I curled up in the corner, shivering, cold and hungry. I had no idea what was happening, who these people were, or what they wanted.
A barrage of questions weighed heavily on my heart. Yuna Ji sighed helplessly and once again squatted in front of me, reaching out a hand. I immediately recoiled in terror, curling up even tighter and trembling more violently.
“Ethan Zhang, I really don’t know what to say. Honestly, I’m helpless too. Don’t be afraid—we really are your friends.”
“Who’s friends with that guy?”
Immediately, two voices snapped in unison. Earthly Soul and Redmond, who were deep in discussion, glared at me fiercely.
“You two.”
Yuna Ji stood up and turned away.
There was only one thought in my mind: survive, and return to Rachel Lan’s side.
My heart was pounding. Earthly Soul and Redmond seemed to have reached an agreement, and I was lifted up like a chick.
“What are you going to do?”
“No matter what I say, you won’t understand right now, Ethan Zhang. Just be quiet—otherwise, don’t blame me for being rough.”
They dragged me to the edge of a circular Black Pool. Redmond reached into the pool, and gradually, the once-still surface began to ripple, then swirl, forming a vortex.
They were going to throw me in—that was my first instinct. I started to struggle, swinging my fists at Earthly Soul’s face. But to my shock, my fist passed right through him, as if he were made of air.
With a splash, I was tossed straight into the Black Pool. The swirling vortex pulled me under, and I screamed in terror as the black water rushed into my mouth and throat. A powerful suction gripped my legs, dragging me down bit by bit.
The sensation of drowning was excruciating. I held my breath and tried to swim upward, but no matter what I did, I couldn’t escape the black vortex. My mind went blank—I was going to drown. The icy, bone-chilling water swept over my body, and in agony, I slowly lost consciousness.
In a daze, I came to. I was lying on the ground, staring up at the lights above. I quickly got up—no one was around. I was still beside the Black Pool, my clothes soaking wet. I stared at the pool, remembering that I had just drowned—so how did I get out?
The three of them were gone. I immediately checked my watch—an entire day had passed. Swallowing hard, I rushed to the stone gate I’d entered through. It was tightly shut, impossible to open. I searched everywhere for a hidden mechanism.
But after searching for a long time, I still couldn’t find a way out.
I found a spot far from the Black Pool and slumped down, utterly exhausted. I had no idea what would happen to me. This place didn’t look normal at all. Would I ever make it back?
Cold and hungry—those were the most immediate sensations.
I watched the second hand on my watch tick by, minute after minute. Ten hours passed, and still no one came in. I didn’t even have the strength to get up and search for an exit anymore.
“Am I going to die here?”
I muttered, forcing a smile. At a time like this, I should be working seriously at the shop with Rachel Lan. But that thought felt unbearably heavy in my mind, as if it was nothing but a fantasy.
“What am I supposed to do?”
I said weakly. All I felt inside now was despair.
Gradually, exhaustion overwhelmed me. I closed my eyes and fell asleep on the ground.
With a rumble, a wave of coolness and hunger relief jolted me awake. I was completely drained, my throat burning as if on fire. I needed water, but the only source was the pool.
Slowly, I crawled to the edge of the pool and scooped up some water. Just as I was about to drink, my eyes widened—the black water suddenly moved, twisting like a ribbon and wrapping around my neck. Once again, I was dragged into the pool.
This time, I was completely powerless, unable to move my hands at all. The faint sensation beneath me told me I’d reached the bottom—I knew I was all the way down.
Death—that was the last thought in my mind.
My body felt heavy—I wanted to cry. I didn’t want to die. Rachel Lan was still waiting for me to come back. She must be worried, maybe even crying out for me. I had to get back.
“If you don’t want to die, then climb out yourself.”
A faint voice echoed in my ears. My eyes widened—I was still in the water, but suddenly a wave of warmth surged through my body. Terrified, I looked at myself—only my head remained, and I couldn’t make a sound.
A flood of painful emotions burst forth in my mind.
“What am I even doing? I have to go back.”
With a roar and a surge of black energy, I opened my eyes, staring at the ceiling lights. My body drifted slowly like mist, gradually returning to normal.
“You’ve come to, Ethan Zhang.”
I cried out, suddenly floating over to Redmond. My mind was still muddled, but everything was coming back to me. Yuna Ji patted my shoulder helplessly, and I glanced at Earthly Soul, who smiled.
“What’s going on?”
I asked immediately. Earthly Soul shook his head.
“We don’t really know the specifics either. I was the first to wake up.”
Earthly Soul began explaining. In reality, five months had passed, and he’d woken up three months ago.
That day, by the Thirteen Pillars, the Dark Banquet people suddenly appeared and cast some kind of spell. After that, everything changed—we weren’t ourselves anymore. We became residents of the Dark Place, living ordinary lives without hope, working mechanically every day to earn money and gradually adapting to life here.
At first, Earthly Soul was confused too. What snapped him out of it was seeing me—someone identical to himself—in the street. From then on, he started following and watching me every day.
Little by little, as Earthly Soul kept tracking me, he began to remember his past. Eventually, one day, it all came back to him, and he started searching for the rest of us.
Finally, he found Redmond and Yuna Ji. Thanks to their cleverness, the two had climbed from poverty to become real estate developers.
Earthly Soul immediately made contact with Redmond and Yuna Ji, but things weren’t as simple as he’d hoped. Just like him, they’d lost their original memories and become Dark Residents, unable to recall anything.
No matter what Earthly Soul said, Redmond and Yuna Ji couldn’t remember a thing. In the end, Earthly Soul resorted to force—he nearly killed them, then brought them here.
This was already Earthly Soul’s fourth time clearing out the Dark Ones here. Though exhausted, he patiently explained everything to Redmond and Yuna Ji again and again.
But nothing worked, so Earthly Soul imprisoned them here. One day, driven by hunger and thirst, Yuna Ji approached the Black Pool and fell in.
Earthly Soul was about to rescue Yuna Ji, but discovered her body was dissolving in the pool.
But when Yuna Ji emerged from the pool, she suddenly remembered everything.
“Just like I told you before, our ghost souls have been tampered with. They artificially created souls that completely overwrite the original ghost soul or soul. Rachel Lan and Jing Le are human, so what was overwritten for them was their soul.”
I swallowed hard. I was completely awake now—the cold and hunger had vanished. Because I’m a ghost, those things shouldn’t affect me at all.
“Then let’s get moving. Bring the others in here too.”
But Redmond immediately shook his head, and Yuna Ji spoke up.
“Ethan, do you know why we’re still so cautious, still playing our old roles?”
I shook my head. Earthly Soul looked so serious—it was clear something big was wrong.
“It’s not that we don’t want to bring the others—it’s that we can’t.”
“What do you mean?”
I immediately asked, alert. Earthly Soul gave a bitter smile.
“Unless we bring those black figures over like you did, we can’t touch them at all.”
I swallowed, staring at Earthly Soul in shock.
“Can’t touch them?”
Redmond nodded.
“I tried approaching Yin Choujian, but they were like phantoms in another space. We couldn’t touch them.”
Then it hit me.
“I have the instinct for Coexistence, but why can’t you and Yuna Ji?”
Earthly Soul nodded.
“That’s the strange phenomenon that started after I brought them here. So, Ethan Zhang, it’s up to you. Because you have the instinct for Coexistence, maybe that’s why we can touch you.”
After leaving that black mountain, I walked with Redmond and Yuna Ji. We planned to go back—we had to awaken the others. Thinking back on these months, I realized I’d shared drinks with Xu Fu so many times, something that would’ve been impossible before.
“Those bastards.”
I cursed, glancing at the darkness around me. But what worried me most now was Rachel Lan.
The Dark Ones in this base revive periodically, about once a week. So Earthly Soul has to stay stationed here, clearing them out every week.
“Ethan Zhang, you’d better go find the others first. We’ve got important things to do now.”
“What do you mean?”
I asked. Redmond chuckled, sounding truly sinister.
“The Immortality Society is probably the same. They’ll spend their whole lives as Dark Residents here.”