The Strange Dream Returns

No matter what, being able to initially control his own dreams meant he had touched the threshold of Nightmare Magic.

Not many ancestors of the Somnolence Family had managed to reach this stage.

According to the manuscript, Li Weide's next step was to continuously expand the size of the dream space he could control.

At present, Li Weide could at most simulate a small corner of a London street in his dreams...

According to the estimate, only when he could expand the simulated environment to encompass an entire street would he be able to proceed to the next—and final—step.

And just reading about this final step made Li Weide feel that it was absurd and contradictory.

How could it possibly be done...

This final step was to bring the power of dreams into reality while remaining awake.

For example, he would have to bring the London street scene created in his dream into reality, allowing others to see it as well...

Most crucially, throughout this process, the caster had to remain awake and could not fall asleep!

In other words, Li Weide had to let others see the daydream he created.

Once he accomplished this, he could use this magic to make others fall asleep, then freely manipulate their dreams...

Reading this, Li Weide knew it was not a goal he could achieve anytime soon.

He decisively set down the manuscript, stood up, and stretched.

His mood brightened once more.

Although reaching the final step would be difficult, practicing this magic would continuously strengthen his soul.

That alone made it more than worth it!

After all, the connection between magical power and soul strength had already been experimentally proven!

In this world, where magical power seemed to grow stronger only with age, he could now increase his through practice!

This was a massive profit!

"Toby, we're heading back!"

"Yes, Young Master Weide. Would you like to Apparate back yourself, or shall Toby take you back?" Toby asked thoughtfully.

"Take me... It seems I can't use magic for the time being. My head hurts whenever I cast anything... I need to go back and get some proper sleep."

Back at the Hog's Head Inn, Li Weide fell asleep the moment his head touched the pillow.

The Wakefulness Potion could only invigorate his mind for a short time.

The soul power he had expended could not be replenished immediately and could only slowly recover through sleep.

Following Li Weide's instructions, Toby sat by his bedside and tended to him attentively without leaving for even a moment, making Tom's teeth itch with frustration.

That bastard really wasn't giving him the slightest opportunity!

With Toby keeping watch, Tom could not easily sneak up on Li Weide.

Even as Tom regretted it, he was deeply puzzled.

He had only gone out for a few hours. How had this fellow, who could usually stay awake for days and nights on end, suddenly become so exhausted?

He looked as if he had not slept for an entire month...

"Toby, where did Weide go? Why is he so tired?" Tom asked.

"Toby promised Young Master Weide that he could not say anything. Not even to Young Master Tom, Young Master Weide's best friend!" Toby said seriously.

Tom frowned. Instinctively, he felt this must be connected to the secret behind Li Weide's strength, but...

By now, he understood House-elves very well.

A House-elf would never disobey its master's orders. In other words, he could not get any information from Toby at all.

But Toby definitely knew some of Li Weide's secrets!

Tom secretly made up his mind. Once he learned magic that could pry into the secrets hidden in other people's hearts, he would start with Toby and uncover the secret behind Li Weide's strength!

Then, he would settle every grudge and repay every score!

But for now...

"He came back and went straight to sleep... Has he eaten? Don't let him starve."

"Thank you for your concern. Young Master Weide has eaten."

Li Weide slept for a very long time.

By the time even a workaholic like Tom could not help wanting to sleep, Li Weide still showed no sign of waking up.

Tom glanced once more at Toby, who was still sitting energetically beside Li Weide's bed, and could not help cursing him a few times in his heart.

Only then did he helplessly collapse onto his own bed and pull the blanket over himself...

The night gradually deepened, and Tom's breathing slowly became steady.

Suddenly, Li Weide's fingers twitched. His eyes, which had been calm until then, began rolling rapidly beneath his eyelids.

After dreaming all day, Li Weide dreamed again.

And this dream was very familiar...

It was a place filled with White Mist.

In the distance, concealed by the white fog, a pitch-black figure waved at Li Weide.

The black figure's mouth opened and closed, as though it wanted to tell him something.

Having learned Nightmare Magic, Li Weide immediately became lucid in his dream.

Then he remembered at once that he had had an identical dream before!

It was just that the previous dream had been interrupted before it could finish by Grindelwald's attack...

However, unlike last time, Li Weide could vaguely hear the other person's voice now.

The voice sounded as though it had been altered, making it impossible to tell whether it belonged to a man or a woman.

Moreover, Li Weide could not make out what the figure was actually saying.

He only caught a few isolated words.

"...follow... power... dream..."

He could not make out a single other word.

So Li Weide tried to control the dream, intending to move himself closer so he could hear what the figure was saying.

But this time, his attempt to control the dream completely failed!

This greatly surprised Li Weide.

"Could it be... this isn't actually my dream?"

Li Weide had no choice but to abandon the idea of controlling the dream and struggle toward the figure.

For some reason, his legs felt exceptionally heavy in this dream...

After a long while, Li Weide finally reached the black figure.

But at that moment, the figure suddenly fell completely silent!

Looking at the figure before him, like Conan's Black Figure, Li Weide felt a little irritated.

When I wasn't here, you seemed to have plenty to say to me. Now that I've arrived, you won't say anything?

"Who exactly are you?" Li Weide asked in a low voice.

The black figure spoke, and this time Li Weide heard it clearly. "Follow it. Come find me."

Then Li Weide felt his entire body grow light, and the world spun upside down...

Li Weide abruptly sat up in bed, feeling incomparably alert!

At a glance, he saw Toby lying beside his bed, somehow having fallen asleep, and...

The Lighter on the bedside table beside Toby, emitting a faint blue glow!

At this moment, the Lighter was vibrating slightly...

Without waking Toby, Li Weide reached out and picked up the Lighter from the table.

Tentatively, he gently pressed a finger against its faint blue glow.

Click!

The Lighter's lid flipped open on its own.

A dim blue flame rose from the Lighter, then floated into the air!

After circling once above Li Weide's head, the flame drifted straight out through the window...

At that moment, Li Weide remembered what the black figure had said in his dream: "Follow it. Come find me."

Li Weide did not hesitate for long. Since the other party could enter his dreams at will, killing him would likely be extremely easy.

For now, it seemed he had no choice but to do as it said...

Li Weide put on his shoes, grabbed an old wand, and first hit the sleeping Tom with a Stun Spell, dramatically improving the quality of his sleep.

Only then did Li Weide vanish from the room, Apparating onto the road outside the window.

Strangely, Apparition made quite a bit of noise, yet Toby still did not wake up...

The streets of Hogsmeade Village were empty in the dead of night, with only a few Lanterns casting dim light.

That little blue flame hovered motionlessly in the middle of the street, seemingly waiting for Li Weide.

When Li Weide appeared before it, the flame began drifting forward again, swaying gently like a ghostly will-o'-the-wisp leading the way...