Exorcist's Self-Cultivation

"I am Du Wei..."

"When I entered the hospital, I was actually pulled into Marilyn Manson's dream."

"Everything I saw and heard was part of the dream."

"And after the so-called ritual was completed, Marilyn Manson's sister came back in another way."

"The master of the dream had changed from Marilyn Manson to another terrifying existence."

"And I also found out the relationship between items like the Golden Brooch and that head."

"What I need to do now is figure out a way to return to reality from the dream."

...

In the ward, Du Wei's gaze fixated on the top of the clock tower, his complexion eerily calm.

At this moment, the entire mental hospital, or rather Marilyn Manson's dream, had begun to change.

The gloomy sky flashed with lightning and thunder, filled with intense malice and darkness, almost suffocating as it filled the air with each breath.

He turned his head back, giving Director Taylor, who was crouching in a corner with a low sinister laugh, a cold look that brimmed with rational ice.

According to this woman, people who were pulled into the dreamscape could leave it by killing the newcomers.

This might be the rule, but the basis for it was unknown.

In fact, for Du Wei, if he had followed this method before, he could have easily killed newcomers like James and attempted to escape.

But the credibility of rules that only exist in others' words is debatable.

Moreover, this woman had also thought about killing him.

Besides, even if this rule were true, it would become meaningless once the ritual was completed.

Director Taylor's method was no longer useful.

From now on, dreams would blur with reality, just like what happened at the psychological counseling clinic.

However, before blurring with reality, everyone in the dream would be killed by Marilyn Manson's sister.

In a sense, both she and Du Wei were people contaminated by the curse, and neither were The Nun.

The relic was the key to the contamination of the curse.

The church's belief that the nun was a medium is correct, with that head presenting no problem.

Because when Marilyn's sister came into contact with the Inverse Cross, she too became contaminated with the curse.

When she died, she became the nun...

However, this nun was a part of the curse, not the source.

But if it could be resolved, it would certainly weaken a part of the curse, at the very least, giving oneself a chance to breathe.

Thinking this, an idea surfaced in Du Wei's mind.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

If he committed suicide, would he also become another nun?

Would a part of his own body also become one of the mediums?

Du Wei shook his head, suppressing the thought at the bottom of his heart.

What was most important now was finding a way to escape the dream, rather than pondering events that would happen later.

And he had already thought of a way.

Dream within a dream...

The existence of a dream is built upon the recognition of the dreaming person.

A person who has never seen the deep sea cannot dream of the scenery in the deep sea; if they forcefully do, they would fall into the discord of insufficient cognition.

That is—when something that does not align with the dreamer's cognition occurs, they would naturally wake from the dream.

This is not a mechanism of the Evil Spirit but of dreams themselves.

Now, the whole mental hospital has become Marilyn Manson's dream, though after the ritual is completed, the master of the dream is no longer her but the nun.

Once the dream is shattered, those who were pulled into it would certainly return to reality.

Simply put, the mental hospital turned into a dream, but when the dream is shattered, the hospital reverts to reality.

Those who were pulled into the dreamscape would also naturally be able to escape.

Only...

The master of the dream has now become the nun, and the nun can jump from the dream into reality.

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"But it's much better than being completely defenseless, waiting to die in a dream."

Du Wei took a deep breath and silently made up his mind.

He had thought of a way to break the dream.

That was... a dream within a dream.

As one of those afflicted by the curse, Du Wei's dreams also contained a nun, or rather, the curse itself.

Dreaming within the Evil Spirit's dream was audacious to the extreme.

But being pulled into a lawless dream, the only way to escape was to counter it with another dream.

"However... some people shouldn't be allowed to return to reality alive..."

Du Wei looked at Director Taylor, whose sanity had already been compromised, and who now resembled the Evil Spirit even more than the Evil Spirit itself; he took out his phone from his pocket with his left hand.

Then, he opened the photo gallery and walked up to Director Taylor.

The latter immediately became vigilant, "What do you want to do?"

Du Wei said indifferently, "Don't be afraid, I just want to show you a picture."

"A picture?" Director Taylor didn't understand and involuntarily glanced at it.

Then, she saw the cat's eye picture that Du Wei had saved for a long time, downloaded from Conan Doyle's post.

The picture seemed as if it had been taken in the darkness with the flash turned on, facing directly towards the peephole.

And through the peephole, there was an eye, bloodshot and with a dilated pupil.

...

Yi ya...

The grating sound of a door closing echoed.

Du Wei, with Ryan in tow, left the ward. He was looking for a quiet room to enter into his own dream.

Meanwhile, the entire asylum began to change.

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Down the hallways, creepy rustling sounds could occasionally be heard.

The light bulbs overhead, which should have been off, began lighting up one after another.

Except, the color of the lights was not the white or dim yellow of regular bulbs, but a fiery red, like that of flames.

Upon seeing this, Ryan touched his head and said, "Director, I never realized how nice these light bulbs looked before, they're just like disco lights."

Du Wei replied calmly, "That's not important. Is there a vacant ward on this floor?"

Ryan answered, "Yes, the one next to where I'm staying is empty... Wait, why am I staying in a ward?"

The patient who thought he was a doctor was confused, his face full of doubt.

Du Wei glanced at him and after a moment said, "Even I, the director, need to find a ward to stay in, so what's so strange about a doctor staying in one?"

Ryan had an epiphany, "So that's it! I thought I had a mental illness."

With that, Ryan's confusion dissipated, and he reverted back to his previous demeanor.

He cheerfully led Du Wei to the door of his own ward.

"Director, the one beside mine is empty. I'm going to rest now, but if you need anything, just call out to me. As an excellent doctor, I'll wake up at any time."

Du Wei said calmly, "Alright, remember not to come out until dawn, no matter what."

Ryan said solemnly, "Yes, Director."

After saying that, Ryan walked straight into the ward and under Du Wei's gaze, lay down on the bed and fell into a deep sleep.

Seeing this, Du Wei took out Holy Water from his backpack and poured a circle around Ryan's bed.

Then he walked out, closing the door behind him.

...

In the vacant ward.

Du Wei lay on the hospital bed, his eyes serene.

With a tone devoid of fluctuations, he began to hypnotize himself.

"When I close my eyes, I will fall into a deep sleep and enter into my own dream, where the curse I'm afflicted with will appear in the guise of a nun."

"And this dream within a dream will break the existing dream."

Having said that, he closed his eyes...

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