The Joy Temple was festively decorated. The moment they entered, it felt warm and inviting, making them unconsciously lower their guard.
"Don't get careless." The hairs on the back of Fu Shu's neck stood on end. "Everything in Dreamfold Town is symbolic. Take that wedding invitation on the wall—it might be a patient's brain in reality. Or those extinguished lamps—they might represent a cruel experiment involving the Joy Immortal."
Gao Ming nodded slightly and surveyed the Joy Temple. Nothing seemed unusual on the first floor, except that the candles had gone out and all the bright red decorations had turned dark red.
He followed the wooden staircase bound with silk ribbons upward. None of the ghosts or dangers Gao Ming had imagined appeared. Nothing blocked his way, and he reached the second floor with ease.
The temple ceiling was covered in paintings of living people with ethereal, otherworldly grace and sacred purity. There were men and women, old and young. They seemed to be the vessels the Fortune God had once possessed. In life, they had struggled in a sea of suffering; in death, they returned to bliss. No pain or sorrow showed on their faces, only peace and joy.
"Don't look for too long," Fu Shu whispered. "That mural is moving. While you're looking at those people, they're looking at you too. They might drag you inside at any moment. This Joy Temple is one of the strangest places in the Deep Nightmare. Once we find your friend, we're leaving."
The painting overhead seemed to depict a world without sorrow. Everyone lived and worked in peace, their faces filled only with joy, drawing anyone who gazed upon it into longing.
"The first floor has wedding invitations covering the walls, each one representing a nightmare. The second floor has a