Chapter 730: The Person She Was Waiting For

The Blood Fox's voice carried an indescribable, domineering aura. It was a taboo subject among modern sects; even Daoist master Wan refused to speak of it. To this day, I still had no idea what it had gone through, or why it harbored such deep resentment toward the Five Great Upper Sects and all orthodox sects.

"Your remnant soul is also sustained by an obsession. Can you deal with this monster?" I had no interest in prying into someone else's secrets and cut straight to the chase.

"Theoretically, yes. But I'm too weak right now. The moment I leave your spirit platform, I won't be able to stay conscious." The Blood Fox hesitated. "It's not that I'm unwilling to try, but I'm afraid I'll accidentally hurt you. Without a living person's will to anchor myself to, and without the protection of your spirit platform, I'd probably become just like that monster—knowing only slaughter."

The Blood Fox had an overwhelming thirst for slaughter. If it truly lost its mind, it would be a far greater threat to me than an ordinary obsession.

I could tell as much from that Fox Immortal Desiccated Corpse. Relying on nothing but residual instinct, that mere corpse had chased me into hiding everywhere.

"You said you're too weak to leave my spirit platform, so how can you recover your strength?" I asked, sprinting as the howling wind rushed past my ears.

"It's actually quite simple. If you just capture the monster behind us and let me devour it, my strength will grow." The Blood Fox spoke calmly, though its slightly hurried pace betrayed a hint of longing.

"Wait," I said, my eyes narrowing as I quickly realized the problem.

This old fox was using me! The main reason it had woken up at such a crucial moment was likely because it smelled food.

Saving me was only secondary; devouring the obsession to restore itself was its true goal.

I knew it wouldn't be kind enough to chat with me for so long. In the past, whenever I faced danger—even life-and-death crises where the sky felt like it was falling—this old fox would merely offer a casual warning and never utter a second sentence.

Acting so out of character today and talking so much... it turned out it needed a favor.

"Capture it? Easy for you to say! That thing is immune to ghost arts and Daoist spells. You want me to fight it in close combat?" I had studied Crushing Fist, meaning I could suppress even a judo Black Belt in melee combat, but this monster was infinitely more terrifying than any Black Belt. Leaving everything else aside, its charred appearance alone killed any desire to get near it.

"Let me devour it, and I will grow stronger. Once I recover to a certain point, I'll be able to leave your spirit platform and help you fight. You'll have a much easier time then," the Blood Fox said proudly. "With me around, the gods and buddhas of all realms wouldn't dare touch a single hair on your head. A mere obsession? I could scatter it to the winds with a wave of my hand."

"Fine, I'll trust you this once!" The Blood Fox had an incredible background, and my instincts told me it wasn't exaggerating. "What is the obsession's weakness? Once I capture it, how are you going to devour it?"

"That's simple. The obsession seems terrifying, but it's fundamentally just a will. Every living creature in the world possesses a will; some are just stronger than others. The easiest way to capture a will is to crush it with your own."

"Wait, what do you mean?" I was slightly bewildered by the Blood Fox's words. Dealing with an obsession didn't rely on physical strength at all.

"If that monster truly is an obsession, it shouldn't kill you. Once it catches you, it will dwell in your mind, instilling its will into you and influencing everything you do until you become its puppet." The Blood Fox's voice slowly faded, clearly revealing its weakness. "When that happens, you'll still be alive, but it won't be any different from being dead. Your will will be taken over, turning you into a vessel for its obsession. Your only purpose for existing will be to help it resolve its grudges."

"Are you telling me to actively fulfill its demands? To dissipate its resentment?" I asked tentatively.

"Dissipate? It is covered in bite marks, and every mark is a wound of pain. How could you possibly dissipate that for it?" The Blood Fox sneered. "Besides, why should you care about someone else's obsession? If it refuses to scatter, then crush it head-on. Find a safe place soon, follow my instructions, and actively let the monster behind us enter your body. We will work together to trap it in your sea of consciousness. When the time comes, we will join forces and devour it whole, leaving nothing behind!"

"Let it enter my body? You want to turn my sea of consciousness into a battlefield? And you want me to help you attack it?" I prepared to refuse without a second thought. "That's way too risky. If we fail, I'll be doomed beyond redemption."

"With me here, what are you afraid of? How many times have I saved you? Do you really think I would harm you?" The Blood Fox's voice grew incredibly weak and low, as if it were heavily injured and on the verge of slipping into a coma. Its current state gave me absolutely no confidence.

"I really don't know where you're getting this confidence. Even if you, Xue Zhuo, were once unrivaled in the world, you're just a remnant soul now. And I'm just an ordinary person. How could we possibly fight against an obsession that crawled out of the Animal Realm?" I deeply regretted leaving the storage room. I should have communicated with Master Tianxin before coming out. In my eyes, Master Tianxin was far more reliable than this Blood Fox.

"So that's what you're worried about." The voice on the spirit platform became ethereal and erratic. "You underestimate yourself far too much. Do you know why I chose to stay in your sea of consciousness after you performed the inviting spirits ritual?"

With that one sentence, it addressed a question that had been troubling me for a long time.

"Why?"

"In this world, in terms of sheer will alone, there are very few who can compare to you. You probably haven't even realized this yourself."

"I consumed a massive amount of Dream-Entangling Grass and Flowers of the Dream Realm within the Deep Dream Layer, and I've gone through over a dozen grueling livestreams. It's completely normal for my will to be stronger than an ordinary person's."

After I spoke, the spirit platform suddenly fell silent. It was a long time before I heard the Blood Fox's intermittent voice again: "If you were just slightly stronger than an ordinary person, how could you have caught my, Xue Zhuo's, eye? Your spirit platform and sea of consciousness are boundlessly vast, and your will is as solid as gold and jade, as if it had been tempered tens of thousands of times! This isn't something that can be enhanced by external objects. Honestly, I'm quite curious myself—how can someone as young as you possess such terrifying willpower? Unless you're..."

The Blood Fox's voice cut off abruptly; it seemed to have fallen back into a slumber.

"Dropping the ball at the critical moment—explain yourself clearly!" I ground my teeth in frustration. The Blood Fox lived within my spirit platform and sea of consciousness; it knew the conditions in there even better than I did. 'Tempered tens of thousands of times? Is that even possible? I've only participated in a dozen or so livestreams.'

At this thought, my brows slowly furrowed. Connecting it to the Nine Locks that had inexplicably appeared in my body and those sealed memory fragments, I faintly formed a theory.

"I'm still too weak. I need time!" I glanced over my shoulder at the obsession. It was less than ten meters away, and its speed seemed to be increasing.

'Should I really try the Blood Fox's method?' Looking at the obsession's horrifying appearance, a chill ran down my spine, and my pace involuntarily quickened. 'Let's wait a bit longer.'

The short, dark figure ahead of me was the slowest. The distance between us continued to shrink. He darted through the fire exits, moving between the different building units, though I had no idea whether he was running from me or the obsession further back.

With the commotion we were causing inside the Red Building, the eerie sound of doors being bashed against echoed from all the tenants' apartments. The short figure grew increasingly panicked until he finally seemed to make a decision, diving headfirst into Unit One—the very same unit I had used to first enter the Red Building.

Sprinting down from the top floor, I hesitated briefly as I passed the sixth floor. The little boy who lived on the sixth floor shouldn't have eaten human flesh either, and I was very curious about how he had managed to survive inside the Red Building.

'Going strictly by size, that little guy on the sixth floor isn't much different from the dark figure holding the rubber ball up ahead.'

The metal door was locked. Being chased, I had no time to look closely. I simply grabbed the handrail, pivoted, and kept running downward.

The rain outside showed no signs of stopping. Using my Judging Eye, I locked onto the dark figure ahead, fully prepared to leave the Red Building and chase him out into the open.

Fifth floor, fourth floor...

A desperate chase unfolded in the pitch-black stairwell, our chaotic footsteps echoing far down the steps. Just as we reached the landing between the third and second floors, a sudden gleam of light pierced the darkness.

The voice-activated light on the first floor had turned on. The dim yellow glow cast shadows across the peeling plaster, making it look like a series of scarred, smiling faces. As the light flickered on, the short figure ahead suddenly stopped and did something completely unexpected.

The little guy actually pulled open the door to the blind Old Granny's apartment on the second floor and threw himself inside.

'The second-floor door isn't locked? That's not right! When I left the second floor earlier, I clearly saw the old woman lock the metal gate.' Without time to overthink it, I closely followed the dark figure into the Granny's home. The moment I stepped inside, I caught sight of the red wooden door further in slowly swinging shut.

"Wait a second!"

Slipping inside, I blindly reached back to pull the outer metal gate shut behind me, then rushed into the apartment, grabbed the edge of the wooden door, and shoved my shoulder against it to force it shut.

'Saved.' I barely had time to catch my breath as I crouched defensively by the door, vigilantly scanning my surroundings.

Just two or three steps away, the Granny in her plain, worn-out coat stood quietly. She didn't speak. Her eyes, filled with nothing but white sclera, stared in my direction, though I couldn't tell if she was actually looking at me.

"Granny, I... I just saw something come in here." Standing up, I waved a hand in front of the Granny, but she didn't so much as blink, still staring at the spot where I had just been crouching. "Sorry for the intrusion."

I lowered my voice. "There's a monster outside. Can I stay here for a little while?"

"Come in." The old woman spoke very slowly. Trembling, she turned around and walked into the inner room by herself. "There are two iron chains behind the door. Make sure you fasten them to the locks. The person I've been waiting for has arrived; I won't be opening the door again tonight."

"The person you're waiting for?" Pushing down the confusion in my heart, I fastened the iron chains and followed her inside.

The layout of the apartment was different from the other tenants' homes. It had a rather archaic style—the tables and chairs were all made of solid wood, with a candlestick holding a lit red candle placed on top. A sewing kit had been casually tossed to the side.