It's almost been eighteen hours. I know that soon, because of this Memory Leech, I'll lose consciousness. After trembling for nearly a whole day, my Ghost Soul is already damaged.
Inside my Ghost Soul, I've unleashed all kinds of powers, but against this Memory Leech, there's nothing I can do. Vincent Swallow kept asking me about the worm's appearance, its shape, and the effects after I used my powers. I answered every question.
Ethan Zhang also tried using the Specter Web to release power inside my Ghost Soul, hoping to get rid of the Memory Leech, but it was no use. I started to get anxious.
Now, my Ghost Soul is damaged to varying degrees, and I have to keep fighting back to stop the Memory Leech from devouring my memories. Only five minutes left until the full eighteen hours.
In a panic, I used the Specter Web to completely wrap up the part of my Ghost Soul where my memories are stored.
Watching the time tick by on my phone, every second felt endless. I've already sent word to The Engineer. Right now, The Engineer and Hugh Thompson are together. Their opinions are similar to Vincent Swallow's—finding a nemesis for this kind of Memory Leech is nearly impossible. There's no quick fix, and we're too far apart to send a sample directly.
When the time was up, my head buzzed, then gradually grew heavy and dazed. The Memory Leech inside me began to writhe violently, and I felt as if some kind of liquid sprayed out from its mouth. Then I fell into a deep sleep.
In a haze, I regained consciousness. As soon as I opened my eyes, my Six Ghost Souls were gathered before me, all looking deeply worried.
"Ethan, our powers are useless against this thing."
Spirit Snake said this, and I nodded. Zhu Tang sighed and sat down.
"If I were my old self, maybe I'd have the power to evolve past this thing."
I let out a cry and looked at Zhu Tang. He smiled, pointed at his own body—it was pitch black.
"I've already been stained by your color, Ethan. This thing—I'm all too familiar with it. It's a curse. If you want to get rid of it, you'll need a power that's truly sacred, something that can evolve and cleanse this curse. The Power of the Four Sacred Beasts could easily break a curse like this."
I could feel my connection to the Six Ghost Souls growing chaotic because of this toxic parasite. Looking around, the entire space was shattered—many places were damaged to different degrees.
Throughout the whole instinctual space, you could clearly see black fragments constantly falling. Many spots had already split open.
"Ethan Zhang, come here."
My shadow appeared behind me with a whoosh. I turned my head; he beckoned me over. He stood atop a mass of tangled black stone-like blocks. I hurried over to him.
"There's not much time left. Your Ghost Soul has been severely affected—because of the power of the curse."
I nodded. He didn't need to tell me—I already knew. My instincts were screaming in agony. Because of this curse power, I couldn't resolve it, not any time soon.
"For now, don't let the other six know that your body still carries the Curse Mark left by that entity. It's the only way to maintain contact with you."
I let out a cry, looking at my shadow. In his golden eyes, there was something uncanny.
"Remember? In the Yin-Yang Realm, the one who saved Suyan."
I remembered—it was that woman with a 'curse' character in each of her eyes. She should be the same type as the Wraiths, a Curse Ghost.
Back then, the Curse Ghost really did stab her hand into my body and leave something behind.
"How do I find it?"
I immediately asked, and then my shadow pointed upward.
"Ask your instincts. They know."
I nodded, and with a whoosh, shot upward. Gradually, I broke through some kind of layer. As soon as I entered, I saw black, tube-like things hanging down everywhere. The whole place looked bizarre.
"You've arrived here."
I nodded, and immediately, that voice began to laugh.
"Tell me, where is the power the Curse Ghost left inside me?" I asked immediately, but my instincts didn't respond. Then I saw those tube-like things move aside, revealing what looked like a passage. In the distance, a red light appeared. I hurried toward it.
As I got closer, I saw a large red 'curse' character floating in the air, standing before me. This power radiated a sense of ominousness.
Ever since the Curse Ghost engraved the Curse Mark into my body, I hadn't felt any discomfort. I slowly approached, but just as I was about to reach the 'curse' character, I was stopped.
"For now, coexistence is impossible, Ethan Zhang. That entity is still hesitating."
I nodded, then looked sincerely at the 'curse' character and spoke.
"Curse Ghost, if you can sense me, please help me."
But after a long while, there was no response at all. I didn't know how to get the Curse Ghost to help me. Suddenly, the red light intensified with a whoosh, and I saw a flash of red. Immediately, a red humanoid figure stood before me.
"You possess potential, Ethan Zhang. Can you tell me, what is the source of your potential?"
A cold, slightly deep female voice came through. I stared blankly at the Curse Ghost, unable to answer, not even knowing how to respond. The Curse Ghost's question—my potential—Spirit Snake had mentioned it several times before, and so had The Engineer. But what exactly is it? Where does it come from?
"In the past, all powerful forces were born from illusion. But you are different—your constant contradictions have created this instinct. Tell me, what is your origin?"
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I quietly watched the Curse Ghost. In her eyes, there was an impatient look as she walked up to me.
Suddenly, something seemed to occur to me.
"Just like you all, I suppose."
I muttered, and the Curse Ghost suddenly floated up, laughing loudly.
"Correct answer."
"I'm neither human nor ghost, so my origin is both human and ghost."
With a whoosh, the 'curse' character before me began to shrink, then flew toward me.
"I'll lend you a bit of power, Ethan Zhang."
I nodded. With a slap, the 'curse' character stuck to my chest and then sank into my body. The Curse Ghost vanished, and I found myself back in the instinctual space.
The Six Ghost Souls had vanished. My instinctual space was in utter chaos—it looked dire. I closed my eyes as my consciousness began to fade away inside that space.
Faintly, I woke up, gasping for breath. The writhing inside me grew violently intense.
"What's going on? It's only been three hours, Ethan."
Vincent Swallow stared in shock from the side. I smiled and said,
"It's fine. I have what it takes to deal with this Memory Leech."
As I spoke, I closed my eyes. Inside me, a strange power was awakening. Gradually, my Ghost Soul was filled with Curse Power—waves of red Curse Power surged toward the Memory Leech.
A screeching sound rang out—the Memory Leech sensed fear and began to burrow out of my Ghost Soul. With a squelch, a hole opened in my chest, and the fat white worm shrieked as it emerged, dropping to the ground with a thud.
It writhed madly, then lunged toward Ethan Zhang. I shouted immediately.
"Watch out!"
But Ethan Zhang just gave a silent, wicked grin. With a slap, the worm passed straight through Ethan's body and fell to the ground, writhing as it turned to dust. I saw Ethan's body, in that instant—