In the next instant, Eros felt his vision blur. By the time his sight returned, he was standing before a desolate and lonely world.
An ashen sky drifted with eerie, ashen mist, and from the ashen ground grew inverted, ashen plants. Occasionally, eerie giggles and whispers floated through the air, making the world appear both grotesque and absurd.
Looking at the plants whose crowns were buried in the soil and whose roots reached for the sky, and listening to the waves of bizarre whispers in his ears:
"Got any money?" "Got a partner?" "Single since birth, right?" "Usually just use your hands, don't you?"
Ignoring these mutterings, Eros remarked with a hint of wonder, "So, this is the Spirit Realm?"
Suddenly, as if perceiving something, the echoing waves of whispers stopped abruptly. In the next second, over a dozen gray phantoms leaped out from the buried tree crowns and, without a moment's hesitation, bolted away.
Within two seconds, the gray phantoms had vanished without a trace. The surroundings instantly fell into a deathly silence; there wasn't a single eerie whisper left.
Eros's mouth twitched slightly. Is it really this ridiculous?
He turned to Barbara beside him and asked with a bit of a headache, "What do we do now? If the Weird Things don't even dare to come near us, how are we supposed to catch one?"
Barbara’s small face was also filled with conflict. After a while, she said helplessly, "Let's walk further ahead and see."
Thus, Eros followed Barbara through the Spirit Realm for some distance. The result was consistent: wherever Eros went, the Weird Things scattered in terror, not daring to delay for a second or even look back.
After walking a bit further, Eros stopped, feeling quite helpless. "How are we supposed to catch them? They run too fast!"
Barbara thought for a moment and said to Eros, "Wait for me here."
With that, Barbara flew off alone. Watching her receding back, Eros leaped onto the exposed roots of a tree, sitting down to idly scan the surroundings. Suddenly, a dilapidated building in the far distance to his left caught his eye. There are actually buildings in the Spirit Realm?
Though curious, he didn't go to investigate immediately, as he had to wait for Barbara.
After about half an hour, Barbara’s figure appeared at the edge of Eros’s vision, seemingly dragging something behind her. As she drew closer, Eros finally saw what it was.
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It was a Weird Thing that consisted of a head with two legs growing directly out of it. Currently, it was being dragged behind Barbara by a tentacle of shadow. Seeing this, Eros instantly understood Barbara’s plan—she intended to catch one for him to turn into a Profane Spark. Given his current situation, this seemed to be the only way.
Without hesitation, Eros jumped down from the roots and moved to meet her.
When they were close enough, the Weird Thing tied behind Barbara clearly sensed something and let out a shrill, piercing scream. Its two legs kicked desperately at the ground, struggling with all its might to avoid getting any closer to Eros.
Barbara frowned. The shadow tentacle gripped in her jade-like hand tightened, and she forced the creature forward with sheer strength. The Weird Thing was clearly no match for Barbara's power, but it refused to give up, kicking more and more violently as the distance closed.
Its two legs even carved long furrows into the ashen ground. Finally, Barbara managed to drag and pull the creature right in front of Eros.
Eros was about to speak when the Weird Thing let out one last sharp wail—and then it exploded! It had quite literally been scared to death.
Eros: "..." Barbara: "..."
Eros gave a bitter smile. "I didn't expect that the Weird Things others avoid like the plague would be the hardest things for me to obtain."
Barbara remained silent for a while before saying softly, "There will be a way."
Eros shook his head and laughed softly. "Forget it, let's not obsess over this for now. We can think of something else when we get back. I spotted a building over there; let's go check it out."
"Okay," Barbara replied quietly. However, her mood was clearly dampened; Eros’s inability to obtain a Weird Thing was evidently causing her great concern.
Eros, on the other hand, maintained a relaxed expression. He knew that worrying served no purpose other than ruining his mood. On the way, he asked Barbara curiously:
"Why are there buildings in the Spirit Realm? Do the Weird Things actually build things?"
Barbara shook her head and explained, "Many things that people in the outside world are too lazy to deal with get thrown into the Spirit Realm. Most of the buildings here come from that."
Hearing this, Eros couldn't help but comment, "The Spirit Realm feels like a giant trash heap."
Barbara nodded in agreement.
Before long, Eros arrived near the building. Looking at the pointed roof, he said with surprise, "Is this a cathedral?"
It is common knowledge that one should never rashly enter an unfamiliar cathedral in the wild, as you might end up being targeted by some unknown entity. Thus, Eros initially just observed it from the outside.
But as he looked, a strange sense of familiarity washed over him, as if he had seen something similar before.
"This is the Master's cathedral," Barbara suddenly spoke up after observing it for a moment.
"Huh?" Eros was stunned. His own ancestor’s cathedral?
No wonder it felt familiar. Although the style was different from the one in his own Shadow Realm, the details shared many similarities. Without further hesitation, Eros prepared to go inside. An unfamiliar cathedral was off-limits, but his ancestor's was a different story.
Since the cathedral doors had long since rotted away, Eros entered easily. Upon seeing the interior, he couldn't help but feel a sense of melancholy.
The cathedral might have once been magnificent and solemn, but now it was utterly dilapidated. The ancient stone walls were covered in mottled marks, like the tear stains of time. On the vaulted ceiling, the paint had peeled away to reveal the brickwork beneath, looking exceptionally desolate.
The stained glass in the windows was shattered, and the murals on the walls were blurred beyond recognition. The entire cathedral was filled with a scent of decay, as if time had stood still here for an eternity.