Chapter 767: Reborn as a Human

Uncle Xu was a special case. In the Old Granny's story, he had escaped the cruel war and luckily survived. He hadn't lied about that.

He was a survivor. After being rescued from Longchang, he had done everything he could to atone for his sins. Yet despite all his efforts, he was still cast into the Animal Realm after death. His soul twisted into a monster—neither human nor pig—and he lived every day in despair, forced to repeatedly relive his most dreaded memories.

In that moment, I could somewhat understand him. But understanding him was one thing; if he thought a few words were enough to make me take him out of the Animal Realm, he was sorely mistaken.

I didn't flat-out refuse, nor did I readily agree. Looking at the hideous pig face in front of me, I felt an unprecedented sense of calm.

This man might just be the key to breaking this deadlock.

I wasn't Gu Junsheng. As long as I could achieve my goal, what did it matter if I made a deal with the devil?

Uncle Xu pinned my shoulder down in a death grip. His face twisted, his breath reeking. I could see his pain and anger. "If you want me to take you back to the human world, you'll have to pay a steep price."

Sensing the shift in my tone, a spark of hope ignited in Uncle Xu. "As long as I can leave this damn place, I'm willing to pay any price!"

"Don't be so quick to agree. I have a few questions to ask you first." The way out was my only leverage to negotiate with Uncle Xu on equal footing, so I naturally couldn't reveal a single detail about it. Seizing the moment, I decided to use this opportunity to figure out exactly what was going on with the Longchang Apartments.

It took over ten seconds for Uncle Xu to calm down. He pulled his hands back and retreated a few steps. "What do you want to know?"

"First, about Longchang. Why does Longchang exist in the Animal Realm? And why does it still look exactly as it did decades ago, without changing at all?" My initial theory had been that Longchang's terrain was unique, but I later realized the area was far too bizarre for geography to be the only factor.

"The Animal Realm?" The flesh on Uncle Xu's pig-like face twitched. "I knew it. Since I ate human flesh in my past life, there was no way I'd be reborn as a human in the next."

He let out a hollow chuckle, the fanaticism on his face slowly fading. "I was a lonely, childless old man in my twilight years. After I died, I ended up in this place. It felt like waking up and realizing a beautiful dream had finally ended. I don't know what connection this Longchang has with the one in the human world. Maybe everything in the Yang Realm has a reflection in the Underworld."

"You're lying." I pointed at the night sky outside the window. "A massive array was cast over the Longchang within the Animal Realm—that mirror hanging upside down in the sky out there. The memories of those trapped inside only last a single day. The array loops in a constant cycle of reincarnation, repeating the same exact timeframe over and over again. Everyone has forgotten the past except you!"

I slowed my words, glaring right at him. "Uncle Xu, you're not like those monsters, so you don't need to fool me. If you want my help escaping Longchang, you need to show me your sincerity."

"Junsheng would never say something like that. You really aren't him." A look of dawning comprehension washed over Uncle Xu's face. "I don't know what kind of reward that child promised you, but whatever he offered, I'll double it. Just please, take me out of here!"

"Uncle Xu? Junsheng? What on earth is going on?" The girl ran over from the bed and stood between Uncle Xu and me. She wanted to step closer to me, but hesitated.

"He didn't give me any reward. I simply owe him a promise."

"Coming all the way to the Other Shore of Reincarnation for a promise... you really are a fool."

Neither Uncle Xu nor I paid any attention to the girl. We stared each other down for a moment before he finally broke the silence. "I have nothing left to lose anyway, so I'll trust you this once. What I told you earlier wasn't entirely a lie. Waking up after dying felt like waking up from a dream, only to find myself back in this dreadful place. I thought I was going insane."

"Everyone around me was a pig. Pigs speaking human words, wearing human clothes, walking upright on two legs. Looking at them felt like looking at myself. I couldn't bear the thought that I had turned into something like that too. I searched the building for anything reflective. I fully intended to kill myself once I saw my own face, but fate plays tricks on people. Later on, I found a strange mirror in the Longchang Building."

Uncle Xu turned and walked over to the window. "I could see the mirror, but I couldn't touch it. The person reflected in it was me, and yet... it wasn't me."

Drawn in by his words, I followed him over. "Where exactly did you see this mirror?"

"Right where the light rose from." Uncle Xu glanced back at me, his expression indescribably eerie. "Aren't you curious about what I saw in the mirror?"

"You'll tell me if you want to." I leaned my head out the window. When the vicious beasts attacked Longchang, three beams of light had shot up from the residential complex. One had come from the Doctor, one from the very bottom of the Longchang Main Building, and the final one from its roof.

The hidden locations of these three mirrors were quite intriguing. Aside from the one held by the Doctor, one was located at Longchang's highest point, and the other at its lowest, hinting at some profound true meaning behind this arrangement.

"I saw it on the very top floor of Longchang. When I woke up after dying, I couldn't believe I had turned into such a horrifying monster. I tore through Longchang looking for anything reflective, but found nothing. Even worse, I could feel my memories steadily fading. It felt like I was rapidly becoming just like everyone else around me—losing everything, forever sinking into a nightmare I could never wake from. If that was true, I would much rather die!" Uncle Xu clenched his fists, then shook his head. "I had lost all hope. Since I'd already died once, dying a second time wasn't all that hard to accept. While my memories had not yet completely vanished, I tried every possible way to kill myself. But no matter what I did, I couldn't die. The moment I opened my eyes, everything would just reset."

"I refused to communicate with anyone around me, stubbornly believing I was different from them. I don't know how many days passed like that. But just as my memories blurred to the point where I was about to forget who I was, a turning point arrived."

"I went to the roof of the Longchang Main Building. Standing at the highest point, I prepared to try one last method of suicide. No, wait, the truth is I couldn't even remember if I'd already tried jumping off the building before. My mind was an absolute mess."

At this point, Uncle Xu's words grew erratic. He began pounding his fists against his own head with alarming force, looking very much like a patient suffering an episode of self-harm.

"So you saw the mirror on the roof, right?" Seeing how much pain he was in, I wanted to move the topic along quickly.

"Yes. The exact moment I jumped off the roof, I saw it—the mirror hidden at the very top of the Longchang Main Building. And I saw my reflection in it." He reached up and clawed at his hideous face, digging out deep, bloody scratches across his flesh. "The me in that mirror didn't look like this! In the mirror, I was still a human. A human!"

Only the Reincarnation Mirror possessed the ability to reflect the true essence of the monsters within the reincarnation cycle. I made a mental note of the location Uncle Xu mentioned and gestured for him to lower his voice and not get too excited. "What happened next?"

"I jumped off the main building and smashed into a pulp. The agony lasted for a few seconds. By the time I opened my eyes again, I realized everything had reset. I was lying in my rundown room again, and the people around me hadn't changed in the slightest. The only difference was that a portion of my memory seemed permanently gone." Uncle Xu's face was now a bloody mess from his own fingernails, but he didn't care in the slightest. "I don't know what I forgot. All I could remember was the mirror on the roof. So I go up there every day to look at it. Only by seeing myself in that mirror can I be sure that I'm still human!"

He paused for a moment before continuing, "This wretched place has been looping the same day. At a specific time, everyone's memories are wiped, and everything starts all over again. I tried it before; the only way to avoid the effects of this power is to step outside Longchang. So, I suspect the Longchang we're currently in is actually a manifestation of the grand array. It's just a prison meant to punish criminals."

Uncle Xu was only sharing his own theory, and I nodded after listening. "Using Reincarnation Mirror Fragments to set up an array, imprisoning tens of thousands of obsessions... Who would possess that kind of audacity to dare set up a scheme here, on the Other Shore of Reincarnation?"

"I don't understand what you're saying, and I don't care who's behind this scheme. I just want out of here. If you promise to help me, I'll tell you one more secret."

Uncle Xu's eyes gleamed. I weighed the options for a brief moment before decisively agreeing. "It's a mutually beneficial deal. What reason do I have to refuse? Go ahead. What other secret do you know?"

"I go to look at that mirror every day. Even though my memories are constantly fading, I've managed to hold onto most of them." Uncle Xu shot a glance at the girl. "This secret is about her."

"This girl was never in the Animal Realm to begin with. I've reincarnated countless times and never saw her before, which means her Yang Lifespan hasn't run out yet." The old man grabbed the girl by the shoulder. "When a person dies, if their body cools from the soles of their feet up to the top of their head, they'll be reborn as a human in the next life. But if it's the other way around—cooling from the head down to the feet—they're destined to be reincarnated as a beast in the next life. This child has a chill surging up from the soles of her feet. It's already cooled to her shoulders. It's the exact opposite of what happened to me, meaning she's going to be reborn as a human in her next life."

There was something deeply unsettling about Uncle Xu's voice. Ignoring the girl's increasingly pale face, he only tightened his grip on her. "It's unfair. It's really unfair. I did so many good deeds, yet I still end up as a beast... while she gets to be reborn as a human!"

The girl couldn't break free. I stepped forward and used all my strength to shove Uncle Xu aside, my voice turning icy. "What exactly are you trying to tell me?"

"Actually, it's nothing..." Uncle Xu was just about to speak when the chaotic sound of footsteps suddenly echoed from the corridor outside. He immediately fell silent, his expression fraught with panic. "Quick, you two, hide under the bed! It looks like the People of Room Four are here!"

I didn't need to be told. I had already dragged the girl down under the bed with me. The second I lowered the bedsheets, the rundown wooden door was violently kicked open!

"You're the one who let that girl go?" The voice from the doorway carried a sinister chill that made one shiver uncontrollably.

Hiding under the bed, I held my breath. 'How did that Security Guard track us all the way here?!'