Chapter 331: Remnant Soul Fragments (2/2)
The inscription in his hand suddenly shone with a bright light. A light that forced away every shadow that had gathered around them. Even the shadows that had gathered around Luoluo vanished.
”We don't know how deep the forest is,” Xue Wei said as he looked into his storage treasure and found that he had another twenty-seven of these illuminating inscriptions.
Although it sounded like a lot, it was not that many considering they were unaware of the length of the forest. Even when walking within it, they did not know if they were walking in circles.
As they continued forward, they found that the shadows had not truly retreated. They were staying outside of the light's circle and were waiting for another chance to return.
”They are likely soul remnants of the ones who died here on the island,” Bai Tianyi said when he looked at the many shadows that were gathering just outside the light's border, but he still felt uncomfortable looking at them.
”The people who died had felt such extreme grief, resentment, anger, or other emotions that even after their death, some of their soul could not be erased, and some of their soul power could not be devoured by the evil spirit.
”As such, the result is that they roam the darkness and try to release the pent up frustrations and emotions that they consist of. If they are angry, they are acting in anger, attacking in the hope of releasing this feeling, if it is hatred, then they wish to destroy the world. It is hard to say what exactly is fueling each of these remnant soul fragments, but it is obvious that they are plentiful. Many have to have died on this island throughout time.”
Xue Wei nodded his head absentmindedly. He was busy looking at Luoluo and ensuring that the shadow that had grasped hold of her earlier was no longer attached, that it had caused no damage to her.
”I think that the fake spirit is right,” she said, not forgetting to insult Bai Tianyi while speaking. ”The remnant soul fragment that latched onto me seems to have been filled with hopelessness. I could feel that it had no intention of attacking me, but wanted me to feel the pain of being abandoned. Feel how it was like to not even be able to fight for my life.”
While thinking back on this, Luoluo shivered slightly, but Xue Wei gently patted her head. ”The mindset might have entered your body and affected your mood,” he said, ”but that does not mean that it will stay. You can erase it easily if you do not let it take control of your feelings.”
Xue Wei did not know about remnant soul fragments before, but he could guess how they worked.
They were fueled by emotions, not to mention some soul power, but they had limited quantities of both.
When the shadows decided to attack, they had to use the soul power they had stored up and kept through all the years of feeling. Sometimes these remnant soul fragments would evolve and start to consume the others, but that mainly happened for the hateful ones.
Although many hateful soul fragments existed on the island, only a handful of them had learned how to cannibalize the others.
Xue Wei looked at the shadows. Before they had seemed just like regular shadows, but now they were moving.
It was as if the outside of their light border was a big black sea. It was as if it was impossible to see through these shadows, and knowing that they had been seen through they did not even attempt to pretend to be a shadow anymore.
Instead they were stacked high on top of one another. Making a big barrier surrounding them, only the light could keep them at bay.
”Let us get moving,” Xue Wei finally said through gritted teeth. He could see that the illuminating inscription on his stone was already starting to diminish, and he knew that although he had quite a few, they might not be able to last all through the forest.
None of the others said anything as they also began moving forward. They were walking in darkness; it was utterly impossible to see which direction they were taking.
Everything had descended into silence; even the group did not speak; all eyes were on the many remnant soul fragments that had surrounded them.
As soon as one illuminating inscription died out, another was turned on. The advancing shadows would retreat once again, and wait, bide their time, for when Xue Wei and his friends ran out of these illuminating inscriptions.
The group continued forward. Although none of them were masters at geography, and although it was impossible for them to see more than a yard in front of them, they had a basic understanding of their own movements and knew that they were more or less walking in a straight line through the forest.
Each illuminating inscription lasted for as long as it took an incense stick to burn. It was not a long time, and the forest was vast. After walking for some time, they had already used ten of the illuminating inscriptions, and there was still no signs out of the forest.
Here and there, they had come across some storage treasures on the ground, and not wanting to be wasteful, Xue Wei had picked them up and placed them in his own storage treasure. He did not have the time to look at them, but he could still gather them for later. Managing the household was not an easy task, and providing these friends with resources was a costly endeavor.
No one commented on this behavior of Xue Wei. They all felt that it was reasonable of him to take the loot. He provided them with items, so they obviously would give all their findings to him.
After twenty of their illuminating inscriptions died out, they finally saw the trees thinning in front of them. The shadows started to diminish in numbers, and the forest seemed less frightening, but something told Xue Wei that this part, although seemingly the most secure place in the forest so far, was the most dangerous one.
Not waiting for the others to stop up and catch their breath, he started walking again, this time at a rapid pace so that the others had almost to run to catch up.