Free Web NovelChapter 109: Chapter 109: Dreaming Stone Village
Dreaming Stone Village was beautiful.
That was the first danger.
The stone houses were clean. The fields were green. The air smelled of rain, rice, and wood smoke. Children ran through narrow paths, laughing. Old villagers sat beneath trees, weaving baskets. A small stream flowed beside the road, its water clear enough to reflect the sky.
No monsters appeared.
No poison drifted.
No pressure descended.
The mission panel did not appear immediately.
Qin Mo stiffened.
"No panel."
Qin Yuheng touched the Silent Soul Communication Jade and sent a pulse.
Remember.
Qin Yuchen responded.
Climbers. Floor 15. False peace.
Qin Lian responded.
Clear.
Qin Mo responded.
No soup.
Only then did a faint panel flicker.
[Floor 15: Dreaming Stone Village]
[Main Mission]
Wake the village bell before the third dawn.
[Sub-Missions]
1. Discover the dream loop.
2. Identify the dream host.
3. Keep all team members from entering deep sleep.
4. Save at least 5 true villagers if possible.
[Warning]
Mission details may fade under dream pressure.
The old woman approached.
"Young travelers, the road is unsafe at night. Stay in our village." freewёbnoνel.com
Qin Yuheng smiled politely.
"Thank you. We will look around first."
Her smile did not change.
"Of course."
As they entered the village, Qin Yuheng noticed small inconsistencies.
A child dropped a wooden toy. It made no sound.
A farmer carried a sack that cast no shadow.
The stream reflected Qin Yuheng, but not Qin Lian.
Qin Lian noticed that too.
"Dream layer," she said quietly.
Qin Mo used a detection formation. The formation lines curled inward and became a sleeping symbol before fading.
"I hate this floor."
They avoided food and drink. They rented a room but did not sleep. Qin Mo placed Wakefulness formations. Qin Yuheng used Law-Thread Severing Eye and noticed faint dream threads connecting villagers to a central bell tower.
The bell tower stood at the village center.
But there was no bell inside.
Only a stone cradle.
At sunset, the village changed.
The laughter stopped.
Every villager turned toward their homes at the same moment.
Doors closed.
Then singing began.
Soft.
Gentle.
Sleepy.
Qin Mo’s eyelids drooped.
He swallowed a Soul-Clarity Wakefulness Pill.
"Soup would have been less subtle."
Qin Yuchen gripped his sword.
"We need the loop source."
Qin Lian looked toward the bell tower.
"Underground."
They found a hidden stair beneath the bell tower cradle.
Below lay a chamber filled with sleeping villagers suspended in pale light. Real villagers. Not dream copies. Their bodies were thin, their faces peaceful but weak.
At the center of the chamber floated a stone cocoon shaped like a bell.
The panel appeared.
[Dream Bell Cocoon]
[Status: Sealed]
[Dream Host hidden.]
[Wake the village bell before third dawn.]
A child’s voice echoed behind them.
"Why wake them?"
They turned.
A small boy stood at the stairway.
His eyes were white stone.
[Dream Host Avatar]
[Level: Unknown]
[Type: Dream entity]
The boy smiled sadly.
"They are happy here."
Qin Yuheng looked at the sleeping villagers.
"They are dying."
"Slowly," the boy said. "Peacefully."
Qin Mo whispered, "That is not better."
The dream host attacked without moving.
The chamber became the Qin Estate.
Qin Yuheng stood in the family courtyard. Qin Zhengyuan was healed. Qin Wanshan laughed. Qin Xue’er ran happily. No Blood Sun. No Tower danger. No enemies.
A perfect dream.
Qin Yuheng closed his eyes.
False peace.
He opened them.
Thunder broke the illusion.
Qin Yuchen faced a dream where Qin Yuze and Qin Xue’er never entered the Tower and lived safely forever. He cut it apart.
Qin Lian faced a dream where she could disappear from all burdens. She stepped through it.
Qin Mo faced a bed again.
This time, with tea that had steam.
He stared for a long moment.
Then cried, "This floor is cruel!"
He broke the cup.
The illusion shattered.
The Dream Host Avatar retreated.
"You choose pain."
Qin Yuheng answered, "We choose waking."
The battle against the dream host was strange. Physical attacks struck illusions unless timed with clarity pulses. Qin Mo’s Wakefulness formation became the core. Qin Lian identified real avatars by shadow delay. Qin Yuchen protected sleeping villagers from dream tendrils. Qin Yuheng attacked the cocoon whenever the host manifested.
They survived the first night.
At dawn, the village reset.
Everything returned to peaceful beauty.
But the team remembered.
They marked five true villagers with wakefulness talismans.
Second night, the dream host became more aggressive.
It used familiar voices, future fears, and rest temptation. Qin Mo nearly entered deep sleep but Qin Lian slapped him awake. He thanked her after complaining.
By the third dawn, they understood the mechanism.
The village bell was not missing.
It was the cocoon.
To wake it, they had to strike it with sound, clarity, and refusal of the dream.
Qin Mo built the formation.
Qin Lian cut the dream threads.
Qin Yuchen guarded the villagers.
Qin Yuheng struck the cocoon with thunder and bell resonance from a Sound Barrier Talisman.
The stone cocoon cracked.
A real bell tone rang through the village.
The dream copies froze.
The sleeping villagers opened their eyes.
The Dream Host appeared one final time, no longer a boy, but a pale stone moth wrapped around the bell.
[Dream Stone Moth]
[Level: 26]
[Floor Boss]
It tried to flee into sleep.
Qin Yuheng did not allow it. ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm
Silent Soul Communication pulse.
Now.
Qin Lian pinned its wing.
Qin Yuchen pierced its body.
Qin Mo activated wakefulness formation.
Qin Yuheng’s thunder shattered its core.
The village bell rang again.
[Dream Host defeated.]
[Village bell awakened.]
[True villagers saved: 9]
[Dream loop broken.]
The peaceful village began to fade.
The old woman from the entrance appeared, now awake and weeping.
"Thank you," she whispered.
The settlement light descended.
Qin Yuheng looked at the fading village.
This floor had offered peace.
But peace that required sleep was only another prison.
