The Strange Dream Returns

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

Among the Somlunno Family's generations of ancestors, not many had managed to reach this point.

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 capable of proceeding to the next step—the final step.

And just reading about this final step made Li Weide feel 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, moving the London street scene conjured in a dream into reality, allowing others to see it as well...

Most crucially, throughout this process, the caster had to remain conscious and could not enter a sleeping state! In other words, Li Weide had to let others see the daydream he had created.

Once he accomplished this step, he could use this magic to put others to sleep and then freely manipulate their dreams...

By this point, Li Weide knew this was not a goal he could accomplish 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 well worth it! After all, the connection between magical strength and soul strength had already been experimentally verified! In a world where magical power seemed able to grow only with age, he could now increase it through practice!

This was an absolute steal! "Toby, let's go back!"

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

"Give me a lift... I seem to be temporarily unable to use magic right now. My head hurts whenever I cast anything... I need to go back and get some proper sleep."

After returning to the Hog's Head, Li Weide fell asleep the moment his head touched the pillow.

The Cheering Potion could only invigorate his mind for a short while.

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

Following Li Weide's instructions, Toby sat at his bedside and carefully looked after him without leaving for even a step, making Tom's teeth itch with frustration.

That bastard really wasn't giving him even the slightest chance! With Toby watching over him, Tom could hardly sneak up on Li Weide.

While Tom felt regretful, he was also deeply puzzled.

He had only gone out for a few hours. How had this guy, who could usually stay awake for days and nights on end, suddenly become so exhausted? He looked like 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 Toby could not say anything. Not even to Young Master Tom, Young Master Weide's best friend!" Toby said seriously.

Tom frowned. He instinctively felt this had to be connected to the secret behind Li Weide's strength, but...

By now, he understood House-elves very well.

House-elves would absolutely never disobey their master's commands. In other words, he could not get any information from Toby.

But Toby definitely knew something about Li Weide's secret! Tom silently made up his mind. Once he learned magic that could peer into other people's inner secrets, he would start with Toby and uncover the secret behind Li Weide's strength!

When that time came, he would settle every score and repay every grievance! But for now...

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

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

Li Weide slept for a very long time.

Even when Tom, who was such a workaholic, could not help wanting to sleep, Li Weide still showed no sign of waking.

Tom glanced once again at Toby, who was still sitting alertly at Li Weide's bedside, and could not help cursing him inwardly a few times.

Then, helplessly, he collapsed onto his own bed and pulled the blanket over himself...

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

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

Having dreamed 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 fog, a pitch-black figure waved at Li Weide.

The black figure's mouth moved up and down, as though it wanted to say something to him.

Having learned Nightmare Magic, Li Weide immediately became conscious within the dream.

Then he remembered at once: he had had an identical dream last time! 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 now faintly hear the other party's voice.

The voice sounded distorted, making it impossible to tell whether it belonged to a man or a woman.

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

He could only catch a few scattered words.

"...follow... power... Dreamscape..."

He could not hear any of the other words or sentences at all.

So Li Weide tried to control the dream, intending to shift himself over there so he could hear what it was saying.

But this time, his attempt to control the dream failed completely! This greatly surprised Li Weide.

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

Li Weide could only abandon the idea of controlling the dream and struggle toward the shadow.

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

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

But at that moment, the shadow suddenly fell silent! Looking at the figure before him, which resembled the faceless black silhouette from Conan, Li Weide felt a little annoyed.

When I wasn't here, you seemed to have a whole lot to say. Now that I've come over, you won't say anything? "Who exactly are you?" Li Weide asked in a low voice.

The shadow 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 energetic!

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

The lighter on the bedside table next to Toby, which was giving off a faint blue glow!

At that moment, the lighter was trembling slightly...

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

Tentatively, he lightly pressed a finger against the dim blue glow.

Click!

The lighter's lid opened by itself.

A ghostly blue flame rose from the lighter, then floated into the air!

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

At that moment, Li Weide recalled what the black shadow 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 probably be extremely easy.

For the moment, it seemed there was no other choice besides doing as it said...

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

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

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

The streets of Hogsmeade late at night were completely deserted, with only a few Wind Lanterns casting dim light.

That small blue flame hovered motionlessly in the middle of the street, as if waiting for Li Weide.

Once Li Weide appeared before it, the flame began swaying as it floated onward again, like a ghostly will-o'-the-wisp leading the way...