Chapter 792: Childhood Trauma

Just as I was about to touch Black Robe, my heart suddenly gave a violent lurch. It felt exactly like spotting a venomous snake in the tall grass, baring its fangs to strike!

My fingers hovered at the edge of the black robe, but in the end, I didn't lift it. Now wasn't the time to fall out with him; there was no need to jeopardize our cooperation over such trivial matters.

'He didn't notify me immediately after catching Zhu Li, but instead set up all sorts of Dream Dao formations here. I don't know what these formations are for, but I do know that entering a dream doesn't require anywhere near this much preparation. These arrays must be meant to guard against potential dangers—or, more likely, to guard against me.'

'The Faceless Woman's commission is to find her face. Based on what Kong Ying said, Zhu Li should have sewn that face onto his own body.' Sweeping Zhu Li's body with my Judging Eye, I found nothing resembling a human face on his skin, aside from a few sewn-on patches of pigskin and several severely ulcerated wounds.

'The simplest way to complete the commission is to kill Zhu Li, but he's currently the key to hunting the Butcher. I can't touch him yet.' Holding the Paulownia Mulberry Talisman, I was just about to enter the dream when that eerie sound echoed from the corridor again. 'The Faceless Woman still hasn't left?'

A bit curious as to why she had suddenly appeared, I stood up and walked outside.

It was the dead of night. The Faceless Woman stood at the landing between the third and fourth floors. She seemed terrified of this place, not daring to take a single step onto the fourth floor.

"I will help you fulfill your commission, but not now." The Nether Runes flashed on my palm. After a moment of silence, I raised the Ghost Ring on my wrist. "If you don't trust me, you can enter the dream alongside me. Your missing face might be hidden inside."

I didn't know what kind of position the Faceless Woman held in Zhu Li's heart; I was merely making a casual move, thinking it might yield unexpected gains.

The Ghost Ring held seven jade beads, each capable of storing a ghost. If I could bring them all into the dream with me, it would be a tremendous help.

In my previous livestreams, I had never attempted such a thing. Now that my ghost art had broken through and my Dao Locks were steadily opening, I felt it was necessary to give it a try.

I couldn't tell if the Faceless Woman understood my words. She backed away, neither agreeing nor refusing. She merely dropped the black umbrella she always held over her head to the ground, turned, and vanished into the corridor.

I couldn't shake the feeling that she was different from ordinary ghosts and obsessions, but I couldn't articulate exactly why.

As I picked up the black umbrella from the floor, something puzzling caught my eye. This umbrella looked very similar to the black one I had originally brought to the Red Building. The only difference was that someone had tied a knot of hair around the handle.

'What a bizarre entity. I'd better finish dealing with Zhu Li's situation quickly to prevent her from interfering with my next livestream.'

Putting the black umbrella away, I returned to the inner room on the fourth floor and cleaned up the bloodstains and any other unnatural traces outside. Finally, I closed the door, let my Fate Ghost hide in my shadow, and sat down on the other side of Zhu Li, facing the Black-Robed Anchor.

'His dream-entry chant is different from mine, and he's actually using a command token. It seems he really is pulling out all the stops.' Command tokens were foundational treasures used to anchor the Five Great Upper Sects. They could command all talismans of the same type—except for Mahayana Talismans—making them extraordinarily precious.

'I just wonder which one has a stronger effect compared to my Paulownia Mulberry Talisman.' I stopped dwelling on the question and tried to communicate with the Ghost Ring using my intent, wanting to carry it into the dream with me.

This Ghost Cultivator artifact had been with me for a long time. With a single thought, it began to actively cooperate. The ghosts within the jade beads ceased all activity, as if falling into a deep slumber.

Channeling my ghost art, the Nether Runes in my palm spread out from the heel of my hand like vines, linking with the Ghost Ring hanging on my wrist.

'If this doesn't work, then there's no other way.'

I reached out and placed the Paulownia Mulberry Talisman on Zhu Li's forehead, casting aside all stray thoughts to focus my entire will into the talisman.

"Awakening from the grand dream, where do I stand? Entering the Paulownia for three thousand years!"

A galaxy of stars began to spin within the talisman. My willpower had reached a staggering level compared to my previous dream entries, and I effortlessly located Zhu Li's destiny star—Primal Slaughter!

Primal Slaughter was one of the seventy-two earthly fiends. Unlike ordinary ominous stars, it was dim and inconspicuous, always appearing quietly amidst great calamities.

Opening my eyes, I found the air heavy and laced with a faint stench. Looking around, I realized I was still inside this four-story building.

'Did the dream entry fail?' The iron doors were freshly painted, and the walls had yet to mottle and crack. I quickly realized that I had likely returned to over twenty years ago, back when the residential complex was first built.

'A Shallow Dream Layer is usually formed from the most unforgettable memories, while a Middle Dream Layer is composed of memories one is most unwilling to touch. I've returned to over twenty years ago. Going by the timeline, this should be Zhu Li's childhood.' Having entered dreams multiple times, I was already highly experienced. I didn't act rashly; instead, I first checked the items I had brought into the dream with me.

I wore the Good and Evil Asura Mask on my face. Stored in my clothes were the Reincarnation Mirror Fragment, the Black Jade Pixiu, and the Dream Immortal Chant Child Talisman gifted to me by the Black-Robed Anchor. On my wrist, the Ghost Ring clung tightly to my skin, and an eerie Nether Rune flickered faintly in my palm.

'I successfully brought the Ghost Ring into the dream. However, the ghosts inside are temporarily unsummonable; they're still fast asleep.' I was just about to study it closer when a series of continuous crashing sounds, along with cries for help, suddenly erupted from the corridor.

'Black Robe entered the dream a step ahead of me. Could he have already triggered something in here?' Pushing open the iron door, I walked out. My entry point in the dream was exactly the same as in reality—the fourth floor—and the noise was coming from the third floor.

Standing in the hallway, I looked downstairs.

The iron door on the third floor was half-open. Clutter, clothes, and trash were scattered all over the floor. The continuous sound of a woman begging for mercy and sobbing came from the apartment, mixed with a man's furious curses.

The surrounding neighbors seemed to have long grown accustomed to this; no one stepped forward to break up the fight.

I peered inside through the half-open iron door. In the modest-sized apartment, tables and chairs were overturned, wine bottles were shattered, and plates and food were thrown everywhere.

'Domestic violence?'

Taking a step forward, I slipped half my body into the room. A sweep of my Judging Eye revealed exactly what was happening.

In the corner of the room, a middle-aged woman was being dragged out from under a table by a man gripping her hair.

Reeking of alcohol and red-faced, the man rained punches and kicks onto the woman, screaming that he was going to kill the whole family.

'Isn't this the man whose portrait was enshrined on the altar table?' Recalling my earlier guess, I turned my head to look toward the inner room.

Two children, one tall and one short, were hiding by the doorway. The taller child quietly watched their mother being beaten, while the shorter child was physically deformed and seemed mentally impaired, grabbing food mixed with glass shards from the floor and stuffing it into his mouth.

'One of these two children must be Zhu Li.'

The domestic abuse continued. The woman's face was covered in blood, but her cries and pleas failed to earn even a shred of sympathy from the man. It wasn't until the wail of police sirens echoed from downstairs and three officers rushed up that the man was finally subdued.

Two of the officers escorted the man downstairs and locked him in the police car, while the third officer remained inside. Looking at the wrecked apartment, he spoke in a profoundly exasperated tone: "Does the violence really have to reach the point where the police get called? How many times is this just this year? If you want a divorce or want to file a lawsuit, we can help you."

The woman lay on her side on the floor, saying nothing. It took a long while before she finally climbed to her feet. Wiping the blood from her face, she began to tidy up her ruined "home."

"Hey! Think about this seriously. If you keep living like this, you're going to get beaten to death."

"It's fine. He only gets like this when he drinks. It's fine." The woman's words sounded more like she was comforting herself.

"Are we police officers just here to sort out your domestic disputes every day? I just don't understand, why do you still put up with a man like this?" The officer was even more agitated than the woman herself. As he helped her tidy up the room, he urged her, "We can help you take legal action. Come with me to get your injuries appraised—what he did is severe enough to warrant a prison sentence!"

"Don't..." The woman tugged her sleeves down, hiding her heavily bruised arms. "My health is poor, and I can't do heavy labor. I have two children to raise, and one of them has a congenital disease. We rely entirely on him to support the family. If we divorce, how will we survive? For the kids' sake, it's fine."

"Do you think doing this is good for the children? What you're experiencing now will leave them with a lifelong trauma." The officer sighed, saying no more. He helped tidy the apartment a bit, then headed downstairs.