Little Bowl widened her eyes, looking around with a novel gaze.
The figures she was based on, Zhu Jiu and Zhu Shi, were humans living in the real world. However, she herself could be said to be a Spiritual Body born in the Post-mortem World. Even though she had deeply grasped the mortal world belonging to the living through Zhu Jiu and Zhu Shi’s mories and even knew about the "hypotheses of lunar formation in astronomy", which even I don’t fully understand, this was still her first ti coming to this realm where the sun rises and sets.
Warm sunlight, fresh air, the city’s hustle and bustle... Things that seem logical to were actually things she was truly experiencing for the first ti.
Seeing her curious and amazed reaction, I felt proud that I could bring her to this place.
At the sa ti, I was also checking on her physical condition.
Because right now I was holding her hand, expressing a gesture that recognized her existence, even if exposed directly as a Dream Avatar to the mortal world could cause so adverse symptoms, she wouldn’t really have any problems as long as she’s by my side. However, it seed that even without my power, she could exist independently. The natural privilege of the Divine Son was working normally in her, which reassured greatly.
As for myself, being essentially fire, with both body and soul mimicking fire, there was no difference between the Post-mortem world and the real world. One mont I’d be in the spiritual realm, and the next in the material domain, my existence remained unwavering. This was not because I was powerful, but because it was simply my nature.
The ability to freely transform into an elent, the "Manifestation", could also be seen as existing naturally in any realm. Perhaps this is a state that allows for habitation across dinsions. Large enough to stir clouds and spit mist; small enough to hide quietly; ascending to fly between the cosmos, hiding to lurk within the waves.
A profound realization dawned in my heart, as I realized once again that compared to a true "Manifestation", I was indeed incomplete.
Then, I too glanced around.
This was a very familiar living room on the fifteenth floor. Even though this was once Changan’s rented apartnt, Changan certainly no longer lived here. He had moved out long before I entered the Post-mortem World, living over at the Luoshan Headquarters. The landlord of this rental house didn’t lease it out to anyone else.
Unless it’s people like Changan and , who are keen on such matters, no one would willingly move into a rental house reportedly haunted and where bizarre murder happenings had actually occurred. It was said that even the neighbor next door was scared and moved out. Thanks to this, it was convenient for to repeatedly infiltrate for investigation and ritual array experintation. The carpet on the living room floor remains rolled up and placed aside, done by my own hands during a previous infiltration.
Though the ritual array was originally destroyed by Zhu Shi herself, I later recreated it perfectly. Of course, unlike Agent Kong who hunts unrelated people for their blood, the blood used in this ritual array cos from myself. By the way, I sotis wonder if past failed experints were possibly due to my blood not counting as "human blood".
About whether my reckless behavior would be discovered by the landlord, the answer was no. Apparently, even the landlord himself wasn’t inclined to enter this apartnt, the floor and furniture were dusty, with cobwebs weaving in the corners of the ceiling, making the environnt far from clean.
Luckily, the sunlight pouring through the floor-to-ceiling windows was enough to sweep away the gloomy and decaying atmosphere brought by the Post-mortem World. Standing on the balcony, one could see the bustling scenes afar. From the daylight, it seed to be around midday.
Warm winds gusted towards .
When I entered the Post-mortem World, it hadn’t reached the solar term of the start of spring; the weather was cold, yet now it seed close to sumr.
I pulled out my phone from the fla. The phone signal and network connection were fully restored, allowing to confirm the current date. I glanced down.
The twenty-fifth year, late May...
It had been over four months since I was last in the real world.
Imdiately, my phone began to buzz continuously with notification sounds, as many missed calls, ssages, and notifications from communication apps lit up the phone’s notification bar. From Mazao, Zhu Shi, Changan, to Mr. Zhu and Lu Chan, not to ntion Weichi and Dong Che, and even Xiaoqiao, believers who sohow found my number, and other familiar or unfamiliar people.
If I hadn’t listed them, I wouldn’t have realized that in the realm of unawareness, I had ford so many connections in this world.
During my "vanishing act", although Mazao and the others had my "Firefly" with them, they must have known that if even the "Firefly" couldn’t contact , the phone was a lost cause, yet they still bombarded my phone. The ssages mostly asked where I was and requested a prompt reply upon my return. They must suspect if I have died; I should hurry back to deliver good news.
I cautiously sensed the "Fireflies" I left scattered across the real world.
Good, they were all detectable. Despite leaving for half a year, not a single "Firefly" was offline. Through these sensory diums, I pinpointed Mazao and Zhu Shi’s locations and identified other familiar people, feeling slightly relieved. After being away for so long, Ming Zhuo might have threatened Mazao, but she seed unhard now.
Details could co later, but turning to Little Bowl, she anxiously looked at and asked, "Has Zhu Jiu’s body shown any signs of death?"
"I don’t know. I didn’t leave a ’Firefly’ with Zhu Jiu." I said, "But we can go check directly now."
Leaving "Fireflies" with familiar people was for their protection, yet "Fireflies" were also a double-edged sword; being akin to my avatars, those possessing them might attract strange incidents. Giving them to others was one thing since they occasionally interacted with Mazao, but leaving them with Zhu Jiu in a pseudo-dead state could amplify negative effects.
With this, I decided to take Little Bowl to the Zhu family’s villa in Saltwater City for a simple check.
Oh right, and I should’ve closed the entrance to the fifteenth floor basent...or could I just leave it like this? This thought flashed in my mind. Glancing at the entrance not far away, I noticed the anomaly.
The entrance had vanished without a trace, leaving only the ritual array drawn with my blood on the ground.
Disappeared? Why? There should only be Little Bowl and here, plus a No. 7 stationed in the Post-mortem World on the other side. Since no unrelated individuals were present, why would the entrance disappear...did Little Bowl revoke the extra powers that allowed herself and No. 7 to enter the fifteenth-floor basent? Or could it be...
Almost simultaneously as I stumbled upon this phenonon, the answer revealed itself.
A mana fluctuation from an uninvited guest thundered into this space.
Enormous, heavy, scorching, formidable, its entrance imdiately emanated a gargantuan aura reminiscent of the blazing sun hanging high in the sky.
From its strength, it was clear that this imposing mana fluctuation belonged to an Impermanence.
And it was an Impermanence I knew!
In my senses, a vast swath of orange fla burst from the depths of space, rushing towards Little Bowl.
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