The Three Elements of Dreams

The kerosene lamp, the suitcase, the daily necessities—nothing had changed. The reporter Maya was still curled up in the bedding, sound asleep.

But imperceptibly, all of these had been moved inside a strange building.

The building was primitive and ancient, with mud walls, brick, wooden windows, and stone doors. Several pieces of stone furniture were scattered about, certainly not typical of Rhine City. The furniture was covered in thick dust, clearly unused for a long time.

But why was there movement outside?

What was happening?

Lynch was no longer as terrified as the first time, but the tension brought by the change lingered.

“Neighbor, are you still there?”

【Always.】

The corner of his mouth curled slightly in the darkness; the familiar voice quickly eased his tension: “It’s nothing. I feel reassured now. I’ll take you to continue seeing the scenery on the path of immortality.”

【Mhm.】

His thoughts quickly regained their calm. After a slight hesitation, Lynch activated phantasmal sound, pressing against the wooden cracks of the window to peer outside.

Outside was pitch black; only a faint light emanated from a distance. The weak light outlined the surroundings, shadowy and indistinct—rows of low-rise buildings, stacked one upon another, stretching endlessly. Figures vaguely moved between the buildings.

Someone. Extinguish the lamp.

He quickly twisted off the kerosene lamp, and the room plunged into darkness, with only the faint light from outside filtering through the cracks.

Listening intently in the darkness, he heard no one speaking outside, only faint footsteps and strange growls, intermittent in the shadows of the buildings, as if some bizarre entity was wandering aimlessly.

Lynch pondered for a moment, then retreated a few steps from the window. Moving lightly, he groped his way to Maya’s side. The reporter’s breathing was even; she was clearly in a deep sleep.

After a moment of hesitation, Lynch reached out, intending to shake Maya awake.

However, his hand passed right through Maya instead of touching her, as if she were merely a phantom.

Hmm? He could touch all the other objects.

A chill ran down Lynch’s spine. He tried again, but still touched nothing.

Frowning, Lynch felt an ominous premonition. He returned to the window. The figures outside were still wandering, this time a bit closer. Lynch barely made out their silhouettes.

As he saw them clearly, he gasped sharply.

Strange gelatinous skin, wolf-like fangs, blood-red eyes filled with bloodlust and madness, and claws as sharp as blades.

Ghouls. Several ghouls.

Watching the shadowy figures moving in the near and distant darkness, Lynch’s heart quickened considerably. Damn it, had he encountered another mysterious event? Or was he actually asleep too, dreaming?

Hiss, wait, a dream? Maya’s dream?

A flash of insight struck Lynch; he suddenly remembered the dream Maya had described earlier.

An ancient and strange city, ghouls wandering everywhere—everything matched her description. Had he also fallen into that dream?

No, he couldn’t touch her. She possessed a unique quality, indicating she must hold a very important position.

Damn it, had she pulled him into her dream? Could she do something like that?

Realizing he was likely in a city full of ghouls, with an unspeakable thing in a temple, Lynch felt a prickling sensation on his back. This was the first time he faced all of this alone, and everything felt full of uncertainty.

He had to hide well here; he absolutely couldn’t go out. Being discovered by ghouls all over the city would be troublesome. Waiting for her to wake up was the safest option.

This was Lynch’s instinctive judgment, but on second thought, who knew when she would wake up? What if, like in some movies, the time ratio was different? Could he really wait for her to wake up?

No, waiting was too passive. He had to find a way to make her wake up.

Lynch tried to shake Maya’s body again, but his hand still passed through her. He tried calling out in Maya’s ear, but it also had no effect, as if they weren’t even in the same world.

It seemed useless. There was no other choice. Being trapped to die here wasn’t a solution. Although it was dangerous outside, there might be a way out.

He would try going out.

Shielding the faint light of his lighter, he left a note for Maya, then approached the window. Once the ghouls outside had wandered elsewhere, Lynch gritted his teeth and silently opened the window, slipping out.

He immediately used his ability to conceal himself, but he didn’t dare relax for a moment. He had tested it on Officer Natalie before; if there was a power gap, he could easily be seen through up close. Lynch wouldn’t risk being discovered.

He quickly scanned his surroundings. It was equally dark outside, with no sun, moon, or stars overhead. He was completely unaware of the city’s location, barely able to discern his environment thanks to a green light emanating from a distant building.

In the shadows, figures moved everywhere, rustling footsteps, zombie-like growls, and the ghouls' characteristic stench of decay assailed him from all directions. He didn't know if there were simply many ghouls nearby, or if the entire city was like this.

He hoped it was just this area that was particularly unique.

Fantasizing to himself, Lynch decided to observe for a while nearby. He made a mental note, chose the direction of the light, and cautiously took a step, clinging to a building… Holy shit.

In the darkness, a ferocious face appeared almost face-to-face with Lynch, so abruptly that he nearly died on the spot.

Visibility was too low; he had almost walked right into it. The distance was so close that Lynch could even smell the foul breath emanating from its mouth. The monster seemed to sense something amiss, leaning forward and sniffing repeatedly.

Lynch’s scalp tingled. He covered his nose and mouth, retreating several steps to put distance between them, but his heart had already sunk. He realized he had overlooked a major problem: he had deceived sight and hearing, but he was powerless against scent.

But there was no chance to remedy it now. Lynch, having created some distance, gripped his pistol and ring, ready to enter a combat stance at any moment. However, the ghoul merely sniffed around uninterestedly, then turned and continued to wander.

Phew, that was a close call.

Lynch let out a long breath, pressing his pounding chest. He realized that after carrying and hugging Maya, he was already covered in her stench of decay. No wonder he hadn't been discovered; it seemed sometimes doing something decent had its benefits.

However, being startled gave Lynch an idea. Contrary to normal circumstances, it wasn't suitable to lurk in hidden places now, as he could easily run face-first into ghouls again. Instead, areas with open visibility were better, especially places farther from the ghouls.

Like the middle of the city streets.

The ancient city's streets were very narrow compared to Rhine City, so much so that even carriages couldn't pass. But creeping low along the center of the street, just as Lynch had envisioned, he successfully avoided many wandering ghouls, slowly approaching the direction of the green light.

Progress was quite smooth, and a smile had already appeared on Lynch’s lips. However, the smile froze on his face as a nauseatingly strong smell of blood drifted from ahead.

All abnormal phenomena could be mystical omens, though it was impossible to predict if they were a blessing or a curse.

Lynch’s heart tightened. Gritting his teeth, he turned his head away. Sorry, I didn't smell anything.

But it wasn’t that simple. Just as he was about to leave, before he had taken a few steps, Lynch felt his foot give way.

He seemed to have stepped on something soft.

He hadn't encountered any debris on the street until now. This was the first time he had stepped on a foreign object, and he couldn’t ignore it. Lynch bent down and felt it, discovering a piece of tattered cloth.

It wasn’t the strange leather found on the ghouls around him, but linen woven with Victorian era craftsmanship.

How could something like this be here?

Whatever state he was in, this city shouldn’t have such fabric.

Had Maya dropped it in her dream earlier? Lynch was amused by his own thought; even in the mysterious world, he had never heard of anyone being able to leave things behind in dreams.

Unless this wasn't a dream at all, or was more than just a dream, modern fabric shouldn't appear here.

It was too dark to observe, so Lynch simply brought the tattered cloth to his nose and sniffed. Besides the strong smell of blood, there was a sour stench—not the decay of ghouls, but more like the sour smell of homeless people or a garbage heap.

Scraps of a homeless person's clothing? But why such a strong smell of blood?

The ghouls nearby seemed more concentrated than those he had encountered earlier on the street, as if they had been drawn over by something and were now wandering in the vicinity. Lynch had a bad premonition. He stopped avoiding it and followed the direction of the blood smell, advancing a few more steps.

It wasn’t an illusion; the ghouls were indeed more concentrated. Lynch moved with considerable difficulty, not only constantly mindful of his surroundings to avoid running face-first into a ghoul, but also frequently checking the ground for locations with heavier bloodstains.

Finally, he simply got down on all fours, lying prone on the ground to search at the closest range. Sure enough, he found several fragmented items.

A broken wooden stick, broken glasses, a few thin wooden planks, a three-penny coin, and even a damaged boot.

All of them were blood-stained and reeking. The blood was still a bit damp, indicating they hadn’t been there long, probably left within the last day or two.

After quickly sorting through the items he found, which seemed to belong to several different people, and recalling the information Officer Natalie had provided earlier about twelve bodies gnawed by ghouls found near the train station, Lynch realized what had happened.

Those twelve people were likely victims, just like himself, pulled into this place. And the reason they were pulled in…

Lynch looked in the direction he had come from. Although very reluctant to believe it, he couldn’t rule out the possibility that it was due to Maya’s influence.

The owners of these items all seemed to be homeless people, and Maya had spent the night before last in the abandoned carriage graveyard where homeless people gathered.

Oh no, he didn't know if Maya's ability to transfer people in was continuously active. Officer Natalie would be arriving soon; if it was, she would certainly be sent in too.

The consequences would be unimaginable. He had to get out as quickly as possible and prevent Officer Natalie from also falling into this place.

Daring not to delay further, Lynch jumped onto a nearby rooftop and looked out in all directions. It was still pitch black all around; nothing could be discerned except for the cluster of green-glowing buildings, which stood out conspicuously in the darkness.

Lynch recalled the basic occult knowledge he had taught himself these past few days. His memory was a bit hazy, but he barely remembered the three elements of dreams.

The owner, the constructed scene, and the core element.

The owner was tentatively identified as Maya, the constructed scene was undoubtedly this city she had dreamed of, and the core element… it would automatically become the focus of the dream. The dream might change, but the core element usually wouldn't. Whatever was most conspicuous and noteworthy would most likely be the core element.

According to the three elements of dreams, one of the most common ways to break through a dream was to impact its core element, thereby waking the dream owner and terminating the dream at its root.

And at this moment, the most obvious and important dream element was naturally that green light.

Lynch looked in the direction of the green light and directly darted onto another rooftop.

Normal people or normal monsters usually wouldn't wander on rooftops, so the rooftops were more suitable for Lynch's stealth at this time.

Lynch selected his target and no longer hesitated. Concealing his figure, he dashed straight along a direct line on the rooftops toward the green light, just as he had sprinted under the moon last night.

Repeatedly thanking Bastet, the Cat Baron, and Countess Hathaway in his mind, Lynch lightly leaped across the rooftops like a sprinting black cat. Below, ghouls filled the streets, growling unconsciously, oblivious to Lynch on the rooftops. Even if his ability was occasionally seen through, these ghouls seemed foolishly lacking awareness. With Lynch's speed and position, he was just a black shadow flashing past; they couldn't react in time. Thus, he easily bypassed them, drawing closer and closer to the green light.

However, as the green light grew brighter, Lynch suddenly stopped, his expression darkening as he looked at the so-called building not far away.

It was hard to call it a building, because its materials were unique.

It was a temple built of ice, showing no signs of melting. Instead, it emanated an intense cold. Even from dozens of meters away, he could feel the chilling cold washing over him.

Dozens of gigantic ice pillars formed a circle, supporting the entire structure. It somewhat resembled the Greek temples of his homeland, tall and magnificent, standing out remarkably among the city’s low and simple buildings.

All the ice was exquisitely carved, solemn and imposing, causing anyone who saw it to involuntarily feel a sense of awe and fear.

However, the entire surface of the temple was covered in a nauseating dark green mist. The mist emitted an eerie green light, which was the light source illuminating this pitch-black world.

The surface of the mist churned and spread, with green smoke occasionally ascending. Columns of mist extended outwards, like countless enormous tentacles reaching in all directions. The tentacles twisted and intertwined in the air, dancing wildly, full of grotesqueness and eeriness.

This was likely the temple Maya had spoken of.

Lynch let out a sigh, knowing he had found the right place.

In Maya’s previous narration, the temple held a dominant position in her dream, further corroborating that this strange building was undoubtedly the core element among the three elements of dreams.

Lynch calmed himself for a moment, then reviewed his knowledge of the three elements of dreams.

Maya was untouchable and possessed a unique nature, meaning she was the owner among the three elements. This was her dream, not some strange memory of an unspeakable thing or mysterious heteromorphs.

The dream had remained unchanged, indicating that the dream scene—the city of ghouls—was very stable. This meant the construction of the scene was likely influenced by external inducement or even direct interference. Was it because of that dream in the hillman cave?

And the core element was this strange temple. Now, if he could create a strong enough impact on this core element, he could terminate her dream.

The problem was, she hadn’t mentioned that this temple would be so bizarre. The mist tentacles were still writhing, and the temperature was so low. Would it really be okay if he charged in?

Damn it, he shouldn't have judged wrong. He would take a chance and try. He had his neighbor's blessing. "I'm going in, Neighbor."

Without waiting for Lady Luna’s response, Lynch gritted his teeth, leaped off the rooftop, and charged straight towards the strange temple.