Ma Hongjun's eyes slowly closed, his consciousness forcibly pulled into another world.
He seemed unable to resist, as if his thoughts were being controlled by something inexplicable.
"Young Master!"
A sweet, cloying call entered his ears; it was Shuang'er's voice.
Everything was pitch black before him, and Ma Hongjun felt himself on a bed.
This scene seemed to be the night he first met the Shuang'er sisters.
Everything was as if it were happening again.
In his reverie, the scene changed again.
He arrived at the small town beside the Star Dou Great Forest, and Ma Hongjun entered Ning Rongrong's room.
It was still a familiar scene, experiencing it again.
Next came Zhu Zhuqing,
Bai Chenxiang, Ye Lingling,
even Cuihua, Qian Renxue…
almost every woman Ma Hongjun had ever seen or fantasized about appeared in the scene in his mind.
Only, the impressions weren't as clear and profound as his past memories.
This was a beautiful and mysterious experience, which Ma Hongjun was now going through again.
Only Ma Hongjun himself knew the bitterness and pleasure involved.
In the forest outside Tiandou City.
Shi Nian stared blankly at Ma Hongjun, whose face was flushed.
He desperately wanted to know what Ma Hongjun had experienced in his dream.
Shi Nian had seven spirit rings, and the one that was lit up now was his seventh, a dazzling black spirit ring.
His seventh spirit skill, Nightmare, only created the events that people feared most in their hearts.
Generally, those who were affected by his Nightmare would be immersed in their dreams, experiencing their deepest fears, and then die a painful death.
However, Ma Hongjun's behavior left him bewildered, and he even wondered if his spirit skill had mutated.
From the beginning until now, Ma Hongjun hadn't shown any signs of pain. Although his body would occasionally tremble, Ma Hongjun's face showed a look of pleasure.
And there were no screams or roars at all.
Through his spirit skill, Shi Nian could even sense that Ma Hongjun not only didn't feel pain, but seemed to be enjoying it...
He was absolutely certain that his spirit skill had indeed worked on Ma Hongjun.
But why hadn't it given Ma Hongjun a nightmare? Instead, it was like a pleasant dream.
Shi Nian fell into deep thought.
Ma Hongjun's dreams continued to shift between scenes.
After the romance,
Ren Tianye, his mentor and friend, appeared.
Then came Dai Mubai, memories of their acupuncture sessions at the Rose Hotel, their training and battles together.
Tang San was also there, with scenes of acupuncture.
Oscar, Flander, Zhao Wuji…
In the family scenes,
his mother, Li Hui, appeared gentle and virtuous, always busy at home, filling the house with warmth.
His father, Li Ming, appeared, shielding Ma Hongjun from the attack of the Green Bamboo Sound Serpent.
His great-grandfather, Ma Ming, appeared, his eyes filled with relief and expectation…
Scene
after scene, each one a warm, happy, and joyful period since Ma Hongjun arrived in Douluo Continent.
He seemed trapped in a beautiful cycle, this nightmare replaying the joy and emotion he had experienced over the years in his mind.
A smile appeared on Ma Hongjun's face; these were his precious and happy memories ,
the meaning of his existence in Douluo Continent.
Looking at Ma Hongjun, still appearing happy and content, he didn't seem like someone tormented by a nightmare.
Shi Nian began to stir restlessly; this was not the outcome he desired.
Shi Nian possessed a bizarre and perverse hobby: he enjoyed watching others die in agony and helplessness within the nightmares he created, deriving pleasure from each scene.
When no one else was around to kill, Shi Nian would even secretly prey on ordinary people, just to witness their agonizing breakdowns.
Now, Ma Hongjun's reaction made him extremely uncomfortable, like someone with obsessive-compulsive disorder, unable to see the outcome they desired, their heart filled with resentment.
Shi Nian refused to believe it. His eyes slowly turned bloodshot, then crimson. He increased the output of his soul power, and his dazzling black seventh soul ring became even darker and brighter.
Strands of black energy condensed in his eyes, then floated down from the sky towards Ma Hongjun, merging into Ma Hongjun's head.
Ma Hongjun remained standing in place, but his smile was gone, slowly turning pale.
In his dream, Ma Hongjun experienced a series of blissful replays, sweetly intoxicated.
"Boom!"
A loud bang startled Ma Hongjun awake.
The scene shifted again, and Ma Hongjun found
himself in complete darkness. He trembled involuntarily,
jerking to his feet. A flash of white light appeared. Ma Hongjun found himself lying on a tombstone.
Lightning flashed one after another, seemingly very close. A bright white light illuminated the surroundings.
Ma Hongjun stepped down from the tomb and walked around to the front.
The tombstone of Zhao Yun, Marquis of Shunping.
"Yinping Mountain!"
He looked up at the sky, where a torrential downpour began, streaks of white lightning flashing across the heavens, accompanied by thunder.
Raindrops pelted Ma Hongjun, soaking him instantly.
A chill ran through him; the tombstone beside him looked eerily bright in the lightning.
The rain intensified, soon forming puddles on the ground, the rushing water stimulating Ma Hongjun's soul.
He wanted to move, but he couldn't.
He recalled the scene that had just occurred to him, but the more he tried, the more blurred it became, as if it were all a dream.
Everything around him felt too real; he felt as if he hadn't actually transmigrated, and everything in the Douluo Continent was just a dream.
*Whoosh whoosh whoosh…
* Small snakes crawled out of a small cave beside the cemetery.
A familiar scene, this very scene, he had dreamt of it every day for the six years since his transmigration.
Ma Hongjun's head was about to explode; he could no longer distinguish between illusion and reality.
At this moment, the happy images from before clashed violently with the current scene.
Was everything that happened in Douluo Continent real, or was it all just a dream he had while sleeping on Zhao Yun's grave?
And this was the reality.
He was facing imminent death.
Ma Hongjun was plunged into agony; this was the nightmare deep within his heart.
All the beauty of Douluo Continent was like another life, such a blissful experience.
Deep within Ma Hongjun lay doubt and fear; he feared that it was all an illusion.
He had never been to Douluo Continent; those beautiful memories were ultimately just a figment of his imagination.
No, this was not the outcome he wanted.
But it seemed he was trapped in a nightmare; this fear hidden deep within his heart was now amplified infinitely. A voice told him
that it was all a lie.
Looking ahead again,
he was surrounded by countless snakes, densely packed around him, yet he couldn't move an inch.
A chill ran through his body.
Then came the familiar scene: a silver spear emerged from the snake pit.
A golden dragon shadow followed closely behind, coiling around the spear.
Ma Hongjun watched in horror.
He already foresaw his fate.
The silver spear would fall into his hands, and then a bolt of lightning would strike him from the sky, annihilating him and turning him into dust.
Ma Hongjun tried to escape, but he couldn't move, just as he knew it all before.
Now, he was about to be struck by lightning.
Ma Hongjun grew increasingly anxious; he felt that this time he might be completely killed, his body turned to dust, even his soul obliterated.
The silver spear swirled in the air before landing in his hand.
Then a white bolt of lightning struck down, about to connect to the spear.
Ma Hongjun's eyes widened in horror, but he was completely immobilized.
Death was imminent, and all he could do was watch helplessly as he waited for his own demise.
He seemed to already know his fate.
Ma Hongjun was hallucinating.
A sudden sound pierced his mind.
"Bang!"