The reception room was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.
Everyone stared at the Dream Mirror with bated breath, and a thrilling hunt was taking place on it.
A tiny swift was flying in the blood-red sky, and a vulture was chasing after it, screaming. The rustling sound of its wings flapping the air was as rapid as the beat of a drum.
However, a swift is a swift after all. It is like a beam of lightning, shuttling back and forth in the rosy glow, piercing through the clouds and thick fog, and quickly leaving the vulture behind.
The rustling sound could no longer be heard, and the creepy scream dissipated in the wind.
Exhausted, Mu Nuan finally had time to catch her breath and began to enjoy the feeling of soaring. She let out a long, clear cry, as if congratulating herself for her successful escape.
However, at this moment, a huge black hand suddenly slammed down from the sky.
"Be careful!" True Man Huoyun warned sternly.
Mu's father and mother also screamed in fear.
Mu Nuan, who had turned into a swift, had no time to react before being knocked to the ground by the giant palm that fell from the sky and smashed into the soil.
Her wings were broken, and her body suddenly returned to its original shape under the severe pain. She struggled to turn over and looked at the figure standing in the sky in horror and helplessness.
It was a nightmare. He had transformed into a giant bigger than a skyscraper.
He opened his bloody mouth, baring sharp teeth, and grinned fiercely. He stamped his foot, and the earth began to tremble. He waved his hand, and the clouds tore apart. His ability to control dreams was far greater than Mu Nuan's.
Mu Nuan's two hands were broken, and she couldn't even support her own body. She could only turn over with difficulty, facing the nightmare, using her knees to support the ground, struggling to get up, and staggering forward.
"Help! Master Zhuang, save me!" She had long forgotten that she was the master of this dream.
The Nightmare let out a deafening laugh and raised his foot to stomp on her, but deliberately deviated in direction and collapsed a small hill next to Mu Nuan. He seemed to enjoy playing with his prey. He loved watching them panic, weep and wail, and struggle in despair.
He preferred to hang his prey upside down from the beams of the house and rip them open alive after he had enough fun.
Blood and viscera flowed from their bellies and landed on the faces of these people, but at that time, they were still alive. They still had consciousness and knew to whom this blood, these viscera, this pain and despair belonged.
They will let out extremely miserable screams and extremely helpless cries, and then die with increasingly weak groans.
These screams, cries, and groans are the nourishment that the nightmare feeds on.
The victim's fear, despair, and all negative emotions will make him stronger.
Mu Nuan staggered as she ran, falling repeatedly, her face covered in dirt and tears.
In her dream, she had no one to rely on except herself.
Everyone outside the dream looked at her like this, wanting to save her but unable to do anything.
Their hearts beat rapidly, gripped by the terrifying scene. In a trance, they seemed to see the Dragon Team member slain by the Nightmare. He had been through countless battles, possessing immense strength, yet in the dream, he was as weak as an ant.
Even he was unable to resist the nightmare's pursuit, toying and killing, so what could the fragile Mu Nuan do?
Master Huoyun shouted urgently, "End the exorcism and wake her up! Quick!"
Father and Mother Mu quickly knelt down before Zhuang Li, kowtowed repeatedly, "Master Zhuang, we won't exorcise the demon anymore. We just want Xiao Nuan to live! Please wake her up! We kowtow to you! Please!"
They regretted it! That so-called lucid dream of divine power hadn't worked at all! They only saw their daughter being toyed with like prey, and now she faced the fate of being trampled into a pulp, leaving nothing behind.
They couldn't bear it anymore. Every time they looked at her, their hearts would break.
The sound of kowtows was endless, making people around feel pity.
"Let's end it, we can't go on!" The masters of the Dragon Group kept issuing warnings.
Yet Zhuang Li remained unmoved. His calm expression betrayed neither fear nor panic, nor even sadness or joy. In his eyes, Mu Nuan's life was merely the passing of a tiny swift, unworthy of any mention.
Just as Master Huoyun was about to violate the taboo of the metaphysical world and interrupt someone else's spell to forcibly awaken Mu Nuan, Zhuang Li slowly reached out his hand, covered Mu Nuan's face through the air, and whispered softly, "Mu Nuan, don't be discouraged, keep running forward. Your hands are recovering, and they won't hurt anymore. Soon, a ten-story building will appear before you. It's as solid as a fortress, able to withstand the shaking, stomping, and blows of giants. It's indestructible. Just a few more steps and you'll be safe, just a few more."
Mu Nuan, who had already begun to stagger and almost collapse, suddenly became energetic and struggled forward. His two broken hands were restored to their original state without him noticing.
Master Zhuang's voice echoed from the clouds, pouring into her eardrums like an oracle, infusing her with a powerful force. With this power, her mind actually created a ten-story building, and she slipped into it before the giant's foot could stomp down.
There was a loud rumbling sound as the foot continued to crush, stomp, and kick the building, but it failed to bring it down. It was indeed indestructible.
Seeing this, Master Huoyun, who had already drawn his talisman and was about to cast a spell, was stunned. The other members of the Dragon Team who had attempted to attack Zhuang Li also looked stunned after being easily stopped by Xuanming, Xiaodao, and Huangmao.
They never expected that Zhuang Li could control everything in the dream with just a few words.
At the same time, the Nightmare roared in anger. Thoroughly enraged, he abandoned his toying mentality and crouched down, raised his fists, and hammered the building again and again.
Mu Nuan huddled in a corner of the building, staring in terror at the dust and debris falling overhead. She cried out helplessly, "Master Zhuang, I want to go home! Please take me out of this dream! I won't exorcise demons anymore! I want to go home!"
Even if she couldn't sleep for the rest of her life and slowly died of weakness, she was unwilling to face this terrible devil again.
The idea of cowardice and retreat makes this building supported by willpower become shaky.
Noticing this change, the nightmare grinned, raised his fist, and struck even harder.
For a moment, the entire building was shaking, and more rubble fell from above, hitting Mu Nuan. The concrete walls on all sides also cracked and made a muffled sound as if they were about to collapse.
This building is about to collapse.
Realizing this, Mu Nuan screamed even more terrified. Her fear further weakened the building's structure.
At this moment, no one could help her except herself. However, even she herself seemed to have given up struggling and resisting.
True Man Huoyun ordered again: "Wake her up! Quickly! Otherwise it will be too late! I don't understand what you are still insisting on, but I understand that no matter when or where, human life is always the most important!"
If he doesn't even have this awareness, Zhuang Li is not qualified to be an exorcist! The metaphysical community will never recognize him as orthodox!
"What kind of evil tricks are you using? She's dying, can't you see?" The Dragon Team masters who were stopped by Xuan Ming's arm all issued angry rebukes.
Father and Mother Mu began to kowtow to Zhuang Li again, and held their daughter's hand, trying to wake her up, but it was no use.
After falling asleep, the daughter's body and soul were completely under Zhuang Li's control.
"Please wake her up, please let her come back! Please!" Mu's mother cried breathlessly.
Father Mu's forehead was bleeding.
Yet, such desperate pleas, such hopelessness, such imminent danger, still failed to stir the slightest ripple on Zhuang Li's serene face. He raised his index finger, signaling for everyone to be quiet, then leaned forward slightly and whispered into Mu Nuan's ear, "Do you want to know what this demon is?"
Mu Nuan, curled up in the corner, was still screaming.
Hearing the sound coming from the sky, the nightmare that had been hammering the building laughed wildly.
He roared in a rough voice: "What am I? I am a ghost in reality and a god in dreams! I will kill everyone through dreams, hahahaha..."
It seems that his target is not only Mu Nuan, but also all mankind.
He can enter the dream of another person like a virus, and then infect everyone's dreams. In the fear of all mankind, he will become extremely powerful and finally become a god.
Mu Nuan covered her ears and began to cry, so fragile and helpless.
"Let me wake up, I want to go home! Let me wake up..." She kept murmuring and begging, having forgotten the purpose of falling asleep.
Kill the nightmare with her own strength? Impossible! She couldn't do it...
However, Zhuang Li remained indifferent to her pleas, speaking to himself, "His name is Zhao Donghai. He was born in 19XX into a poor family. When he was young, he fell from a height while playing and broke his leg. Due to delayed medical treatment, he became disabled. Simply put, he's a cripple."
Having said that, Zhuang Li chuckled twice, and his voice was full of contempt and sarcasm, which made people furious.
The nightmare stopped hammering the building and roared to the sky: "Shut up! I'm not a cripple! I'm not! I'm a demon, everyone is afraid of me!"
He punched the sky madly, but it was impossible for him to hurt Zhuang Li in his dream.
Zhuang Li's disdainful voice echoed from the sky: "It's not just his physical disability, but his IQ is also very low. He can't even understand elementary school lessons. His poor grades forced his parents to drop out of school. He's been a beggar, a thief, a robber, and has been imprisoned three times. He's a complete and hopeless loser."
"You're talking nonsense! I'm not a loser! I'm a devil! I'm a devil!" The nightmare demon kept emphasizing his identity, but the more he did so, the more his weaknesses were exposed.
He didn't dare to face his past self.
Only at this moment did Mu Nuan slowly put down the hands that were covering her ears and listened carefully to the words coming from the air.
After learning about the nightmare's shameful past, the fear and despair in her heart were unknowingly diluted.
Zhuang Li said slowly, "The last time he was released from prison, he knew his life would be like this, so he developed a hatred for society. He lurked in the dark of night, secretly following women returning home late. When he found them alone, he would climb into their windows in the middle of the night, suffocate them with drugs he bought from his cellmates, and then rape them. He murdered 27 women in a year. During his last attack, he didn't expect the woman's friend to suddenly visit. The sound of the key unlocking the door terrified him, and in a panic, he climbed out the window and prepared to escape through the sewer pipe.
"The victim's friend opened the door and saw him climbing out the window. She found a basin and a spatula from the kitchen, reached out the window, and hit him hard on the head. The deafening knocking startled him, and he dropped his hands, falling from the fifth floor and breaking his neck.
"Not long after his death, his ghost entered our dreams and continued the evil deeds he committed in his lifetime. So Mu Nuan, after listening to his life story, have you discovered anything?" Zhuang Li asked in a deep voice.
Mu Nuan palely shook her head. She couldn't think straight. She just felt that this devil was too scary, whether in life or after death.
When the nightmare demon heard these words, he burst into a triumphant laugh, "I killed them all, hahaha, I killed them all!" He was not ashamed but proud of it.
"He is not scary at all. On the contrary, he is the most cowardly, timid, pathetic and ridiculous person in the world." Zhuang Li emphasized every word.
Isn’t this scary? Mu Nuan kept shaking her head, tears welling in her eyes.
The nightmare laughed even more triumphantly and wildly.
Zhuang Li murmured nonchalantly, "All of his chosen victims were weak, young, inexperienced women. There wasn't a single man, not even a woman of strong character. If that's not cowardice, what is? Once his evil deeds were discovered, he panicked and turned and ran. If that's not cowardice, what is? A mere loud noise could scare him to death. If that's not ridiculous, what is? Unable to save himself, he resorts to harming the weak to retaliate against society. If that's not pathetic, what is?"
Mu Nuan was stunned when she heard this.
The nightmare's rampant laughter came to an abrupt halt.
Zhuang Li sneered, "This man, in life, only dared to prey on weak, sleeping women, and he remains the same even after death. When he first possessed you, he didn't even dare to meet you in your dreams, when you were still mentally sound and physically healthy, because he feared you would still have the courage and strength to expel him. He would only appear after torturing you until you were on the verge of death. He only dared to attack you when you had no power to resist. Therefore, he has always been that cowardly, timid, ridiculous, pathetic loser, without a single change."
Zhuang Li asked in a more serious tone, "Mu Nuan, what are you afraid of him for? Are you afraid that he's lame? Are you afraid that he's cowardly? Are you afraid that he's timid? Even the sound of hitting the wash basin can scare him to death, so why are you afraid of him? If he really is an omnipotent demon, then I'll give him a chance now. Let him enter my dream. Ask him if he dares."
After saying this, Zhuang Li held the sleeping Mu Nuan's index finger, pressed it against his brow, and said slowly: "Ask him if he dares to come into my dream! I'll be waiting here!"
These pressing questions were like powerful streams of air, injecting into Mu Nuan's almost collapsed spine.
She kept asking herself: Yes, a man like this, why are you afraid of him? He doesn't even dare to let the victims have a clear consciousness when he violates others, for fear that he will be unable to deal with their resistance. Why are you afraid of him?
He only dares to attack weak women who are unconscious, dying, and have difficulty even lifting a finger. Why are you afraid of him?
Even though he possesses the strange ability to enter dreams after death, he only dares to reveal himself when the victim is at his weakest. Why are you afraid of him?
These self-questions completely aroused Mu Nuan's anger and contempt, and also catalyzed her courage. She finally crawled out of the corner and strode upstairs.
The crumbling building suddenly became indestructible, and grew taller and bigger.
The nightmare was made to look particularly small in this situation.
So, when Mu Nuan ran to the top of the building and looked down, the nightmare demon that was originally towering into the sky had now turned into a small black dot like an ant.
She was completely stunned.
Zhuang Li chuckled and sighed softly, "Mu Nuan, you succeeded. Your courage suppressed the devil."
The people standing around watching were all in disbelief. Had the inevitable fate been reversed? Just a few words changed everything?
Zi Wei finally understood the impact of the information he collected on this exorcism.
Was all of this within Zhuang Li's expectations? He had accurately calculated every step Mu Nuan took, every weakness and pain point of the nightmare demon.
If he is not the exorcist master, who is the exorcist master?
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