The sacrifice had been collected. The manor owner had been looking after them, but he didn’t dare to leave the manor. Currently, the sacrifice was scattered among the testers, and the manor owner had a new body. They ran through the snow to head towards the east lake from different directions.
The pine trees were pushed away by the doll. The snow and branches fell on its body. The giant button eyes were imposing. “I was tricked by the thing behind the door. I was dismembered and hidden inside the pine forest. If I find out you are also lying to me, I’ll dismember you into more pieces and hide you in the tree holes.”
“The testers couldn’t open the path to the fourth floor, and there were no tools in the manor, so they had to release your mother.” When Gao Ming handed the family portrait to Bai Feng, he had already considered everything. “As for your older brother, you don’t even need to worry. This is his nightmare. Even though his memory has been trapped by the manor owner, once the dirty thing behind the door wants to escape the dream, it will find a way to sacrifice your brother and bring him out of the manor.
“This nightmare is not completed. The key point is to figure out the real door, which is the east lake.” The manor owner didn’t react normally when they brought up the east lake. Then, the little girl said that her father often went to the east lake to fish. However, the fish her mother ate all came from behind the door.
“We need to hurry up. The others have a different goal from us.” Instead of sitting on the doll, it was more like Gao Ming was the doll’s captive. He was tied to her shoulder. As the doll passed through the forest, he needed to ensure that his face and neck weren’t injured by the branches. “The thing behind the door wants to possess the outsiders and escape. Bai Feng has some kind of trade with your brother. Her goal is to fall into deeper nightmares. Only the two of us sincerely want your big brother and the other testers to find salvation.”
“Don’t waste your breath. I feel like you’re not a good person. I can sense the deep scent of blood inside your soul.” The doll never once underestimated Gao Ming. She treated Gao Ming as a monster like her. Gao Ming was speechless. He didn’t know if this was a good thing or not. The snow turned murky. The doll’s body turned a bit redder.
“The dream is changing.” The doll raised her giant head. She stopped talking with Gao Ming and sped up. Gao Ming and the doll looked at the east lake through the thick canopy. The lake looked calm on the surface, but it hid an unimaginable darkness underneath.
“There’s someone on the ice! Near the port!” The doll sounded nervous. Gao Ming had told her everything about the things that happened inside the manor. She knew that the manor owner had possessed someone. Ignoring the scratches on her body, the doll charged down the mountain. Cotton oozed out of her wounds. It made her look pitiful. The heavy layer of snow was pushed aside. The commotion attracted the attention of the person at the port. He moved quickly to ruin the old boat at the port. He jumped on the only usable sampan. Putting up the living sail and the dreamcatcher, the man took out the oars that had the words ‘lost memories’ on them.
“Qian Jin?” As they got closer, Gao Ming got a closer look at the man. The sampan had already left the port, but due to the frozen lake surface, Qian Jin had to use the oars to break through the ice. The manor owner probably had come up with a plan before he fainted. He was more prepared than the testers. When the doll and Gao Ming reached the port, the sampan had sailed far away.
The doll didn’t answer Gao Ming but extended her hand towards the lake. Instantly, a human face appeared under the ice. In the blink of an eye, the face changed into a thin black fish.
“They are waiting to eat me. It’s fine if it’s just one fish, but if I fall into the lake, I’ll be targeted by a large school of fish.” The doll hesitated. She had an innate fear of the lake. This was related to her grandfather’s education.
“We won’t catch up if we delay further.” Gao Ming shook off the doll. He was still trying to figure out which path was the safest when a shadow leapt out of the forest and skidded across the lake. There was no hesitation and fear.
This startled Gao Ming and the doll. Then, fear spread through their hearts.
The thin fingers held the branches. The mad mother appeared beside the lake. The red dress dragged on the ground. Her body was covered in scale-like patterns. She howled.
“I’ve exhausted so much energy to draw you here.” Bai Feng stood on the ice. Her wounds were worsening. If she didn’t leave the nightmare soon, she might die there.
Bai Feng looked at Gao Ming and then at the doll, “Not bad. I knew you were cleverer than the rest. No wonder you could escape from the deeper nightmare.”
“Mom…” The doll moved her body. She didn’t dare to let her family see her, but when she saw her mother, her cloth heart bled. Her body was practically sewn together by her mom. Her mom loved her dearly.
The woman noticed the doll. The madness in her eyes softened. Her murky eyes moved around as if from an inner struggle.
“The letter represents obsession. The family portrait is the memory. The corpse is the owner’s fleeting life. Only by sacrificing these three things can we awaken the nightmare owner and have him open the door!” Bai Feng shouted at Gao Ming, “Currently, the manor owner has the corpse. The bastard wants to escape alone and bury us here.
“Yesterday night, I sacrificed a large fish to the nightmare owner’s memory and found out something from him. The manor owner is the ghost from behind the door. It is different from us. It has its way of opening the door! The reason why it’s carrying the corpse is to trap us in the nightmare. That way, once it escapes from this cage, it can perfectly take over the tester, and no one will be wiser!”
Gao Ming thought there was no connection between the real world and the nightmares. How could something from the dream escape to the real world? All the tests proved something to him. The things he experienced when he was comatose might be more than a dream.