What Cultivators fear most is the Heart Demon. Yet this Hundred-Faced Nightmare absorbed one Divine Sense after another—it’s a wonder it didn’t drive itself insane. Hee Lingchuan raised an eyebrow. "To completely forget the past... isn’t that the same as dying?"
"You could see it that way, or you could call it a rebirth," the Monster Head said. "In our world, memories are the most worthless of things. Otherwise, Hundred Faces wouldn’t have spawned one self after another."
"A Dream Realm is a world in itself?"
"Of course. A Dream Realm is a reflection of the real world; they are two sides of the same coin."
Hee Lingchuan gestured to their surroundings. "This isn’t a Dream Realm, is it?" The Soul-Catching Mirror had told him it wasn’t, but he wanted to be sure.
"Of course not! We thought this was a Soul Village—a lingering place for Dead Souls!" The Monster Head’s eyes widened. "But after observing it more closely, we realized no Soul Village looks like this. It’s too strange, completely different from any we’ve ever visited."
"You’ve been to other Soul Villages?" ’What does that mean? Could the Mirror’s assessment of Panlong City be wrong too?’
He’d only asked offhandedly, not expecting to stumble upon something strange.
"Dream Realms and Soul Villages sometimes intersect. When we travel at night, we occasionally wander into a Soul Village." The Monster Head’s eyes darted about. "Soul Villages are naturally formed and often fade away just as naturally, beyond mortal control. But this place... this place... This place of yours seems to be alive!"
Its fear was palpable as it uttered the last few words.
Hee Lingchuan’s interest was piqued. "Alive? How so?"
The Monster Head mulled it over, only speaking after Hee Lingchuan had prompted it twice. "We answer the summons of Curse Masters and occasionally must enter the real world. The resistance one feels when crossing from the ethereal to the physical is immense. Not all Nightmares can overcome such a barrier."
Hee Lingchuan nodded. ’That makes sense. The boundary between worlds should be clearly defined. Otherwise, if everyone could just casually drop in on one another, what kind of chaos would erupt?’
"When we found you, we thought this was just an ordinary Dream Realm." The Monster Head was filled with bitterness and sorrow as it recalled how it had been duped. "Only when we tried to reshape it did we discover it wouldn’t obey us at all! We’ve only ever felt such powerful resistance in the real world, as Nightmares cannot alter reality. As for Soul Villages, my true form, Hundred Faces, has even used its immense power to forcibly make localized changes to them in the past."
’Your true form was dragged into a bottomless abyss by this world’s guardian,’ Hee Lingchuan silently swallowed the retort.
The Hundred-Faced Nightmare’s power was undeniable. Its sheer size and presence upon arrival were a testament to that.
If the giant red shadow hadn’t intervened, Hee Lingchuan would have stood no chance against it.
"This place even knows how to disguise itself to lure us in. If that’s not being alive, what is?" the Monster Head added. "To be ’alive’ means to have self-awareness, to know its own purpose. You could even say it’s awake. What kind of Soul Village acts like this?"
The creature had finally realized, and it felt utterly aggrieved. After all, Hee Lingchuan was no match for the true Hundred Faces, but it had been defeated before it could even unleash a single one of its ultimate moves.
"So, what kind of place is this?"
Even the worldly Clone of the Hundred-Faced Nightmare could only answer honestly, "I don’t know. I only know that it bears us deep malice, and it has been spying on us this entire time!"
’The Soul Village—no, Panlong City—has been spying on them?’
Hee Lingchuan recalled that the first two times he entered Panlong City, he’d also felt like he was being watched, as if there were nowhere to hide from an unseen gaze.
That feeling disappeared later, but he hadn’t forgotten it.
Now that the Nightmare had brought it up again, Hee Lingchuan also felt that something was amiss.
’Indeed, what kind of Soul Village is like this? Compared to Panlong City, the Soul-Catching Mirror’s Soul Village was as pure as a newborn babe.’
’What in the world is this place?’
’Is everything that happens here truly just a reenactment of past history?’
He knew one thing more than the Nightmare: Panlong City was inside the Grand Square Pot.
’So, do these abnormalities originate from the Grand Square Pot?’
"That eye on your forehead, what’s it for?" The vertical pupil on its brow was currently closed, leaving only a thin slit.
Hee Lingchuan hadn’t forgotten the unpleasant feeling of being stared at by that massive eye; it was as if all the secrets in his heart were being laid bare.
"It can see into the deepest fears of the human heart." The Nightmare licked its lips. "That allows us to tailor the Dream Realm. But the strange thing is, you don’t have any."
"I don’t have what?"
"I couldn’t find any true fear inside your heart."
"Oh?" Hee Lingchuan scratched his head, looking a bit smug. "Guess I really am fearless, huh?"
"Fear doesn’t necessarily mean cowardice; it can stem from attachments and regrets. In short, every heart has a weak point. Otherwise, you Cultivators wouldn’t need to painstakingly train your Mental Realm or pursue Slaying the Three Corpses and Attaining Enlightenment. But you..." The Monster Head sized him up with a peculiar gaze.
"You have nothing."
’This person’s heart held no fear, no attachments, no anger, and no regrets. At most, there was a faint trace of worry, but that concern over life and death was too abstract to be personified or exploited.’
The Monster Head asked him, "What kind of monster are you?"
Hee Lingchuan gave a wry smile.
’What does it mean to be asked that by a monster?’
’Is it because my life before I transmigrated was so muddled and uneventful?’
’That’s normal for an ordinary person, okay?’
’In his world, wasn’t that how most people lived? You worked yourself to the bone at your job, and you could finally rest after a smooth burial.’
’If your emotions were that volatile, how could you be a good, diligent cog in the machine?’
He changed the subject. "Alright. Seeing as you’ve answered with some sincerity, I’ll let you choose whether to live or die."
"If you want to die, go see it." Hee Lingchuan pointed to the Juluo Tree by the water.
"If you want to live, find Cheng Yu for me!"
"Find Cheng Yu?" A glint appeared in the Monster Head’s eyes. "I have a pact with him. As long as he doesn’t act against us, we are forbidden from harming him."
’When dealing with a monster like this, a Curse Master would naturally take precautions.’
"I don’t need you to make a move. Just find his whereabouts for me." A faint smile played on Hee Lingchuan’s lips. "Don’t tell me you can’t even find him?"
"If he doesn’t summon me, I’ll need something that belongs to him."
"Blood."
"That works." The Monster Head was much more straightforward this time. "But I need to rest! Right now, I’m willing but powerless. I can’t possibly break through the barrier to locate him in the real world!"
"When will you be ready?"
"For the next seven or eight days, you’ll have to provide me with Sacrificial Offerings of incense. It would be best if you could find me something to eat, too."
"Something to eat?"
"Souls."
"Oh." Hee Lingchuan shook his head. "Don’t have any."
’Of course, there are souls in the Soul Village, but they’re all Heroic Spirits. This Monster Head probably can’t stomach them.’
The Monster Head let out a long sigh. "It’s a shame our idol is gone. It had a huge amount of Power of Incense stored inside."
"Your idol?" Hee Lingchuan’s interest was piqued. "Was it carved from wood?"
"Yes, yes! Carved from wood found at the bottom of the sea." The Monster Head looked at him with hopeful eyes. "Did you manage to grab it?"
He had brought back some wooden fragments from the fire. Pieced together, they would indeed form an idol. "I did manage to get some fragments from Cheng Yu’s place, but this is a Soul Village, so..."
’But I left that thing in the real world. I shouldn’t be able to bring it into the Panlong Dream Realm... right?’
"Gimme, gimme! Of course you can bring it in!"
Hee Lingchuan tentatively reached into his robes and, to his surprise, actually pulled out a cloth bundle.
He untied it and looked inside. Weren’t those the idol’s fragments?
The Monster Head cried out repeatedly, "Give them to me, give them to me!"
Hee Lingchuan held the bundle in his hand, weighing it. "You can recover just by eating these?"
"Yes! I can recover about half my strength. It’ll be more than enough to find that person for you."
The more eager it became, the more unhurried Hee Lingchuan was. "In that case, let’s make a pact first."
’So this Monster Head wouldn’t slack on the job.’
The Nightmare had no choice but to swear a vicious oath. It vowed that if it ever dared to feign compliance, harm Hee Lingchuan, or even just try to brush him off, its soul would be devoured by a hundred insects, and it would die in excruciating torment.
It had no idea what these "hundred insects" were and was secretly pleased that it was just an empty threat. But then, it saw several wisps of faint, red smoke drift in from the south. They were inconspicuous at first, but would sometimes suddenly coalesce into a vivid red in midair before instantly dispersing again.
As they arrived, the Monster Head’s voice echoed in the air.
The words of its vow were replayed several times, filling the air with murmuring whispers, as if a hundred Monster Heads were swearing the oath at once.
The Monster Head’s expression changed the moment it heard this. It stared at the ethereal smoke as if it had just seen a ghost.
"The Three Corpses Insect!" it shrieked. "Why is the Three Corpses Insect here? How are you still alive?!"
This was the first time it had ever seen the Three Corpses Insect—creatures that instinctively used Mind-Bending and fed on malicious thoughts—appear in a Soul Village, let alone coexist peacefully with the local inhabitants and the man standing before it.
This completely shattered its understanding of the world.
Even a Nightmare didn’t like being so close to the Three Corpses Insect.
Hee Lingchuan grinned and extended a finger. The Three Corpses Insect swirled around his fingertip, appearing surprisingly docile. "Remember, you just swore a solemn oath to them. If you violate it, they will be the Executioner."
The Monster Head shuddered violently.
In truth, Hee Lingchuan himself was a little surprised.
Although he saw the Three Corpses Insect every time he passed through the city gate, they had never paid him any attention.
’Why the sudden change of heart today? Were they giving me some face in front of an outsider?’
’Or was it because I had lured the true form of the Hundred-Faced Nightmare here, giving them a grand feast, and now they feel favorably toward me as a result?’
’Then again, could the Three Corpses Insect even feel "favorably" toward someone?’
’This thing can’t even be considered a "living creature," can it?’
They swirled around his finger, exuding a bone-chilling cold. Just before his teeth could start chattering, Hee Lingchuan quickly pulled his finger back. The Three Corpses Insect then flew toward the Monster Head and, under its terrified gaze, burrowed into its nostrils and ears.
"AH! NO, NO, NO, NO, NO!"
Was resistance futile?
The Three Corpses Insect still drilled into its brain.
The Monster Head shrieked, "Don’t eat me!"
"As long as you obediently keep your promise, they won’t eat you." Hee Lingchuan yawned. "They’re just lying dormant inside, supervising you."
’Otherwise, he knew too little about a monster like the Nightmare and could easily fall into its trap.’
The Nightmare’s face fell, its expression one of utter despair.
"Alright, time to get to work." Ignoring its mood, Hee Lingchuan picked up the Monster Head and held it close to the fragments of the idol.