"Let's go. Now."
I muttered, but at that moment, the Resentful Ghost and Mourner Ghost cast a helpless glance at me.
"You... well, just take care of yourself. Especially that one below—maybe you'll be the one who finally sets him free."
I gave a quiet hum. The Resentful Ghost tugged at the Mourner Ghost, and the two ghost souls quickly faded away. I smiled, feeling as if a heavy weight had been lifted from me. It wasn’t an illusion—it was real.
In the end, only the Deathbane Ghost, the Spirit Snake, and Ruby remained, still lingering.
"What's wrong with you three?"
"When you go back to look again, we can help you one last time. If you’re in danger, we’ll wake you up."
I nodded. At that moment, the four of us returned to the room where the Wraithlord resided. The Wraithlord seemed tired and was already lying on the bed, fast asleep. I quietly sat at the desk, gazing at the closed Blank Desire Tome.
"Just now you said it’s because I’m somewhat similar to the Wraithlord, so I can see the contents of this book. Maybe that’s true. After all, many things in this world aren’t coincidences, but inevitabilities."
I stared quietly at the book, while the three behind me watched in silence. In this moment, all my worries were gone. Lately, the things I’ve been doing feel very different from everything before.
It's true—I've been completely changed by Zhang Qingyuan. He's even influenced the way I think. Everything I do now is nothing like before.
The Deathbane Ghost laughed and said.
Zhang Qingyuan's death hit you hard. That's why you've started caring about helping others or worrying about them—it's not like you at all. I noticed long ago: you're better suited to solitude, quietly pursuing your own path, not dragging others along.
I acknowledged quietly. The Deathbane Ghost had laid it out clearly. In this moment, all the things I'd been holding onto seemed to be fading away. I knew I was close to understanding the first page—I'd finally grasped something essential. Next would be the third attempt. Once I could use my power, I'd understand instantly what the first page contained and what it was for. Everything recorded in it had happened in the real world—I'm sure of that now.
I glanced again at the three behind me, then turned to open the book. Instantly, the contents of the first page appeared—and I lost consciousness again.
Drip drip drip.
It's a rainy day. As soon as I came to, I saw men and women on the street, dressed in long robes and cheongsams, hurrying to shelter under the eaves. I stared in surprise at the people beside me—I was dressed like them, in a shirt and loose trousers, barefoot, with a row of rickshaws before me.
I quickly realized this was the modern world. I watched the crowd on the street. The sudden rain had caught many off guard, and business was booming—people came to sit in the rickshaws, and some drivers put on raincoats and started pulling. But I didn't move; I just sat quietly on the street.
A customer called out to me, but I didn’t respond. I kept sitting there, not even knowing where I was or why I'd appeared in this place. I watched the rain intensify, turning much of the street into small rivers.
Rain kept pouring down, and I slipped into memories.
Since I first gained consciousness, I was always different from the other two. Zhang Qingyuan loved people, while Heavenly Soul was more of an observer—never acting, never interested in people. But I was different; I disliked crowds. To me, humans were strange, so weak they needed to gather together to accomplish anything. But in my view, weakness remains weakness, no matter how many gather—there’s no way to become strong.
So strictly speaking, I kind of hated humans—not out of anger or resentment, just pure dislike. Later, my soul was extracted, and my mind grew unstable from the torment of the Ghost Mound people.
Back then, I was still human. Because I was weak, I could only let others control me. Fear, anxiety, restlessness, sadness, anger—these human emotions tormented me constantly. I lost my mind, went mad, terrified of the Ghost Mound people.
These are the most fragile things about being human—they hold you back. I feared the Ghost Mound people; they treated me like a disobedient animal. I suffered, forced to do things against my will.
Even then, I still had human consciousness—something I couldn’t shake. So I was weak, letting the Ghost Mound people manipulate me, unable to fight back. Again and again, I begged Zhang Qingyuan for help, hoping he could save me. But in the end, I realized I could only rely on myself—I couldn’t say anything to Zhang Qingyuan.
Gradually, as they kept experimenting on me, all my human emotions were stripped away. Maybe they never understood what I was. They just wanted a new ghost to command—no feelings, no consciousness, that was best for them.
The result was that I became driven by instinct. When all my human feelings were gone, I stopped fearing, stopped grieving, stopped being angry. I gained power and threw Ghost Mound Mountain into chaos. But even now, I’m still searching for the Ghost Mound people—I want to crush them like ants, one by one.
But the Ghost Mound people have vanished—I don’t know where they went. Maybe they’re hiding, afraid of me. Most of them know I’ll hunt them down and destroy them.
Thinking of this, I clenched my fist. Black lightning crackled in my hand, and a surge of power rushed through me. I could feel it—strength was welling up from deep inside.
I smiled faintly. Everything I've been through has been about shedding the shackles of being human. I did it before—I gained great power. But unknowingly, under Zhang Qingyuan's influence, I put those shackles back on. My strength has grown too slowly lately. I have to pull myself together, or I won't be able to face Zhang Qingyuan. His power is now beyond imagination. I've fought the Wraithlord's human soul—I know Zhang Qingyuan's strength is at least equal, if not greater.
Thinking of The Forsaken, I smiled coldly. Saving them is Zhang Qingyuan's kind of thing—guiding them isn't my job. They could be my soldiers, but I can't wait for that. I just need to become strong enough to crush everything. Nothing else matters. All these human things mean nothing to me.
Crackling sounds filled the air. Suddenly, with a thought, I was in the sky, laughing wildly. My power had returned—this was the real me. The obstacles in my body were gone. The ghosts that held me back belonged to Zhang Qingyuan. I went to the lake where we were born to protect them, to keep them alive inside me, waiting for Zhang Qingyuan to return.
"None of this has anything to do with me anymore."
My body returned to normal, power flooding out and growing stronger. I could sense everything nearby—a small county town, but its outskirts were already thick with black, filthy energy. I closed my eyes, gradually feeling it all. This filth wasn't created by anyone; it formed naturally.
I grew more and more excited—a voice in my head told me I understood everything now.
Eyes wide with excitement, I sensed everything around me. The world spun faster and faster—the little county town cycled through day and night, the filth outside intensifying.
Gunfire erupted—war had begun. People in the town started fleeing. In the crossfire, the town was half-destroyed. The invaders burned, killed, and looted, and the filth began to gather.
I soon saw the true form of the filth—misfortune. What I thought of most was Redmond; his power comes from this filth, this thing called misfortune.
This isn't like a curse—it's something that forms naturally. It brings signs of destruction to a person or a place. That's misfortune. I can't use this power, but now I see its essence clearly.
The scene shifted—the ground collapsed, and black tendrils stretched out everywhere. This too is part of nature. After a place is destroyed by misfortune, the filth is devoured and swallowed up by natural forces.
Dazed, I snapped awake. The three behind me were gone. I smiled, looking at the page before me—I could turn it now. I flipped to the second page, and laughter echoed behind me.
"That was fast. You understood the first page already?"
My eyes turned cold as I looked back.
"Thanks to you, Wraithlord."