“What’s going on…?”
Beads of sweat formed on his forehead, and he closed his eyes again.
He discarded all his “beliefs,” repeating to himself over and over in his mind that this was just a dream, that none of it was real—just a nightmare—and that all he had to do was open his eyes to return to the real world.
Yet no matter how many times he opened them, the same blood-red city sprawled before him.
Every building in this city pulsed as if alive, and the eye in the sky never stopped staring at him. No matter how bizarre the situation became… it still felt undeniably real.
Yes, it was all too real—so real that he couldn’t shake his conviction.
“Dang it…” Xiao Cheng trembled as he stood up, looking around in confusion. “This is just a dream… Let me out…”
He desperately tried to undermine his own belief, but his mind was no longer under his control. If there was one thing more helpless than anything else in the world, it was knowing he was trapped in a “nightmare” yet utterly powerless to wake himself from it.
Xiao Cheng stood frozen for a moment, his gaze flickering, until a thought quietly surfaced in his mind—
There was still one way out.
Perhaps… the only slim chance of escape was to help Qi Xia rebuild his psychological defenses…
Xiao Cheng could only console himself with the thought that maybe this city hadn’t always been like this—maybe it had been corrupted by something external, something that had twisted it into ruin.
If he could find the “source,” maybe there was still hope.
But in such a vast city… where would he even begin looking for Qi Xia?
What kind of memories was he reliving in this nightmare?
Slowly raising his head, Xiao Cheng suddenly realized that while the situation seemed overwhelmingly difficult, it was also, strangely, slightly easier than he’d imagined.
In a nearby residential building, constructed entirely of flesh and blood, a faint light glowed from one of its windows. Every other window in the building was pitch-black, like gaping holes carved into the flesh—except for one on the fourth floor.
A figure seemed to be moving inside.
Since everyone else in this place appeared frozen, the only one who could be moving had to be Qi Xia himself.
Steeling himself, Xiao Cheng began walking slowly toward the building.
The figures lining the streets remained motionless, their faces turned in all directions. No matter how Xiao Cheng moved, some of them always seemed to be staring directly at him.
Though none of them had eyes, he could *feel* countless gazes boring into him.
Even the pupil in the sky tracked his steps, making every movement feel like a performance.
Every “person” in this world was an audience member, standing utterly still, fixated on his every motion.
The sensation sent a chill down Xiao Cheng’s spine—as if the slightest misstep would trigger a swarm of them to lunge at him and tear him apart.
Under the weight of all those unseen stares, Xiao Cheng staggered forward. Though the distance was barely a hundred meters, it felt like an exhausting marathon.
His legs refused to obey him as he stepped on the slightly elastic, pulsating ground. Finally reaching the building, he reached out to steady himself against the doorframe—only to recoil the moment his fingers made contact.
It was too horrifying. The flesh had warmth.
The icy touch of his hand against the warm wall sent another wave of shock through his already frayed nerves.
Was the building alive… or was the entire city alive?
He took a step back, staring up at the entrance. The doorway was made entirely of deep-red flesh, gaping like the maw of some monstrous beast, lying in wait for prey to wander in.
If he had any other choice, Xiao Cheng would never have stepped inside. But the master of this nightmare—Qi Xia—was in there. He was the key to solving everything.
Taking a deep breath, Xiao Cheng stepped forward. The temperature of the air around him rose sharply, yet cold sweat still drenched his back.
He remembered the faint light had come from the north-facing room on the fourth floor, so he began climbing the stairs.
The sensation underfoot was even stranger here. After just a few steps, Xiao Cheng’s scalp prickled with dread.
Though the stairs were also made of flesh, they seemed reinforced with bone to maintain their shape. Each step felt like treading on a ribcage still coated in raw meat, emitting sickening *squelches* that made it impossible to think.
Gritting his teeth against the nausea and terror, Xiao Cheng finally reached the fourth-floor door.
Just looking at the security door filled him with countless questions.
Unlike the warm, sticky flesh surrounding it, this was an ordinary metal door, its surface marred by years of rust stains.
It was as if the door had grown out of the flesh.
Was this place… different from the rest?
Steadying himself, Xiao Cheng raised a trembling hand and knocked—only to remember that this was someone else’s dream. The door made no sound.
As he had said himself, he wasn’t the master of this dream, so he could hardly influence anything within it.
Now, he couldn’t even manage something as simple as knocking.
“Hey!” Xiao Cheng switched tactics, raising his voice. “Is anyone there?!”
The master of this dream, Qi Xia, was the sole ruler of this domain. But based on past experiences, dreamers usually couldn’t hear or see him. Maybe his control over “dreamwalking” wasn’t strong enough—or perhaps his “belief” wasn’t powerful enough. Influencing them was nearly impossible.
Just as Xiao Cheng hesitated, an eerie set of footsteps sounded behind him. His body went cold with sweat as he spun around.
A young woman in white, carrying a plastic bag, was climbing the stairs step by step, her feet sinking into the flesh beneath her. Unlike the other motionless figures on the street, she had delicate, refined features—though her expression looked weary.
Though confused, Xiao Cheng wisely stepped aside.
True to form, the girl didn’t spare him a glance. She walked straight to the fourth-floor door, pulled a key from her handbag, and unlocked it.
“Xia, I’m back,” she said.
She left the door open as she stepped inside, carrying the bags.
Seeing the door about to close, Xiao Cheng instinctively reached out to stop it—only to remember again that he was powerless here. The door felt impossibly heavy, refusing to budge.
At the last second, he darted forward, slipping inside just before it shut.
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