the Hunchbacked Boy had never seen Elder Chen's true face? Or could it be...' Another thought sprang to mind. In many obscure mythologies, deities were described exactly like that. Mortals could never look upon the face of a god, as seeing it clearly was blasphemy.

'Did the Hunchbacked Boy see Elder Chen as a god-like figure? Did he view Elder Chen as the sole deity of Heaven's Gate?'

Shaking my head, I quickly cleared the distracting thoughts from my mind. If I ever got the chance in the future, maybe I could just ask the Hunchbacked Boy directly.

I searched the office for a long time, but the only thing of value I found was a planning schedule inside one of the desk drawers.

Elder Chen had drawn up a detailed plan for himself, aiming to rescue a specific number of orphans and disabled individuals within a five-year period. At first glance, there seemed to be nothing wrong with it. But upon reading the report carefully, I discovered that to forcibly hit this target, Elder Chen had paid a massive price to transfer children in from other welfare homes. This abnormal behavior caught my attention. Elder Chen's motives for doing charity and adopting orphans and the disabled were probably far from pure.

Reaching this conclusion, I was reminded of something else. Over in the Xinhu Double Buddha District, there was similarly a massive population of disabled residents.

Two-Faced Buddha seemed equally interested in disabled people. The heavenly Dao has flaws, and in this regard, Elder Chen and Two-Faced Buddha shared a startling similarity.

'Could Elder Chen actually be Two-Faced Buddha?' The moment the thought surfaced, it began to grow wildly in my mind like weeds. 'Two-Faced Buddha began his schemes twenty years ago, and Elder Chen founded his orphanage twenty years ago too. Even the information I've managed to gather on Elder Chen only goes as far back as twenty years.'

'Lu Xing, Zichou, Zimao, Qiu Jiu...' The names flashed through my mind one by one. Why were these people so dead set on following Two-Faced Buddha? How did they even cross paths with him? Aside from Lu Xing, was it possible that the rest of them were all individuals with special fate patterns, handpicked by Two-Faced Buddha from a pool of orphans?

I had no actual proof; it was nothing more than baseless conjecture. People with special fate patterns were exceedingly difficult to find, and those possessing the potential of a fate usurper were even rarer. Yet, it was clear that Two-Faced Buddha had plenty of such individuals working under him.

He couldn't possibly have gone door-to-door searching for destined candidates. In my view, selecting and grooming them from among a group of orphans was by far the easiest method.

Ever since my very first stream when I clashed with Two-Faced Buddha, his shadow had been present in every single broadcast. But it was only ever a shadow. Even now, I had yet to see Two-Faced Buddha's true face. I wasn't even sure if Two-Faced Buddha was a single person or an entire organization.

So at a time like this, confirming whether Elder Chen was Two-Faced Buddha—or even just one of Two-Faced Buddha's subordinates—would be a monumental breakthrough for me.

Shoving the desk drawer shut, I opened the filing cabinet near the door. Inside were documents recording events of all sizes that had taken place at Heaven's Gate over the years.

Among these were the records of Fu Xin's death in the bathroom and Teacher Hu's fatal jump from the building. Perhaps to avoid unnecessary trouble, the files left out their names, but by comparing the course of events, it was glaringly obvious that the two cases were referring to them.

The murderer behind their bizarre deaths had never been caught. Ghost stories had always circulated throughout the orphanage, and the orphans living here were in a constant state of panic. An atmosphere of fear and horror permeated the entire place.

'Ye Bing had no idea that the one who killed Teacher Hu and Fu Xin was actually the Hunchbacked Boy. I can sense death and terror lingering within her dream. This Middle Dream Layer is likely a nightmare as well.' Dreams were formed from memories. The fear and dread woven into those memories were naturally dragged into the dream, twisting into all sorts of horrors. It was a textbook case of scaring oneself.

I returned everything in the room to its original place, then opened the door and stepped out of the director's office. There was still no one in sight. The corridors were empty, and the classrooms were barren.

'Ye Bing was always a solitary person. Perhaps this is exactly how the world looks through her eyes—hollow and empty, with absolutely no one allowed into her line of sight.' Leaving the teaching building, my next destination was the Rehabilitation Area. Back in the Plush Bear's dream, the Rehabilitation Area was where Ye Bing had first made her appearance.

Having encountered not a single soul along the way, I slowly grew bolder, picking up my pace and breaking into a sprint across the orphanage grounds.

"Creak."

I pushed open the iron gates of the Rehabilitation Area and followed the same route the Hunchbacked Boy had taken, slipping into the semi-enclosed building.

Every door and window on the first floor was tightly shut, the curtains fully drawn.

I didn't bother checking the rooms one by one. Instead, I headed straight for the second floor, making my way to the room where Teacher Hu and Old Wang had gone to find Ye Bing for the first time.

The moment I reached the second floor, right at that same familiar spot, I slowly came to a halt.

'Someone is talking inside the room!' In this deathly silent Dream Realm, the voices drifting from the small room were exceptionally clear. The one speaking was a woman.

"When I was first brought to the orphanage, I rarely spoke, so they suspected I was autistic. Because of that, the director placed me in the Rehabilitation Area. This was the exact room I stayed in. I never thought I'd actually come back here one day."

Channeling my Judging Eye, I stood in their blind spot and peered through the glass.

The small room was cramped. Inside stood two adults—a man and a woman.

The man wore a white lab coat. He was tall, thin, and looked sharp. It was none other than Chu Men, who had entered the dream one step ahead of me.

The woman was dressed in a light-colored dress. Her facial features were delicate, and her long hair fell casually over her shoulders, giving off a languid aura. She looked like a harmless little kitten, but her voice carried a distinct edge of coldness and vigilance.

'Ye Bing?!' Had I not been wearing my mask, I would have cried out her name on the spot. It was completely unexpected; I never thought I would find her this quickly.

'This is going too smoothly. It almost feels surreal.' I quickly calmed my nerves and held my ground, choosing to stay hidden and observe for now.

"So this room is where your dream begins?" Chu Men stood with his hands shoved in his pockets. "Good. Now tell me, where does your dream end?"

Ye Bing flashed a puzzled smile. "I'm not sure I understand what you mean."

"Tell me the real reason you left the orphanage. If we find that reason, we might just find the door out of here."

Chu Men spoke at a perfectly normal pace, sensing absolutely nothing wrong with his words. At first, I didn't think much of it either, but the more I pondered his approach, the deeper my unease grew. 'Chu Men has definitely spoken more than once inside Ye Bing's Middle Dream Layer. Isn't that going to attract a nightmare?'

Hearing Chu Men's words, Ye Bing lowered her head in thought. "My reasons for leaving were incredibly complicated, but it mostly had to do with this orphanage itself."

"In what way?"

"I was forced to leave. If I hadn't, the next person to die would have been me," Ye Bing said, smiling with complete calm.

Upon hearing those words, Chu Men froze in stunned silence. Standing outside the door, I did the same.

'Something isn't right here...'