Chapter 055

Chapter 55: I Don’t Believe It

She had taken only two steps when a blue thread wrapped around her waist. Ye Wan Wan caught the thread with a twist of her hand, ready to snap it and bolt. Behind her, Shen Nan Zhou said with a soft laugh: “If you break it, Senior Sister Bai and the others are done for.”

Ye Wan Wan spun back and leveled a cold stare at him. The dream thread dragged her to stand before him. With a gentle tug, Shen Nan Zhou made her bend halfway until her eyes met his. The girl said in an icy voice: “I don’t believe it.”

Shen Nan Zhou raised a brow: “Why not?”

“If you really had your past life’s memories, you would have killed me.” Though bound, Ye Wan Wan lifted a finger and boldly tipped up his chin as she said, steady as stone: “Because in the end, I betrayed you.”

Their eyes locked. Her gaze was clear. His was deep.

She was not afraid of death. Right now, if they fought, it was unclear who would win. In their last life she had had little chance. This time was different. At worst, Ye Wan Wan could use Dream Spirit’s power and kill this brat.

One less junior brother. That would clean up a future disaster.

Spiritual energy surged off Ye Wan Wan in waves. If not for the threads binding her, she would have broken free already. Her eyes did not flinch.

After a long moment, the thread around her loosened. Shen Nan Zhou said: “What are you talking about, senior sister? I don’t understand. Past lives and future lives? Maybe this illusion muddled your head.”

“We only have this one life,” he added with a soft smile.

Ye Wan Wan stared into his eyes, unable to read what trick he was playing. She tapped the thread and said: “Untie it.”

He freed half, but left the other half. Ye Wan Wan could stand, but could not leave.

Shen Nan Zhou sighed: “Senior sister, I’m a little out of strength right now.”

Ye Wan Wan smiled thinly: “Don’t make me slap you.”

Unmoved, he said: “I really can’t move. Look closely.”

At his words she finally looked behind him. With Shen Nan Zhou as the center, blue threads stretched out from his back. The entire space behind him was full of dream threads, layered over and under, knotted into a dense, chaotic spider web. And the creature trapped in the web was Shen Nan Zhou.

Ye Wan Wan drew a sharp breath. Dream Spirit and Star Marsh were stunned. So many.

She asked: “How did you get this many dream threads? Did you drag everyone in the secret realm into this?”

Shen Nan Zhou looked troubled: “Not all of them.”

Ye Wan Wan had just eased a little when his tone rose at the end: “But the Illusory Dream Realm seems able to cover the whole secret realm, and I… accidentally extended it. Senior sister, what should we do?”

[What to do? Kill you, and it’s simple.]

Hoarse, Ye Wan Wan asked: “What did you do just now?”

“Nothing much. I accidentally broke an Array Arts formation.” He spoke so innocently, with such a friendly smile. “That’s not a mistake, is it?”

Ye Wan Wan clenched her fist and held back hard so she would not punch him.

“Untie it.”

Shen Nan Zhou blinked innocently.

Ye Wan Wan turned to the lantern and ordered Dream Spirit: “Untie it.”

Dream Spirit got to work at once. It could not undo this mountain of threads, but freeing the dozen twisted around Ye Wan Wan was doable. After some effort, Ye Wan Wan was free.

Shen Nan Zhou’s eyes followed her every move. Ye Wan Wan lifted the lantern and examined the threads. Blue strands flowed with light. Inside were people’s feelings and desires.

All the Dream Realms of the cultivators in the Illusory Dream Secret Realm were here. If she was right, everyone was now trapped in a Dream Realm. Many might not even know if they were dreaming or awake. They could even be fighting and killing inside their dreams.

Ye Wan Wan glanced at Shen Nan Zhou. Whether or not he had past life memories, he was still ruthless toward cultivators.

She asked: “Where are senior sister and the others’ threads?”

“I don’t know,” Shen Nan Zhou said with an innocent smile. “There are too many.”

“Can you untangle them?”

He arched a brow: “No.”

“Way too many,” Dream Spirit hissed through its teeth. “And this brat knotted them together. Untying them is hard. Give me three to five years, maybe.”

Three to five years? The Illusory Dream Realm only stayed open for one month. The entire secret realm could not last that long. With Shen Nan Zhou’s move, the outside was probably collapsing even faster.

Ye Wan Wan tried to free a few, but she had no idea where to start. The threads were a mess. She could not tell whose was whose. If she pulled the wrong ones and they belonged to Bai Jian and the others…

She shut her eyes, not daring to think about it. She drew back her hand, turned, and walked toward Shen Nan Zhou.

He had been watching her the whole time. Seeing her come back, he raised his brows.

Ye Wan Wan said coldly: “How do we get out of your Dream Realm?”

He did not expect her to land exactly on the key point. He chuckled, but answered honestly: “No idea.”

He studied her, playful again as he asked: “You’ve been inside my Dream Realm. What do you think? Do I have a chance to get out?”

Ye Wan Wan said flatly: “Yes.”

Shen Nan Zhou blinked. Ye Wan Wan set the lantern down and sat across from him: “Pull me in. We enter the dream together.”

He frowned, weighing her words, eyes questioning. Ye Wan Wan said: “I’ll teach you a way to break the game.”

His fingers paused. He seemed to be judging if she was telling the truth.

Ye Wan Wan’s voice cooled: “If we don’t break this, you and I die together.”

He murmured: “If senior sister dies with me, I can barely accept that.”

Ye Wan Wan gave a short, cold laugh: “Really?”

Of course not. Shen Nan Zhou wanted to live. But right now there was no other way. Only Ye Wan Wan could move in and out of his Dream Realm without being affected.

“Fine. Then I’ll have to trouble senior sister to protect me.” He touched a finger to the air. Blue light slid into Ye Wan Wan’s brow.

This time, he pulled Ye Wan Wan in to become a dreamer with him.

Ye Wan Wan opened her eyes. It was still the night of the massacre. He was still three. It felt like there was no way out.

But now she stood at the child’s side. While he searched among the bodies for his family, Ye Wan Wan turned and went into the inner hall. She found the corpses of Shen Nan Zhou’s parents and carried them out. She stopped in front of the boy and said: “What you wanted.”

The three year old froze. Ye Wan Wan told him: “If you want to cry, then cry.”

He did not cry. His eyes were red, but no tears fell. Ye Wan Wan watched him wipe the blood off his parents’ faces. Her gaze settled on the front gate.

The boy noticed it too, and a trace of rejection showed in his eyes. Ye Wan Wan remembered how he had jumped to avoid this scene before.

She asked: “You don’t want to go to the Heavenly One Sect?”

The boy looked up at Ye Wan Wan. In that instant, she saw a sharp, fierce light in his eyes. He did not want to go.