Infinite Nightmares

The moment the streams of thought on either side of Zhang Wenda began to be shrouded in darkness, dark things started to emerge from within.

They writhed in the darkness and even began to connect with each other within the opposing streams of thought, continuously constricting Zhang Wenda's space.

Just as the darkness was about to completely envelop Zhang Wenda, at the very moment Tang Xingxiong thought the kid was finished, the flashlight flickered and, against all expectations, the darkness began to retreat.

Roaring, Zhang Wenda held the flashlight high, standing in the darkness as if raising a sun. He advanced through the surging shadows with the Orange Light in hand, closing in on the distant, reforming figure of Tang Xingxiong.

But the distant Tang Xingxiong showed no intention of yielding. Instead, she watched Zhang Wenda with a taunting gaze. As she gently raised her right hand, a glowing sun rose from her palm.

With a gentle squeeze, the sun cracked open. A white Double Fish Jade Pendant, its head and tail intertwined, appeared before everyone.

'That's…' Hu Maomao's voice suddenly echoed in Zhang Wenda's mind, laced with intense anxiety.

As the Double Fish Jade Pendant emitted a white glow, Tang Xingxiong's body began to sway. While swaying, her body gradually split into two identical copies of herself.

And this was only the beginning. The moment the replication started, it showed no signs of stopping. One, two, three.

By the time Zhang Wenda reached her, nine headless women stood before him.

The moment his scythe, a mere afterimage, swung toward them, all of Tang Xingxiong's bodies instantly transformed into a sky full of crows. The number of crows under her control multiplied dozens of times in a single instant.

What was even more despairing was that the replication seemed to be endless, continuing unabated.

Now, as far as the eye could see, the maze was filled with the sound of flapping wings and the harsh caws of crows. The birds shot toward Zhang Wenda like a volley of bullets.

At first, Zhang Wenda managed to dodge some with his speed, but as the crows multiplied, he was completely overwhelmed.

SLASH! A crimson gash instantly split open across Zhang Wenda's chest, followed by a second, and then a third.

As the searing pain intensified, a thought Zhang Wenda had never had before surfaced in his mind. 'Am I going to die here?'

'No! I can't die here! I absolutely can't!'

But at that very moment, a red laser beam shot out from the distance. Everything in its path, from the monsters in the darkness to the flying crows, was instantly vaporized. A second beam immediately followed.

"Haozi, hang in there! We're here to save you!" Song Jianguo's raspy, smoke-filled voice echoed from afar.

A beam of blue light shot from the distance, enveloping Zhang Wenda. As the light swiftly retracted, he was instantly pulled free from the encirclement.

Catching his breath, Zhang Wenda looked up to see the purple Teacher Rabbit holding a flashlight. Next to him were 2826 and a pair of gently swaying cat ears.

"Are you alright? Maomao told us you were in danger, so we came as quickly as we could." Teacher Rabbit reached out and patted Zhang Wenda on the head.

2826 calmly watched the crows rapidly approaching in the distance. "Headquarters has plenty of clerks, but you were short a friend."

Looking at them, Zhang Wenda felt his eyes begin to well up. In this chaotic world, he was no longer alone. There were people willing to come and help him.

When the heavily wounded Zhang Wenda looked his way, Song Jianguo gave him a mock-threatening shake of his fist.

Just then, Teacher Rabbit aimed the flashlight at Zhang Wenda and said, "Sorry about this, but I redeemed all the combat items the Third Line promised you ahead of time. Hope you don't mind."

Having survived the ordeal, Zhang Wenda looked at him and smiled, then pulled him into a tight hug. "Of course not, why would I mind? You're my teacher, after all!"

After their brief reunion, everyone turned to face the distant flock of crows. The maze tunnels were no longer visible—every crack and crevice ahead was stuffed full of them.

With no room left to even fly, the crows began to crush and merge into one another. They formed a single, writhing amalgamation of endless heads and wings that completely blocked the tunnel.

It wasn't just the path ahead; the way back was blocked, too. They had no escape.

Zhang Wenda also realized that even now, the mass was still growing. Tang Xingxiong was clearly still using the Jade Pendant to endlessly clone herself.

"The Jade Pendant! The Jade Pendant is the key! We have to find a way to destroy Tang Xingxiong's Jade Pendant!" Zhang Wenda blurted out, staring at the advancing monstrosity.

Hiding behind the Cat Shield, Song Jianguo frowned at the scene before them. "Who knows where that woman hid the damn thing."

Zhang Wenda glanced at the people who had come to his rescue, then turned his gaze to Teacher Rabbit and 2826. "Do you trust me?"

"We do," Teacher Rabbit said with perfect calm.

"Then follow me! This way! Everybody, stick with me! I know where the Jade Pendant is!" With that, Zhang Wenda led the group, charging headfirst into the mass of crows without a moment's hesitation.

When Tang Xingxiong saw—through the countless, blood-red eyes of the crows—that Zhang Wenda was charging in the complete opposite direction, a wave of contempt washed over her. 'Just a child, after all. Still trying to act like he knows what he's doing, even now. He didn't inherit a single ounce of his uncle's cunning.'

She had the crows give him some leeway, pretending to obstruct him while actually luring him deeper. She deliberately let him get further entangled in the swarm, watching as he charged deeper and deeper into a tunnel where the Jade Pendant definitely wasn't.

'If using Hu Maomao as bait could lure out Zhang Wenda, then perhaps using Zhang Wenda as bait could lure out an even bigger fish.'

With his companions' help, Zhang Wenda plowed forward like a human bulldozer. A slurry of black blood and feathers splattered across the walls in his wake.

But no matter how many he tore through, he couldn't outpace their replication. The crows choking the maze seemed endless, constantly swarming from up ahead.

He didn't know how long they had been pushing forward. When Zhang Wenda finally stopped again, white steam hissed from the openings all over his body. His arms felt as heavy as lead.

"Finally tired?" the mass of crows pressing in from the distance spoke in unison. "If you're tired, I can make things even more hopeless for you. I don't know how you're trying to find my Double Fish Jade Pendant, but you're looking in the wrong place."

"Even you realized the Double Fish Jade Pendant is the source of my power. Did you really think I wouldn't take every precaution to protect it?"

Hearing this, Zhang Wenda gasped for breath. The others immediately closed ranks around him, fending off the surging black crows.

After a few seconds, Zhang Wenda punched himself hard in the head, snapping himself out of his bloodlust and back to his senses.

He lifted his face, now marked with four long scratches, and smiled at the crushing mass of the crow monstrosity.

"Of course I know that," he said. "That's why I never planned on looking for your Jade Pendant in the first place, Auntie."

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