Staring at the apartment building before me—a place I have no memory of—I can't shake the feeling that I once lived here for a long time. Time is running out. I need to find a way to deal with The Wraithlord. His strength is now spent, and he has returned to the Blood Jade. Who knows how long it will take for him to reassemble again? The only way to stop his reunion is to take him out of this Mirage.
But right now, I can't leave the Mirage on my own. My only option is to ask Mother Goddess Nuwa for help, though she may not want to assist me. I still don't know what happened, or even what I truly am. Maybe that's why Nuwa chose to help The Wraithlord.
What puzzles me most is how this final piece of Blood Jade ended up in the Mirage. In this entire realm, the only one with the power to send the Blood Jade away is likely Mother Goddess Nuwa.
As a deity, Mother Goddess Nuwa has little faith left in the Living World, but some still remains. She only needs to use these faith channels that connect to the Living World to send the Blood Jade there. That way, The Wraithlord can be forced into dormancy for a while longer.
At that moment, a crowd of supernatural beasts drew near. I saw Eugenia approaching, looking gloomy as she carried several Blood Jade fragments. I smiled and shook my head.
"It's alright. It's not your fault."
As I said this, Jade May began to cry, sobbing uncontrollably. I walked over and gently patted her shoulder to comfort her.
"It's alright. I won't die."
As I spoke, many of the supernatural beasts began to think of solutions. I was deeply grateful to them for helping me in my time of crisis.
"Thank you all for coming to help me. Even though I only taught you a few cooking tricks, I truly wish I could repay your kindness. Sadly, maybe I won't get the chance. I don't know where my consciousness will go after it fades in this Mirage, but I will come back. Because you all helped me, if I'm lucky enough not to disappear, I promise I'll return here."
I spoke earnestly. The most urgent problem now was to figure out how to resolve the issue of the Blood Jade before my consciousness faded away in the Mirage. These things can't be destroyed by force—they were likely made from the Heaven-Mending Stone by Nuwa.
"I haven't lied to you, whether it was the three items I asked you to find, or the true master of the Mirage."
Nuwa's voice drifted down softly. I nodded, fully aware that what she said was true—including her promise to use the Heaven-Mending Stone to forge a weapon for me. Though the stone still contains impurities, I can sense my presence gradually merging with it. This isn't something that can be accomplished in a short time.
At this moment, Nuwa held a small violet fragment in her hand—the source of my memories, which was steadily fading, growing smaller and smaller. Soon, I would vanish from the Mirage.
"Could I ask you to help send a few pieces of the Blood Jade back to the Living World?"
I asked, but Nuwa neither nodded nor shook her head. She seemed to be hesitating.
"I need time. Please trust me. This is why you help me, Nuwa—you believe I can defeat The Wraithlord, which is why I still exist here. I don't know where I'll disappear to this time, but I will come back. It's not over yet."
I looked intently at Nuwa. After a moment, she nodded. I then asked Eugenia to hand the amber and obsidian Blood Jade fragments to Nuwa.
"There's no longer any place in this world that can contain you, Ethan Zhang. Tell me, where will you go after you disappear?"
Nuwa's words were icy. I glanced at the supernatural beasts gathered around me, though I truly didn't know where I would end up.
"I don't know where I'll end up, but the only thing I'm sure of is that there are still people who miss me—including my friends. No matter how much things change, I still feel that I'm human, not something else."
After accepting the two Blood Jade fragments, Nuwa spoke.
"I will send these two Blood Jade fragments to the Living World. But now, there's not a single inch of untouched land left there. It's only a matter of time before these Blood Jade fragments are discovered."
I nodded. That was enough—as long as Nuwa agreed to my request. I looked over at the Celestial Hound, who gave a slight nod in return.
In a daze, I felt myself begin to collapse. In an instant, I plunged into darkness. I had already warned the Celestial Hound to let me leave quietly; he promised to withdraw his power in a flash, letting me vanish instantly.
A gentle sound of ocean waves echoed. I opened my eyes and quietly gazed at the pristine white beach bathed in sunlight. I sat on the sand, my hands pressed into its soft warmth, staring at the undulating horizon. I stood up and looked around. Everything here was strangely comforting. I felt as if I'd been here before, but I still couldn't remember when or how I'd come.
After strolling along the shore for a while, I sat down. Behind me stretched a vast sea of white sand under the blue sky, and ahead, the bright ocean shimmered. The water was tinged with blue, occasionally flashing with a glimmer of light.
Suddenly, a patch of black appeared on the distant sea. I stood up and hurried to the shore. The darkness pressed closer and closer, yet for some reason, I felt a strange sense of familiarity.
"Did we fail?"
"Yeah, we failed."
Suddenly, I found myself answering the darkness on the sea before me. I stared in disbelief, as if I were speaking to someone closest to me. It was strange.
"Have you forgotten who I am, Ethan Zhang?"
I shook my head, only feeling a deep sense of familiarity with the speaker. Here, I felt completely at ease.
"That's right—you've lost your old memories. Once, as one of your Ghost Souls, I died for you!"
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"Thank you."
As I spoke, the anxiety in my heart faded away. I sat back down on the ground, this time reclining in comfort.
"Where will I go next?"
I asked, and the voice in the darkness before me laughed softly, brushing past my ear like the wind.
"You'll return to the place where you were born. This failure was expected—The Wraithlord sensed it ahead of time and stopped you. But it doesn't matter, we'll just try again. Even if it's only a tiny bit, we've gained a part of the Divine Cycle. You can enter reincarnation and become human once more..."
I shook my head and sat up.
"I knew you'd refuse—after all, your heart is already touched by purity."
"Can you tell me something—about my past? At least now, I want to know everything!"
Just then, a cloud-like darkness drifted toward me. Suddenly, it pulled a streak of white from my chest. The white vapor slowly settled beside me, gradually taking the shape of an old man—I felt as if I knew him.
"Zachary Justice."
My eyes widened as I remembered the only small slip of paper I'd carried with me since arriving in this world.
"Sorry to appear like this—especially now, when it's time for you to decide everything. But, Qingyuan, I believe that no matter what you become, you won't change. You've already chosen the path of humanity. What you become isn't determined by what you've experienced, but by what you've chosen."
I gave a quiet response. The vague, old man beside me smiled, and the voice in the darkness before me also laughed heartily.
"Unfortunately, your memories can't be recovered—they've all been devoured by The Wraithlord. So there's no way to get them back. Now, you're an empty vessel. Come with me, I'll take you back to where you were born."
I stood up as Zachary Justice's voice slowly faded away. His face looked utterly at peace. I stepped onto the darkness before me; it carried me slowly across the sea. I sat down.
It's unbelievable—even though I can't remember anything, somewhere deep inside, my heart still burns.
"This is the result of your final choice. Our task—or what we truly want to do—you should know by now. When you touched me, I was you, and you were me."
I gave a quiet response, smiling as I gazed at the growing darkness in the distance.
"Devour everything."
At that moment, I understood exactly what I wanted to do—but I couldn't. The warmth in my heart kept swelling.
"You really don't want to enter reincarnation? When I died in your place, I mixed my power into the cycle. Lady Meng and the Infernal Judges never noticed. Once you're reborn, you can do anything you wish, because you are everything—you are will itself."
I shook my head.
"Even if I'm reborn, I'll have nothing. What was I like in the past—what meaning does it hold? There are still many who miss me. So instead of reincarnating, I want to go back—back to the illusion."
"When you return to where you were born, stay there for a while. If you really wish to go back, it's possible. But what you'll face may be more than just The Wraithlord."
I nodded. Though I didn't understand why, I felt it deep inside. Suddenly, I stood up straight, stepped onto solid ground, and dashed forward. Everything around me was so familiar. I stared in surprise at the vast, desolate black plain before me—this was indeed my birthplace.
"I'm finally back."
I didn't know why these words came from my mouth—it was an incredible feeling. Raising my hand, I willed myself to move to a vast, pitch-black field of pillars. This was my birthplace—Hell!