71: Chapter 71 Entering the Dream Again

Chu Xuan's breathing was rapid as he looked toward the hotel across the street.

Amidst the rising flames, cries and screams rose and fell in succession.

A terrifying monster, charred black all over with faint glimpses of crimson flesh, leapt out from the floor where the explosion had occurred; from a distance, it appeared at least three meters tall.

The monster held a person in its mouth, chewing a few times before swallowing most of the body. A few remaining severed limbs fell from the corners of its mouth, vanishing into the flames.

It was as agile as an ape, grabbing the outer edges of the windows as it descended rapidly toward the bottom of the hotel.

Boom!

A streak of light shot in from the distance, landing on the monster with unerring precision. It caused the creature to crash to the ground, slamming into the pavement from a height of over twenty meters.

Chu Xuan shifted his gaze, following the trajectory of the light. He immediately spotted a man in a long trench coat on one of the hotel's perimeter walls, carrying a thick rocket launcher on his shoulder.

Beside him stood another man dressed in the same manner.

After shooting down the monster, the two men leapt off the wall simultaneously and ran toward the spot where the monster had fallen.

Despite the distance of several dozen meters, Chu Xuan could still identify that each of them had pulled out a large-caliber pistol—seemingly the same model as Qin Qing's—and pulled the triggers at the motionless behemoth on the ground.

Accompanied by a succession of gunshots, the magazines were emptied. Only then did the two men draw long knives from behind their waists and approach.

At that moment, a sudden change occurred!

The behemoth that had been lying on the ground like a corpse suddenly lunged as the two men in trench coats drew near. The closest man had his head bitten off instantly.

The other man was slightly further away, but he only managed a brief resistance before being slapped away, crashing heavily against a wall.

Before he could even get up, the monster pounced. It grabbed him like a small chick, holding him in its hand like a lollipop, and bit off his head with one snap of its jaws.

Having finished this, the monster did not linger. It sprinted a few steps and jumped directly into a river not far from the hotel, vanishing from sight.

All of this is slow to describe, but it happened extremely fast.

From the start of the explosion to the monster jumping into the river, barely more than a minute had passed.

If not for the flames still dancing through the hotel and the scene of chaotic wreckage and widespread screaming, perhaps no one would have believed that a monster had just attacked this place.

Chu Xuan stared blankly for a while.

Then he turned his head to look nearby at the several law enforcement and armed personnel evacuating the small commodities market. Those people were also staring at the scene in stunned silence, seemingly unable to believe their eyes.

Chu Xuan suddenly began to laugh.

Then, without lingering any longer, he strode away, distancing himself from the market area.

The events here had reached a temporary conclusion, and Chu Xuan stopped thinking about these irrelevant matters. The most important thing next was to find a safe place to sleep and enter the dreamscape.

There were three things Chu Xuan could only do within the dream.

First: Confirm whether he could still communicate with [Future Tang Zheng].

Second: How to resolve the hidden danger of the Phantom Demon. He could only think about this in the dream; he absolutely could not let the other party sense it in reality, otherwise, it would be like playing his cards face-up.

Third: Use the [Heart Bewitchment] skill on himself within the dream to alter his own cognition regarding his various hidden secrets—including the talent [Precognitive Dream] and his communication with [Future Tang Zheng]. Then, he would try to make contact with official personnel who followed the same path as Qin Qing to see if anything would be detected and what the official attitude toward him actually was.

About half an hour later, Chu Xuan arrived at an ordinary budget hotel. Worried that he might already be on the official radar, he used a small amount of Heart Bewitchment.

The counter staff easily succumbed and did not ask for his ID card, opening a room for him directly.

Upon entering the room, Chu Xuan was about to pull the curtains and sleep.

Suddenly, looking out into the distance by the moonlight, he saw a behemoth with wings on its back hovering in the air above the International Building about five or six kilometers away.

Chu Xuan strained his vision. He saw that the behemoth was entirely black, and under the reflection of the moonlight, it seemed to have a cold metallic luster. Its eyes were scarlet, looking exactly like the image of a demon from myths and legends.

The next moment, with a spread of its wings, it ascended high into the sky and vanished in an instant.

At this moment, Chu Xuan only wanted to shout "Holy crap!" in his heart.

What on earth was that?

"Tsk tsk! What a foolish fellow, actually daring to come over directly in physical form. It must be suffering immensely now, with a massive loss of spirituality. If it doesn't hurry and abandon its inherent body to find a new host to parasitize, it will die completely very soon," the Phantom Demon's gloating voice rang out.

Chu Xuan's heart suddenly stirred, and he said thoughtfully, "Every Specter that comes to this world must find a host to parasitize, otherwise they will die... So, do you know the reason behind this?"

"Heh heh." The Phantom Demon gave a light laugh but did not answer.

"What conditions are needed for you to parasitize humans? Do you all have to 'weigh' them like you did, and only parasitize when you find a suitable one? What if there is no suitable host where you appear? Do you just not parasitize? Also, is there a possibility of failure during the parasitization process? If it fails, what happens?"

Chu Xuan asked a string of questions, but the Phantom Demon continued to smile without speaking.

After a while, the Phantom Demon's gentle voice slowly sounded:

"My friend, please do not attempt to deal with me, or you will surely regret it. Isn't it better to coexist harmoniously like this? We simply have different stances, but we are not in an adversarial relationship. Just as in your world, there are also heinous villains; do you refrain from punishing them just because they are the same species? By the same token, it is the same between us. You cannot insist on a life-and-death struggle just because we are not of the same kind."

Chu Xuan narrowed his eyes, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly. "You're quite right; we simply have different stances."

After speaking, Chu Xuan stopped communicating with the Phantom Demon. After washing up, it was already 11:30 PM.

He took out the strings of small bells he had bought at the small commodities market from the bag containing the oil lamp and carefully hung them on the window and behind the door.

Next, he tucked the pistol he had snatched during the day under his pillow.

Snap!

Turning off the light, Chu Xuan lay on the bed, preparing to sleep.

Ten minutes passed, and Chu Xuan climbed out of bed again to turn the light on.

The room became as bright as day.

Chu Xuan lay back on the bed and closed his eyes with peace of mind.

Before falling completely asleep, Chu Xuan reviewed and replayed the various things that had happened today, finding that whether in the dreamscape or in reality, there were many matters he had not handled well enough.

Chu Xuan did not fall into conflict or regret; he simply reflected and then silently summarized.

Nor did he feel smug because he had played Tao Jiajia and her group in the palm of his hand today.

Those were merely ordinary people without any abilities. Compared to the terrifying Specters, he was still too weak.

His current self could only handle the lowest-level Specters.

Something slightly stronger, like the Black-maned Werewolf he encountered on the tenth floor of the dormitory.

That was a C-rank Specter. Upon taking damage or facing a fatal attack, it would immediately transform into a bizarre state.

According to Qin Qing's hints, that was merely something forcibly infused with spirituality by the Night Demon—mad and irrational. Yet even so, he had found it very difficult to deal with, only able to win through wit rather than direct confrontation.

If it were a C-rank Specter in a normal state, he would likely only be able to think of every possible way to save his own life.

Through today's series of events, Chu Xuan had a premonition that this world might soon fall into complete chaos, at which point order would cease to exist and killing intent would be everywhere.

Who was a Specter?

Who was human?

In the face of unknown dangers, to survive, one needed not only to continuously improve their strength but also a rational, calm mind and ruthless, decisive methods.

In this way, Chu Xuan unconsciously fell into a dream.

...

...

"Never trust anyone!"

"Never trust anyone!"

"..."