Ch. 155 - People's Dreams

Fang Xiu's power to absorb pain was originally a second-tier ability.

Pain is abstract, without form or substance, but with the addition of turning illusion into reality, his ability evolved.

He could now absorb the actual causes of pain, which were often injuries. This became somewhat terrifying because most pain stems from harm, meaning Fang Xiu could now absorb harm itself.

If pain resulted from injury, then absorbing the pain would also eliminate the injury. However, this absorption had its limits: his ability to turn illusion into reality was too weak to sustain high levels of absorption.

Fang Xiu realized he needed to enhance this aspect of his ability.

He knew that perfecting this illusion-reality switch power might change the world. But to enhance it, he needed a great deal of fear to feed Nightmare. The stronger Nightmare was, the more realistic the dreams it created, and the stronger his switch ability would become.

However, Nightmare was no longer alive. In reality, Fang Xiu had to grow stronger himself. He pondered how to gather a lot of fear without resorting to Nightamare's destructive methods, which could only control Greenvine City by causing harm, a short-sighted approach.

Fang Xiu decided not to kill the people of Greenvine City but to make them experience nightmares daily. This would provide him with a steady stream of fear, albeit in smaller amounts than Nightmare's methods, but more sustainable.

He knew causing too much disruption could attract the attention of other powerful psychics.

After encountering Ace and King of Spades, Fang Xiu realized the world was much more complicated than it seemed. Organizations like the Pokers and the Investigation Bureau might harbor even more terrifying forces.

So, Fang Xiu set a small goal: to start by giving the residents of Greenvine City nightmares every night.

He had no idea that this decision would later turn the city into a globally known "Nightmare City." People would even visit for the thrill of experiencing vivid and terrifying nightmares.

At 4 AM, when everyone was deep asleep, Fang Xiu fell asleep and entered the world of dreams.

He found himself in a room that seemed infinitely tall, with no visible ceiling. It was filled with doors of all kinds—iron, wooden, security doors. Each door led to someone's dream.

This room was a place Nightmare had left in the minds of the people of Greenvine City, allowing itself to enter their dreams at will.

It acted like a hub, connecting to everyone's dreams.

Now, Fang Xiu had stolen Nightmare's achievements; he didn't need to enter people's dreams one by one to establish a connection.

He just chose a door and entered someone's dream.

The dream belonged to a chubby little boy. He dreamed of his home turning into a cake shop filled with chocolate and cakes.

Fang Xiu waved his hand, and the house made of chocolate and cakes turned into piles of exams and textbooks that seemed endless.

The boy was immediately terrified.

Fang Xiu felt the fear emanating from the boy and collected it.

He thought he was doing a good deed by giving the boy time to study, even in his dreams.

He gained fear, and the boy gained knowledge, a win-win situation.

Next, Fang Xiu decided to visit a psychic's dream because the quality of a psychic's fear was much higher than that of an ordinary person.

He chose Greenvine City's strongest psychic, Yang Ming.

When Fang Xiu opened the door to Yang Ming's dream, he saw a beach and people in bikinis.

Yang Ming was lounging in swim trunks, smoking a cigar, with two beauties by his side. One beauty was feeding him grapes, the other applying oil to his body.

Fang Xiu waved his hand, and Bai Qi appeared in Yang Ming's dream.

Yang Ming, who was sunbathing, suddenly found a shadow over his face.

"Get out of the way." Yang Ming jumped up.

Bai Qi, holding a knife with a chilly expression, seemed to lower the temperature of the entire beach.

"You dare to give me laxatives, and then you beat me up in Nightmare's Specter Zone for personal reasons? Yang Ming, it's time to settle the score!"

Bai Qi chased Yang Ming with the knife.

Fang Xiu watched silently, then quietly closed the door.

He continued to other psychics' dreams, giving them nightmares to help them develop a sense of crisis and not indulge in pleasant dreams.

That night, he saw many bizarre dreams, which was quite an eye-opener.

Among them, Zhao Hao's dream stood out the most. In his dream, Zhao Hao was incredibly busy. His day started with being woken up by his stepmother.

Then he went to school, where his poor academic performance led to private tutoring from a beautiful teacher.

After school, he was cornered by three female bullies in the ladies' restroom.

Besides his school life, he also had part-time jobs as a plumber and a delivery person.

Interestingly, in Zhao Hao's dream world, he was the only male. He was constantly bullied by his stepmother, female teachers, female classmates, female neighbors, and female office workers.

To help Zhao Hao, Fang Xiu changed all the characters in the dream to males, providing him with the care and support of male friends.

After a busy night, Fang Xiu had collected quite a bit of fear. Although he wasn't as efficient as Nightmare, his approach ensured a steady accumulation.

In addition to fear, he also absorbed a lot of pain.

Many people in Greenvine City were suffering due to the loss of loved ones or becoming disabled. Through the connections in dreams, Fang Xiu successfully absorbed their pain, slightly alleviating their suffering.

This was the first time Fang Xiu had absorbed so much pain and fear in one night, leading to a significant increase in his abilities.

The next morning, as the sun lit up Greenvine City, many people woke up from their nightmares in a cold sweat, while others found new hope. Their pain stayed in the past night, allowing them to start a new day.

Suddenly, Fang Xiu's phone rang. On the other end was Su Kexin's slightly tired voice, "Investigator Fang, someone from headquarters is visiting. Director Wang wants you to come to the office as soon as possible."

"Okay, I understand," Fang Xiu responded calmly.

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