"Wait!" Zhou Xuan raised his hand to stop him, then asked, "Do you feel hungry?"
"Hungry? Now that you mention it... A Hunger Dream?" Qing Feng responded.
Li Chengfeng, Zhang Yifeng, and the other five night watchmen also began to notice their "sense of hunger" after Zhou Xuan’s prompt.
Zhou Xuan had experience with this kind of situation. Back at the Forbidden Tower of Qiye Temple, Monk Zhu Jiu had taught him that the offspring of Divine Alien Ghosts inherently possess Physical Body Dreams.
These dreams are akin to a sort of Forbidden Land, impervious to incense offerings. Once you step into their dream’s domain, it contaminates your consciousness and spirit.
Those with strong incense offerings might have some resistance, allowing them to escape the dream’s grip before their mind is completely overtaken, preserving their life.
But if they refuse to leave, their mind will be continually eroded until it’s entirely controlled.
Of course, the speed at which one’s mind is invaded depends on the spiritual prowess of the offspring of the Divine Aliens and Gods.
The Buddha’s son "Six Desires" in Qiye Temple—a child born of the Great Buddha "Qiye Sage" and "Star Covering"—was endowed with incense offerings that reached the heavens. Naturally, "Six Desires’" dream strength was immensely powerful.
Even Si Ming, ambitious enough to climb the tower, was promptly affected.
But the baby that vanished from Chen Shifang lacked significant spiritual prowess. The "Hunger Dream" it generated, while sharing the characteristics of a Physical Body Dream, had limited contamination strength, requiring Zhou Xuan’s direct inquiry before Li Chengfeng and the others even noticed.
"The baby’s corpse isn’t missing; we’re inside a dream—it’s a dream the baby has woven."
Zhou Xuan reached for the Bi Fang Mask at his waist and put it on, sliding a gavel from his sleeve and gently striking it.
The ninth technique of the storyteller—the Master of Dreams.
Through this technique, Zhou Xuan naturally becomes the dream itself.
His imagined dream was a clean, bright room.
Within his own dream, Zhou Xuan observed.
The Physical Body Dreams of Divine and Alien Ghost offspring constantly invaded those who wandered into them. Their dreams collided with Zhou Xuan’s dream.
During the collision, Zhou Xuan could discern the offspring’s shape.
He faintly heard the sound of nails being hammered.
He identified the direction of the sound, turned his head to look, and saw something soft and tongue-like stretched taut against the window frame. Suddenly, it unleashed itself and slammed into the window.
"This offspring is so small?"
Zhou Xuan vividly remembered the Buddha’s son in Qiye Temple, whose enormous form caused loud reverberations when it collided with his dream—a far cry from this little tongue’s impact.
"What exactly is this baby’s corpse? If it’s a Divine offspring, it’s far too weak. Yet if it isn’t, it still has the ability to generate a Physical Body Dream."
Zhou Xuan was puzzled. For now, he let the questions lie, focusing on subduing the entity.
He used the eighth technique of the storyteller again, plunging his Perception into the soft, tongue-like object.
"You dream of exquisite food, devouring it voraciously, savoring it to your heart’s content, your body swaying uncontrollably."
After designing a dream for the soft tongue-like entity, Zhou Xuan struck the gavel again, forcing it to dream along the lines he imagined.
At the same time, Zhou Xuan returned to reality, and on the first bed in Chen Shifang, the baby’s corpse materialized.
"Huh, the baby’s corpse has reappeared?" Zhang Yifeng rubbed his eyes.
"There’s something inside the baby’s body that creates dreams. You were trapped in its dream, so what you were seeing wasn’t reality, which naturally means you couldn’t have discovered the baby’s corpse.
Now, that entity has been brought under my control and can no longer generate dreams. What you see now is the real scene in Chen Shifang, which is why you can see the baby’s corpse again."
Zhou Xuan spoke while walking over to the baby’s corpse, examining it carefully.
In the hollow of the baby’s abdomen, something faintly pulsated—a flesh-like lump the size of a finger flickered in and out of view.
"That dream-generating entity hides here."
The object inside the baby’s body, which could generate dreams, was now trapped in Zhou Xuan’s imagined "Dream of Delicious Food"—you dream of exquisite food, devouring it voraciously, savoring it to your heart’s content, your body swaying uncontrollably.
Its body swayed, allowing Zhou Xuan to trace its location.
Zhou Xuan removed the Bi Fang Mask and activated Bone Teeth.
The white ivory viciously carved into the hollow of the baby’s abdomen, extracting a soft, tongue-like entity.
On the side, Qing Feng wrapped his right hand with City God Ink Line to shield himself from contamination, then pinched the "tongue" between two fingers.
Examining it closely, he remarked, "Is this... Hunger?"
"No," Zhou Xuan replied. "What exactly it is remains uncertain; we’ll need to investigate the crime scene."
After speaking, Zhou Xuan patted Qing Feng on the chest, saying, "Let’s go, to the scene."
"What should we do about this tongue?"
"It’s just a soulless chunk of soft flesh that merely generates dreams. It has no purpose for the investigation but is extremely dangerous. Just kill it outright to prevent future havoc."
Zhou Xuan spoke as Li Chengfeng lit a Yan Fire, reducing the tongue to ashes. Among the remains were over ten tooth-like objects.
"Are these teeth its bones?" Zhou Xuan asked Qing Feng with caution, "Do you have any Forbidden Artifacts?"
The City God Temple was renowned for its Magic Artifacts and Forbidden Artifacts; every disciple carried several.
"Seal the ashes and teeth with a Forbidden Artifact. As I said, no room for havoc."
After Zhou Xuan’s reminder, Qing Feng took out a small white Bone Bottle from his waist.
The Bone Bottle was slender enough to be held with one hand, its surface etched with peculiar inscriptions.