Watching Nightmare act so arrogantly, Fang Xiu's smile only grew wider.
"You might be everyone's nightmare, but I know someone who can haunt you," Fang Xiu said.
His silver hair suddenly stretched out, wrapping around Zhao Hao and pulling him over.
Zhao Hao was somewhat dazed at this point. His face was twisted in fear, covered in cold black flames. The flames burned his spirit, not the body.
"Look into my eyes!" Fang Xiu shouted, and then he stabbed the scalpel into Zhao Hao's thigh.
The pain made Zhao Hao tremble all over, and he screamed like a pig being slaughtered. His tightly shut eyes suddenly opened, regaining a moment of clarity.
At that moment, Zhao Hao saw Fang Xiu's crimson right eye. The spiritual energy from Fang Xiu invaded Zhao Hao's mind.
The next moment, Zhao Hao stood stiffly like a puppet, his head involuntarily turning toward Nightmare.
Nightmare watched Fang Xiu's actions with a mocking smile. "Whatever you try is useless. I'm not what I used to be!"
A sinister smile appeared on Fang Xiu's face as he said, "You are everyone's nightmare, but Zhao Hao is your nightmare! Go!"
As Fang Xiu commanded, Nightmare instinctively felt something was wrong.
The next second, Zhao Hao—actually his eyes—moved. They were widely open as if they were magnets, and Nightmare the iron.
Zhao Hao's mouth opened wide, and his Adam's apple moved continuously. He looked like a pervert seeing a naked body.
Seeing this familiar look, Nightmare was flooded with unpleasant memories. "What are you going to do!"
Zhao Hao, drooling, walked toward Nightmare. The black flames on his body gradually extinguished, indicating his fear was dissipating.
"Hehe, Feifei," Zhao Hao laughed lewdly, his expression very obscene.
"What exactly did you do to him!" Nightmare glared at Fang Xiu, its hands continuously conjuring balls of fear to throw at Zhao Hao.
However, Zhao Hao was no longer afraid, and the black flames had no effect on him.
"What you once did to him," Fang Xiu said calmly.
In reality, Fang Xiu hadn't done anything too excessive. His blood pupil was ineffective against Nightmare because Nightmare had consumed the fears of countless people and was very powerful. Even a third-tier blood pupil would struggle, not to mention a second-tier one.
However, the blood pupil could easily create illusions for Zhao Hao. So, Fang Xiu cast a simple illusion, making Zhao Hao see Nightmare as his dream lover.
As for why Zhao Hao saw Li Feifei, that was supposed to be a secret. It was probably because he had missed her every night when they worked together.
Now, Zhao Hao had forgotten everything else, including Nightmare and his fear; he only had eyes for Li Feifei.
In his illusion, Li Feifei was dressed in a school uniform with a black choker around her neck.
She was wearing glossy stockings, all of which were his favorite outfits. Those stockings made her slender legs seem to shimmer, deeply captivating Zhao Hao.
Li Feifei teased Zhao Hao; she even took off her high heels and massaged her own feet. "Hao, my feet are so sore. Could you rub them for me?"
Zhao Hao was almost out of his mind with desire, forgetting all about fear—fear could wait; opportunities like this didn't come often.
"Feifei! I'm coming!" he exclaimed.
"Stay away! You perv!" Nightmare was terrified and teleported several meters away to avoid Zhao Hao's eager approach.
To Zhao Hao, however, Nightmare's evasion looked like something else.
Li Feifei's stockings were slightly torn. She ran away laughing, her short skirt fluttering. "Catch me if you can. If you do, you can do whatever you want…"
"Feifei, you started this. You should really run faster, or else…" Zhao Hao yelled as he pursued eagerly.
Nightmare was panicked. As its panic grew, its control over the fear seemed to wane, causing the black flames on others to slowly extinguish.
When the black flames went down, everyone felt a mix of relief and fear.
When they saw Zhao Hao relentlessly pursuing Nightmare, they were in awe.
"What a man! Chasing Nightmare like this? A true man indeed!"
Seeing this, Fang Xiu speculated that even though Nightmare had absorbed countless fears and grown stronger, it still operated on one principle: fear.
Nightmare's attacks relied on fear, making it ineffective against those who had none.
No matter how brave someone was, a hint of fear would allow Nightmare to amplify it and defeat him, unless the guy harbored no fear at all.
At this moment, Zhao Hao was fearless.
Every psychic had some psychological issues, as their minds were tainted by a Specter's powers.
Zhao Hao's issue was his perverted nature, which only intensified after his mind was tainted.
His obsession had grown to the point where he once endured numerous injections just for a nurse's touch, leaving the nurse in tears.
As Zhao Hao's spiritual energy increased, his psychological issues worsened. Fang Xiu exploited this.
Nightmare controlled Zhao Hao with fear, so Fang Xiu countered with Zhao Hao's perverted nature. He used the Specter power, tainting Zhao Hao's heart against Nightmare's power of fear.
It was a battle of Specter forces, but this method worked uniquely on Zhao Hao because both fear and his perverted nature were instinctual to him.
This made Zhao Hao a monster that even Nightmare feared.
Fang Xiu was also ready to act since Zhao Hao could only scare Nightmare, not truly harm it.
Fear carried little weight on Fang Xiu, as he had tasted fear too many times, being killed again and again by his wife. Also, he knew he could always reset the game and try again.
Moving like a ghost, Fang Xiu wielded his scalpel, aiming fiercely at Nightmare. Nightmare dodged frantically.
However, trapped between the two men, its escape routes dwindled.
Nightmare was on the verge of collapse, facing one man with a knife and another with a different kind of 'weapon.'
Ultimately, cornered and enraged, Nightmare exploded into countless streams of black smoke and vanished.
Nightmare had fled.
The onlookers were stunned.
Nightmare, a Specter that had brought Greenvine City to its knees and was classified as an S-tier threat, was scared off by the combined efforts of two newbie psychics.