The Evil of Human Nature

Looking at the person in front of him, An Hei felt a mix of emotions. With his intelligence, after a moment's thought, he understood the gist of the matter.

"So that's how it is! That's what this mission was all about!"

This was only what An Hei thought to himself; he didn't show any sign of it, still looking surprised.

An Hei stood up from the ground, looking at the person in front of him. 'Flame Spear' was on high alert, ready to strike immediately if the other party made any unusual moves.

However, the person opposite him just chuckled.

"Don't get excited, look closely, it's me!" The man looked harmless, waving his hands as if trying to make An Hei see him clearly.

An Hei, however, remained unmoved, staring at the other's face and saying, "I remember, you should have had your head blown off by me. If I'm not out of my mind, then I must have seen a ghost!"

Only one person was blown off his head by the An Hei, and that was the reincarnator named Qiao Yan.

And this was the person who appeared before the An Hei at that moment.

"I'm not a ghost, and of course, I'm not dead either. You might not believe it, but it's true. If you give me a chance, I'll let you know the whole story!" Qiao Yan stretched out his empty hands, showing that he had no weapons, to show his sincerity.

An Hei, however, revealed a curious expression. "Tell me what's going on first!"

Qiao Yan simply smiled and slowly began to recount a story.

The gist is that after being chosen as the first chosen one, he was transported to the 'inner' world, where he experienced his deepest fears. He was then discovered by the reincarnators and ultimately died by the An Hei's gun.

The story was supposed to end there, as An Hei knew it, but what happened next was quite strange, something An Hei was hearing for the first time.

"When I was shot, to be honest, I thought I was going to die. But to my surprise, I didn't. When I woke up, I found myself here... Can you tell me what happened?"

As he spoke, Qiao Yan scratched his head, a puzzled look on his face.

"I think this must be related to your status as a 'chosen one.' You didn't see any other dead reincarnators, did you?" An Hei said in a deep voice, seemingly having lowered his guard against Qiao Yan.

A hint of joy flashed in Qiao Yan's eyes, but he shook his head seriously and said, "No, I've been walking around here for most of the day, and you're the only reincarnator I've encountered. Are you the only one here? Where are the others?"

"Who knows?" An Hei waved his hand and continued, "You probably don't know, but I was the second chosen one, and then I was thrown into this damned place, where I encountered some terrible things..."

"Oh, right!" Qiao Yan took a step forward, as if remembering something, and said, "I've discovered something important, which may be related to the fact that I didn't really die!"

"What did you discover?" An Hei asked, following the other's words.

Qiao Yan took another step forward and whispered, "I've realized that we haven't really been immersed in the 'inner' world, or rather, we aren't who we truly are right now!"

Seeing that An Hei still didn't understand, Qiao Yan said, "Actually... right now, you and I are just souls!"

"You're saying we're just in a soul state right now?" Zheng Yutong was taken aback by Li Wei's sudden analysis.

She touched her face and tugged at her clothes, still unable to believe it. Performing a mission in a soul state? How could that be? Why hadn't she noticed anything?

"I'm so sure because almost all special skills can be used here, so why can't Meng Liang's Ghost Controlling Technique and the Old Ghost in my sword be used? Isn't that too illogical? Besides, don't you think everything here is too strange? Logically speaking, there shouldn't be a monster like the 'Axe Man' in this world. Moreover, the arm that Meng Liang accidentally cut before, can't be found even a trace of now. According to him, he doesn't have any Regeneration or rapid recovery special skills, so why did the wound disappear?"

At this point, Zheng Yutong didn't know what to say.

However, Li Wei's words were too shocking. If so many of them were truly in a soul state, why didn't anyone notice?

"The reason no one noticed is probably due to the rules of this world. I think everything here is an illusion, including our special abilities. The reason ghost-related special abilities are ineffective is probably because those abilities cannot be used in this world. After all, if a real ghost were to appear, we would definitely notice something amiss. To avoid this situation, therefore..."

Even so, Zheng Yutong remained skeptical.

"Since they're in a soul state, they should recover quickly from injuries like Meng Liang. So why did Wu Fei and the others still die at the hands of the 'Axe Man'? If they're souls, they shouldn't be afraid of that kind of axe, right?"

"This is easy to understand. If the soul suffers a fatal attack, the person will truly die, but if it is not a fatal wound, the wound will gradually heal as normal."

There was one more thing Li Wei didn't mention: his Copper Pot, it now seemed, was also a forgery, just like his special skill. However, a forged Copper Pot couldn't possess its unique internal space, so it was naturally unusable.

"So what should we do now?" Zheng Yutong asked, spreading her hands.

"Let's find the An Hei first. I think there must be secrets about the Chosen Ones that we don't know!" Li Wei had a vague feeling that they had made a mistake from the very beginning.

Perhaps those chosen to appear on television aren't all unlucky; perhaps those appearing on television hold the true key to survival.

... Watching Qiao Yan continue to approach him under the guise of conversation, An Hei merely showed an expression of listening. However, if Blood Wolf, who knew him well, were here, he would have realized that An Hei's expression and posture were definitely something he would only display in the face of battle.

"Ghosts? Don't talk nonsense, what evidence do you have to say that?" An Hei said loudly, appearing very agitated.

Qiao Yan continued to approach, "Just because I came back to life, if I were in a real body, my head would have been pierced by a bullet, and I should be dead by now. But I'm still alive, which means we're just in a soul state right now..."

At this moment, he was less than three meters away from the An Hei.

"And there's something else I want to tell you." Qiao Yan took another step, then suddenly revealed a fierce glint in his eyes. "You're about to die!"

Before he could finish speaking, he used a flamethrower hidden in his sleeve to create a ball of flame, which he then directed to envelop the An Hei.

"I knew you couldn't hold back and wanted to make a move!" An Hei remained calm, raising a finger and unleashing the Flame Spear.

Fire Control is only a D-Rank special skill, while the Flame Spear is C-Rank. Therefore, it is far superior to the former in both speed and power. Before the flames hit An Hei, several fist-sized fireballs burst out from Qiao Yan's body, and he fell to the ground.

An Hei ducked, flashing past the flames, then charged forward, stomping on Qiao Yan's chest. He then unleashed a barrage of 'Flame Spear,' severing all four of Qiao Yan's limbs.

"Even a soul would feel pain, wouldn't it?" An Hei resumed his cold expression, remaining vigilant even though he had gained the upper hand.

With his limbs broken, Qiao Yan was in excruciating pain. At first, he loudly questioned An Hei about why he had done this, but no matter how much he shouted, An Hei remained unmoved. At this moment, he realized that the man in front of him was more troublesome than he had imagined. So, Qiao Yan began to remain silent and did not utter a word.

"Do you know why it's you, not me, lying on the ground right now?" the An Hei said coldly. "It's because you're too stupid! From the moment you appeared, I saw through your intentions. I wonder if you'd like to hear the reason behind it?"

Qiao Yan was clearly also very puzzled; he wanted to know how this person had discovered it.

"Let's start with the matter of souls!" An Hei took out a dagger and gently made a cut on his arm, but after a short while, the wound healed on its own.

"Once injured, it's easy to spot the signs. I don't have any Regeneration abilities, nor have I received any treatment, so how could my wound heal? Of course, this wouldn't happen with an ordinary physical body, but it's a different story with a soul. I once cut off my left arm, and afterwards, it miraculously recovered completely, which truly confirmed my suspicions."

"The ability to heal from injuries does not mean that one can be resurrected after death. Other reincarnators are truly dead, while you are not. This means that you are different from them. Therefore, the answer is obvious: the only difference between the two is their identity. I think it is inseparable from your identity as a chosen one, and your appearance before me proves this point!"

"So, what makes you insist on appearing before me?"

After a moment of contemplation, An Hei shifted his gaze to Qiao Yan's terrified face. "I think it's because I'm also one of the chosen ones. If you kill me, you can escape this 'inside' world, and you can also preserve something—that 'something' is the reason you're willing to feign death to hide the true reason for your survival!"

As he said this, An Hei clearly saw Qiao Yan's face turn deathly pale.

"Let's go through the sequence from the beginning. First, there were 20 of us participating in this mission. It's very likely that we were already in a spirit state from that point on, then we discovered the function of the television, and then the first chosen one appeared... which is you, Qiao Yan!"

"At that time, your fear wasn't feigned, because no one knew what the chosen ones appearing on television would encounter. Then, you were first thrown into the 'inner' world, and we followed."