63: Chapter 63 The Silent Stalker

Zhang Hao pushed aside a thicket of Peppermint Grass, and a cool breeze carrying the scent of mold and dust—completely out of place with the overall atmosphere of the park—brushed against his face. Before him lay a narrow, dimly lit path. The ground was no longer made of polished candy blocks but had turned into rough gray stone slabs that seemed long forgotten. The path wound forward, leading into deeper shadows, where the silhouette of a dilapidated building was faintly visible—the [Nightmare Haunted House].

He took a deep breath and stepped onto the stone path. Behind him, the clamor and light of Dreamland seemed to be sealed off by an invisible membrane, rapidly receding and blurring until only an unsettling silence remained.

However, Zhang Hao did not know that from the moment he began to deviate from the main road to intentionally search for the park's edge, a distinct figure had quietly latched onto his trail like a silent ghost.

It was a clown.

But he was starkly different from the brightly colored, smiling staff members in the park. He wore old black-and-white checkered clothes, the colors contrasting sharply yet devoid of Life Qi. What was painted on his face was not an upturned red lip, but two deep black, exaggeratedly downward-curving tear stains that covered most of his face, making that supposedly comical visage full of sorrow and eeriness. The wig he wore was also a monotonous black-and-white spiral pattern, lacking the vibrant colors of other clowns.

The Black and White Clown's method of tracking was clumsy and conspicuous. He would suddenly duck behind a Candy Cane that was far too thin for his frame, leaving most of his body exposed; when Zhang Hao stopped to observe, he would flusteredly squat next to a Mushroom Lamp the size of a rubber ball that clearly couldn't hide a person, holding his head in his hands as if that would make him invisible; sometimes, because he followed too closely, he nearly collided with Zhang Hao when the latter stopped abruptly, and then he would scramble backward in a panic, almost tripping over his own oversized shoes.

Any person with even a slight bit of vigilance should have been able to easily discover such an oddly behaving and suspicious follower.

But strangely, the surrounding area was not empty. Occasionally, two or three Hosts would pass by chatting and laughing, and their gazes would sometimes even sweep over the Black and White Clown as he hid in a ridiculous pose in a place that clearly offered no cover. However, there was no surprise, doubt, or wariness in their eyes. It was as if they were looking at a roadside rock or an ordinary decorative lamp; their gazes slid past without a ripple, and they continued their lively conversation.

Their perception and cognition seemed to be warped by an invisible force, automatically filtering the abnormal existence of the "Black and White Clown" into "irrelevant background information," no different from the colorful candies or glowing flowers—perhaps even more inconspicuous.

This power of "being ignored" shrouding the Black and White Clown was exactly the same as the cognitive interference field covering the [Nightmare Haunted House], and might even share the same source. Both were "anomalies" that were unneeded and actively rejected within this park full of laughter.

The Black and White Clown also seemed very aware of his own characteristic. Despite his clumsy tracking, there wasn't much nervousness about being discovered on his face; that painted expression of eternal weeping never changed. Only his eyes, looking at Zhang Hao's back through the black tear stains, flickered with a complex and difficult-to-define emotion—there was curiosity, hesitation, and perhaps even a hint of... expectation?

He watched Zhang Hao step onto the path leading to the haunted house without hesitation and paused in place, his feet in their oversized black-and-white leather shoes shuffling uneasily against the ground. He looked back at the bright, laughter-filled main park area in the distance; that was a world belonging to color and mirth, a place where he did not fit in.

Ultimately, he seemed to make up his mind, set off, and followed onto the gray stone path. His movements were still somewhat heavy and hesitant, but his direction was exceptionally firm.

The moment he stepped onto the path, the already faint clamor of the park almost completely vanished, replaced by a deeper silence, as if even the air had become viscous. Ahead, Zhang Hao's back was faintly visible in the dim light, cautiously approaching the haunted house that exuded an ominous aura.

The Black and White Clown maintained a distance, following silently behind like a forgotten shadow, finally following the only person who could notice "anomalies" back to the dark corner where he truly belonged.

Zhang Hao's entire attention was focused on the haunted house ahead and the potential traps in the surroundings. His powerful Logic and analytical abilities were running at high speed, deducing various possibilities, yet he alone failed to notice that an "observer" representing the other side of this world had quietly come up behind him.

The explorer and the follower, one in the light and one in the dark, walked together toward the source of the nightmare hidden beneath all the beautiful dreams.