“For the other tests, Immortal Pharma had the testers enter a specific person’s dream, but this time, it feels different. Along the way, I couldn’t tell when I had entered the dream.” Gao Ming felt a pain in the back of his neck when he entered the door, but the pain was different from his previous tests. “Is someone purposely obscuring the dreaming process? Is it because this brain is different from the others? Is this No. 2’s brain realm?”
The only light source in this world was the weak lights from the nearby village. Gao Ming felt weirded out walking alone along the edge of the village. This dream felt stranger than the others. It was as if the world could change at any moment.
“Have the others spawned directly in the village?”
Gao Ming moved towards the village when he saw someone wave at him from the only road. The person was small and wore a dirty and loose cotton shirt. Gao Ming ignored the person. However, somehow, the person appeared again down the road. The other party accosted Gao Ming as the latter travelled to the village.
The longer he stayed outside the village, the faster Gao Ming’s heart pounded. The feeling of anxiety intensified. He forced himself to go forward. “I walk my path, and he has his. Hopefully, our paths don’t cross.”
As he moved further, the figure in the dark sauntered over. It lifted its head to reveal an animal’s face. The figure was a yellow weasel wearing human clothes. It stood on its hind legs like a human. Its dark eyes stared at Gao Ming. It extended its sharp claws as if asking for something from Gao Ming.
Gao Ming narrowed his eyes as he pondered his possible course of action. He had just entered the nightmare and had no clues. If he exposed himself this early, he might be targeted. He would not be able to help Bai Feng later. “What do you want from me?” Gao Ming knew he had made a mistake once he said so because he saw the weasel grin as it pointed its claw at the money bag Gao Ming held. “Do you want a dead man’s money? I got this from a coffin.” Gao Ming took out a copper coin. As he tossed it at the weasel, he ran towards the village. He turned back to look and realised the weasel didn’t chase after him. Instead, the small temple near the mass grave had lit up with candlelights. Perhaps another tester had spawned there.
The stone pillar dwarfed the village stone sign beside it. However, the stone sign still required two adults to hug its circumstance.
“Dream Break Town.” Every large bloody character was made up of smaller characters. Once he was close, Gao Ming realised the small characters were all names. Some of the names had been wiped away. Most of the names were red. A small portion was black.
Since Immortal Pharma didn’t provide any hint, Gao Ming had to explore the place himself. He walked past the tall stone pillars. Gao Ming encountered words carved on village walls.
“Don’t smile when you see someone. Don’t worship when you see ghosts. Don’t speak when you see animals. Don’t fear when you see malice.”
“I have spoken to the yellow weasel, and it smiled at me.” Gao Ming was worried. As he walked forward, he noticed the carved words changed, “Easy to enter. Hard to leave. King of Hell demands your life. Beware of cunning ghosts.”
“What is happening?” Gao Ming didn’t dare to linger on the streets. The village gave him a bad feeling. None of the buildings felt like they came from the modern era. “There should be something like an inn here,” Holding the two copper coins, he walked down the pebbled road. Most of the buildings didn’t have their lights on, as if they were avoiding something. Gao Ming walked for some time before he saw more lights.
The main road split into three. The sound of gong could be heard from the left. The right road was a mixture of pebbles and mud. The road was scattered with paper money and soul flags. The middle road was festooned with red lanterns.
Gao Ming hurried down the middle road.
The red lanterns hung beside the red door. The other houses were deathly still, but this house was lively with the sound of pots and pans. Gao Ming leaned closer to the door and looked through the gap. The paper windows were decorated with gauze fibres. The brick walls and wooden doors were decorated with auspicious arts of calligraphy. They appeared to be celebrating a happy occasion.
“Is this a Minghun?” Just as Gao Ming had that thought, the sounds inside the house froze. The silence enveloped Gao Ming. He felt many gazes on him, but he couldn’t see anyone at all.
“The groom is back!” An old voice came from the inner hall. Instantly, footsteps echoed around Gao Ming. He didn’t hesitate. He shut the door and raced down the mud road with the paper money. He knew he couldn’t outrun the footsteps. He turned the corner and leapt over the wall into a random home.
The footsteps floated down the road. Gao Ming held his breath until the footsteps disappeared. He was just about to sigh in relief when he saw something in the yard. There was a black donkey pulling a millstone. It was hard to tell what was in the mill. Bloody water kept flowing out. Whenever the black donkey lapped at the liquid inside the base of the mill, it would be re-energised.
“Save…” A weak voice came from inside the mill. It sounded like an old man. It was the voice that announced Gao Ming’s presence to the donkey. The long donkey face turned to Gao Ming. Its mouth was filled with blood.
“Knife… in the house. It can’t move. Kill… donkey.” The voice from the mill urged. It had been tortured for a long time before it encountered this chance. The tired voice lifted with hope. “Kill this fucking donkey.”
Gao Ming didn’t want to be a part of this. If the voice didn’t say anything, the donkey wouldn’t have discovered him.
Being stared at by the donkey, Gao Ming felt inexplicable pressure. He felt his consciousness dipping into quicksand.
Gao Ming bit his tongue. He looked away from the mill and rushed into the house.