Night fell once again.
The tranquil and peaceful village was once more enveloped in darkness, and only a few scattered street lamps were still casting their dim yellow glow. Some lights hadnât been turned on at all due to lack of maintenance.
Yang Jian hadnât left the old house during this time.
He had stayed in the room with the portraits, keeping watch for any movements, like a wooden statue devoid of needless gestures.
But unfortunately,
aside from the footsteps he had heard earlier, Yang Jian made no other discoveries.
He guessed that the nightmare was still ongoing, that the ghost from the dream had departed from this place and wouldnât be coming back for the time being.
âYang Jian, what are you up to? Iâve been looking for you for quite a while,â Jiang Yan said cautiously as she appeared in the hallway outside, peeking in.
She sighed in relief when she saw Yang Jian inside the room.
âWhat do you want from me? If thereâs nothing important, go to sleep. Itâs dark already,â Yang Jian had already heard her approaching, so he wasnât surprised.
Jiang Yan walked in and said, âWell, I just wanted to report back about earlier. Guess how much money Iâve lent out in just a short while? Your relatives were like mad, I was nearly surrounded. Really, one shouldnât try to be too nice.â
âYouâve handled it yourself, Iâm not interested in such trivial details,â Yang Jian replied.
âTrivial details? Weâre talking millions here,â Jiang Yan said, âThatâs enough to support me for a lifetime.â
âWhereâs my mom?â Yang Jian asked, ignoring her statement.
Jiang Yan replied, âShe just went back to her room to sleep, on the first floor. Is there something you needed?â
âNothing, just asking,â Yang Jian answered.
At that moment, Jiang Yan walked over, wrapped her arms around Yang Jianâs neck from behind, and said with a giggle, âItâs so boring for you to sit here all alone. Why donât I keep you company? Itâs rare for us to have time together. Is it really okay to waste it like this?â
After speaking, she leaned close to Yang Jianâs ear, appearing very affectionate.
Yang Jian remained cold as wood, completely indifferent. He glanced at her briefly, âI have a feeling that something abnormal will happen in the village tonight. I need to stay awake. You wouldnât want to end up like Lin Xiaoxi today, suddenly attacking yourself and chopping off your own head, would you?â
âAh?â
Jiang Yan shrank back in fright, âAre you trying to scare me again?â
âIâm not trying to scare you. I was originally planning to leave Meishan Village overnight, but after giving it more thought, I decided there were more things I needed to handle, so I chose to stay one more day. It was rather reckless, because if something happens, it could involve you and my mom too.â
Yang Jian fell silent for a moment.
âBut then I worried if I sent you away, and you encountered danger in Dachang City, I might not be able to rescue you in time. So, after some consideration, I made this decision,â he continued.
âHehe, you really do care about me the most,â Jiang Yan focused on the strange point and started chuckling happily.
She felt she had become important and was starting to receive attention.
However, Yang Jian still sent her off to rest in the next room in the end.
Because he needed to ensure that nothing troublesome would happen before their departure the next day.
However, as time gradually passed,
the night deepened.
Yang Jian still sat alone in the room, facing the portrait on the table, while also keeping an ear out for any signs of disturbance.
It was probably past eleven by now, and the majority in the village must have been asleep. It was very quiet outside, not a single peculiar sound to be heard, not even the rumble of a passing car.
In such a setting, one would believe that falling asleep would lead to a restful night.
But Yang Jian still did not sleep, he dared not sleep, afraid of having another nightmare.
However, around one in the morning, Yang Jianâs expression shifted ever so slightly because he heard a noiseâa person passing through the alley nearby, making a faint sound. Although light, it could still be heard if one listened intently in the silent night.
There was someone moving about the village at night.
But at this hour, could the person outside really be human?
Based on the direction of the sound, it seemed as if the person was about to pass by his own front door.
Yang Jian decided to go out and take a look, but just as he was about to stand up, he suddenly heard someone calling him from downstairs.
âYang Jian, are you there?â
This wasnât the voice of his cousin Xiao Yuan, but that of a strange man, someone he had never encountered before, for Yang Jian had no trace of recognition in his heart.
But before Yang Jian could react, his expression flickered and the room underwent a drastic change.
The room quickly aged, and the lights flickered out at the same time as the roomâs layout completely changed.
Where there was once a table holding a memorial portrait, a single bed now stood, and several old items that didnât match the previous decor had appeared, as if the place had suddenly reverted to how it was over a decade ago, making all the furnishings seem very old.
Even more strangely, Yang Jian noticed a pair of used leather shoes beside the single bed.
The floor was now marked with several footprints, left by muddy soles.
âDamn it.â
Realizing something, Yang Jian immediately left the room.
His expression then changed.
The village was no longer the one he knew but had become unfamiliar, with many of the buildings looking like they did more than ten years ago, the streetlights at the entrance had disappeared, and the sky was dim and oppressive, devoid of any light. Despite this, it wasnât dark; instead, one could clearly see the surroundings.
Was it a dream?
The nightmare had started again.
Yang Jian realized he was being pulled into a nightmare once more, but he found it incredible because he was certain he hadnât been asleep and was completely lucid. If this was a paranormal event named Nightmare, he should have been able to avoid it by staying awake.
Was it because of the person who called out to me downstairs earlier?
He discovered the commonality in both nightmare experiences.
The first time was when his cousin Xiao Yuan called out to him from downstairs, and the second was when a strange manâs voice called out his name from downstairs.
Each time his name was called, he found himself plunged into a nightmare.
It happened in the blink of an eye, beyond the capability of keeping awake to resist. It was like a secret code to trigger ghostly events.
However, before Yang Jian could think any furtherâ
The door of the neighboring room opened.
Jiang Yan, with somewhat disheveled hair, mumbled groggily, âYang Jian, why did you call me out this late? I was still sleeping.â
Yang Jianâs gaze immediately shifted to Jiang Yan, and he became grave.
Had Jiang Yan been pulled into the nightmare as well?
Or was it possible that this Jiang Yan was fake, a ghastly apparition masquerading in her form?
âWhy are you staring at me like that?â Jiang Yan asked, puzzled, blinking.
âI didnât call for you just now. The person who called your name wasnât me,â Yang Jian said calmly.
Jiang Yan retorted, âHow is that possible? I clearly heard you calling for me downstairs, asking me to come out. Iâm so familiar with your voice, I couldnât possibly have misheard.â
âDo you believe me, or do you believe a voice?â Yang Jian said coldly, âYou were called by a ghost, and now youâve entered into a supernatural nightmare. If you donât believe me, take a look aroundâyouâll see that itâs no longer the same as it was during the day.â
âHuh?â
Only then did Jiang Yan take a closer look at her surroundings, and she was immediately stunned.
It indeed wasnât the same. Standing on the balcony and looking around, many buildings were different from how they were during the day, and Yang Jian, who supposedly called her from downstairs, was actually in the corridor. Things just didnât add up.
âAh? Am I really in a nightmare? I canât feel at all like Iâm dreaming; itâs as if Iâve just woken up,â Jiang Yan said in a mix of surprise and doubt, but seeing Yang Jian at her side, she felt somewhat less afraid.
Yang Jian said, âCan a supernatural dream be the same as an ordinary one?â
After observing Jiang Yan for a while,
he couldnât find any indication she might be a ghost, so he temporarily let his guard down.
At this moment,
it wasnât just Yang Jian and Jiang Yan.
One by one, people began to emerge from the other houses in the village. They were all villagers, and they seemed very confused because they had all heard a voice calling their names from outside.
The once deserted and quiet village began to fill with people.
âWhat kind of joke is this? Are so many people involved now?â
Yang Jian saw many figures; at first, he thought they were ghosts, but when someone greeted him, he realized they werenât ghosts at allâthey were all people from the village he had seen during the day.
âThis ghost is even more terrifying than before; it seems to have dragged an entire village into a nightmare. Thereâs a trend of losing control⊠Could it have something to do with the corpse from the daytime?â
He thought back and the only thing that had been tampered with was that dismembered body.
He had meddled with the body, and as a result, this incident occurred at night; there had to be a connection, or he wouldnât believe it for a second.
Source: Webnovel.com, updated by novlove.com
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