I just had a beautiful dream. Strangely, all the exhaustion in my body has vanished, and the hunger that gnawed at my stomach is gone—I actually feel full. Once again, I whispered, "Thank you."
My mental state is excellent now. I tried using my left hand to support myself and stood up. Then, I staggered, and a loud bang echoed from ahead. I turned my head.
It was Terry Chen. His ox horn had collided squarely with David Dong's body. But for David Dong, this impact seemed trivial. He simply slid back a short distance and stopped.
"Really, Terry Chen? You’re actually fighting me for real?"
"Stop being so stubborn, David."
Terry Chen shouted. Suddenly, I saw him lift David Dong completely and hurl him toward us. Then, he immediately extended his elastic tongue, striking in my direction.
"Then I’ll grab Ethan Zhang first, hehe."
As he spoke, David Dong’s tongue had already reached me. With a thud, David Dong suddenly crashed to the ground. It was Terry Chen—after getting up, he pressed down on the tongue, yanking David Dong so his head slammed into the floor.
"Ethan Zhang, go to that room from earlier, on the second floor—the photo washing room. Most of Master’s photos are stored there. All you have to do is use the cleaning solution to wash the photo; the image will naturally disappear, and those trapped will be freed."
Terry Chen said this, then immediately charged at David Dong, ramming him toward the large photo studio behind them.
I hurried to my feet, hopped forward on one leg, and fell again. Frustrated, I had to use my left hand to crawl slowly toward the photo studio where I’d just placed Grace Hu’s photograph.
There was still more than twenty meters to go before reaching the cluster of photo studios ahead. Crawling on the ground, I could only inch forward painfully slowly.
At last, despite Terry Chen’s constant interference, David Dong tried several times to grab me with his tongue but failed. As I neared the studio and was about to open the door, I was shocked to see, through the window, that the photo which should have been on the counter was gone.
"Not this one."
I muttered and searched several other studios, but none had photos on the counter.
"Where are you locked away?" I shouted—this was directed at my own shadow. But after a long while, there was no response.
"Terry Chen, where did that room go? I can’t find it."
I shouted at Terry Chen, who was still fighting David Dong. After a long time, there was a loud bang—Terry Chen, covered in wounds, had fallen to the center of the area. He immediately got up and looked over at me.
"Ethan Zhang, you have to find a way. Master has already hidden his Ghost Domain Core."
I anxiously searched the surroundings and started calling out Grace Hu's name. But after a long time, nothing changed. I was getting desperate—if Cao Wanzhi came back now, it would be over.
On this street lined with photo studios, I kept crawling, glancing around, but I still couldn’t find the studio with Grace Hu’s photograph.
Right now, I’m just an ordinary person—missing my left foot and right hand. After a long while, I was exhausted, panting hard. I forced myself to calm down; no matter how anxious I got, it wouldn’t help.
I began to think. When I left that studio, it was so I could come back in again, so I left the photo inside. But Cao Wanzhi must have moved the studio elsewhere—it’s his Ghost Domain Core. I probably won’t find it again.
Looking out across the whole Shadow Realm, I saw that it stretched three or four hundred meters to a pitch-black end, with photo studios of all shapes and sizes everywhere.
Now, I couldn’t tell which one it was at all. I’d also temporarily lost my ghost powers—completely empty, not a trace of response left.
Just then, a loud crash sounded behind me. I turned to see Terry Chen, wrapped up by David Dong’s tongue and slammed hard to the ground. He was covered in wounds, completely unable to resist any longer.
"Still so naïve. You’re nothing but brute strength. Just lie there. I’ll take care of Ethan Zhang first—otherwise, if Master comes back and blames me, I don’t want to be stuck like this forever."
As he spoke, David Dong whipped his tongue again and again, repeatedly slamming the entangled Terry Chen to the ground. He laughed wildly, knowing Terry Chen was almost dead—those crimson eyes had lost their glow, and he’d passed out. Still, David Dong wouldn’t stop, growing even more frenzied.
"Where is it?"
I looked around in confusion again. Just then, my phone started buzzing in my pocket. Surprised, I quickly took it out—the screen flashed red, followed by a mechanical voice prompt.
"The place you’re looking for is 137 meters ahead, on your left. Crawling from here will take a maximum of 4.56 minutes, minimum 3.78 minutes, but due to irresistible obstacles, it may take 13.79 minutes. Please crawl forward immediately and roll to the left..."
I immediately followed the voice prompt, crawling forward, then rolling to the left. With a bang, Terry Chen crashed down right beside me. I watched, heart pounding.
"Good, keep going forward, then turn right, move ahead, then turn left, and crawl straight for four meters on your right."
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I kept following the instructions, almost as if possessed. During this, I successfully dodged an attack from David Dong’s tongue.
With a long, drawn-out moo, Terry Chen suddenly got up and charged at David Dong, who was still following.
With each voice prompt, I crawled closer to the spot indicated by the Bing App, dodging a barrage of stones—David Dong was using his tongue to hurl them at me.
"Due to unknown factors, correction made: reaching the destination now only takes 10.8 minutes. Destination is 36 meters away—just 3 minutes more."
I kept crawling, following the string of voice prompts.
"Target revised: due to irresistible forces and decreased stamina, final correction—1 minute and 14 seconds to reach your destination."
After crawling for a while, with a bang, I dodged a flying rooftop just as the app’s prompt said. The scattered stones didn’t hit me either.
Once again, I managed to dodge just in time.
"Destination reached. Final time: 9.34 minutes. Thank you for your cooperation. Please open the door quickly, enter, and avoid attacks from behind. You have 2.73 seconds left."
I stared in shock, turned my head, and sure enough—a huge stone came hurtling toward me. I scrambled to the door, grabbed the handle, and rushed inside. The stone struck the doorway just as I got in.
Breathless but safe, I looked at the photo on the table. Yes, I’d made it into Cao Wanzhi’s Ghost Domain Core.
"Ethan Zhang, get out here!"
It was David Dong—he’d reached the front of the studio but lingered outside, unable to approach. I ignored him; Terry Chen must have finally defeated him.
I gasped for breath, drenched in sweat. Panting, I looked around, steadied myself, stood up, took the photo from the counter, sat down in a chair, and rested again.
After resting for a few minutes, I started crawling up to the second floor. Passing the storage room, I saw it was filled with gleaming gold bars. I couldn’t help but swallow and smile—the place hadn’t changed much from my memory.
I crawled up to the second floor, step by step. That unique photo studio smell wafted down. Once upstairs, I went to the sealed room next to Cao Wanzhi’s bedroom—the one used for developing photos.
As soon as I arrived, a chill seeped out, making me shiver. Still, I twisted open the door—the hinges creaked. Inside, a dim yellow light glowed, and shelves lined the walls, loaded with photos.
I searched all around, finding many different photos—people on the left, animals on the right, and landscape photos, both black-and-white and color, near the washing area.
Then, I saw a photo sitting on the table. I hurried over and picked it up—it was my shadow, just the silhouette in the picture.
"You finally made it! Quick, Ethan Zhang—there’s a small bucket next to the table. Throw the photo into the liquid inside, and I’ll be able to come out."
My shadow spoke. I looked over—sure enough, there was a small, white bucket. I twisted off the lid and found it filled with green liquid. I quickly tossed the photo in, and watched as the image began to change, fading away until it was completely white.
Suddenly, I saw my shadow return.