He was suddenly struck by a feeling, as if like attracts like—everyone around Logan Sullivan seemed, more or less, to resemble that person in some way—for example, they were all obsessed with something, able to pursue it with single-minded devotion.

Like this one, or that nervous little boy who stammers when he speaks...

William Sherman narrowed his eyes. In his heart, he already had some vague suspicions about the Soulbound Lamp, but now it seemed that it was better for the Soulbound Lamp to remain hidden from the world.

The "little boy" Charles Gray had successfully kept all the families of the missing people in the county, but still hadn’t received any good news.

It was already close to midnight when Carter Shaw finally returned with Darrin Grant, both looking travel-worn. It wasn’t realistic to collect anything else; they had only found some scattered ID cards and personal items like keys and cell phones... It seemed that only living things had been swallowed up, while these smashed objects were all left intact.

The small county police station was brightly lit. Suddenly, someone burst into tears, and the meeting room set aside for them descended into chaos. Carter Shaw, holding Darrin Grant in one arm, wearily pinched the bridge of his nose, beckoned to Charles Gray, and led him into a small office next door, closing the door behind them.

Charles Gray had a bad feeling. He looked at Carter Shaw, then at Darrin Grant: “Brother Chu, where are Director Zhao and the others? Has Brother Lin been found? Did you see Sister Zhu? Still no news at all about the missing people?”

Carter Shaw took an evidence bag from his pocket and handed it to him. Inside was a small handful of ash.

Charles Gray froze, a nameless premonition rising in his heart. “This is...”

“Cremains.”

The evidence bag fell to the floor with a thud.

“Yes, it’s ash from human bones.” Carter Shaw briefly explained what had happened in the small town, then told Charles Gray, “Call headquarters immediately and tell Zach Warren that she and Zane Shaw need to handle this. For now, these people will be listed as missing, but dead is dead, and it can’t be hidden for long. Have her communicate as appropriate and see how we can explain this publicly.”

Charles Gray said in disbelief, “Explain... publicly?”

In truth, it meant asking Zach Warren to find a way to cover up the truth of the matter.

Carter Shaw glanced at him. This was an unspoken rule in the Special Investigation Department, but for some reason, he just didn’t want to spell it out for Charles Gray. So the Corpse King paused for a moment and answered in a roundabout way, “You have to understand, in general, you can only test for human DNA if there are remains. Cremains that have been burned at high temperatures are impossible, let alone when they’re destroyed like this. There’s not much we can do. Even if you collected all the dust in the town, we couldn’t tell the families who it once belonged to.”

“But there should at least be a culprit...”

Carter Shaw gave a helpless, wry laugh. “Charles Gray, anyone who can ambush the Soulwarden—even if they used underhanded means—must at least be equal in cultivation to the Soulwarden. Maybe you haven’t been here long enough and don’t know what kind of person the Soulwarden is?”

Charles Gray stared at him blankly.

“To be honest, after a thousand years of cultivation, I can already walk under the blazing sun. Right now, I’m the Corpse King, able to command all the white-bone zombies. The next step would be to become a Scorchshade, or Corpse Sage. But if it weren’t for Director Zhao, I’d have to avoid someone like the Soulwarden within a five-mile radius, you understand?” Carter Shaw paused. “It’s best not to get involved in this. It’s beyond our control.”

Charles Gray seemed unable to accept this conclusion for a moment. But he never argued with others, nor was he a hot-blooded youth who overestimated himself. He just felt something stuck in his chest, but had no idea what to say, his face turning pale.

After who knows how long, Charles Gray finally asked, “But what about the souls? Even if the bodies are gone, the souls should still exist, right? How can a person just disappear for no reason?”

Carter Shaw was taken aback, but Darrin Grant jumped out of his arms, leapt onto the table, and suddenly spoke: “They do exist.”

Both men immediately turned to the black cat.

But Darrin Grant seemed distracted and said nothing. After a while, Carter Shaw had to prompt it: “Darrin Grant?”

Before he finished speaking, something strange happened to Darrin Grant—the black cat’s body slowly elongated, its fur gradually disappearing, and right before the stunned eyes of Charles Gray and Carter Shaw, it transformed into a youth with hair down to his ankles!

The youth wore clothes from some unknown era, looking as if he’d just wrapped a random piece of cloth around himself, barefoot... None of that mattered, though. What mattered was, he looked neither black nor chubby!

Carter Shaw: “D-Daqing?!”

The youth’s face took on the lazy expression unique to cats, his eyes—rounder and larger than most—sweeping over him: “Mm.”

With that, he jumped down from the table, landing without a sound. His movements were catlike, even his walk was a straight feline stride. Carter Shaw and Charles Gray instinctively made way for him, and they heard Darrin Grant say, “I don’t know who sealed my memories. Things from too long ago are already blurry. Last time, at the Summit of Highspire, I was triggered by the Primewood and managed to take human form. After transforming, even though I look ugly without fur, some vague impressions actually become clearer.”

Equally hairless, and even “uglier” than “very ugly,” Carter Shaw and Charles Gray both showed subtle expressions.

“What we encountered today, the official term in the underworld is Netherbeast, but originally they were called Wraithborn.” With his unique sense of aesthetics, Darrin Grant ignored their reactions and continued, “I don’t know where the Wraithborn came from or the principle behind it, but I do know they’re connected to the deaths of the two great gods of the Whitlock—Fuxi and Nüwa.”

“At the entrance to the town, you heard what William Sherman said: when the Wraithborn emerged, the entire primordial land became barren.” The youth who had been a black cat’s eyes flickered; if you looked closely, you’d see his eyes changed color with the light. “But as far as I know, the Wraithborn gnaw on the bones and blood of the living, and devour the primordial spirits of cultivators, but they don’t eat the three souls and seven spirits of ordinary people, because it’s useless to them. I think maybe because of the suddenness of the event, those people weren’t supposed to die, and when their bodies suddenly disappeared, their living souls were left behind. The underworld didn’t have time to collect them, so the frightened souls scattered who knows where.”

Charles Gray was slower than most to process things. After a while, he finally understood what Darrin Grant meant, and suddenly said, “Then I want to go find them.”

Darrin Grant and Carter Shaw, who had been quietly discussing the possible whereabouts of Logan Sullivan and Holly Harlow, both looked up at the same time. Darrin Grant asked, puzzled, “Why do you want to find them? Lost living souls are the underworld’s business, though they probably don’t care right now.”

Charles Gray was speechless for a moment. “But... but I promised them—the families of the missing people outside—I promised I’d give them an answer...”

“You can’t.” Darrin Grant said. “Besides, they wouldn’t believe you anyway.”

“That’s why I want to find the souls of the dead. A person is supposed to exist; how can they just disappear?” Charles Gray stubbornly clung to the issue. “That’s... that’s just not right.”

Carter Shaw gave a cool laugh. “There are plenty of things that aren’t right. How do you plan to find them?”

Charles Gray was stumped by the question, and after a moment of daze, lowered his head in embarrassment.

Unexpectedly, after a moment of silence, Carter Shaw suddenly took a bottle of eye drops from his pocket and tossed it to him. “Ox tears. For opening the third eye. You’ll be able to see living souls.”

Charles Gray looked up in disbelief, his eyes shining with excitement.

“Take care of business first—call Zach Warren, have her handle the external affairs, and send reinforcements.” Carter Shaw awkwardly avoided his overly enthusiastic gaze. “Anyway, I’m going to look for Julian West—it’s just on the way. Don’t cause me any trouble.”

“You two go together. I’m going to find Logan Sullivan,” Darrin Grant said. “I don’t feel comfortable leaving him alone.”

In human form, Darrin Grant awkwardly walked a few steps, then turned back at the window to remind them, “If the kid doesn’t know his limits, Corpse King, be more tolerant. Be careful—our new office was just acquired and hasn’t even been renovated yet.”

With that, Darrin Grant jumped out the window, disappearing into the night after a couple of flashes.

Logan Sullivan walked in silence. The traumatized underworld messengers didn’t dare approach him; only Holly Harlow followed him closely, no matter what he said.

After passing through the Gates of the Lost and arriving at the Underlord Hall, the Judge was about to lead Logan Sullivan inside when a little ghost suddenly appeared and blocked the way.

Judge frowned.

The little ghost gave a sinister smile and said, “Grandmaster Lord, the Ten Lords of the Underrealm request your presence.”