Creating Another Self, Mute Disappears

"I asked you here because I knew you had something in your possession."

Purple Clad refilled my cup of tea and spoke slowly.

My heart skipped a beat. Could she be after the Twin Fish Jade Pendant too?

I said nothing and simply watched her quietly. What exactly was she trying to do?

"I heard the Twin Fish Jade Pendant is in your hands, and that it has caused you considerable trouble. Who knew how many people were coveting that jade pendant? The Abe Family of the Island Nation has never given up either. They sent people searching our country for who knew how long, yet they still failed to uncover anything."

It seemed she knew quite a lot.

"What does that have to do with you? You only exist in dreams. Even if I had that thing, I couldn't bring it into a dream, could I?" I couldn't understand what Purple Clad was plotting.

"No, you've already brought it here." She smiled sweetly and pointed at the small bag slung over my shoulder. "It's in that bag."

With a single sentence, she exposed the jade pendant hidden in my bag.

"What do you want to use it for?"

After thinking for a moment, she said, "I want to use it to create another me—one that can freely enter and leave the Dreamscape."

So that was her real reason for luring me in.

I took the jade pendant from my bag. I thought that this was a dream, and nothing in a dream could be real, so the Twin Fish Jade Pendant in this dream had to be fake as well.

That was precisely why I had no reservations.

She stared at the pendant in my hand, her eyes shining.

"But do you know how to use it?" As I spoke, I actually handed it to her.

She accepted the pendant. "No, but I can try."

Then she began studying it.

"Have you seen Abe Ichinan?" I asked. She turned and smiled at me. "No, but I know what she looks like."

At that moment, a black shadow appeared before Purple Clad with lightning speed.

He swiftly reached out, trying to snatch the Twin Fish Jade Pendant, but Purple Clad's expression did not change. Before his hand could touch the pendant in her grasp, she slammed a fist into his head.

I could see him clearly now. The newcomer was indeed that Onmyoji from the Island Nation—the faceless Black-Robed Man.

His attack lessened my suspicion of Purple Clad by several degrees.

Because I could tell that Purple Clad and the black-robed Onmyoji were not putting on an act.

Purple Clad was fighting desperately to keep him from taking the pendant.

I found it rather ridiculous. They were treating something from the Dreamscape as real.

But with the Black-Robed Man's appearance, I could no longer sit still. I stepped forward and blocked his path.

"I want to see Abe Ichinan," I said to the Black-Robed Man.

My intuition told me that the Black-Robed Man before me was not the same person as the Abe Ichinan I had dealt with before. Their attire was merely similar.

The Black-Robed Man snorted coldly. In the end, he gave up fighting Purple Clad and vanished directly.

Purple Clad did not concern herself with anything else and lowered her head to resume studying the pendant.

But she said, "I can help you find Abe Ichinan if you want to see her."

"In the Dreamscape?"

She did not seem to catch the disdain and mockery in my words.

"Don't underestimate the Dreamscape. Many times, it is closely connected to reality. For example, if you are injured or die in the Dreamscape, then the real you may never wake up."

She wasn't the only one who had said that. It seemed someone else had mentioned it to me too, but I couldn't remember who.

Her words made my heart tremble. If the Dreamscape truly was closely connected to reality, or if what happened there could truly exist in reality, then would lending her the Twin Fish Jade Pendant cause trouble?

"Let me teach you how to use it instead," I said calmly.

She raised her head to look at me, an eerie smile appearing on her face. "You regret it?"

"What?" I was somewhat startled. She could actually peer into my thoughts.

"I mean, do you regret giving me the Twin Fish Jade Pendant? You want to trick me into returning it to you. You're worried that I might really be able to create another me with it, aren't you?"

My eyes widened. She truly was perceptive.

I gave a bitter smile. "I suppose so."

"Stingy. Here, take it back."

She really did hand the pendant back. I took it, carefully tucked it away close to my body, and finally let out a long breath.

I asked again, "Can you really help me find Abe Ichinan?"

She nodded. I hesitated for a moment. "I hope it won't be in the Dreamscape."

She smiled.

Then the scene around us changed, and I returned to Wu Lun's hospital room.

The fat man leaned closer. "Did you see that woman?"

"To be precise, she wasn't human. She was a nightmare demon."

The fat man frowned, and Xu Qiuyan was equally startled. "A nightmare demon? How did he become entangled with one?"

I gave a bitter smile but did not answer her question.

The fat man said, "It came for him."

The fat man truly understood things. Xu Qiuyan immediately realized it too. "It was after the thing on you as well?"

I nodded slightly, then said to He Li, "He should wake up soon."

He Li seemed unconvinced, but at that moment, Wu Lun opened his eyes.

"Wu Lun!" The worry vanished from He Li's face. She bent down and asked him, "Are you all right?"

But Wu Lun stared straight at me. "Where is she?"

I narrowed my eyes. The person he was asking about should have been Purple Clad.

I shook my head. "I don't know either. She suddenly disappeared."

"How could she suddenly disappear..." Wu Lun muttered to himself, looking utterly lost.

He Li shook his shoulders. "Wu Lun, what exactly is wrong with you?"

Wu Lun looked at He Li, his expression somewhat awkward. "Recently, I've kept dreaming about a woman. A woman who can make a person's heart race with just one glance. I... I think I've fallen for her, and I can't pull myself out. Li, I think you understand what I mean, right?"

He Li bit her lip. "So that's why you've been so cold toward me lately. If it weren't for our work relationship, you probably wouldn't even want to see me anymore, would you?"

I was speechless. This plot looked unbearably melodramatic no matter how I viewed it.

But I had to admit, Purple Clad really possessed that kind of destructive charm. She was like a collection of every beautiful woman's best qualities. Few men could resist her.

Myself included.

Otherwise, I would not have handed the Twin Fish Jade Pendant over to her so easily.

Of course, I didn't truly like her. It was just that when you were with her, you couldn't bring yourself to feel even a trace of wariness or vigilance toward her. You couldn't even refuse her requests.

Xu Qiuyan said softly, "A nightmare demon reflects the deepest kindness or ugliness within every person. It originally has no distinction between good and evil. Kind people see goodness in it, while evil people see evil."

But I asked, "What if it gained sentience?"

Xu Qiuyan looked at me. I said softly, "You just said it came for the thing on me. Do you know why? Because it is no longer satisfied with existing only in the Dreamscape. It wants to leave the Dreamscape. It wants to appear in reality as something real."

The fat man laughed. "If it can truly exist in reality, is it still a nightmare demon?"

His words left me somewhat dazed. He was right. If it could truly exist in reality, would a nightmare demon still be a nightmare demon?

He Li looked heartbroken as she silently watched Wu Lun.

Suddenly, she turned away, quietly wiped the tears from her face, and smiled at me. "Are you still planning to return to Lin City tomorrow?"

I nodded. I had to go back. I wanted to see Uncle Long and Aunt Qin. That dream of the wedding at the Little Ancestral Hall Entrance was most likely connected to them. I even suspected they had brought me into that dream, but what exactly were they trying to tell me?

"All right, I'll book your plane tickets now."

After saying that, she ignored Wu Lun and turned to walk outside.

The fat man also said to me, "Come on. Let's go back to the hotel and pack."

I glanced at Wu Lun, then said, "He Li is a very good girl. She has been terribly worried ever since something happened to you. Don't let the person before you down for some so-called goddess who is empty and nonexistent. Get some rest. Maybe after one sleep, you'll understand."

Wu Lun wore a bitter expression. "But she was so real in the dream."

"A dream is still a dream, isn't it? You can't keep dreaming forever without waking up." With that, I strode out of the hospital room.

Xu Qiuyan and the fat man followed closely behind me. But when we got into the car, we discovered that Yin Wuyu, who had been curled up inside playing games, was gone.

I hurriedly called his phone. A cold woman's voice devoid of emotion came from the receiver. "Sorry, the number you have dialed is powered off. Please try again later."