I crawled out of the garbage heap—it was already night. I looked around, scanning all directions.
"That crazy woman looks like she's asleep."
My guess was right, but it brought disaster upon me—I was nearly killed by Agent Two. That woman appeared just in time and saved me. Now, as I look around this vast wasteland of trash, I can't tell which way is out. She spent the whole day searching for me, and I hid in the garbage pile, evading her sight. But tomorrow morning, she'll definitely start looking again. After escaping last night, I still couldn't find my way out of this dump. When daylight comes, I'll have no choice but to hide here again.
I kept running, my mind replaying the unbelievable power I witnessed yesterday at noon.
I could barely breathe—Agent Two was squeezing my throat with all his strength. My consciousness was fading; my body felt oppressively heavy.
"Hmph, don't think you can return to the Living World. I won't kill you so easily. I'll strip you of all your power. Hmph, how dare you call me a parasite on society."
"Isn't that what you are?"
I forced out a few words through clenched teeth. If everything is relative, then in the real world, the more faith people have, the more corrupt they seem—and perhaps dead faith only grows stronger. This thought struck me suddenly, and seeing Agent Two's furious face confirmed my suspicion.
Just as Agent Two was about to strike, he froze, his gaze shifting behind me. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a shadow—a gentle figure slowly approached us.
"Entity 001, what are you doing here?"
Agent Two glared fiercely at the girl in the black-patterned dress standing beside me. She stuck out her tongue playfully, her demeanor cute and mischievous. I saw the numbers '001' on her tongue.
"I'm just bored, so I came over. Why didn't you tell me when you caught something so rare?"
The girl wore a black-patterned dress and a black eyepatch over her right eye, her entire presence radiating an eerie, supernatural aura.
"Get lost. My business is none of your concern."
"I'm going to interfere. What are you going to do, bite me?"
Agent Two, still furious, didn't attack immediately. Instead, he flung me behind him. With a crash, I hit the ground, and a powerful force instantly bound my body, draining my strength bit by bit.
Entity 001 pulled at her cheeks and stuck out her tongue at Agent Two, making a face. Her attitude was flippant, and Agent Two finally lost his temper with a thunderous roar. My eyes widened in shock.
Agent Two threw a punch, but Entity 001 caught it with her slender hand. In that instant, her girlish aura vanished, replaced by an icy coldness.
"I want that thing."
My eyes widened. Sweat beaded on Agent Two's forehead and slid down his cheeks. I couldn't feel it, but I could see it. Around the two of them, a barely visible aura pulsed—a killing intent so strong it was almost tangible.
"Don't think you can always look down on everyone, you blind fool."
Agent Two roared, but Entity 001 grinned menacingly and began to float. Agent Two's fist seemed to be sucked in, unable to break free.
"Wait—"
Agent Two's face twisted in terror. Entity 001 casually waved her hand, sending Agent Two flying behind her. She immediately turned her head, and I saw Agent Two flailing in the air, utterly terrified. At that moment, Entity 001 removed her eyepatch.
In an instant, it was as if the whole world froze. With a thunderous crash, the ground before me shattered. A powerful force surged into the distance, but all I felt was intense trembling—no actual impact.
When the dust settled and the trembling stopped, I stood up and looked at the bottomless abyss before me. Far below, I could faintly see the black crust and the rocks buried deep underground.
All I could see was endless black crust. I walked to the edge of the abyss and looked down. A slender hand patted my shoulder. I turned around—Entity 001 had put her eyepatch back on and playfully curled her toes as she leaned toward me.
"Hehe, see? I'm pretty amazing. Come on, let's go."
I responded with a quiet 'oh' and said nothing more, just watched Entity 001. She looked about twenty, and come to think of it, that's probably her real age in the world.
We walked the whole way. Entity 001 kept talking—about things, about the world as she knew it. Soon I realized: she's a lonely girl, hoping someone would keep her company.
"We're here. I live on top of this garbage heap."
Then I saw Entity 001 use some unknown power to conjure up all sorts of things—it was fascinating.
"Do you know about the Blood Jade?"
I asked, and Entity 001 nodded. But as night fell, she grew restless—the Forsaken have to find a place to sleep at night.
"I'll tell you tomorrow. It's late now, so don't try to sneak away! If I don't see you tomorrow, I'll have to punish you!"
I smiled and replied with a quiet 'mm.'
"Don't worry, I'll wait here for you. I still need you to tell me about the Blood Jade."
Entity 001 left happily. As soon as the moon appeared, I turned and ran. I didn't want to hear about the Blood Jade from such a troublesome woman. I'd find another way—she's dangerous, especially with power greater than mine.
After running for a while, I looked around in confusion. No matter how far I went, I was still in the garbage heap, unable to tell which way to go. So I started running in the opposite direction from the moon.
I kept running until the moon sank in the west. Dawn was approaching—I couldn't let her find me.
After a while, I found a fairly hidden spot beneath some large pieces of trash. I sat down cross-legged. The reason they can always find me is my power keeps leaking out. I sneered and muttered to myself.
"End it. Let my power come to a temporary halt."
Suddenly, I felt dizzy. My body went numb, and my strength faded away bit by bit until I lost consciousness.
Scenes replayed in my mind as I stood in place, unable to move forward, lost and disoriented. The moon was almost below the horizon. Another night without finding a way out. I had no choice but to look for somewhere to hide again.
Just then, I heard heavy breathing—strange and unsettling. I quickly searched for the source and ran toward it. In an instant, my eyes widened.
"A giant panda?"
Before me was a black-and-white, furry giant panda, but all its limbs and neck were chained to the ground. I blinked and smiled—seeing a panda here was truly strange. I crouched and, on a whim, poked its nose with a stick.
As I gently poked, the fat panda slowly moved and opened its eyes. I grinned at it.
"Who are you, really..."
With a snap, the chains moved. Suddenly, the panda slapped me across the face. Before I could react, I was sent flying—the force was tremendous.
With a thud, I landed in the garbage heap. I quickly got up, ready to subdue the panda, but froze. The panda's face was expressionless, and its big eyes were cold—just like someone I knew very well.
"Earth Soul, you bastard! You dare come back? Get over here so I can beat you up!"
With a clatter of chains, the panda stood and charged at me, but stopped short a few centimeters away, held back by the chains. It looked silly, flailing and roaring.
"Xiao Hui... Zhang Qingyuan."
My eyes widened, and suddenly I felt a tickle deep inside. I clutched my stomach and pointed at Zhang Qingyuan, the Human Soul, laughing until tears streamed down my face.
After a while, I calmed down. The Human Soul sat quietly, watching me. I realized what he was thinking and nodded.
"I'm not like you. I still have feelings."
"Is that so?"
The Human Soul replied coldly. I looked at the moon—it had disappeared, and the sky was turning pale.
"I need to find a place to hide."
"Help me unlock these chains first."
The Human Soul shouted at me. I hurried over and tugged at the chain around his neck. I didn't have time to ask what happened, but it was clear he'd been caught because of me—he slapped me as soon as he woke up.
"No, I can't unlock it now. We'll talk tomorrow night. I need to rest, but let me eat this first."
As I spoke, I lunged for the half-eaten fruit at the end of the chain, took a bite, looked around, then ran to a metal cabin and crawled inside through a small hole to hide.
"Listen, Zhang Qingyuan—just go along with that woman and you'll be fine. Don't resist her. Tomorrow night, I'll find a way to save you."
From a distance, Zhang Qingyuan, now a giant panda, looked over and nodded with difficulty.