Nightmare

Monday, left at 5:30 AM, returned home at midnight.

Tuesday, left at 6:00 AM, returned home at 11:40 PM.

Wednesday, this grandson went home last night, took a shower, used the restroom, then left at 4:30 AM to lie in wait at the factory entrance, banging on the door to urge Ye Chun to wake up...

Then came Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

This grandson didn't have the slightest clue what a holiday was!

He was completely holding the Labor Law in contempt!

The middle-aged man tailing him glared with bloodshot eyes, holding his binoculars as he watched the silent factory in the distance, his mind filled with thoughts of how to report him.

Are you even human, you bastard?!

At first, he thought the young man was just full of energy and liked to show off. He figured that once he got used to it, he would understand the bitterness of being a corporate slave and the difficulty of working, and would naturally start slacking off and cutting corners.

As it turned out, starting the second week, this grandson just carried his bedding in and moved inside?!

He never left!

He didn't even show his face every day anymore?!

No, Eldest Brother, is there a mountain of gold or a beautiful maiden inside? Do you really love working that much?

If it weren't for the fact that the owner of this factory district was Ye Xian, a master in Yacheng whom no one dared to provoke, the middle-aged man would have already rushed in and slapped Ji Jue twice: Wake up, you idiot, hurry up and get out to do something! Even if you aren't hitting on Wen Wen, at least let me see if you're actually a Chosen Summoner or not?

It wasn't just the person tailing him; Ye Chun was also on the verge of tears.

No, she was already crying.

"Eldest Brother, Ji Jue, you're my senior, okay? Please, spare me. Here's the key, go wherever you want, take whatever you want, just please, stop dragging me into this grind."

After discovering dark circles under her eyes from several consecutive nights of staying up late, Ye Chun's Little Pearl-like tears wouldn't stop falling: "Senior Sister really can't compete with a freak like you!

If you can't handle it, just go out and date someone! If you can't find anyone, I can introduce a junior sister to you..."

"Senior Sister, what are you saying?!"

Ji Jue was furious: "We must work together and progress together! How can you be so slack? Do you still remember Professor Ye's earnest instructions before she left?

You wouldn't want Professor Ye to come back and find that, other than gaining weight, you haven't made any progress on your thesis, would you?"

Ye Chun couldn't help but want to punch him twice.

Can you just tone it down!

She finally understood why her aunt had left without even assigning homework... Ever since the day she allowed this dog to run into her nest, she was destined to be dragged into the grind.

"How many days has it been since you showered, Eldest Brother?"

She examined Ji Jue's stubbly face, bloodshot eyes, matted hair, and listless appearance, wanting only to call the police: "If you're going to die from overwork, can you please not die in my family's Workshop?"

"Shower? Sleep? Date? What are you talking about?!"

Ji Jue's eyes widened, and on his pale face, his smile grew even more excited: "I love learning, okay! I love Alchemy! The Workshop is my home!"

Boom!

Inside the Furnace, the broken blade rang out, as if ten thousand soldiers were screaming from blood and fire. Within it, the shadow of a towering throne, woven from scarlet and pale misery, emerged from the Spiritual Substance!

Just like that, amidst Ji Jue's sinister laughter, following Ascension, Entropy, and the Waste Ruins, the fourth totem—governing Calamity, Strife, Discord, and Slaughter—was achieved.

--Superior Virtue · [The Horde]!

"Hahaha, Hahaha--"

Ji Jue looked at the progress bar on his wristwatch, which was now one-third complete, and laughed toward the sky with his hands on his hips: "This is the gold content of a professional liver-king, do you understand?

If Heaven had not birthed me, Ji Jue, the Roll Dog would be like an eternal night!

Refine--"

Amidst his insane laughter, he felt the world gradually turn black, and his laughter grew weaker and weaker.

He fell backwards.

Crunch, crunch.

After the crisp sound of potato chips being chewed, Ye Chun sighed expressionlessly, "I knew it, a Roll Dog like you would eventually work yourself to death."

No saving him, he's stopped breathing, time to contact the crematorium.

I'll order the highest-spec, grandest funeral for you, complete with five sons wailing at the grave, and then I'll scatter your ashes into Heaven's Gate Lake to tell every new junior student: this is the fate of a Roll Dog!

Muttering to herself like this, she reached into the cabinet and took out a solemnly sealed bottle, carefully extracted 1 milliliter with a dropper, diluted it with 300 milliliters of water, and finally, poured the orange-red liquid into Ji Jue's mouth.

Visible to the naked eye, a hint of rosiness returned to his pale complexion.

His eyelids twitched.

Ji Jue opened his eyes blankly and saw Ye Chun's helpless expression.

His memory was still stuck a few minutes ago; he had no idea what had happened.

"The sequelae of long-term Spiritual Substance deficiency—intermittent loss of consciousness and energy decline are just the early symptoms. If you don't rest, I'll be able to take the junior students to the mental hospital to see you acting like a monkey."

Ye Chun pinched his face without mercy, kneading it at will: "Get out, go, rest, do you hear me?"

Ji Jue actually wanted to say that he could still grind for a while longer, but when he saw Ye Chun's sharp gaze—which was identical to Professor Ye's—he couldn't help but swallow hard and nod vigorously.

"Rest is good, rest is good, I love resting the most!"

He felt as if needles were pricking his back.

He hadn't learned anything good from Professor Ye, only the bad habits!

Thus, filled with resentment and lingering attachment, looking back every three steps, Ji Jue shouldered his bag. After five days, he finally crawled out of the Workshop to go home, wash up, and sleep.

Farther away, the stalker lay in his car, lifting his head with a weak, listless movement before pulling his gaze back.

Damn it, I'm tired. Just let it all be destroyed.

"It's been so many days, and you still haven't found anything? What are you even doing?"

The aged voice on the phone was full of indifference. "Do you have any idea how urgently they're pushing on the other side? It's been so long, you haven't done a single thing, you can't even keep track of a person. Why don't you consider finding a new employer?"

"No, no, Boss, there's already a lead."

The middle-aged man was drenched in sweat. "I've already contacted Nightmare. I'm just waiting for that kid to show his face. By tomorrow at the latest, I'll dig up everything, even how many times he looked at that guy surnamed Wen!"

"It better be that way! Otherwise, you can go explain yourself to them!" Jiang Jin, the impatient old man, hung up the phone.

Left alone in the van, the middle-aged man didn't even dare turn on the air conditioning to save gas. Drenched in sweat and clutching the phone, he hesitated for a long time before finally dialing another number.

"The boss doesn't want to wait anymore," he said. "You need to come over."

"Couldn't you have said that sooner? Why drag it out so long?"

On the other end of the line, the person called 'Nightmare' mocked, "A dead kid, and you've been trembling while watching him for so long that you didn't even dare plant a bug. What kind of results could you possibly have?"

"I'm not sure if he's a Chosen Summoner yet. What if he is? In these matters, caution is best."

The middle-aged man looked up at the figure disappearing in the distance, and for some reason, he felt a sudden chill. "You be careful too. That kid is one hundred percent not normal; I think there's something evil about him."

"Fine, fine, just wire the money first."

Nightmare sneered. "I can dig up what you want, but if he ends up a vegetable, don't blame me... You know my style, it's a bit rough."

"Don't leave any traces or loose ends, you hear?"

The middle-aged man gave a final warning. "The boss doesn't like it when people mess up. If you get..."

"Don't worry, it won't implicate you. I'm heading to the Empire tomorrow. Even if the Security Bureau is hot stuff, can they sprout wings and fly to Rhine Port to catch me?"

Nightmare's smile turned strange. "I didn't expect to have some real fun before leaving."

The call ended.

The middle-aged man smoked in silence, saying nothing more, though for some reason, he suddenly began to consider the prospect of retirement.

But after all these years of doing so much dirty work for that man surnamed Jiang... could his luck really last until the day he retired?

Forget retirement; without their protection, his corpse would probably be floating out to sea by tomorrow afternoon.

Under the afternoon sun, he looked at his own disheveled, ghastly reflection in the rearview mirror and suddenly envied the figure riding a motorcycle into the distance while humming a tune.

Even if he looked ignorant and like a complete idiot.

At least he was still living in the light...

On the other end of the disconnected call, melodic music and prompts sounded from the broadcast system.

In front of the customs entrance, Nightmare hung up the phone, strolled through security and verification, and walked into the first-class lounge.

"Sir, please enjoy your tea."

The attendant served the tea with a bright smile, inexplicably feeling a sense of fondness for this strange traveler.

"Thank you."

The man called Nightmare set down his briefcase, looking just like any ordinary traveling businessman, and leaned back on the sofa in the private lounge, appearing weary. "I need to rest for a while. Please don't let anyone disturb me, okay?"

"Of course, sir."

The attendant stepped back twice and thoughtfully closed the door for him.

Thus, in the silence, only the man and the curling mist from the teacup remained. Beyond the massive floor-to-ceiling glass was the busy scene of the airport tarmac.

Airships, rising and falling like buildings, traveled through the clouds toward every corner of the world.

He wasn't going to the Empire tomorrow; he was leaving tonight, immediately after finishing this job.

And he wasn't going to the Empire, but to the Archipelago beyond Central Earth.

Just as the employer's subordinate had told him, safety first. Who knew if those people were just using this "last job" as a pretext to silence him because he knew too much?

In any line of work, one always had to keep an ace up their sleeve.

After so many years in Haizhou, he had saved a considerable fortune in anonymous bank accounts, enough to buy a mountain and a fishery over there, hire a few employees, and spend his days fishing and surfing until he died of old age.

This impromptu job was just to upgrade the amenities on his future yacht.

Should he add a karaoke system? He didn't really like singing, but the voices of the girls in the Archipelago were famously melodious...

Thus, lost in scattered thoughts, he held his teacup and pulled the documents that had been sent to him from his briefcase. Looking at the photos and records, he couldn't help but sigh with regret.

He had thought there was a chance to catch a big fish—a Chosen Summoner—which would have fetched a fortune if sold to others. He hadn't expected it to really just be some ignorant, foolish kid.

He was also a Curse Bearer with a probability of Sin Corruption dozens of times higher than the average person.

Was that old thing Jiang Jin truly senile, or was he just clutching at straws in his desperation?

It had nothing to do with him.

At the very least, he could still enjoy himself one last time.

Amidst a long-absent sense of hunger, he leaned back against the sofa and closed his eyes. His breathing gradually slowed, and soon, he drifted into a deep sleep.

Yet, before his eyelids had even fully closed, the sinister gleam within his pupils had already vanished.

At this moment, in this place, only an empty shell remained.

The Dream-Eating Tapir set out from the dream, heading toward a new playground.

Meanwhile, Ji Jue, who had just returned home and taken a shower, couldn't help but yawn. Suddenly, the sleepiness that had been within his tolerance threshold surged like the tides.

So much so that he didn't even have time to dry himself off completely.

"Wait, this doesn't seem..."

Right?

He stumbled forward two steps and collapsed onto the bed. Before he could even crawl up, he fell into a deep slumber.

The sound of snoring filled the room.

Due to his long-term lack of Spiritual Substance and his weakened state, his abilities couldn't even react; before he could realize what was happening, he had already fallen into the dream woven by the Tapir.

He was completely powerless to resist.

And then, in the void, an endless nightmare rose like the tide!