Chapter 795: Chapter 795: The Spirit Granny Is Dead
The consciousness that was tightly held was powerless to struggle, and on Layla Xalvadora’s featureless face, there seemed to be a vague expression of agony.
The moment Benedict Beast’s consciousness entered Layla’s dreamscape, it was immediately enveloped by a tangible fear and despair emanating from all directions.
Those auras wound tightly around Benedict Beast.
If those little ghosts from Shadow Mountain were in its place, they would probably have been devoured the instant they touched such a dreamscape.
But Benedict Beast merely raised its wise and deep eyes slowly, then opened its mouth.
Roar!
Benedict Beast’s roar spread out like sound waves around it, instantly dispelling the storm of negative aura.
With steady steps, Benedict Beast walked deeper into this abyss-like dreamscape.
The next moment, it paused.
The background remained a canvas of darkness, but suddenly, there was a shrine.
A girl knelt alone in front of her parents’ shrine, her small frame trembling as she wept pitifully.
Yet when she raised her head, it was a faceless visage.
Benedict Beast fixed its gaze on her for two seconds, then lifted its leg to bypass her and continued forward.
But after just a couple of steps, the girl was there again.
This time, it was in a dimly lit basement.
The girl was led down step by step by her foster father.
The scene shifted, and the girl was on the floor on all fours, a dog chain around her neck, filthy and as though kneeling like a dog.
The man advanced towards her, step by step.
Benedict Beast growled in anger, let out a furious roar at the scene before it, and with a twist of its body, lashed out at the man in the dreamscape with its robust, crocodile-like tail.
The scene dissolved, and Benedict Beast continued forward as the dreamscape shifted once more.
Now before it was the grown girl, still faceless, curled silently in the darkness, with an old woman lying quietly at her feet.
“Dead…”
“Granny is dead too…”
“Everyone who loved me is gone…”
“Why am I still alive?”
The girl could not speak, but her painful murmurs were piercingly clear in the darkness.
With her words, despair and agony surged towards Benedict Beast like a tidal wave.
…
Since Benedict Beast’s consciousness entered Layla’s dreamscape, Scarlett Jennings and her group waited quietly.
They originally thought it would be easy to extract the Dreamy Tapirus’s core, but ten minutes passed, and not only had Benedict Beast failed to retrieve the Tapirus, Layla, still in slumber, seemed trapped in a terrifying nightmare, unable to escape.
Scarlett Jennings furrowed her brows, suddenly seeming to realize something, and asked Gregory Xander,
“When did Layla suddenly fall asleep?”
When Scarlett and Magnolia Hearne were exchanging spells to swap faces, Gregory had been beside them, and he responded,
“Just after the magic ceased its effect.”
Gregory said,
“Although we knew in advance the magic could only last ten minutes, Layla was quite happy after it wore off. She said she wanted to video call Granny, to let her hear her voice…”
Gregory paused suddenly as if jolted by realization,
“As soon as she finished the call, she suddenly fell asleep, and then the magic disappeared!”
Samuel Chalmers, listening, suddenly asked,
“While the Dreamy Tapirus can pull its host into a dreamscape, it often requires a trigger.”
“Are you suggesting that the trigger was Granny?”
Gregory asked, barely having time to ponder what the trigger was when suddenly a man’s voice came unexpectedly from the top of the basement stairs,
“You’re right, the trigger was—Granny is dead.”
Everyone’s heads whipped towards the direction of the stairs, stunned not by the sudden appearance of the newcomer but by…
Granny is dead?
How could this be?
Before bringing Layla to Sea City, they had expressly instructed Peaceful City Security Bureau personnel to watch over Granny.
Looking closer at the newcomer, Scarlett Jennings was the first to furrow her brow.
“Elias Quinn.”
Originally the source of clues regarding the Otherworld in Abigail Bryant’s novel, outwardly a student at Sea University, but in reality, producing Otherworldly souls for the Heavenly Dao.
Lately detained by the Security Bureau, he had been secretly rescued by the Black Mist Organization midway.
“Why are you here?”
Scarlett eyed the sudden appearance of the newcomer with an inexplicable sense of unease.
Could the issue with the Sea City’s Boundary Breaking Array be related to him?
Elias Quinn didn’t respond, but Adam Jennings suddenly seemed to realize something, saying,
“I was just about to mention, I saw him on the drive back.”
Because of the previous issue with the Sea University’s spy professor, Adam recognized Elias Quinn and now looked at Scarlett with a serious expression,
“There was someone else with him at the time!”
He said this, glancing again at the space behind Elias.
Since Elias showed up at the Jennings’ residence, could the other person be too…
As Adam pondered this, he saw a whisper of Black Mist spreading out behind Elias once more.
Scarlett was no stranger to the Black Mist Organization’s mode of appearance, but this Black Mist inexplicably gave her an unprecedented sense of danger.
Her heart tightened, and without hesitation, she cut her finger to use her blood to channel spiritual light into a barrier, while also turning to gesture to Donovan and the others,
“Stay inside the barrier, no matter what happens, don’t come out!”
She said this, looking to her side at Samuel Chalmers, seemingly intending to urge him inside the barrier, but before she could speak, Samuel had already said in a deep voice,
“I’m staying here.”
There was no way he would let her face the threat alone.
Seeing this, Gregory Xander, who had been meditating inside the barrier, also stepped out, holding the Peach Wood Sword from the Xander Family, positioning himself beside Scarlett as well.
The intent was equally clear.
Scarlett looked at Gregory, his injuries from his earlier clash with that Puppet Silk still apparent, and though she wanted him to retreat, she knew he wouldn’t listen.
A Xander Family heir wouldn’t choose to hide, even heavily injured.
While they prepared without hesitation, Elias Quinn stopped a short distance away.
He looked at Scarlett, his expression as sincere as it had been when they first met,
“Nice to see you again, Scarlett Jennings.”
His gaze briefly flickered to Samuel Chalmers standing beside Scarlett before quickly returning,
“There’s no need to worry, I’m here mainly as a representative of Ghost Fog, hoping to engage in a friendly negotiation with you.”
“Representing Ghost Fog…”
Scarlett looked at Elias, her almond-shaped eyes turning cold, “So, you’ve indeed collaborated with Ghost Fog.”
The reason it was termed collaboration rather than affiliation was that she knew Elias’ backing was the Heavenly Dao.
No one in their right mind would abandon such a vast pillar like the Heavenly Dao to join an evil master’s group.
As expected, upon hearing Scarlett’s words, Elias laughed,
“Indeed, I’ve struck a deal with Ghost Fog. As for Sea City’s fortune, we have to claim it.”
“As long as you hand over Layla along with the Dreamy Tapirus inside her, I can aid you in preserving the Jennings Family’s fortune here.”
He paused, looking at Scarlett with a trace of pity in his eyes, and said,
“You know what stands behind me.
Contending with the heavens, you can’t win.”