120: Chapter 120 Forbidden Item: Nightmare

The team grew from three people to eight.

Zombie Wang Lin walked at the very front, hands in his pockets, as if he didn't know what an opponent was.

Jin Yuanbao walked beside him, his round body bouncing along the ground.

The four bodyguards walked at the very back, their facial injuries still unhealed, some bruised blue, some purple, and some still bandaged.

They occasionally looked at Wang Lin, their eyes filled with curiosity and awe.

Wang Lin could feel them getting closer and closer to their destination.

The eight people entered a dimly lit room.

The room was large, and its walls were covered with withered yellow vines.

Many people were already lying on the ground.

People from various factions were sprawled haphazardly on the ground,

some curled up, some stretched out, some clutching their heads.

Their eyes were closed, their faces pale, and their breathing faint.

But their expressions varied.

Some were crying, some were angry, some were despairing.

They were trapped in their dreams, trapped in their past.

Wang Lin found Su Tang; she was also lying among them.

Her hands were clasped around her knees, like an abandoned child.

Jin Yuanbao looked at the people on the ground, full of confusion.

"Brother Wang, what's wrong with these people? Are they asleep?"

He reached out and pushed the body of a Miracle Company employee next to him.

The person's body swayed, but there was no reaction, not even a change in their breathing.

Jin Yuanbao's brows furrowed even tighter: "Brother Wang, this isn't right. Why can't I wake them up?"

Su Wan and Shen Yuan also knelt down and examined several people on the ground.

"They're still breathing, and their heartbeats are normal, but they just can't wake up."

Wang Lin didn't answer, his gaze sweeping over the people on the ground, then landing on Su Tang.

Wang Lin looked at her for a second, then shifted his gaze.

His brows furrowed slightly, and his Mental Energy, like an invisible net, covered the entire room,

capturing every subtle energy fluctuation.

Wang Lin could feel something in the deepest part of the room.

It was breathing, pulsating, glowing.

Wang Lin stepped forward, walking in that direction.

In the deepest part of the room, there was a stone platform.

The stone platform was made of stone, covered with dense, intricate patterns, like some ancient spell.

A mask lay on it.

The mask was silver-white, made of an unknown material.

The mask's design was an expressionless face, as if in slumber, as if in meditation.

In the center of its forehead, a dark red gem was inlaid. The gem wasn't large, but its color was extremely deep.

Jin Yuanbao's eyes lit up when he saw the mask, and his voice squeezed out of his throat, urgent and fast:

"Good stuff! This mask looks valuable at a glance!"

He stepped towards the stone platform.

Su Wan and Shen Yuan also followed, their eyes also bright, not out of greed, but out of curiosity.

The four bodyguards also followed, their hands on their weapons, ready to act at any moment.

Just then, the dark red gem on the mask suddenly flashed.

Dark red light surged from the gem, engulfing the entire room.

A few seconds later, it darkened, and the room returned to its original state.

Jin Yuanbao, Shen Yuan, Su Wan, and the four bodyguards all fell to the ground.

Only Wang Lin remained standing.

He looked at Jin Yuanbao and the others, his brows furrowing slightly.

What was going on? Why was he unaffected?

Why had they all fallen, and only he remained standing?

"Could it be... because I became a zombie? This thing only works on humans?"

Since it was useless against him, Wang Lin grew bolder.

He walked to the stone platform, reached out, and picked up the mask.

The mask was light, like a weightless soul.

Wang Lin turned the mask over, looking at its back.

Several lines of small text were carved on the back, the handwriting ancient, as if left by someone from a long time ago.

"[Nightmare]. Forbidden Artifact 089. Those who meet its gaze will fall into their deepest memories, unable to extricate themselves.

It will replay over and over again, tormenting them repeatedly,

until your Mental Energy collapses, until your consciousness dissipates, until you become an empty shell."

"But if you can break free and put on the mask, you can gain a new ability."

"You can enter others' memories, see their past, understand their secrets, and even change their memories."

"The cost is that for every person's memory you change, you lose a piece of your own memory."

"You exchange others' memories for your own. Is it worth it?"

Wang Lin thought for a moment, then raised the mask to his face and put it on.

The dark red gem flickered on his forehead.

Then, the world changed.

The dimly lit room disappeared, and Wang Lin stood in a space of darkness, with no sky, no end, only endless darkness.

But in the darkness, countless points of light flickered.

Each point of light was a memory, a trapped soul.

Wang Lin counted, and the number of light points was exactly the same as the number of people lying on the ground.

Wang Lin's gaze swept over those points of light, and then he saw one that was like a dying lamp.

Wang Lin looked at that point of light, and a name flashed in his mind—Su Tang.

The corners of his mouth curved slightly: "Let me see your past."

Wang Lin walked towards that point of light and instantly sank into it.

The world changed again.

The darkness disappeared, the points of light disappeared, everything disappeared.

Wang Lin stood in a small alley, which was narrow and dirty.

There was trash, sewage, and rats on the ground.

The walls were covered with damp moss.

Wang Lin looked up and saw a little girl squatting at the end of the alley.

The little girl was very small, about four or five years old, thin and tiny, wearing a faded floral dress with several patches.

Her hair was messy, and her face had dirt, mud, and tear stains.

Her eyes were large and bright, but there was no light in that brightness, only fear and loneliness.

She squatted in the corner, hands clasped around her knees, looking straight ahead.

In front of her was a stray cat, black and dirty, rummaging through a trash can.

It found a fishbone, held it in its mouth, ran to a corner, and began to gnaw on it.

The little girl looked at the stray cat: "Kitty... do you not have a home either...?"

The stray cat ignored her, finished gnawing the fishbone, jumped onto the wall, and disappeared.

The scene switched.

The little girl had grown a few years older, looking about seven or eight.

She stood in an iron cage, which was so small it only allowed her to crouch inside.

Outside the cage stood several people, men and women, old and young.

They were looking at her as if she were a commodity, a worthless item.

A man in a black suit stood beside them, his voice cold: "This child shows no signs of awakening."

"Her physical quality is average, intelligence is average, and she has no special talents. Starting bid: 1000 points."

Those people began to bid: 1200, 1300, 1500.