The lake was eerily still, its surface clear and pristine, not a single ripple disturbing the oppressive silence. Yet a chill breeze brushed past my ear. For days, I’d been watching the Human Soul of the Wraithlord. He hadn’t stepped out of the Lake of Desire, spending each day either sleeping or staring obsessively at the Blank Desire Tome.
During this time, I tried again and again to speak with the Wraithlord, hoping to lure him out and provoke a fight. I knew I was no match for him, but in those battles, I sensed a terrifying depth—a mastery of power and technique that felt almost inhuman, as if the Wraithlord was born to wield such force. The frustration gnawed at me, mingling with a grudging awe.
I had tried several times to provoke the Wraithlord with my powers, hoping to anger him, but he remained unmoved, fixated on the book in his hands. He completely ignored me. I had already asked the Desire Ghost to contact Lady Meng outside, asking her to pass a message to Isabelle Frost and to tell John Chou and the others that I didn’t plan to return for now.
I intended to stay here and truly strengthen my powers. Once I felt ready, I would return. Originally, I came here seeking the Wraithlord to find out what anomaly had occurred, since things on Rachel Lan’s side seemed troublesome. But now, the Wraithlord had returned to normal.
"How can I get this guy to come out and fight me?"
I muttered bitterly, a helpless smile twisting my lips as I sank down onto the water’s surface, the isolation pressing in around me.
Just then, the Wraithlord stirred, waking abruptly. He slid off the bed and settled before the table, opening the Blank Desire Tome with ritualistic obsession. I let myself sink beneath the water, emerging silently behind him, the tension thickening the air.
"Isn’t it boring to sit here all day reading that stuff? Want to go out and do something? Like, maybe fight me?"
I spoke, but the Wraithlord paid me no attention.
"Or have you already forgotten how to fight?"
At that moment, the Wraithlord lifted his head, glanced at me, and then shook his head.
"What's the point of fighting you? Reading what's in this book is far more interesting."
I stared in astonishment, my eyes wide, watching the Wraithlord gaze at the book with a look of rapt, almost feverish fascination, as if possessed.
"There's nothing on those pages, is there?"
I asked, but the Wraithlord just shook his head.
"There’s a world within these pages—a multitude you’ll never see," he replied, his voice distant, almost reverent.
Growing more suspicious, I focused on the pages for a long while, but still saw nothing but blank paper. I smiled bitterly, wondering if something was wrong with the Wraithlord’s mind.
After quietly staying beside the Wraithlord for a while, I asked him another question.
"By the way, do you know anything about instinct?"
The Wraithlord glanced at me irritably.
"Instinct? Isn’t that what those beings from the Unreal are?"
The Wraithlord suddenly stood up, his eyes wide as he stared at me.
As my left hand began to recover, I sat on the ground, gritting my teeth, pressing hard against my wrist. The pain crashed over me in waves, leaving me dazed and lost. Sweat poured from my brow, each drop a testament to the inexplicable agony consuming my body.
Gradually, a creeping horror set in: my wrist had gone completely numb, and the strange deterioration in my body was only getting worse.
"Fine, I get it, just stop bothering me. Your body has already begun to be eroded by the Law of Karma. It will first consume your body from within, and then devour your consciousness. When that happens, you'll be dead."
Without warning, the Wraithlord plunged a hand into my body. My eyes flew wide in shock as the sound of chains rattled through the air. A black chain was wrenched from within me, dragging out a shadowy humanoid figure—eyeless, with only a white mouth, greedily chewing on something. Yet my left hand remained numb, dead to sensation.
"Karma is something that exists in everything, no matter what it is. So as long as you haven’t crossed the boundary of karma, the Law of Karma will keep appearing, consuming the parts within you. Just now, your left hand was already half devoured."
Rage twisted my face as I stared at the eyeless, black humanoid chained by the neck, writhing on the lake’s surface. Its guttural cries echoed, desperate, as if longing to crawl back inside me.