Chapter 825: The Only One Who Can Save You Is Me

The aura tainted with the power of reincarnation was incredibly potent. Aside from allowing one to comprehend reincarnation, it could severely impact enemies. "Perhaps in this life, I will succeed. I won't have to be a lonely traveler anymore."

I carefully collected the escaping aura. It would become one of my trump cards.

After leaving the basement and returning to the Apartment Building, I made sure I hadn't missed anything. Then I took the black hair the Faceless Woman had given me, donned the Good and Evil Asura Mask, and entered Zhu Li's Dream Realm once again.

I bypassed the Shallow Dream Layer and the Middle Dream Layer entirely. After stepping through the portrait Zhu Li had painted for the Faceless Woman, I arrived in the Deep Dream Layer.

I had memorized the dream map I'd obtained from the old man. I originally planned to head straight to the No-Lights Road to retrieve another Reincarnation Mirror Fragment, but I stopped when I passed by that black-and-red building.

'I wasted a lot of time here during my last dive into the dream, and that fingernail-sized Blue Dream Path Talisman completely exposed my position.' Everything had two sides. Looking at the traps inside the building, I summoned Wang Shi and tossed him directly inside. "Stay put and don't move."

The traps were triggered. An invisible ripple echoed through the building's corridors, but everything quickly returned to normal.

Breaking the grand array from the outside was simple. It didn't take long for me to peel off the Blue Dream Path Talisman. Wang Shi stared at me with a bewildered expression, muttering something about a staircase.

"It's fine now." I withdrew Wang Shi back into the Ghost Ring and wrapped the Blue Talisman in my will. Calculating the time, I figured Black Robe and the Traitors were probably besieging the Butcher right about now. I could use this opportunity to head to the No-Lights Road and retrieve that Reincarnation Mirror Fragment.

I crossed several blocks. Now that my will had undergone a qualitative change, entering the No-Lights Road gave me an entirely different experience.

It was a place of absolute stillness. Everything around it was in motion, yet this street alone remained frozen in a specific moment.

I went underground and arrived at Room 1444. When I pushed the door open, I found another unforeseen change.

The Live Show Examiner who should have been waiting for me in the room was nowhere to be found. In the empty room, a Paper Doll Mask and a fractured mirror shard lay flat on the table.

Different reincarnations of myself could not meet. Once that examiner saw me, everything that originally belonged to him was completely wiped out.

'This is truly more terrifying than death.' I put away the shard as the Paper Doll Mask on the table scattered into the wind. I didn't venture any deeper into the underground of the No-Lights Road; instead, I hurried straight toward the block shrouded by the hole in the sky.

'Those spider shadows haven't appeared. The battle between the Butcher and Black Robe hasn't been decided yet.' To me, the Butcher was neither an enemy nor a friend, so I couldn't let him retain too much of his strength.

Wrapping my will around my body, I silently entered the block. I didn't plan on making a move just yet.

The hole in the sky continued to expand, and a chaotic battle in the center of the block was reaching its end.

Iron chains stretched across the air. Chen Mo roamed the perimeter while Xiao A, the Black-Robed Anchor, and the Man in the Colorful Robe joined forces to besiege a single person.

That person wore blood-soaked clothes and wielded a shattered butcher knife. Nine Upper Vehicle Talismans floated around his body.

"Just surrender. You have thirteen clones made from the seven emotions and six desires. The seven emotions are outside the Dream Realm, and five of the six desires have already been killed. Your struggles are meaningless." The Man in the Colorful Robe stood atop a giant Nightmare. He was the only one among them who dared to clash head-on with the Butcher.

The Butcher's situation was indeed bleak. His injuries were too severe. His face was pale, with hideous wounds carved across his chest and abdomen. His breathing was heavy, making even speech a strenuous effort. "If you want to kill me, just the few of you aren't enough!"

I didn't get too close to the battlefield, choosing to watch from a distance using the Judging Eye. 'The Butcher won't last much longer. He's probably getting ready to flee.'

Those involved are blind. Hearing the Butcher's words, Black Robe and the others assumed he was going to use some desperate forbidden art to drag everyone down with him. They couldn't help but retreat. Although they had joined forces against a common enemy, they didn't trust each other. They had only come together for the same goal; it wasn't worth throwing away their lives over it.

Their retreat bought the Butcher a moment to catch his breath. His lips moved slightly as he cast out the nine Upper Vehicle Talismans simultaneously, and then he activated a hidden tenth Upper Vehicle Talisman from his chest.

"Oh no, he's trying to escape!"

They all attacked at once, but the Butcher risked heavy injuries to break through the encirclement. He turned into a streak of bloody light and fled into the distance.

Everyone was drawn to the bloody light and gave chase. They failed to notice that among the several Upper Vehicle Talismans the Butcher had cast out, one emitted a faint glow with an obscured divine presence, appearing not to be an offensive talisman at all.

'That bloody shadow should be the Butcher's only remaining secondary will—the old man I saw earlier.' I somewhat admired the Butcher's decisiveness. I had spared the old man's life in reality by mere accident, which meant the Butcher still had one secondary will left alive. After learning from the Man in the Colorful Robe that they mistakenly believed all his secondary wills were destroyed, he decisively capitalized on it. He hid his primary will in one of the talismans and used that last remaining secondary will to escape.

The most dangerous place was the safest place. The Butcher's primary will had actually never left.

His plan was perfect. Unfortunately, he overlooked one thing: the flow of time in the area shrouded by the hole in the sky was different from the outside world. Before he could even begin to heal his wounds, the Traitors would have already deployed nightmares and probing thoughts to search through the vast majority of places he could have gone.

Once all impossibilities were eliminated, the Traitors would definitely return here.

"The past won't repeat itself." I stepped out from the shadows at the corner of the street, tracing my fingers across the cold Good and Evil Asura Mask. Standing beside that unique Upper Vehicle Talisman, I no longer bothered to hide. My will, which had surged tenfold, brazenly swept across the block.

It didn't take long for the bloody light to dissipate into the air. Just as the Traitors and Black Robe were preparing to search the surrounding blocks extensively, they suddenly felt a tempestuous will sweeping in from behind them.

They all turned their heads at once and saw me wearing the Good and Evil Asura Mask.

"The person you're looking for hasn't gone far."

Their reactions varied. Black Robe froze for a moment before becoming the first to speak. "Why are you here? Didn't I tell you to stay in reality?"

I ignored Black Robe. Raising my hand, I channeled the malevolent yin energy from my Eighteen Yin Apertures into that Upper Vehicle Talisman. Divine patterns flashed as azure flames ignited on the talisman, and a bloody figure materialized behind it.

This person looked at me, grinding his teeth in hatred, but he couldn't easily lash out.

"Seeing an old friend, you must be thrilled, right?" I glanced at the Butcher. "I told you we'd meet again in the Deep Dream Layer."

"I didn't actually want to see you," the Butcher said, his face rigid and ashen.

"But right now, the only one who can save you is me." Standing in front of the Butcher, I watched the Traitors and Black Robe rapidly closing in, and the corners of my mouth curled up.