Chapter 38 - Disconnected

Chapter 38 Disconnected

The corpse was breathing. It was as though he took a still at the edge of the afterlife before returning to the human world again.

All the black-robed cultists in the room looked at the man, stunned at the sight of him breathing again. Some of them didn’t even realize that he had actually “died” just now. The shift from life to death and back was so brief that it was hard to tell if one didn’t look closely. They simply felt their dying “comrade’s” breath suddenly become stable and energetic again. It made them feel astonished.

The next second, the man lying on the ground opened his eyes.

It seemed that he had stayed in the dark for too long, to the point that the dim light from the flickering oil lamp dazzled his eyes. He blinked as he tried to adapt to the light. Then, his eyeballs slowly started turning as he seemed just to notice the three black-robed cultists coming closer to him.

“All hail the lord!” A younger cultist finally regained his senses and started exclaiming, “You survived! I thought you were going to…”

“Hold on! No! Get back!” The cultist, with a deep voice, suddenly realized something. He stretched his arm out and blocked the others, then looked at the man who had just awoken with cautious eyes. As he slowly stepped backward, he said with a threatening tone, “His breathing stopped completely just now, I am sure of it… Something isn’t right!”

Duncan finally got used to the environment around him, and the noise that sounded like tinnitus started to fade away from his mind. He looked at the people surrounding him. The first question that came to mind was — Why still these people? Why is he still in the sewers?

Spirit World Walking should be completely random. When he picked his target, he had been choosing based on instinct with no logic. Yet somehow, both times when he opened his eyes, he ended up amid these cultists. What kind of sinful bond did he have with these people?

However, the next moment, he realized something wasn’t right based on the reaction of the people around him. Then, he noticed the black robe that he was wearing.

Duncan went silent for two seconds, then understood what was going on.

Last time, he was the sacrifice that the cultists were sacrificing. Then, he closed and opened his eyes. Now he is a cultist himself.

He really had some strange bond with these people.

“Something isn’t right!”

Just then, a hostile, deep voice snapped Duncan’s brain out of its chaotic state after waking up. He looked toward where the voice was coming from and met a cold, highly alarmed gaze.

The man was looking at him coldly. Beside him, two other black-robed cultists realized what was happening and backed off as they changed into an on-guard stance.

Duncan was startled for a moment. He suddenly realized he might have possessed a corpse just like he did last time.

He just revived a corpse in front of these cultists!

After understanding the situation at hand, the nervous reactions of these cultists made complete sense to him. Duncan’s brain started working at full throttle. He could feel the lingering numbness in his body. It was difficult for him to move right now. It seemed pretty difficult for him to make any big movements right under the noses of these cultists. He needed to figure out a way to calm these people down first. Just as he tried his best to think of a solution, fragments of vague, blurry memories started to appear in his mind!

In those fragmented memories, he suddenly “remembered” many experiences that didn’t belong to him. Duncan remembered how “he” hid in the sewers. He remembered how “he” offered his money to the emissary of the Sun. He remembered how “he” participated in the cult’s dark, insane, and bloody rituals to cure his illness. “He” drank the blood of someone innocent in exchange for the “blessings of the

sun.”

At the end of a string of chaotic memories, he “saw” the scene of the sacrificial ritual. He saw many people wearing the same robe as him, standing beside the tall altar. The young sacrifice was pushed up the platform. The young sacrifice had a strange, stiff expression on his face and threw the entire ritual into chaos…

He saw the ’emissary of the Sun” being sacrificed for his heart, and everyone around the altar went insane. The followers of the cult started killing each other as roaring flames flowed out from the Sun totem. Yells of anger and eerie mumbles filled the gathering place. The original owner of this body ran away with several other followers…

Duncan didn’t know how long he was in a daze. Perhaps it was only an instant. The turbulent memories calmed down once again. A pathetic yet detestable life turned into a string of pale fragments in his mind. They became a sort of “nutrient” at the bottom of his heart, ready for him to read at any time.

These were the memories of the original owner of this body, it wasn’t much, but there was no doubt about its origin.

Duncan blinked. This new development didn’t happen during his previous Spirit World Walk.

Previously, he didn’t get any memory of the corpse he possessed. The “sacrifice” had a completely empty brain… Why did such a change happen this time?

Is it because the body that he possessed is still “fresh”? Or is it because “Ai,” the pigeon, amplified the power of the brass compass? Duncan slowly sat up from the ground. He didn’t know the reason behind these changes, but this wasn’t a good time to space off. These nervous cultists had definitely noticed something wrong with how he “revived” from death.

As Duncan sat up, all three cultists took half a step backward. Then, the black-robed man with a deep voice put his hand at his waist and broke the silence. “Don’t move. Tell me, what’s your name?”

“… Ron,” Duncan recalled for a brief moment, then naturally said the name he had just learned from the memories. “Ron Strain.”

“His name is Ron,” a young cultist standing opposite him immediately said with a hushed voice to the deep-voiced man who was their de facto leader now.

But the deep-voiced man didn’t let down his guard at all. He continued staring at Duncan unmovingly. Then, he started chanting in an odd accent and tone, “In the name of the Sun, may the Lord’s brilliance shine upon the world. In the name of the Sun, may the Lord’s blessings descend!”

Duncan was startled by the cultist who suddenly started acting like an insane man. Then, he felt a scorching heat on his chest. He subconsciously reached into his robe to grab the thing that was giving off the heat under his clothes. He saw a golden sun talisman. Strange waves of heat were coming off the surface of the talisman!

The next moment, the talisman burst into intense flames. The flame seemed full of malice as it pounced toward Duncan’s heart!

“The light of the Lord is burning him!” Upon seeing what was happening, the cultist chanting the strange prayer immediately realized what was happening. He drew the short blade from his waist and called out, “His soul was swapped! Kill this filthy, blasphemous creature!”

The other two cultists were slightly slower, but they reacted soon. One moment, they thought that Duncan was a “comrade.” The next moment, they drew their daggers and swords and pounced toward him as they yelled, “Kill him!!”

Duncan grabbed the sun talisman burning violently as he watched the three figures pounce toward him. The next second, another shadow appeared at the corners of his eyes!

An undead bird, covered in ghostly green flames and looking like a spirit, tore through the air. It flew across the roof with cold flames and let out a strange, sharp scream. As its wings flapped, formless ashes and fragments of feathers fell from it.

Of course, the “undead bird” also attracted the attention of the three cultists. They subconsciously looked up at “Ai,” who was in its astral form.

The next moment, their movements slowed down as though their connection to the real world suddenly became far away and slow. The three blacked robe men’s bodies moved like a laggy, low-framerate animation, leaving afterimages in the air. They landed on the ground with movements so slow that it was almost whimsical, then finally came to a halt about two meters in front of Duncan.

Their eyes were filled with intense shock and fear as they watched the undead bird circle on the roof before landing on the black-robed “comrade” in front of them. They watched the sun talisman burn in the man’s hand. But the next moment, the golden burning flames turned into a ghostly green color, the same color as the flame on the undead bird.

Duncan squeezed the sun talisman in his palm. Strands of green spirit flames coiled on the surface of the talisman. Flames shot out of the talisman and circled in front of him before stopping like a little pet. It slowly resolved around his arm as though it was trying to please Duncan.

Duncan held the sun talisman that was now wholly modified and controlled by him. He walked toward the three cultists calmly and casually. He looked into their shocked eyes and said regretfully, “It would have been so much better if you just pretended that you didn’t notice anything.” The next moment, the figures of the three cultists started to flicker vigorously in the air. Then, they vanished.

The undead bird, surrounded by green flames and almost like a skeleton, hopped a few times on Duncan’s shoulder. It let out a sharp and hoarse chirp in between the tackling of the flames. “Oops, this page had disappeared. Would you like to refresh it?”.