Zhang Anle commented, "Not a bad flavor."
The mouth of the black mimic stretched wide, swallowing the Earthly Soul portion meant for Zhang Anle. He began to chew, and gradually, an excited expression appeared on his face.
"Pretty good. What exactly is this flavor? Is this what being human tastes like?"
"You two should hurry up. They’ll probably bring the others back soon."
Zhang Anle spoke, and the white mimic floated over, eyeing the Heavenly Soul. Its mouth split open, head swelling, and with a single gulp, it swallowed the Heavenly Soul whole—without chewing.
"Whether it has a taste or not doesn’t matter. As long as eating it is useful to us, that’s all that matters."
The white mimic spoke, and all eyes turned to the gray mimic—Ash—who still hadn’t moved, staring at the remaining Human Soul.
"What’s wrong? Come eat, Ash."
The black mimic called out, but Ash still didn’t move. In his hollow eyes, there seemed to be a trace of hesitation.
"Is there a problem?"
Zhang Anle asked, and the gray humanoid shook his head, pointing at the Human Soul.
"If I eat this thing, can I really become human?"
After a while, piles of severed limbs and body parts had accumulated—hands, feet, heads, and torsos sorted into four heaps. Cao Wanzhi held the camera, pulled the shutter, and four photos appeared in the air. Julian Chu happily accepted the photos.
Ethan Zhang spoke, and the gray humanoid glanced over, though he still seemed reluctant.
At this moment, Zhang Anle stood up.
The black humanoid said impatiently. At last, the gray humanoid floated over, opened his mouth, stared at the Human Soul before him, and finally swallowed it whole.
Zhang Anle shook his head.
"What is this?"
Zhang Anle laughed and waved his hand. Behind him, Wei Chengwu casually tossed the people into the center of the formation, while Julian Chu dragged out those who had already become corpses.
Do you feel anything, Ash?
The white humanoid asked.
"I hate it. This feeling, doing this kind of thing."
Ethan Zhang kept separating the Threefold Souls from the people. The drifting, multicolored lights kept rising. The three humanoids tried to touch them, but couldn’t.
"Those are Human Passions and Desires—the Seven Emotions and Six Drives. You can see them, but you can’t touch them. Without that, you can’t truly gain them."
The three humanoids desperately devoured the Threefold Souls. Zhu Zigui dragged each dead person aside, dismembering the corpses with a knife. Blood stained the ground, soaking into the earth.
"What are you planning to do, dismembering people like that?"
Cao Wanzhi watched in disgust, but Zhu Zigui just laughed.
"Back when I was alive, I was starving to death. All I could do was kill people, then dismember and chop them up like this, cook and eat them. Maybe it’s a habit—I’m not sure. Carrying them one by one is too much trouble. Wanzhi, let me borrow your Ghost Domain for now to store these things. When I become a Blue Wraith, I’ll ask you for help again."
Cao Wanzhi looked disgusted, while Wei Chengwu laughed.
"Fine."
With that, Cao Wanzhi took out a large camera.
"Once you’re done dismembering, I’ll just store the corpses inside the photos. You keep them, and when you become a Blue Wraith, I’ll release them for you."
After a while, piles of severed limbs and body parts had accumulated—hands, feet, heads, and torsos sorted into four heaps. Cao Wanzhi held the camera, pulled the shutter, and four photos appeared in the air. Zhu Zigui happily accepted the photos.
"Enough. Don’t go out and catch any more people."
At this moment, Ethan Zhang stood up.
"What’s wrong, Taoist? It’s still early."
Ethan Zhang shook his head.
"I’ve killed ninety-nine lives today—my limit. If I go any further, the Divine Law will punish me."
Wei Chengwu laughed, lifting his head to look at the sky.
"Does that thing really exist—the so-called Divine Law?"
Ethan Zhang didn’t answer, swinging his ceremonial whisk. The three humanoids, as if addicted, stared at the center of the formation.
It was dusk, the sun not yet set. At that moment, Wei Chengwu quickly turned, half-kneeling on the ground.
"Lord Mason Payne, why have you come in person?"
Mason Payne yawned and walked over slowly.
"Looks like things are going smoothly."
The three humanoids approached Mason Payne, staring intently at him.
"What’s wrong, gentlemen? Is something bothering you?"
"Can your method really make us human?"
The black humanoid asked. Mason Payne looked at them in confusion, then smiled.
"What do you mean? Is something changing inside you?"
"At first, I did feel something different. But gradually, no matter how much I ate, that feeling was gone."
The white humanoid said. Mason Payne walked over, covering his nose as he looked at the blood-soaked ground.
"Next time you need to dismember something, go deeper into the forest. The city’s already a mess—too many people have gone missing in one day."
At that moment, Mason Payne noticed the gray humanoid, who seemed dazed and not quite right.
"What’s wrong?"
"I saw a lot of people’s stories."
In an instant, Mason Payne’s eyes widened. The black and white humanoids quickly grabbed the gray one.
"What’s going on, Little Gray?"
The gray humanoid began to speak, describing the souls he had consumed today—their births, experiences, and what they were doing before death, one by one.
"I thought it was something big. Don’t worry about such trivial things."
But Mason Payne and Ethan Zhang both looked puzzled, as did Zhu Zigui and Cao Wanzhi nearby.
"That’s actually a big deal."
Zhu Zigui said.
"Normally, to probe someone else’s memories, you’d need special techniques. But the caster’s mental strength must be extremely tough, or something will go wrong. For ghosts, it’s much simpler. Any mid-level or higher Blue Wraith can use the Specter Web to check memories. But here, even Cao Wanzhi doesn’t have that ability."
"Interesting."
Mason Payne said, and the gray humanoid looked at him.
"I really hate this way of doing things—devouring other people’s lives."
"Remember this, all three of you: human history is built on the countless lives piled up over time. Without sacrifice, there’s no progress. The weak are always destined to be enslaved by the strong."
By nightfall, Rufina Howard had returned. She happily shared her experiences with Mason Payne, who hadn’t appeared during the battle, so she still trusted him.
"But what about you three? Why are you suddenly with him?"
Rufina Howard looked at the three humanoids in confusion, but none of them answered.
"Hmph, fine if you won’t talk. You three must be hiding something from me."
At that moment, the black humanoid approached Rufina Howard, scrutinizing her with a wide grin. Rufina Howard felt a chill, and Mason Payne quickly pulled the black humanoid away.
"You three should head out and keep experiencing human life. Isn’t that better?"
The three humanoids returned to the nighttime streets. The white and black ones led the gray one to a secluded spot outside the city.
"That guy’s words can’t be trusted!"
The white humanoid said, and the other two nodded.
"He wants to use us."
The gray humanoid said. At that moment, all three felt something strange.
"Don’t be nervous. I’m just passing by. I didn’t mean to interrupt your conversation."
In the moonlight stood a ghost—Ray Lin.
"Are you with them...?"
"I’m not one of them. I’m only responsible for quickly bringing you here."
Before the black humanoid could speak, Ray Lin interrupted.
"So what do you want to do?"
The gray humanoid saw that Ray Lin had no hostility and asked.
"Becoming human sounds absurd. To be human, you have to endure the pain of reincarnation. But you three aren’t anything yet—only thoughts. You can’t become human without emotion. So my suggestion: take that girl away from Mason Payne, and at least go back and talk things out with John Chou."
"She won’t go with us."
The black humanoid said. Ray Lin laughed and nodded.
"Indeed, human beliefs don’t change easily—maybe not until death. So you three should go find John Chou."
"Your suggestion isn’t bad, but what exactly are you planning to do?"
The white humanoid asked.
"I won’t do anything. It’s just that I owe that girl a favor from the past."
Ray Lin said, turning away and waving as he left.
The three humanoids left the city overnight.
"Mason Payne is exactly the absolute evil John Chou spoke of, isn’t he?"
The gray humanoid said, and the other two nodded.
"No matter how untrustworthy John Chou may be, he’s still more reliable than that guy."
The white humanoid said, and the three disappeared into the ground.
As the moon set in the west, they returned to where John Chou was.
"What’s wrong? Did Mason Payne say something to you three?"
"How did you know?"
The gray humanoid asked in surprise, and John Chou stood up.
"Because you three are clumsy—after all, you’re not human. Just having thoughts isn’t enough to handle everything. Everything about people is a world built on lies! Tell me exactly what he said to you—who’s trustworthy, who’s not—you’ve already made up your minds, haven’t you?"