Dream Ghost

The fog is getting thicker and thicker.

Lin Ye followed behind Gu Yan, the path beneath their feet changing from black gravel to gray flagstones. The flagstones were old, their edges covered in moss, making them somewhat slippery. More things began to appear within the misty walls on either side—not abandoned buildings, but complete structures. Stone pillars, archways, steps—like the ruins of some ancient temple.

"Where is this place?" Lin Ye asked.

"The outer perimeter of the third seal." Gu Yan didn't turn around. "Three thousand years ago, the first group of dreamers built three seals here, trapping the primordial fear in the deepest part of the dream continent. The first seal is on the outermost layer, the second seal is in the middle, and the third seal is at the core. For three thousand years, the Dream Weaver Society has been eroding the seals. Now the first and second seals are practically defunct, and only the third seal is still functioning."

What powers the Third Seal?

"Fragments," Gu Yan said. "The seven fragments were originally used to maintain the seal. But the Dream Weaver extracted the fragments from the seal and scattered them in human consciousness. Then, it waits for the fragments to attach to suitable people before harvesting them back. With each fragment harvested, the seal weakens a little."

"Why didn't they just put the fragments back into the seal?"

"Because the seal requires 'living' fragments." Gu Yan's voice deepened. "The fragments must be bound to a person's consciousness to generate the power to maintain the seal. If you just stuff the fragment in, it's just a dead stone, useless. That's why the Dream Weaver Society needs living sacrifices—after the fragment holder is harvested, their consciousness is still inside the fragment. When the fragment is placed in the seal, the consciousness becomes part of the seal, strengthening it."

"Are they reinforcing the seal or opening it now?"

"Open it," Gu Yan said. "They use fear to dilute the rules of the seal and use fragments to weaken its structure. Once the seal is weak enough, they will use all seven fragments to open it simultaneously."

What happens after the primal fear is unleashed?

Gu Yan stopped and turned to look at Lin Ye.

Have you ever met people whose consciousness has been drained?

"I've seen it."

"Once the primal fear emerges, all of humanity will become like that," Gu Yan said. "Not death, but something more terrifying than death—existence, but without consciousness. Able to breathe, able to have a heartbeat, but empty inside. This will continue for a lifetime, until the body dies."

Lin Ye remained silent for a few seconds.

"So we must stop them."

"Yes." Gu Yan turned and continued walking. "But stopping them isn't just about defeating them. The seal is already too weak; even without the Dream Weaver Society, it wouldn't last long. We need to repair the seal."

"How do I fix it?"

"Put the seven fragments back," Gu Yan said. "The living fragments. Each fragment needs the consciousness of a living person as a vessel. Seven people, willingly offering themselves, became part of the seal."

Lin Ye stopped in his tracks.

"You mean, to prevent the primal fear from awakening, seven people need to seal themselves inside?"

"That's right." Gu Yan didn't turn around. "The holders of the first and second fragments have already been harvested, and their consciousnesses are already sealed inside. The sixth and seventh were predecessors from hundreds of years ago, and they are also sealed inside. Now, the only ones still outside are you, Chen Xuan, and me."

"Your fragments are not on you."

"But my consciousness is still connected to the fragments," Gu Yan said. "If I enter the seal, my consciousness will be attracted by the fragments and automatically return to its original position."

"So the three of you are enough?"

"Not enough," Gu Yan said. "The seal requires all seven fragments to activate simultaneously. We only have three living members, plus the four already sealed, which is barely enough to activate it. But after activation, the seal will restart, and the three of us—will be trapped inside forever."

Lin Ye watched Gu Yan's retreating figure.

"Knowing all this, why did you still come?"

Gu Yan finally stopped. He stood in the fog, his back to Lin Ye, and remained silent for a long time.

"Because I don't want to run away anymore," he said. "Three years ago, I chose to live and become an ordinary person. But in these three years, not a single day has passed without regret. I watched Shen Yutong become an empty shell, watched Zhao Min become an empty shell, watched the Dream Weaver Society get closer and closer to its goal every day, and I could do nothing. Every night I can hear the voices of those who have been harvested—not ghosts, but the consciousness remaining in the fragments. They are calling for help, calling my name, asking me why I didn't save them."

He turned around and looked at Lin Ye.

"So I came. Not to be a hero. To atone for my sins."

Lin Ye looked into his eyes. Those eyes were no longer cold, but held something deep and heavy—pain, but also determination.

"What about Su Wanning and Chen Xuan? Do they know about this?"

"Chen Xuan knows," Gu Yan said. "He's known for five years. He's been searching for another way, one that doesn't want to sacrifice anyone. But he hasn't found one. Su Wanning doesn't know. She thinks she's only here to save Chen Xuan."

"What do you want me to do?"

"After you meet Chen Xuan, he will tell you everything," Gu Yan said. "Then you will need to make a choice—either to offer yourself up and become part of the seal, or to refuse and try to escape. I will not make the choice for you. Neither will Chen Xuan. It is your own decision."

Lin Ye did not speak.

He continued walking with Gu Yan.

At the end of the stone-paved road was a huge stone gate.

The stone gate was at least ten meters high, with two tightly closed doors covered in runes. Unlike the runes Lin Ye had seen before, these runes were not black, but golden, emitting a faint glow. However, the glow was very weak, like a candle flame about to go out.

There was a person standing on each side of the stone gate.

On the left is an elderly man in a white robe, with snow-white hair and a kind face, like a benevolent grandfather. On the right is a woman in a black robe, in her thirties, with short hair and sharp eyes, like a drawn sword.

Gu Yan stopped in front of the stone gate.

"The two guardians of the Dream Weavers," he said softly. "The one in white robes is 'The Compassionate Father,' and the one in black robes is 'The Sharp Blade.' Both are at the level of Dream Realm Overlords."

The loving father looked at Gu Yan and smiled slightly.

"You brought a young child." His voice was gentle, like an elder speaking to a younger person. "This is the third fragment? Younger than I expected."

Li Ren didn't speak. Her gaze fell on Lin Ye, as if she were examining an object.

"Get out of the way," Gu Yan said.

"You know the rules," the loving father said. "To enter the Third Seal, you must pass our test. You were the same way back then."

"I don't have time."

"You never have time," the kind father sighed. "Let's keep it simple then. You two, come at me together. Hold out for three minutes, and we'll step aside."

The sharp blade took a step forward.

Her hand emerged from her black robe, grasping a longsword formed from condensed black mist. Runes flowed along the blade, and with each flow, the sword's aura grew stronger.

Gu Yan turned to look at Lin Ye.

"I'll hold back the blade. You deal with the benevolent father."

"How long can I hold out?"

"I don't know," Gu Yan said. "Just do your best."

The blade moved.

Her speed was unbelievable; the black longsword sliced ​​through the mist, aiming straight for Gu Yan's chest. Gu Yan dodged to the side, but his movements were slower than Lin Ye had anticipated—he was, after all, just an ordinary person, fighting only through a projection of his consciousness. His body couldn't keep up with his reactions.

The first sword strike grazed his arm. The black mist left a wound on his arm, the edges of which slowly crumbled, as if corroded.

He barely dodged the second sword strike, but stumbled and almost fell.

The third sword—

Lin Ye didn't have time to watch.

His loving father walked up to him.

The old man had no weapons, no murderous intent; he simply stood there, smiling as he looked at him.

"Little one, your understanding of rules is very strong," the loving father said, "but you rely on them too much. Rules aren't everything. Sometimes, you need something outside the rules."

He reached out and gently patted Lin Ye's shoulder.

It was a light touch, but Lin Ye felt as if his consciousness had been gripped by a giant hand. His extended senses, the cracks in the rules, his perception of form—all his abilities vanished in that instant. He became an ordinary person.

"I've sealed your abilities," the benevolent father said. "Now, you can only fight me in the most primal way: fists. Speed. Reaction."

Lin Ye took a step back and assumed a defensive stance.

The loving father did not move.

"Come on," he said. "You only have three minutes."

Lin Ye rushed forward.

His fist slammed towards his father's face. The father tilted his head slightly, dodging the blow. His movements were slow, but every action was perfectly timed, as if he knew exactly where Lin Ye was going to strike.

Lin Ye threw more than a dozen punches, but missed every single one.

The loving father didn't even fight back.

"Your movements are too straightforward," he said. "You're used to using your sensory extension to predict your opponent's movements, so you haven't learned how to 'guess.' When sensory extension stops working, you become blind."

Lin Ye stopped, panting.

Three minutes. One minute has already passed.

He looked towards Gu Yan—Gu Yan had already been struck by four swords, and the black mist had left four festering wounds on his body. His movements were becoming slower and more labored.

Lin Ye turned his head and stared at his kind father.

It's not about extending perception; it's about using the eyes.

The old man's stance. His weight is on his left foot, indicating he habitually dodges to the right. His right hand is slightly raised, suggesting he might use it to block. His breathing is steady, indicating he doesn't see Lin Ye as a threat.

Lin Ye rushed forward again.

This time, he didn't slap his father's face. He slapped his father's right foot.

The loving father instinctively dodged to the right—but Lin Ye's fist was already waiting where his right foot landed.

boom.

He punched his kind father in the knee.

The old man swayed, and the smile on his face disappeared for the first time.

"Good," he said. "You've learned to observe."

Lin Ye didn't stop. He continued to throw punches, each one hitting the path his father was taking. It wasn't based on prediction, but on "understanding"—understanding the old man's habits, center of gravity, and breathing.

At the end of the second minute, the loving father took five steps back.

Lin Ye threw thirty-two punches, and seven of them landed.

A trace of golden liquid spilled from the corner of the loving father's mouth—not blood, but a condensation of some kind of conscious energy.

"The time has come," the loving father said.

The sharp blade simultaneously sheathed its sword.

Gu Yan knelt on the ground, his body bearing at least seven or eight wounds. His body was slightly transparent, as if it might dissipate at any moment.

The loving father looked at Lin Ye and remained silent for a few seconds.

"You've passed," he said. "Go in."

The stone gate slowly opened.

Behind the door was complete darkness.

There is light in the darkness.

It wasn't lamplight, nor sunlight, but a faint, bluish glow seeping from beneath the ground. It was as if something deep underground was emitting light, which penetrated the ground and illuminated the space behind the door.

Lin Ye helped Gu Yan up, and the two walked through the stone gate.

The space behind the door was vast, like an underground cave. The cave walls were covered with dense, golden runes, though most of them had faded. On the ground was a huge circular groove, about ten meters in diameter, inlaid with seven crystals of different colors.

Six are lit. One is dark.

Of the six bright spots, four are very pale, as if they are about to go out; the other two are darker and are still glowing steadily.

The dark area is empty.

The groove was shaped like a ring, with a ball of pale blue light suspended in its center. The light was soft, like a burning blue flame. At the center of the flame, something was slowly wriggling, as if asleep.

The Third Seal.

Two people were standing next to the circle.

Chen Xuan and Su Wanning.

Chen Xuan looked terrible, his eyes sunken and his lips pale. His right hand was pressed against the ring, light flowing through his palm—he was using his will to maintain the seal. Su Wanning stood beside him, her hands bound by some unseen force, unable to move.

"Lin Ye." Su Wanning's eyes lit up when she saw him, but then immediately dimmed again. "You shouldn't have come."

Chen Xuan raised his head and glanced at Lin Ye.

"You've come," he said, his voice hoarse.

"I'll take you back," Lin Ye said.

Chen Xuan shook his head.

"There's no going back," he said. "You see."

He pointed to the blue flame in the center of the circle.

At the center of the flames was a crack. The crack wasn't large, only about the thickness of a finger, but it was slowly widening. With each step it widened, the golden runes on the cave walls dimmed a little.

"The seal is about to give way," Chen Xuan said. "It has at most two more days."

"Then let's fix it now," Lin Ye said. "Gu Yan said to put the fragments back."

Chen Xuan looked at Lin Ye, his eyes filled with a complex emotion.

Do you know what it means to put it back?

"Know."

"Are you willing?"

Lin Ye remained silent for a few seconds.

He stared at the blue flame, at the widening crack, at the fading runes on the cave walls. He thought of Shen Yutong, of Zhao Min, of those whose consciousness had been drained. He remembered the photo wall he'd seen in the basement, of the "thirty days" countdown.

He doesn't have thirty days left.

He only has two days.

"I do," he said.

Chen Xuan closed his eyes.

A tear slid down his cheek.

"You're just like your father," he whispered. "A complete fool."

Lin Ye was taken aback.

"What?"

Chen Xuan opened his eyes and looked at him.

"Don't you know?" he said. "Your father was one of the first Night's Watch. Three thousand years ago, he was one of the seven who sealed the primal fear here. It's no accident that the fragment is attached to you. It's your bloodline calling it."

Lin Ye stood there, unable to utter a single word.

His father.

His father, whom he had never met.

His mother said that his father had died before he was born. He died in an accident.

It turns out that wasn't an accident.

That's a seal.

Gu Yan walked to the circular ring, squatted down, and reached out to touch the empty groove.

"My piece is here," he said. "I can feel it. It's down there."

He looked up at Lin Ye.

"Are you ready?"

Lin Ye walked to the roundabout and extended his right hand.

The blue mark on my palm is glowing.

The light resonated with the blue flame at the center of the ring, causing the flame to flicker and the cracks to widen.

"Hurry," Chen Xuan said, "the seal is collapsing at an accelerated rate."

Lin Ye looked at the crack.

He saw what was inside the crack.

It is not darkness.

It is a pair of eyes.

Huge, golden eyes without pupils.

Those eyes were looking at him.

It's not a threat. It's not fear.

It's a very ancient, very deep... sadness.

The primal fear is not a monster.

It is a consciousness that has been sealed here for three thousand years.

A lonely, forgotten consciousness yearning to be understood.

Lin Ye suddenly understood.

"It's not trying to devour humans," he said.

"What?" Chen Xuan looked at him.

"It doesn't want to devour humans," Lin Ye repeated. "It wants to go home. It doesn't belong here. Three thousand years ago, the first dreamers sealed it here, not because it was harmful, but because they didn't know how to send it back."

He looked into those golden eyes.

"Do you know how to get back?" he asked.

The flame flickered.

A voice echoed in his mind.

It's not language. It's a direct understanding.

"The door... requires... seven keys."

"Seven fragments," Lin Ye said. "Activating them simultaneously will open the door."

"Yes."

Lin Ye withdrew his hand and looked at Chen Xuan and Gu Yan.

"We don't need to sacrifice ourselves," he said. "We just need to activate the fragments simultaneously, open a door, and let it go back."

Chen Xuan was stunned.

How did you know?

"It told me that," Lin Ye said. "It kept trying to tell us, but nobody listened. Because we were too scared, nobody wanted to understand it."

He looked into those golden eyes.

"I will not become part of the seal," he said. "I will help you open the door."

The mark on the palm emitted a strong blue light.

Light surged into the ring, into the six crystals. The darkest recess began to glow—Gu Yan's fragments rose from the ground and automatically returned to their positions.

All seven fragments lit up.

The blue flame in the center of the ring suddenly shot up, and the crack widened. But this time, it wasn't collapsing; it was opening up.

A circular channel appeared in the center of the flames.

On the other side of the passage was a starry sky.

It's not the starry sky of the human world. It's another sky, another color, another dimension.

The golden eyes rose from the crack and drifted toward the passage.

As it passed Lin Ye, the voice rang out again:

"Thanks."

Golden eyes entered the passage.

The passage is closed.

The flames went out.

The seven fragments on the ring shattered simultaneously, transforming into seven beams of light that shot into the sky and disappeared into the mist.

The seal has disappeared.

It's not a crash.

It has fulfilled its mission.

The golden runes on the cave walls all lit up, then slowly faded, like soldiers who had completed their mission and could finally rest.

Chen Xuan slumped to the ground, panting heavily.

Su Wanning's restraints disappeared, and she collapsed to the ground, looking at Lin Ye.

"How...how did you know?"

Lin Ye looked at his palm.

The blue mark is still there, but the color has faded. It's not a decline, it's calm.

"Because it told me," he said. "Primal fear is not our enemy. We are its enemy. We've kept it locked up here for three thousand years, not because it's harming us, but because we're afraid of it."

Gu Yan stood beside the circular ring, looking at the fragments and debris.

"My fragments... have disappeared."

"But your consciousness remains," Lin Ye said. "You don't need the fragments. You are strong enough as you are."

Gu Yan remained silent for a long time, then smiled.

It wasn't a bitter smile, but a relieved one.

"Perhaps you're right."

The fog has lifted.

It wasn't just a small patch; the fog was dissipating across the entire Dreamland.

Sunlight—not the sunlight of the real world, but a warm, golden radiance—sprinkled down from the sky, illuminating the black sand beach, the gray stone slabs, the abandoned buildings, and the fallen statues.

Standing in the light, Lin Ye looked at this continent that had been sealed for three thousand years and smiled for the first time.

"Let's go," he said. "Let's go home."

Chen Xuan stood up and walked to Lin Ye.

He looked into Lin Ye's eyes for a long time.

"Your father will be proud of you."

Lin Ye did not speak.

He took out the black anchor and held it in his palm.

The light engulfed everything.

Association headquarters.

The teleportation array on the third underground level lit up with white light.

Lin Ye, Su Wanning, Chen Xuan, and Gu Yan—the four of them appeared simultaneously in the center of the rune array.

Zhou Zhou stood there, stunned, at the control panel.

"Gu...Gu Yan?"

Gu Yan nodded.

"have not seen you for a long time."

Lin Ye stepped out of the teleportation array and took out his phone.

There are no unread messages on the screen.

He glanced at the date.

There are 28 days left in the 30-day countdown.

But that countdown is no longer important.

Because no one is counting down anymore.

Lin Ye walked out of the association headquarters and stood at the door.

The sun was shining brightly, and the sky was a beautiful blue.

He took a deep breath and then slowly exhaled.

The mark on the palm glowed faintly, as if it were smiling.

Preview: The remnants of the Dream Weaver Society are still active; Gu Yan's return to the association causes internal turmoil; Lin Ye begins to explore the secrets of his bloodline; and the "Primal Fear" that was sent away opens its golden eyes in another dimension.