"It was nothing. Still, it looks like the Dream Eye’s Erosion is getting worse for you, sister!"

Regan’s expression was grave as he spoke, his voice filled with worry.

"I’m fine. Once this blood sacrifice is complete and I successfully master this Dream Eye, I can achieve a balance and become a Dream Emissary..."

Nira hadn’t finished speaking when she was interrupted by a knock on the door.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!

"Hello, sorry to bother you. We need to clean the compartment now. Would you mind opening the door?"

A gentle young man’s voice came from outside the door.

Hearing this, Regan subconsciously glanced at Nira. After seeing her give a slight shake of her head, he cleared his throat and replied in a heavily accented Yu Country dialect, "Thanks, but we don’t have any trash. No need!"

After he spoke, there was no sound from outside.

Just as Regan turned to look at his sister, ready to continue their interrupted conversation, the voice rang out again at an inopportune moment.

Only this time, the voice didn’t come from outside the compartment.

"What do you mean, ’no trash’? Aren’t there two big pieces of trash right here inside?"

The moment the voice fell, the door to the restroom on the side was pulled open.

Hu Qi’s figure emerged from within.

Seeing this, the pair’s expressions changed drastically before they could even react.

Hu Qi’s figure flashed.

As if teleporting, he appeared in front of Regan.

He grabbed Regan by the neck, his speed so fast it was impossible to guard against.

"A Dream Master?"

Nira, snapping back to her senses, had a change in expression as an ominous premonition washed over her.

Her long, brown hair was instantly dyed pitch-black, as if stained by a pool of thick ink. It came to life, growing wildly and shooting toward Hu Qi.

At the same time, her fingernails turned as crimson as blood. They transformed into streaks of bloody light, clawing viciously at Hu Qi.

SMACK!

But in the next moment, all that greeted her was a slap from Hu Qi’s raised hand.

Yang Fire enveloped his palm. The instant the black hair and crimson nails touched the Yang Fire, they disintegrated.

His palm landed on her face. It seemed light and gentle, but it contained immense force.

Nira was sent flying like a kite with a snapped string, crashing directly into the compartment wall.

A loud THUD echoed through the car.

She slid to the floor, unable to get up.

The force from Hu Qi’s slap left her limp and weak, as if every joint in her body had been pulled apart. No matter how she struggled, she couldn’t muster even a sliver of strength.

But that was secondary. What truly terrified her was that the two Dream Eyes inside her body had gone completely silent. No matter how she tried to activate them, it was like dropping a stone into the ocean—there was no response at all.

Ignoring her thoughts, Hu Qi walked over, grabbed them both by the neck—one in each hand—and dragged them into the restroom.

Not long after, a flurry of footsteps could be heard from outside. When the train attendant’s inquiries went unanswered, they broke down the door, only to find the compartment completely empty. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

...

「A few minutes later.」

Inside the Mirror World, the light was dim, surrounded by mist and shattered mirror surfaces.

Two charred, barely breathing figures lay on the ground.

Hu Qi stood to the side, lost in thought.

After a "friendly" interrogation, Hu Qi had figured out what was going on.

It turned out the two of them belonged to a civilian Dream Master organization called the "Truth Society."

This organization was based in a place called the Star Stripes Country, located tens of thousands of kilometers from the Yu Country, across the ocean.

Ordinary Dream Masters and Sword Holders alike typically use their Dream Eyes to resolve Nightmare incidents, either to protect the peace and stability of a region or to gain some personal benefit.

However, the Truth Society had a completely different philosophy.

They preferred to view Dream Eyes as a gift from the world, a boon from a Divine Spirit.

In their view, one could achieve immortality by possessing enough Dream Eyes.

According to their doctrine, the Dream Eye was everything—the supreme truth. Only by accepting and fusing with it could one open the door to truth itself.

They even had hopes of becoming beings akin to a Divine Spirit.

As for those who failed to master a Dream Eye, they were considered to lack the Divine Spirit’s approval and to be incapable of withstanding the Dream Eye’s power.

To obtain even greater power, after acquiring a Dream Eye, they would allow it to awaken, letting the monster within slaughter ordinary people.

This act was what they called a "blood sacrifice."

They stubbornly believed that doing this allowed the Dream Eye to absorb sufficient resentment, thus growing ever stronger.

Of course, there was no concrete evidence to prove this theory.

They had another motive for doing this as well: after a killing spree, a Dream Eye would enter a brief period of peace.

This, in turn, made it relatively easier to master.

However, while this method seemed to achieve their desired effect, the price was far too heavy, requiring the sacrifice of countless lives.

Even in the Star Stripes Country, the Truth Society’s actions were strictly forbidden. They were even wanted by the government, to be killed on sight if discovered.

Left with no choice, they could only turn their sights to other countries, attempting to achieve their so-called power-up through the cruel method of performing Dream Eye blood sacrifices in foreign lands.

The Nira before him was one such case. With two Dream Eyes in her body on the verge of awakening, she was attempting to master a third one.

This was all for the purpose of becoming a Dream Emissary, which was why she had meticulously planned this blood sacrifice on the train.

If Hu Qi hadn’t happened to be here, the nearly one thousand living souls on this train would have likely all become fodder for the Dream Eye.

Having understood the whole story, Hu Qi flicked his finger.

The surrounding air was instantly compressed, shooting toward the pair like a bullet, tearing through the air and piercing their skulls in an instant.

Immediately after, two streams of Yang Fire appeared and suddenly swelled. They swept out like a raging tide, engulfing Nira and Regan’s bodies and turning them to Ashes in the blink of an eye, scattering them into the air.

At that moment, three items were left on the ground: a silver ring, a lock of black hair, and a crimson fingernail.

The three items emanated a strange, cold aura; they were clearly all Dream Eyes.

The ring belonged to Regan, while the other two were Nira’s.

Afterward, based on their confession, Hu Qi found a pink piggy hairpin in the restroom of another car.

It was the Dream Eye that represented the little girl.

Perhaps because it had been affected by Hu Qi’s earlier attack, the hairpin Dream Eye was unresponsive, as if it had crashed.

After Hu Qi devoured these four Dream Eyes one by one,

he looked at the upgradable Rune next to the Crimson Sun Demon Elephant Flame Prison Skill on his status panel, and a gratified smile involuntarily appeared on his face.

’As expected, it pays to get out more. You never know what unexpected rewards you might find.’

...

「Chenxi City.」

The early morning was shrouded in a thin layer of chill as a light rain drizzled down.

In front of a breakfast stall, raindrops gathered into small beads on the roadside stand’s awning, falling with an occasional DRIP, DRIP onto the ground and kicking up tiny splashes.

The aproned stall owner bustled about, while porridge bubbled in a pot to the side, letting off white steam.

A young man sat at a table.

He was wearing a dark, long trench coat, the hem of which was slightly damp from the rain.

On the table in front of him was a steaming bowl of soft tofu pudding, drizzled with a fragrant gravy, a bit of chili oil, and garnished with chopped green onions. It looked incredibly appetizing.

Besides that, there were two plates of steamed buns piled high, faintly giving off steam.

The Young Man took a bite of a meat-filled bun in one hand, while in the other, he used a spoon to scoop up some tofu pudding and bring it to his mouth.

This Young Man was none other than Hu Qi.

After that minor incident from before, he had arrived in Chenxi City early this morning.

There had been no further problems along the way.

At this moment, he ate his meal while gazing at a building across the street.