Rachel Lan.
I woke with a start. In the moonlight, Rachel Lan's long hair brushed softly, her bright eyes and delicate features tinged with worry. She gently placed her hand on my cheek. Only then did I notice the violent tremors coming from below, along with all sorts of strange shrieks. It dawned on me that we were already inside the Devouring Woods.
"Just lie down, Ethan. You need to rest. Don't be so reckless next time."
Rachel Lan's voice trembled as she spoke. I reached out, stroking her cheek, and managed a smile.
"Where is he?"
I asked, and Rachel Lan answered.
"After bringing us into the Devouring Woods, he disappeared."
I had a rough idea. The Forsaken always vanish at night, hiding away until daylight returns. I explained this briefly to Rachel.
"Hard to sleep, isn't it? With all this commotion below."
I said. Spending a night in this forest, the howls of wild beasts and their mournful screams never ceased, constantly shaking my nerves. There was no way I could sleep.
"Maybe if we go higher up, the noise will be a little quieter."
I said, struggling to get up. Spirit Snake immediately stretched its body like a rope, coiling around Rachel Lan and me, then slowly pulled us upward.
The sounds below grew fainter. Occasionally, we could still hear massive roars, but as we climbed higher, it was indeed quieter. We reached the treetops and lay among the thick, enormous leaves. Rachel Lan leaned against my chest. We closed our eyes, but I couldn't sleep—some flying monsters still passed by.
"Don't worry, Ethan Zhang. I'll keep watch. Tomorrow I can sleep."
"Thank you."
I glanced at Spirit Snake beside me, who had already closed its eyes and quickly drifted back into sleep.
A faint warmth. I struggled to open my eyes, my whole body aching. Rachel Lan also opened her eyes slightly—it was sunlight. We hadn't basked in such warm sunlight for days. We woke up and crawled out from the leaves, standing on a tree branch. The sun was almost overhead now. Except for the Devouring Woods, all around were black clouds, and the curse energy was closing in.
Only a thin ring of wasteland around the Devouring Woods was still bathed in sunlight. I looked around; Spirit Snake had found a cold, shadowy corner to sleep in. I saw no sign of Agent Seven anywhere, but thinking back to what he said yesterday, he must have met Ethan Zhang before.
"Agent Seven, are you there? If you are, come out."
I shouted, but Agent Seven was nowhere to be seen. I looked at the height of the tree. Rachel Lan beside me was licking her cracked lips.
"Rachel Lan, wait here for me. I'll go down and look for some water. It should be safer up in the tree."
"I'll go with you."
Rachel Lan said. I looked at her, then at the ground. It's safe in the forest during the day, so I nodded.
After a while, we climbed down from the tree and reached the ground. The forest floor was damp. We marked our path with sharp stones, and soon found a small stream. After drinking our fill of the sweet water, we felt much better.
"It's actually quite beautiful here—only at night does it become something else entirely."
Rachel Lan said. I hummed in response. After finding a large leaf and rolling it into a tube to carry some water, we returned to the edge of the forest. From a distance, I saw a figure on the tree trunk. I tensed up, but as I approached, I realized it was Agent Seven.
The sun was now overhead. Agent Seven jumped down from the tree, smiling as he approached us.
"You must have met Entity 016 and Entity 013, right?"
I nodded, then began talking with Agent Seven. He told me he had guided Ethan Zhang, Earth Soul, to the Four Sacred Realm. I briefly described the situation with Entity 013 and Entity 016.
"So they're really no longer in this world."
I looked at Agent Seven in surprise and asked.
"What do you mean?"
Agent Seven pointed to the string of black numbers around his neck and said,
"We Forsaken can sense each other. If one of us with a number dies, we know it. A few days ago, I felt something change with Entity 013 and Entity 016. I thought they were dead, but other Forsaken felt it too. Now I’m sure—they’re not dead, just no longer in this world."
"Could they have followed the Four Guardians to the world of the living?"
I swallowed and looked at Agent Seven.
"Theoretically, that's unlikely. Their existence is tied to the death of their original bodies in the world of the living, which is why they were created here. They can't return to the living world. The only possibility is that there's a space in the living world similar to this one, and that's where they are now."
The only place I could think of was the Underworld. After explaining this to Agent Seven, he laughed.
"Entity 016 is still just as unruly. Anyway, enough about them. Agent Five asked me to find you two. He hopes you can come over."
"For what?"
Agent Seven smiled and nodded, then said,
"Of course, it's entirely up to you. I won't force you. This world is undergoing unimaginable changes right now."
I looked at Agent Seven in confusion. He squinted and smiled.
"Want to see? I can take you there. It's very close."
I followed Agent Seven around the Devouring Woods with Rachel Lan. We gradually reached the far side of the forest, which wasn't very large. By sunset, we arrived at a patch of desert. In the distance, I saw a streak of black.
"Let's go. There's still a bit of time. Once you reach that black area, you'll understand."
"Let's go, Ethan Zhang."
Rachel Lan gave me a push. I was still hesitating about whether to trust this Forsaken.
"A wise decision, Miss. After all, we may have clues for your return to the living world, and we need your help to solve the problems here. It's very tricky for us, so we pose no threat to you."
Gradually, we reached the black area in the desert. In the distance lay a vast lake of curse energy, stretching beyond sight. Even though we were still hundreds of meters away, the air was already thick with nauseating curse energy.
"Miss, this is close enough. It's a safe distance. Come with me, Ethan Zhang."
I nodded and glanced at Rachel Lan. She nodded back at me.
We got closer. The huge lake of curse energy before us—I didn't know how it had moved here. Last time we saw it, it was still on the wasteland.
"The Guardians have already left the Four Sacred Realm. According to our deductions, they were forced out by this curse energy. And such massive curse energy isn't limited to the Four Sacred Realm—there are three other places. The center of the desert is the worst. Two-thirds of the desert has been swallowed."
When we were only twenty meters from the lake, Agent Seven stopped and pointed at it.
"It's as if everything here is coming to an end. Wait here."
Agent Seven carefully approached the lake. With a gurgling sound, bubbles rose from the curse energy. As Agent Seven reached the shore, suddenly a jet of black water surged up, instantly forming a humanoid shape resembling Agent Seven.
With a whoosh, it lunged at Agent Seven. He immediately retreated, raising his fist. Bang—their fists collided. The curse energy figure grinned as if it were smiling, then both retreated. The figure returned to the black lake, striking a pose identical to Agent Seven's.
Agent Seven moved, and the figure on the lake mimicked his every action.
With a sudden rush, the black curse energy figure lunged at Agent Seven again. Agent Seven ducked low and punched its abdomen. Smack—the figure grimaced in pain, clutching its stomach, then dissolved into a jet of black water that evaporated quickly on the hot desert. Bubbles rose again from the water, and Agent Seven immediately retreated.
"This thing appeared when we approached the lake two days ago. It can mimic everything about us. The worst part is, if it senses we want to escape, it attacks. It's strange—even its attacks have grown stronger. Next time, it might be stronger than me."
"What does this have to do with us?"
I asked. Agent Seven pointed to the sky, sweeping his finger in a circle.
"We don't know exactly what's happening, but this curse energy is converging on you. Yesterday, we received a report from Agent Four. After you entered the Devouring Woods today, the curse energy began moving toward this area. I watched for hours this morning. We need to find the connection and resolve this."
"Is it true you have the passage we need?"
I asked, still uncertain. Agent Seven nodded.
"We're not completely sure, but if you help us solve this, we'll do everything we can to help you. The passage should be in Agent One's territory. Agent Five and Agent Six confirmed this long ago."
I finally breathed a sigh of relief, glanced back at Rachel Lan, and gave her an OK gesture.
"Let's hope our cooperation goes smoothly."
Agent Seven reached out his hand to me. I shook it.