The man took a deep breath, his murky eyes beneath the mask staring at him: "If you truly need the fur of the Illusion Beast, then you can certainly do it. Because this matter is related to the Illusion Beast. And the fact that you dare appear in the underground market without any disguise also proves your strength."

Baiyu immediately became interested: "Illusion Beast?"

To be honest.

He had never seen an Illusion Beast before; it's an exceedingly rare ancient Exotic Beast, known for its prowess in creating illusions.

In this era, it's almost extinct.

Except for being traceable deep within the Spirit Realm, it's virtually impossible to encounter them elsewhere. Due to their rarity, research on such monsters is very scant, with detailed information almost non-existent.

The man habitually took out a lighter at this moment, and then fumbled out a cigarette, about to light it, when he suddenly noticed Baiyu staring at him, feeling a bit awkward: "It's just a habit; do you mind the smoke?"

Baiyu noticed his hand trembling slightly as he held the cigarette.

It seemed that what the man was about to say was not simple, otherwise, he wouldn't habitually take cigarettes to steady his nerves.

"I don't mind, go ahead."

Baiyu smiled slightly and made a gesture inviting him to continue.

"Do you need one?"

"No need."

Having his kind offer refused, the man could only take a deep breath and started lighting the cigarette, taking a deep drag.

As the cigarette gradually burned out.

The man then slowly spoke: "This matter must be recounted from two months ago. My nephew and I, along with his Mercenary Corps, ventured deep into the Bailan Realm, where we discovered an ancient tomb. Deep within the tomb, we found the Illusion Beast.

At that time, we weren't sure it was an Illusion Beast, given how rare the Exotic Beast was, none of us had seen one before.

But it was in an extraordinarily weak state.

While we didn't know why this large Exotic Beast fell into a weakened state, we seized the opportunity and managed to eliminate it.

Afterward... we made our way back to Bailan City.

Upon returning to the city.

We didn't rush to sell the Exotic Beast's corpse but instead froze it in our home's cold storage. Generally, Mercenary Teams have their own cold storage to conveniently store the hunted Exotic Beasts.

If we haven't verified the data of an Exotic Beast, we wouldn't casually sell it. This is the basic quality of a professional Mercenary Team, also the means to maximize our interests.

However.

Once we discovered information about the Illusion Beast, everyone felt like a pie had fallen from the sky.

Yet.

From that moment, the nightmare began."

Speaking to this point.

He Hao's face carried a shadow of extreme fear: "We... in our dreams, saw the Illusion Beast.

The beast's body was riddled with wounds, constantly bleeding.

The blood pooled higher and higher, every night repeating this nightmare, and as the nightmare continued, the blood levels kept rising.

Finally, one day.

The blood level submerged the head of one of our companions.

The next day.

He fell to his death from his building; he was a Tier Seven Martial Artist, to die from a fall, it's absurd.

Then, others within the Mercenary Corps started dying, one after another.

We convened discussions every day, sharing our respective blood levels within our dreams, and those who died were the ones completely submerged by the blood. Eventually, only my nephew and I were left in the Mercenary Corps, the blood had already reached my neck...

If we don't handle it soon, I will surely die, unmistakably. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

Since you are seeking the fur of the Illusion Beast, you must know the reason, right?"

It seemed obvious.

The man's previous calm demeanor was a facade, now revealing genuine feelings; he was nothing more than a pitiful man crushed by nightmares.

He was a Tier Five Martial Artist.

But at this moment, Baiyu saw his Blood Qi was thin, his body showing signs of deep fatigue, evidently due to the nightmare's torment.

"This is a kind of curse, or you've somehow picked up something; did you seek anyone's help?"

Baiyu asked.

The man shook his head: "No use, ever since the incident, we immediately sought others' help. Everyone is in this field, very sensitive to such matters, but regardless of consulting doctors or experts handling such situations, even a Spiritualist, none could yield results.

We even sought out a Spiritual Fabricator, but he was helpless too, merely saying we were afflicted with a severe spiritual curse."

Spiritual Fabricator.

This belongs to the Extraordinary sequence within the doctor sequence, and like Baiyu, it occupies the Extraordinary Five sequence.

The other is an expert in dealing with dream realms and spirit matters.

Very knowledgeable about various curses.

Even capable of resolving spiritual pollution and distortion, it's a rather miraculous Extraordinary profession.

Even a Spiritual Fabricator couldn't resolve it.

That indicates this problem is indeed quite troublesome.

Baiyu wasn't completely confident in his heart; even though his Blood Qi had cultivated to the Eclipse Moon Realm Flawless Moon Level, on the Extraordinary path, he still can't compare with the predecessors.

Hence, after pondering briefly.

He could only say: "I can attempt to help you, but it's not certain to succeed; don't hold too much hope."

The greater the hope, the greater the disappointment.

At times like this, Baiyu won't casually make promises, lest he fails to cure them, only to leave them with regrets.

"Thank you; if you can resolve it, not only is the Illusion Beast yours, but I will also give you my assets."

He Hao was overjoyed.

Baiyu shook his head: "Why would I need your assets? Now, let's go see the Illusion Beast first."

He Hao didn't object.

Although he was merely a Tier Five Martial Artist, years of hardship equipped him with enough experience to recognize Baiyu as a formidable power.

This isn't baseless conjecture.

But a combination of experience and intuition.

...

The two departed from the underground market, arriving at the western district of Bai Man City, where there are many mercenaries and bounty hunters.

After leaving the underground market, He Hao also removed the mask from his face.

He appeared to be a man in his forties or fifties, with deep nasolabial folds, yet overall still youthful, with wrinkles not dominating his cheeks. However, three months of nightmare torment left him mentally on the brink of collapse, making him appear extremely haggard.

"Here it is."

He Hao took a deep breath and stopped in front of a detached house.

Clearly, Herman and his nephew's Mercenary Team weren't short on money, for such detached houses aren't cheap, with few Mercenary Teams having the means unless adequately skilled, frequently venturing out to gather materials and complete tasks.

But such detached houses are also convenient for Mercenary Teams.

No worries about privacy leaks.

The detached house has three floors, with a small garden corridor outside.

Steel-made railings form an outer fence, and the two passed through the iron gate, opening the double doors.

Upon entering, inside are two opposing sofas, with a coffee table in-between adorned with various items.

A man appearing to be in his thirties was sitting on the sofa, visibly in spiritual disarray, his eyes lacking life, as if his soul had been drained.