Ke Meng gathered over a hundred insects and put them in the room. Tangyuan kept order, immediately catching any insect that tried to hide in a dark corner or burrow its way out.
He captured living shadows and moved them into inanimate objects, living creatures, insects without shadows, or plants.
Ke Meng recorded the results after every test.
The Guardian Spirit spread its barrier and briefly communicated with Tangyuan, telling Tangyuan that those efforts were unnecessary. Nothing could possibly slip out.
Tangyuan barked and made a racket like a real dog, bringing some noise into the cold, quiet home.
Ke Meng kept his eyes on the shadows in the room. His hands never stopped, constantly exchanging them.
With every exchange of shadows, his spiritual perception picked up a few details.
His knowledge was insufficient, so Ke Meng had to spend some time puzzling them out.
But he needed a larger sample size, so his hands never stopped.
After a day of grabbing shadows, he ordered takeout, ate, and went back to work.
The desire to grow stronger drove Ke Meng onward. His work at the Investigation Bureau had trained him to think in terms of testing. The more tests he ran, the more data he gathered, and the more he could uncover things others did not know.
Over time, Ke Meng discovered that the secret of the Shadow-Grasping Hand was exchange.
Ke Meng took out his diary. It radiated the terrifying aura of a forbidden book capable of destroying the world.
Even after playing the game and casting terrifying magic, Ke Meng had to admit that the diary's aura was truly formidable. Every time he experienced it, he felt something new.
If he remembered correctly, the diary had been soaked in Honey Juice, which had ultimately turned it into this.