Chapter 531: No. 44

Anyone else probably would have fallen for it without realizing, just like Chu Men. But I was obviously an outlier. Out of all the dreamers, I was likely the only one with the potential to become a Fate Usurper. Of all the excuses it could have picked, it just had to feed me nonsense about predestined fate and reflecting the future. To me, it was simply laughable.

"I can change a time of death set by the heavens, yet you want to compare yourself to them?" I took a half-step forward, clenched the Buddhist Prayer Beads in my left hand, and threw a punch!

As my fist approached the mirror, I saw my reflection and Chu Men's reveal a trace of panic. Even though they were standing inside the glass, they reached out, trying to drag the two of us inside.

"Too late!"

Crash!

The mirror exploded, shattering into pieces. Shards of glass flew everywhere.

Roused by the loud crash, Chu Men quickly snapped back to his senses. Looking at the Mirror Fragments covering the floor, he immediately understood what had happened. His face was pale. Skipping the thanks, he grabbed my arm. "Streamer, let's go! This house is a trap!"

I didn't need his warning to know how dangerous this place was. I sprinted toward the door. "Go!"

"You can't run!"

"You won't escape!"

The two voices echoed through the room simultaneously. Strangely enough, they sounded exactly like me and Chu Men.

The scattered Mirror Fragments in the room converged in one direction, reassembling the broken glass. The two figures that had just been hiding inside crawled out. Their appearances had not changed. One wore a Paper Doll Mask and matched my exact build, while the other looked like Chu Men turned into a human specimen. It was an unnerving sight.

"They can shift into our appearances and hide in mirrors to ambush people. I'm afraid these two are nightmares as well!" 'Always stay away from mirrors in the dream!' This was something Sakurako had warned me about repeatedly. I never expected a single moment of carelessness to draw out two nightmares. "Old Chu, why didn't you just stay put in this room? Why the hell did you go up to the third floor?"

"I had no choice!" Chu Men suddenly froze, as if remembering something. "Right, how did you get up here? Didn't you see those things?"

"What things?" I asked as I ran downstairs, my ominous premonition growing stronger by the second.

"The thoughts! The moment I entered the room, I was surrounded by the thoughts of the house. I only ran up to the third floor because I was out of options." Chu Men hurried closely behind me.

"I didn't see anything. I came in without any trouble. Did those damn things hide beforehand?" During our brief exchange, I had already reached the first-floor stairwell. I looked out, and my question was immediately answered.

The bedsheets were thrown back as perfectly round heads rolled out from underneath the bed. There were too many of them. The closet, the refrigerator, and even the covered rice cooker were hiding "thoughts." The sheer number was staggering!

"Fuck!" Only when facing so many "thoughts" in person did I realize that I could feel fear, too. The scene before me defied description. I watched the drifting "thoughts"—vivid faces suspended in midair—as they rushed right toward us.

Their appearances varied, but their expressions were completely identical: vicious and malicious, as if they wanted to slaughter everything in their path.

"To the second floor! Out the window!" I immediately shouted and retreated. These "thoughts" represented the dark side of humanity. One-on-one, I wasn't afraid of them, but there were far too many. I would likely sink directly into their resentment, losing myself in one cruel memory fragment after another. "The Buddhist Prayer Bead Bracelet has a limited amount of merit. Fall back for now!"

Chu Men and I were completely in sync. Without needing to exchange another word, we turned around and charged up to the second floor.

Many humanoid shadows were still hiding in the walls and floor of this level. They shifted as Chu Men and I moved. Compared to when we first entered the Dream Realm, the color of these shadows had grown much darker, almost as if they were going to leap right out of the walls.

"Strange, why aren't there any thoughts on this floor?" Spotting a window, Chu Men and I sprinted toward it. Behind us, the door was smashed open, and a swarm of thoughts flew in.

Throwing the window open, Chu Men jumped down first. I followed right behind him. As I vaulted onto the windowsill, I threw a glance backward.

The thoughts were actually preying on the humanoid shadows in the walls. A few shadows that had nearly broken free were dragged out by the thoughts and torn to shreds in the ensuing scramble. A second or two later, the two nightmares chased us down from upstairs. The moment they appeared, the humanoid shadows retreated deep into the walls in terror. Even the "thoughts" kept a wide berth, clearly extremely wary of them.

"The Deep Dream Layer really is like an independent world built entirely of memories. Those memory fragments lost and discarded by humans—the humanoid shadows in the walls—are the lowest tier. They exist in massive numbers, forming the bottom of the 'food chain.' The 'thoughts' feed on these memory fragments and tend to attack in swarms. Meanwhile, the nightmares stand at the top of the Deep Dream Layer's 'food chain' and are the most dangerous." After realizing this, I didn't hesitate anymore and immediately jumped out the window to run for my life.

Most of the thoughts on the second floor of the Blue House were busy fighting over the humanoid shadows in the walls, but a small portion of them followed the two nightmares and chased us outside.

"Streamer, where are we running? Every single building looks dangerous to me now!"

"Follow me! We stick to the original plan." With the thoughts and nightmares chasing us, we had already caused a massive commotion. Trying to hide now would be incredibly difficult. We were better off risking it all and rushing straight into the Lightless District.

The Deep Dream World probably hadn't been this lively in a long time. The thoughts across block after block were disturbed. Often, before they could even react, Chu Men and I had already run far ahead, prompting these startled thoughts to join the hunting party right behind us.

Like a snowball rolling downhill, the army behind us grew to terrifying proportions. I didn't even dare to look back. I just sprinted with everything I had. This time, we had truly stumbled into a massive crisis.

"Let's hope we can find something in that Lightless District."

I didn't know how long we ran, but the surrounding buildings gradually began to change. The bizarre architecture slowly became ordinary, and the light grew dimmer and dimmer.

"S-Streamer, we're good. Those monsters didn't follow us." Chu Men leaned against a streetlight and collapsed onto the ground. I didn't know if it was because he had been attacked by the nightmares in the mirror earlier or if it was just from the intense physical exertion, but I felt like his body had become somewhat illusory and transparent.

"Come on, I'll carry you." Without taking no for an answer, I hauled him to his feet.

"Those 'thoughts' have all dispersed. They don't seem to dare enter this district. What are we still afraid of?" Seeing that I was genuinely prepared to run with him on my back, Chu Men looked confused and waved his hands repeatedly. "No need, I still have some strength."

"The light is too dim, you can't see it. The 'thoughts' might have left, but those two nightmares are still here. They followed us in." I wasn't deliberately trying to scare Chu Men; I had seen it with my own eyes. I possessed the Judging Eye and could see through many disguises. The two nightmares were trailing far behind us. It was just that they seemed to be wary of something as well, concealing their presence and traveling through the shadows.

"Even the nightmares are afraid. What exactly is hidden in this district?" I didn't dare to linger. Looking at the low, dilapidated single-story houses around us, I felt an increasing sense of familiarity. "Even if this place isn't the Underworld Live Show's headquarters, it's definitely connected to that organization."

When it came to the Underworld Live Show, a wave of inexplicable excitement surged in my heart. It felt as if the mysterious veil that had always shrouded the Live Show was finally about to be lifted.

Picking up the pace again, I navigated through the district based on my memories of the Jiangcheng Lightless Road. I quickly shook off the two nightmares behind us as we passed the doors of building after building. "They really do have house numbers! And they all start with 4."

Checking them one by one, I ran around a few times before my eyes lit up. I finally found the number plate I was looking for—No. 44!

A dilapidated awning hung over the doorway, and the rotting door was unlocked. There was a total of three stone steps in front of it. In this moment, the memories of reality and the dream perfectly overlapped!

"This is it, hurry inside." Carrying the Plush Bear on my back, I rushed into the house first. This rundown building was the exact place where my life had turned upside down.

"Streamer, are you sure this is the place? Why do I feel like this isn't reliable?" The only light source in the pitch-black house was the screen of my phone. The scene made Chu Men shudder. "If we hide here, the nightmares really won't find us?"

"Hide? I never planned on hiding. Just follow me for now." I gave a faint smile. Most of my previous guesses had been correct. Now, I just needed to verify the final one.

Holding the Live Show Phone high, Chu Men and I headed down the stairs toward Basement Level 4!