Nightmare

On Monday, he left home at five-thirty in the morning and returned at midnight.

On Tuesday, he left at six and returned at eleven forty at night.

On Wednesday, after that bastard came home, took a shower, and used the toilet, he left at four-thirty and sprawled at the entrance of the factory building, banging on the door and telling Ye Chun to get up...

Then came Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

That bastard had no idea what a vacation was!

He was practically trampling all over the Labor Law!

The middle-aged watcher stared at the silent factory building in the distance through bloodshot eyes, binoculars raised. His mind was filled with ways to report him.

Are you fucking human?!

At first, he had thought the young man was simply full of youthful vigor and liked to show off. Once he got used to it, he would understand the hardships of being a wage slave, the difficulty of going to work, and naturally start slacking off, loafing, and spacing out.

But that bastard had started carrying his bedding in from the second week onward and moved right in?!

He wasn't leaving!

He didn't even show his face anymore?!

What was this, a mountain of gold and silver—or some gorgeous men and women—in there? Did he really like working that much?

If everyone in this factory district hadn't belonged to Ye Xian, a Master whom no one in Yacheng dared provoke, the middle-aged man would have charged in and smacked Ji Jue twice across the mouth by now: Wake up, you idiot! Get the fuck outside and move around! Even if you don't hit on Wen Wen, at least let me see whether you're a Chosen Summoner or not!

It wasn't only the watcher. Ye Chun was nearly crying too.

No, she was already crying.

"Eldest Brother, Ji Jue, you're my senior, all right? Please let me off! I'll give you the keys. Wherever you want to go, whatever you want, you can go get it yourself, okay? Don't drag me into this grind too."

After discovering dark circles under her eyes from staying up late for several days in a row, Ye Chun's Little Pearl kept falling nonstop. "Senior, I really can't compete with a lunatic like you!

"Why don't you go out and date someone? If you can't find anyone, I can introduce you to some junior students..."

"Senior, what are you saying?!"

Ji Jue flew into a rage. "We have to work hard together and advance together! How can you be so negligent? Don't you remember Professor Ye's earnest instructions before she left?

"You wouldn't want Professor Ye to come back and discover that, aside from gaining weight, you haven't made any progress on your thesis at all, would you?"

Ye Chun could no longer restrain herself from punching him twice.

Enough with that stench of yours!

She finally understood why her aunt had tossed aside all her work and left without even assigning homework this time... From the day she had allowed this dog to run into her own kennel, she had been doomed to be dragged into this grind.

"Eldest Brother, how many days has it been since you bathed?"

She examined Ji Jue's unshaven face, bloodshot eyes, matted hair, and listless, ghostly appearance, and only wanted to call the police. "If you're going to die from overwork, could you please not die in my workshop?"

"Why bathe? Why sleep? Why date?!"

Ji Jue's eyes widened. On his deathly pale face, his smile grew more and more excited. "I love studying, all right! I love Alchemy! The workshop is my home!"

Bang!

Inside the furnace, the broken sword blade rang out with a clang, like ten thousand armies shrieking as they came from blood and fire. Within it, the towering Shadow of the Throne, woven from scarlet and ghastly white, emerged from the Spiritual Substance!

Thus, amid Ji Jue's cackling laughter, after Ascension, Entropy, and the Waste Ruins, the fourth Totem—governing Calamity, Strife, Discord, and Slaughter—was achieved here.

—Superior Virtue·[The Horde]!

"Ha-ha, ha-ha-ha—"

Looking at the progress on his Wristwatch, already one-third complete, Ji Jue planted his hands on his hips and threw back his head, laughing. "Do you understand the value of a professional grind king?

"If heaven had never given birth to me, Ji Jue, grind dogs would have lived through the ages as an endless night!

"Forge—"

Yet amid his unhinged laughter, he felt his vision gradually darken, and his laughter slowly fade.

He fell backward, staring at the sky.

Crack, crack.

After the crisp sound of potato chips being chewed, Ye Chun sighed expressionlessly. "I knew it. A grind dog like you would eventually grind himself to death."

He's beyond saving. He's stopped breathing. I can contact the crematorium now.

I'll order you the grandest possible funeral and have five sons weep at your grave. Then I'll scatter your ashes into Heaven's Gate Lake and tell every new junior brother and sister: this is what happens when you become a grind dog!

Muttering to herself, she reached into the cabinet and took out a carefully sealed bottle. With a dropper, she cautiously drew out one milliliter, diluted it with three hundred milliliters of clean water, and finally poured all the orange-red liquid into Ji Jue's mouth.

A trace of red visibly returned to his pale face.

His eyelids trembled.

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

His memories remained stuck several minutes earlier. He had no idea what had happened.

"The aftereffects of prolonged Spiritual Substance deficiency. Occasional lapses in consciousness and declining energy are only early symptoms. If you don't rest now, in the future I'll be able to take our junior brothers and sisters to the psychiatric hospital to see what you look like as a lunatic."

Ye Chun pinched his face without mercy, kneading it however she pleased. "Go. Rest. Now. Did you hear me?"

Ji Jue actually wanted to say that he could grind a while longer, but when he saw the sharp look in Ye Chun's eyes—identical to Professor Ye's—he couldn't help swallowing and nodding hard.

"Rest well, rest well. I love resting most of all!"

He felt something like a thorn pricking his back.

He had followed Professor Ye, failed to learn any of the good things, and picked up every bit of the bad!

Thus, resentful and reluctant, turning back every three steps, Ji Jue hoisted his bundle and, after five days, finally crawled out of the workshop. He went home to wash up and sleep.

Farther away, much farther away, the watcher lay in his car. He raised his head weakly, glanced over, and withdrew his gaze.

Fuck, I'm tired. Let it all be destroyed.

"It's been so many days, and you still haven't found out a single thing? What are you even eating?"

The old voice on the phone was utterly cold. "Do you know how urgently they're pressing over there? All this time, you've done nothing—not even kept watch properly. Why don't you consider changing employers?"

"Don't, don't, Boss. I already have a lead."

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

"It had better be that way! Otherwise, you'll explain yourself to them!" The utterly impatient old man, Jiang Jin, hung up.

Left alone in the minivan, the middle-aged man was drenched in sweat despite not daring to turn on the air conditioner to save fuel. He gripped the phone, hesitated again and again, and finally began dialing another number.

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

"You should have said that sooner. Why drag it out for so long?"

The person on the other end, known as Nightmare Demon, mocked him. "It's just a dead kid. You've watched him nervously for so long and didn't even dare plant a bug. What results could you possibly have?"

"We're still not sure whether he's a Chosen Summoner. What if he is? Better safe than sorry."

The middle-aged man looked up at the vanishing figure in the distance. For some reason, a sudden chill ran through him. "You be careful too. That kid is one hundred percent abnormal. There's something sinister about him."

"All right, all right. Transfer the money first."

Nightmare Demon sneered. "I can dig out what you want, but if he ends up a fool, don't blame me... You know my style. I'm rather rough."

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

The middle-aged man gave his final warning. "The boss doesn't like people making mistakes when they work. If you get caught—"

"Relax. It won't implicate you people. I'm going to the Empire tomorrow. No matter how powerful the Security Bureau is, can it grow wings and fly to Rhine Port to catch me?"

Nightmare Demon's smile turned strange. "I didn't expect to have this much fun before leaving."

The call ended.

The middle-aged man silently smoked and said nothing more. For some reason, he suddenly began considering retirement.

But after all these years, having followed that man surnamed Jiang and done so many things that couldn't see the light of day... Could his luck really carry him to retirement?

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

Under the afternoon sunlight, he looked at his own unkempt, almost inhuman reflection in the rearview mirror and suddenly envied that figure riding away on a motorcycle and humming a song.

No matter how ignorant and idiotic he looked.

At least he could still live in the light...

On the other end of the disconnected call, melodious music and an announcement sounded from the broadcasting system.

In front of the customs entrance, Nightmare Demon ended the call, walked unhurriedly through the security check and verification, and entered the first-class lounge.

"Please, have some tea, sir."

The attendant brought over the tea, smiling like a flower. For no apparent reason, she felt an inexplicable fondness for this unfamiliar traveler.

"Thank you."

The man known as Nightmare Demon set down his briefcase. He looked like an ordinary business traveler, leaning against the sofa in a private lounge as though exhausted. "I want to rest for a while. Please don't let anyone disturb me, all right?"

"Of course, sir."

The attendant took two steps back and considerately closed the door for him.

Thus, in the silence, only the man and the wisps of steam rising from the teacup remained. Beyond the enormous floor-to-ceiling windows lay the busy scene of the airfield tarmac.

Airships that rose and descended like towering buildings traveled through the clouds, heading in every direction.

He wasn't going to the Empire tomorrow. He was leaving tonight, and he would flee at top speed after finishing this job.

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

Just as the employer's subordinate had told him, safety came first. No one knew whether those people wanted to silence him because he knew too much, using this "final job" to kill him.

Whenever one did anything, it was always wise to keep a card in reserve.

After so many years in Haizhou, he had accumulated a considerable fortune in an anonymous bank account, enough to buy a mountain and a fishing ground there, hire a few workers, and fish and surf in comfort until he died of old age.

He had only taken this job on a sudden whim so that he could upgrade his future yacht by another notch.

Should he add a karaoke system? He didn't particularly like singing, but the girls of the Archipelago were famous for their sweet, melodious voices...

Amid these scattered thoughts, he lifted his teacup and drew a document from his briefcase, one that had been delivered into his hands long ago. Looking at the photographs and records, he couldn't help sighing regretfully.

He had originally thought he might catch a big fish—a Chosen Summoner—and make a windfall by selling him to someone else. Who would have thought the kid would truly be an ignorant fool?

A Curse Bearer with a possibility of Sin Corruption dozens of times higher than ordinary people, too.

Was that old bastard Jiang Jin really senile, or was he simply panicking and grasping at the wrong remedy?

It had nothing to do with him.

At least, he could still enjoy himself thoroughly.

Amid that long-familiar hunger and thirst, he leaned back against the sofa and closed his eyes. His breathing gradually slowed, and soon he sank into a deep sleep.

And before his eyes fully closed, the sinister glimmer in those pupils had already vanished.

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

The Dream-Eating Tapir set out from the dream, heading for a new amusement park.

At the same time, Ji Jue, who had just returned home and taken a shower, couldn't help yawning. Suddenly, the drowsiness that had still been within his ability to endure surged like a rising tide.

He didn't even have time to dry himself completely.

"Wait, something seems... not quite—"

Right?

He staggered two steps forward and fell half onto the bed. Before he could climb up, he sank into a deep sleep.

His snores began.

His prolonged Spiritual Substance deficiency and weakness left his abilities unable to react. Before he could realize what was happening, he had already fallen into the dream woven by the Tapir.

Without the slightest power to resist.

And then, from within the void, an endless nightmare rose like a surging tide!