That Sister Is Very Pretty, Eight Corpses

Facing danger, I felt utterly useless.

I actually needed Xu Qiuyan to protect me.

And wasn't Xu Qiuyan suffering just as much inside at that moment?

I wondered, if it were me, and I were facing my parents or my Grandpa, could I be as resolute as she was?

I didn't know.

And in the face of all this, I seemed so helpless.

I didn't even know how to deal with it.

Just as that "Grandma" was about to step into the circle, I didn't know where I found the courage to rush in front of her and jab a finger at her forehead. "Freeze!"

She actually stopped moving. Even the expression on her face froze.

I looked at my finger. What was going on?

I had done it because I didn't want Xu Qiuyan to regret it, didn't want her to be burdened by unresolved guilt.

Even more, I didn't want her to spend the rest of her life believing that she had caused her Grandma to be unable to pass on or reincarnate. At the time, I had only one thought: stop her from stepping into the circle. As long as she was safe, Xu Qiuyan's heart wouldn't crumble, and she wouldn't die.

I had done it.

But I was completely dumbfounded.

How had I done it?

No matter how hard I thought, I couldn't figure it out.

Then something occurred to me. Earlier, I had merely said something, and the sickle in Abe Ichinan's hand had disappeared. Could it be that what I thought and did could change this Dreamscape?

Or perhaps, although this was Zhuanghe's Dreamscape, I could still control it.

Abe Ichinan was clearly controlling this Dreamscape too, but I seemed to be stronger than him. The way he had become flustered after losing his sickle proved it.

Thinking of that, I suddenly shouted, "Freeze!" This time, I wasn't pointing at anyone, because I wanted all those ghosts to stop.

The result satisfied me. They all froze in place.

"Go back!" I said again. Those people gradually turned back into clouds of black mist, then slowly dispersed, including Xu Qiuyan's Grandma.

Xu Qiuyan looked at me in surprise, while I raised my head to the sky. "Disperse!"

The blood-red color slowly faded away, and heaven and earth returned to normal.

Then I saw Abe Ichinan. He stood not far from us.

I still couldn't see his face, but I believed he had to be shocked too.

"Kid, you can actually control someone else's Dreamscape?"

I sneered. "What other tricks do you have? Go ahead and use them."

This time, I had confidence. Unlike Xu Qiuyan, I didn't know any spells, but my method was simple: control and change this Dreamscape.

Abe Ichinan said nothing, as though he were considering something.

I asked, "Are you that afraid of people seeing your true face?"

He gave a cold snort.

I continued, "I want you to show your real face. I want to see what you actually look like!"

He was horrified when he heard that. He hurriedly turned around and vanished right before our eyes. "Kid, you must die. I'll definitely kill you!"

He truly wanted to kill me.

Just as I was about to say something, a flash of light suddenly filled my vision.

I found myself sitting on the sofa in Zhuanghe's home. I could even smell the nauseating stench of his dirty socks.

Xu Qiuyan sat in a chair beside me, staring at me with a blank expression.

Zhuanghe, wrapped in his blanket, was staring wide-eyed as well. "I dreamed about him again. I even dreamed that you saved me and drove him away."

I looked at Gu Song. "What happened just now?"

Gu Song frowned. "Nothing happened. The three of you just sat there without saying a word, spacing out!"

"How long did it last?"

"How long? Maybe one or two minutes. I talked to you, but none of you responded. That kid said you were busy and told me not to disturb you." Gu Song pointed at Yin Wuyu, who was still sitting on Zhuanghe's bed, playing on his phone.

I walked over and snatched his phone away. He looked up at me. "I want to play PUBG!" His face was full of grievance, his eyes fixed on the phone.

"Mute, do you know what I was doing just now?"

"I know. Fighting someone."

I glanced at Xu Qiuyan. She was also looking curiously at Yin Wuyu, so I asked again, "Do you know who I was fighting?"

He said nothing. His lips pouted. He was angry.

"Answer my question, and I'll give your phone back."

Only then did he speak. "I want candy too!"

"Fine. I'll buy you some when we go out later."

"He's a big bad guy."

I was speechless. That was the same as saying nothing.

"Answer me properly. What did he look like?"

"He wore black clothes. Very long clothes, with a hat."

The Black-Robed Man's robe did indeed have a hood, and that black robe completely concealed him.

But at that moment, my shock was beyond words. Yin Wuyu clearly hadn't been in that Dreamscape, and Gu Song had said that he had been sitting on Zhuanghe's bed playing games the whole time. Yet he knew I had been fighting the Black-Robed Man, and he had even described the Black-Robed Man's clothing perfectly.

"Was he holding a sickle?"

"Mm. He had a sickle, but then he didn't."

Zhuanghe turned to look at Yin Wuyu beside him. He instinctively shifted away, putting some distance between them. Clearly, Yin Wuyu's performance had frightened him as well.

Xu Qiuyan was no longer calm either. She asked, "Did you see clearly what that person looked like?"

"I want to play PUBG!" Yin Wuyu was getting impatient.

Xu Qiuyan walked over and gently stroked his head. "Be good. Tell me, did you see what she looked like?"

Yin Wuyu sucked on his finger. "That sister was so pretty. Her eyes could talk."

"Sister?"

Xu Qiuyan and I cried out in unison.

Yin Wuyu nodded. "Mm. Boss, I want candy."

I handed his phone back to him. "Okay, I'll buy you some later." I knew I probably wouldn't get anything else out of him. It was already pretty good that he had told us the Onmyoji was a woman. I didn't dare hope that he could draw what she looked like.

I believed him. Although I didn't know how he knew all this, since he could recount seventy or eighty percent of what had happened in the dream, everything he said had to be true. Besides, there was no reason for him to lie to us.

Still, I couldn't help becoming curious about the kid. Sister Hong had said that because he had been sealed away, he possessed certain special abilities. Perhaps this was one of them.

He feared no Illusionary Technique and was unaffected by any illusion. Was that why he could see at a glance what Abe Ichinan looked like?

That was entirely possible.

"Mr. Zhuang, can you tell me what exactly happened to you in Lop Nur?" I stopped dwelling on Yin Wuyu's matter. We had come to find out exactly what strange things they had encountered in Lop Nur.

Although Gu Song and Xie Xiaotang had been with them at the time, they had split up. Gu Song said that Zhuanghe started acting strangely after returning from searching for the missing team member.

When he heard my question, Zhuanghe's eyes became strange, and extreme terror appeared on his face.

He bit his lip tightly. He was resisting. He didn't want to talk about what had happened.

"If you don't tell us, how can we help you?" I said.

Xu Qiuyan also said, "No matter what you went through, tell us. We won't tell anyone. Trust us, we're here to help you."

Xu Qiuyan's voice was very gentle.

Yin Wuyu put away his phone. He looked at Zhuanghe with a puzzled expression, and I felt his gaze suddenly turn sharp.

Suddenly, Yin Wuyu spoke. "Dead. They're all dead!"

Yin Wuyu jumped off the bed and hid behind me. He was terrified, and his body was actually trembling slightly.

I crouched down and looked at him. "Who's dead?"

Yin Wuyu pointed at Zhuanghe. "They're all dead, and him too!"

Then he pointed at Gu Song.

Xu Qiuyan looked at me, equally shocked. She asked Yin Wuyu, "Why do you say that?"

Yin Wuyu said nothing. He merely stared fixedly at Zhuanghe.

Zhuanghe looked at Yin Wuyu, trembling violently all over.

"Devil, you're a devil!" Zhuanghe was speaking to Yin Wuyu.

I asked Zhuanghe in a deep voice, "Mr. Zhuang, even now, are you still unwilling to talk?"

Only then did Zhuanghe sigh. "We split up to search for A'wang. Wu Zhou and I were in one group. We reached a marshland and found two tents set up there, along with a campfire. We thought there were other people exploring Lop Nur like us, so we went over to take a look. Guess what we saw?"

How the hell would I know? I'm not some immortal.

But what he said next made goosebumps rise all over my body.

"I saw corpses. Eight corpses."