The shadow was rapidly flowing towards the seed. Gao Ming had no idea what the seed was. The cracked shells were like shed animal skin. The festering roots were like blood capillaries. The seed radiated a light scent of meat.
“Didn’t you say things from the real world can’t be brought into the nightmare?” Before the girl could say anything, Gao Ming stumped the girl. He not only brought something into the nightmare, but the seed also impacted the nightmare.
The negative emotions were the seed’s nutrients. The girl’s eyes widened as the seed grew rapidly. Other than shock, she felt joy in her heart.
“This building is the nightmare that traps me. It is eating my nightmare!” The girl’s body was bound to the building. Her pain came from this place. She couldn’t leave, no matter how hard she struggled. The girl had already given up. Her only hope was that she wouldn’t affect her brother. However, Gao Ming’s seeds changed everything.
“Seeds that consume nightmare. Are they the hope buried in the darkness of the dream?” The girl admired the sprout as if it were the greatest art piece in the world. The red seeds were like presents given to the world by the saviour.
The cracks in the floor widened. The sprout slowly grew. Gao Ming could hear the building groaning. As the sprout absorbed the shadow, it grew rapidly. Everyone noticed something wrong. The seed was a plant, but its roots had human-like skin. Underneath the skin was blood vessels. The nightmare was the girl’s prison. Once someone touched anything inside the building, they would be bound to the building. The greater the interaction, the smaller the chance of leaving.
The seed played into that nature. It feasted on the nightmare, not thinking about leaving at all. It munched on the girl’s despair.
In just a few minutes, the sprout was already the height of a person. The leaves spread. Every bloodred leaf had the girl’s face. That was not all. When the plant absorbed enough fear, its branches started to extend towards the girl. The silly man hugged the girl and carried the girl away. The branches followed them like haunting hands.
“Brother, stop evading it.” The girl stopped her brother.
“It’s fine. I’m not afraid of anything anymore.” The girl touched the girl’s face. She reached out to touch the slithering branches.
The faces on the leaves slowly opened their eyes. The branches curled around the girl’s fingers and pierced into her body. They started to suck something out of her. The girl curled up in pain. Black tears flowed out of her eyes. A strange man’s growl came out of her heart. Hearing that horrible howl, the silly man and the girl cowered in fear. That was the sound of their adoptive father. The man was the source of all their pain. Even though he had already died in real life, the shadow and trauma he left behind consumed their souls.
The plant became more excited. More branches shot into the girl’s body. This scene stunned all the observers. The voice in the girl’s heart became more fearful. The old man’s ghost crawled out of the girl’s heart. His eyes glowed with venom. His left hand grabbed his wife’s hair, and his right hand carried his two dog sons. It had to leave the girl’s heart if it didn’t want to be eaten by the plant.
The silly man shivered. However, the girl overcame the fear. She grabbed the old man by his leg. Her innocent face shone with madness.
The red branches coursed through the girl and climbed onto the old man and his family. The screams echoed in the building. The things the girl feared the most were eaten by the plant. The nightmare lost its support. The things inside the building stopped holding people back. The furniture and objects regained colours.
After consuming all the negative emotions, the strange plant started to grow two fruits the size of one’s fist. One had the girl’s horrified face, and the other was bound by the shadow.
“These two fruits grew after the plant absorbed the nightmare. Eating them will be good for you. However, they’ll be bound to you. They might appear in your nightmare.” Gao Ming harvested the two fruits and handed them over to the silly man and Xu Deyi.
He brought the seeds. He felt a connection to the plant. This strange plant wanted to communicate with him, but it was too weak to do so.
“Leave! If not, you might not be able to leave ever again!” The girl’s body was taken over by the plant. “Got to the third floor. There is a small window in my room. That’s the only exit out of the middle layer. I’ve once considered jumping out of it many times. I didn’t think it’d become the exit now.”
“Sister, when will you come back?” The silly man repeated the same question. The girl couldn’t hold the plant back anymore. The floor cracked. They saw how far the plant’s roots had grown. The roots were at least ten times the plant’s size on the surface. It was terrifying.
“Leave! This thing is about to suck my nightmare dry. It is trying to drag me deeper into the nightmare!”
Gao Ming wanted to check out the deeper layer, but for some reason, he was reminded of Liu Yi. He also hadn’t fed the cat.
The details made him hesitate. When he reacted, Xu Deyi had already dragged him and the silly man to the third floor.
After eating the fruit, Xu Deyi and the silly man’s bodies changed. They were stronger in the nightmare.
“Brother, I’ll never forget you. I’ll not tell anyone about what happened here.” Xu Deyi opened the window. All three of them jumped out.