500: Be cruel to yourself, but also learn to accept sacrifice

This dream felt somewhat real.

Shen Bei didn't know why he dreamt of Two Headed Vine instead of Jian Tong.

It wasn't that women weren't allowed in Shen Bei's dreams, but Two Headed Vine's appearance was genuinely unexpected.

Shen Bei walked over and sat down to her right.

Two Headed Vine rested her chin on her hand, facing left, her features obscured.

But the words were Shen Bei's, and she said happily, "This time you really did something big! I didn't expect you could even kill a Nine-Rank Martial Artist."

Hearing this, Shen Bei's memories also surfaced. It seemed this was another dream scene based on his own memories. So, he replied as he had before, "A small matter."

"I'm responsible for information support, and you're responsible for direct attacks. Don't you think we're a match made in heaven?" Two Headed Vine chuckled.

"I suppose so."

"But I'm far inferior to you. I can't fight, nor am I immune to bloodsucking attacks like you."

"Wait—weren't you dead then? How would you know Bu Jin had bloodsucking attacks?"

Shen Bei questioned.

Two Headed Vine's expression remained unusually steady, or rather, devoid of any color, like a plastic sheet: "I have multiple eyes."

Shen Bei tilted his head, a smile playing on his lips: "That's where you're wrong. Since you had backup, why didn't you send it to support me?"

"I called," Two Headed Vine said with a half-smile.

Shen Bei's eyelid twitched. That answer was extremely perfunctory.

It made Shen Bei understand even less what Two Headed Vine truly was.

Was she even a person?

Or, was Wu Di simultaneously controlling several people like Two Headed Vine?

The next moment,

Two Headed Vine sighed, seemingly thinking of something else, and said, "Tell me, if one day we're forced to kill each other, what should we do?"

"For example?"

She thought for a moment: "For example, if one of our minds was controlled..."

"In that situation, only you would be controlled," Shen Bei stated with absolute certainty.

"Why not you?" Two Headed Vine asked seriously.

Shen Bei didn't answer.

Mind control belonged to mental attacks or invasions.

And with Shen Bei's Fifth Dimension Attribute, his mental resistance was already immune.

Unless it was a 'dimensional strike,' any mental attack from anyone in the Martial Artist circle would be useless against Shen Bei.

And this 'dimensional strike' didn't fall within the Martial Artist category.

According to Shen Bei's estimation, it would at least have to be the mysterious "Divine Power Realm."

That is, the Cultivators from the continent across the Sea of Hopelessness in the Abyss.

"Alright, then let's try another hypothesis..."

Two Headed Vine pressed on: "What if one of our family members was kidnapped, and the mastermind created a situation where unless we killed each other, your family would die, and you couldn't find a good way to resolve the situation?"

"Then we kill each other," Shen Bei answered without hesitation.

"So decisive?" Two Headed Vine asked in surprise.

"One should be so decisive. You can't be indecisive, you can't be sentimental. Find an opportunity and chop off the other's head."

Shen Bei's expression was cold as he continued, "Then the one who survives will avenge the one who died."

"Leaving aside the situation where you kill me, if I killed you, you wouldn't hate me either?" she asked, half-believing, half-doubting.

"Sometimes you have to be cruel to yourself," Shen Bei let out a laugh of unclear meaning: "You also have to learn to accept sacrifice."

Two Headed Vine drank thoughtfully.

But to Shen Bei, Two Headed Vine at this moment seemed to have crashed.

Just then, another voice interjected, "What a stone-hearted man!"

Shen Bei looked back, and the person who spoke was a black-haired man wearing gold-rimmed glasses and a well-tailored suit.

He leaned against the entrance of the jazz bar, smiling as he greeted, "Hello, Ying Zheng. Or rather, Wu Di."

Shen Bei also observed this character in his dream.

Shen Bei had a feeling he had definitely encountered this person before.

His sixth sense made Shen Bei blurt out, "Wu Di..."

"It's me."

Wu Di leisurely sat down, his posture somewhat resembling the dignified demeanor of a successful CEO in reality.

Shen Bei didn't possess this kind of Aura.

It was Wu Di's personal Aura.

"As for 'Wu Di,' that's your nickname. I have no intention of shamelessly claiming it as my own. But I truly do like this nickname, so if I ever get a chance to make a comeback, I'll find a way to kill you and personally seize this nickname."

Wu Di spoke in an even tone.

"Kill me?"

Shen Bei's face instantly darkened, his voice laced with coldness as he continued, "That won't earn you that title. You're not worthy."

Beneath Wu Di's prominent brow, sharp eyes glinted: "You can only blame my name for belonging to me."

Shen Bei didn't want to dwell on this trivial topic and instead asked, "So, you invaded my dream?"

Wu Di pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses: "Have you heard of the Sichuan West Abyss?"

He naturally knew about it.

Polluting Nightmare.

Shen Bei nodded: "I just finished dealing with things over there."

"My methods are similar to that Great Cultivator's. Except there's no plague-like contagion."

Shen Bei simply hummed in acknowledgment.

No wonder.

His mental attributes couldn't provide resistance while he was asleep.

It was the same in the Sichuan West Abyss back then, otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to enter the Nightmare.

Shen Bei brought up another question: "Presumably, you know that Great Cultivator. What's his name?"

"You dare to be interested?"

Wu Di's question was very strange.

Not "You're also interested."

But "You dare to be interested."

The subtext was simply that this person was extremely dangerous.

His level of danger was not something a Martial Artist, or even a Martial God, could contend with.

Shen Bei's voice was loud, but his tone was flat: "What, do you think in this world, only you are approachable and can win the favor of a Great Cultivator?"

Wu Di couldn't help but pinch his brow, revealing a complex smile: "Reverse psychology won't work on me. Why should I tell you?"

"I'll find him."

Shen Bei said with certainty: "A gaunt face with a somewhat monkey-like appearance, a pair of eyes constantly darting around, and the most striking feature is a circle of Crimson flowing light, constantly expanding and contracting, swirling around his pupils."

Shen Bei recited Fu Jian's description of the Great Cultivator from the Sichuan West Abyss: "Right?"

Wu Di's face was expressionless. He suddenly sat up straight and said, "His name is Zuo Yin."

Shen Bei chuckled: "Is there also a You Yang?"

"You're so smart!" Wu Di said, whether teasing or serious, was unclear.

Shen Bei scoffed and stood up: "Don't let me find out where you are, or you're dead."

Wu Di laughed heartily: "Why? Why kill me? Just for a title?"

"For Jiang Ruochu."

"Don't you think it's ridiculous?" Wu Di spread his hands: "So many people die every day in this world, how can you possibly manage to care for them all?"

"Yes," Shen Bei said expressionlessly: "You can understand it as me having a hero complex, where I can place myself on a moral high ground by killing scum like you, to gain some kind of spiritual pleasure."

"If you describe yourself like that, I really can't criticize you."

Wu Di looked at Shen Bei speechlessly, then continued: "However, you must also be mentally prepared. I hate it when others take my title, and I will absolutely not let you go."

Suddenly, the entire scene began to shake.

Wu Di looked up, smiled at Shen Bei, "It's time to wake up. We'll meet again if fate allows."

After speaking, he turned and made to leave.

Shen Bei also felt his five senses rapidly withdrawing from the scene. It seemed that this place, for Shen Bei, was gradually transforming from a solid place into an unsupported fantasy; everything became insubstantial.

In the end, Shen Bei still asked, "What exactly is Jiang Ruochu's current state?"

This was something he had always been puzzled about.

If you said she was a Puppet, she didn't seem like one at all, no different from an ordinary person.

But if you said she wasn't, then Wu Di's sudden appearance couldn't be explained.

Wu Di stopped, tilted his head slightly, and smiled, "You probably wouldn't understand even if I told you. Do you know about Living Dead Jade?"

"Wu Xiang Country!"

Now it was Wu Di's turn to lose his composure.

He reached out, stabilized the crumbling dream, and turned abruptly, staring directly at Shen Bei with a look as if he had seen a ghost: "You, how do you know about that country that disappeared from the Abyss so long ago?"