In the deepest part of the subconscious ocean, stood a grand and imposing cathedral made of bones.
A black-haired boy, around ten years old, dressed in a sharp suit, gazed at the strange cathedral that had suddenly appeared in his dream. His brows furrowed deeply.
"Heh, interesting." A cold smirk curled at the corners of his lips, and his pure golden eyes glowed with a dangerous light. "Pulling me into a dream... that's a dangerous move."
As he spoke, his golden eyes emitted a light far brighter than any star—blazing, cold, yet intensely hot and boiling.
How dare they pull him into a dream? Don't they know... he is the ruler in the dream!
"A mere dream, break for me!"
The boy, like a supreme being on high, shouted in an over-the-top, dramatic manner.
However, the wind remained still, time passed, and yet there was no change in the surroundings.
"It didn't work?!"
The boy's pupils contracted. This was the first time ever that he couldn't easily control the dream.
At that moment, another figure suddenly appeared beside him.
"Huh? Strange... wasn't I playing a game?" The newly appeared teenager, with handsome features but a somewhat disheveled hairstyle, scratched his head, looking around at the bizarre scenery. He muttered, "Where is this? Am I dreaming? This feels so weird."
"Big Brother?!"
The boy stared at the teenager, around seventeen or eighteen years old, his face filled with shock.
"You're the one again, Lu Mingze!" Only then did the boy notice the young man, his eyes widening in surprise. "You're the one causing all this trouble, aren't you?!"
As it turns out, his first encounter with Lu Mingze had happened just a few days ago. This boy kept appearing in his dreams, speaking in a language he couldn't understand.
Things about soul trading, waiting until he became hopeless about the world, and other ramblings like that.
But the problem was, no matter how Lu Mingfei looked at it, he was just an ordinary high school student. There was no need for him to be involved in things like trading souls with demons.
Anyway, the little devil named Lu Mingze had settled into his dreams.
"Sorry, brother." Lu Mingze shrugged. "This time, it's not me causing trouble. There's someone else behind it."
"Huh? Not you?"
Lu Mingfei was very suspicious and almost didn't believe it.
"Though I'm a devil, I've never lied, brother." Lu Mingze frowned slightly, his cute face serious. "Besides, my taste isn't that bad. Using corpses and bones to build a cathedral? That's just twisted."
"So what are we supposed to do now?"
Lu Mingfei had never seen anything like this. His legs were shaking as he stuttered, "Could it be your boss, like some kind of Satanic headquarters or something?"
"Maybe. Maybe they think my recent performance has been poor."
Lu Mingze sneered, completely fearless, as he stepped into the mysterious cathedral made of bones. "Let's go, brother. Since we've been invited, we can't just ignore it, right?"
"Uh... can we not go in?" Lu Mingfei hesitated, instinctively wanting to avoid the place. "I mean, this cathedral... no matter how you look at it, it feels off."
After all, which normal cathedral is built with corpses?
Just the sight of it was terrifying, like something from the underworld, with a strange beauty that only seemed to exist after death.
"Unless, big brother, you want to stay here forever." Lu Mingze shrugged and said, "I don't really mind, but don't you have school tomorrow?"
Such niche vocabulary. Lu Mingfei could only sigh.
After all, school was an unavoidable nightmare for high school students, and in the end, he could only follow behind dejectedly. "You're right, I have no comeback for that."
The two of them pushed open the huge door and stepped into the mysterious hall.
The entire cathedral was made from the bones of countless creatures, with several columns holding up a circular dome.
A dense circle of skulls surrounded the space, their hollow eyes staring down at the ground.
On the sides, the colorful windows were covered with twisted, protruding human faces, looking terrifying.
At the center, facing the main door, stood a massive crucifix, twisted and intertwined from pure skeletons.
Although it was such a terrifying scene, it somehow emitted a holy aura.
Right beneath the crucifix was an ancient, weathered bronze table. On either side were several bronze chairs, symmetrically arranged as though meant for discussions.
However, what was strange was the chair at the head of the table. It was incredibly huge, over ten meters high, almost like it was meant for a giant.
Even for someone like the little devil, Lu Mingze, the eerie and terrifying layout of the cathedral made him furrow his brows deeply.
As for Lu Mingfei, he was so frightened that his legs trembled, hiding behind the little boy and shivering.
"Uh, I think we should leave now, right?"
Lu Mingfei swallowed, looking around at the strange structure. He had a bad feeling.
"Leave? Where to?" Lu Mingze said calmly. "Big brother, stay calm. Even if we leave here, we won't be able to return to the real world."
This dreamscape was constructed in a strange way. His authority couldn't even affect it, which had never happened before.
In the past, he was the ruler of dreams, able to manipulate them at will, almost omnipotent.
But now, it seemed his power was sealed.
"Since we're here, we might as well stay calm."
Lu Mingze said calmly, "Since there's no way out, let's just relax and see what this guy intends to do."
With that, he took the lead and walked deeper into the cathedral.
"Hey, wait for me, Lu Mingze! Don't leave me behind!" Although Lu Mingfei was scared, he was even more afraid of being left alone.
Isn't this how horror movies usually go?
People who insist on acting alone often don't end up well.
Unlike Lu Mingfei, who was acting all timid, Lu Mingze showed no fear. Instead, he was admiring the Corpse Cathedral, even going so far as to touch the bones.
He stared at the skeletons on the pillars and, stroking his chin, commented, "Strange. The bones here don't belong to any known species."
"What do you mean?"
Lu Mingfei froze for a moment and asked.
"Brother, you've studied biology, right? You should know about the three-domain system," Lu Mingze said, his golden eyes focusing on the bones as he lightly touched them. "In the evolutionary tree of life, there are three main domains: bacteria, archaea, and eukaryotes. But actually, there's a fourth domain."
"Ah?"
Lu Mingfei scratched his head, embarrassed. Honestly, he had no idea what Lu Mingze was talking about.
"Brother, you should pay more attention in class and stop focusing on Chen Wenwen."
Lu Mingze chuckled lightly, then retracted his hand. His expression grew serious as he continued, "The important thing is that the creatures making up this cathedral don't belong to any of the four known biological domains. They're completely separate from life forms as we know them. Do you understand now?"
"You mean these are demons?" Lu Mingfei was getting more scared.
"…Forget it, if you're happy."
Lu Mingze's mouth twitched, speechless and too lazy to explain further. He went back to examining the bones.
Lu Mingfei wasn't interested in the creepy skeletons. Out of boredom, he walked toward the bronze table. Suddenly, his eyes lit up. "Hey, Lu Mingze, look here, there's a notebook!"
That's strange. He'd just checked the area, and there hadn't been a notebook.
Lu Mingze had a bad feeling and quickly turned around, shouting sharply to stop Lu Mingfei, "Don't touch it, Brother!"
"Huh? I didn't touch it!"
Lu Mingfei immediately raised both hands, signaling that he was obedient.
Lu Mingze hurried over, walking to a bronze chair that looked like it was meant for a giant. He saw that the bronze table, which had been empty moments ago, now had an old, ordinary notebook resting on it.
The paper was yellowed, dry, and rough, like it was made from animal hide. The cover was dark, with no writing on it.
Under the blackened cover of the notebook, there was a simple feather pen tucked inside.
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