Dream Ghost

Lin Ye did not delete the text message.

He placed his phone on the table, screen up, so the message was illuminated: "Return it, and we won't pursue the matter. If you don't, you'll face the consequences." He stared at the message for a long time, then picked up his phone, took a screenshot, and sent it to Chen Xuan.

Chen Xuan replied quickly: "Ignore them. The bottle has been moved to a safe place."

The safest place was a vault on the fourth basement floor of the association's headquarters. The sixteen bottles were locked in a temperature- and humidity-controlled cabinet, and only Chen Xuan and Dr. Jiang had the key. Lin Ye originally wanted to keep one—his father's bottle—but Chen Xuan disagreed. "If the Dream Weavers knew you still had one, they would stop at nothing to take it. With it in the vault, they can't get in."

Lin Ye did not argue. He knew Chen Xuan was right.

But that text message revealed one thing: Dreamweaver was in a panic. Sixteen fragments of consciousness, the souls of sixteen sacrifices—these were items they had collected over countless years. For Lin Ye to take them all at once was tantamount to destroying half of their inventory.

They will come and take it back.

And it will happen very quickly.

Lin Ye entered Chen Xuan's hospital room. Chen Xuan had changed out of his hospital gown and was wearing a dark jacket, sitting at the table writing something. When he saw Lin Ye come in, he put down his pen.

"I was just looking for you," Chen Xuan said. "Come and see."

A floor plan of the association's headquarters was spread out on the table. Chen Xuan circled several locations with a red pen—the office area, the canteen, the training room, the underground parking garage, and the entrance to the teleportation array.

"These are the locations where those seven moles most often appear," he said. "Fang Qing is mainly in the office area and near the teleportation array. The cook is in the cafeteria. The cleaning lady is in the office area and the corridor. The guy in the technical analysis room named Li Mo is in the equipment room and the warehouse. The field hunter named Sun Lei is mainly in the training room and the armory. The remaining two are a nurse in the medical room and a warehouse manager in the logistics department."

Lin Ye looked at the red circles and memorized their positions.

"When do you plan to make your move?"

"Don't take action," Chen Xuan said. "I told you, use them. I have a plan."

He flipped the floor plan to the back, where a line of text read: "False Intelligence - Dream Continent - Fourth Processing Plant".

"The Dreamweavers have more than one processing plant in the Dream Continent," Chen Xuan said. "The third processing plant is near the Misty Coast, and you've already taken it down. But there's a fourth processing plant deep in the Forest of Fear, where even higher-level dream creatures are kept, including scroll-level ones. If we spread the word that the Association is preparing to send people to investigate the fourth processing plant, the Dreamweavers will definitely send people to intercept them."

"Then we set up an ambush there."

"Yes," Chen Xuan said, "but not by setting an ambush to capture them. We'll ambush and follow them. When they arrive at the fourth processing plant, we won't take action, but we'll simply record their movement routes, personnel composition, and the location of their strongholds. Then we'll come back and wipe them all out in one fell swoop."

Lin Ye thought for a moment.

"Who is the bait?"

"You," Chen Xuan looked at him, "you are their highest priority target. If you go to the fourth processing plant, they will definitely come. And it won't be a mole, it will be a core member of the Dream Weaver Society."

"The risk is very high."

"Yes. That's why I won't let you go alone." Chen Xuan took an envelope from the drawer. "This is the action plan written by Gu Yan. He understands the Dreamweaver Society's operations better than you do. Take a look."

Lin Ye opened the envelope. Inside was a folded piece of paper covered with densely written words. Gu Yan's handwriting was messy, but every word was written with great effort.

"The Fourth Processing Plant is located in the center of the Forest of Fear, surrounded by three layers of defense: the first layer is mist, which erodes consciousness; the second layer consists of patrolling dream creatures, ranging from chapter-level to scroll-level; the third layer is the 'Gatekeeper'—similar to the one you encountered on the Misty Coast, but stronger. You'll need at least two Dreamweaver-level helpers to break through the first layer. Su Wanning's Residue Identification can deal with the mist, and Chen Xuan's Dream Anchor can lock onto directions. Leave the Gatekeeper of the third layer to me."

After reading the letter, Lin Ye folded it and put it back in the envelope.

"Gu Yan's health has not yet recovered."

"He said he can use his consciousness projection to enter the Dream Continent. Injuries to the projection won't affect his body, only his consciousness energy," Chen Xuan said. "His consciousness integrity has recovered from 60% to 65%. Supporting one projection shouldn't be a problem."

"When are we leaving?"

"Three days from now. In these three days, we need to convince the mole that you're really going. So you need to 'casually' reveal your itinerary to Fang Qing."

Lin Ye nodded.

"it is good."

After leaving Chen Xuan's hospital room, Lin Ye went to the cafeteria.

It was lunchtime, and the cafeteria was crowded. Lin Ye carried her tray and found a seat, which was diagonally opposite Fang Qing. Fang Qing was sitting by the window, with a bowl of noodles in front of her, slowly picking at them with her chopsticks.

Lin Ye didn't look at her. But his senses remained fixed on her.

He ate a few bites of food, took out his phone, and pretended to check messages. Then he said something into the phone—not loud, but loud enough for Fang Qing to hear: "Three days later, Dream Continent. Captain Chen wants me to go to the Fourth Processing Plant to investigate."

Fang Qing paused for a moment.

Less than half a second. Then she continued picking out noodles, her movements exactly the same as before. But Lin Ye caught that fleeting change—within her consciousness, that cold, solidified thing twitched.

It was as if a snake had received a signal.

Lin Ye put away his phone and continued eating.

In the afternoon, Lin Ye went to the training room.

Su Wanning was already waiting inside. She was wearing a black training outfit, her long hair tied in a ponytail, and she was stretching. When she saw Lin Ye come in, she stood up.

"Did Captain Chen tell you?"

"I said. We're going to the Dream Continent in three days."

"I'll go too," Su Wanning said. "My residue identification skills are useful in the fog."

"I know."

The two stood facing each other. Su Wanning's silver threads dangled from her fingertips, shimmering faintly under the light.

"What are we practicing today?" Lin Ye asked.

"Cooperation," Su Wanning said. "In the Dream Continent, you can't fight alone. You need to learn to cooperate with me. I'll be responsible for defense and reconnaissance, and you'll be responsible for attack. We haven't practiced this properly before."

Lin Ye nodded.

Su Wanning's silver threads unfurled, weaving a net in the air. It wasn't a net to trap enemies, but a net of perception—each thread was an antenna, capable of detecting subtle changes in the surrounding environment.

"You connect your sensory extensions to my sensory network of threads," she said. "This way, your sensory range can be expanded by at least two times."

Lin Ye closed his eyes and tried to extend his perception to Su Wanning's silk threads. It was difficult at first—his perception was "his own," while the silk threads were "someone else's." The two different sources of perception interfered when they came into contact, like two radio waves of different frequencies colliding.

"Don't use force," Su Wanning's voice came from the other end. "Relax. You're not controlling the threads; the threads are helping you."

Lin Ye slowly relaxed. He switched his perception from "active scanning" to "passive receiving"—not trying to control the threads, but simply "listening" to the information transmitted by them.

Then he heard it.

It wasn't sound. It was a more direct perception—the temperature, humidity, airflow, and fluctuations in consciousness captured by the threads all flooded into his mind. The range extended nearly twice as far as his own perception, approaching three hundred meters.

"Okay." He opened his eyes.

Su Wanning retracted the silk thread and nodded.

"You adapt faster than I expected."

"Because I trust you," Lin Ye said. "If I didn't trust you, I wouldn't have let your threads enter my senses."

Su Wanning paused for a moment, then turned around to tidy up the silk threads, not letting Lin Ye see her expression.

The training lasted for an entire afternoon. By evening, Lin Ye, with the aid of Su Wanning's silk threads, was able to simultaneously perceive all living and non-living things within a 300-meter radius. His perception of rule cracks and forms could also be transmitted through the silk threads, allowing Su Wanning to "see" the rule weaknesses he observed.

It was already dark when the two of them walked out of the training room.

The corridor was empty. Fang Qing's workstation was in the office area, out of sight from this angle. But Lin Ye's extended senses told him she was still there. She was working overtime, her fingers tapping on the keyboard, but her consciousness wasn't engaged—it was waiting.

Waiting for an instruction.

Lin Ye and Su Wanning entered the elevator. As the doors closed, Su Wanning suddenly said, "Lin Ye."

"Um."

Are you scared?

"What are you afraid of?"

"Three days later. Dream Continent. Dream Weaver Guild."

Lin Ye thought for a moment.

"I'm afraid," he said, "but being afraid is useless."

Su Wanning looked at the two shadows reflected in the elevator door.

"My father said something similar before he disappeared," she said. "He said, 'Being afraid is right. Being afraid will keep you alive. Only those who are not afraid will die.'"

The elevator has arrived. The doors have opened.

Lin Ye walked out, with Su Wanning following behind him.

"What does your father do?" Lin Ye asked.

“Like your father. A descendant of the Night Watch,” Su Wanning said. “But he’s not a fragment holder. He was just an ordinary Dreamer. Three years ago, he received a mission to investigate the seal rift in the Dream Continent. And then he never returned.”

"Didn't the association contact him?"

"We searched. We searched for three months, but we couldn't find him. Then we announced that he was missing." Su Wanning's voice was calm, but Lin Ye could hear something beneath the calm. "I never believed he was dead. I felt that he was somewhere, just unable to come back."

Lin Ye stopped and turned around to look at her.

"I will help you find him."

Su Wanning looked at him, and the corridor light reflected two small points of light in her eyes.

"You've already helped me a lot."

"That's not enough," Lin Ye said. "It won't be enough until your father comes back."

He turned and continued walking.

Su Wanning stood there, watching his retreating figure.

Her eyes felt a little hot.

But she didn't cry.

three days later.

At four in the morning, in front of the teleportation array on the third basement floor of the association headquarters.

Lin Ye, Su Wanning, Chen Xuan, and Gu Yan stood in the center of the rune array. Gu Yan's body was still lying in the medical room, but his consciousness projection stood next to Lin Ye, looking exactly like the real person, except for a faint shadow around the edges.

"My consciousness projection can last for six hours," Gu Yan said. "After six hours, my consciousness will begin to dissipate. So regardless of whether I have gained anything, I must return within six hours."

Chen Xuan nodded, took out four black anchors from his pocket, and gave one to each person.

"The anchor point is already bound to the teleportation array. No matter where you are in the Dream Continent, as long as you activate the anchor point, you will be teleported back," he said. "But if your consciousness is locked, the anchor point can't save you. So don't get caught."

Lin Ye gripped the anchor point tightly.

"Set off."

The rune array lit up with a white light.

The light engulfed everything.

Lin Ye felt that falling sensation again—his consciousness slipped out of his body and plunged into a bottomless abyss. The wind howled in his ears, and endless darkness surrounded him.

Then, he landed.

A grayish-white fog. Boundless and endless.

Black sand and gravel. The sound of ocean waves in the distance.

Misty Coast.

This time, however, the fog was thinner than before. After the seal was broken, the entire dream continent was changing. The fog was dissipating, the sky was brightening, and there was a strange, but not unpleasant, smell in the air.

"Follow me." Gu Yan walked in front.

The four people lined up and walked into the fog.