Chapter Forty-One: In Search of a Dream

"Are you sure this will work?" Wu Ming nudged Dog Master with the tip of his foot.

"Don't worry when I'm in charge," Dog Master declared, relieving himself against the wall and shaking off a few drops. "I swear on the name of the Glutton!"

"So it's true that spirit realm creatures can invade dreams?" Director Tyrannosaurus murmured softly.

"It was much more serious in ancient times," Dog Master replied. "If it weren't for Nuwa and the Five Heavenly Emperors protecting the human race, you'd have been wiped out long ago. Back then, the demon race ruled the world. Take Lingmei, for example—she has demon blood, born with an alluring charm..."

"Enough, you mangy mutt! Keep rambling and you'll regret it!" Under the moonlight, Lingmei's eyes gleamed with a feline glow.

"Fatty, is your app really reliable?" Wu Ming patted the crouching Fatty on the shoulder.

Fatty was tapping on his phone, using the Daoist app his family had just developed. Its main features included feng shui reading and spiritual energy detection.

"Almost there! I only just coded the dream-world detection feature, so it's still glitchy and needs some tweaking," Fatty muttered, engrossed in his phone.

"Got it! This way, follow me!" Fatty jumped up and ran ahead, Wu Ming following excitedly.

Soon, they found a three-story house near the street corner, looking a bit shabby. The old red-brick building had no tiles or whitewash, just a painted circle and a large "Demolish" character glaringly obvious in the moonlight. In this neighborhood of modern apartment blocks, it looked sorely out of place. Around the southern side was a courtyard with a heavy, old-fashioned iron gate. Red couplets, tattered by wind and sun, hung limply on the gate, resembling the talisman papers seen in old movies.

"Wu Ming, do you think there are ghosts here?" Yinyue tugged at Wu Ming's sleeve, her voice trembling.

"You're supposed to be a master cultivator, aren't you? Honestly, ghosts should be more afraid of you!" Wu Ming tried to sound brave, though he was also trying to reassure himself. He kept feeling like a ghost was trailing behind him—he thought he saw a white shadow from the corner of his eye, but when he turned, there was nothing.

"Right! We're supposed to be experts at catching ghosts and banishing demons!" Yinyue declared, clenching her little fists.

"So now what? The gate's locked. Does anyone know how to open an old iron gate like this? And it's chained too!" Fatty tugged at the chain, making a loud clanging noise. The group dropped to their knees in the shadows, holding their breath in fear. Fortunately, the owner inside seemed to be a heavy sleeper, and after a long, tense silence, they dared to move on.

"Let me try," Director Tyrannosaurus signaled Fatty to step aside. Quietly, he walked up, pulled a black hairpin from his head, and fiddled with the lock. After a few twists, there was a click, and the padlock popped open.

Wu Ming caught the lock before it could hit the ground and make an even bigger noise. Director Tyrannosaurus carefully pulled the chain through the gate, then set it down gently. He slowly opened the iron door.

Suddenly, a black shadow leapt out. The group spun around—it was a pure white cat, hissing at Dog Master. Dog Master barked back, then chased after the cat, soon disappearing from sight. Despite his ancient beast bloodline, at heart he was still a dog, and could not resist the instinct to chase a cat.

"He boasts about helping us find the dream with spiritual energy, but the moment he sees a cat, he forgets everything!" Wu Ming was exasperated. This so-called spirit hound was nothing but a clown—a husky disguised as a bulldog, foisted on him by the Daoist headquarters because they didn’t want it.

"So how do we search now? Our company’s Daoist app can locate spiritual energy in this vicinity, but because of the map’s offset, I can’t pinpoint which room," Fatty said helplessly, staring at his phone.

"What else can we do? Search room by room," Director Tyrannosaurus murmured, stroking his newly regrown arm.

"Wait, I sense demon energy over here!" Lingmei spun toward the back and darted away, moving as lithely as a leopard in the moonlight.

"Damn, the dream is already materializing—you can see it leaking through the door! It’s blinding!" Wu Ming’s eyes revealed a kaleidoscopic vision, like a 3D projection in a science fiction film. Dazzling light poured through the crack in the door, and Wu Ming shielded his eyes.

"You’re seeing things. It’s pitch black—how could anything be blinding?" Director Tyrannosaurus looked in that direction, seeing only a closed metal security door—no way any light was coming through.

"Look at Wu Ming’s eyes! They’re glowing, just like Lingmei’s!" Yinyue exclaimed in curiosity, and Lingmei looked over as well.

"Demon race?" Lingmei was astonished. Wu Ming was clearly human—he had no trace of demon energy. Only demons were born with glowing, night-vision eyes.

"This kid is strange! Even opening the Heavenly Eye doesn’t look like this," Director Tyrannosaurus thought, recalling Wu Ming’s ability to read auras and his own two peach blossom disasters. His master had told him those two calamities would entangle his fate, threatening his life or manhood if not resolved by thirty. The only solution was to find a great cultivator with aura-sight to use fortune-guiding methods to dissolve the disaster. That’s why Director Tyrannosaurus was so excited when Wu Ming spotted his pink, tangled fortunes—it meant hope for resolving his deadly calamity. No matter what, once they solved this current mess, he’d have to ask Wu Ming for help.

"I trust Brother Wu Ming—he must be seeing the dream world here!"

"Seeing it is one thing, but how is your lordship supposed to get inside?" Dog Master sauntered back, clearly done chasing the cat.

"You mangy mutt, stop running off!" Lingmei kicked Dog Master.

"Shall I try spatial teleportation?" Xiaomei suggested calmly.

"Good idea—might as well try. We have no other options," Director Tyrannosaurus agreed.

Xiaomei activated her spatial teleportation in the direction Wu Ming indicated. In an instant, they all passed through the security door, but still didn’t enter the dream—they were simply inside the house.

Wu Ming glanced around. The room was extremely basic. There was only a bed, a wardrobe, a dining table, and a few chairs. Clothes were strewn over the chairs, and leftovers covered the table—a typical rental.

A man lay snoring on the bed. Wu Ming peered closely—he looked familiar. It was the cross-eyed guy they’d met last time while investigating Jiuying. Because his eyes were closed in sleep, Wu Ming hadn’t recognized him at first.

"So how do we enter his dream? We forgot to ask Bian Que—what a mess!" Wu Ming thought his group was a bunch of fools. They’d overlooked the most crucial detail. Thinking back, he realized it was his own fault for interrupting yesterday, so he wisely kept quiet.

"Hey, Wu Ming, your chest is glowing too!" Lingmei reached into his shirt.

"So it was the mirror," Yinyue said, handing the mirror to Wu Ming.