At night, I sat quietly in Rowan's house, drinking wine. Xu Fu had already taken the two women to the room Rowan arranged for them.
"Uncle Rowan, does anyone here really know where the gods are, or has anyone ever seen a god?"
I continued to ask. Rowan smiled helplessly and shook his head.
"My friend, it's better not to talk about this topic. With time, you'll understand what the Three Overlords really are."
Whenever the topic of the gods came up, Rowan would always avoid it, refusing to speak further. I decided not to press him. Later, Rowan got up and asked a servant to look after me, then went to his room to sleep. I told Rowan I wanted to take a walk, but he immediately warned me that no one should go out at night here, and repeatedly emphasized that after ten o'clock, it's forbidden to be on the streets.
After a while, I told the servant waiting nearby to go rest. I went up to the small building next to the main house and looked out at the street. Many shops had already closed, and people seemed to be hurrying home. It was just past nine o'clock.
There were fewer and fewer people on the streets, and many lights were going out. I scanned my surroundings, puzzled.
Rowan had never heard of the Forsaken, but this is the world of the living, so the Forsaken must exist here. Even though Emperor God and the other two thoroughly transformed this place, the Forsaken still remain in this world.
Although 001 and Agent Seven can't return to this world, they told me their counterparts here are still alive. That's why I came to this world in the first place. The original world vanished in the eruption of curse power, but as long as the Forsaken survive, this world must have been restored. Still, what I found here was unexpected and shocking.
Now I'm wondering where to find the Forsaken. According to Rowan, this world has five major cities—Fire, Water, Wind, Sand, and Thunder—as well as countless towns large and small. The Land of the Dead lies at the center of the five cities, where many of the dead are resurrected. Like us, they aren't originally from this world, but over time, they become indistinguishable from the locals.
I've been here for over a day now, and nothing has changed with my body. I'm not sure why. I asked Xu Fu, and his body hasn't changed either.
What I don't understand is whether the people in this world truly exist, or if Emperor God and the others created them. Last night, after the bandits died, Xu Fu and I examined their bodies—they were no different from real people in the living world.
Time passed, second by second, until the distant streets were pitch black and empty. Only then did I decide to go downstairs. Suddenly, I noticed something strange—my feet had disappeared.
I immediately crouched down and reached out to touch them. My feet were still there, but below my knees, I couldn't see anything. I could feel them, but not see them.
"So you're the same as me?"
Xu Fu came over. His hands had vanished, just like my legs. He reached out; I pressed my hand to his and could feel it.
"Why is this happening?"
I muttered, and Xu Fu shook his head, breathing heavily.
"Those two women in bed haven't changed at all, but we look like this. I don't know why. It didn't happen yesterday, but tonight it did. It's probably some kind of power at work."
We couldn't think of any solution all night. Early the next morning, Xu Fu and I went out. My legs and Xu Fu's hands were still invisible. The people on the street could see them, but no one found it strange—it seemed completely normal to them.
We casually asked a few people, but they just smiled and shook their heads without answering.
We spent the whole morning asking about the Forsaken, but no one here had ever heard of them.
In the afternoon, we returned to Rowan's house. When he saw us, his reaction was just like everyone else's on the street.
"Uncle, aren't you surprised that our hands and feet are like this?"
Rowan replied with a question.
"Weren't your hands and feet like this from the beginning?"
Memories have been altered—or maybe it's their values.
After dinner, Xu Fu and I sat in a pavilion, drinking tea. As expected, Xu Fu noticed it too.
"It seems that what people see is no longer normal—or rather, abnormal things appear perfectly ordinary to them."
I responded with a quiet "Mm."
As night fell, Xu Fu and I stood on the small building, watching the distant streets. Sure enough, at ten o'clock, there wasn't a soul outside. The whole Sand City was pitch black, as if the city itself had fallen asleep. Xu Fu told me that at ten last night, the two women with him fell asleep as well—no matter what he did, he couldn't wake them.
Then, my feet completely vanished, while Xu Fu's chest disappeared this time. We looked at each other—I seemed to be floating, and Xu Fu's body appeared split in two. It was extremely bizarre.
The next day, Rowan still treated us normally, showing no curiosity about our physical changes and continued to host us warmly.
For several days, every night after ten, part of our bodies would disappear. By the fifth night, Xu Fu and I were left with only our heads—everything else had become like air. In the morning, we went out, but the people on the street still didn't find our condition strange, chatting with us as if nothing was wrong.
"Uncle Rowan, can you see our bodies?"
I asked. Rowan looked at me, puzzled, as if unsure how to answer. Xu Fu asked as well.
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"What do we look like to you? Do we only have heads?"
Rowan nodded.
"Yes, you only had heads from the beginning. What's wrong with you two?"
Instead, Rowan found our questions inexplicable. That night, Xu Fu and I expected our heads to disappear, but they didn't. Instead, our feet vanished—completely and utterly. When we reached out to touch them, there was nothing but empty space, yet we could still feel them and walk as usual.
Xu Fu jumped straight down from the building.
"Our feet are still there, but we can't see or touch them. It really is strange."
"There's nothing we can do now except see what happens next."
Day after day passed. By midnight on the fifth night, Xu Fu and I had completely lost our bodies, left only with our heads. Yet we could still walk, though we couldn't touch anything—not even our own bodies.
I've never seen anything so bizarre before, but we didn't feel any discomfort.
By the fourteenth night, Xu Fu and I found it hard to even see each other. We kept talking, but suddenly, no matter how I called out to Xu Fu, he didn't respond.
"What's wrong, Xu Fu?"
I called out. Xu Fu's head was now just a faint outline, his mouth moving constantly. I must have looked the same. Slowly, I understood what Xu Fu was saying—he kept repeating that maybe we could see the gods.
Gradually, I realized I couldn't see anything anymore. Everything blurred and turned to darkness. I couldn't hear, see, or feel anything. All my senses were stripped away—now only my consciousness remained.
In the darkness, I had no idea how much time passed. Then, I saw a flash of fiery red. Gradually, I heard a voice, my vision and hearing returned, and I could feel again—my body was restored.
I swallowed hard. Out of the darkness appeared a woman, her entire body burning with flames. She moved toward me, expressionless.
"Do you believe in gods?"
I quietly watched this cold, statue-like woman before me. She wasn't Xiao Yan, but I didn't know what she was. As she drew closer, she asked again.
"Do you believe in gods?"
I asked her in return.
"Does it make any difference whether you believe or not?"
"If you truly believe in gods and worship them, everything will return to you. Otherwise, everything will be lost—you'll be trapped in darkness forever, unable to see light, hear sound, or feel anything at all."
I stared at the figure before me and asked,
"So, are you a god?"
The woman nodded woodenly, staring at me like a puppet. I could sense something stirring in my body—weak, but present, a power deep inside me.
"You must truly acknowledge the existence of gods and believe in them. Only then are you qualified to be a resident of this world. Hurry and make up your mind—gods like us are omnipotent, and you should become our believer."
I laughed coldly and shook my head.
"Sorry, I've never seen such a god, nor have I ever believed in gods."
As soon as I finished speaking, everything started to blur again. I lost my senses—sight, hearing, everything—returning to darkness. I couldn't feel anything, but inside me, a power was about to erupt. Now I understood: when we entered this world, our bodies were transformed by its unique power, becoming part of its structure. My mind was unusually clear, and Xu Fu probably realized it too.