Lost Things

The chunks of flesh quickly withered. A black-and-red tentacle extended from them, followed by an extremely bizarre mass of flesh. On its mucus-covered surface, more than a dozen eyes opened at once.

The moment those eyes opened, Wang Yuan's expression changed. It wasn't because the newborn monster's dozen eyes were fixed on him in unison, but because something appeared at that very moment, and the pathogens that formed the monster's essential components slowly slipped out of Wang Yuan's control.

The monster's dozen eyes darted around as if observing the world. Then it tore apart the rotting flesh around it, revealing its complete form to everyone.

The place where its head should have been was a mass of misshapen flesh, with more than a dozen eyes constantly looking around. Below its head was a hunched humanoid body, with two black-and-red tentacles growing from its back. Its feet, however, were hooves.

The monster had no skin, resembling a skinned frog. Its body was black and red. It struggled out of the rotting flesh and took a step forward, then fell into the withered remains.

After struggling for a moment, the monster stood up again. It paused, as if thinking about something, then leaped out of the mass of rotting flesh and walked toward Wang Yuan.

A sense of danger radiated from the monster. For the first time, Wang Yuan felt directly threatened. Until now, his crises had come from within himself, such as not having enough White Qi. He had rarely encountered anything else he could even observe, let alone anything that showed signs of being a threat.

Wang Yuan didn't panic. The emotions he had inherited from Jacques still had some effect, and his temperament had gained a hint of composure in the face of danger. He drifted backward, observing the other creature's behavior. It didn't seem like a newborn life-form. It had its own way of acting and was learning about this world quickly.

"Gulu gulu gulu!" The mass of flesh where its head should have been split open with numerous holes, producing a strange series of tones that sounded like a language. Then the holes shifted, and it made another sound, one with a faint rhythm: "Kaskakasos?"

This feeling... Wang Yuan carefully recalled how the pathogens that made up the monster had slipped out of his control. Was it something like a higher consciousness descending?

"Possession?" Wang Yuan suddenly thought of the word. The monster's bizarre behavior seemed to make sense that way. But no matter how he looked at it, the creature wasn't human. The monster anxiously switched to another language, mixing in some Kente speech. Unfortunately, Wang Yuan had only just begun learning it and couldn't understand what it was trying to say.

Does it want to communicate? Wang Yuan watched the creature, but before he could do anything, it grew impatient when it realized they couldn't communicate and charged at him. It seemed desperate to obtain something.

"I'd like to know more about you too, but it looks like we can't communicate for now." Wang Yuan had no choice but to consider another way to get the information.

The Interference Force surged out, disrupting the creature's advance. Several small animals, infected by pathogens and showing signs of skin rot, darted out from the side.

Although his main goal this time was to test the Black Crow Pathogen, Wang Yuan had grown more cautious. He had naturally considered the possibility that the Kexi People's guards would prove useless, so he had infected these small creatures again. Using his control over the pathogens, along with information he had input into their consciousnesses, he forcibly controlled them.

Stimulated by the pathogens, the animals rushed madly at the strange creature and bit into it. The tentacles behind the monster whipped through the air, seizing the small animals as if trying to extract something from them.

Unfortunately, the animals had been infected with Wang Yuan's pathogens, leaving them with barely any self-awareness. Wang Yuan doubted the creature could extract anything from them. Sure enough, it angrily flung the animals aside, then went still, its dozen eyes fixed on Wang Yuan, as if trying to commit his appearance to memory.

Then the monster's body rapidly collapsed, and Soul Qi, accompanied by a large amount of Vitality Qi, spilled from its corpse.

Wang Yuan thought for a moment and waited a while longer. Only when the Soul Qi was close to disintegrating did he approach and absorb it. A flood of fragmented memories and emotions poured into his Soul Body.

The Soul Qi had nearly vanished, and the memories within it were badly damaged. Wang Yuan didn't learn much—not even the creature's language. The only thing that remained relatively clear was its final act.

Through some means, the monster's soul had touched something deep within Wang Yuan's soul and consciousness. Then its main soul followed whatever lay deep in his consciousness, abandoning a large amount of Soul Qi, and vanished from this world.

"So it really was a soul transmigration? Or was that creature doing it deliberately?" Wang Yuan was extremely excited. In fact, before this, his greatest fear had been that he would spend his entire life trapped in this so-called low-magic world.

If that happened, even if Wang Yuan controlled the entire world, his desire to dominate would remain unsatisfied. He already knew there were many worlds, and if there were low-magic ones, then naturally there must also be mid-magic and high-magic worlds. How could he allow himself to remain confined to one corner?

He hadn't expected to encounter a visitor from beyond this world today, let alone learn how that creature had crossed between worlds. Wang Yuan eagerly followed the monster's method, sensing the depths of his Soul Body, trying to feel what lay within.

After a long while, Wang Yuan opened his eyes. Everything around him seemed to have settled. Most of the Kente bandits who had attacked the Kexi People's village were dead or wounded, and only a few had escaped. Two of the Kente People had been captured alive.

Sen watched the captured Kente People with great excitement. He had done it. He had seized his chance, capturing a Kente person to take his place as the sacrifice. Now he wouldn't have to die.

"I did it!" Sen shouted excitedly. Komoro stood in the distance, ordering the others to throw firewood onto the withered, rotting flesh before setting it alight. Otherwise, the Black Crow Pathogen here would infect every living thing around it.

As for the last monster, Komoro and the others chose to act as if they hadn't seen it. Hearing Sen's excited shout, Komoro smiled faintly. Their friendship might be gone, but at least Sen had survived.

"I..." Sen tried to say more, but suddenly felt a chill run through his body. A force pierced straight into his forehead. Unable to resist in the slightest, he collapsed to the ground and lost his life.

Wang Yuan watched as Soul Qi and Vitality Qi drifted out of Sen's corpse. At last, some of the gloom and frustration inside him eased.

Just a moment ago, Wang Yuan had used the monster's method to sense the depths of his soul. Unlike the monster, Wang Yuan found nothing there. At last, he understood what his Soul Body had lost.