Chapter Shadow

Li Yèlái found himself in a bizarre space. Thick fog churned all around him, and through it, he could see the twisted, dim patches of light outside.

The air around him had grown increasingly viscous, trapping him firmly in place and making it difficult to move.

"It's happening again." Li Yèlái felt a wave of despair.

He had entered this dream once more.

Over the years, he would enter this strange dream every so often.

In the distance, a twisted black figure was steadily approaching him.

As always.

The difference from last time was that the Black Shadow was drawing closer and closer.

How many years had it been? It still hadn't given up.

Through the thick fog, Li Yèlái could even vaguely make out the twisted form of the Black Shadow. Countless tentacles writhed and spread from its back, while blurred faces and bizarre limbs emerged and sank across its body. Deeper within the shifting light, four thick chains extended outward, dragging the Black Shadow back and restraining its advance.

As the Black Shadow drew closer, the immense suffocating pressure, as though he had sunk to the bottom of the sea, seemed ready to kill him—until everything before his eyes turned completely dark.

Fragments of sound also echoed around his ears, like chanting mixed with screams, like mournful whispers.

The words were obscure and profound, and the voice was neither male nor female, yet Li Yèlái understood their meaning.

Where are you?

In an apartment in the Old City District of Border City No. 3, a handsome young man suddenly woke from his sleep.

The dream just now had placed an enormous strain on his body.

Li Yèlái's body trembled and spasmed as he struggled upright. Forcing down his nausea, he quickly grabbed the various objects on his nightstand.

There were talismans, Buddhist statues, crosses, voodoo dolls, and even paper money.

"Om mani padme hum."

"Amitabha."

"Hallelujah."

"By decree of the laws, swiftly, swiftly, as the command ordains!"

He panted with difficulty, murmuring prayer after prayer.

Perhaps they truly had some effect, or perhaps it was merely psychological comfort. Either way, Li Yèlái's emotions eased slightly, and his violently pounding heart gradually steadied.

At that moment, the bedroom door was suddenly pushed open, startling Li Yèlái into a shudder.

A young woman stood in the doorway. She wore pink pajamas, and although her hair was tousled, it could not conceal her beauty.

She was his younger sister, Li Yúnyān.

"You had that dream again?" Li Yúnyān asked with a yawn.

"Couldn't you knock? You have no sense of boundaries!" Li Yèlái immediately suppressed his frightened expression and gave her a reluctant nod.

That strange dream had been haunting Li Yèlái for many years.

At first, he could only see a distant figure moving within the dream.

But as time passed, the black figure drew closer and closer to him.

He himself could not move and could only watch as the Black Shadow approached step by step.

However, the doctor at the clinic could not determine what was wrong with him and could only prescribe some sleeping medication.

"Do these occult items from the Pre-Calamity Era really work?" Li Yúnyān pointed at the talismans and Buddhist statues in Li Yèlái's hands. "Before these gods and immortals save you, do they have to fight first? And what are those paper offerings supposed to be?"

"I suspect that pitch-black fellow might be the legendary Black Impermanence. Maybe the paper money can bribe him." Li Yèlái spoke with a solemn expression.

He also had no idea whether these things worked.

Li Yèlái had scavenged all of them from the Antique Shop where he worked part-time.

But this line of business ran deep. A disc filled with study materials, dating back seventy years to the Pre-Calamity Era, could actually sell for three thousand Mega City Coins.

Li Yèlái found it impossible to understand. Perhaps that was the power of knowledge?

"You should trust the wisdom of the sages," Li Yúnyān said. "Confucius did not discuss strange forces and supernatural beings."

"I understand. It means that Old Master Confucius didn't want to talk, so he used strange strength to beat people senseless." Li Yèlái pondered seriously. "Are you telling me to learn from Old Master Confucius and beat up that Black Shadow? Actually, I've had the same thought."

Hearing Li Yèlái's interpretation, Li Yúnyān widened her eyes, and a question mark seemed to appear above her head.

Taking advantage of the moment, Li Yèlái asked, "Little Sis, have you noticed anything different about my bedroom?"

Li Yúnyān swept her gaze around the room, looking confused. "Anything different? Did you buy more furniture?"

Li Yèlái glanced at the ceiling. The twisted Black Shadow was like a remnant of the night. The sunlight filtering through the high windows did not disperse it. Instead, it coiled across the ceiling, its drooping tentacles writhing wantonly against the walls. Yet his little sister seemed completely unaware of it.

He knew that his condition was getting worse.

If it was a mental illness, then he had already begun hallucinating.

If it wasn't, then that meant the monster had truly followed him from the dream into reality!

Regardless, he could no longer stay home.

Thus, as Li Yèlái watched the Black Shadow writhe across the ceiling before gradually vanishing, he said calmly, "No."

He did not tell his sister about the strange scene he had seen.

After stuffing his prayer beads and cross into his backpack, he shouldered it and left the apartment.

He was worried that if he stayed home, he might bring some kind of danger upon his sister.

No one knew what would happen when the Black Shadow truly found Li Yèlái.

He had to reach the nearest Security Bureau as quickly as possible.

It was the safest place he could think of.

If the Black Shadow really appeared, he would let it experience the power of modern technology.

However, Li Yèlái also knew that the journey would not be peaceful.

That was because every time he had this strange dream, his luck would be terrible for a while afterward.

This was also the main reason he believed the Black Shadow truly existed. What kind of mental illness could bring someone such awful luck?

Now that he had left the apartment, he had to beware of the misfortunes that could appear on the streets at any moment.

Yet just as he stepped out of the apartment, he heard someone call out.

"Xiǎo Yè."

Li Yèlái turned around and saw a middle-aged man in a suit, his temples streaked with gray, waving to him from nearby.

It was Doctor Wang from the clinic Li Yèlái often visited. They could be considered old acquaintances.

"I was just planning to come upstairs and find you," Doctor Wang said with a kindly smile as he approached.

Li Yèlái felt an inexplicable sense of strangeness and discord.

Still, he replied, "Doctor Wang, I had that strange dream again."

"Perfect. That's exactly why I came to find you." Doctor Wang smiled gently. "Shall we go upstairs and talk?"

The sense of discord grew stronger. Li Yèlái vaguely felt that he did not want—or rather, dared not let Doctor Wang enter his home.

So he said, "Let's talk at the hospital instead."

Doctor Wang paused before smiling. "All right. I drove here."

Drove here? Li Yèlái forced a smile and nodded.

The two of them then got into a black sedan and drove away from the apartment.

Neither of them spoke along the way.

Only the broadcast from the car radio echoed through the vehicle.

"Yesterday, a serious criminal case occurred in the Old City District of Border City No. 3. The culprit remains at large. Anyone with information may call—"

As he listened to the broadcast, Li Yèlái clutched his backpack tightly in the back seat and silently watched Doctor Wang in the driver's seat. His hand, meanwhile, quietly entered the number he had just heard.

When the car suddenly entered a private underground garage, the unease in Li Yèlái's heart grew even stronger.

Thus, Li Yèlái spoke in a pale voice. "Doctor Wang, are you still alive?"

The middle-aged man in the driver's seat paused. Without turning around, he said calmly, "You actually saw through it? My voice, appearance, and build haven't changed at all. How did you tell?"

He was somewhat surprised, but not very much. Mockery and malice filled his voice instead.

Yes, that sense of discord and unease had come from this so-called Doctor Wang. He was not Doctor Wang at all!

Had someone disguised himself as Doctor Wang to approach him and his sister? And could he imitate him so perfectly?

After realizing this, Li Yèlái had not dared let him remain near the apartment.

That was also why he had gotten into the car with him. He could not let his sister, still inside the apartment, be placed in danger.

The moment the middle-aged man admitted it, immense fear spread through Li Yèlái's entire body, making his limbs go weak.

It seemed he had truly become entangled in some horrifying incident.

"Why are you looking for me?" Li Yèlái asked in a trembling voice, clutching his backpack tightly.

"I'm being pursued closely. I need a new skin and identity, and yours is quite suitable." The middle-aged man turned his head toward Li Yèlái and smiled coldly. "But since you knew I wasn't Doctor Wang, how did you dare get into the car with me?"

A skin? An identity? Li Yèlái trembled even more. How bizarre was this?

Was it planning to strip off someone else's skin and impersonate them? Did monsters really exist in this world?

Driven by fear, he quickly reached out, opened Doctor Wang's seat belt, and gritted his teeth. "No. The question should be: how did you dare let me into the car?"

The middle-aged man froze. The next moment, he discovered that the brakes had failed. He instinctively turned the steering wheel, only to pull the entire wheel free.

Under the middle-aged man's shocked and horrified gaze, the vehicle instantly went out of control and hurtled toward the garage wall.

Yes, this was Li Yèlái's "bad luck"! The negative effect brought about by his strange dreams!

As for the exact effect—

The last time, after having a nightmare, he had insisted on going to work.

The moment he boarded the bus, before it had even passed one stop, it inexplicably stalled. No matter what the driver did, it would not start.

He had painfully paid for a taxi, only for it to break down before even leaving the starting fare range.

He had gotten on a bicycle, only for the tire to explode outright.

He had walked to work, and when he entered an alley, a waist-high potted plant suddenly fell from a nearby balcony toward his head.

He narrowly dodged the flowerpot, only to step on a loose sewer cover.

After finally reaching the main street, he would still encounter billboards blown down by the wind or runaway dump trucks sliding out of control.

It seemed the entire world was targeting him!

If Li Yèlái had not grown somewhat accustomed to his bad luck and become highly vigilant after every strange dream, he would have been killed long ago.

From a certain perspective, Li Yèlái could be considered a vehicle killer!

That was why Doctor Wang, who understood the situation to some extent, had absolutely not dared let Li Yèlái into the car.

It was also the main reason Li Yèlái knew that the person before him was not Doctor Wang.

After he said he had experienced a nightmare, this man had still dared let him into the car. Did he even want to keep his car?

The instant the vehicle crashed into the wall, the front end twisted and crumpled, while the airbags burst open and engulfed Doctor Wang completely.

Li Yèlái, who had grabbed the handle and fastened his seat belt in advance, quickly regained consciousness.

He immediately opened the rear door and crawled out of the smoke-filled car, dragging his numb body along.

Since his bad luck was so terrifying, anyone traveling with him would also encounter danger.

This was Li Yèlái's method of dealing with this "Doctor Wang."

Whatever kind of monster you were, eat my Luck E first!

However, before Li Yèlái could get far from the car, he saw the garage door nearby slowly closing.

From the already twisted sedan behind him came Doctor Wang's malicious laughter.

With a crisp clang, the warped car door was neatly sliced open.

A figure stepped out. It was Doctor Wang!

His face seemed to have been ripped off entirely, revealing crimson flesh and eyeballs. The sight was both nauseating and terrifying.

He looked at the pale-faced Li Yèlái and revealed a horrifying smile. "Fortunately, the face wasn't damaged."

Li Yèlái's face filled with terror as he confronted the monster directly.

The fear made him react. He pulled one object after another from his backpack.

They were the talismans, Buddhist statues, crosses, and other items from before.

"Om mani padme hum."

"Amitabha."

"Hallelujah."

"By decree of the laws, swiftly, swiftly, as the command ordains!"

He held the objects and prayed hurriedly, hoping they could protect him and drive away the monster before him.

These had originally been his tools for dealing with the Black Shadow, but now he was using them against this monster instead.

However, "Doctor Wang" was completely unaffected. He approached step by step, his eyes full of mockery.

Although the accident had caught "Doctor Wang" somewhat off guard, he had already transcended ordinary humanity. A mere car crash could not injure him much. Moreover, once he entered this garage, he had already established an invincible position. This was the hunting ground he had prepared.

Here, he would carefully strip Li Yèlái's skin away and take over his life.

As for prayer? It only made "Doctor Wang" laugh. How could an ethereal faith possibly oppose a god?

"Don't be afraid. The one who died in this accident was Doctor Wang, and I'll live on under your identity and take good care of your sister. Speaking of which, your sister is quite beautiful too." He revealed a malicious smile. Even his mangled, bloody face could not conceal its vulgar obscenity.

When he heard the last sentence, the terror on Li Yèlái's face froze.

In truth, he was not a brave person in most situations, nor did he ever choose dangerous jobs.

He still had people he cared about, and reasons he could not die.

But now, this skinning monster not only wanted to kill him—it even wanted to harm his sister?

Absolutely not!

Thus, his frightened expression transformed into savage fury!

Once Li Yèlái realized that the objects were completely useless, he angrily threw them all aside and pulled an axe from his backpack.

"Damn it, you refuse a toast only to drink a forfeit!"