"Come out, Ethan Zhang."
Outside, Cao Wanzhi shouted angrily. I was sitting in the windowless photo room on the first floor of the studio, quietly resting. I was already exhausted. What I said earlier was meant to scare Cao Wanzhi, but unexpectedly, he really didn’t dare come in. He’s truly timid.
"If you’ve got the guts, come in. I’m not coming out."
A person came to mind—Hugh Thompson. He often told me that when facing an enemy, never be impatient. Instead, recall the details of your battles with them. When you have time and your life isn’t immediately threatened, you need to reflect.
Everything I just did matched Hugh Thompson’s advice. Cao Wanzhi didn’t want to kill me; he’d said before he just wanted to beat me down. All his attacks were aimed at my Ghost Soul, causing harm, but those injuries could be healed with Deathbane Aura.
If this goes on for too long, I’ll definitely collapse. Now, I’m leaning against the corner, quietly waiting for Cao Wanzhi to come. He’s still hesitating, unsure whether to enter. He’s afraid.
This Shadow Realm is called the Camera. The domain itself is probably a giant camera. When I entered, I saw the illusions created by Cao Wanzhi—each illusion had a camera, whether modern or old-fashioned. It’s all just a trick.
It’s a trick Cao Wanzhi uses to deceive others. I confirmed this when I rushed into the room just now.
Second, since Cao Wanzhi can trap others in photographs, he must also be able to enter them himself. Most likely, the moment he presses the shutter, I’m already inside the photo. In an instant, he can control my every move and launch any attack within the photo.
Fortunately, in his Shadow Realm, there are so many photo studios that the cameras can’t capture me. He can’t easily appear in front of me like before and stab me with his rapier.
That’s all I could think of for now. What I cared about most was Claire Zhang—how did she turn into a tiger? Cao Wanzhi once said he could capture a person’s soul in a photograph, and at that moment, Claire’s heart was like a tiger.
No matter how much I thought about it, I just couldn’t figure it out.
"It doesn’t matter, Ethan Zhang. If you like hiding, go ahead. But in a little while, if you still don’t come out, that girl will never return to human form. Think it over—I’ll destroy the negatives soon, and then, heh, she’ll never be human again."
My heart tightened. I shot to my feet, fist raised, wanting to smash through the wall. But I held back—my body hadn’t recovered at all, not even a little, in the Shadow Realm.
If I rushed out now, Cao Wanzhi wouldn’t give me a chance to breathe—he’d knock me down instantly. With a bang, I slammed my angry fist into the floor.
"Not coming out? Ethan Zhang, I’ll give you one hour to think. If you’re still hiding, I’ll destroy the negatives."
Instantly, my mood plummeted. What should I do? If Cao Wanzhi really destroys the negatives, Claire Zhang will never be human again. Negatives... I thought hard. Earlier, after my rebirth, I sensed Cao Wanzhi above me and rushed up—the negatives must be in that room.
Since this is a photo studio, there must be a darkroom. I hurried out of the photo set room and searched everywhere, but I couldn’t find a darkroom. I started calling for the Spirit Snake in my body—only by relying on this Ghost Soul could I find the darkroom and the negatives. I had to find them.
But the Spirit Snake didn’t respond at all. Every Ghost Soul in my body was malfunctioning to some degree—especially after my rebirth. I kept releasing my Specter Web, probing everywhere, even extending it upward, but I couldn’t sense a thing.
What puzzled me even more was that Cao Wanzhi had vanished. Where did he go? My Specter Web couldn’t sense him at all. He said I had one hour. I wanted to enter my instinctual space to check on the four Ghost Souls, but if I lost consciousness for even a second and Cao Wanzhi came in, I’d be finished.
"Go ahead, Ethan Zhang. I’ll keep watch here. If anything happens, I’ll come get you right away." My shadow stood against the wall and spoke to me. I nodded, sat cross-legged on the ground, and slowly lost consciousness, entering my instinctual space.
As soon as I entered, I was stunned—it was the Vermilion Bird. Its belly was swollen like an overinflated balloon, with its head and wings sticking out like decorations. The Vermilion Bird’s tongue hung out, as if it kept hiccuping, and it looked very uncomfortable.
The Spirit Snake was the same—clutching its stomach, lying on the ground, whimpering, tongue flicking constantly. The Resentful Ghost and Tong Ghost seemed to be in even worse shape.
"Be gentle."
Resentful Ghost was carefully handling pieces of black matter—parts of Tong Ghost’s body. Tong Ghost seemed to have fallen apart, with only its head left on the ground, while Resentful Ghost had pieced together the rest up to the chest.
"This piece doesn’t seem right."
"It doesn’t look like you two can help much right now."
I sighed. At that moment, the Spirit Snake raised a limp arm and waved it.
"Not impossible, Ethan Zhang. If I sever my connection with Mason Yu right now, once my power returns, the Vermilion Bird’s flames will be nothing—barely enough to fill the gap between my teeth."
This chapter isn’t finished yet~.~ Click next page to continue reading!
"No way," I immediately retorted, looking at the Spirit Snake.
"Sigh, I can’t help it. Since you won’t break the agreement, I can’t do anything. Right now, the Vermilion Bird’s flames are raging inside me—I’ll need some time to burn them out. I can’t move yet."
I squatted down. The Spirit Snake beckoned to me, and then a blurry image appeared before us, showing the situation outside.
"There’s a place out there with a huge stash of negatives—I can smell it. But finding that girl’s negatives is harder than climbing to heaven. The only way is to make the enemy slip up."
I listened quietly as the Spirit Snake spoke to me.
"You’re born in the Year of the Snake, aren’t you? How can you be so clueless? If you just stay put, that guy will use the negatives to threaten you. Then, at the critical moment, you rush out and snatch the negatives."
I nodded, then immediately shook my head.
"If I go out, he’ll take my picture. I might not even get the negatives—hell, I might lose myself. If he catches me, I’ll be finished."
I knew perfectly well that Cao Wanzhi wouldn’t give me another chance.
"What’s the point of your Ghost Soul, then?"
Suddenly, I remembered another method—using my shadow to create a fake version of myself in an instant. But then I realized it wouldn’t work. Even if I could appear next to Cao Wanzhi for a moment, once he pressed the shutter, no matter where I hid, I’d still be caught in the photo. After all, this is his Shadow Realm.
"Let me teach you a trick—if you can burrow underground, he probably won’t be able to do anything to you."
"Is there an underground in the Shadow Realm?"
I asked.
"In short, the Shadow Realm is ghost energy possessed by the Green Ghost. As the power grows, it’s released and condenses into a physical domain—called the Shadow Realm. Since it’s physical, you can avoid the cameras."
I nodded. There was probably only one chance to do this. I’d already used my Specter Web to observe my surroundings—the Shadow Realm I was in was circular.
Everything above was like the inside of a sphere, a concave surface—definitely cameras. Below, underground, was probably the same. I was inside a spherical domain.
If the underground is solid, I’d only have one chance to avoid being photographed by Cao Wanzhi. The Shadow Realm is his—he could turn every direction into a camera at any time. Then there’d truly be no blind spots.
Having made up my mind, I thanked the Spirit Snake. This method was risky, but worth a try. Only after hearing the shutter click would I attack the unsuspecting Cao Wanzhi and snatch the negatives.
When I came to, my shadow nodded at me—it understood what I wanted to do. Then, with a whoosh, it slipped underground and separated from me completely. A mass of pitch-black stuff moved along the ground, heading out.
Still no sign of Cao Wanzhi. The hour isn’t up yet, but it’s close.
Just then, a surge of powerful ghost energy appeared in the air—it was Cao Wanzhi. He showed up, shouting loudly.
"Ethan Zhang, listen up! I’ve taken out the negatives. You’d better hurry and come out—give up now. Otherwise, when time’s up, I’ll destroy the negatives. As long as that girl isn’t dead, I don’t care if she’s a tiger or whatever—I can still use her."
I waited quietly. My shadow had completely gone underground and cut off contact with me. I’d wondered why Cao Wanzhi didn’t make his Shadow Realm a full 360-degree sphere with no blind spots. I’d already destroyed some of his Ghost Souls, and if he spread his power too thin, he wouldn’t have enough strength left to appear before me and defeat me easily.
"Ethan Zhang, one minute left! It’s almost been an hour. If you don’t come out, I won’t be polite."