Chapter Seven: This Man Is a Demon

Chen Xi awoke.

She immediately deactivated her dream-watching ability.

Her face was deathly pale, her whole body trembling. Curling up on the sofa, tears shimmered in her eyes. She cautiously surveyed the vast, empty room—and yet, everywhere she looked, it felt crowded and bustling with people.

Du Fang poured her a cup of hot water.

“Miss Chen, why have you returned in the middle of the night?” he asked. “Didn’t you say the suspicion of a nightmare parasite has been lifted from you?” Du Fang’s voice was deep and steady.

Chen Xi took a sip of the hot water. The warmth flowed through her, slowly restoring calm to her heart. Still, when she looked at Du Fang now, her gaze was tinged with strangeness, suspicion, and a trace of fear.

That demon... what on earth was it?

Had she just been inside a dream?

Or was it possible... that the demon truly existed in reality?

Chen Xi glanced at the emptiness beside Du Fang. Without using her dream-watching power, she could see nothing. The oppressive, despair-inducing aura she’d felt earlier had vanished without a trace.

“So this is the special ability Du Fang awakened after surviving two dream disasters?” Chen Xi murmured.

If so, then Du Fang might possess a terrifying potential and power that even he himself was unaware of.

Dreamwalkers’ awakened abilities could be divided into categories.

Most people who survived a dream disaster would have their bodies infused and transformed by dream-spirit power: they’d become incredibly strong, or fast, or develop superhuman jumping ability. These were called Physical-type Dreamwalkers—the most common kind.

Another type would undergo a transformation of their mental power—able to move objects with telekinesis, slice vegetables with a flying knife, perform acupuncture with needles, or make pots and pans float and clatter in the air. These were called Mind-type Dreamwalkers—somewhat rare. Chen Xi herself belonged to this category.

But besides these two, there was a third type: Dreamwalkers who could lay out a “domain” within a dream, freely altering its conditions and even forcibly rewriting the environment, the characters, and more...

These were called Domain-type Dreamwalkers.

Domain-type Dreamwalkers—those were the elites among Dreamwalkers!

Chen Xi suspected that Du Fang was exactly this kind. Such Dreamwalkers were extremely scarce because, once someone could truly control a domain, their power would be immense, with almost limitless potential.

It was said that such a person could single-handedly resolve a high-level dream disaster.

Rumor had it, the founders of the Dreamwalker Association were all Domain-types.

Chen Xi also suspected that Du Fang’s daughter, Luoluo, might merely be a character he’d imagined and created within his own domain...

Fake, yes, but a reflection and embodiment of Du Fang’s personality!

In other words...

Inside this man...

Lurked a demon!

No wonder Du Fang had survived two dream disasters!

This man was a demon!

At that thought, Chen Xi tensed all over, her legs clamped together. She felt that Du Fang, smiling as he was, radiated an overwhelming sense of threat—far more terrifying than the world’s most wanted criminal.

Good heavens.

Tonight she had actually dined with a demon!

Her clamped legs began to tremble again, and she wondered if she should faint on the spot.

“Miss Chen?”

“Miss Chen!”

Du Fang gazed at the dazed Chen Xi, frowning and raising his voice.

Thud!

“S-sorry!” Chen Xi slipped bonelessly off the sofa to the floor, her face filled with despair.

“I didn’t mean to pry into your affairs. We suspected you’d taken the forbidden artifact from the dream disaster and sent me to investigate in secret—it was just my duty...”

Chen Xi made no attempt to hide the truth—there was no point.

A Domain-type Dreamwalker’s dream-watching power was terrifyingly strong.

To try to conceal anything before such a person would be foolish; their ability could easily tear through her mental defenses. If exposed, it would only increase the risk of being silenced.

If Du the Demon were to forcibly break into her heart and watch her innermost thoughts without restraint, by then...

It would be too late for anything.

She wanted to live.

She was still young.

She was a graduate of a prestigious university, with a boundless future ahead.

Du Fang paused, raising an eyebrow.

So that’s how it was.

A forbidden artifact?

Du Fang reached into his pocket and produced the deck of cards those two enthusiastic aunties had given him in the dream.

“The forbidden artifact you mentioned... is this it?” he asked.

Chen Xi stared at the cards spread out in his palm.

Even without entering a dream, she could sense it now.

In a daze, she saw dense murderous aura, twisting black threads of curse, and the images of two beautiful women smiling wickedly on the box.

It was as if the two women rose slowly from behind Du Fang, gazing at her with ghostly eyes.

This feeling—these cards—

They were undoubtedly the forbidden artifact!

So, this man had indeed taken it!

Ha. An ordinary person?

The reports were all lies!

How could an ordinary person take a forbidden artifact without harm?

Chen Xi’s legs went soft once more.

She was terrified.

A demon paired with such a fierce forbidden artifact...

She could already imagine her own fate.

A rainy night. Dismemberment.

Trumpets and suona horns.

Her portrait posted on the Dreamwalker Tower’s notice board,

A gray photo amidst a pile of funeral wreaths.

How pitiful.

Du Fang paid no heed to Chen Xi’s vivid inner turmoil.

He fiddled with the cards for a moment, feeling a surge of emotion.

A forbidden artifact—just the name sounded prestigious.

Sadly... he had no ability to use it.

He was just an ordinary man—couldn’t even pass the Dreamwalker qualification exam.

“Miss Chen, does this need to be handed over? If I turn it in, do I get a banner?” Du Fang asked after a moment.

He was a law-abiding citizen. Such a dangerous item...

Best to hand it over to the authorities.

Chen Xi was stunned by his words.

What in the world was he saying?

If she answered “yes,” would he kill her on the spot, dismember her, and celebrate with a suona tune?

Of course he would!

That’s exactly how a demon’s mind works!

“Actually... it doesn’t have to be handed over,” she replied quickly. “Usually, forbidden artifacts can be sold to the Dreamwalker Association for a good price. The black market pays even more, though it’s riskier. If you want to sell, I can help. Also, if you master the forbidden artifact, the association will recognize you—pass the assessment, and you can become a Dreamwalker and get your certificate.”

Chen Xi took a deep breath, speaking earnestly.

Hand it over? Never! Don’t even think about it!

Hearing this, Du Fang’s eyes flickered with a faint light.

It could be exchanged for money?!

If he mastered the forbidden artifact, he could become a Dreamwalker? Get a certificate?!

He genuinely hadn’t known that before.

He’d always thought there were two requirements to become a Dreamwalker:

Strong enough dream-spirit, and an awakened special ability.

He had neither.

But he hadn’t realized—if you could master a forbidden artifact, that would suffice...

But his eyes quickly dimmed.

“What’s the use?” he sighed. “I’m just an ordinary man—I can’t use a forbidden artifact.”

It required powerful dream-spirit to wield one, and his was feeble at best.

Du Fang sighed with regret.

Chen Xi felt awkward beyond belief.

Keep pretending.

Go on, keep pretending!

“Daddy!”

Off to the side, Luoluo looked up at Du Fang with her adorable little face, noticing his dejection.

“Don’t be sad, Daddy! Luoluo can use it—Luoluo will teach you!” she volunteered, hugging her pink piglet plush.

With that, she reached out her chubby little hand and pressed it on the deck.

The cards in Du Fang’s palm quivered ever so slightly. The two beautiful women on the cards seemed to shudder in fear.

The next instant—

Swish, swish, swish!

Card after card shot out from the box, flying into the air and swirling around Du Fang like a dazzling meteor shower.

“Giggle, giggle...” Luoluo beamed with innocent delight. “Look, Daddy, it’s flying!”

She raised a chubby finger and twirled it in the air. The cards hovering around Du Fang began to spin, as if guided by her touch.

They became the sharpest,

Fastest-spinning blades!

Even the air seemed to be sliced apart, fierce gusts whipping through the living room.

The nearest spinning card hovered just a centimeter from Chen Xi.

Chen Xi: (ಥ_ಥ)?!

She stared numbly at the card floating before her, spinning and slicing the air, severing strands of her hair as they fluttered in the breeze...

In her ears, she seemed to hear the mournful trumpets and suona horns from funeral rites, and see her own gray, barely smiling portrait buried among the wreaths.

Heh... can’t use a forbidden artifact?

A man’s words—never a single honest one.

You’re not pretending anymore, are you...

You’ve really laid all your cards on the table now, haven’t you?!