Ten minutes later.

Yang Jian and Zhang Xiangguang stepped into the old European-style castle.

The castle was silent and empty, except for the occasional roaming Evil Hound. It seemed those who lost the previous battle truly kept their promise, withdrew from the Nightmare Castle, and gave up reclaiming it.

However, Yang Jian didn’t trust these foreigners much. He needed to investigate personally and eliminate the ruler of this Nightmare Castle.

Only then, the Evil Hound could completely end this confrontation within the dream.

“You seem to have practiced martial arts, and you’re quite good at it. This is rare in the supernatural circle,” Yang Jian said as he inspected the old and damaged castle.

Zhang Xiangguang casually replied, “It’s not the first time I’ve killed in a dream. Without some martial arts skills, it’s impossible to survive in the Ghost Dream World. If you have time, I suggest you practise too, it’s never a harm to be prepared.”

It was obvious he had previously dealt with supernatural events related to Ghost Dream, which is why he was prepared for such encounters.

“I see, but I will heed your advice. I’ll train myself whenever I have the chance; at least I should be able to surpass you,” Yang Jian thought it wouldn’t affect him much to practice martial arts in a dream, furthermore, he had plenty of memories for it in his mind.

“I’ve already failed, so there’s no need to challenge me,” Zhang Xiangguang said, “Sometimes I find it quite nice to live in this dream world. It’s intimate, and during this time, I have regained many lost emotions. Honestly, I’ve started to like it here.”

“After all, you can’t leave,” Yang Jian calmly stated, “Let me ask you something.”

“What is it?” Zhang Xiangguang replied.

“There’s a certain town. When night falls, neon signs flicker, and countless wandering souls roam the streets. These souls will transform into the people closest to you and cling to you… Do you know of such a place?”

Yang Jian inquired.

Zhang Xiangguang said, “I’ve taken the supernatural bus to many places. I’ve been to the town you mentioned, which I call Dead City. But I didn’t explore much there because it’s extremely dangerous. Even the strongest ghost handlers wouldn’t dare live in that Dead City for long.”

“Of course, I’ve also studied the wandering souls on that road. You’re right. If you succeed in bringing one out, it will become the relative you most wish to resurrect. I’ve tried and succeeded; I resurrected my deceased mother,” Zhang Xiangguang said calmly, revealing a shocking fact.

He actually managed to bring out a wandering soul from the Wandering Soul Road.

“And what happened?” Yang Jian asked, somewhat surprised.

Zhang Xiangguang said, “It’s indeed the image of the relative from your memory, but there’s a time limit; it doesn’t last long. As time passes, their behavior becomes increasingly strange—insomnia in the dead of night, wandering in dark rooms, burning hands while cooking without feeling pain, starting to eat raw meat…”

“I couldn’t tolerate these changes, so I personally sent the soul back.”

“What’s the time limit?” asked Yang Jian.

“Six months,” Zhang Xiangguang replied, “But if you can endure those bizarre behaviors, it might last longer. However, it’s meaningless. Fake is still fake. If you want to resurrect the dead, I advise against it. I have a better method.”

“There’s another method?” Yang Jian asked with slight surprise.

Zhang Xiangguang said, “Resurrecting the dead isn’t a particularly difficult task in the supernatural circle. I’ve tried and explored many methods. So far, there’s only one method closest to resurrection. But I don’t want to tell you because every method has flaws. Pursuing such things is a waste of time. You shouldn’t waste your time on this. You have more important things to do, and I’m anticipating your future achievements.”

“I don’t have anyone I want to resurrect. I just wanted to inquire about Baishui Town,” said Yang Jian.

“If you want to know about Baishui Town, I can tell you more. But for now, let’s handle things here first. I’ve rarely ventured out, and I don’t want to return without accomplishing anything,” said Zhang Xiangguang.

Yang Jian, seeing this situation, didn’t continue asking.

After searching around, they finally arrived at the deepest part of the castle, inside a grand hall.

In the center of the hall was a large round table, but it was currently empty, devoid of anyone. No, that’s incorrect; there was one person.

An unremarkable foreign woman was sitting in an unnoticed corner of the round table. She was calm, seemingly quietly waiting for Yang Jian’s arrival.

Yang Jian stopped, assessing the woman from head to toe.

His intuition told him this woman was likely the ghost handler controlling the supernatural Nightmare.

“My name is Kelly, Mister Yang. I’ve been waiting here for you for quite some time,”

The foreign woman calmly said, proactively greeting Yang Jian.

“Kill her, and this castle will be completely occupied by the Evil Hound. Another building will be added to the dream world,” Zhang Xiangguang said.

Yang Jian eyed the woman, “Where are your companions? Did they truly abandon you?”

“Mister Yang, isn’t this what you’ve always hoped for?” Kelly, the foreign woman, replied.

Yang Jian chuckled with a hint of coldness, “Don’t act all innocent; it’s nauseating. Think back, who was it that pulled me into the dream trying to kill me here?”

“Yet you already defeated them, even killed several,” said Kelly.

Yang Jian approached boldly, “Defeat? Do you consider this a game or a match? Our conflict isn’t settled by wins and losses; it’s decided by life and death. You and your team are threats that must be eliminated. However, I’ll give you a chance to commit suicide, for when that thing acts, your end will be rather grim.”

He glanced at a massive Evil Hound baring its teeth, already near Kelly, eager to make a move and sending shivers down one’s spine.

Kelly fell silent, not speaking, just staring at Yang Jian with intense reluctance.

She didn’t want to die.

And she believed she had the right to live; no one could take that away.

However, her teammates had given up on her because they knew the Nightmare Castle couldn’t be defended. Pulling people into the dream only delayed the inevitable, not secured victory.

“I won’t give up easily,” Kelly said, slowly standing up from her chair.

“Of course, you have the right to resist, so use whatever means you have.” Yang Jian said calmly.

Kelly remained silent, but behind her, the wall flaked away, revealing a suit of armor covered in rust, equipped with a longsword and a helmet. There was no one inside the armor, as the gaps showed it was empty inside. However, eerily, the armor broke free from the wall and began to move.

“A suit of armor that can move? In this dream world, all supernatural phenomena should be ineffective.”

Yang Jian squinted his eyes, then saw Kelly’s body rapidly becoming blurry, seemingly disappearing.

“I see, this armor is the supernatural item where the Nightmare is stored, the source of the supernatural in this castle. You’re insane, giving up control of the Nightmare to release a ghost to kill me.”

He understood now.

Just like the source of the Ghost Dream World is the Evil Hound, the Nightmare Castle also has its source. Previously, the source was this foreign woman named Kelly, but now, Kelly chose to revive the ghost, losing control over the dream, and the source became this armor inhabited by the ghost.

“This is the best choice. If you’re willing to give up, I can stop all of this.” Kelly stared at Yang Jian.

“Naive.”

Yang Jian remained unmoved: “If you want to die, I won’t stop you. Since you’ve chosen to revive the ghost, just disappear obediently. The rest has nothing to do with you; I’ll handle this Nightmare’s supernatural phenomenon.”

“You’ll regret it. It will kill you all.” Kelly gritted her teeth, her body becoming increasingly blurred, while the empty armor behind her grew ever more active.

“Stop waiting, hurry up and disappear.”

Yang Jian was a bit impatient, wishing the foreign woman would just die quickly.

This foreign woman named Kelly chose to revive the ghost, which meant there was no turning back. She couldn’t scare Yang Jian into retreat and was ultimately consumed by the supernatural, her consciousness dissipating, and her body entirely departing from the Nightmare Castle.

Though this foreign woman died, she left Yang Jian with a problem.

“It’s over, I should go back now.” Zhang Xiangguang was clearly not planning to act, as he sheathed his knife and turned to leave.

“You’re leaving now?” Yang Jian asked.

Zhang Xiangguang said, “They’ve completely abandoned the Nightmare; they can no longer enter this castle. Taking over here with the Evil Hound is just a matter of time; there’s no need to confront a ghost head-on. It’s risky if the ghost kills us.”

“Makes sense.” Yang Jian thought about it and agreed there was no need to fight the ghost to the end. It really would be a loss if the ghost managed to kill them.

“Bite the thing to death and take over this castle.”

He ordered the Evil Hound.

At this moment.

With the opponent’s interference gone, the Evil Hounds increased in number. In just a moment, six or seven Evil Hounds appeared in the hall, surrounding the armor and lunging at it.

The old armor was not only hard but also moved very flexibly.

The longsword in its hand swung half a circle in the air, slashing through three Evil Hounds at once.

But the remaining Evil Hounds immediately tackled the armor to the ground and began biting violently.

Although the armor was hard, it gradually deformed, showing some effect.

Yet the next moment, the remaining Evil Hounds were killed by the armor.

“This is too slow; I don’t want to wait too long.” Yang Jian said, “You can shorten the confrontation with the Evil Hounds significantly by giving it a single swipe.”

Initially planning to leave, Zhang Xiangguang sighed at this point: “Alright.”

Soon, new Evil Hounds appeared and lunged again, and Zhang Xiangguang followed suit.

This time, the Evil Hounds were killed again, but Zhang Xiangguang’s slash cut off the arm holding the longsword from the armor.

Without a weapon, the eerie armor became a chew toy for the Evil Hounds, who tore into it mercilessly.

While biting, the armor gradually disassembled and disappeared.

It wouldn’t take long before the castle would completely become part of the Ghost Dream World.

“That’s good enough.”

Seeing this, Yang Jian thought the efficiency was impressive and ceased to pay further attention, sending Zhang Xiangguang away and letting him return to the previous classroom.

“I will keep my promise; you can move freely in the classroom but cannot leave here.”

“That’s enough.”

Zhang Xiangguang said, then threw the long knife he held to Yang Jian.

After Yang Jian took it, he left the Evil Hounds to watch over.

“Better not let Zhao Xiaoya leave here for now. Her thoughts are still dangerous; releasing her could cause trouble.” Zhang Xiangguang said.

“I don’t need a child’s help for now. She’ll stay here for a long time, until she returns to normal.” Yang Jian said.

Zhang Xiangguang added, “I’ll give you some free advice, collect more Ghost Money if you can. It’ll be useful in the future, and the more, the better.”

“Ghost Money?” Yang Jian pondered briefly, knowing it was useful, though hard to obtain, still rare in the supernatural circles.

However, he thought he might try his luck at headquarters. Updates are released by novel[f]ire.net

With this thought, he left here alone.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by novlove.com

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