Light Barrier

“These are… my evil thoughts?” Gu Shen looked at the sea of blood that kept opening in front of him.

After the flame in the oil-paper lantern was extinguished, the entire dream world seemed to be full of his evil thoughts.

Do I have such powerful evil thoughts hidden deep in my heart?

“Yes. But that doesn’t mean you’re a bad person. Evil thoughts are like shadows in water. On the surface, the sea may seem clear, but buried ten thousand meters below, it may hide a black tide capable of devouring the entire world.”

Chu Ling said softly, “Good and evil are in the deeds, not the heart. Although your evil thoughts seem to be great enough to destroy the world, ultimately, this is just a dream.

“Now… try to cut them into pieces.”

Chu Ling’s tone was very light, as though this were as easy as cutting melons and vegetables or tearing off a piece of paper. Or rather, it was a matter of course.

“Cut them…”

Looking at the overwhelming black tide and blood sea, Gu Shen felt his scalp tingle.

Compared to this, he was like a newbie who had just left a novice village. He didn’t even have a rusty kitchen knife, but he wanted to challenge the world-devouring final boss alone and even had to perform the unique skill of cutting down the opponent with a single slash.

Can I really cut them into pieces? Gu Shen took a deep breath and asked, “How?”

Chu Ling looked at Gu Shen, slowly raised her arm, and pressed two fingers together. “How do you want to cut them?”

She smiled. “Like this… or like this?”

She made a horizontal cut, then a vertical one.

Chu Ling smiled. “Anything is fine. It depends on what you like.”

Gu Shen held his breath.

He subconsciously made the exact same movements and gently swiped his fingers horizontally.

Swish.

It felt like tearing a fragile piece of paper.

A dazzling light appeared in the distant sky. As Gu Shen’s finger swept across, it ‘slowly’ cut through the entire world.

The sea of blood filling the world was cut open. The blazing light was like a scorching flame projected by the sun as it cut the ghosts surging from Hell, the howling black tide, and the constantly opening vertical pupils in half.

All the deafening wailing in his ears…

… under his distant arm slash…

… were shattered in an instant!

The entire dark world was torn into pieces by the blazing light. Countless beams of light rushed forth, and the dark tide seemed to have been hit by a bomb. Tens of thousands of tons of black tidewater were blasted into the air and then evaporated into vapor.

It turned out that the world in the nightmare was so fragile.

It was like paper

Puncture it, and it broke.

Tear it, and it broke.

“Congratulations. It took one minute,” Chu Ling said calmly. “You broke the Dream Decipher record of the Cage of Ghosts.”

…

In the classroom.

The flame in the center of the Cage of Ghosts howled and surged like a tide as it crashed against the cage walls, giving people the feeling that it could burst at any moment. There were too many evil ghosts depicted on the oil paper, and they overlapped densely, as though they were about to break through the lantern.

“What’s going on?” Wu Mengbai was stunned. This was the first time so many malicious ghosts had appeared in the dream of the Cage of Ghosts.

Just by looking at the lantern painting, he could imagine what kind of hell the dream world was like.

Everyone was speechless.

The grand magistrate was the calmest as he stared intently at Gu Shen. Sure enough, Gu Shen is not as simple as what’s recorded in the files!

“This kid looks honest and simple. He doesn’t look like someone with an antisocial personality.” Lin Beizhu furrowed his brow. “But his evil thoughts are too terrifying.”

“Does this mean… the risk of losing control is very high?” a member of the assessment team asked.

“No,” Grand Magistrate Tang Qingquan said.

“The evil ghost painting reflected from the Cage of Ghosts has nothing to do with the risk of losing control. What’s most important is whether he can defeat his evil thoughts. No matter how small the evil thoughts are, even if there’s only one small ghost, someone with a weak will may still be greatly affected. And the scale of Gu Shen’s evil thoughts is unheard of. It’s as though the Gate of Hell has been opened. He should be in Hell now, right?”

The grand magistrate said faintly, “But how strong-willed must someone be to venture into Hell alone?”

Evil thoughts filled the sky!

How to slay the ghosts?

They thought they would welcome another long wait.

The moment the grand magistrate finished speaking…

A faint hissing sound came from the lantern!

The grand magistrate’s expression changed drastically. With his keen eyesight, he clearly saw a tear had appeared on the painting depicting the Night Parade of Ten Thousand Ghosts on the oil paper.

Is this… an external force from the dream affecting the lantern and damaging it?!

How is that possible?!

The Cage of Ghosts was once a complete Class S sealed object, but an extremely powerful big shot had used it to measure his evil thoughts. In the end, the big shot had obtained the result he wanted, but the lantern had split open.

In the end, it fell from a Class S sealed object. But even so, it remained a terrifying dream sealed object.

In the decade since he controlled the Cage of Ghosts, Tang Qingquan had seen hundreds, even thousands, of different evil ghost dreams.

He had seen many Hell-like paintings full of evil thoughts.

But they were all from fiendish people sentenced to death in transcendental courts. They were cold-blooded, murderous, and did all manners of evil… Hell was their rightful destination.

What was laughable was that after these people saw the evil thoughts in their hearts, they became the most afraid and terrified people.

Let alone overcoming their evil thoughts, they couldn’t even last fifteen minutes.

When the evil ghost painting on the lantern took shape, their minds were on the verge of collapse. These people were used to being treated as demons in reality, feared and avoided by everyone. But when they really saw the demons in Hell, they were cowardly and timid like vermin.

But Gu Shen’s painting…

It was the first time Tang Qingquan had seen something like this in the ten years he possessed the Cage of Ghosts.

He had thought the big shot breaking the lantern with his evil thoughts was just a legend.

But he never expected… it was actually true!

Gu Shen’s evil thoughts were too powerful, and the lantern couldn’t bear them. This scene was too terrifying.

He couldn’t imagine how the owner of the dream would deal with it.

But the next moment…

Gu Shen gave the answer.

After a crisp hissing sound, a ring-shaped gap appeared on the outer edge of the oil-paper lantern, as though someone had cut it.

At the same time, the flame in the center of the Cage of Ghosts distorted and let out a mournful cry!

The countless grotesque ghosts depicted on the lantern were all cut in half at the waist.

“What?!” Tang Qingquan’s eyes widened.

Everyone else looked at each other.

A moment ago, they were still wondering how Gu Shen would slay the ghosts.

The next moment, the ghost slaying ended!

This scene was absurd and dramatic.

Countless evil ghosts formed a continuous tide, wanting to devour the world… But the next moment, dawn broke.

All the evil ghosts were cut down.

It was simple… like tearing paper.

It was indeed tearing paper. The surface of the oil-paper lantern had ruptured under the flickering of the flame just now, further damaging this former Class S sealed object.

“Phew…”

The classroom was so silent that a pin drop was audible.

There was only the sound of one person exhaling softly.

Holding the lantern, Gu Shen left the dream of the Cage of Ghosts and slowly opened his eyes.

After he deciphered the third dream, his face was no longer pale but had a healthy color. After he deciphered the Cage of Ghosts… he felt refreshed throughout his body. It was as though something weighing on his chest had been lifted, and now, he felt much lighter.

Gu Shen noticed the astonished and shocked expressions of the five members of the assessment team. Did I slay the ghosts too quickly?

But… this wasn’t something he could control.

With a hiss, it ended.

Chu Ling was right. It was like… tearing paper.

Gu Shen noticed the damage to the Cage of Ghosts. The commotion in the dream was too big, causing the lantern to be damaged?

I hope I don’t get into trouble. He prayed silently in his heart, then returned the lantern with both hands apologetically and bowed.

The entire room was silent.

Gu Shen cleared his throat lightly, attracting the attention of the assessors. He asked carefully, “Now, is the assessment… over?”