A thick fog enveloped everything.

When Fang Zheng opened his eyes again, he and Maria had reappeared on the platform by the lake. Not far behind them, Irene was looking at their figures in surprise.

"Wait, outsider... why are you suddenly... Ms. Maria?!"

Looking at Maria beside Fang Zheng, Irene widened her eyes in surprise. Although the crow mask obscured her expression, from Irene's panicked tone, one could tell how shaken she was at the moment.

"Why are you here? What on earth is..."

"Hello, Irene, long time no see..."

Hearing Irene's voice, Maria turned around and smiled at her, while Fang Zheng set his eyes on the rocking chair next to Irene. At this moment, Master William was no longer on the rocking chair. Instead, there were shrunken clothes and a pile of things that looked like ashes.

"What's going on?"

Seeing this, Fang Zheng raised his eyebrows and looked at Irene. He didn't think that Irene had killed Master William. After all, Irene and Master William had no grudges against each other, and... even if she wanted to kill him, she wouldn't have waited until he left.

"I don't know either."

Facing Fang Zheng's question, Irene shook her head.

"Just now, Master William was fine, then he suddenly laughed and said, 'This is really unexpected'... Then, his body suddenly caught fire and turned into this..."

“Aaaaaaah…!!”

However, just as Irene's words fell, a painful wail suddenly appeared, interrupting Irene's words. The three turned their heads and looked towards the place where the sound came from. They saw a huge spider in the center of the lake, raising its body high, looking up at the night sky, and making a sound similar to human crying.

“Wuwuwu… Wuwuwu…”

The crying sounded creepy, but they could also feel the sadness and pain in the spider's heart. Then the three saw the spider turn its head and look in their direction. Then, flames emerged from the spider's body, and in the blink of an eye, the spider disappeared from everyone's sight.

Then, a bright red light slowly emerged.

A huge blood moon descended silently from the dark clouds. At the same time, everyone could faintly hear the cry of a baby.

“Wow…Wow…”

“…Did you hear that?”

Maria frowned and looked at the two of them uneasily, and Irene nodded.

"I heard it, Ms. Maria, it sounds like a baby crying...what about you?"

“…”

However, Fang Zheng did not answer Irene's question. He just narrowed his eyes and stared at the huge red blood moon in front of him. Fang Zheng had not felt it before, but just now, when the spider was engulfed by the flames, Fang Zheng felt that the power that originally belonged to the spider flew into the sky as if attracted by something, and then was engulfed by another existence.

And now it seems... he seems to have finally found the culprit of this nightmare.

"I see……"

After muttering to himself, Fang Zheng turned around.

"Let's go back to the church first."

On the way back to the church, Irene couldn't help her curiosity and asked Maria about everything. After all, the disappearance of all the main hunters in the church overnight had a huge impact, which was almost a serious blow to the church. Not to mention that there was someone like Maria who had a high reputation in the healing church. This was another reason why the church collapsed in the later period. It was because those senior and powerful people either died, disappeared, or quit. There was no one to cover the place.

It's like the current acting archbishop of the Healing Church is actually Amelia, Lawrence's maid... This shows how short-handed the church was at the time.

Maria's return obviously made Irene very excited. Fang Zheng could even feel that she seemed to have put down a certain burden. Although it was not nice to say so, in Irene's eyes, perhaps even if the sky fell, Maria would still be there to hold it up, and she would not have to worry about those troublesome things anymore.

Maria had a complicated expression when facing Irene's passionate words, because in the dream just now, she had learned about the history and truth of this world. If everything that the stranger said was true, then everything the Healing Church did could only be described as "foolish beyond belief".

Humans were born in the abyss, left the abyss because of their desire for fire, but actively sought to return...

But now…

Thinking of this, Maria also had mixed feelings. She once thought that her whole life would be spent in that endless nightmare. Maria even thought about committing suicide, but she didn't expect that she would be able to escape from that nightmare one day. Although she was not in the real world at the moment, for Maria, just leaving the nightmare that had bound her for countless years was enough.

What should they do after this nightmare ends?

Maria couldn't help but start thinking about this question, but she couldn't get an answer. She had spent her whole life hunting, and the people Maria knew were either dead or missing. It was unknown how many people were alive in the entire town of Yharnam... When this nightmare was over, what would be left?

When Fang Zheng brought Maria and Irene back to the church, they found that the situation here seemed to have not changed. Aureliana curled up in the chair in pain, looking as if she had no strength at all, while Ms. Sophie was still sitting there motionless, and it seemed that the effect of the sedative was still taking effect.

Seeing Fang Zheng and others coming back, the little girl shouted happily, then ran over and hugged Fang Zheng.

"I'm so glad you're okay!"

"I'm fine."

Looking at the little girl in front of him, Fang Zheng reached out and touched her head. At the same time, Dr. Yusefka also came over. She nodded at Fang Zheng first, then looked at Irene. However, when Yusefka saw Maria behind Irene, she could hardly hide her shock.

"Ms. Maria? You're still alive?"

"Yes, Yusefka, it's nice to see you here."

Seeing Yusufka, Maria's expression relaxed a lot. Although time flies, the woman in front of her is much older than Yusufka in Maria's memory, but no matter what, being able to see someone she knows and is familiar with here still makes Maria feel full of comfort.

"I see the blood moon rising...what should we do next?"

After greeting Maria, Yusefka looked at Fang Zheng anxiously. She didn't know what Fang Zheng had done, but it was obvious that the blood moon had risen, which marked the official end of the long hunting night. But this obviously did not mean that everyone was safe. On the contrary, judging from the current situation, they seemed to be in more danger than during the hunting night.

"I've found a way to get out of here."

But the next moment, what Fang Zheng said cheered up everyone.

"Really? Big brother?"

“Is it true??”

After hearing Fang Zheng's answer, Irene and the little girl couldn't help but ask hurriedly, and Fang Zheng nodded.

"Yes, although it is a bit of a coincidence, I already know what is going on in this nightmare that will never stop..."

"Is there anything we can do?"

"Need not."

Facing Maria's question, Fang Zheng waved his hand.

"The abyss is very dangerous. I don't recommend you to face it. Without any preparation, you will be easily contaminated and bewitched by the abyss. This time, I only need to go alone. You need to stay and guard this church. Although I think there shouldn't be any problems here... but who knows."

"That's true."

Maria nodded after hearing Fang Zheng's suggestion. After learning Fang Zheng's true identity and the history of this world, she would naturally make a wise choice. Although if possible, Maria also hopes to face all this with Fang Zheng. But... she now has a new mission.

"Then I'll leave this to you, Ms. Maria."

Looking at Maria in front of him, Fang Zheng smiled slightly, then he closed his eyes.

The next moment, Fang Zheng entered the dream again.