Chapter 240: Haunted by a Nightmare

The night was deep.

Well past midnight, Yang Xiao and Shi Yong, the two men on watch, felt a wave of drowsiness.

But they both forced themselves to stay alert, not daring to let their guard down.

An unknown amount of time passed. Yang Xiao must have dozed off, because he suddenly awoke with a violent jolt.

“Huh?”

One look was all it took for a cold sweat to break out across his body.

Yang Xiao found he was no longer in the room. He was now, somehow, standing before an execution platform.

He was trussed up, his neck resting on a stack of bricks before a chopping block.

Out of the corner of his eye, Yang Xiao caught a glimpse of something.

A tall figure stood beside him, clad in the tattered armor of the Great Li Country. Beneath it, bluish-black, dead flesh was visible.

Its neck ended in a cut as smooth as glass, with no head above it.

The figure held a massive executioner’s blade, which was already raised high.

When that blade fell, he would be decapitated!

Yang Xiao’s Heart and Spirit recoiled in horror. He wanted to get up, to flee this place.

But for some reason, no matter how he struggled, his body wouldn’t budge. It was as if he had been struck by an Immobilization Technique, leaving him frozen to the spot!

“Help! Brother Shi, Captain Lu, save me!”

Yang Xiao screamed at the top of his lungs.

But though his mouth was open, not a single sound came out.

‘Am I trapped in a Nightmare?’

Yang Xiao quickly realized his predicament.

This Nightmare Technique was one of the most powerful abilities used by Ghost Souls and other evil entities.

Once trapped in the dreamscape, if you couldn’t wake up, you would die in there for good!

Inside the dream, your very soul would be annihilated!

Yang Xiao bit down hard on the tip of his tongue, hoping the sharp pain would be enough to jolt him free of the Nightmare, but it was no use.

He could only watch, wide-eyed and helpless, as the massive executioner’s blade descended slowly toward his neck!

‘The one using this Nightmare Technique must be a Fierce Ghost!’

‘Only a Fierce Ghost could suppress him so completely.’

With a sigh, Yang Xiao gave up the struggle.

‘I’m trapped in a Nightmare. Shi Yong, who’s in the same room, is probably in the same boat.’

‘If Shi Yong were still conscious, he would have noticed something was wrong and saved me by now.’

‘There’s been no response for so long. It seems Shi Yong’s chances are slim, too.’

‘I wonder how many brothers will meet their end here tonight… And what about Lu Bai? Can he survive this?’

Yang Xiao’s thoughts ran wild.

Suddenly!

A brilliant, dazzling light erupted, tearing through the darkness and shattering the Nightmare!

Yang Xiao suddenly felt a surge of warmth. The ropes binding him began to burn silently, turning to ash in an instant.

His spirits soaring, Yang Xiao leaped to his feet and jumped off the execution platform.

HUMMM!

The cry of a sword rang out!

Just then, a flash of crimson-gold light descended, transforming into a Three-legged Golden Crow wreathed in roaring flames. It lunged at the headless ghostly figure.

FWOOSH!

The headless figure was instantly engulfed in flames, letting out a bloodcurdling, ghostly shriek.

The shriek was so piercing it made Yang Xiao’s ears ache, but it also jolted him out of the Nightmare and back to reality.

He was still in the room.

Across from him, Shi Yong was also just waking up, a look of sheer terror on his face. It was clear he’d just had a terrible fright.

Besides the two of them, there was one other person in the room.

This person was holding the Cyan Cloud Sword. His Blood Qi surged around him, and five rays of Blood Prohibition Light bloomed from the blade as he was locked in a fierce battle with a blurry, headless ghostly figure!

“It’s Lu Bai!”

Yang Xiao and Shi Yong recognized him, their hearts filled with gratitude.

If Lu Bai hadn’t intervened just now, they both would have died in the Nightmare.

“Captain Lu, we’re here to help!”

Without a moment’s hesitation, Yang Xiao and Shi Yong let out a shout, drew their weapons, and charged forward to surround the headless ghostly figure.

But just as they drew near and were about to strike, their vision suddenly swam.

They saw Lu Bai suddenly whirl around. His expression was twisted and ferocious, his face ashen. Emanating a foul Ghost Qi, he looked like a vicious demon as he charged at them with his sword!

“Oh no!”

“It’s Ghost Possession! Captain Lu is possessed!”

Yang Xiao and Shi Yong turned pale with fright at the sight.

“Stand down!”

Just then, a thunderous voice boomed in their ears, seeming to contain a strange, magnificent power.

The two of them shuddered violently and snapped back to their senses. When they opened their eyes again, Lu Bai was still locked in battle with the headless figure; he hadn’t been charging them at all.

The scene from just a moment ago had been nothing but an illusion!

“This headless ghost’s Illusion Realm is terrifyingly powerful!”

Yang Xiao swallowed nervously, his expression wary. He motioned for Shi Yong to step back, his voice low and serious. “If we get too close, we’ll fall into its trap.”

Shi Yong felt a wave of lingering fear as well.

Once again, it was Lu Bai’s shout that had pulled them out of the Illusion Realm.

A sense of awe grew in Shi Yong’s heart. He clicked his tongue in amazement. “Captain Lu is incredible. We’re all Innate Martial Artists, but he’s fighting that headless ghost and seems completely unaffected by the Fierce Ghost’s Illusion Realm.”

“Everyone has their own specialty. He’s an Evil Exterminator Guard, after all,” Yang Xiao said. “I don’t know what crime Captain Lu is supposed to have committed, but I’m certain he’s innocent!”

“You two get out of here! Go watch the others!”

Lu Bai ordered, still holding his Cyan Cloud Sword and battling the headless ghost.

At a time like this, Yang Xiao and Shi Yong didn’t hesitate.

They couldn’t help by staying here anyway.

The two immediately left the room.

Once outside, what they saw made their hearts sink.

The situation in the mining area was grim.

By the various campfires, their brothers on watch were trembling uncontrollably, clearly trapped in Nightmares from which they could not break free.

‘Lu Bai is keeping the headless ghost busy, which means… there are other ghosts in the mining area!’

“Wooo… wooo… wooo…”

Just then, a faint, sorrowful cry drifted over, sounding as if a woman was weeping deep inside the mines.

The sound wormed its way into their ears and pierced their hearts, filling them with an inexplicable sense of irritation and grief.

“Another one!”

Yang Xiao and Shi Yong were horrified.

In the next instant, the crying grew closer, its location shifting and uncertain.

Yang Xiao and Shi Yong stood back to back, their expressions tense, scanning their surroundings.

Suddenly!

The crying stopped.

They both looked toward where the sound had come from.

In a dark corner not far away, beyond the reach of the firelight, a figure in white was curled up. Her shoulders shook continuously as fresh blood seeped from between her fingers, falling to the ground with a soft DRIP… DRIP… sound.

The blood from her fingers seemed to flow endlessly.

Yang Xiao and Shi Yong shouted out a warning.

But many of the Huben Army soldiers were already clearly trapped within a Ghost Wall.

Some were running amok throughout the mining area.

Others suddenly flew into a frenzy, drawing their weapons and swinging wildly, some even wounding the comrades right beside them.

Still others had dazed expressions and vacant eyes. No one knew what they were seeing, but they walked stiffly toward the edge of the mining area and beyond.

Their movements were stiff. Some walked right through the campfires as if they felt no pain, moving just like puppets on a string.

In the blink of an eye, the entire mining area descended into chaos!

Yang Xiao and Shi Yong felt their scalps go numb and a chill run down to their hands and feet.

They could only see the headless ghost and the white-clothed Fierce Ghost, but who knew how many more Ghost Souls and other evil spirits were lurking in the darkness in and around the mining area!