Chapter 866: Walking the Dream for Five Hours

The wilderness had become a distant past, and the hills were gradually revealing their true form.

Sirius could hear distinct hissing coming from behind, each sound making his calves go weak.

Ten thousand thoughts popped into his mind:

What were those black dogs? Why did he subconsciously feel an absolute inability to resist when facing them?

And why were they determined to hunt him down?

Finally, where was he running to, and where were James and Lily?

Confusion overwhelmed Sirius, and along with the endless bewilderment came the pack of black dogs that followed like shadows.

Sirius stepped onto the lawn of the hill, and a cluster of black mist spread out behind him; if he had eyes in the back of his head, he would have discovered that these mist clusters were actually drifting out from his own body.

"Sirius, what face do you have left?"

A hoarse voice, like an accusation mixed with sorrow, rang out behind Sirius.

This voice caused Sirius's footsteps to falter uncontrollably.

At this moment, his feet felt as if they were filled with lead.

He uncontrollably recalled that night.

Harry's father, James, who was like a brother to him, the only son of the Potters who treated him like their own child...

Because of his mistake, his cleverness, and his foolish actions, they were ultimately cruelly murdered.

How could he refrain from wanting to understand what happened that night?

When Wormtail leaked the whereabouts of James and Lily to Voldemort, Voldemort found them in their wooden cottage.

The scene of Harry's parents' death was not hard to imagine.

And how could he not imagine it?

He imagined how Voldemort first killed Harry's father.

How James desperately resisted, shouting for his wife to take Harry and run...

How Voldemort closed in on Lily Potter, telling her to step aside, as he intended to harm Harry...

How she begged Voldemort to kill her instead, not to touch her son, protecting her son until the very end... and so, Voldemort killed her too, and then pointed his wand at Harry...

"Sirius, what face do you have left?"

Sirius painfully covered his face, tears streaming down.

"You are controlled by what you fear, Mr. Black."

A youthful voice came from behind Sirius; he suddenly felt his body relax, and at this moment, he returned to reality.

He heard a roar close at hand, the foul stench spreading before him; he looked closely and saw a huge mouth already hovering beside his face.

The black dog opened its mouth, wide enough to swallow a person, yet it stood motionless as if a fish bone were stuck in its throat.

Sirius immediately broke into a cold sweat and then tremblingly searched for his deity.

Effortlessly, he found it; it was standing on the black dog's head, staring at him with emerald-like, luxurious pupils.

Sirius swore he had never seen such a majestic giant cat; it looked like a mysterious magical creature, a cat-leopard, expanded by a size.

The giant cat's paw struck down, and the large black dog let out an unbearable whimper, finally transforming into wisps of black mist that, like ghosts, still lingered all around them.

"Fear will not disappear, Mr. Black; it exists forever in the bottom of everyone's heart.

But those who carry fear are not necessarily unable to run."

The giant cat shrank like a deflating balloon, finally becoming a cat the size of a kneazle.

"What exactly are they..."

Sirius asked tremblingly, his throat already feeling somewhat parched.

"Let us discuss this question next time, Mr. Black; we do not have much time left."

The black cat gazed at the mist rising around them; it knew it had used the power of the Empty Talisman too much and had interfered too much with the rules of the Boundary.

And everything always has a price; the price of Sirius's fear and hesitation was being expelled from the dreamscape.

If he were not the black cat's guest, he would have disappeared by now, just like Voldemort's soul fragments.

As for what impact the disappearance of a soul would have in reality, one can specifically refer to the Killing Curse.

Hmm... this is also a very strange point; the Killing Curse kills a wizard's soul directly, which is why it leaves no physical scars.

But why would a wizard killed by the Killing Curse be able to return to the Boundary?

Unless... the Killing Curse does not kill the wizard's soul—it does not have such powerful efficacy—but rather expels it, driving the soul out of the wizard's body.

There is an example here that can serve as evidence—Harry's Resurrection Stone could summon the souls of his parents and Cedric.

"What do you mean?"

Sirius asked anxiously, then looked at the black cat with that decadent and intensely longing gaze.

"Your footsteps are too heavy, and those who walk in the dreamscape need light footsteps.

If you cannot cast away some things, you will never reach the distance." ===== CHAPTER 867 =====