Tick.

Tick.

Only this sound remained in the entire world.

All the colors gradually faded away. These colors were the emotional reflections of Zhou Yexin’s inner world. The fading signified the dissipation of the dreamer’s subjective consciousness.

This retrospective dream about the broken pocket watch seemed to have reached its end in providing useful information.

Gu Shen could finally move his ‘body’ freely. He looked at his hands. His palms were overflowing with blazing flames.

It was the power of the Blazing Fire that immersed him in this dream.

So, am I a little flame now? Gu Shen scratched his head.

He looked at the burnt villa. He had only wanted to investigate the origin of the pocket watch, but he didn’t expect to witness such a horrifying dream.

The blood-red fire that had destroyed the villa was undoubtedly a disaster caused by a transcendental ability… Moreover, it was an extremely high-ranking one.

A red flame that burned everything.

Although they were both fires, it was different from his Blazing Fire… This was a flame that had a strong offensive nature against matter.

His fire was more like a mental fire.

After staring at the blood-red flame for a while, he actually felt his Blazing Fire trembling slightly. Through the ethereal dream, the transcendental essence of the blood fire seemed to attract his Blazing Fire.

Rabbit doll… father… pocket watch… Gu Shen connected the useful clues in the dream.

The events in the dream might not necessarily be real. Perhaps Zhou Yexin had never bought a rabbit doll in reality. However, the metaphorical significance of these objects was reflected truthfully in the dream, which required the dreamer to explore them on their own.

Why didn’t ‘Daddy’ have a face?

Gu Shen couldn’t understand. As the most important character in this dream, why wasn’t there even a glimpse of his face?

Was it because everything was taken away from him in the fire? All traces of his existence were erased. Gu Shen looked at the villa with some fear, where lingering blood-red flames were still wandering. The father fulfilled his daughter’s wish by repairing the damaged doll. He did it with the pocket watch. Was he also a transcendent?

After seeing this dream, Gu Shen no longer thought that the pocket watch was a sealed object not worth paying attention to.

After enduring such a terrifying onslaught of flames, the pocket watch had not been destroyed. Moreover, in a sense, it had revived the rabbit doll. From the reality reflected in the dream, this pocket watch, in its complete state, seemed to have the ability to reverse time?

But now, this heavily damaged pocket watch’s hour hand was frozen and no longer ticked.

All that remained was a faint trace of transcendental power. It could probably only be used to assist in hypnosis and allow ordinary people to fall asleep quickly.

Gu Shen turned his head and looked at the faded girl in the dream.

This dream was about to end.

Has her persistence always been to find out the truth behind the fire? Gu Shen’s eyes became complicated. Sister Xin was an ordinary person who had experienced a transcendental incident like him, but she was not as lucky as him. This transcendental incident had brought about the death of her most important relative.

Now, looking back at Zhou Yexin’s files, Gu Shen felt sad. He finally understood why a girl could travel to the Central Continent at the age of eighteen and persevere year after year under everyone’s puzzled gazes. The fire had erased everything. If even she no longer persisted in seeking the truth, then the man in the dream might have truly died in every sense of the word.

This pocket watch contained some transcendental power and was related to dreams. I was the only relic her father left her… And it was also the only clue about the blood-red fire.

The surrounding light began to dim.

The scene gradually returned to reality.

At the end of the dream, Gu Shen erased Zhou Yexin’s memories of his Blazing Fire and added some suggestions to ensure that she wouldn’t feel anything unusual after waking up, allowing her life to return to normal.

Sitting at the table, he woke up from the dream. The mental power consumed by the Ruler of Truth had been much replenished, and he could finally move about normally.

He tidied up the room and left with light steps, pretending he hadn’t been here.

Then he knocked on the door.

After a moment, there was a response. “… Come in.”

Sister Xin was holding her forehead, her thoughts in a mess.

The knock on the door woke her up.

The first thing she did after waking up was to check if the pocket watch in her clothes was still there. It was a habit she had developed for over a decade. Seeing the pocket watch, she breathed a sigh of relief. She tried hard to think, but her mind was still blank, so she murmured softly as though asking for help, “Little Gu… did I… sleep for a long time?”

“It’s probably because you didn’t sleep well last night. You said you wanted to rest for a while in the afternoon,” Gu Shen said softly. “Nothing happened this afternoon, so I didn’t disturb you.”

Zhou Yexin smiled bitterly. “Is that so…”

She suddenly remembered the banner from earlier and her insomnia. For some reason, these things that should have surprised or amazed her, when they reappeared in her mind, she only felt calmness.

He was the genius youth recommended by Mr. Tang Qingquan, so he should be capable of doing these things.

“Dr. Gu, thank you for your hard work,” Zhou Yexin said apologetically. “Actually, I have something to say to you. I don’t quite understand why Mr. Tang arranged for you to intern here. You’re still so young, so you are more suitable to go to better places. There are many top institutions in the East Continent.”

Gu Shen was startled.

In fact, the suggestions he had given Sister Xin were very gentle. They were only meant to make her think that his treatment of the mass insomnia today was a reasonable matter.

But he didn’t expect her to say this to him after the hypnosis ended.

“Mr. Tang has been sponsoring me for many years. With your qualifications and talent, he will surely help you if you ask,” Zhou Yexin said earnestly. “Perhaps you should contact him.”

“… Thank you.” Gu Shen smiled after being taken aback for a moment. “That’s a great suggestion. I’ll contact him later.”

Tang Qingquan… has been sponsoring Zhou Yexin for many years.

The grand magistrate of the Ying Sea District was indeed not simple. If he had started sponsoring Zhou Yexin when she went overseas to study in the Central Continent, then there was reason to guess that Tang Qingquan knew about the blood-red fire.

Having entered the dream personally, he felt the pain, despair, regret, and collapse of the girl.

The dreamer was the actor in the play.

After coming out of the dream, Gu Shen decided to do what he could to help investigate.

If she’s alone, no matter how long she persists on this path, there might not be a result. Gu Shen thought. This case is too old, and the investigation will be very long. I might not be able to uncover the ultimate truth, but no matter what the outcome is, just treat it as helping her.

Moreover, this investigation would be beneficial to him.

In the dream, he had looked at the blood fire from afar and felt something.

Gu Shen had felt a faint sense of resonance within himself. Perhaps… after devouring the blood-red flame, my Blazing Fire will improve significantly.