Under the intense sensation of weightlessness, Xu Muchan desperately opened his eyes wide and looked toward the blurred gigantic shadow that had already disappeared into the dense mist.
The colossal being that had sent him away had not left. It seemed to still be watching him through the drifting clouds and mist.
Xu Muchan clenched his teeth hard. His long hair, swept upward by his fall, surged out once again, reaching desperately toward the enormous being behind the clouds, futilely trying to grasp something.
But just as those black strands were about to touch the colossal being behind the clouds, gray fingers reached out and gently yet firmly brushed them aside.
Rejected once again, the black hair seemed like a provoked nest of snakes. It viciously “bit” the finger before being dragged away by Xu Muchan’s continually falling body, leaving the realm filled with gigantic beings behind.
Xu Muchan’s body fell heavily, yet he felt none of the pain he had expected.
His back landed on a soft mattress.
After the intense dizziness passed, he rubbed his aching temples and sat up, only to discover that he had somehow returned home.
It was already broad daylight outside. The morning sun had leaped above the horizon and climbed toward the top of the sky. Wind swept past the window, and the leaves rustled softly.
Everything was perfectly normal.
Xu Muchan sat blankly on the bed for a while.
The long hair behind him curled around his body as though comforting him. One small strand that had curled itself up rested on Xu Muchan’s leg. Its bundled end slowly unfurled, revealing a drop of black liquid carefully protected within.
This was a drop of blood he had taken from Wei Xilou—or, more precisely, from the incarnation of the Black River—when he had been forcibly sent away.
Given the difference in strength between them, if Wei Xilou had been unwilling at the time, there was no way Xu Muchan could have obtained this drop of blood.
Earlier, when he had connected with the Black River, Xu Muchan had seen flashes of Ouyang Yuping’s state after ascending to immortality. And this drop of blood was very likely from the source of the Black River itself.
Wei Xilou had practically allowed him to take it.
Perhaps all the answers to his questions were hidden within it.
Xu Muchan lowered his eyes and stared at the tiny drop of liquid.
The black liquid was only about the size of a fingernail, yet it was even more viscous than any Black River water Xu Muchan had ever seen, and the aura it gave off was even more terrifying.
After only a brief hesitation, Xu Muchan carefully brought his fingertip closer.
The viscous black liquid seemed to sense an attraction the moment it touched his skin. It quickly clung to him.
Xu Muchan did not dodge. He allowed it to seep into his skin—or rather, he was actively absorbing the drop of liquid.
When the black droplet completely disappeared, Xu Muchan could barely control himself as he transformed fully into a ghost.
His surging black hair almost filled the entire room. Amid the intense dizziness, Xu Muchan fell backward into the mass of hair, his jade-like body, brought forth by his ghost transformation, completely submerged beneath the black strands.
His black-and-red eyes were wide open, but his pupils were completely unfocused.
A massive stream of information crashed through his consciousness like a flood.
He struggled and drifted amid the surging current, finally grasping a fragment of memory concerning Wei Xilou—
He saw a vast, expansive land covered in lush vegetation. Countless human and animal corpses were piled together like a gigantic graveyard.
It was utterly silent.
Only white moonlight poured down from above, carrying with it the chill of death.
The intact corpses gradually rotted and decomposed, turning into piles of white bones. At some unknown point, black liquid resembling crude oil began seeping from the ground.
It gradually submerged the piles of bones, drowned the lush vegetation, and transformed the once-vast land into a black ocean.
And he and Wei Xilou were floating and sinking together in that black ocean.
This scene was not unfamiliar.
Xu Muchan almost immediately remembered how, while evacuating from the ghost domain of Immortal Village, he had been ambushed by Ouyang Mu and accidentally swept into the Black River.
When he woke up, his brother’s body was nowhere to be found, and he could only struggle aimlessly through the black ocean, searching for a way out.
In the end, his brother suddenly appeared, allowing him to leave that boundless black ocean.
But at the time, Xu Muchan had only been able to hear Wei Xilou’s voice.
Now, however, he could see clearly how Wei Xilou’s body had been dissolved and melted by the black current. When the human shell completely merged into the black ocean, the enormous Wuchang God rose from beneath the sea.
His face was still the one so familiar to Xu Muchan, but the aura emanating from him was even colder and more terrifying.
While Xu Muchan searched for his brother in bewilderment, covering his face with his hands as he wandered through the black sea, that terrifying colossal being remained in the distance, its scarlet vertical pupil quietly watching him.
Only after a long time did the enormous god lower its head and carefully cup him in its enormous palms, preventing him from moving around.
Then, in a voice extremely familiar to Xu Muchan, it said,
“Close your eyes. Don’t move.”
The familiar aura allowed Xu Muchan to lower his guard, and he obediently closed his eyes.
The incomparably enormous god brought both palms together to protect him and sank into the black sea with him.
After that, Xu Muchan awoke on the altar of a god in a ruined temple.
Wei Xilou, however, was nowhere to be found.
But now, the black sea stirred by the colossal being gradually returned to calm.
The white moon remained motionless above the horizon, like a murky eyeball without pupils, forever staring at the silent surface of the sea.
Xu Muchan stared at the surface as well.
Then he discovered that the black sea level was gradually falling.
Once the water level had fallen to a certain height, the mountains and land that had originally been submerged emerged once again.
The ocean became countless lakes and rivers.
And that black river Xu Muchan had seen countless times before, under the gaze of the white moon, flowed through the towering black mountains and surged toward him from afar.
The land absorbed its fill of the black liquid and began to give birth to new life.
As lush vegetation began to grow again, Xu Muchan saw countless enormous figures crawling out of the black current.
Some had enormous bodies and moved slowly; some were as small as humans yet extremely agile; others did not even possess a basic human form. Without exception, however, they crawled out of the Black River in all kinds of strange postures, stumbling toward the vast expanse of land.
All of this was completely different from the history of human civilization and evolution that Xu Muchan had once studied. Yet at this moment, he vaguely understood.
This was the origin of the Black River.
And it was also the origin of all gods and evil entities.
Since ancient times, the culture of gods and ghosts had been inseparable from the development and evolution of humanity. Perhaps it was precisely because they, they, and they had all once sunk into the same black ocean.
The Black River was the origin.
It was creation.
But at the same time, it also brought destruction and disaster.
It was the origin of all life, and also the final destination of all life.
And now, the Black River was calling back all the lives it had once created.
When everything returned to its source, the black flood tide would once again sweep across the earth, bringing death while creating new life and civilization.
The moment Xu Muchan realized this, a sharp pain stabbed through his brain.
He let out a muffled groan and struggled to sit up, bracing himself with his arms. Yet through his blurred vision, he saw an enormous god slowly rising among the towering black mountains. The scarlet vertical pupil on its face opened, silently looking toward him across countless stretches of time and space.
It was Wei Xilou.
At this moment, Xu Muchan finally understood why Wei Xilou had been unable to return for so long.
Because, like Xu Muchan himself, he had glimpsed the origin of the Black River and foreseen the apocalyptic final flood tide that would destroy everything.
He had chosen to stay behind, using his own strength to delay the arrival of the flood tide.
Xu Muchan’s lips moved. He wanted to say something, but the scene before his eyes began to twist and collapse.
He desperately widened his eyes, trying to see the image before him clearly, but everything suddenly went black.
The next instant, he completely lost consciousness and collapsed onto the floor.
When he woke again, it was already dark outside.
The phone on the bedside table was ringing urgently.
Xu Muchan’s sluggish gaze slowly turned toward the endlessly ringing phone. It took a long while before he sluggishly realized that he needed to answer it.
His limbs were also somewhat uncooperative. Xu Muchan braced himself against the floor and crawled toward the bedside table. By the time he picked up the phone, the call had just been disconnected.
He glanced at the notification bar.
It was densely packed with missed calls—all from the people in the capital who had come to receive him.
He looked at the time.
8:32 p.m.
His sluggish brain struggled to process it for a long while before he finally remembered that the time they had agreed on yesterday was 5:00 p.m., when they were supposed to meet at Jiangcheng Airport.
Xu Muchan slapped his aching head hard and hurriedly called back.
The other side answered immediately. From the voice, it was a middle-aged man.
“Xu Muchan? Did something happen on your end? It’s already past the agreed time.”
Xu Muchan held the phone between his cheek and shoulder, sitting on the floor with his back against the bed. His voice was still somewhat weak.
“Something did happen. I’m still at Oak Manor. Could you send a car to pick me up?”
Fortunately, the person on the other end was very cooperative. Perhaps he could hear that something was wrong with Xu Muchan’s voice. He said he would immediately send a car to pick him up, then asked, “Do you need me to contact a doctor?”
Xu Muchan glanced at the raised black veins covering his skin.
The aftereffects of seeing the Black River were manifesting in every possible way.
But he was not afraid. Instead, he felt a kind of joy at finally finding the thread in the tangled mess of clues.
“No need. I’m waiting for you at Oak Manor.”
The people coming to receive him arrived forty minutes later, somewhat faster than expected.
A military Jeep stopped outside the villa.
Xu Muchan, who had recovered considerably, opened the door and saw three men in military uniforms standing outside.
The man in the middle extended his hand toward Xu Muchan.
“Pan Minghui. I’ve been ordered by Director He Yunyi to come pick you up and take you to the capital.”
Pan Minghui’s sharp gaze swept over Xu Muchan. Concern flashed across his face.
“The plane has already been arranged, but you don’t seem to be in very good condition. Are you really sure you don’t need to go to the hospital?”
Xu Muchan had not looked in a mirror, but judging from the black, raised veins covering his hands, he knew that he probably did not look very good right now.
He put on the hood of his feather-fusion garment and refused again.
“No. I have something urgent to discuss with Director He. Let’s go directly.”
Seeing that he was insistent, Pan Minghui did not try to persuade him further.
Once Xu Muchan got into the vehicle, the group sped toward the airport.