It's been quite a while now. The Wraithlord has been staring blankly at the book, completely motionless. His consciousness seems to have sunk into the world within the tome.
The world of word-spirit power—I can only watch quietly from the side, not wanting to disturb him. What puzzles me is, if you truly enter and can't use any abilities, then how does the Wraithlord remain unharmed? Later, I plan to ask him: if your consciousness gets pulled in, how can you use your own power?
I carefully approached the Wraithlord and tried waving my hand in front of his eyes. Sure enough, his consciousness had been pulled into the world of the book.
"Hey, wake up."
I called out, and suddenly the Wraithlord snapped back to his senses, glaring at me in annoyance.
As expected, the Wraithlord's consciousness returned instantly. If someone interrupts from the outside, his mind can be pulled back right away. Now I realize that all those times before, I was interrupting him while he was studying the world inside the book. No wonder he was so angry and irritated.
I gave a helpless smile, scratching the back of my head as I asked.
"Any progress?"
"None."
The Wraithlord looked furious, gritting his teeth, his head hanging low.
"I can't understand it. Why is that? These seventy-eight pages—I've been reading them for over a hundred years."
I stared in shock, but then I thought about it—so many pages, each probably taking hundreds of years. I swallowed hard; I didn't want to spend that long here. After all, it's boring enough. Whenever I feel my power is almost depleted, I just go back. There are still plenty of things waiting for me in the world of the living.
I can't stay here too long, watching the Wraithlord looking so frustrated.
"By the way, do you know any way to use your own power if your consciousness gets pulled into the world recorded in the book?"
"No. I'm not the same as you. What I can see, you can't. It's like when you were tangled up by the Law of Karma before—I can clearly see the flow of karma around you, but you're completely unaware."
I looked at the Wraithlord in surprise, and he continued speaking.
"The things I can comprehend, you can't—not even conceptually. How would you grasp them? And the things I can create, how much do you really know? You've always thought I was stupid, haven't you? In reality, I just don't want to bother with you. It's the same for everyone who comes here—they all think I'm crazy. But do any of you really understand the entire world?"
I swallowed, forcing an awkward smile.
"Can you teach me?"
The Wraithlord immediately burst out laughing.
"Figure it out yourself. Everyone walks a different path. What you comprehend is different from me. My guidance is meaningless to you—it's of no reference value. I'm feeling restless; I need to go for a walk. You'll have to see for yourself."
With that, the Wraithlord got up, looking ready to leave. But I remembered—if I die in the world inside the book, I’ll really die. I need someone to wake me up.
The Wraithlord had already left. I summoned Deathbane Ghost and Spirit Snake, telling them to watch over me. If anything seems wrong, they should wake me up immediately. Then I sat back at the desk, swallowing hard.
The book was already closed. I still didn’t open it. Instead, I needed to figure out a way—when a crisis hits, I must have the ability to fight back and resolve it. Only then can I clearly glimpse the power within the book and understand what’s really going on.
Having made up my mind, I stared quietly at the book. The moment I opened it, the words on the page began to surface, and then, in an instant, my consciousness faded away.
"Hey, what are you doing? Sleeping on the job? Don't want your paycheck anymore?"
I jolted awake. Immediately, a wave of pig manure stench hit me. I saw water flowing everywhere. I was wearing a white plastic biohazard suit, a mask, and holding a hose. Looking around, I saw rows of pig pens. The person in front of me seemed to be the boss here, glaring at me angrily.
"I'll get right to it."
One glance told me what I needed to do—clean the pig pens. I grabbed the hose and started washing. Around me, workers carried buckets of pig manure outside. After working for a while, it was finally lunch break.
I was amazed at how I’d suddenly ended up in the modern era. Judging by the size of the pig farm, there were hundreds of workers and ten pig sheds.
I headed to the break area, watching the workers get ready to eat in the cafeteria. I joined the line for food.
"What on earth is going on?"
I glanced toward the pig pens. Filth was already appearing in many places. I sensed there might be an outbreak of plague here. I found a spot away from the crowd and stayed alone. When lunch break ended, I went back to work with the others, feeding the pigs and recording their condition.
I saw foul air rising in the pig pens, and it was getting worse. My only option was to find a way to use my power before the outbreak hit.
Suddenly, I had an idea. I looked around, then pretended to have a stomachache and went to the restroom. Behind an old, rundown toilet, I found a knife. The only way now was to die—I wanted to see if I could use ghost powers after death.
I held a utility knife to my neck, the cold blade pressed against my skin. I swallowed hard.
With a swift motion, I slashed down. Instantly, a warm rush spilled out. I felt dizzy and collapsed to the ground.
But gradually, I realized something was wrong. I wasn't dead yet. Though I was approaching death, the slow process was agonizing—my body growing cold, sensation and strength fading, my consciousness blurring.
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Gradually, I closed my eyes and lost consciousness. But the moment I opened them again, I was floating in the air. My body lay on the ground below. I had chosen such a remote and smelly place so that, if I couldn't use my powers after death, no one would find me.
My body floated gently in the air, but I soon felt a chill. I was dead. As my yang energy faded, the sun would soon burn me. I had to find a shady place to hide before that happened.
Eventually, I found a tool shed next to the pig pens. It was cold and damp—perfect for staying hidden for days. What puzzled me was that, even after death, I still couldn't use my powers.
Days passed, and the situation in the pig pens grew worse. Filthy air gathered everywhere, and the stench was overwhelming. I knew it wouldn’t be long before all the pigs here died.
Days went by. Eventually, my body was discovered. The factory was thrown into chaos. People talked, but I ignored them. Finally, one sunny morning, the plague broke out.
In one pig pen, the pigs stopped eating and huddled together. The farm owner panicked. By afternoon, many dead pigs had been dragged out. The whole factory was in chaos. Everyone worked through the night to disinfect, isolating the sick pigs.
But it was all in vain—the situation kept getting worse. By the third day, a third of the pigs were dead, and another third were sick. Medicine and injections did nothing.
Only now did I understand—as the foul air increased, the pigs lost all resistance and died easily.
A week passed. The farm owner started burning the dead pigs, but nothing could stop it. Thousands of pigs had died; only a few hundred were left, and they wouldn't last much longer.
Many people left the farm. I watched in amazement as all the pigs died. The owner fled. Debt collectors arrived, but found no one—just piles of rotting, stinking carcasses.
The place was completely deserted. I watched in shock as more and more foul air gathered. No one wanted to deal with this mess in the remote countryside. The filth gathered even faster and more violently than before.
In just a few days, a massive black sphere had enveloped the entire pig farm. I stared in disbelief and saw plants withering again.
Gradually, I seemed to understand. This land was dying. I tried to sense the flow of earth energy, but I couldn't—without power, I was just a powerless ghost. I grew anxious, not knowing how to use my abilities.
Time flew by—as if in the blink of an eye, ages passed. The land grew even more desolate; even the villagers moved away. Everything at the foot of the mountain was dying.
"I have to find a way."
I knew the same thing was happening again, but I still couldn't understand why. Thinking back on everything I'd seen over all these days, I couldn't figure it out.
Gradually, the ground began to sink under the massive black sphere. Collapse happened again. Luckily, I could float in the air. I drifted away from the black sphere, planning to see what would happen next.