Chapter 85: Awakening from the Dream (Part 1)

Chapter 25: Awakening Within the Dream

Yan Chuan gripped a sharp stone shard in his hand and stepped out of the cave.

Outside, five wild wolves were devouring the last of the servants.

Yan Chuan clutched the stone, his expression shifting rapidly.

From the distant woods, the Nightmare chanted incessantly, “You know nothing of martial arts, you lack the strength to even truss a chicken, you are but a weak and feeble scholar!”

Again and again, the voice repeated, “You know nothing of martial arts, you lack the strength to even truss a chicken, you are but a weak and feeble scholar!”

Over and over, the Nightmare droned on. In the distance, Yan Chuan, still within the dream, was influenced by the Nightmare’s manipulations.

“I don’t know martial arts? What should I do? I’m just a scholar… Five wolves, five of them!” Yan Chuan seemed to fall under the spell, a wave of panic washing over him.

“Please, my love, don’t! Don’t go, my love!” From within the cave behind him, Mo Yuxi’s cries echoed out.

In his panic, Yan Chuan heard his wife’s desperate sobs, and his expression hardened at once.

“What of it if I know no martial arts? What does it matter if I am a weak scholar! Even without the strength to truss a chicken, I will still slay these wolves! Whoever dares harm my wife, I will fight them to the death!” Yan Chuan’s face twisted into a ferocious snarl.

Before the wolves could charge, Yan Chuan rushed at them first.

“Die!” Yan Chuan cried, his face contorted with rage.

With a sharp hiss, the stone blade plunged into the body of a wolf.

The Nightmare looked on in astonishment. “How can this be? Where does he find such resolve? In the dream I constructed, he is supposed to be gentle and meek—how can he summon such ferocity? What kind of man is he in reality?”

The remaining four wolves halted their feast and turned their gaze to Yan Chuan.

“Come on! Come on! Even if I die, I’ll drag you all to hell with me!” Yan Chuan shouted with a savage voice.

The four wolves howled in reply.

One wolf lunged, leaping straight at Yan Chuan.

With a crash, Yan Chuan was thrown to the ground. The stone blade flew from his hand, but Yan Chuan wrapped his arms tightly around the wolf.

With a savage bite, Yan Chuan sank his teeth into the wolf’s throat.

With a spurt of blood, Yan Chuan’s ruthless bite tore open the beast’s neck. The wolf whimpered and died.

The remaining three wolves roared without pause, as if unable to comprehend how such a frail man could kill a wolf with his own teeth.

The Nightmare anxiously formed hand seals. “You lack courage, you fear the wolves, you fear the wolves, you are powerless to resist!”

Again and again, the Nightmare tried to hypnotize Yan Chuan within the dream, seeking to force him to accept this state of mind.

With a thunderous crash, the three remaining wolves charged as one, lunging at Yan Chuan.

Under the Nightmare’s hypnosis, Yan Chuan faltered, a flicker of cowardice rising within him.

“Don’t come any closer!” Yan Chuan cried out in terror.

But as a wolf’s claws raked open his arm, the searing pain reignited the savage instinct deep within him.

“Curse you, beast! You seek death!”

Enduring the pain, Yan Chuan snatched up a stone from the ground and smashed it down hard upon a wolf’s skull.

Perhaps it was instinct, but Yan Chuan’s strike landed with deadly precision, aiming straight for the wolf’s head.

With a heavy thud, the wolf staggered, dazed.

The remaining two wolves tore into Yan Chuan, biting and clawing.

Driven by bloodlust, Yan Chuan grew even more ferocious.

“Wretched beasts! You’ll pay for your crimes with your lives!” Yan Chuan roared.

Thunder crashed around them.