Chapter 12 | Embers of the Past

“Who are you, really?”

Anyone who experienced such hallucinations multiple times would inevitably suspect Xiao Jie.

Yu Jin turned around, raising his gun to aim at the child on the bed. With a solemn expression, he said, “Have you been the one playing tricks this whole time?”

The moment he saw the muzzle, Xiao Jie froze.

“Brother, what's wrong with you?”

“I am not your brother.” Yu Jin's finger tightened slightly on the trigger.

Faced with a life-or-death situation, Xiao Jie hastily corrected himself: “Uncle, what's wrong?”

“...”

Just for that “Uncle” alone, you deserve to die.

Yu Jin's face darkened, and he decisively pulled the trigger.

Click.

The revolver, covered in a mocking smirk, let out a dry click as it jammed, sounding like a pile of scrap metal scraping together in cold mockery.

As for whom it was mocking, it certainly wasn't Yu Jin.

Because Yu Jin already knew this gun couldn't fire.

The only one on the scene who didn't know was Xiao Jie. The instant the gun clicked, Xiao Jie lunged to the side with a speed that was far too quick for a helpless child.

And when Xiao Jie, having "survived the ordeal," turned his head and saw that no smoke or bullet had left the muzzle of Yu Jin's gun, his expression froze. In the next instant, his previous timidity and innocence vanished, replaced by a twisted, furious glare.

His fists clenched tightly as his entire body trembled, as if he had suffered an monumental injustice.

With bloodshot eyes, he glared at Yu Jin and practically roared: “Why, why, why!?

What on earth did I do wrong!?

I clearly didn't do anything in front of you, so why do you suspect me!?

What right do you have to suspect me!?

You're an agent of the Bureau, and everything is supposed to require evidence. Yet, you've only been in the room with me for a brief moment, and you want to shoot me dead?

What right do you have to shoot? What right do you have to find me guilty!?

How are you any different from those two old codgers?

I told you, I was just curious about what kind of people the Disciples of Eternal Night are. I didn't think much of it! The Nightmare Disaster is a fact of life anyway, so is it wrong for me to ask about Nightmare worship just to satisfy my curiosity?

Just because I asked once, does that mean every time I'm alone from then on, I'm illegally praying to Him!?

Can't I simply like those eyeless black goat plushies!?

They didn't believe me, you don't believe me, nobody believes me!

Once a person has a blemish, it gets blown completely out of proportion, even if that blemish is just some dust they accidentally brushed against!

No forgiveness, no pardon, no understanding, no respect—nothing at all! Just endless suspicion and wariness!

But I'm their child! Their! Own! Flesh! And! Blood!

Can't they give me even a tiny shred of trust?

Not even as charity!

I don't accept this!

The world shouldn't be like this!

Without any proof, no one can find me guilty, and no one can suspect me.

The ones who are wrong were never me. It's you!

It's you people who ignore evidence and only care about your prejudices!

It's you!!!”

Xia Jie had completely broken down, hysterical.

Yu Jin listened in astonishment, piecing together most of the Xia family's situation.

The root cause of the issue was likely that Xia Jie had contact with Nightmare worship for some reason, prompting Father Xia and Mrs. Xia to watch him closely, terrified that their child would take a wrong step.

However, this overbearing control triggered a rebellious streak in Xia Jie. When the Nightmare Disaster struck one day, it led him to dream of his parents as monsters.

Looking at it this way, Xia Jie must be the Dream Core of this dream.

As long as he killed him, this Nightmare Disaster would most likely end.

But something still felt off.

If Xia Jie really was wrongfully accused, what was up with all those terrifying hallucinations earlier?

And what had triggered such terrifying hallucinations in the first place?

With a deeply furrowed brow, Yu Jin didn't show any sympathy toward Xia Jie despite the boy's seemingly immense grievance, nor did he judge whether the parents were right or wrong. After pondering for a long while, he simply asked a very simple question.

“So, do you believe in the Nightmare?”

Silence fell over the bedroom.

Xiao Jie fell silent.

His expression shifted rapidly. Clenching his fists unwillingly, he hung his head like a defeated rooster and said dejectedly, “Yes.”

But immediately after, he snapped his head back up, his eyes gleaming with fanaticism, his face twisting even further as he said: “But so what if I do?

No one has ever seen me praying to Him. No one has ever caught me contacting the Disciples of Eternal Night. They have no evidence, so what right do they have to question me!?

Just because of their suspicions?

Just because I did one thing wrong, in their eyes, must I only ever do wrong things for the rest of my life?”

“...”

Sometimes, people are truly left speechless.

Yu Jin smiled politely, finally understanding what it meant to be "unreasonable yet incredibly self-righteous."

Well then. It turned out to be a case of entirely flawed reasoning leading to the absolute correct conclusion—a blind guess that ended up snaring a hidden wolf.

Or perhaps it wasn't a blind guess at all.

Given how well Father Xia and Mrs. Xia knew their child, their suspicions probably didn't come from out of nowhere.

No matter how twisted the details in between were, it had nothing to do with Yu Jin. He only cared about the outcome. Since Xia Jie was indeed in contact with the Disciples of Eternal Night and privately worshipping the Nightmare, it meant this Nightmare Disaster might very well have been actively "prayed" for by him!

In fact, humanity had yet to find the root cause of the Nightmare Disasters. Even the Dream Exploration and Development Research Institute, the highest authority in the academic field, had not summarized any patterns of Nightmare Disaster invasions. They could only passively guard against their arrival by monitoring fluctuations in consciousness.

Underground rumors claimed that the Disciples of Eternal Night possessed special methods to summon Nightmare Disasters, but this rumor had long been debunked by the Bureau.

Yu Jin still remembered the disdainful expression on the face of the Bureau's spokesperson when she debunked the rumor. She had said: “If that so-called bullshit Nightmare really existed, and was willing to lower its divine status to look down and pity its followers, who are like stray dogs on the street, then Haicheng would have ceased to exist long ago. There wouldn't even be an opportunity for you to stand here and ask me questions.

Do I really need to introduce to you what kind of virtues the Disciples of Eternal Night possess?

How many of you sitting here aren't victims of them fanning the flames everywhere?”

After that press conference, the spokesperson was reported for using profanity in public.

A normal person probably wouldn't file such a report. As for who reported her...

How hard that was to guess.

Therefore, even the Disciples of Eternal Night couldn't summon a Nightmare Disaster through prayer.

But the problem was, not being able to summon it didn't mean they wouldn't prepare for its descent in advance.

Nightmare Disasters were random and chaotic. Since they couldn't be predicted, the only thing to do was to make all the preparations for a pilgrimage before they descended.

The Nightmare Disasters that normal people fled from were, in the eyes of the Disciples of Eternal Night, the best opportunity to draw closer to their god, as well as the perfect time to receive blessings from the Nightmare.

While an ordinary person's awakening was mostly a projection of their own fear in a nightmare, it was different for the followers of the Nightmare. Their awakening was a path they had already paved for themselves.

Fabricating obsessions, editing fears, and using any means necessary to achieve their goals.

In other words, Father Xia and Mrs. Xia turning into monsters in Xia Jie's dream was no accident—it was inevitable!

It was his own desire!

This child had personally fashioned his parents, who were trying to save him, into two sharp, human-shaped weapons.

He was insane.

As he thought of all this, Yu Jin's gaze toward Xia Jie was filled with pity.

Xia Jie stopped pretending. Staring at Yu Jin, his face flush with fanaticism, he said: “Since they want to protect me so much, why not do it in a different way? It's protection either way, so what's the difference?

I'm just amazed at my good fortune. The Nightmare actually favored me, bringing me a nightmare... no, a beautiful dream!

In this beautiful dream, I will be the favorite child closest to god.

And you, Yu-whatever, it doesn't matter. You're nothing more than a stepping stone to be trampled beneath my feet on my path to godhood.

By killing you, and killing all the Special Response Squad agents who entered this dream, I'll have enough 'experience' to make the Disciples of Eternal Night look at me with new eyes.

I will join them, become them, surpass them, and replace them, becoming the god they speak of, the Nightmare everyone fears!

I will carve the name Xia Jie into every dream, becoming a true nightmare that can never be washed away from the consciousness of all living things.

I, Xia Jie, am the true Nightmare!”

This kid was completely insane.

The Disciples of Eternal Night really ruined people.

Yu Jin retreated cautiously, constantly scanning his surroundings, wary of Father Xia and Mrs. Xia, who could appear at any moment.

He thought rapidly. Should he switch to his alternate personality to fight to the death, or seize the opportunity to slip away and save his own skin, waiting for the Special Response Squad to arrive and settle the matter once and for all?

Just as he was hesitating, the bedroom door was kicked open violently, and five figures squeezed into view at the same time.

The leading man had his messy hair tied up in a high pineapple topknot, wearing a tank top, shorts, and flip-flops. He half-opened his eyes to cast a glance at the kid on the bed, unable to hold back a chuckle: “Kid's pretty rowdy.