This time, we shouldn't make a mistake.
I quietly stared at 001. We had been walking through the desert for many days. Though neither of us needed food or water, 001 would sometimes catch something, roast it, and eat it on the spot. No matter how we tried, we could never escape the desert. It stretched endlessly—a sea of sand, but felt more like a maze.
I had considered that maybe this was a strategy devised by the Divine Emperor and his followers to trap us. But thinking carefully, when we left, 001 had directly destroyed Oasis City. In this Yang Realm, even after gathering so much faith, they still couldn't stand against 001.
"Think carefully, how did you reach Oasis City before?"
Although this Yang Realm is constantly shifting, for the Forsaken who've lived here so long, most places should be familiar—so how have they managed to get me lost now?
001 spotted something in the distance, snatched up a snake with a wave, skinned it, and began roasting.
"Do you want some Heavenly Soul? It's fragrant and crispy."
I looked at the snake in 001's hand, charred black as coal, and smiled, shaking my head. My origin instinct has been unreliable lately—sometimes it works, sometimes I can't summon it. Maybe it's this world, maybe it's something else. I just feel that my instinct is growing distant from me.
"I hope it's just my imagination."
These past few days, I've asked 001 in detail. Though she's now completely severed from her Yang Realm self, sometimes when she sleeps, she dreams of that weak version. Her powers let her twist and conjure reality at will—making her the strongest here.
"I really didn't take the wrong path. Honestly, Heavenly Soul, I remember the way I came, but somehow when we try to go back, it's just not right."
I smiled, watching 001's anxious expression. I didn't plan to blame her; instead, I wanted to take things slow. I had to find a way to connect the Forsaken's true bodies in the Yang Realm with those here, because only by empowering them with fresh strength could we hope to face the Wraithlord.
If the Wraithlord is resurrected, he'll become so powerful that we'll be unable to reach him. Once his consciousness awakens, he should have developed even more techniques and powers. If he gathers everything he's researched over the centuries, he will be stronger than ever before. That's what worries me most.
Now, all the forces in the Yang Realm must be trying to figure something out. After all, no one will just sit and wait for doom.
"I feel like you've really changed, Heavenly Soul. You seem weighed down by so many worries."
"Is that so!"
I smiled, shaking my head.
"Maybe I've changed. Maybe I've accepted being human."
001 and I set off again. Aside from desert animals, we found nothing else—nothing at all.
"Maybe we've really fallen under some kind of spell cast by the Divine Emperor and his followers."
As I spoke, 001 just shook her head.
"I don't sense any other powers."
At this moment, the ground beneath us began to move, carrying us swiftly through the desert like an elevator. 001 was controlling everything.
"Do you have any clues about the other Forsaken?"
001 shook her head.
"When we woke up in this world again, nothing had really changed. I still woke up by the junkyard, but even after all these years, I haven't seen any other Forsaken."
What 001 said struck me as odd. No matter what, since 001 woke up, the other Forsaken should have awakened too.
001 also mentioned that this desert is just a tiny part of the whole Yang Realm, not even as big as the snowy mountains Zhang Qingyuan experienced before.
Just then, a vast black city appeared before us. 001 and I stopped. The city in the distance looked disturbingly strange—many buildings and streets were out of alignment.
Chaotic houses piled on top of each other, streets crisscrossing through the sky and earth. Under the starlit night, the city floated with countless objects—tables, chairs, books, sofas, all kinds of debris. Surrounding it was a huge swamp of black mud, exuding a dark miasma.
001 and I quickly entered this bizarre town, stepping onto the barren black mud. I crouched down, pressing my hand to the ground and discovering it was saturated with the energy of death.
"The Land of the Dead."
001 muttered. I looked up and saw a rickety wooden bridge floating over the swamp, leading into the city. Opposite us, a crooked sign read: Land of the Dead.
We stepped onto the floating bridge. Suddenly, 001 waved her hand, and with a thunderous crash, a street cutting through the stacked houses vanished in an instant. Black debris drifted slowly through the air. As we entered the Land of the Dead, we found ourselves on a street that stretched endlessly into the sky. We paused. The city was vast, with no end in sight. Above us, a starry sky shimmered—a strange and wondrous place.
I'd heard about this place from those created by the Emperor God. This must be it.
"So strange. It doesn't seem like a place that worships the Death Faith."
001 commented, and I nodded. This place was built from a massive amount of death energy. 001 and I floated up, searching the enormous city for a while. We arrived at an upside-down room, and everything around us felt deeply unsettling.
"Maybe we should leave, Heavenly Soul. This place just feels unbearable."
I grunted in response, but I still wanted to wait and see if anything would appear here.
"I'm going outside. This place is just too uncomfortable."
I grunted, and 001 immediately flew out to the sunlit desert at the edge. I kept observing everything here—the massive city built from death energy, twisted and strange. The reason I stayed was that somewhere deep inside, a part of me began to ache faintly. I didn't know why; I just felt that if I waited, maybe something would happen.
Time ticked by. Soon, 001 ran back inside, clearly unwilling to be alone.
"Maybe I should just destroy this place and see if anything else appears."
I grunted. The places 001 had destroyed with her power hadn't recovered, and the death energy dissipated instantly when the physical form was broken. 001 floated slowly into the air, raising one hand and extending a finger. Instantly, I teleported into the sky beside her.
"It only takes one finger to wipe out a place like this."
As soon as she finished speaking, a door in a room suddenly swung open. An old man waved at us.
"There are still many people here. What are you doing, Forsaken?"
I quickly grabbed 001's hand and brought him to a room where the first and second floors had swapped places—the balcony that should've been on the second floor was on the first, and the living room and kitchen were upstairs. The old man stood outside on a crooked street. He looked ordinary—just another wandering soul.
"What is going on here?"
I asked. The old man sighed.
"Right now, everyone is asleep, so no one's come out. If I hadn't sensed something strange, I wouldn't have come out either."
I stared at the old man in confusion. He looked at 001 in terror, clearly afraid of the Forsaken.
"This place was thrown into chaos by a Forsaken who came here."
"Wait—how did you two come to this world? You're obviously wandering souls."
I asked, and the old man looked at me in puzzlement.
"Don't people go to hell after death? The place we came to after dying is here."
The old man told us he'd been dead for decades. After dying, he arrived in this city beneath the stars. He'd seen many Forsaken—some were powerful enough to kill them easily, but the souls never truly died. After a while, they'd regain consciousness.
I placed a hand on the old man's shoulder. 001 glared at him, clearly annoyed.
"What, don't you believe I could destroy your city and force everyone out?"
001 shouted, and the old man began knocking on doors one by one. Soon, I saw wandering souls coming out of their homes. They really were wandering souls, but why couldn't I sense them? That puzzled me. Just then, I noticed something wrong with the power inside my body—my primal instinct was completely gone.
"You're dead too, aren't you? So why can you be with the Forsaken?"
The old man brought a crowd of wandering souls over and asked me. 001 looked puzzled. Suddenly, I realized my body had fundamentally changed—my primal instinct had vanished, and I had become just like these wandering souls. I didn't know what had happened, but I knew I could no longer use my Origin's power.
The wandering souls began to chatter about the Forsaken numbered 003 who arrived here over thirty years ago. Once he came, this place became what it is now. Many souls had lived here for decades, some even for a century.
"None of you have ever seen this place before?"
I asked. 001 shook her head.
"I've only lived here for over ten years. How could I know?"
I found it more and more unbelievable. But right now, the most urgent thing is: why has my body changed like this? My primal instinct has vanished.