“What was that?” Qian Jin saw Gao Ming’s secrets. He sensed unnatural danger from the kid. “You have something from that world! You… are like me!”
Qian Jin suddenly understood something. He stopped trying to die with Gao Ming. He just wanted to escape. As Qian Jin tried to get to the surface, Gao Ming opened the bag around his waist. An ugly and dry head rolled out. Life, memory and obsession… All three sacrifices were prepped. The complete corpse, portrait and letter formed the nightmare owner’s life. This was his first time being completed.
The big fish watching Gao Ming and Qian Jin started to scatter as if they were scared. Giant shadows swam over from the distance. Gao Ming’s heart winced. He had no idea so many scary things were hidden in the lake. The ice layer on the lake squeezed into each other. Cracks came from everywhere. Blood shone in the dark.
“You have released the real ghost!” The manor owner’s voice came out of Qian Jin’s lips. He stopped hiding, “What a group of crazy people! The nightmare owner swapped his body with mine to trap me here. I am human, so he is the real ghost! Have you not discovered I have not left the manor? Idiot! You have awakened the real ghost!” Qian Jin knew it was too late. He growled, “He has lost his humanity. Based on his last obsession, he’ll murder all of us!”
Qian Jin dropped the heavy rifle and jacket. He finally climbed onto the ice. Gao Ming climbed out from the other side of the lake with the reloaded rifle. His body trembled, but he didn’t let go of the gun. “There’s still one shot left. I saw Qian Jin load the bullet.”
“Run! Go back to the manor, and we might still have a chance to live!” Qian Jin seemed to be afraid that Gao Ming might fire at him. He acted like he cared about everyone. However, he didn’t run towards the manor but the centre of the lake.
“Kill him! Quick! He has the way to leave! We have to get him to distract the nightmare owner’s fury! Or else the nightmare owner will see us as his accomplices!” Bai Feng’s body was like a tattered bag. She only had one last breath left.
Perhaps the rifle was clogged with water. Gao Ming failed to fire at the first notice. He chased after Qian Jin on the ice. They raced towards the centre. With all the sacrifices there, the east lake had changed. The strange sounds coming from under the lake became more obvious. The ice crushed into each other. The cracks spread at an alarming speed. There was no place to hide. The snow fluttered down. Qian Jin wanted to get to the centre, but he kept slipping. The clear snowflakes were eventually dyed red. Large cracks crawled under the ice like giant snakes. They swarmed towards Qian Jin.
Static came from the walkie-talkie as if warning Gao Ming to stay put. In those few seconds, when Gao Ming hesitated, he heard Qian Jin scream. He looked up. A giant force pushed up from under the ice. A giant monster like a fish or a snake leapt out of the water!
With the fish acting , why would Gao Ming keep going?
“Just a bit more!” Qian Jin was dragged into the water. Gao Ming looked down. The giant fish shifted underwater. It combined with the other fishes to form the nightmare owner’s pale face. The face of death munched on Qian Jin. After that, the bloody mouth came after Gao Ming, and it felt like he was its next target.
“Is the door in the middle of the lake?” Gao Ming didn’t waste time. He turned around and dragged Bai Feng towards the shore, “Haven’t you negotiated with the nightmare owner? Why is he still coming after us after he killed the ghost?”
“The picture and letter didn’t combine with his body. The ritual is not yet completed…” Bai Feng’s blood froze. She could barely utter a sentence. Her eyes glowed with the desire to live.
“Don’t fall asleep! Bai Qiao and Bai Xiao are still waiting for you!”
Running on ice was hard enough. Gao Ming still needed to carry the injured Bai Feng. He only ran for five meters when he sensed the danger. He lowered his head. The nightmare owner’s horrible face was right underneath him. The mouth, covered in wounds, slowly opened. At that moment, Gao Ming hugged Bai Feng and rolled to the side.
The ice layer shattered. The chipped ice cut through Gao Ming’s body. The fish monster almost ate him. “It’s a human face underwater, but it’s a fish above the water. This is fully illogical.”
The ice shattered. Gao Ming and Bai Feng fell into the water. The pressure overwhelmed them. Gao Ming wanted to swim to the surface, but the horrifying face was already waiting for him. He tried to look for another opening, but the lake’s surface had already frozen. The lake was like a dark prison. He knocked his elbows into the ice. However, the ice refused to budge.
He couldn’t breathe. There was no exit. The human face approached!
Many people had the nightmare of falling endlessly before finally waking up. Gao Ming had the same dream, but he couldn’t wake up from this nightmare.
Gao Ming let go of Bai Feng. He stopped trying to get to the surface. He chose to listen to the summons of the flesh seeds and swam towards the depth of the east lake.
In Jiang Miaomiao’s nightmare, the flesh seeds only took a few minutes to suck up all the negative emotions and force the nightmare to sink deeper. This nightmare had more negative emotions, so the seed would have grown faster.
The summons became more intense. The schools of fish neared Gao Ming. The owner’s face chased after him. It opened its jaw again. However, as it was about to bite, the gaze turned to somewhere else. The rotten pupils showed shock.
Deep inside the lake, there was a red door. Red plant roots crawled all over the edges of the door.
Not far from the door, there was a flesh tree that was rapidly growing. The dead souls, fish and lake water, and even the sand were its nutrients.
The leaves expanded, and the roots unfurled. The tree roots touched the door. The roots that squeezed through from the other side of the door connected with the roots on this side. The roots from two trees worked together to puncture and connect different nightmares!