Chapter 535: Flower of the Dream Realm

Just as I absorbed the eightieth stalk, Chu Men's voice echoed from the corridor. He sounded a bit strange. "Streamer, hurry up! There's movement upstairs. I think someone else came in!"

"Don't panic. If things go south, just hide inside a room," I said. Hearing that others had entered the building, I immediately sped up. By the time I absorbed the hundredth stalk, the Dream Wing Gu in my Liver Aperture had completely recovered. Its beautiful, illusory butterfly wings seemed to have grown slightly larger as it fluttered out from the Liver Aperture to land on my shoulder.

"Looks like you're fully healed." Just as I reached out to touch its wings, it zipped away, fluttering up and down the secret room before finally settling in the northwest corner.

That was where the largest pile of Paper Doll Masks lay, and it was also the spot I had planned to investigate last.

'Is there something else hidden in the northwest corner?' I was baffled by the Dream Wing Gu's strange behavior. Stepping deeper into the secret room, I carefully made my way to the corner without trampling any of the Dream-Entangling Grass. "Right here?"

I noticed the antennae atop the Dream Wing Gu's head constantly curling and extending in extreme excitement. Curiosity piqued, I slowly pushed the Paper Doll Masks aside.

Through the gaps in the masks, I caught sight of a vast expanse of emerald green. There was far more Dream-Entangling Grass in this room than I had initially expected.

"Wait, what is this?"

Once I cleared away all the masks, I made a new discovery.

Growing in the very center of the large patch of Dream-Entangling Grass was a tiny, brilliant red flower. It had nine slender petals stretching out in nine different directions, looking incredibly similar to a real-world red spider lily.

'Why is there a flower here?' Looking at those vibrant red petals, the mysterious woman's bright red high heels suddenly flashed through my mind. I didn't know why, but both were equally dazzling and unique, radiating an extreme, intense color.

Waves of dream dust drifted through the secret room as the Dream Wing Gu danced up and down. It seemed far more excited than I was; it clearly recognized this thing.

'A flower blooming in the Dream Realm? A flower grown from countless souls and memories?'

It was breathtaking, so beautiful that I couldn't help but marvel at it. I slowly crouched down, staring intently at each of its petals. Every single one bore complex, delicate, and mysterious patterns. "Unbelievable. A single petal looks like a page from a Daoist scripture or Buddhist sutra."

Chu Men's urging voice rang out from the corridor again. The commotion upstairs was drawing closer. Knowing I was out of time, I looked at the Dream Wing Gu fluttering around the blossom and made a decision.

I reached out and gently grasped the stem. Before I even applied any force, the blooming flower dropped into my palm.

Its petals withered and fell one by one as an indescribably mysterious power surged into my Liver Aperture. Seeing this, the Dream Wing Gu didn't hesitate for a second. It darted right back into the Liver Aperture, flapping its wings to bathe in that energy.

This seemed to be an energy unique to the Dream Realm, offering immeasurable benefits to both memory and the soul.

"I think I remember something..."

My mind cleared, and my spiritual intent soared steadily. At this moment, looking across all Daoist sects—orthodox or demonic—my spiritual intent was unrivaled among my peers. It had been strengthened to a frankly absurd degree.

The petals continued to fall. Just as the very last petal withered in my palm, a crisp crack rang out from my Liver Aperture, which had been constantly scoured by the Dream Realm's energy!

An outsider wouldn't have heard a thing, but I heard it perfectly clearly.

It felt as if a stone monument crushing my shoulders had shattered, or as if binding chains had snapped apart, unlocking a massive lock that had shackled my body!

My body instantly felt incredibly light, and even my soul hummed with joy. I breathed out softly, ecstatic. "The second Dao Lock has opened!"

Pale green true qi, symbolizing vitality, surged from my Liver Aperture in an endless stream. My total reserves of true qi now surpassed Blind Liu's, and my Profound Truth Dao Method was only a hair's breadth away from breaking through to the next realm.

With my Liver Aperture open, the internal energy flow throughout my entire body became smooth and unhindered. Resonating with the heavens and aligning my qi, the hidden injuries and underlying ailments within my body actually began to slowly heal. For someone like me who constantly overtaxed his physical limits, this was absolutely vital.

Both my mind and body experienced a comprehensive upgrade. Once my aura stabilized, I peered inward. A flash of light crossed my mind, and blurry fragments of memory surfaced from the deepest depths of my consciousness.

With the Liver Aperture Dao Lock opened, a portion of my lost memories had returned.

A disjointed scene drifted through my mind. I watched it carefully, and my expression turned odd.

There were two people in the hazy vision. The surrounding scenery was completely obscure, but I knew the man in the memory was me. And standing right behind me was someone I never could have guessed in a million years.

She wore a Paper Doll Mask and a pair of bright red high heels.

'Isn't that the mysterious woman? The Underworld Live Show ordered me to kill her. What's going on? I actually knew her in the past and even spoke to her?!' This was too unbelievable. This sudden memory threw all my previous theories out the window. 'Who the hell is this woman? My life and hers have absolutely no overlap. How could I possibly know her?'

The scene in my mind continued. The mysterious woman seemed to have suffered severe injuries. Her voice was hoarse, sounding almost pleading as she spoke softly. "Could you... give me one more chance?"

The "me" in the memory looked at the Paper Doll Mask on her face, shook his head, and turned to leave without a moment's hesitation. "If you wear a mask for too long, it grows into your face. Tearing it off requires breaking bones and peeling skin. In the end, when you try to look at this world with the eyes you once had, you realize you can't do it anymore. Go. I won't kill you this time. Look out for yourself."

The vision abruptly ended. Just like the memory fragment from when I opened my Kidney Aperture, it had no clear beginning or end, leaving an immense amount of room for imagination.

'Won't kill her? Give her a chance?' My face instantly darkened. 'What the hell is this? Am I close to her? Who's killing who here?! If we really knew each other in the past, I might as well just seek asylum with her once I leave this room.'

I couldn't shake the feeling that something was fundamentally wrong with my memory. The "me" in that vision was in a completely different situation than the current me.

'Opening the second Dao Lock brought up a memory involving this mysterious woman in red high heels. If I want to uncover more secrets, I need to make contact with her.' There was no way to figure out our relationship from such a brief snippet of memory. Since I couldn't tell if we were friends or enemies, I didn't dare approach her recklessly.

Still lost in thought, I searched for the rest of the Dream-Entangling Grass. God knows when I'd be able to come in here again; it was a now-or-never opportunity.

After sweeping up all the Dream-Entangling Grass in the secret room, I inspected my body, completely satisfied. Just as I was about to withdraw my spiritual intent, I suddenly noticed that the recently awakened Dream Wing Gu was lying motionless in a corner of my Liver Aperture. This time, it didn't even want the Thousand-Year Locust Tree Flower. Fine green silk threads emerged around its body, and in no time at all, it had completely cocooned itself.

'Is it about to break through? Is it because of that Flower of the Dream Realm?' My feelings were mixed. The Dream Wing Gu evolving was a good thing, but my current situation was incredibly dangerous, and I desperately needed its abilities. 'Nothing I can do about it. I just have to hope it finishes breaking through before I run into trouble.'

I stepped out of the room, slowly snapping back to reality from the joy of opening the Liver Aperture Dao Lock. Moving as fast as I could, I wiped away any traces around the secret room, restored everything to its original state, shut the hidden door, and blocked it with the cabinet.

"Streamer, hurry! Someone's coming!" Chu Men urged again. I heard the noise from the stairs too. The wooden floorboards creaked loudly; it sounded like more than one person.

Keeping my cool, I scrubbed away any evidence in the room that might expose my identity before stepping out and snapping the combination lock shut. "Let's go. This place has lost its value."

Stowing the Plum Blossom Pendant in my pocket, I pulled out my Live Show Phone, exchanged a couple of words with the livestream viewers, and headed toward the stairs.

"If we head over now, we'll likely bump right into whoever is coming down. Why don't we find a place to hide first?" The footsteps from the stairwell were growing clearer by the second. Chu Men made a good point.

"Alright." The intruders were heading straight for the fifth basement level with clear intent. I strongly suspected they were also here for that last locked room. After all, the Flower of the Dream Realm was simply too precious.

Chu Men and I ducked into a random room. Listening to the approaching footsteps out in the corridor, I stealthily cracked the door open a sliver.

Using my Judging Eye to observe the darkness, I spotted a man and a woman weaving in and out of the rooms, seemingly searching for something. The man would occasionally say a few words to the woman, but she remained completely silent, keeping her head lowered the entire time.