Chapter 805: The Fifteenth Live Broadcast (1)

"Time dilation? General relativity?" Terms I had heard of but didn't actually understand spilled from Wang Shi's mouth. "Are you sure you aren't messing with me? How does a suspense novelist know all this?"

"I once wrote a novel about going back in time to kill myself. I had to look up a lot of material on space and time back then." Wang Shi tapped his head and continued. "Einstein theorized that space-time is elastic. When space-time curves, time slows down, because the normally straight path through space is also bent. Look closely at the sky of the Deep Dream Layer. It's filled with all kinds of brilliant light. Under normal circumstances, light travels in a straight line, so we shouldn't be able to see any of this."

"From another perspective, people in reality can't see the Deep Dream Layer. Doesn't that suggest this unknown world is actually being distorted and hidden by a special kind of light?" Wang Shi's theory grew more and more outrageous. "If light bends around a target object instead of shining directly on it, it won't scatter and reflect into an observer's field of vision. To the eye, the object appears to vanish. But the Deep Dream Layer actually exists. It's very likely a projection of the real world, merely hidden away for some specific reason. This massive world might exist right in some corner of reality. It could be hidden on the shaded side of a dewdrop, in a falling snowflake, or contained within a single drop of water resting quietly at the bottom of the ocean."

"I think you should have been a scientist." I patted Wang Shi's shoulder. His analysis wasn't necessarily completely accurate, but it gave me a lot to consider. "Whatever the reason, we can be sure of at least one thing right now: the flow of time here has changed, and we don't have much time left."

I glanced at the Dream Dao Talisman I had stuck to Wang Shi's back. "If we run into any danger later, stay on the perimeter. Don't go any deeper. Just leave the rest to me."

I had my reasons for doing this. Densely packed with runes, that fingernail-sized Dream Dao Talisman was very similar to Xu Yan's Yang Talisman. Apart from being compact and hard to destroy, this kind of talisman had another secret feature: it could be used for tracking.

Back then, Xu Yan had tricked me into swallowing the Yang Talisman to use me to find the Ghost Mother. Now, I was placing a similar Dream Dao Talisman on Wang Shi to deceive the Black-Robed Anchor. It would feed him the false impression that although I had entered the Deep Dream Layer, I wasn't getting closer or interfering with him.

Only by making him lower his guard could I freely execute my final move.

"Are you sure? The Deep Dream Layer is massive. If we get separated, we might never see each other again." Wang Shi sized me up. "Something feels off about you. Couldn't you just pull me back into the Ghost Ring? Are you plotting something behind my back?"

"All you need to know is that I would never harm you." I summoned the Fate Ghost and tied a few strands of its black hair around Wang Shi's wrist. "You absolutely cannot lose these hairs. Otherwise, I really won't be able to find you."

Wang Shi touched the black hair, nodding in half-understanding. "Is there some limitation on the Ghost Ring? Or are you afraid we'll both run into trouble, so you want me to provide backup from the outside?"

"Alright, let's keep moving. With time flowing faster here, we need to wrap this up as quickly as possible to keep our physical bodies in reality from coming to harm." I left the rest unsaid: the three-day deadline in the real world was rapidly approaching, and the new live broadcast was about to begin.

As we walked deeper into the neighborhood, the surrounding buildings seemed to be coated in a layer of gray dust. Everything was dead silent.

We walked a long distance without seeing any signs of a struggle. It simply felt far too quiet.

"Could we be in the wrong place?" Wang Shi followed behind me. Hearing him speak, I looked back—only to realize that, at some unknown point, small grayish patches had appeared on his skin, looking just like livor mortis.

"Your body hasn't completely recovered yet. Fall back for now. This place isn't meant for you." I channeled the Yin-Yang Ghost Art, leaving a mark on Wang Shi's ghostly body, then personally escorted him to the perimeter and cleared out a relatively safe building for him.

"Stay here. Don't believe a word anyone says! And don't go anywhere!"

"Hey! You're just leaving me here?!" Wang Shi looked utterly bewildered. "Hold on! I can understand if you have your own plans, but shouldn't you at least tell me what I need to watch out for? What kind of monsters are in the Deep Dream Layer? Like those flying heads from earlier."

"The humanoid shadows in the walls and wandering thoughts make up the very bottom of the food chain in the Deep Dream Layer. As long as you don't provoke them, they won't initiate an attack. Aside from them, the biggest threat is the nightmare. It will find the vulnerabilities in your psyche and can shape-shift into any form. So, never trust anyone easily in the Deep Dream Layer." I turned to leave as soon as I finished speaking.

"That's it? Just that?" Wang Shi shouted through the window from his hiding spot inside.

"I've also seen a massive creature three stories tall called a Nightmare. There are plenty of similar things around. If you see one, you're dead anyway, so knowing about them is pointless." Waving my hand, I ignored the pale-faced Wang Shi and strode away.

With Wang Shi settled, all the preparations I could make were complete. The only thing left was to find the Black-Robed Anchor as soon as possible and figure out his true motive for hunting the Butcher.

Concealing my aura, I moved forward at top speed. This neighborhood was nothing compared to the entirety of the Deep Dream Layer, but if you actually calculated its size, it covered an area at least half as big as Jinghai.

I had originally thought I didn't need to rush since the flow of time in the Deep Dream Layer was slow. Who could have known the flow of time in this specific area would change?

"The Butcher's Will was dragged into the Deep Dream Layer by the Black-Robed Anchor. As a former host for the Butcher's Will, Zhu Li should still be under the Black-Robed Anchor's control. That means as long as I find Zhu Li, I can follow the vine to touch the melon and track down the other live show streamers."

Looking at the black hair on my wrist that the Faceless Woman had given me, I spoke softly to it, just as I had in the Middle Dream Layer. "Take me to Zhu Li. Everything you lost, I'll help you get back."

Like a devil, I coaxed the Faceless Woman's black hair. A moment later, the hair moved without a breeze, drifting toward the northwest of the neighborhood.

"Over there?!" The long black hair was pointing directly toward the center of the rift in the sky. With no time to hesitate, I lowered my head and sprinted forward.

I didn't know if it was a coincidence, but the closer I got to the center of the rift, the taller the surrounding buildings became. They were contorted into shapes unimaginable in reality, defying the most basic laws of physics and looking as if they might collapse at any second.

The humanoid shadows that resembled water stains on the streets and in the walls had completely vanished. I could occasionally spot one or two stray thoughts on the verge of dissipation, but they were too weak. Even knowing I was passing right by them, they didn't attack.

The guidance from the Faceless Woman's black hair was very vague, accurate one moment and completely off the next. I walked for hours before finally reaching the center of the neighborhood.

During that time, I did catch sight of another terrifying monster native to the Deep Dream Layer—a spider-like shadow several meters across.

It was hanging on the back of a building, its slender legs piercing the wall. The wall was coated in a dense layer of white spiderwebs. When I passed by, it didn't move an inch. Its aura was completely gone; it had been dead for a long time.

Not a single wound could be found on the monster's body. Whoever killed it most likely used a technique unique to the Dream Realm.

That monster's appearance was exactly what confirmed I hadn't gone the wrong way.

After entering the Deep Dream Layer, the accuracy of the Faceless Woman's black hair dropped significantly. I patiently followed it to several locations but still failed to find Zhu Li. Seeing that night was about to fall in the Deep Dream Layer, I had no choice but to temporarily hide on the ground floor of a building to avoid any unexpected complications.

Nighttime in the Deep Dream Layer was a hundred times more dangerous than the daytime. Stray thoughts would gather in swarms, and all sorts of bizarre, grotesque creatures would emerge.

"An entire day has passed just like that. If I can't find Zhu Li by tomorrow night, the new live broadcast will begin!" Time waited for no one. Staring anxiously into the dark night, I pulled out the Live Show Phone.