Chapter 291: Chapter 287: Sword Holder (4)

"I don’t know, I don’t remember anything! I just know that I was lying in my bed at home, and the next thing I knew, I woke up here."

Hearing this, Wei Fan’s expression filled with pain. He pointed a finger at his own head.

"It seems you still have your doubts about who I am, so you’re not willing to tell me the truth."

"You should know, before you woke up, I had someone give you a full examination.

You only suffered a heavy blow, but its location was quite clever. There’s no possibility of amnesia."

Inside the hospital room, after saying this, Zhou Ze’s gaze shifted to Wei Fan’s backpack.

"Although I didn’t detect the aura of a Dream Eye on you, I imagine you should be quite knowledgeable about Dream Masters.

What makes me curious, though, is that according to the background check I ran on you, you’re supposed to be just an ordinary person. So, where did you get these Spirit Candles and things like that?"

Hearing Zhou Ze’s words, the pained look on Wei Fan’s face vanished. He stared straight at Zhou Ze, his expression hardening.

"You searched my backpack? Don’t tell me you were the one who attacked me?"

As he spoke, his eyes were fixed on Zhou Ze’s face, not missing the slightest change in his expression.

Unfortunately, however, the look on Zhou Ze’s face remained as calm as ever.

He walked over to the visitor’s chair by the bed, sat down, and spoke slowly.

"Don’t misunderstand. If I were the one who attacked you, I would have had no reason to save you.

When I entered Apartment 18, I only found a few bodies. I didn’t see any monsters from the Nightmare. I finally found you on the roof. As for your backpack, its contents were scattered all over the ground. I was the one who helped you pick them up."

"So, I want you to tell me, what exactly happened in that building!?"

Zhou Ze asked again, but this time there was a hint of impatience in his voice.

Noticing this, Wei Fan dropped his act.

"You’re right. I’ve encountered a Nightmare before and became a Dream Master by a stroke of luck.

As for these things, someone gave them to me.

I came back this time just thinking I could go home and rest for a while, but I never expected to run into something like this..."

Then, he briefly recounted what happened in Building 18.

Of course, he didn’t mention anything about being a Reincarnator, knowing in advance that a Nightmare event would occur there, or the Dream Eye in his right eye.

He only said that he became a Dream Master by accident, and that the Spirit Candles came from some unofficial organization of Dream Masters.

He explained he came home because of a previous Nightmare incident.

He had taken time off to come back and rest for a while.

Who would have thought he’d run into another Nightmare event?

By the time Wei Fan finished his story, Zhou Ze’s expression had changed.

"Are you saying there were three Nightmares in Building 18?"

It’s no wonder he was so surprised. After all, when he entered the building, the Mirror Person’s Dream Eye had already been devoured by Hu Qi, and the upside-down woman in the red dress had been brought under control by Wei Fan.

In Zhou Ze’s perception, he had only detected the aura of a single Nightmare.

At the same time, Zhou Ze realized something. No wonder the neutrino concentration reading was so high earlier. It turns out there were three Nightmares inside.

"That’s right."

Wei Fan nodded.

At this stage, while Nightmare events had already begun to appear, they weren’t happening as frequently as they would in the Late Stage.

So, it was quite normal for the other party not to know about a situation with overlapping Nightmares.

Moreover, Wei Fan had no memory of this person, Zhou Ze.

After he became a Dream Master, he had returned to Qishan City before, but the person in charge of related affairs back then wasn’t Zhou Ze, but an old man who was blind in one eye.

It wasn’t hard to guess why. There were only two possibilities: either Zhou Ze was already dead, or he had grown stronger and been transferred.

Compared to the latter, Wei Fan was more inclined to believe the former.

Dream Master. It sounded nice, in theory.

But in reality, they were just a group of ordinary people using their mortal bodies to control Dream Eyes.

Once you became a Dream Master, it was like having one foot in the grave. You never knew which day would be your last.

Besides, if Zhou Ze were truly powerful, it’s impossible that Wei Fan wouldn’t have heard of him.

"Oh, right. I suspect there was another Dream Master in Building 18 besides me. That person took care of the other two Nightmares and then ambushed me..."

Wei Fan’s expression soured. He reached up and touched his face.

A sharp pain shot through it.

Half of his face was badly swollen, making his speech a little unclear.

He remembered only being hit hard on the head.

’Where did this injury on my face come from?’

"Something like that happened?"

A flicker of interest appeared in Zhou Ze’s eyes.

"Did you see what that person looked like?"

Wei Fan shook his head and said helplessly, "No, that person was very cautious. I never saw them from beginning to end."

As he said this, a strange look flashed across his face.

"You have someone in mind, don’t you?"

Zhou Ze’s eyes narrowed slightly. Noticing Wei Fan’s expression, he asked the question.

"I do, actually. The person lives across the hall from me, in 3310. His name is Fang Xi.

That upside-down woman in the red dress was originally going to attack him, but for some reason, she came after me instead..."

Wei Fan recounted the previous events in detail.

At this point, he recalled the scene of the attack on the rooftop.

He had been the only one on the roof at the time. If the attacker had used the power of a Nightmare, it would have been impossible for the Dream Eye in his right eye not to notice.

His experiments during this period had made him understand just how powerful his Dream Eye was, which is why he was so confused.

Of course, he didn’t know that Hu Qi hadn’t used the power of a Nightmare at all. He had simply used Twisted Light to conceal himself, then casually broke off a piece of cement from a corner of the wall and threw it. It was that simple.

Hearing Wei Fan’s words, a strange expression appeared on Zhou Ze’s face.

"I know the person you’re talking about, but he wasn’t in the building when the incident occurred."

Zhou Ze said after a moment of thought.

"Oh? Are you sure?"

Wei Fan’s expression grew serious.

"Of course. You’ve been unconscious for a day now. Afterward, we did a headcount of everyone in the building. Only twelve people were not inside, and Fang Xi’s name was among them."

Zhou Ze nodded.

"However, I will continue to verify and investigate this matter. Thank you for the information you’ve provided."

He paused here, looking straight into Wei Fan’s eyes, and then continued.

"By the way, we in the Yu Country have an organization composed exclusively of Dream Masters called the Sword Holders. I’m sure you’ve heard of it.

I, for instance, am a member.

If you join us, you’ll have access to shared information on all sorts of Nightmares, as well as support from specialized technical personnel.

Not to mention all kinds of benefits and perks that those unofficial organizations can’t compare to. What do you think?"

...

「After a while.」

From his hospital bed, Wei Fan watched Zhou Ze’s retreating back before finally looking away.

As for Zhou Ze’s invitation, Wei Fan naturally accepted.

In his opinion, going it alone was completely unrealistic.

Dream Masters weren’t gods. Even though they possessed great power, when faced with particularly terrifying Nightmares, they still needed sufficient information and even outside help.

Although joining the Sword Holders would come with some restrictions, it was completely worth it compared to the information and resources he would gain access to.

While there were some unofficial Dream Master organizations, they were nothing compared to the Sword Holders.

The power of a nation, when fully mobilized, was a formidable thing.

Even if Zhou Ze hadn’t invited him, Wei Fan had already planned to find a suitable opportunity to join the Sword Holders. This just happened to suit his plans perfectly.

As he thought about all this, Wei Fan recalled their earlier conversation, and his gaze deepened.

’If it wasn’t Fang Xi, then who could it be?’

He had been suspicious of Fang Xi before, but after his conversation with Zhou Ze, he was becoming unsure.

According to Zhou Ze, Fang Xi had appeared outside later and had even been stopped by someone.

Of course, he couldn’t completely rule him out. Maybe the guy had a Dream Eye that allowed for rapid movement or a Clone.

’I’ll have to investigate this properly after I get out of the hospital.’

Just as he was pondering this, the door to his room was pushed open.

Wei Fan looked up and saw the nurse from before walk in.

She was pushing a cart with several bottles on it, obviously there to change his IV drip.

But just then, Wei Fan’s gaze inadvertently fell on her chest.

His expression froze.