Soul Guide

When people are down on their luck, they can choke on cold water. Li Ke felt exactly like that right now.

What the hell is going on?

I ran into Thresh while trying to activate the illustrated guide. Wait, hold on. Did Li Ke and Thresh really just meet by chance?

Li Ke's mouth twitched as he looked at the Zi Qiu Mountain Spirit, whose eyes were shining as he stared at him.

Thresh's words immediately gave Li Ke the answer, clearing up his confusion.

"It was worth the trip. To think there's a soul like yours in Zi Qiu Mountain. You're even more wondrous than the woman carrying a broken sword I met last time. How did you do it?" Thresh tilted his head back, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath, his handsome face filled with a mad joy in his deep pink eyes.

"It smells good, so good. Do you know? Child, my very soul trembles for you." Like a pathological lunatic, Thresh hugged his shoulders with one arm, eyes closed, groaning as he spoke.

"Lost soul, what exactly are you? The song your soul sings is unlike anything I've ever heard. Where did you wander from? You're lost, aren't you? You need help, and I happen to be able to guide you."

Thresh opened his eyes and looked at Li Ke.

The joy in his eyes was now tinged with madness.

The spirits of the Soul Blossom existed because of a single obsession. Thresh's obsession was to seek and torment.

Thresh in the main world was dangerous enough, let alone Thresh in the Soul Blossom world.

Stared at by Thresh, Li Ke stammered, pointing at his mouth with his finger after a long pause, "Abba abba."

"Mute?"

"Hahaha!"

"Lost soul, my child, there's no such thing as a mute soul!" As his voice faded, Thresh vanished from Li Ke's sight. Then, a voice sounded from behind Li Ke.

"Hiss—"

Breath puffed onto Li Ke's neck, causing him to instinctively cover his neck and turn around. As he turned, he saw Thresh bending down, face-to-face with him. Li Ke realized then that Thresh must be nearly three meters tall. They were so close that Li Ke felt a pang of discomfort.

Meeting those pink eyes, Li Ke felt as if he were standing naked before Thresh. It wasn't shame he felt, but an indescribable fear.

Those eyes were like an abyss, devouring Li Ke's soul.

"Don't be afraid, child, this isn't real pain."

[Soul Strength is decreasing!]

[Summoner, please escape quickly!]

Escape your mother!

If I could escape, I would have run away long ago!

Listening to the System's voice, Li Ke cursed it in his heart.

This damn System, was it really looking out for him?

What a joke, did he not want to run?

No, you damn System, tell me how to run then?!

"Let me see what exactly you are."

"Your soul, melodious, pleasant to the ear, you are truly rarer than the trillions of souls I've seen!" Thresh stuck out his tongue, licking his lips, and reached his slender hand towards Li Ke's head.

The hand's speed was neither fast nor slow, but in Li Ke's eyes, time seemed to stand still at this moment.

What Li Ke saw was no longer the purple bamboo forest, but a dark purple lantern that appeared behind Thresh.

His adaptability was truly strong, so strong that Li Ke himself found it outrageous.

Because in this situation, Li Ke still noticed that Thresh's fingernails were very long, and those fingernails were like the claws of a beast.

Isn't this the time I should be thinking about this?

Just as Thresh's hand was about to touch Li Ke's head, a ethereal voice rang out.

"Stop!"

Accompanied by a flash of white light, Li Ke felt his body being pulled by another force, retreating away from Thresh.

But Li Ke couldn't turn back, because Thresh, directly in front of him, had changed his expression, his face turning gloomy and fierce. A pair of eyes appeared on the huge, ancient, purple lantern behind him, and then, from two-thirds of the way up the lantern, it cracked and spread, forming a terrifying mouth.

[Soul strength is decreasing!]

[Soul is being healed!]

[Soul strength is decreasing!]

[Soul is being healed!]

The System's beeping sounds echoed incessantly in his mind. Li Ke raised his head in pain, wanting to roar, but couldn't even let out a cry.

Behind him, white light pulled at his body; in front of him, purple-black light pulled at his body.

"Damn it! It's you again!" Thresh said coldly in front of Li Ke.

"Long time no see, Thresh. Have you been counting how many souls you've collected lately?"

The ethereal voice was very pleasant, with a hint of a smile in its tone.

"Get lost! This guy's soul is mine!"

"That won't do~ Finding direction for lost souls is my mission. Thresh, I won't hand him over to you, no."

"How many more times will you stop me!"

"Of course, until you give up persecuting these lost souls, Thresh." The pleasant voice was unyielding.

Li Ke looked at the arrival time in pain.

[00:10]

[00:9]

[00:8]

Counting down, Li Ke waited for the arrival time to reach zero.

What a joke.

He had initially thought that the Soul Blossom could be entered freely, and that death would have no punishment or consequences. But looking at it now, Li Ke had simply thought too much. Those powerful Demigods were fully capable of trapping him within the Soul Blossom space.

Although he didn't know if he would return directly to the Soul Blossom space after being killed by them, now was clearly not the time for experiments.

Li Ke didn't know who the other "god" who suddenly appeared was, but the white light and the fact that they were opposing Thresh told Li Ke that the deity helping him was a deity from the Daybreak faction.

This was good news.

Because the other party was blocking Thresh for him, otherwise he might have already become a part of Thresh's lantern.

3

2

And the arrival time had reached its final second.

[This arrival has ended!]

[Calculating exploration value.]

[Acquiring cumulative rewards]

"Buzz!"

A strange light suddenly appeared between the soft white light and the deep purple light. In the next instant, Li Ke, who was being pulled by the two forces, directly disappeared from the scene.

"No!"

Accompanied by Thresh's angry voice, the two powerful forces collided. Purple Prison Mountain shook, the earth trembled, and the lake water churned.

"Fox, it's all your fault he escaped! It was so close, just a little bit more and I would have succeeded." Thresh's voice became pained and chaotic.

"Good thing, Thresh. Although I don't know how he did it, he looks really clever. I like him, and I've stopped you again this time~" A melodious voice let out a delicate laugh.

"Then, see you next time, Thresh."

"We'd better never see each other again!" Seeing the white light disappear and her fox tail shrink, Thresh said grimly.

He had no way to deal with the other party. In the entire Soul Blossom.

No one could do anything about her.

Because she was the guide for lost souls, the Spirit of Salvation in this world.

At the same time, she was also his arch-nemesis.

In the Purple Bamboo Forest, Thresh bent down, looking at the small footprints on the ground. He reached out and touched the footprints, his nose twitching.

"I won't let you get away. Child, I will find you."

"So close."

"Just a little bit more."

He plunged his hand heavily into the ground. Thresh raised his hand, scooped up the soil with the footprints, and then put the soil into the lantern at his waist.

Afterward, Thresh disappeared from the Purple Bamboo Forest.