Chapter 797: Black Robe's Other Identity

Chu Men saw me the moment I saw him. We shared an unspoken understanding; neither of us said a word as we walked silently toward each other, as if we had planned it in advance.

"Mission accomplished. I brought the item," Chu Men said, handing me a black package. "I was on edge the whole way. I was terrified they'd stop me at the security checkpoint."

I opened the black package right in front of Chu Men. Inside lay a seemingly ordinary Mirror Fragment.

Its edges were irregular, with distinct sheer breaks that made it look as if something had smashed it.

"It's just a piece of a mirror?" Chu Men hadn't looked away; he was deeply curious himself.

"This isn't an ordinary mirror." It had cost a hundred points. I had essentially bankrupted myself for this fragment.

I motioned for Chu Men to follow. We entered the stairwell and crouched in the corner of the landing, where I took out all the Reincarnation Mirror Fragments in my possession.

Spreading the black cloth on the floor, I tried to piece the glass together, but the mirror fragments still couldn't form a complete whole.

"I'm still missing at least three pieces!"

The Black-Robed Anchor had given me his fragment, and I had already redeemed the piece from the Live Show's product shelves. The remaining three fragments were very likely in the hands of the Butcher, since he had been constantly searching for this item too.

'It seems I have to enter the Deep Dream Layer. Regardless of who wins between the Black-Robed Anchor and the Butcher, I have to gather all the Reincarnation Mirror Fragments!' I thought. Unlike my confusion when I first obtained a Reincarnation Mirror Fragment, I now fully understood its importance. It was very likely the key to unlocking all my questions.

The Mirror Fragments lay lined up on the black cloth, and not a single piece reflected my image. Chu Men saw this miraculous sight as well, but he didn't ask me for an explanation. Instead, he simply turned his head and looked elsewhere.

I packed away all the glass pieces, pondering my next step.

Chu Men was trustworthy. He was one of my livestream viewers and had participated in a broadcast with me. He was entering the Deep Dream Layer to conduct psychiatric research and to cure his mother. Our interests didn't conflict in the slightest, and he could only achieve his goals by relying on me.

Therefore, whether out of morality or self-interest, he had no reason to betray me.

"Chu Men, I might need you to do something for me in a bit." I didn't spell it out for him. "Don't ask why, just remember this: if you encounter any danger or an unstoppable force, ignore everything else and protect yourself first."

I finally relaxed when Chu Men nodded, and I pulled out the Dream Immortal Chant Child Talisman.

If the Black-Robed Anchor still hadn't escaped the Dream Realm and woken up by nightfall, I would personally enter Zhu Li's dream to investigate.

When that happened, I would have Chu Men hold the Dream Immortal Chant Child Talisman in reality to back me up, giving the Black-Robed Anchor the illusion that I was still outside the Dream Realm.

The Black-Robed Anchor had tasked me with hunting down the people possessed by the Butcher's Will in reality. Even though we were partners, he still kept his guard up around me. He was afraid I would also enter the Deep Dream Layer and disrupt his plans, which was exactly why he had devised this hunting scheme.

My plan, however, was to catch him off guard. I would enter the Dream Realm, uncover what they were truly plotting, and secure the greatest possible benefit for myself.

In truth, I didn't care who lived or died. I only wanted to collect the Reincarnation Mirror Fragments, open the Dao Lock in my body, and uncover the truth behind everything!

Just as I tucked the mirror pieces away, the Dream Immortal Chant Child Talisman suddenly began to emit a faint glow. Pale blue Dao patterns wove across the talisman. This scene, which completely defied scientific logic, instantly caught Chu Men's attention.

The name originally written on the talisman faded away, replaced by a strange pattern that resembled a charred human figure.

"What is that?"

"Think of it as a communication tool that bridges the Dream Realm and reality," I said, grabbing Chu Men's arm and guiding his hand onto the talisman. "Concentrate your will and feel it with your mind. Do you sense anything?"

Back during the Route 14 Hearse broadcast, when I first used a Dream Dao Talisman, I had discovered a major difference between them and other magical talismans. Even ordinary people without a shred of magical power or true qi could use them—they just couldn't activate them on their own.

By having Chu Men try to decipher the message on the Dream Immortal Chant Child Talisman, I was preparing him to play the role of "me" more convincingly.

"I feel like an extra memory was just shoved directly into my mind, but I can't see it clearly." Looking as though he had taken a hammer to the skull, Chu Men grimaced in agony. He clutched his head, slowly crouched on the floor, and squeezed his eyes shut.

"It's likely an issue of willpower. The gap between your mental fortitude and the person on the other end of the talisman is too vast." I wasn't in a rush. I let Chu Men slowly adapt to the sensation while I poured my own will into the child talisman.

The charred human figure was the Black-Robed Anchor's memory imprint, and he was relaying several pieces of information to me through it.

The Butcher's Will had successfully been dragged into the Deep Dream Layer. However, while cornering the Butcher, the Black-Robed Anchor had accidentally disturbed a terrifying monster unique to that realm. The situation was now locked in a stalemate, and he needed to activate his backup plan to break it.

I had assumed the Black-Robed Anchor would ask me to enter the Deep Dream Layer as backup, but to my surprise, his contingency was actually located in reality.

'The Dream Immortal Chant can connect reality and the Dream Realm, but it also has certain usage limits. When the mother talisman is in the Deep Dream Layer and the child talisman is in reality, the talisman can only transmit messages twice before completely crumbling. Black Robe risked wasting an opportunity and permanently damaging the lifespan of an Upper Vehicle Talisman just to tell me this information, which shows the situation is already far from optimistic. He didn't explicitly tell me this, probably out of fear that I would abandon him and flee on my own,' I thought.

Realizing this didn't make me anxious; instead, it actually boosted my confidence.

I continued to probe the memories within the charred figure. The Black-Robed Anchor had hidden three coordinates inside. He claimed these three locations were the switches for a massive array, and as long as it was activated, he would have complete control over the situation.

Jinghai was the Black-Robed Anchor's territory. He had operated here for years, so it made sense that he could construct a heaven-defying array. However, waiting until now to use it—and asking me to be the one to activate it—seemed incredibly illogical.

'Could activating the array require sacrificing my lifespan?'

Just to be safe, I decided to scout one of the locations on my own first.

Five or six minutes later, Chu Men shook his head as he recovered his senses. "This form of communication is certainly novel."

He repeated the memory fragments stored in the charred figure back to me. His accuracy was around eighty percent, which already exceeded my expectations. "Go hide in the Apartment Building. Remember, stay away from the third and fourth floors. No matter what happens, prioritize your own safety above all else."

"I'll keep that in mind. When are we entering the Deep Dream Layer? I even have all my equipment prepared; I left it at the airport."

"There's no rush. I'll take you into the Deep Dream Layer within three days. I just hope you don't regret it when the time comes." With that, I left the Apartment Building and hurried toward the nearest coordinate provided by the Black-Robed Anchor.

To be perfectly honest, I was incredibly curious about this grand array. I wanted to see what was so miraculous about the trump card Black Robe was hiding.

The greatest recluse hides in the city, the lesser recluse in the wilderness.

Passing through the crowded throngs of people and the endless streams of traffic, I arrived at the northern part of the Jinghai Urban District. The landscaping here was exceptionally lush, making it feel like a city within a city.

Had I not seen it with my own eyes, I would never have imagined that such a serene place existed within the bustling noise of the Jinghai Urban District.

'This doesn't look like a high-end residential area,' I thought. After walking down a seemingly endless, tree-lined path for over ten minutes, willow trees dark and flowers bright, the view abruptly opened up. A sign for a Veteran Cadre Activity Center appeared in my line of sight.

'Something about this place feels wrong,' I thought. As I approached the building, the Yin energy on my body was inexplicably suppressed back into my yin aperture, completely unable to circulate. Although it was daytime and the ambient Yang Qi was at its peak, my ghost art had already reached the fifth tier. I had long since gained the ability to ignore the sun's fire and human yang.

Refusing to approach rashly, I activated my Judging Eye to observe my surroundings. Sure enough, I spotted an anomaly. Talismans had been plastered among the flowers and trees every few meters.

These talismans weren't offensive in nature; they simply served as an early warning system and helped to concentrate the mind.

Following the trail of talismans, I made my way around to the other side of the building. My eyes widened. A familiar figure had just entered my line of sight.

A short distance away stood an injured, middle-aged Daoist priest in a blue robe, muttering to himself as he drew talismans.

'Why is he here? Do he and the Black-Robed Anchor know each other?'