Everyone in the room wore a grave expression, their eyes fixed on the chunk of Wraithlord Flesh on the table. My feelings were complicated—they hadn’t told me anything about Past Ethan Justice, keeping it all hidden from me. I had known none of this before.
"No matter how you look at it, this thing is far too dangerous."
Lady Meng spoke with a heavy tone, but at that moment, I felt a sense of aversion to her words. If what Past Ethan Justice and Future Ethan Zhang said was true, then the Wraithlord Flesh was absolutely necessary.
At this moment, Isabelle Frost walked over to the table and placed a hand on the dark, stone-like chunk of Wraithlord Flesh. After feeling it for a while, she looked somewhat distressed at Past Ethan Justice, who stood nearby.
"If you bring this thing back to the proper timeline, it will cause enormous trouble. It doesn’t belong in this world at all—not just because of the Wraithlord’s power, but because it’s lingered in the Shattered Unreal Realm for far too long."
"There’s no other way. Only the Wraithlord Flesh possesses the power of immortality—after all, he was the first human created by Mother Goddess Nuwa and was given immense strength. Only by using this flesh as a foundation can we construct a vessel for Past Ethan Justice’s body. Otherwise, Past Ethan Justice won’t be able to return to this world. After his death, the Buddhist and Daoist factions used their powers to preserve his spirit, establishing a spiritual link and granting him tremendous power. But the place he’s in now, as far as I know, is anything but easy. That place called the Illusory Realm is filled with countless powerful beasts."
Future Ethan Zhang spoke as I listened in astonishment, finally knowing the whereabouts of Past Ethan Justice. My heart surged with joy—if I followed the instructions of Past Ethan Justice and Future Ethan Zhang, I could see Past Ethan Justice again.
But the atmosphere in the room grew heavier. Lady Meng and Isabelle Frost clearly didn’t want the two Ethan Justices to bring the Wraithlord Flesh into my proper timeline. I drifted beside Lady Meng, gesturing at her—no one could see me. The sensation was strange. I passed through the wall and returned to my bedroom; sure enough, my body was still asleep on the bed.
The feeling now was bizarre—I couldn’t sense anything, no fatigue at all. My body felt light and unburdened—it was wonderful. It wasn’t like an out-of-body experience, where the soul feels cold and grows more exhausted the longer it’s separated.
"Isn’t there any other way? Like finding a zombie and using its flesh to make Past Ethan Justice’s body?"
As Isabelle Frost spoke, I felt a wave of disgust—using something as repulsive as a zombie was physically unacceptable to me. At that moment, Past Ethan Justice stood up and slapped his forehead.
"Maybe it could work!"
I grew anxious, but soon Future Ethan Zhang spoke coldly.
"That’s impossible. Past Ethan Justice possesses a soul, but a corpse has none. The Immortality Society once developed Corpse Ghosts by stuffing souls into corpses, but such beings can’t be called human. Things would only get more complicated. Mother Goddess Nuwa let Past Ethan Justice survive precisely so someone could stop the Wraithlord when he resurrects."
I let out a sigh of relief, and Past Ethan Justice nodded.
"Now that you mention it, that’s true. Doing so would affect Past Ethan Justice’s current powers."
"In any case, I don’t agree. If you really bring the Wraithlord Flesh into the proper timeline, it’ll only cause bigger trouble. We’ve just resolved a potential crisis—doing this would be putting the cart before the horse."
I grew a little irritated and made a face at Lady Meng, but as expected, they couldn’t see me. Suddenly, I noticed Future Ethan Zhang’s lips twitching as if he was about to smile. Startled, I went up to him and waved my hand in front of his eyes—no reaction at all.
"Was it just my imagination?"
Past Ethan Justice picked up the chunk of Wraithlord Flesh, weighed it in his hand for a moment, and then it was wrapped in a white glow and disappeared.
"No matter what you think, the decision is already made."
"What do you mean, the decision is made?"
Isabelle Frost glared unhappily at Past Ethan Justice, clearly dissatisfied with his explanation.
"Miss Isabelle, I don’t think you need to worry so much. Every world has its own people to decide their future. What we need to focus on is our own world. No matter how much you interfere, perhaps it can’t outweigh a single word: emotion."
Seeing Past Ethan Justice’s smile, I felt relieved, but Isabelle Frost only shook her head.
"It’s exactly because we know what will happen that we want to do our best to let that world develop normally, instead of watching you bring the root of the problem there. Once that root grows, it’ll be a disaster, and that world will end. No one wants to see that happen—even if it’s not our timeline, I can’t just watch that world be destroyed. Especially not by John Chou."
I watched Isabelle Frost quietly. Her concern was genuine, and she seemed to have an instinctive hostility toward John Chou. But that was only on the surface; deep down, she was hiding something. In this world, John Chou was already dead, but in that other world, he was still alive.
"This pointless argument won’t be resolved even by tomorrow morning. Enough talk—I’ve already decided. If you try to stop me, I won’t hold back."
Future Ethan Zhang said coldly. Isabelle Frost and Lady Meng looked at him, while Past Ethan Justice quickly stepped between them, raising his hands and smiling.
"There’s no need to argue so much. If something goes wrong, we’ll deal with it then. After all, everything in our world is different from theirs. Their future should be decided by their own people. Besides, I don’t want to see that girl spend her life alone."
I broke into a joyful smile. At that moment, Past Ethan Justice seemed to be looking at me, startling me, but he quickly looked away. I glanced behind me—nothing there. I walked up to Past Ethan Justice and waved my hand in front of his eyes.
The argument finally ended. Isabelle Frost left, and Lady Meng got up, opened the door behind her, and disappeared somewhere. I noticed both Ethan Justices looking at me. Just as I wondered why, they suddenly walked over, grabbed my arm, and pulled me back into the room.
"You can see me?"
I spoke, and Future Ethan Zhang’s lips curled into a faint smile.
"I didn’t expect you’d actually..."
Embarrassment washed over me. I quickly raised my hands, signaling them to stop talking. I’d thought they couldn’t see me, so I’d done plenty of awkward things—especially making faces and such. Now I just felt deeply ashamed, though my body showed no reaction.
"What on earth is going on?"
I asked.
"Realm. When you get back, ask John Chou—he knows exactly what 'realm' means. That’s all you need to know. Are you satisfied now?"
I nodded, looking at Future Ethan Zhang. He seemed genuinely happy—his face, usually cold and rigid, now softened, almost eerily so.
"By the way, how do I get back?"
Suddenly, as I tried to lie back into my body, I realized I couldn’t return to it.
"Did you think it was an out-of-body experience? Just lying back down won’t return you."
I tried all sorts of methods in surprise, but found I couldn’t get back into my body.
"What should I do?"
"If you can’t go back, something truly horrifying will happen—you’ll be trapped in endless sleep, never waking again."
Past Ethan Justice said this, and I stared at him in shock. A wave of dread rose from deep within me, but Future Ethan Zhang quickly shook his head and sighed helplessly.
"Stop scaring her. It’s fine—when you’ve slept enough and wake up, your consciousness will naturally return."
I looked at Past Ethan Justice with resentment. He rubbed the back of his head and laughed heartily.
Then I sat at the edge of the bed, fuming. There were still so many things I wanted to ask Past Ethan Justice and Future Ethan Zhang, especially about the Illusory Realm.
"If you want to ask, go ahead!"
I nodded, thanked them, and began to speak.
"What exactly is the Illusory Realm?"
Past Ethan Justice rested his chin on his hand, thought for a moment, and then replied.
"To put it simply, it’s the world where all the strange creatures imagined by people throughout history exist—like the Ten Ancient Fiends, the beasts from the Classic of Mountains and Seas, and many others recorded in old texts, as well as those still lingering in people’s memories today."
I swallowed and quickly asked another question.
"How do you enter it?"
"For the details, ask Mona Ouyang—he might know. We haven’t found any way to enter the Illusory Realm ourselves, except that Past Ethan Justice managed to go in. But I’m afraid something went wrong here."
Future Ethan Zhang spoke, tapping his head.
"Did he turn stupid?"
I blinked, and Past Ethan Justice smiled.
"In a sense, yes. You nearly got eaten by a beast from the Illusory Realm when things went wrong, but when we couldn’t reach you, Past Ethan Justice saved you and infused your body with the power of Buddhist and Daoist fusion. It’s just that now, he seems to have forgotten you."
I started to feel uneasy, but soon I smiled.
"As long as I’m alive, that’s all that matters. By the way, how do I awaken the dead Yin side in my body?"
"Like I said, you need to rest for a few days and let your body fully recover. If you know that, then get some good rest tomorrow."