Xiang Mantang found paper and a pen, only to realize that the words of the black shadow were becoming increasingly blurry in his mind, as if he was about to forget them completely.
This hazy feeling made Xiang Mantang feel urgent.
Not to mention Mu Jinyu's awakening method, he had to remember, even the black shadow's family letter. With his reputation for keeping promises, as long as the black shadow had not deceived him, he would certainly try his best to deliver it.
Once forgotten, how could he handle that?
Thus, Xiang Mantang quickly clenched the pen and began to write Mu Jinyu's waking method on the paper.
Soon after he finished writing, Xiang Mantang saw no change occur, and the tension in his heart dissipated significantly.
During the writing process, Xiang Mantang also wondered, what if this memory blurring was a trap left intentionally by the black shadow, meant to make him write it down?
Or perhaps, the memory blurring wasn't caused by the black shadow's mischief, but the information it left had severe issues, and the will of the world didn't allow it to emerge, thus leading to these results?
Xiang Mantang wasn't quite sure, but since it concerned the method for Mu Jinyu's awakening, he ultimately gritted his teeth and wrote it down reluctantly.
Now, seeing that everything was fine, Xiang Mantang realized that the memory of the family letter the black shadow had asked him to deliver was fading even more.
He hurriedly picked up the pen and continued writing.
While Xiang Mantang wrote, he failed to notice that his surroundings were gradually changing.
Streams of black smoke and clusters of purple-black flames rose quietly around him as he wrote.
And within this shadow and gloomy fire, one could faintly discern a human-shaped black shadow, continuously condensing its form.
It was becoming clearer.
At this moment, deep into the night with everybody else asleep, Xiang Mantang, preoccupied by the blurring of his memories, desperately kept recalling and writing, completely oblivious to this change.
After a long while,
Xiang Mantang finally managed to write out an ordinary family letter from his memory.
"Phew..."
Xiang Mantang threw down the pen, feeling that he could finally breathe a sigh of relief.
But then he looked down at the paper, and his expression suddenly changed drastically.
The densely written text he had originally penned was now beginning to twist and change on its own,
rearranging itself into a new string of text.
This was a kind of text Xiang Mantang originally couldn't understand, yet oddly, he could vaguely make out the general meaning of the words.
"I am willing for my life to be the price, to release… eternal disaster, the Tide of Chaos… from now on, to become the vessel of the adult, I am willing to bear this sin…"
The text hadn't fully formed yet, but from just this short segment, Xiang Mantang knew it was a bizarre contract.
In the end, he had still been calculated by the black shadow.
"Tss!"
Xiang Mantang reacted and hurriedly reached out to tear the paper.
But it was useless, he couldn't tear the paper at all.
It seemed that with the appearance of that contract, the initially fragile paper now contained a terrifying power, indestructible!
"Tss, tss, tss…"
At that moment, Xiang Mantang heard the sound of crackling flames and felt a sinking feeling in his heart. He forcefully tore at the paper while turning around swiftly to look behind him.
He then saw that unknowingly, a boundless dark blue haze had appeared behind him, along with clusters of rising purple-black ghostly flames. And within this terrifying demonic atmosphere, a nearly two-meter-tall black shadow now stood behind him.
What made Xiang Mantang's heart sink even more was the fact that the black shadow was standing exactly where his own shadow should be, while his shadow was nowhere to be seen, as if it had been devoured by the black shadow.
"Is it you?!"
Xiang Mantang immediately recognized that this dark shadow was the person trapped in the Sea of Fire within Paradise Lost, unable to move beneath the White Bone Tree.
The shadow didn't speak, but as soon as Xiang Mantang noticed it, it began to reach out, pressing its hand toward Xiang Mantang's shoulder.
Xian Mantang's complexion changed drastically, and he stopped tearing the contract papers, quickly swaying his body while stepping forward, trying to leave the place.
But in the end, he despaired to find that no matter how he tried to escape, the shadow had already completely merged with his own shadow, and he couldn't shake the other off.
In the end, all he could do was watch helplessly as the shadow pressed its arms heavily onto his shoulders.
Then, it began to prepare to surge into his body...
"This is..." Xiang Mantang's forehead broke out in a cold sweat, watching the shadow's movements, thinking of the words written on the contract papers, the vessel that would host it...
"Damn it!!!" Xiang Mantang was filled with hatred, not knowing what destruction the shadow would cause to the world once it merged into his body. He began to regret taking chances.
He should have committed suicide right away in Paradise Lost when he realized something was wrong, or he should never have trusted the devil's words from the start, which led to such changes now.
Xiang Mantang tried to commit suicide but found it was too late; his entire body was tensed and rigid, entirely not his own, preventing him from even moving a finger.
"Damn it, damn it!!"
Xiang Mantang cursed inwardly.
Afterward, he noticed his consciousness gradually blurring.
Xiang Mantang knew this must be the shadow surging into his body.
"Senior brother, I don't know if the method left by this demon can awaken you... Unfortunately, there's no chance to try..."
Xiang Mantang's consciousness completely collapsed, this final thought emerging in his mind.
And then, Xiang Mantang's will was completely suppressed.
"Xiang Mantang" just stood there on the street, motionless.
The contract paper he was originally holding, having taken effect, spontaneously combusted into ashes, which dispersed with the wind!
Who knows how much time had passed.
"Xiang Mantang" suddenly opened his eyes, his pupils initially blood-red, just like those of the shadow he saw in the Sea of Fire world.
But soon, the bloody color of those eyes faded like a receding tide, vanishing.
"I... am finally out again..."
"Xiang Mantang" spoke, his initial words harsh and raspy, like fingernails scraping across a chalkboard, but by the end, his voice was normal, indistinguishable from how Xiang Mantang had once spoken.
However, if someone familiar were listening, they could discern the difference, for Xiang Mantang's voice was cold, carrying a murderous aura, like a sword drawn from its sheath, whereas this "Xiang Mantang's" voice contained no emotion, as if it were that of a robot.
"Boom!"
As "Xiang Mantang" began to speak, waves of dark blue haze began to ooze from his body, dispersing into the surrounding town in all directions.
In no time at all, it had filled the entire town.
"Sss, sss, sss!!"
With the siege of darkness, the buildings in the town seemed to age instantaneously, starting with mold growth, then plaster peeling off, followed by a release of a foul smell, and finally the walls collapsed and weathered...
And the people who were sleeping inside, in the midst of pleasant dreams, quickly decayed, turning into mere piles of stark white bones!
Naturally, there were also those who were not asleep, people working overtime at night, and security guards on watch, all of whom noticed something was wrong.
But when they saw this bizarre situation, they couldn't shout for help or escape, and ultimately, they all died in despair.