A somber path...

A somber path that stretches endlessly forward...

This path is covered with gray and decaying vines.

The stone lamps on both sides flicker with a ghostly, pale light.

Everything is stripped of color.

Everything is in shades of gray and white.

The view bounces up and down, and Shen Gu Mirai can feel herself moving forward.

Step by step, moving forward.

The path is not long, and she soon reaches the end.

At the very front of the path stands a black casket in the soil.

This black casket is about the height of a person.

It is tightly bound with sacred ropes, as if sealed, with rope after rope connecting to the surrounding tree trunks, binding it firmly in place.

The black casket is thus abandoned in the dense forest, seemingly never to change.

"Brother..."

A soft sigh escapes, quickly vanishing like a breeze.

Shen Gu Mirai can tell it's a gentle woman's voice, but as the sigh echoes, she instinctively feels the surroundings recede, as if she's being pulled from a dream—

In the moment Shen Gu Mirai fully awakens, she looks in the direction she just came from.

But under the deep night sky, the figure of the woman is no longer discernible.

The only thing clearly visible is the mark that stands out even in the darkness.

A mark that glows with a diabolic crimson.

"Huh?!"

Shen Gu Mirai snapped back to reality in a daze.

Above her was the familiar army green tent, the air filled with the earthy smell of dawn.

It seemed she was still at the exploration team's camp.

But what did those things in the dream mean just now?

Shen Gu Mirai lay on the bed, thinking intently.

Then—

"Did you have a dream again?"

A voice suddenly came to her ears.

This startled Shen Gu Mirai, and she quickly turned as if suddenly aware.

It turned out Beichuan Si had returned unnoticed and was sleeping beside her.

"Mr. Temple? When did you come back?"

"I came back about half an hour ago, but seeing you resting well, I didn't disturb you... besides, I was tired too."

Beichuan Si said, lighting up his phone.

The time had already reached seven o'clock.

For just an ordinary all-nighter, with Beichuan Si's stamina, it was nothing.

But at the Mouchi Main Family, he needed to stay constantly vigilant against hidden threats while also gathering various scattered clues.

Even Beichuan Si felt a bit fatigued under such intense exploration.

"Thank you for your hard work, Mr. Temple."

Shen Gu Mirai spoke to comfort him, feeling a bit embarrassed.

Beichuan Si exploring such a perilous old mansion for her, while she slept... it was really—

"Actually, you sleeping soundly now is the right thing." Beichuan Si spoke suddenly.

"Uh...?" Shen Gu Mirai opened her mouth slightly.

"It's exactly when your dreams are needed now, the more detailed they are, the more meaningful they are to me." Beichuan Si said calmly.

"Eh...? Is that so?"

Shen Gu Mirai was caught off guard by Beichuan Si's statements, barely responding after a moment.

"Indeed it is."

Beichuan Si nodded, then asked again:

"Mirai, did you just dream about the Mouchi Main Family again?"

"...Well, I did have a dream... but as usual, it was basically just me walking through a dense forest."

Shen Gu Mirai recalled the previous dream, frowning as she spoke.

The scenes in these recent dreams have significantly changed.

The dreams before going to Yamanashi Prefecture mostly involved herself walking along forest paths, followed by priests holding azure torches that lit the way. Walking along the forest paths, passing a gigantic Divine Tree with countless human forms beneath it, finally emerging from the dense woods to see a dark lake that reflected nothing. Above this dark lake stood a towering crimson torii gate.

However, recent dreams have mostly changed.

Now they mostly involve her walking alone on a somber path in the dense forest, turning and arriving before a frosty black casket.

In these dreams, Shen Gu Mirai is in an uncontrollable state.

If she could control her actions in the dream, Shen Gu Mirai thinks she would've already kicked the black casket over and opened its lid to see what kind of monsters were inside.

"Sigh, it's a shame, if I could move, I might've snatched the documents the priests were holding and had a look."

Shen Gu Mirai clicked her tongue, clearly still savoring the earlier dream.

Beichuan Si actually agreed with his fiancée's strange ideas.

To gather information from dreams emerging from the Stone of Catastrophe... its authenticity is unquestionable.

"But more than that... Mirai, you mentioned before, didn't you? In your dream, you heard someone's name?"

"...Yes, I did hear it... it was Yingzhong, right? Why, Mr. Temple?"

Shen Gu Mirai pondered as she answered Beichuan Si's question.

"You also mentioned that the name 'Yingzhong' was overheard in a dense, eerie forest in your dream, correct?"

Beichuan Si inquired further.

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