157: Chapter 157 Smoke Turns into Fire

"Precognitive Dream... just by possessing enough spirituality value, one can rehearse the future in a dream and even communicate with the Tang Zheng from three years later. What an incredible talent!"

A strange voice entered his ears, but no matter how hard Chu Xuan struggled, it was all in vain.

Inside this taxi filled with thick fog, everything was suppressed.

At first, it was just his exterior that couldn't move; gradually, even his breathing stopped, then his heart ceased to beat, and his blood stopped flowing.

Just then, the Phantom Demon's angry voice rang out: "Damn it! Even if this is a dream world, I will never sit still and wait for death!"

A strong sense of fear lingered in his heart.

Everything in Chu Xuan's vision turned dark. Unable to move, he couldn't create pain through self-harm, and his consciousness gradually blurred.

Vaguely, he heard that hazy voice follow, carrying a hint of surprise:

"An S-rank Specter inside your body? You actually knew that increasing the Charm attribute was a trap... A Purifier? So such a sequence path exists—attention from the world, erasure by rules, to eliminate internal threats! As expected of someone who can communicate with the future... Let me see what other secrets you have!"

Chu Xuan clearly felt scenes of past memories flashing uncontrollably through his mind.

And when the Phantom Demon heard the word "Purifier," it suddenly erupted into hysterical madness:

"A Purifier? It's actually a Purifier?! So you are preparing to embark on this sequence! This is a certain-kill guidance sanctioned by the gods; you must die!!"

In an instant, Chu Xuan's spirit became deranged, as if swept away by a storm. His entire being felt like it had fallen into a silent, deep sea, and everything around him became profound and pitch-black.

At the same time, that hazy voice suddenly paused, followed by a slight shock: "What? This is actually your dream? How is this possible..."

Before the words could be finished.

All perception was lost.

[Your consciousness has been erased.]

[You have died.]

...

...

"Never trust anyone."

"..."

The nightmare-like voice echoed repeatedly in his ears. Chu Xuan jerked upright in bed, gasping for air.

"Heh—heh—"

The feeling of being able to breathe was wonderful.

Chu Xuan looked around; he was still in the guest room of Tang Zheng's house. Checking his spirituality value, 156 points remained; 60 points had been deducted this time.

His back was wet with sweat. As the previous scene surfaced in his mind, Chu Xuan still felt a lingering fear.

Who exactly was that mysterious powerhouse?

All of his secrets had actually been seen through!

"Mind Reading..."

Chu Xuan immediately thought of those two words.

When he used this skill on the Night Demon back then, he had also read the other party's thoughts and seen many past memory scenes.

It was just that his Mental Energy was very weak at that time, and he couldn't sustain it for more than a brief moment, whereas in the dream just now, his memory scenes had been read for several minutes.

All his secrets were like a layer of window paper—broken with a gentle poke, leaving no secrets at all.

Mind Reading... thick fog...

Could it be Zhang Qiang?

Chu Xuan immediately thought of this person.

Although the other party's Rank was only 7 on the surface, Chu Xuan already knew that B-rank Ghosts in their human state could already exert most of their strength and disguise themselves as human Transcendents.

Zhang Qiang might just be a hidden A-Rank Specter.

And in the dream just now, [Future Tang Zheng] had also explained that the future Zhang Qiang and Zhao Hongchan had both turned into Strange Creaturess.

As for human talents...

A Specter that perfectly fuses with a human can inherit both the System and the talent.

While Chu Xuan's mind was racing with thoughts, the Phantom Demon's voice slowly rang out: "Your spirituality value decreased by 110 points. Is this your dream world..."

Chu Xuan ignored it and directly opened his phone, clicking on the chat box with [Future Tang Zheng].

The last chat record was still that sentence—

[Whatever you do, do not let anyone know that you can contact the future me...]

"Sorry, I didn't want to see it, but I've seen it now..." Just like in the dream, the Phantom Demon's tone changed again.

Chu Xuan still ignored it and sent a message directly: [How are you? Do you remember what just happened?]

[Tang Zheng: I remember! But what happened just now? Did you die once in the dream? Was it done by that mysterious powerhouse?]

[Chu Xuan: I already tried to leave Haicheng just now...]

Chu Xuan sent everything that happened in the dream, along with his speculations, to [Future Tang Zheng]. A few seconds later, the other party replied.

[Tang Zheng: Looking at it this way, Old Zhang's suspicion seems even greater. Try taking the past me with you to leave Haicheng. If it really is Old Zhang, in my talent-activated state, his Smoke won't be able to suppress me; instead, I'll scatter it repeatedly and deal him heavy damage.]

Chu Xuan had the same intention: [You be careful too. Chu Huan is about to come looking for you. With the previous experience, you should be fine, right?]

[Tang Zheng: No problem... Holy crap! Why is the heavenly thunder so thick this time...]

[Tang Zheng: No, we can't send messages for now! You keep trying to find a way to leave Haicheng on your end. I'll go find Ming Xiucheng and ask him more about what happened three years ago to see if I can find a Breakthrough to help you.]

Putting away his phone, Chu Xuan pondered for a moment and suddenly spoke: "Phantom Demon, you saw it, right? Someone wants to kill me. If you don't want to die, don't cause trouble this time. We'll talk about any ideas you have later."

"My friend, that's only natural. We are one, after all." The Phantom Demon's voice was sincere and kind.

Chu Xuan naturally didn't believe these words, but he didn't expose it either. After going to the next room to wake Tang Zheng, the two packed their gear and jumped out the window...

"Do you remember what I told you? If you encounter danger later, activate your talent immediately!" Chu Xuan instructed.

"Don't worry, I understand." Tang Zheng nodded heavily.

Coming outside the residential area, they walked a few steps before a taxi drove over as expected.

"Young men, where are you going..."

"To the Capital, I'll give you a hundred thousand!"

Chu Xuan got into the car with Tang Zheng. He started by scanning the code to pay twenty-five thousand, dangling a carrot for the driver, Master Zhu, and then headed straight out of Haicheng.

The car went even faster this time. Just after 4:00 AM, they arrived at the border of Haicheng, about to enter the territory of Xuzhou.

In the dark night outside the window, a faint mist rose.

Chu Xuan's eyes narrowed slightly, and he suddenly shouted: "Get out of the car!"

While speaking, he and the already prepared Tang Zheng pulled the door locks together and leaped from the high-speed car.

Chu Xuan's four attributes had all reached 29 points. This kind of car-jumping behavior, which would be almost certain death for an ordinary person, was no different for him than jumping off a merry-go-round.

Meanwhile, Tang Zheng activated his talent skill and entered the Fighting God State.

As soon as they got out of the car, a giant mass of Smoke loomed ahead, within which a humanoid figure was vaguely visible.

"Brother Zheng, I'll leave it to you," Chu Xuan shouted from behind.

"No problem!" Tang Zheng laughed loudly and turned into a streak of light, charging into the Smoke. The humanoid figure inside was instantly scattered, turning into rolling thick fog.

Every time it was about to condense into a humanoid form, it was immediately broken apart. The suppressive force that was terrifying to Chu Xuan didn't affect Tang Zheng in the slightest.

"That's it?" Tang Zheng sneered indifferently, about to stand with his hands behind his back and say a few grand words.

However, in the very next second.

The thick fog suddenly transformed, instantly turning into a towering sea of fire!