Chapter 1546

"Alright..."

After casting a somewhat worried glance at Li Ang, Anna bit her lower lip, then said nothing more, instead leading Li Ang to the inner room and quietly turning the handle of the three children's bedroom door.

The layout of Happiness Apartment wasn't considered small; when it was built, it was designed for three generations to live together, so even with three small beds placed inside, the space still didn't appear excessively cramped — even the nearest headboard was more than three steps away from the room door.

However, even so, the moment Anna pushed the door open and entered, on the small bed farthest from the room door, a tiger-headed little head immediately propped up with a creak.

Huh? Big Brother's back?

Upon seeing that familiar figure behind Anna, William's rolling eyes paused slightly; after merely a moment's thought, a look of sudden realization appeared in his dark pupils.

Under Li Ang's somewhat speechless expression, William pointed a finger at Melani sleeping spread-eagled beside him with her trouser legs rolled up to her knees, then mouthed silently at Li Ang.

'The ledger?'

"..."

You really know her well... but this time it's not about the ledger.

Shaking his head at his sneaky younger brother, Li Ang raised a hand to make a silencing gesture, then took off his shoes, stepped onto the carpet, and walked to Melani and little Ellie's bedside.

Due to the special relationship between the Ryan family's eldest son and Ms. Emma, even little Ellie, who was only temporarily "lodging" with the Ryans, still had her own separate small wooden bed, and even a few colorful crayon drawings were stuck at the headboard.

However, at this moment this quite childishly cute little bed was empty; little Ellie, who should have been sleeping in her own bed, was currently scattering hair the same light chestnut color as Senior Emma's, curled up uneasily in Melani's arms.

Clearly the room wasn't hot, but fine beads of sweat kept seeping from little Ellie's temples; her usually tranquil cute little face was filled with panic and unease, two fair little fists unconsciously clenched slightly, like a startled porcelain doll, her entire tiny body trembling unconsciously.

And beside her, Melani, who had long since tossed aside her pillow and slept sprawled sideways across the bed, was breathing through her mouth with soft snores on one hand, and unconsciously tightening her hold on little Ellie's head on the other, lightly patting her back, occasionally mumbling indistinctly what were probably comforting words like "don't be afraid"...

Gently pulling away Melani's arm, then reaching out to press against little Ellie's feverish forehead, confirming there were no traces of a nightmare's "visit," Li Ang couldn't help but let out a light sigh.

Confirmed. This child probably wasn't having a nightmare, but had truly "seen" something from Senior Emma's side.

And as if sensing a reassuring presence, the moment Li Ang's palm pressed against her, little Ellie's incessantly trembling body finally stabilized; her porcelain-doll-like cheeks unconsciously nuzzled upward, pillowing against Li Ang's palm.

"Mom... Mommy..."

"I'm here, I'm here."

As if some strange switch had been flipped, upon hearing little Ellie's sleep-talking faintly tinged with sobs, Melani's snoring abruptly stopped beside her.

Under Li Ang's somewhat dumbfounded gaze, Melani first muddledly swallowed some saliva, then actually closed her eyes and back-hugged little Ellie, rested her chin on her forehead, and half-dreaming-half-awake mumbled:

"Ellie be good... your Mommy and my Big Brother have a thing, and I'm Big Brother's little sister, so rounding up I count as your Mommy's generation too... Mommy Melani is here, don't be scared don't be scared..."

"..."

"..."

No wait... what kind of messed-up nonsense are you spouting?!

After hearing Melani's dream-talk with maxed-out absurdity, Li Ang's hand couldn't help but twitch, and he stared at Melani-Mommy comforting little Ellie with a dark face, feeling an inexplicable itch in his hands, really wanting to spank something hard.

Being able to wake instantly upon hearing "keywords" and comfort little Ellie without even opening her eyes proved Melani had probably already formed a habit these past days of coming to take care of her whenever she had a nightmare; this point undoubtedly deserved heavy praise.

But this generational math of yours... even if you went and shook a two-yuan toy at a supermarket entrance, you couldn't say something like this!

Taking two deep breaths in a row, suppressing the urge to give her two hard slaps on the butt, Li Ang pinched Melani-Mommy's mouth that kept spouting fallacies, to prevent her from blurting out more absurd remarks, then woke her up with a dark face.

"Mmph? Mmph!... Big Mmph?"

Get lost! Your Big Mmph has serious business to do right now! As for that informant fee and Mommy Melani business, we'll settle accounts after Big Mmph is done!

Glaring at Melani with her little face full of bewilderment, Li Ang gently "plucked" little Ellie from her arms, then switched out the "Nightmare Li Ang" badge, pressed his forehead against little Ellie's glabella, and using the Nightmare Lord's authority, permeated his consciousness into her dreamscape.

Dark Sky Pure Land, black and white inverted.

At the junction of the pitch-black sky and the pale earth, the road of no return crowded with lingering dead stretched out, like a spine of bleached white arched out from behind the entire Dead Realm, starting from the Gate of the Dead and extending all the way to the deepest part of the Dead Realm.

Seemingly endless, the Road of No Return, after passing through the 【Sage Cemetery】 covered in tombstones and paths, would reach a pale swamp filled with transparent wraiths and pitch-black mist.

And at the very depths of the entire 【Wraith Mist Marsh】, a massive city built from countless gray tombstones the size of human heads, with countless red-eyed death-knell crows perched on its walls, stood quietly amid the ever-present pitch-black mist.

*Clang—*

When the Dead Realm's sun reached the center of the sky, that gloomy cold and dead silent "sunlight" fell, slightly dispersing the dense fog in the marsh, and a sharp, piercing bell-like sound like a brittle handbell suddenly rang out from the center of 【Regret City】.

"Time's up?"

As if activated by the bell, the wraiths wandering aimlessly in the pitch-black mist were all shaken "awake" by this piercing bell, turning their heads to look toward the depths of the Wraith Mist Marsh.

"Time's up."

"Time's up!"

"Time's up!!!"

After shouting nearly in unison, the wraiths who had re-coalesced into physical forms all had tense human emotions surface on their faces again, then set off across the mud-filled pale marsh, desperately rushing toward the gray giant city shrouded in black mist.

And at the destination of the countless wraiths' stumbling figures, the gray giant city's heavy gates also slowly opened wide, spitting out large numbers of dead with blank, at a loss eyes, and even blurred faces.

Immediately after, the death-knell crows perched on the city walls took flight, circling several times above these dead who had fallen in the pale marsh, then leading some of the dazedly climbing dead who instinctively began moving forward again, cawing as they flew toward the deeper Dead Realm. And after these dead spat out by Regret City left, new batches of death-knell crows circling above the corresponding dead would, like their predecessors, fold their wings and land on Regret City's walls after the dead stumbled through the gates, successively closing their blood-red crow eyes.

After these death-knell crows responsible for guiding the dead landed, they became like so many crow-shaped stone statues, no longer moving, until the dead unwilling to let go, worn down by Regret City, completely forgot all regret and remorse, and were spat out like garbage — then they would guide them once more toward the depths of the Dead Realm...

Theoretically speaking, that's how it should be, but...

"Caw! Caw? Caw!"

A long string of startled crow cries rang out; the new batch of death-knell crows landing discovered to their surprise that the stone niches on Regret City's walls specially reserved for their roosting had somehow already been "occupied" in advance by others of their kind.

On one side, diligent hardworking crows who found the nests they should have gotten occupied by interlopers; on the other, crows living peacefully at home suddenly faced with uninvited guests — the two sides almost instantly broke into fierce combat, pouncing, pecking, clawing, biting, tearing at each other until crow feathers flew everywhere.

Beneath the squabbling crows' fierce battle, on the wide plaza at the very center of Regret City, a massive vessel shaped like an unfolded ginkgo leaf, over eight hundred meters long from bow to stern, had crashed diagonally into the ground, squeezing the originally vast plaza until not even water could trickle through, even destroying many buildings at the edges.

And those death-knell crows who lost in the brawl and couldn't secure their own nests would howl as they flew into the city, circling directly above the massive vessel, loudly condemning in their incomprehensible crow language the dead below who had disrupted the rules and caused them to have no nest to return to...

This is... another day has passed?

Hearing the clamorous crow cries overhead, the "dead" inside the King Vessel all startled awake, then looked up at the circling death-knell crows above, their faces revealing genuine terror from the depths of their hearts.

"I... I can't take it anymore!"

Hearing those footsteps drawing ever closer, mixed with the crows' cries above, a cry verging on collapse rose from among the Cleaners sheltering in the pits of the King Vessel's main deck; a tall, burly bearded man suddenly dropped to his knees, clutching his head and howling:

In a one-by-one look/p>

"I really can't take it anymore! Let me die!"

When the cawing of crows rose from overhead, certain emotions that had been shrouding the crowd seemed to be ignited by the bearded giant's weeping pleas; soon, one collapsing scream after another rang out in succession.

"I don't want to continue either... I really can't hold on anymore!"

"Please! Those of you with the ability, grant me release!"

"Die! Let me die! I don't want to live anymore!"

Amid the hysterical wailing, the woman with both arms wrapped in blood-soaked bandages, dozing against a corner of the deck, stirred and opened her bloodshot eyes.

Looking at the cleaners who had suffered mental breakdowns under these days of torture and begun to howl and scream, Emma's cracked lips twitched faintly, as if wanting to persuade them of something, but in the end she said nothing, instead silently straightening the thorn-studded crown atop her head and gripping the sword hilt in her hand tight.

"Please! Please help me!"

Yet although Emma did not speak, the sound of her waking still drew the cleaners' attention.

Upon discovering she was awake, the bearded giant who had broken down first gave a shudder, then scrambled to his feet and stumbled over, dropping to his knees on the deck before her with a thud, then kowtowing his head against the planks with all his strength while begging in a voice torn raw:

"You can kill me! You have the power to kill me! Please do it! Do it!"

"..."

Faced with the bearded giant's bizarre entreaty, Emma's lips couldn't help but tremble; after a moment of silence she shook her head slightly, then persuaded in a voice that sounded somewhat hoarse yet still gentle:

"Bafuoluo, hold on a little longer. It hasn't reached the point of true despair yet.

Although we all possess Undying-type anomalous objects, for the Death Realm Rulers who grasp death itself, killing us would still be a very simple matter, yet they haven't done so, instead constantly tormenting our minds and bodies with various means..."

"No no! I don't want to hear it! I just want to..."

"Bafuoluo! Listen to me!"

Raising her volume slightly to cut off the bearded giant's continued wailing, with footsteps drawing ever closer from below deck, the pale-faced Emma leaned weakly against the ship's gunwale and did her utmost to persuade:

"I don't believe the Death Realm Rulers would be bored enough to specially arrange these torments targeting us; the only reason I can think of is that they are wary of the Bureau's stance and dare not truly kill us... at the very least, they can't make a move directly.

So the purpose of these specially arranged torments is to make us mentally collapse, and when we can't endure it, actively seek death; if we really killed each other, then they wouldn't have to give the Bureau any explanation."

Speaking here, Emma's voice paused faintly, then she scanned the surrounding cleaners with their varied expressions and raised her voice slightly:

"I know these days have been unbearable, constantly facing the greatest regrets and remorse of one's life — no one could withstand it — but please stop saying you don't want to live and such.

The Bureau won't abandon us; no matter how hard the torture, there will definitely be an end. The more numerous and urgent the Death Realm Rulers' torments, the closer the time we regain our freedom.

As long as we can hold on, not give up on ourselves first, wait until the Bureau..."

"No one's coming..."

A male cleaner with bloodshot eyes suddenly spoke, cutting off Emma's reassurance.

He was seen clutching his head with both hands, digging his fingernails fiercely into the flesh of his own face, and screaming in agony:

"It's been over half a month already! If they were coming, the Bureau would've come long ago! Even if they couldn't come, they could send word! But there hasn't been a shred of movement to this day! We've been abandoned! No one will..."

"They will!"

Recalling that figure who, despite bearing the same painful memories, still carried her on his back onto the road of no return, across the Black-and-White Bridge, all the way out of the Death Realm, Emma couldn't help but draw a deep breath, then gritted her teeth and cut off the male cleaner's desperate scream.

"Don't give up, someone will definitely come!"

Listening to those footsteps already reaching below the deck, the color draining from her face until it was whiter than paper, Emma breathed in rapid gasps like a bellows, and with difficulty parted her lips to murmur, as if persuading others and also reminding herself:

"I know him! No matter what others do, he will definitely come... I can't let him fail to find me!"

(End of Chapter)