But a fox was indeed a fox. Its innate ability wasn't that simple. Even though Li Ke's soul had been constantly pushed forward by his power, and he had engaged in countless soul battles with Yatokus, his memories were still invaded by the hungry fox that Little Tanuki had transformed into.
However, Li Ke's soul was rather special. His constantly evolving soul was constantly emitting powerful soul power, so just by getting close to Li Ke, Little Tanuki's breath brought it the energy of more than a dozen human souls, making it fall into a strong sense of satiety that it had never felt before. After all, due to Little Tanuki's self-restraint, as soon as it ran to a gathering point with enough power and absorbed the power of a human, Little Tanuki's rationality and consciousness would begin to recover, so it could only helplessly stop eating. And this special characteristic of Li Ke attracted it, making it hunt Li Ke regardless of the oppression on its soul. It was because this greedy predator clearly knew that as long as it took a bite of Li Ke's soul, it would be able to obtain unparalleled power.
At that time, the whole world would be its hunting ground.
Because the power of the souls of more than a dozen humans was just the 'residue' that Li Ke's soul unconsciously repelled. As a greedy predator, of course, it wouldn't let go of the most delicious part of the soul, which was the human soul and memories. It opened its mouth and used its power. But what greeted this hungry fox was not only the delicious power of Li Ke's body, but also countless painful memories that it couldn't bear at all.
And darkness.
When it sucked the memories, it wouldn't suck the most beautiful memory last like Little Tanuki did. It would give the soul with the last bit of warmth so that the other party could hold on to the memory for a while longer. It would only suck the most profound memory first and experience it because it was a predator. Generally speaking, what could make a human have the deepest memories were only happy things. Although there were also painful memories, they wouldn't be remembered too much.
But Li Ke was different. The memories that the predator explored were a mixture of his and Yatokus' memories.
Darkness, endless darkness. It couldn't move, couldn't perceive, and could only stare blankly at the darkness.
These incomparably deep memories that contained strong emotions were uncontrollably devoured by the predator, causing its soul to empathize with it. It began to hate this darkness, causing it to strive to escape from this endless darkness. It didn't know how many years had passed in this darkness. It only knew that in this darkness, the emotions it felt were ever-changing. It had never felt such souls and emotions before. If other people's souls were like a river with large and small waves, they were still very regular, then the emotions in this endless darkness were like memories.
It was like a tsunami.
It was like a powerless child being constantly thrown tens of thousands of meters into the sky by God, and then pressed down tens of thousands of meters into the bottom of the sea in the next second. This kind of impact and turbulence was something that its simple soul couldn't resist and bear. No one cared when it cried, and howling was useless. Its hatred and curses were only for itself to hear, to make it feel humble and powerless. Running madly was only to make it feel despair. Everything in the darkness was so terrifying, as if someone could destroy it at any time, but it still didn't know.
It knew that this was the personal experience of the owner of this memory, something that the owner of this memory had experienced before. And what should have been food had become the deepest poison, destroying its soul. It could no longer tell whether it was a predator that devoured souls and memories, or a prisoner imprisoned in the endless darkness. It began to suspect that the hatred and fear were its own emotions, and that the memories of the predator were just delusions that it had when it was driven mad by the darkness. It was just a prisoner that was eternally imprisoned in the darkness.
It began to gradually forget everything about itself, forget its life, and let its consciousness and soul continue to fall into the darkness. Just like it had done countless times in this darkness, it forgot the scenes and images in its delusions, allowing itself to recover 'its own consciousness'. And once it did so, it would undoubtedly be killed by itself and completely become the carrier of this memory. It would forever think that it was a prisoner trapped in the darkness, and its consciousness would disappear.
And just when its consciousness was about to be driven mad by this dark memory and collapse, a pair of warm hands reached out to it. A pair of warm hands caught it as it continued to fall in the darkness, allowing it to once again experience the safety of having its feet firmly planted on the ground. Li Ke finally found the fox that devoured its soul, the predator of its soul, a hunter that was almost killed because its prey was too strong.
"This memory belongs to Yatoku … and his dark memory is not something you can pry into now, Ah-Li."
The calm tone of reproach was undoubtedly like a clear spring in the desert in this empty and silent darkness. Ah-Li, who was about to collapse, directly hugged Li Ke's shoulder and stuck her soul and consciousness to Li Ke. When she felt the majestic power in his body, she was worried and doubtful, afraid that the Li Ke she saw was another one of her delusions to escape the darkness.
"You … aren't an illusion?"
The predator asked pitifully, still hugging Li Ke tightly. She didn't dare to let go at all, nor did she dare to look at Li Ke. She was afraid that once she opened her eyes, she would only see the endless darkness again. This intoxicating warmth and peace of mind was just her own fantasy of darkness and emptiness.
"No, I am a person who truly exists in this world, and the darkness you experience is not your memory. You are just a little fox who stole rice, but fell into the rice jar because you were too greedy. In the end, you couldn't climb out."
Li Ke couldn't help laughing. He just thought that some ambitious person had come to cause trouble, but in the end, he found that it was Ah-Li, who existed in his memory and was eroded by Yatoku's memory. And at a glance, he knew that she wanted to see his memory, but in the end, she got herself into trouble. This kind of behavior of going for wool and coming home shorn really made him feel funny, but he was also helpless.
After all, when he faced the darkness that Yatoku once experienced, he almost fell into the endless darkness and lost himself.
"When I stole rice, I wouldn't fall into the rice jar! I wouldn't be unable to climb out! I tried … … "
Although she still suspected that Li Ke was her own fantasy, Ah-Li still couldn't stand such slander, so she opened her eyes and looked at the guy who slandered her. She was also prepared to see darkness, but she thought too much. Although what she saw was still the same monotonous scenery, it was no longer darkness. Instead, it was a snowfield with countless goose feathers floating in the air. The dark emotions that made her unable to recognize herself had also disappeared. Instead, it was replaced by a feeling of joy that made her want to cry.
Tears of fear and tears of gratitude flowed down at the same time. She finally understood that she was very lucky not to be a prisoner imprisoned by the darkness, but an unrelated person.
"This is the scene I saw on the first day of freedom from slavery. It is also the happiest day of my life so far."
Looking at the little fox who almost died trying to steal rice, Li Ke looked at the fluttering wind and snow, as well as the barren land. With his back facing the snowflakes, he revealed a smile.
"Isn't it beautiful?"
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