Despair

(Second update complete. I'm not feeling well today, but I'll still try my best to update. Please support me.)

Li Wei, Zheng Yutong, and Meng Liang, who had been running wildly in the 'inside' world for a whole day, were now hiding behind a huge, strange rock, panting heavily.

They hadn't expected the mission to be so dangerous.

They thought they had gotten rid of the 'Axe Man,' but they didn't expect that as long as Li Wei, Zheng Yutong, and Meng Liang thought of that monster, it would appear. So the past day had been spent by the three of them fighting and running around.

After several brushes with death, Li Wei and his companions gradually learned to control their thoughts and stop thinking about the 'Axe Man'. As a result, the monster could no longer appear directly near them.

After resting for a while, Li Wei and Zheng Yutong began to analyze the mission, while Meng Liang held his head, trying to stop himself from overthinking. They both knew that they had to find a way to restrain the 'Axe Man', otherwise it would be difficult to get through the remaining 5 days.

Of course, the most direct way to escape the 'inner' world is to find An Hei and kill him.

Even if Li Wei did do that, in the remaining time, he would choose another person from among the remaining reincarnators to be the chosen one, and then throw them into the chosen one's 'inner' world.

This is essentially an endless nightmare, with each nightmare devouring the reincarnators until all of them are killed.

This is the meaning of the existence of the 'inner' world.

"Therefore, we cannot kill An Hei, nor can we leave this 'inner' world prematurely. The only way to survive is to safely spend six days here," Li Wei said slowly after a moment of contemplation.

"But you also said that we can't think about that monster, otherwise it will appear. We can control our thoughts for a moment, but we can't suppress them forever. As long as we relax even a little, that guy will appear." Zheng Yutong's fingers were tightly gripping her arm, trying to control herself from thinking about it, but it was clear that she had lost to her imagination.

'Roar'

With a strange cry, the "Axe Man" rushed out from a few meters away, brandishing a fire axe and hacking down at Zheng Yutong.

"Don't even think about it!" Li Wei suddenly sprang up, unleashing a bolt of lightning that struck the Axe Man on the head.

The deformed monster was blasted four or five meters away, but Li Wei knew that the lightning had little effect on it. However, Li Wei didn't expect this Finger Thunder strike to kill it. Instead, he jumped up and quickly fled with Zheng Yutong and Meng Liang, who both looked distressed.

They have experienced hundreds of such battles in a single day.

At first, Li Wei relied on his powerful combat strength to continuously shatter the 'Axe Man', but later he found that his physical strength was severely depleted, while the Axe Man became more and more terrifying in the imagination of the three of them.

At this moment, the Axe Man's deformed arm on his back was gripping an axe, and his entire body was covered in hard skin. The most unfortunate thing was that Zheng Yutong had imagined this monster to have wings.

Therefore, behind the Axe Man grew a pair of disgusting wings. Li Wei was completely helpless against such a monster.

Of course, Li Wei had also considered taking Zheng Yutong and Meng Liang to hide in the Copper Pot World, but just as An Hei had said, spatial special skills could not be used in the 'inner' world, which naturally limited the use of the Copper Pot, so there was no other way but to run away.

The three of them ran quickly across the wilderness, stopping after more than ten minutes, completely exhausted.

"Brother Li, I really can't run anymore, why don't you knock me out again..." Meng Liang sat on the ground, panting heavily. After escaping with Li Wei, the initial awkwardness between them had disappeared, and they had become somewhat familiar with each other.

"Hey, I'm the one who knocked you out. Besides, it'll be much harder to escape with an unconscious person unless you're willing to stay here," Zheng Yutong teased deliberately.

She had to shift her attention elsewhere to stop thinking about that terrifying 'Axe Man'.

"Yes, yes, Sister Zheng, please go all the way and help me out. I really can't run any further." Meng Liang was also trying to get rid of the terrifying figure in his mind by talking.

They would only be safer as the figure became increasingly blurred.

Li Wei looked around. This place seemed to be a huge plain, with nowhere for people to hide and no blind spots. It must have been the An Hei who deliberately designed the 'inner' world this way.

If that's the case, then they won't be trapped in a dead end by monsters, nor will they have to worry about monsters hiding in the shadows. Here, as soon as a monster appears, it will be spotted by them.

Thinking of An Hei, Li Wei remembered An Hei's words, "Follow the crow!" and the note he had given him.

Now is probably the best time to read that note.

Li Wei took out the slip of paper from his pocket and slowly unfolded it. He saw thousands of densely packed characters in neat and powerful handwriting, clearly the work of a master.

The note detailed An Hei's own growth experience and also mentioned the origins of the "Axe Man." It seemed he had prepared in advance, and hopefully this note could provide Li Wei with some assistance.

After glancing at the note, Li Wei realized that the Axe Man was even more terrifying than he had imagined.

Ever since An Hei punished the murderer using this bizarre method, the 'Axe Man' originally created to punish criminals also exists within An Hei's consciousness.

From then on, An Hei would dream of this terrifying guy every night. In his dreams, An Hei was constantly hiding from the 'Axe Man's' pursuit.

There's a line written in An Hei that says this.

"The 'Axe Man' is a monster that exists in the spiritual world. It is immortal, emotionless, and its sole purpose is killing. If you are killed by the 'Axe Man' in a dream, you will become a vegetable. Although your body is still alive, your soul is dead. I have almost died under its axe several times, but by chance, I discovered a weakness of the Axe Man. Perhaps... this is its only weakness."

Upon seeing this sentence, Li Wei perked up; clearly, An Hei had discovered something crucial.

"The world of dreams is ultimately constructed according to the dreamer's mental world. Once, I dreamed that I was in a zoo, and that monster appeared with me. That time, I almost died, but the Axe Man suddenly fled at the cawing of a crow... This made me realize that those crows, which usually represent death and misfortune, are actually the monster's nemesis."

"Therefore, I've prepared some crows, which I'll release after entering my own 'inner' world. If you encounter any crows, be sure to stay with them. That way, the Axe Man won't be able to do anything to you, and it won't be impossible to get through the rest of the mission."

That was it. Li Wei put the note away, trying to stop himself from thinking about the 'Axe Man'. Instead, he looked up, trying to find the crow's shadow.

"No"

Li Wei's heart sank, and at that moment, Meng Liang, who had been holding his head and trying to control himself, finally let out a wail.

Then, the Axe Man appeared behind him.

After spending some time with this young man, Li Wei realized he was a friend worth making, and he couldn't bear to watch him die.

'Shockwave Fist, Break'

With a punch, the shattered air formed a barrier that blocked the Axe Man's swing, while Meng Liang crawled out using both hands.

"Run"

Li Wei led the escape, with Zheng Yutong and Meng Liang close behind.

On the way, Li Wei told Zheng Yutong and Meng Liang the information in the An Hei note, and the two of them were immediately invigorated.

"So, if we find the crow, then... that thing won't come looking for us anymore?" Meng Liang was exhausted and nearly collapsed, but he mustered his spirits after hearing Li Wei's suggestion of a way out.

After all, we shouldn't give up as long as there's a glimmer of hope.

Li Wei nodded, but he also knew that finding crows in this vast 'inside' world was incredibly difficult. It was basically all about luck. If you were lucky, you might run into one, but if you were unlucky, you might never see a single crow feather before you died.

"But why is that monster afraid of crows? When I was little, my grandfather told me that crows are considered unlucky, and their cries are believed to take lives and steal souls. Does that monster believe in this too?" Meng Liang tilted his head and said something that Zheng Yutong found both funny and exasperating.

However, Li Wei's eyes lit up.

Soul?

Could it really be related to the soul? In this 'inside' world, soul-related special skills are completely unusable, just like Meng Liang's Ghost Controlling Technique.

And the Old Ghost within his own sword had also lost contact with him from the very beginning and could not be summoned.

This was certainly not a coincidence. Coupled with the appearance of the crow and Meng Liang's joke, it seemed as if Li Wei had grasped something.

In another An Hei, he awoke from his coma.

"I wonder how Li Wei is doing?" An Hei summoned his Yellow Paper and checked the mission time. There were less than 5 days left until the mission ended.

An Hei sighed, but sensed something was off. He looked down and was immediately stunned.

"How so?"

In the An Hei, he saw his two arms, both intact. Looking further into the distance where his severed arms had fallen, he saw nothing but emptiness.

He clearly cut off his own arm, so how could it be intact? An Hei doesn't have the same Regeneration ability as Li Wei.

Was everything before just a dream?

An Hei quickly dismissed this theory; if it wasn't a dream, then there was only one possibility.

Suddenly, a noise came from afar. Looking up, I saw a figure walking towards me from a distance.

An Hei immediately became alert. Who could be in this place?

He kept staring at the figure until the white mist could no longer obscure his face, and the An Hei finally revealed the person's features, which greatly surprised him.

"How could it be you?"