Mirage

"Under normal circumstances, no."

Ding San said this with a worried expression.

Before the words had even faded, she had already pulled open the car door and was the first to slip inside.

Huang Zhang and Li Xiangqian exchanged a glance before following her into the bus.

"What about the surveillance? Can't you pull the footage?" Huang Zhang asked casually, still puzzled by their grave expressions.

Hearing this, Li Xiangqian shot him a glance.

He lowered his voice and said, "It's very strange. Everything, including this bus, has had all surrounding surveillance records wiped clean. That's why I suspect it's that thing Third Sister mentioned."

That thing.

Huang Zhang clicked his tongue.

Ding San and her group of locals were clearly keeping secrets from outsiders like them.

Up to this point, other than knowing Ding San's personality was as contradictory as a psychopath's and that she might have fought in underground boxing matches in Southeast Asia, Huang Zhang knew even less about her than he did about that kid named Zhou Kai.

He paced the bus cabin, feeling bored.

After walking two laps, he felt a bit tired and plopped down onto the back row of seats.

His hand subconsciously rested on the handrail beside him.

Hm?

Huang Zhang's movements froze.

He frowned in surprise, his fingers rubbing repeatedly over the cold metal handrail.

This steel pipe... why was it flattened?

He unlocked his phone, and the bright beam of the flashlight shot out instantly.

The beam hit the handrail, and he saw that a section of the originally round steel pipe had been forcibly crushed into an oval shape; the width of the indentation was almost exactly the same as his own palm.

Crushed flat?

This was an old-fashioned bus, built with materials so solid it could practically be driven as an armored vehicle; the handrail pipe was three fingers thick.

What kind of person could have a grip strength so abnormal that it reached this level?

"Maybe I'm overthinking it..."

Huang Zhang laughed at himself, feeling his guess was ridiculously absurd.

How could a normal person treat a solid steel pipe like modeling clay?

The grip strength required for that would be terrifying...

Besides, if someone really had that kind of ability, who would be squeezing onto a public bus?

Ding San noticed the light from his side and turned her head: "Did you find something?"

Huang Zhang shook his head and turned off the flashlight: "Nothing."

He changed the subject, asking directly: "That Mirage, what exactly is it?"

Li Xiangqian's phone beam hit the floor vertically, the metal floor reflecting a ghastly white light that made everyone's faces look eerie and distorted.

The cabin fell into a suffocating silence.

After a long while, Ding San let out a long sigh and said: "If it really is that thing..."

"It means that an unregistered Nightmare Walker has died in a nightmare."

"Huang Zhang, I suggest you verify whether Number Seven... is still alive."

Huang Zhang looked up in astonishment.

Ding San never explained what exactly a "Mirage" was, but for some reason, when the word left her lips, Huang Zhang felt a chill rise from the soles of his feet, giving him goosebumps all over.

It was definitely something capable of dragging them all into total ruin.

"You're still convinced he's a Walker... Fine, I'll go check on him at daybreak."

Huang Zhang suppressed the indescribable sense of dread in his heart and nodded.

This eerie bus ultimately failed to provide any further clues.

The suspected appearance of the "Mirage" was like a reflection in a mirror or a flower in the water, leaving behind no evidence that could be tracked.

But relying on her beast-like intuition, Ding San still issued an order to Li Xiangqian: "Old Li, increase the patrol intensity... The nights in Xishan City will only become more dangerous."

Li Xiangqian had always trusted Ding San's judgment; he coughed twice and replied: "I'll write the report when I get back."

At three in the morning, Xishan City fell into complete silence.

Ding San and her group prepared to head back to the police station for a bite of breakfast before parting ways.

This kind of life, where day and night were inverted, had already become a norm etched into the bones for them, and for frontline officers like Li Xiangqian.

Habit?

How could a person ever get used to hell.

It is merely a matter of doing one's best and leaving the rest to fate...

Meanwhile, at Chu Siwen's home, Ye Zi received a text message from Ding San.

She stared at the screen in silence for a moment before opening an encrypted folder.

The folder was named "Mirage." Clicking on one of the documents, she typed in a single line of record: Suspected appearance.

She opened other documents and flipped through them, her gaze occasionally drifting past the laptop screen toward Park Hyo-yoon, who was dozing by the bedside, and the pale girl lying on the bed. The struggle within the dream was clearly not going well.

[Mirage: Nightmare Monster]

[Cause of appearance: Unknown. Early theories suggested it was a martial artist who had suffered from qi deviation. Recent research leans toward another possibility: a Nightmare Walker who died within a nightmare.]

[Note: When a patient with Nightmare Syndrome dies, the physical manifestation is usually organ failure, cardiac arrest, etc. However, when a Nightmare Walker dies, their body disappears completely from the real world.]

[Whether there is a connection between "Mirage" and the spread of Nightmare Syndrome remains to be verified.]

[Character: Zhou Kai]

[Status: Eroded, Clear-Headed]

[Skills: Comprehensive Combat lv3 (0/50), Light Footwork lv3 (10/50), Soraka Swordsmanship lv2 (5/25), Occultism lv1 (0/15), Falcon Strike Technique lv1 (8/15)]

[Items: Residence Permit, Blood-Stained Axe, Morning Star Notes (Part 3, Part 2), Moonlight Orchid Seed (Plump), Moonlight Orchid Amulet (Worn)]

[General Experience Points: 16]

Zhou Kai had already awakened from the nightmare.

That final stand had not resulted in any unexpected complications.

He had practiced steadily within the sanctuary, and several of his skills had seen slight improvements.

Splash!

Cold water hit his face.

The bone-chilling cold instantly dragged him out of the lingering discomfort of the dream, and with the blessing of Clear-Headed, he became even more alert.

He glanced at himself in the mirror, looking no different than usual, and grabbed a towel to wipe his face haphazardly.

With both hands braced against the rusted washbasin, Zhou Kai breathed deeply, his chest heaving violently.

The man in the mirror had muscles that were becoming increasingly solid, and his shoulders had broadened significantly.

His features looked as if they had been re-sculpted by a carving knife—sharp and cold.

The martial arts training in reality and the life-and-death struggles in the nightmare were both forcing him to grow and strengthen at an astonishing speed.

Except for that lingering, agonizing pain of being torn apart that seemed to remain at his nerve endings, reminding him of the despair of the nightmare at every moment...

Really, truly...

There was nothing unusual.

Clack!

Zhou Kai slammed his fist into the rusted metal washbasin with a dull thud.

He lowered his head, and when he looked up again, the coldness and hostility in his eyes had mostly faded.

In their place was a scorching brilliance.

"No matter what, I survived tonight. Next, there is a full seven-day rest period."

"Every day, every night, I am getting stronger."

"One day, the so-called nightmare will no longer be a source of despair for me!"

Thinking of the future, Zhou Kai's mood suddenly improved, his mind filling up with the things he needed to do next.

He needed a new weapon and needed to find new crops to plant in the Nursery.

He had to contact his college classmate across the ocean and earn money to make his real life more comfortable, so that he could feed back into the nightmare world and gain greater assistance.

"Steady and solid, seeking speed through patience."

Zhou Kai stretched his limbs, letting the last bit of cold brought by the nightmare roll out of his body.

Feeling a long-lost sense of peace, he lay directly down on the bed.

Senior Brother Chen Ping was right: martial arts cultivation requires a balance of tension and relaxation.

This holds true for everything.

Physical fatigue is easy to dispel, but if the mental string is pulled too tight, it will snap.

He needed a good sleep and a hearty meal, letting the color and warmth of real life neutralize the cold and torment of the dream world.

Lying on the bed, Zhou Kai's thoughts drifted for a while before he quickly fell into a deep sleep.

This sleep was sound and refreshing.