I Am Establishing a Safe Zone in the Nightmare World

Chapter 64: Chapter 61: Employee No. 2

Why would fleeing to the backyard of Courtyard Four allow him to escape this crisis? Sprinting wildly, Jiang Peng had no energy to think further; he just instinctively ran toward that place. The distance between him and the Red-robed Ghost was closing fast!

At this moment, without Hair Ghost needing to report the distance, Jiang Peng could feel the lethal danger bearing down on him from behind. He activated his Lifebound Curse Object; a Golden Light Bird soared into the air and looked back. The red Ghost Shadow flickered. With a single flicker, it crossed twenty to thirty meters. Even though he was a Control Stage Dream Descender who had consumed Treasure Medicine and possessed formidable physical prowess, he still couldn’t clearly see the Red-robed Ghost’s movements.

”Holy shit!” A chill shot straight up to the crown of his head, and he ran even faster. ”Buddy, I sure hope this backyard you mentioned can shake off that Red-robed Ghost, or I’m completely screwed.”

With swift steps, he vaulted over a low wall. Not far away, ”Double Happiness” characters were pasted on the walls. He glanced at them, quickly stepped into a nearby courtyard, and rushed straight into the backyard.

”Where? Where?!” Jiang Peng’s gaze swept the area, and he instantly understood why Hair Ghost had said, ”Once you get there, you’ll definitely be able to find the place called the Safe Zone.”

In the middle of the dilapidated courtyard, a shop stood out jarringly. He could faintly see the bright lights inside and its modern-style decor. The entire aesthetic was completely out of place!

He thought to himself, ”Is it a camp? The style completely clashes with the surroundings, but if it’s a camp, it makes sense. Camps are mostly built upon some special Curse Object and take on different appearances and styles depending on the form of the Curse Object. I’ve even seen a camp shaped like an RV before. I just didn’t expect there to be a camp here. This must be where Hair Ghost’s confidence lies.”

These thoughts flashed through his mind in an instant. Researcher Jiang immediately dashed inside and shut the shop door tightly.

”HUFF, HUFF!” He panted heavily, but he didn’t dare to be careless, keeping the Incomplete Curse Object that enhanced his body activated. His gaze was fixed on the outside through the fan-shaped window of the door.

He wondered if this camp could block or shake off the ghost. Not all camps possessed the Ability to confront ghosts head-on, but since Hair Ghost had said there would be no problem, he figured it should be fine.

As his thoughts raced, the red Ghost Shadow appeared in midair not far away. In the blink of an eye, it appeared inside the courtyard. It was too fast! Just as Researcher Jiang thought this, the red Ghost Shadow appeared a mere meter away from him in the next second, right in front of the shop door.

He braced himself and pressed hard against the door. The Red-clothed Ghost gently flicked her sleeve, striking out with a motion that seemed slow but was terrifyingly fast. The moment the sleeve lashed out, the dark red cuff seemed to extend infinitely, transforming into a massive, blood-colored curtain that enveloped the entire shop door like a crashing Blood Wave!

A deafening BOOM exploded by his ears. Jiang Peng’s head buzzed loudly. His heart skipped a beat, and he braced himself to leap back the moment the door shattered. But in the next instant, he realized the door was completely intact. Even though the Red-robed Ghost went berserk, her long sleeves turning into wave after wave of blood, crashing down again and again in a continuous barrage of deafening booms, the door, the windows, and the walls didn’t show a single crack. Even the door handle he was leaning against didn’t vibrate. This made his reaction seem like a bit of an overreaction.

”This camp... It’s incredible!”

Only then did Jiang Peng have the time to observe his surroundings. He wasn’t the only one in the shop; there were two other Dream Descenders. The two of them were looking at him with strange expressions. Not far away, the Blood-Colored Clay Sculpture on the bar counter was also staring at him. It held up a sign that read: [Protection Fee + Tea Fee: 100g Dream Dust. Thank you for your patronage.]

Jiang Peng was left speechless. ”This is incredibly bizarre, okay?!”

However, he quickly understood. He knew that in the deeper layers of the Nightmare World, there were camps built either by major factions or by Lost Persons huddling together for warmth. Many of these camps were open to passing Dream Descenders, providing protection or supplies. Naturally, however, the camp’s protection wasn’t free. Jiang Peng knew full well how many resources it took to build a camp. The subsequent maintenance and repairs were an astronomical price for Ordinary Dream Descenders. And right now, they were only charging 100g of Dream Dust?

Jiang Peng casually took out a bag of Dream Dust. Blood Hand Seal used its employee authority to withdraw 100g into the account. As for the remaining hundreds of grams of Dream Dust in the bag, it didn’t even spare a glance. It didn’t care. In fact, it was disdainful. All it wanted was Belief Value. Dream Dust? Merely a vulgar trinket. The great Lord Blood had no interest in it.

While the Safe Zone blocked the Red-robed Ghost’s attacks, Hair Ghost and Researcher Wang had already dug up two burial mounds in a row. At this moment, Hair Ghost dug something out! It wasn’t the expected corpse, but rather a photograph. On it was a girl smiling as beautifully as a blooming flower.

”It’s not a corpse?” Hair Ghost wasn’t entirely sure if this was the key item.

But Jiang Peng immediately called out, ”This is the key item! The lack of a corpse might be because the ’Bride’ is buried elsewhere, or maybe the ritual isn’t complete yet. There are many possibilities. We just need to follow the basic logic of the Nightmare to clear it.”

Hair Ghost grabbed the photo and sprinted toward the altar. At this time, perhaps having triggered some condition, the Red-robed Ghost stopped staring at Jiang Peng. She turned around, swiftly flying back to where she came from.

”Is there still time?”

Under normal circumstances, yes. However, as Hair Ghost sprinted, clusters of illusions spawned in his path. They were Papermen carrying an eight-bearer sedan chair, and sitting inside the chair was the very photo of the ”Bride.” Suddenly, another illusion emerged, showing the girl leaping headfirst into the sea. Illusions sprang up everywhere, chaotic and disorganized. There was even a faint trace of Spirit interference.

If he ran straight through the illusions, something terrible would absolutely happen. Hair Ghost’s experience and intuition both told him this, so he quickly took a detour. But the Red-robed Ghost was already incredibly fast. By taking a detour, he was going to run out of time.

Shi An, watching from a high vantage point, saw everything clearly. Thus, he directly controlled the Shadow Flying Eye with his mind, sending it crashing toward the Red-robed Ghost flickering in midair. Right before impact, it slammed on the brakes and reversed course.

As expected, this drew the Red-clothed Ghost’s attention. Shi An fled immediately, fully unleashing the speed advantage of the Shadow Witch’s Flying Eye. Trailing a black ribbon of light, the Witchcraft Flying Eye streaked across the sky above the ancient courtyards. The Red-robed Ghost pursued closely from behind, her blood-red figure flickering in and out of existence time and time again.

She chased; Shi An fled. Time and again, Shi An narrowly escaped.

Suddenly, the Red-robed Ghost sensed something. She grew furious and flew toward the altar. But it was too late. Hair Ghost had already placed the key item into the coffin, covered it back up with the lid, and locked it tight. Having done this, Hair Ghost didn’t even stick around to see the result; he immediately vaulted over the courtyard wall and fled outward. This strategy wasn’t guaranteed to be correct. If it were wrong, staying would mean facing the ghost’s direct wrath. Regardless, getting out of there was the priority.

However, Shi An had already seen scenes of illusions materializing above the altar, and the speeding Red-clothed Ghost came to a sudden halt. The blood-red wedding dress began to melt away bit by bit, like ice and snow. Beneath the wedding dress, which had clearly been empty, a blurry human silhouette faintly appeared. She bowed in gratitude, and in the next moment, vanished entirely from the world along with the blood-colored dress.

”DING~!”

[You have cleared a small-scale Nightmare. You received 50 units of Belief Value.]

[You may choose one of the following three loots as your reward.]

Shi An glanced at it and smiled. Among them was the very ghost employee he had been hoping for!