By the time I returned to the shop, it was already past 2 p.m. I moved quickly, cleaning up in less than twenty minutes. Yet as I worked, my mind was unsettled—not by the mundane, but by the presence that had visited me: Elder Peach, but not his physical body, nor his soul. What appeared was a Remnant—a metaphysical manifestation of intent, a thought-form from the future. The effort required for such an arrival was unimaginable, and even now, the oppressive air lingered.
After finishing all the chores, it was past 5 p.m., with one hour left before opening. I prepared some appetizers and poured myself a drink, but my mind kept circling back to what I'd seen. What exactly is a Remnant? How could Elder Peach have come here as one?
Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. I stood up abruptly, eyes wide in confusion and dread. My heart pounded as I hurried over, opening the door to find Elder Peach standing outside. Mind Ghost, ever silent, pressed a hand to their forehead, as if bracing for something beyond ordinary comprehension.
"Elder Peach, where have you been all this time?" I asked, unable to hide my anxiety. Mind Ghost interjected, their voice echoing with metaphysical certainty: "What you saw was not his body, nor his soul—it was a Remnant, a special existence, like the 'Echo' technique used by Yin Choujian. A thought-form, acting independently from the main body."
"Hurry and leave, Ethan Zhang. Don't stay here any longer—this place is on the verge of collapse." Elder Peach's words trembled, his form flickering. I realized with a chill that this was not his physical self, but his Soul Avatar—a primordial spirit sent forth, not a living presence.
I swallowed hard and supported Elder Peach, whose robes hung in tatters. His aura was faint, his power nearly gone. Some of it was due to the Synthetic Soul within him, but more crucially, it seemed he'd fought a battle beyond mortal understanding. My mind raced—could this truly be his Soul Avatar, like Zhang Jizheng's? The metaphysical realization sent a chill through me.
"Can you tell me what happened?" I pressed. Mind Ghost nodded, confirming my suspicion: "Your guess is correct. But we should investigate the area—there may be traces left behind."
I helped Elder Peach into the shop and poured him a drink. He gulped it down, his eyes blank, lost somewhere between worlds. Without hesitation, I left the Shadow Realm, summoned my ghosts, and pointed to the exact spot where Elder Peach had collapsed. The oppressive atmosphere thickened, signaling something deeply supernatural had transpired.
"I don't know... I really can't say what happened." Elder Peach's voice was hollow. I pointed to the precise spot where he'd fallen, hoping the spectral energies lingering there might reveal something.
As Elder Peach spoke, he staggered to his feet and stumbled outside. I rushed after him, eyes wide in disbelief. But the moment he crossed the threshold, his presence and form vanished—gone utterly, as if erased from existence. The crowded street offered no cover for such disappearance; for someone like me, losing sight should have been impossible. Yet, as I watched, Mind Ghost's body dissolved into a wisp of white mist, the supernatural permeating the air.
It was as if Elder Peach had materialized from thin air, only to vanish just as abruptly. Mind Ghost's voice lingered: "There's a Remnant here—a thought-form. But it will take time to fully investigate what remains."
"What is happening? This strange, oppressive feeling..." I muttered, recalling the Undertaker's words: in this city, only those with true consciousness remember the past or plan for the future. Everything else resets after midnight—an endless, frozen now.
I stretched out my hand, squeezing the other, the sensation of unease crawling over my skin. What had Elder Peach truly endured? His mind was fractured, his speech disjointed, urging me to run. But run where? I was trapped in the Shadow Realm—until Rachel Lan and Sylvia Blue were safe, I would not leave. In the midst of this, I remembered the training instructions: tonight, no weapons, no attacks from my opponent—only dodging. I was to focus on attacking, pushing my limits in this metaphysical space.
By the time the shop was set to open, I still hadn't unraveled the mystery. Customers began streaming in, but my mind drifted. As soon as I entered the Shadow Realm, the Killing Ghost spoke to me. I responded, then placed the Black Sphere on the ground. Instantly, the dark power within my ghost domain vanished, as if the sphere had absorbed it, and the darkness outside could no longer seep in.
Bang! Just as I was serving food to a customer, a sudden crash sounded—Elder Peach appeared again, collapsing at my shop's entrance. Someone asked, "Ethan, is something troubling you?" The question lingered, piercing through the chaos.
I set down the dish, quickly removed the grilled food, and gave the customers a brief explanation before dragging Elder Peach to the back of the shop. He looked exactly as he had months ago. Most importantly, there was no trace of alcohol on his breath, though he'd drunk a strong liquor just an hour earlier. The scent should have lingered. I realized then: my connection with my ghosts was nearly severed, as Spirit Snake had suggested, to keep my strategy hidden during battle.
"Run, Ethan Zhang, or it'll be too late." Elder Peach's warning echoed. I quickly summarized the events to Mind Ghost, who responded with a low, unsettling laugh, the sound reverberating in the oppressive air.
Elder Peach looked at me, barely able to hold himself together. Mind Ghost's voice cut through the silence, confirming my suspicion: "Someone really did come from the future."
"What is happening? Elder Peach, please, tell me—what's really going on?" My confusion and desperation bled into my voice, the weight of the supernatural pressing down on me.
My voice grew louder, desperation leaking through. Elder Peach smiled faintly, his breath weakening. He swallowed, then pressed both hands onto my shoulders. I flinched in surprise, catching sight of Mind Ghost silently pointing to their own head, as if signaling a deeper meaning.
"Very soon..." Elder Peach whispered, his words hanging in the oppressive air, as if something unseen pressed against reality itself.
Elder Peach vanished before my eyes, his presence erased from every sense. It happened in an instant—right as he was about to reveal something crucial, he was gone, leaving behind only the chill of the supernatural.
"What exactly happened here?" I murmured, my mind reeling with questions that seemed to echo through dimensions.
I muttered to myself, determination hardening within me. I had to find Elder Peach. I drew out the Black Sphere the Undertaker had given me—its surface cold and heavy with power. With a single thought, the Undertaker's voice resonated from within, as if bridging the worlds.
"What's wrong, Ethan Zhang? Has something happened?" The Undertaker's voice carried a weight of concern and authority, echoing from the depths of the Black Sphere.
I quickly recounted the events to the Undertaker. He fell silent, the pause stretching across the connection between worlds, before finally speaking:
"Understood. I'll mobilize everyone from the Dark Banquet to help you search. If we turn this place inside out, perhaps we'll uncover something hidden."
In less than ten minutes, black-clad operatives from the Thirteen Pillars Plaza surged across the city, flooding every street and alley, searching with supernatural precision for any trace of Elder Peach.
I steadied myself and returned to grilling food, though my thoughts were far from mundane tasks. An hour later, a black-clad operative approached to report: they'd found 103 witnesses who had seen Elder Peach, with the latest sighting dating back a month.
According to their report, Elder Peach hadn't appeared ragged as I had seen him. Instead, he'd been active in the city, taking odd jobs in Zone 3. Now, his whereabouts were a mystery. The last person to see him was a coworker at a construction site—a month ago, after a shared meal, Elder Peach had left, smiling, as if nothing was amiss.
I was taken aback by the efficiency of these black-clad operatives. In less than an hour, they'd gathered a detailed investigation, their methods almost supernatural in their thoroughness.
"Understood. Keep searching." My voice was steady, but beneath it ran a current of desperation.
As I spoke, the black-clad operative at the door nodded and silently departed, vanishing into the night to continue the search.
Finding someone created from a soul by the Dark Banquet was simple enough. But tracking down someone who never belonged to this world in the first place—that was a challenge that stretched beyond the boundaries of reality.
Gradually, I closed up shop. The room was deserted, shadows stretching across the floor. Tonight, I had no desire for alcohol; instead, I resolved to wander the city's haunted streets, searching for answers.
Bang! I dropped the dishes I was holding, the sound echoing through the emptiness. Suddenly, I was at the shop entrance—Elder Peach stood there, panting, his eyes wild with desperation.
"Leave now, Ethan Zhang. This place is on the brink of destruction." Elder Peach's warning was laced with supernatural dread, his form flickering as if barely clinging to existence.
I swallowed, the taste of fear bitter in my mouth.
"Elder Peach, what is happening here?" My voice trembled, the oppressive atmosphere pressing in.
Elder Peach was just as disheveled as before, but now wounds marked his body. I reached out to examine them, but he gripped my hand with desperate strength, as if anchoring himself to this reality.
"If you understand, leave this place, Ethan Zhang. I..." Elder Peach's words faltered, as if something unseen dragged him away.
He vanished again—right before my eyes, gone in less than ten seconds. I stared in shock, my mind racing. Time in this darkness is frozen, yet each day is not a mere repetition. Could Elder Peach have come from a future day in this perpetual night?
With this realization burning in my mind, I immediately contacted the Undertaker, hoping for answers from someone who understood the rules of this place.
"That shouldn't be possible, Ethan Zhang. In this darkness, there is no past or future—only the present. Every day feels different because of your consciousness, but if you observe closely, you'll see that anything moved outside will reset by the next day. Time here is frozen, but the awareness of those who possess consciousness remains unfrozen."
[System message skipped]
After the call ended, I sat quietly at the door, the silence pressing in. If the Undertaker was right, Elder Peach couldn't have come from the future. What, then, was the true nature of his arrival?
My mind churned with questions, each one darker and more oppressive than the last.
After that, I lost all desire to train. I waited at the shop door, hoping Elder Peach would return. A week passed in oppressive silence; the citywide search ended, but his whereabouts remained a mystery.
Tonight, I resolved to resume training. The Black Sphere from the Undertaker allowed me to completely isolate the dark power outside my ghost domain, preventing it from leaking in and disrupting my ghostly aura. Now I could focus on refining my killing aura and battling my ghosts with precision.
As night fell, the shop grew lively once more. The impact of Elder Peach's disappearance had dulled slightly, and I turned my thoughts to the coming battle with the killing ghosts.
Thinking it over, the only real difference between me and the killing ghosts was combat experience and technique. I still couldn't defeat them, even if our power was the same.
Time ticked by, and as closing hour arrived, I instantly moved to the city outskirts. Just as the Undertaker said, I had confirmed that anything outside the city—no matter how I broke or moved it—would reset after midnight. Nothing ever changed, except for the people in the city, who remembered yesterday and could plan for tomorrow.
"Ethan, tonight I won't use any weapons or attack you. I'll just dodge. You try attacking me."
As soon as I entered the ghost domain, the killing ghost spoke. I grunted in response, pulled out the Black Sphere, and placed it on the ground. Instantly, the dark power drifting in my ghost domain vanished, as if the sphere had absorbed it all at once. The darkness outside the domain didn't seep in either.
"What's wrong, Ethan? Is something troubling you?"
I grunted. These days, my connection with my ghosts was almost severed—they couldn't know what I was thinking. This was Spirit Snake's idea, to prevent them from learning my strategy during combat.
I briefly explained the situation. Mind Ghost chuckled.
"You're right. That guy really did come from the future."
"What do you mean?"
I stared in surprise as Mind Ghost pointed to their own head.
"I'm not talking about him as a person, or his soul, but his very thought—his intention—came from the future. I don't know how he managed it, but he actually did. It must've been incredibly difficult. What you saw of Elder Peach should've been a thought-form."
"What exactly is a thought-form?"
I asked in confusion. Mind Ghost held their forehead.
"How should I explain... It's a special kind of existence. The echo that Yin Choujian uses is one type of thought-form. It can connect to a person's consciousness but doesn't interact with the body. In short..."
"Primordial spirit."
I blurted it out. Thinking carefully, it was the only possibility. What appeared before me was Elder Peach's primordial spirit, similar to Zhang Jizheng.
"Yes, that's right—the primordial spirit. I think it's best to clarify things. Let's go back for now, and let me investigate the area. Maybe I'll sense something."
I agreed, left the ghost domain, and instantly arrived at my shop entrance. My eight ghosts emerged from my body, and I pointed to the spot where Elder Peach had fallen.
"Right here."
Mind Ghost walked over, their form gradually turning into a wisp of white mist.
"There really is a thought-form here, but it'll take some time to investigate."