Chapter 520: Murderous Nursery Rhyme (2)

Familiar singing reached my ears. Using my Judging Eye, I looked toward the fog-shrouded playground. "Be careful, they're coming."

"They?" Without the Judging Eye, Chu Men naturally couldn't see through the fog. He stood shoulder to shoulder with me; when it counted, he didn't hide behind me. "I checked this Dream Realm earlier. There's no one alive here. Are you sure you're not seeing things?"

I motioned for Chu Men to stay back. The singing drew closer, and those swaying figures were already closing in around us.

One after another, frail, sallow-faced children who looked as though they were made of paper stepped out of the fog.

"Streamer, it's best not to interact with outsiders in the Dream Realm. Be careful not to lose yourself in here," Chu Men warned in a low voice. I nodded, wanting to retreat, but it was already too late. These children seemed to have locked onto us; wherever Chu Men and I went, they trailed right behind.

"There are seven children in all, just like I saw in the Hunchbacked Boy's dream. Fu Xin and Fu Ming are among them." The children's appearances in Ye Bing's dream likely reflected how they looked in real life. They were vividly real, though that didn't make the sight any less chilling.

"Streamer, let's get out of here." Chu Men tugged at me, trying to lead us away down the dirt road. The children didn't do anything out of line; they simply followed us, staring darkly at me with strange eyes, as if they had discovered a new toy.

Walking through the fog already left Chu Men and me exposed. Now, with seven eerie children trailing behind us, any sense of security was completely gone.

"Hold on. I think I overlooked something." Pulling my arm free from Chu Men, I stopped and looked at the children. Comparing the two Dream Realms, I suddenly realized the problem. "I get it now."

A faint smile touched my face beneath the mask, my gaze locking onto one of the children.

"What do you get? Don't waste time. The nightmare will never give up; it could show up at any moment. While danger hasn't struck yet, we need to search as many places as possible. The more we learn, the better our chances of getting out." Chu Men didn't understand what I was doing, and since the mask hid my face, he couldn't see my smile.

"No matter what happens next, don't come over," I said in a low voice. "If something happens to me, leave on your own."

"Why do you sound like you're leaving your last words? What are you going to do?" Chu Men wanted to say more, but another voice cut him off.

The tallest boy among the seven children stepped forward. He was right in the middle of his voice breaking, making him sound strangely raspy. "Can you play a game with us?"

"Streamer, don't say yes! Playing games is the biggest taboo in the Dream Realm. With truth and illusion mixed together, dream games can easily make you lose your way." Unwilling to leave on his own, Chu Men tried to drag me away by force. In that brief delay, the children caught up with us, the expressions on their faces growing increasingly excited.

"Are you the new teachers? Play a game with us!"

"If you don't play this game, we'll keep following you forever."

"If you won't play with us, we'll go bring the others over."

Clamoring noisily, the seven children blocked us from leaving. Chu Men tried to force his way through, but before he got far, a scrawny child leaped onto his back, clinging to him as tightly as a sheet of tinfoil. Pressing his head against Chu Men's shoulder, the child kept repeating over and over—come play a game.

Only when Chu Men obediently walked back did the child hop off his back.

"There's no getting away," Chu Men said with a bitter look. Just moments ago we had been discussing our next move, and in the blink of an eye we were backed into a corner. "Be careful. I suspect the one driving these ghost children is the nightmare—she can become the master of every bad dream."

"Don't worry." I walked up to the tallest child. "What game do you want to play with me?"

"Just an ordinary little game. Have you heard of bamboo cage eye? One person plays the ghost, crouching blindfolded in the center and pretending to be a bird in a cage, while the others hold hands around them, walking in a circle as they sing. When the song ends, the person in the center has to guess who is standing behind them. Whoever is guessed takes the ghost's place." The tall boy spread his hands. "Simple, right?"

"Sure, I'll play with you. But before we start, let's get the rules straight. What happens if I guess wrong? Do I have to stay here forever and keep playing games with you?" I altered my voice, speaking in a low, hoarse rasp.

"I'll tell you after we finish playing. How about this—there are seven of us, so I'll give you seven chances. As long as you guess right once, not only will we let you go, but we'll also give you a small hint." The boy sounded completely sincere. Seven chances for seven people—even guessing blindly, the odds weren't bad at all.

Hearing the rules, Chu Men breathed a sigh of relief. To him, this didn't look like a certain-death trap. "Streamer, why don't I take your place? From watching your streams, your luck has never been any good."

"No need." I waved a hand and looked at the tall boy. "Tell me the names of all seven of you, and then we can start the game."

The tall boy recited seven names one after another. I hadn't heard a single one of them before.

'All fake names!' I cursed internally, letting nothing show on my face. Looking at the brothers Fu Xin and Fu Ming in the group, I grew even more certain of my earlier guess. "Alright, I've memorized all the names. Let's start the game."

I signaled for Chu Men to step back and leave on his own if things went south.

Knowing he couldn't change my mind, Chu Men sighed and backed away several meters.

"No peeking." The tall boy pulled out a strip of cloth and tied it over my eyes. Holding hands, they began to sing that eerie nursery rhyme.

"Bamboo cage eye, bamboo cage eye."

"Little bird in the cage."

"When can you come out?"

"On the night of dawn."

"The crane and the turtle slipped."

"Who is standing behind you?"

Every time I heard this nursery rhyme, it felt exceptionally eerie. Night falls, the turtle and the crane—symbols of longevity and good fortune—stumble and fall. As misfortune comes knocking, you have to guess who is standing behind you.

Was it a murderer? A ghost out for blood? Or the master of the bad dream?

The nursery rhyme stopped. Without a moment's hesitation, I called out, "The person standing behind me is Fu Xin!"

As soon as the words left my mouth, I pulled off the black cloth and turned my head. The tallest boy, Fu Xin, was standing awkwardly behind me.

"Fu Xin wasn't even among those seven names. Streamer, did you remember wrong? It's fine though, you still have 6 chances left." With his hands in his pockets, Chu Men secretly gestured to me. He had memorized the seven children's names earlier as well, trying to help me cheat by giving hints.

"Did I guess right?"

Tossing aside the black cloth, I stared at the boy behind me. Squirming under my gaze, he forced a wave of his hand. "You guessed wrong!"

"Is that so? Then let's keep going." Looking at the boy in front of me, I remembered how these children had tormented Chen Jiuge back then—no matter what he said, they always told him he had guessed wrong.

But I wasn't him!

The game continued. I tied the black cloth back on, and the seven children joined hands to sing the nursery rhyme. The instant the singing stopped, I called out Fu Xin's name again.

This time, even Chu Men realized something was off, because my voice was completely certain—and standing behind me once again was the same tall boy.

Turning around, I ripped off the black cloth. "I got it right this time, didn't I?"

The tall boy's face flushed a dark purple, his expression stiff. "No, you guessed wrong! My name isn't Fu Xin."

"Then what is your name?" I crossed my arms over my chest. "Could your name be Ye Bing? Or perhaps the nightmare?"

At my words, the tall boy's face twisted. It took him a long moment to force the words out. "How did you guess it? I hid all of Ye Bing's memories away. Where did you see them?"

"Do you think I'd tell you?" I gave a cold laugh. I had sensed something was wrong the moment these seven children appeared. The orphanage in the Hunchbacked Boy's Dream Realm was frozen twenty years ago, while the orphanage in Ye Bing's Dream Realm was from over a decade ago. Fu Xin had already been killed by the Hunchbacked Boy long before then—how could he possibly show up here? That meant this Fu Xin had to be an impostor.

As for who in a bad dream had the power to impersonate a dead person, the answer was obvious.

Only the nightmare!