Chapter 16: Evil Eye

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio  Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Chu Weiwei loosened her grip and the communication talisman that she had been holding in her hand fell to the ground.

Indeed, as Zhang Yu had said, here, in this strange place, the communication talisman customized by the Blackguard had no ability to transmit communication signals at all.

“Miss Chu, I remember that when we met last time you asked me a question…,” Zhang Yu said in a gentle voice. “How did I rise up from a mere Blackguard sergeant to what I am today in just four years?…

“Now, Miss Chu, I can tell you the answer.”

He spread his arms wide to encompass their surroundings. “It is because of this very place, the almighty Realm of Nightmare.”

“Over the past four years, I have braved untold dangers for the Realm and have thus been rewarded by it.

“With powerful bloodlines, unparalleled techniques, peerless magic weapons…

“The Realm of Nightmare has everything that you could ever imagine. As long as you complete the missions and gain Point Certificates, you can redeem them all.

“Miss Chu, you may chant your number silently in your heart, then navigate to redeem your Point Certificates, and you will know that what I’ve just said is true.”

With a little qualm, Chu Weiwei recited her number silently in her heart, “1,433.” Once again, a pane appeared. Then she chanted, “Redeem.”

An interface similar to that of an in-game auction house appeared before her eyes.

The interface was divided into three sections: Bloodline Region, Spell Region, and Item Region.

Navigating to the Bloodline Region, names of multitudes of Bloodlines came into sight.

Qiongqi, Taotie, Yingzhao, Yinglong…the names of various demons from myths and legends appeared.

Chu Weiwei tried to tap on the Yinglong option. In answer, there arose a line of text: Insufficient Point Certificates. The Yinglong bloodline requires 750,000 certificates. You have 0 certificates.

“How’s that?” Zhang Yu looked at Chu Weiwei who seemed to be in shock and laughed, “I wasn’t lying to you.”

“The almighty Realm of Nightmare truly is omnipotent, isn’t it?”

Chu Weiwei took a deep breath and asked, “Is this all real?”

“Of course.” Zhang Yu smiled. “Otherwise, how could I possibly have been promoted from a mere sergeant to a major in just four years?

“Besides…,” he twisted around to face her, “…to be honest with you, Miss Chu, my capabilities are already at the level of a lieutenant colonel.

“What’s more, as soon as I complete another two or three missions in the Realm of Nightmare, my powers will be close to those of a colonel.”

In the Blackguard, the higher one’s rank, the stronger their powers.

Especially for the rank of major and above. The disparity between the power levels couldn’t be exaggerated.

Lieutenant colonels possessed the power to annihilate a mechanized infantry regiment.

As for colonels…

They might wield enough power to raze a small country all by themselves.

As powerful as the Federal Empire was, the title of colonel had only been given to some 110 people.

In the Beizhou Kingdom, there were no more than five Blackguard colonels.

Under normal circumstances, it would take at least five years to go from major to lieutenant and at least ten years to go from lieutenant colonel to colonel.

However, Zhang Yu claimed that his strength was already on a par with lieutenant colonels, and that he only needed to accomplish two to three more missions before his powers could rise to those of colonels.

If they were anywhere else, Chu Weiwei would never have believed that for all the tea in China.

But in this strange and peculiar place, she felt she almost believed it.

It was just that…

“Since you’re already so powerful, Major Zhang…,” Chu Weiwei looked at him and asked, “…what was your purpose in bringing me to this place?

“Aren’t you afraid that I might expose you to the higher-ups?”

A lieutenant colonel definitely was powerful.

But before the federation, he was still a mere ant.

Despite his rank, before the enormous Federal Empire, he was no more than an employee who had relatively high importance.

No matter how powerful a person was, would he still be alive and kicking after being struck by a hydrogen bomb?

Not to mention the railguns called Heavenly Punishment that could be deployed…?

Zhang Yu grinned.

He stood up. His head started twisting faster and faster and his skull gradually became more and more distorted through all the twisting.

“That’s because…,” His head slowly turned into that of a massive tiger. The tiger’s mouth opened, revealing its densely packed fangs. “…I can’t contain my urge to eat people much longer.”

“Miss Chu…,” the tiger’s head spoke with a human voice, “…I need the Principium of Dao that has been passed down in your family in order to suppress my evil thoughts and preserve my sanity.”

Upon entering the Realm of Nightmare for the first time, he had struck the jackpot and acquired a small amount of Luwu’s residual blood. Since then, he’d accomplished his swift rise and had grown from a mere sergeant to a giant who was equivalent to a major in the Blackguard in just over four years.

However, this mode of achievement had contained hidden dangers.

In the Realm of Nightmare, Luwu’s bloodline had been classified as a Divine-level bloodline.

On the exchange, it would require 880,000 Point Certificates.

Zhang Yu had not acquired it in the exchange, however. He had enhanced the small amount of Luwu’s blood that he had been able to acquire from this nightmare world and, hence, this had led to the loss of its divinity and the rise of its demonic nature.

Over time, its demonic nature had continued to grow.

Therefore, not only did Zhang Yu not grow into being a Luwu.

On the contrary, he had constantly plummeted, slipping down toward the path of demons.

Now, he was finding it difficult even to suppress his inner cannibalistic desires and bloodthirsty impulses.

Therefore, Zhang Yu had expended a large amount of points and inquired about a solution from the Realm of Nightmare.

After excluding several obviously impossible options, the Principium of Dao, which was held in the Chu family’s hands, became his best choice to achieve success.

“As for the Federal Empire,…” Fear revealed itself within the tiger’s eyes. “…Miss Chu, I’m afraid that you’re unaware of what has been going on. Anyone who attempts to leak information about the Realm of Nightmare and the Nightmare Worlds will inevitably be slaughtered by the Realm.”

Zhang Yu bent over to the ground and slowly transformed into a huge tiger.

Its body was the size of a rhinoceros. It left Chu Weiwei gasping for breath.

“You are the Tiger Demon!” Chu Weiwei shouted, “You are the Tiger Demon!”

During the past two years, the Blackguard had suffered multiple cases of demon attacks in Guangnan.

There had even been a case where a captain of the Blackguard had been attacked and killed during an investigation.

As the demon that had attacked this captain from the Blackguard had left huge tiger pawprints at the scene of this crime and at other crime scenes, the perpetrator had been named the Tiger Demon in the Blackguard’s files and was listed in the Federal Empire’s Tier B as a most wanted criminal.

The Federal Empire had even dispatched a Major General to investigate this issue in Guangnan.

However, the investigation had come up with nothing.

As if it had vanished amid a vast sea of people, the Tiger Demon had disappeared without a trace.

Now, the situation had finally come to light for Chu Weiwei.

The Tiger Demon had never disappeared.

It had always been there, right over there in Guangnan…

What was more, it was in the Deputy Director of the Blackguard’s Guangnan Branch.

“I’m glad you finally understand, Miss Chu,” the Tiger spoke as it drooled and growled at the same time.

From within its body, figures of humans came walking out.

There were males and females, old and young.

Their numbers increased by the minute.

Soon, these figures surrounded Chu Weiwei like puppets.

“Miss Chu, if you refuse to hand over the Principium of Dao to me…” The ferocious tiger wagged its tail. “…I will be forced to turn you into one of these, one of these ghosts in my possession.

“And, when that happens, I will be able to acquire the Principium of Dao that you have.”

This was where his dilemma lay.

Luwu had originally been a mythological animal with a human face, but all he had been able to obtain from the nightmare world was just a little bit of Luwu’s blood.

Therefore, as he grew, he did not evolve into Luwu.

Instead, he continuously slid toward the demonic path, becoming the man-eating Tiger Demon: Biao.

Biao devours humans and claims their souls as his own.

He might seem powerful, but, in fact, he had lost all hope for any further progression.

Moreover, once he had completely descended into being Biao, Zhang Yu knew that only death would await him.

His choice was either to perish in the Realm of Nightmare or be slaughtered by generals of the Federal Empire, each one of whom was equivalent to being a one-man army.

A major general of the Federal Empire’s Blackguard was equivalent to an army group all by himself.

What’s more, there were at least ten of these in existence in the Federal Empire.

These men could clap him to death with one single slap.

Not to mention, there was still the Living Deity, who was so unimaginably powerful that even the Realm of Nightmare was afraid of it.

Chu Weiwei looked at the human figure in front of her, and then she looked at Zhang Yu who had turned into a ferocious tiger.

Suddenly, she laughed.

“Major Zhang, you are trying to fool with me.”

Zhang Yu’s expression changed drastically as he listened to her.

Chu Weiwei had already chanted her number in her heart, so she now inquired of the Realm of Nightmare if fighting was allowed in the realm.

A line of text immediately appeared before her: When you are in the Realm of Nightmare, no damage will be inflicted upon you. (Note: unless you violate the rules of the Realm.)

Zhang Yu knew that he had failed to fool her.

But instead of being anxious, he laughed, “You are one smart cookie, Miss Chu.

“However…

“…as a newcomer, Miss Chu, your first mission in the Nightmare Realm must be completed with the accompaniment of the inviter…

“And I was your inviter, Miss Chu.

“In the nightmare world…” He reverted to human form, and all those human figure that resembled ghosts quickly disappeared. He politely kowtowed. “…all I need is to pay a price, and I will be able to…” He licked his lips. “…devour you.”

Chu Weiwei hurriedly recited her number in her heart, made an inquiry, and got the answer that sent chills all over her body.

It was true.

In the first nightmare adventure for newcomers in the Realm of Nightmare, they had to be supervised and protected by their inviter.

The inviter, on the other hand, could pay a price to the Ream of Nightmare to dissolve the relationship between the two.

Then…

There was no need for further elaboration.

At this moment, another figure appeared in the wooden cabin.

It was a man with a wolf’s head.

When he saw Zhang Yu, he took a few steps backward, then immediately made a deep bow, “Lord Tiger, you’re here as well…”

“What’s the matter…Little Wolfie? Are you here to kill another newcomer to feed the pigs?” Zhang Yu asked.

“Huh, huh…” The man laughed, bowed his head, and started acting as if he were fawning over the tiger. “Anything to make a living, am I right…?”

He looked at Zhang Yu and Chu Weiwei and said, “Since you’re here, Lord Tiger, I shall not participate in becoming a novice instructor at this time…”

As he spoke, he was seemingly trying to activate some kind of ability to leave.

His entire person gradually became illusory.

Zhang Yu looked at him with great satisfaction.

However, at that moment, his already illusory figure solidified once again.

Zhang Yu’s expression altered. He was about to be enraged, thinking that the Wolf was going back on his words.

However, before he could speak, he heard skittering voices in his ears.

It was like whispers in a nightmare coming from a ghoul.

In pursuit of the sound, he raised his head and saw balls of light falling from the ceiling.

These balls of light fell to the ground, turning into a cloud of unknown fog that resembled ashes.

As soon as the unknown fog reached the ground, it began squirming. To the naked eye, its wriggling was incredibly slow, but, strangely, this sluggish squirming hastily formed a cyan-colored stone pedestal.

The stone pedestal quickly grew larger.

Soon, it occupied most of the space in the wooden house. The top of the pedestal reached the roof.

A door appeared in the pedestal.

An eye that belonged to one that was evidently up to no good due to its extreme depravity slowly opened the door.

At the moment when the eye opened, Zhang Yu, the young man with a Wolf’s head, and Chu Weiwei all felt chills all over their bodies. It was as if the blood in their bodies had been frozen. They couldn’t even breathe.

The even deadlier thing was…that just by looking at it,…

Everyone felt as if they had gone through a storm in their souls.

Their wisdom was lost, their minds were frozen, and their spirits were rapidly racing toward collapse.