Purple Clad, Nightmare

He Lihad said that Wu Lun's dream was of a woman.

I guessed it must have been a very beautiful woman.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have said, "You're so beautiful!"

He had merely taken a nap and dreamt a beautiful dream, and then he never woke up. I didn't know if he was unwilling to wake up himself, or if someone had tampered with him and trapped him in the dream.

He Lihad come to my side. "I know you plan to leave. I'll make arrangements for you now."

But I raised my hand to stop her. Regardless, meeting Wu Lun was fate. Since something like this had happened to him, we couldn't just leave.

I asked He Li, "The Ninth Bureau must have someone stationed in Harbin City, right?"

He Li nodded. "Yes, but they're busy with other matters. Everyone from the Ninth Bureau in the three northeastern provinces has been taken away by Director Xie."

Xie Yi had actually taken everyone from the Ninth Bureau's Special Section in the entire Northeast. I couldn't help but recall his haggard face when I met him. It seemed he was dealing with something major, which meant we couldn't leave even more.

No matter what, I wouldn't stand by and do nothing about Wu Lun's situation.

I glanced at Fatty beside me. "Buddha Lord, his condition..."

"He's trapped in a dream. Only you can help him." Fatty smiled at me. I always felt there was something mischievous about his smile.

I knew what he meant when he said only I could help Half-Immortal Wu. It was because I had entered Zhuanghe's dream before, saved Zhuanghe in the dream, and scared away that black-robed, faceless figure.

But I was quite frustrated myself. Although I had inexplicably entered other people's dreams several times, it always seemed to be passive. I just stumbled into them, and if I had to enter someone else's dream myself, I really wouldn't know how.

Fatty smiled at me. "You can do it."

I gave a wry smile and looked at Xu Qiuyan. Xu Qiuyan shook her head; she didn't know what to do either.

I sighed softly. Immediately after, I heard a sigh as well. It wasn't my sigh, but a woman's.

When I came to my senses, I realized I was no longer in that hospital room.

I was now standing on the rooftop of a skyscraper.

And Wu Lun, Half-Immortal Wu, was standing at the edge of the rooftop. Just a few more steps forward and he would fall to his death, shattered into pieces.

Not far from him stood a woman, a woman of breathtaking beauty. She looked about twenty-three or twenty-four, wearing a sheer purple gauze dress, barefoot. Her long hair cascaded down, making her look like an ethereal fairy untouched by the mortal world.

She was smiling, her eyes seemed to speak, and every smile and frown could captivate the soul.

"Are you truly willing to die for me?" the woman's voice was sweet, like heavenly music.

"I am!" Wu Lun replied and took another step forward.

"Wu Lun!" I shouted. Wu Lun showed no intention of stopping, as if he hadn't heard me.

The woman, however, turned her head to look at me.

I was looking at her too. "Make him stop."

The Purple Clad woman's smile didn't diminish. "He said it himself, that he's willing to die for me."

I shook my head. "Is it interesting for you to use this method to confuse his mind? Even if he says he's willing to die for you now, it's not truly from his heart, but because his mind is clouded."

As soon as I finished speaking, the smile on the Purple Clad woman's face gradually disappeared.

I continued, "Your true goal isn't just to lure me into this dream, is it? I'm here, so you don't need to actually kill him."

"A perceptive person." The Purple Clad woman's vanished smile returned to her face. She looked at Wu Lun. "Stop!"

Wu Lun actually stopped. At that moment, he was only one step away from falling.

"Wu Lun!" I roared.

I saw Wu Lun jolt as if he'd been electrocuted and suddenly woke up. When he saw the scene before him, he instinctively took a few steps back, his face pale.

He looked at me, then at the Purple Clad woman, as if he had no idea what had just happened.

"Mr. Jiang, why are you here?" Wu Lun asked me.

But soon, he frowned again. "Where is this?"

I said calmly, "This is in your dream."

"In my dream?" Wu Lun looked incredulous.

He looked at the Purple Clad woman. "Why are you here too?"

He actually recognized the Purple Clad woman, otherwise he wouldn't have asked that.

The Purple Clad woman ignored him, staring intently at me.

Wu Lun came to my side, standing with me.

"Do you know her?" I asked Wu Lun.

Wu Lun pursed his lips and nodded, but then he shook his head.

I was a little confused by what he meant.

"I've seen her a few times, but... but only in dreams."

I narrowed my eyes. I had initially thought Wu Lun had met this woman in reality.

"Let's go, I'll take you out of here," I said to Wu Lun.

"You're in such a hurry to leave? Aren't you curious why I'd lure you here like this?" the woman in purple smiled even more brightly.

I paused slightly. Honestly, I was quite curious, but I didn't show it. I just snorted coldly and made a move to lead Wu Lun out of this dreamscape.

"Don't you want to know what Abe Ichinan looks like?" she spoke again.

I stopped in my tracks and turned to look at her. "You're not Abe Ichinan, are you?"

"If I said I was Abe Ichinan, would you believe me?"

Is she really Abe Ichinan?

I suddenly didn't know how to answer.

This was Wu Lun's dream, and Wu Lun's acquaintance with her wasn't in reality, but in this dream. From what Wu Lun had said earlier about meeting this woman a few times, this woman must have appeared before I arrived in Harbin City.

When I entered Wu Lun's dream, I had a feeling that the woman was preventing Wu Lun from waking up because she was waiting for me. She hadn't denied it either. This meant that this woman controlled Wu Lun's dream, and she entered Wu Lun's dream specifically for me.

But she was manipulating Wu Lun when I hadn't even planned my trip to Harbin City yet.

This meant she had calculated things far in advance and with great precision.

She was indeed controlling Wu Lun's dream, though this control was built upon Wu Lun being completely disoriented by her.

"Alright, I'll stay and listen to what you have to say."

Since I'm here, I might as well stay. I wasn't worried; a dreamscape like this couldn't trap me.

She waved her hand gently, and Wu Lun disappeared. The scene before us also changed. Where there was nothing before, there was now a coffee table and a few chairs.

She sat down in a chair and began to meticulously clean the tea set.

I also sat down, opposite her. "Wu Lun woke up? We've left his dream?"

The woman in purple smiled and nodded. "That's right."

"Then whose dream is this?"

"Mine," the woman in purple said.

"Who exactly are you?"

The woman in purple didn't answer and focused on making tea. "This is aged Pu'er, preserved very well. You can't buy this tea on the market at all; its price has been driven up so high that it's valuable but unavailable."

After arranging everything, the woman in purple brought a cup of tea to me.

I smelled a faint tea fragrance.

Without hesitation, I picked up the cup and drank. The tea was indeed delicious, with a hint of earthy aroma.

"I don't know who I am, because no one has ever told me who I am."

I was stunned. How could such a person exist?

"But you can call me Purple Clad; that's what I call myself."

"Okay."

Purple Clad's smile deepened, becoming even sweeter.

"Why did you use this method to draw me into a dream?" I asked again.

She bit her red lip, her expression making one's mind wander. "Because I can't get out, so I had to invite you in."

Her words always left me feeling inscrutable.

She continued, "Ever since I can remember, I've only been able to live in my own dreams. In my own dreams, and in others' dreams." She chuckled self-deprecatingly at this point.

"What is it that requires you to meet me?" This was what concerned me the most.

"I want to form a good connection with you."

Hearing her say this, I began to understand. She simply wanted to get to know me. As for whether she had any ulterior motives, she certainly wasn't going to reveal them now.

"I can enter other people's dreams, so I can gather a lot of information that others don't know. Later, from an old investigator, I finally gained a vague understanding of myself. I was born from dreams, so I am called Nightmare. I can control others' dreams; I can even destroy heaven and earth in their dreams, but there's one thing: I cannot exist independently outside of a dream."

Actually, I had made such a guess before, but why would a Nightmare seek me out?

"Then how do you know about Abe Ichinan?"

How could someone who had never left a dream know about Abe Ichinan?