Su Mu didn’t expose Ye Fanyu’s caution. In a danger-ridden Nightmare World, Ye Fanyu still had his uses.
“You,” Su Mu ordered calmly, “send soone down to check.”
“Yes, Chief!” Zhao Chaoyao imdiately selected a subordinate from the group. The man showed no fear, lit a lantern, and descended into the cellar.
Everyone stood above, watching as the faint candlelight slowly moved further down until it was swallowed by the darkness.
A few monts later, the subordinate’s voice ca from below. “Chief, it’s safe down here.”
Su Mu’s expression didn’t change. He didn’t go down imdiately but instead instructed, “Co back up first.”
“Yes, Chief!”
Soon, the subordinate returned unhard. After a careful inspection, Su Mu finally confird that the cellar was probably safe.
Ye Fanyu had ntioned before that the villagers could alter their appearance, mimicking close acquaintances. If a villager had killed a Viper Gang subordinate in the cellar and then disguised themselves as him, it would’ve been extrely dangerous to go down recklessly.
“What did you find below?”
“Reporting to Chief, it’s very dark. There are dried bloodstains on the walls and so torture devices. But the tools are… unusual—mostly whips, chili oil, ropes, cross-shaped shackles…”
Ye Fanyu sneered. “Looks like the village chief had so twisted hobbies.”
Su Mu frowned slightly. “Let’s go take a look. Yang Dongqing, take the lead.”
As the team’s shield, Yang Dongqing naturally led the way.
Without a word, Yang Dongqing entered the cellar first, followed by Ye Fanyu, then Su Mu.
Soon, the group had all entered, leaving a few subordinates outside on guard.
The cellar was about 50 square ters, pitch black, with only their lanterns faintly lighting the path. A thick, decaying stench lingered in the air.
“I’ll handle this,” Ye Fanyu said, likely starved beyond patience. He extended a finger—fwoosh!
A blazing fla ignited at his fingertip, far brighter than candlelight, instantly illuminating the entire cellar.
Everyone could now see clearly. The cent walls were covered in mottled bloodstains, darkened over ti and embedded deep in the concrete.
In the center stood a large cross-shaped shackle with bloodstained hand and foot cuffs, positioned to restrain a person in a spread-eagle posture.
Beside it was a wooden table displaying whips, short batons, candles, and several pieces of won’s clothing.
From the scene, it was easy to imagine what this place had been used for.
“Damn it!” Ye Fanyu cursed. “Instead of storing food, he used the cellar for this crap.” He stepped forward and picked up a partially used red candle from the table.
“Good thing there are still three candles left. At least they’re useful. Mr. Su, since you have more people, I’ll keep one, and you can split the rest.”
Silence answered him.
He tilted his head slightly, confused, and looked toward Su Mu and the others. “Mr. Su…”
But the mont he began to speak, he sensed sothing was wrong—Su Mu and the others were staring intensely behind him, their eyes locked on the cross-shaped shackle.
A chill ran down his spine. Instinctively, he leapt backward, away from the cross. As he did, he turned his head slightly to glance behind him—and his pupils instantly shrank.
Sohow, a woman had appeared on the once-empty shackle.
She was thin, her hair disheveled, wearing a blue floral dress stained with blood and filth. Her limbs were stretched out in the shape of a cross, bound tightly to the shackles.
The sight alard everyone. Ye Fanyu, startled and furious, instinctively launched a fire bullet.
A streak of fla tore through the air and shot toward the woman.
But the fire bullet passed straight through her body as if through air and exploded in the corner of the cellar, releasing a burst of sparks.
The blast shook the entire cellar, dust raining from the ceiling.
Reacting quickly, Zhao Chaoyao whipped off his suit jacket and flung it open like an umbrella, shielding Su Mu’s head.
“This is… a Ti Silhouette!” Ye Fanyu muttered with unease.
“What’s a Ti Silhouette?” Yang Dongqing asked, prompted by Su Mu’s glance.
Ye Fanyu took a deep breath. “I’ve only heard about it. A Ti Silhouette is like a clip of ti, as if reality itself was edited into a movie scene. Ti becos the director, recording everything. Then, through so mysterious force, the scene gets replayed.”
“The Nightmare World is strange. Ti here is warped, so Ti Silhouettes occur easily. I must have triggered sothing when I picked up the candle.”
“Don’t worry. Ti Silhouettes only show sounds and visuals. They’re not dangerous.”
“Ti is really that bored? It records everything?” Yang Dongqing frowned at the scene, clearly annoyed by it.
Ye Fanyu shook his head. “Not everything. Only people or events of special significance, or those in extre emotional states that resonate with ti, get recorded. In this Nightmare, triggering a Ti Silhouette might an this woman is the source of the Dream World. In other words, this is her nightmare.”
“Her nightmare?” Yang Dongqing’s gaze fell on the woman’s floral dress. “Her clothes look really old-fashioned. Not like anything modern—more like sothing from decades ago. Could this be a nightmare from the past?”
“Probably. The Nightmare World is built from countless nightmares. Modern people have nightmares, and so did those in the past. So encountering historical settings in the Dream World isn’t rare. The boundary between dreams and reality is broken here—even ti is in chaos.”
As they spoke, a new figure appeared in the Ti Silhouette—a young man with dark skin and a simple, honest face. He entered the scene carrying a steaming plate of dumplings.
Su Mu’s eyes narrowed thoughtfully. “I saw this man earlier—among the villagers.”
Everyone looked again and recognized him—he did look familiar.
“Tingting! Tingting! I ca to see you,” the man said joyfully as he approached the woman. “Look, I brought your favorite dumplings!”
The woman strapped to the shackle seed to stir at the sound of his voice. Slowly, with great effort, she raised her head—and finally, the crowd saw her face.
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