Ghost Compendium

The sinister wind howled, and the angry sea roared.

Upon entering the dream of the Zodiac Pig, Wu Liang found himself amidst a vast ocean.

In the pitch-black environment, towering waves seemed ready to swamp him to the seabed at any moment.

Fortunately, Wu Liang, using his Nightmare Ability to enter, possessed partial control over the dream, and he soared straight up into the air.

He found himself beneath the dark clouds, observing everything around him.

"Hmm... Dreams are the subconscious visual feedback. It seems this fellow is indeed on the brink — his consciousness is already quite blurred," Wu Liang mused, stroking his chin.

In normal dreams, the dreamer is always at the center of events.

Yet, the disappearance of the Zodiac Pig's presence proved that he was already hovering on the edge of losing himself.

"Hiss... Is that thing an island?" Wu Liang squinted, looking into the distance.

Beneath the dark clouds and lightning, a vague shadow could be seen, suggesting a solid form.

He quickly leaped closer to it.

Upon reaching the shadow, Wu Liang realized that the previously indistinct silhouette was not an island, but a towering giant tree!

Its roots were firmly anchored at the deepest seabed, unyielding, its top pierced through the dark clouds to an unknown height, as if the entire dream world relied on it for support — a magnificent sight.

However, each of its extending branches resembled familiar plastic straws, instantly letting Wu Liang recognize what this thing was.

"This symbolizes spores, right? Well, it's something affecting the Zodiac Pig's consciousness, so let's burn it first."

Snap——

Wu Liang snapped his fingers, a small flame rose from his hand like a lighter being lit.

He tossed the tiny flame casually at the giant tree, and in the menacing darkness, the faint red light disappeared in an instant, seeming as laughably futile as an ant shaking a tree.

Yet, when the small flame touched a straw-like branch, a dazzling red rapidly crept over the entire branch.

Then it spread across the trunk, roots, and crown of the spore tree within visible reach.

"Sizzle! Ah!!"

Under the gloomy ambiance, the spore-laden giant tree emitted a piercing wail that made even the dark clouds appear almost aflame, the once endless trunk gradually burned to ashes.

Suddenly, amid the roaring flames.

Wu Liang saw a humanoid figure, bound and struggling within the flames.

In such an eerie place, only one possibility could explain this humanoid presence — the consciousness of the Zodiac Pig!

"Come out for me!"

A rope of seemingly infinite length materialized in Wu Liang's hand, firmly binding the figure and pulling it out.

At this moment, he couldn't help but marvel — fortunately, in dreams, such scenarios meant he could alter the dream slightly to create impossible things.

Like the small flame earlier and the rope now.

If this were reality, he truly wouldn't know how to face such a colossal thing.

But in dreams, the strength of anything depended solely on the spiritual power that constructed it.

Unluckily for them, his spiritual power was invincible!

As the rope gradually pulled the humanoid figure out, Wu Liang could finally see the state of the Zodiac Pig's consciousness.

"I see... Old Guo, you all misjudged! The Zodiac Pig was never a Polluter!" Wu Liang exclaimed repeatedly in amazement.

Because on the consciousness, he clearly saw a weak Fierce Ghost lying at its heart.

Even though the whole body of the Zodiac Pig had been parasitized by spores sprouting plastic straws, only the heart protected by the Fierce Ghost was still feebly beating, showing no signs of parasitic control.

It wasn't affecting the Zodiac Pig's rationality!

In fact, it was trying its best to protect!

"Indeed, you are symbiotic; if he dies, so do you."

Saying thus, a rusty cleaver materialized in Wu Liang's hand, holding it gave him a familiar feeling, after all, a cleaver was more handily wielded against people!

As he swung the cleaver with immense vigor, the plastic straws on the Zodiac Pig were mostly excised, and in the end, he grabbed the weak symbiotic Fierce Ghost like one would a chick and tossed it aside, looking at the heart, the only safe place.

He thrust the blade in fiercely!

"Unfortunately, as a Fierce Ghost, you seem to lack enough brains... The source of the spores was actually right where you were desperately protecting!"

With a light flick of the cleaver,

Crimson-black internal organ blood shot up in a straight line, accompanied by a maleficent transparent seed!

"Hoooa!"

The Zodiac Pig, whose eyes had been tightly shut, suddenly drew a deep breath, as if having been submerged without air resurfaced at last, the moment after enduring an overwhelming lack of oxygen only to witness the light again, his body instinctively gulped for air.

Watching the Zodiac Pig's consciousness awaken, Wu Liang cast a glance at the Fierce Ghost beside him, then his figure slowly faded from the dream world.

In reality — he removed the Nightmare Mask he was wearing.

The Zodiac Pig, previously lying limply on the bed muttering to himself "Kill me," gradually had his eyes clear from being cloudy, looking around the environment in bewilderment.

"Hiss... You...who are you?"

"Welcome to Hell, I'm Satan, and you're already dead," Wu Liang joked casually.

"Huh?" The Zodiac Pig was now more bewildered.

"Just kidding, this place is even harsher than Hell — this is reality."

At this point, the Zodiac Pig finally seemed to come around completely, rubbing his head and looking at the now-dismissed plastic straws that had fallen off him, attempting to stand.

However, prolonged bed rest had weakened his muscles, making them unable to support standing, his legs buckled almost causing him to collapse.

Seeing this, Wu Liang hurriedly stepped in to support him, saying, "Buddy, I went through a lot of trouble to save you, not to let you fall and kill yourself. If you're contemplating suicide, I have a knife."

As he said so, he actually pulled out a cleaver from his pocket and waved it.

"Cough, cough... No thanks, who are you anyway? How do you know me?"

The Zodiac Pig tried to sort out the bewildering information.

After all, the one who saved him was a stranger, and he wasn't even aware of where he was.

Wu Liang briefly explained his identity as an official Symbiont from Chengyang City.

He mentioned that Minister Long had sent him to the Capital City to find him and pointed out the return of the "Promised Land."

Upon arriving at this point, Wu Liang said with a hint of sarcasm, "You lost your rationality not because of using your ability to the limit and being backlashed by a Fierce Ghost, wasn't it?"

This was the explanation Professor Guo provided at that time.

The officials also decided to classify the Zodiac Pig as a Polluter and began strictly controlling his movements.

But the reality was definitely not so!

In the dream, the symbiotic Fierce Ghost was protecting the Zodiac Pig's last awareness from being affected by the Life Diffusion Spores.

Combined with the time point when the Zodiac Pig lost his rationality after participating in the extermination mission,

Wu Liang deduced — he had been implanted with the Life Diffusion Spores during the extermination mission!

But thanks to the Fierce Ghost's support, he lasted a full two years before the effects completely exploded into the current situation!

"I see... You want to know about the situation back then with the "Promised Land," right? Yes, I devised the actions at that time and marked all known members of the "Promised Land,"" the Zodiac Pig said honestly.

Yet, as soon as he finished speaking, a bizarre plastic straw spore suddenly grew from the position of his heart...