Chapter 802: Penrose Stairs

Twisted streets, slanted buildings, vibrantly eerie hues, and shadows occasionally flashing through the corners. This was a labyrinth of the mind, the burial ground of countless discarded memories, and the Third World that ordinary people could never hope to touch.

"It seems different from where I entered last time. This is a bit troublesome," I muttered. No one could truly say how vast the Deep Dream Layer was. The map I'd previously acquired from Chen Jiuge only recorded a small fraction of the area.

The Clock Tower of Time, where Xiao A was located, had been my main directional reference point the last time I entered the Deep Dream Layer. But this time, entering from Zhu Li's Middle Dream Layer, everything around me had changed.

"That painting of the upheld heart must be the most untouchable memory in Zhu Li's heart. It connects to the Deep Dream Layer and is buried at the very bottom of his soul. It seems that Zhu Li, at least for a fleeting moment, truly fell in love with the Faceless Woman."

Normal human behavioral analysis could apply many formulas and reference countless examples, but very few people could clearly fathom the psychology of a psychopathic serial killer. They were fundamentally different from ordinary people—whether in their thoughts, their methods, or their attitudes toward love.

Entering the Deep Dream Layer once again filled me with a myriad of feelings. I looked up at the mottled sky. "Night hasn't yet fallen in the Deep Dream Layer. With my current strength, as long as I don't run into a large horde of 'thoughts' and Nightmares, protecting myself shouldn't be much of a problem."

I possessed the Dream Wing Gu, which allowed me to voluntarily detach from the Deep Dream Layer at critical moments. This was one of the reasons I wasn't the least bit panicked right now.

My line of sight was blocked by countless bizarre buildings in vastly varying styles. If I wanted to see further into the distance, my only option was to enter one of the surrounding structures.

Every building in the Deep Dream Layer had its own story, housing memories its owner had long forgotten—whether painful, sorrowful, or brimming with malice.

I still remembered the first time I encountered a nightmare in the Deep Dream Layer. I had to be extremely careful here; otherwise, I might end up capsizing a boat in a drainage ditch before I even knew it.

Heading down the empty street, stepping on the humanoid outlines embedded in the ground like water stains, I covered nearly a thousand meters before finally finding a towering building.

Its red and black exterior flowed with eerie patterns, brimming with the absurdity of the Dream Realm.

The building was about seven stories tall, towering conspicuously above its surroundings.

"I wonder whose lost things are hidden inside this one," I murmured. I only wanted to see further into the distance to determine my position.

Entering the building, I found the walls of every floor embedded with humanoid water stains. The staircase led straight up, but upon reaching the second floor, I noticed something was wrong.

When looking from the outside, there had been windows on the walls. Yet, after coming inside, I couldn't see a single trace of light. It was as if this place was completely sealed off.

"In the Dream Realm, you should try to stay away from things like mirrors and stairs. Lingering in a stairwell for too long will very likely trigger unexpected anomalies."

I was just about to retreat, but when I turned around, the path I'd taken had already vanished. Looking back, nothing remained but an endless flight of stairs.

"Has something set its sights on me?" The Deep Dream Layer was relatively safe during the day, or else I wouldn't have survived peacefully for so long last time.

Standing on the stairwell, I quickly calmed down.

The Deep Dream Layer was unfathomable. It housed monsters formed from countless memories and thoughts, and things impossible in real life occurred frequently. No earthly logic or laws applied here.

"Let's try going back the way I came first." I closed my eyes, sealed off my five senses, and released nothing but my formidable willpower.

Following the exact route I had taken to enter, I stepped downward, keeping every movement practically identical.

Yet when I opened my eyes again, I was still in the stairwell, suspended in a position neither at the top nor the bottom.

"It's not an illusion; the stairs actually exist." I reached out and stroked the red and black wall. "Since it isn't an illusion, it possesses a physical form. Maybe I can try breaking through it with brute force!"

Upon entering the Dream Realm, my Daoist techniques and ghost arts were heavily suppressed and severely weakened. This was actually one of the reasons why Black Robe had chosen to drag the Butcher into the Deep Dream Layer for their showdown.

I had already discovered during my previous dream entries that the world of the Dream Realm lacked malevolent yin energy. I could only consume my own strength. Once the malevolent yin energy stored within my yin aperture was completely drained, I wouldn't even be able to open my Ghost Ring.

"Let's give it a try." I didn't summon any ghosts to help. Instead, I simply wrapped my palm in malevolent yin energy and struck the wall, utilizing the force-generation technique of the Crushing Fist.

The malevolent yin energy dissipated automatically upon touching the red and black wall, leaving no trace behind. However, the Nether Rune in my palm flickered with a faint light and cracked a thin slit in the wall, sharp as a knife.

"This Nether Rune can actually be used in the Deep Dream Layer?" A Nether Rune was something that only a master Ghost Cultivator had a minuscule chance of acquiring. It connected to the netherworld and contained the power of reincarnation.

I peered into the crack. Flowing red and black colors shifted inside the wall, as if it were an entirely different space.

"Black symbolizes death and disaster, while red symbolizes blood and impulse. This probably isn't a way out, but a trap." How could the person who set up this endless corridor not have considered such a basic issue? If the walls could be easily smashed through, what would be the point of the trap?

There was absolutely nothing in the stairwell that could serve as a point of reference. I wasn't sure if I was just pacing in place or if I had fallen into some bizarre loop.

Stroking the Ghost Ring with my fingers, I released the Filthy Ghost and had it stay put.

Entering the Dream Realm for the first time, the usually simple-minded and oblivious Filthy Ghost acted completely out of character. It transmitted a strong sense of unease to me, as if its soul might scatter and perish at any moment.

I had no idea what exactly it was so terrified of. After briefly comforting it, I headed upstairs. Just as I reached a point where I was about to lose sight of it, I released the Seductive Ghost.

The Seductive Ghost's reaction was even more pathetic. She absolutely refused to remain in the stairwell alone, trailing closely behind me no matter what. With how she was acting, she was less of a Seductive Ghost and more of a total coward.

Left with no other choice, I summoned the Desire Ghost and pressed forward. I looked at the jade beads on the Ghost Ring and finally released Wang Shi.

Having recuperated in the Ghost Ring for so long, Wang Shi's soul body had fully recovered.

He was the most unique of all my ghost entities. Originally someone who had returned from the dead, his death aura and most of his yin energy had been ground away by the Mountain God Sculpture. Now, with a perfect balance of yin and yang within his body, he looked indistinguishable from a living person at first glance.

Woken suddenly from his long slumber inside the Ghost Ring, Wang Shi gathered his bearings, looked around, and spoke with absolute certainty: "You've run into some trouble."

"You know me too well."

"If everything were fine, you definitely wouldn't have called me out." Wang Shi stretched his limbs. "What do you need me to do?"

"There's no rush. You've been resting for a long time; have there been any changes to your body?" Time was the one thing the Deep Dream Layer never lacked. I sized up Wang Shi. He and I were grasshoppers on the same rope, bound in glory and loss. His growing stronger was beneficial to me as well.

"I feel like I've become more like a living human." Wang Shi shrugged. "You didn't just call me out to chat, did you?"

Wang Shi's condition was much better than before. After the battle with the Three Yin Sect, I could finally trust him completely. "Right now, we're inside the Deep Dream Layer."

"The Deep Dream Layer?"

I told Wang Shi everything I had encountered in the Dream Realm, without hiding a single detail.

He clicked his tongue in wonder after hearing my story. Pacing back and forth in the stairwell, he occasionally glanced back at the Desire Ghost standing in the distance as a landmark. "The Penrose Stairs?"

I had never heard this term before. In terms of pure knowledge, the bestselling suspense author standing before me crushed me on several levels.

Perhaps noticing my confusion, Wang Shi explained, "It's a way of converting three-dimensional space into two-dimensional space to create a visual discrepancy. It can also be called an Endless Corridor."

He pointed to where the Filthy Ghost and Desire Ghost were standing. "Using our line of sight as a boundary, there are four turning points and four staircases connected at the corners. But every single staircase goes up. It can extend and develop infinitely. This is a scenario that is simply impossible in a three-dimensional world."

To be honest, I still didn't quite grasp what he meant. "Just tell me how to get out of here."

"The Endless Corridor is created through optical illusions. It can only occur when a three-dimensional world is transposed onto a two-dimensional plane. If we want to leave..." Wang Shi pointed straight up at the ceiling. "We might as well change our way of thinking and our angle of observation."