I had seen this person during my first entry into the Deep Dream Layer (see Chapter 551)! Xia Chi had once told me that this man was a lunatic among the Traitors, and tha

"The greatest difference between humans and animals isn't wisdom, but complex emotion. The interweaving of various desires is what propels civilizations and eras forward." I looked at the crystal in my palm. This was a person's most primal power. Aside from the Butcher, no one could say exactly how strong it was.

I had tried absorbing it a few times, but perhaps because I lacked the correct method, I couldn't even crack the crystal's outer shell.

'Black Robe and the others still haven't caught the Butcher yet. It's highly likely he's already escaped this place. I need to hurry up and leave as well,' I thought. The map the old man had given me before his consciousness dissipated marked several locations where the Butcher might have fled, and among them was the Underworld Live Show Old Site.

'I'm still missing three Reincarnation Mirror Fragments to complete it. One is in the Deep Dream Layer's No-Lights Road, and the rest should be hidden on the Butcher. After all, he seems to have collected Mirror Fragments for a while.'

Wrapping my body in my will, I stepped out of the small building. The district outside had completely changed.

Gray and white spiderwebs sealed off all the buildings, turning the entire district into a massive spider nest.

I retraced my steps and found Wang Shi, terrified by the spider shadows. At his strong request, I returned him to the Ghost Ring. As for the fingernail-sized Dream Dao Talisman, I didn't remove it.

Only after leaving this district behind completely did I breathe a sigh of relief. Looking up at the shattered sky, it was as if a massive hole had been torn into the night.

The hole was no longer shrinking. It seemed to have stabilized, and I could faintly see something slowly approaching from the other side of the breach.

Following the guidance of the old man's memory map, the Deep Dream Layer's No-Lights Road was more than a dozen blocks away, making it the closest marked location.

'The Butcher is a staunch supporter of the Live Show. It makes perfect sense that he would flee to the Live Show's old site while he's weak,' I thought. I concealed my aura and rushed forward at top speed, doing my best to avoid all conflict.

Once I left the area shrouded by the breach, the time flow in the Deep Dream Layer returned to normal.

In the first few districts I passed through, all sorts of resident dream creatures had already fled, likely because of their proximity to the hole in the sky. The few that remained were hiding inside the buildings.

Once I was farther away, I clearly felt a multitude of strange gazes around me. Most of them hid in the shadows, scrutinizing every passing living thing with eyes full of malice.

After traversing two more districts, large swarms of thoughts began to appear in the sky. Human heads danced wildly through the night in a remarkably terrifying scene.

Evading the prying eyes of the nightmares and giant spider shadows wasn't too difficult, but slipping through the blockade of the massive swarms of thoughts completely undetected was far from easy.

I was spotted by the thoughts several times along the way. However, to my surprise, even when those thoughts saw me, they showed no intention of attacking, nor did they call their companions to expose my position.

'Why does this feel so strange? It's almost as if these abandoned, malicious thoughts are running cover for me.' I didn't know what had happened to me, or perhaps some unknown variable had occurred in the outside world.

The journey was fraught with false alarms but ultimately safe. As I neared the Deep Dream Layer's No-Lights Road, the surroundings suddenly grew much quieter.

Neither the nightmares nor the thoughts dared to approach this place.

'It doesn't feel like anything has changed since the last time I came in.' It was still the same pitch-black district with oddly shaped streetlights and twisting, folding alleys that seemed to have no end.

Stepping inside, I raised my guard to the absolute limit and slowly pushed forward.

'44 Lightless Road...' I kept my head down as I searched. I wasn't sure if it was just an illusion, but the night seemed to have grown even denser.

'If I were the Butcher, where would I hide at a time like this?' Putting myself in his shoes, if I were the one being hunted down by Black Robe and the Traitors, the chances of me hiding in No-Lights Road wouldn't be very high. This place held special significance, making it a mandatory search area for any faction.

Returning to the Deep Dream Layer's No-Lights Road for the second time, I didn't feel a sense of familiarity at all. Instead, a vague feeling of unfamiliarity and danger crept in, as if the place had already been set up as a trap.

'Something isn't right. It's too quiet around here. The Traitors might have arrived a step ahead of me!' I hadn't possessed a map before and hadn't dared to wander aimlessly through the Deep Dream Layer for fear of getting lost, which was why I had wasted so much time in the district covered by the breach.

'The time flow is different. I can't risk going in right now.' I quietly retreated. Like a stray cat prowling through the dark, my movements were light and completely silent.

I retreated all the way to the outskirts of No-Lights Road. Channeling my Judging Eye, I suddenly saw that not far from the entrance of No-Lights Road, a long bench was sitting next to the empty street, and seated on it was a man wearing a multicolored robe!

He wore a hood that obscured half of his face, revealing only a pointed chin and thin lips.

I had seen this person during my first entry into the Deep Dream Layer (see Chapter 551)! Xia Chi had once told me that this man was a lunatic among the Traitors, and that the Deep Dream Layer's Live Show had been almost single-handedly destroyed by him!

I could still vaguely remember the words this man had spoken to Xia Chi back then. He had seemingly disagreed with Xiao A's plan and was prepared to kill me outright, saying something about eliminating future troubles forever.

At this thought, I grew even more cautious. I wrapped my will around my body, not making a single sound.

'What is he doing?' Hiding in the shadows, I used the advantage of my Judging Eye to observe him secretly. The man in the multicolored robe hadn't noticed me. He was focused on the things in his hands—agonized miniature figures, only the size of a baby's finger. Yet, the expression on every single figure was incredibly lifelike, exactly like real people!

'In the Deep Dream Layer, the only things capable of imitating human expressions and possessing extremely high intelligence are nightmares.' I was somewhat speechless. Nightmares that others would avoid at all costs were nothing more than toys casually kneaded in this man's hands. His strength was terrifyingly high.

As I continued to watch, shocking things occurred one after another.

The man casually tossed the miniature figures in his hands onto the ground. The little figures seemed to have entered a maze, wandering aimlessly in all directions. Curiosity piqued, I strained my eyesight to the limit before finally seeing clearly.

Drawn at the man's feet was a map of the Lightless District. It was extremely detailed and even possessed a certain three-dimensional quality, looking just like a miniature city.

The multitude of low buildings was replicated with a high degree of accuracy. Right in the very center of the map sat a tiny tombstone.

'Nightmares, a map, a city? And a tombstone symbolizing death?' Looking at the countless little figures crawling along the edges of the map, a very bad thought suddenly crossed my mind. I whipped my head to look toward the outskirts of the Lightless District. Unbeknownst to me, Deep Dream Layer monsters of varying appearances were rushing over from other districts, swarming toward No-Lights Road!

'Did this lunatic notice me or not? Is he targeting me, or hunting the Butcher? Or perhaps he simply wants to "cleanse" No-Lights Road?!' Nightmares and monsters were everywhere in all directions. If I wanted to hide, my only option was to run deeper into No-Lights Road, but doing so would be tantamount to a slow suicide.

Just as I was hesitating, a peculiar rumbling sound echoed through the night sky. I couldn't hear it very clearly at first—it just felt as if the air was being agitated. But immediately after, everything slowly began to tremble. The surrounding buildings, block after block of the district, and even the very earth itself!

The map drawn at his feet was ruined, the miniature figures on top of it staggering and tumbling over. The expression of the multicolored-robed man sitting on the bench slowly changed. He pressed his thin lips together, lifted his head, and gazed toward the horizon.

The Dream Realm's night was still interwoven with all sorts of magnificent beams of light. But as the trembling sound continuously grew louder, the brilliant streaks of light were swallowed up, and a massive, sky-blotting shadow came crushing down!

'That's...' I could hardly believe my eyes. That boundless entity locking down the night sky like a storm cloud was actually composed entirely of "thoughts"!

Both the nightmares and the other monsters began to flee frantically. The areas swept over by the dark cloud were left in dead silence.

Gradually, the dark cloud formed by thoughts completely shrouded No-Lights Road, as well as several surrounding districts.

Seeing this scene, the man in the multicolored robe gripped the armrests of the bench tightly. Yet, he still didn't stand up, merely keeping his eyes firmly fixed in a certain direction.

Following his gaze into the midst of the dead city, with countless thoughts dancing overhead and twisted, eerie buildings standing in silence, the sound of footsteps suddenly echoed down the empty street.

High heels clicked against the Dream Realm's road. A woman wearing a Paper Doll Mask was walking toward No-Lights Road!