Feng Tian explained that the common understanding is that the human body houses three hun (souls) and seven po (corporeal spirits). If a limb is severed for whatever reason, it might carry away a tiny fragment of the soul—this is what he meant by a severed limb retaining residual soul. Sometimes, people still feel their missing limb after amputation precisely because a part of their spirit remains attached to it.

Of course, it isn't entirely like that, but such instances do occur, and these severed limbs will eventually drift into the "Corners," becoming soul-bound fragments floating in the air.

Kuang Feifan asked again what he meant when he said there wasn't just one type of these Corners.

Feng Tian told him that this was according to his Master. If we used modern, scientific terminology, space overlaps; the Yin world and the Yang world are two distinct spaces. Any space that holds objects forgotten or ignored by people is termed a "Corner."

Kuang Feifan nodded and said, "So, we need to break this space?"

Seeing how calmly he spoke, Feng Tian couldn't help but ask, "What's wrong with you? Your mood was already a bit strange just now; is something amiss?"

Kuang Feifan shook his head. "No, just a bit tired. Suddenly feeling a sense of inexplicable helplessness, like an emptiness inside."

Feng Tian pondered for a moment. "Is it because you’ve been in the darkness too long? Is your psychological tolerance reaching its limit?"

Kuang Feifan tried to smile but couldn't manage it. He steadied his emotions, took a deep breath, and said, "I don't know, but it shouldn't be the limit yet. I can still handle the trouble right in front of us."

To lighten the heavy atmosphere he had created, he asked Feng Tian, "By the way, earlier we saw two people exactly identical to us appear; what could that have been?"

Feng Tian sucked in a sharp breath. "I've been thinking about that too. I was truly shocked when I suddenly saw another figure identical to you appear behind you. Immediately afterward, I felt like my eyes were covered, and even my body started refusing to obey my commands. To be honest, if you hadn't acted then, I would have suffered a significant loss."

Kuang Feifan then voiced the concern that had been quietly worrying him. "I feel like since we entered, only the prayer beads have been effective when dealing with those severed limbs just now. At other times, they seem to have stopped working."

Feng Tian frowned. "That's possible. I suspect it has something to do with us entering this place with our physical bodies directly. If I'm not mistaken, everything we saw just now was merely the direct influence of countless souls, in forms they deemed appropriate, affecting our brain activity, making us believe we saw it all."

Kuang Feifan tilted his head to look at Feng Tian, feeling he resembled a teacher at the lectern just then. He shook his head, deciding not to dwell on these matters. Just as he was about to ask Feng Tian how they could destroy this space, he suddenly felt a rush of cold, sinister wind sweep past him.

Feng Tian also sensed that something was wrong. As the grim wind surged, even the light from their flashlight dimmed.

The two quickly stood up, intending to stand back-to-back to deal with any sudden attack, but before Kuang Feifan could turn, he felt an icy hand settle onto his shoulder. Immediately, a bone-chilling cold invaded every part of his body, every hair stood on end, and an uncontrollable tremor shook him from the deepest part of his core.

Kuang Feifan was greatly alarmed. Without time to warn Feng Tian, he lunged forward without looking back, crashing into Feng Tian, who was standing not far in front of him. He grabbed Feng Tian’s arm and pulled him forward another dozen meters before finally seizing the wrist holding the flashlight and shining it back towards the spot where he had just been standing.

Although it was only a short distance, the flashlight beam failed to illuminate that area. However, it clearly wasn't a problem with the flashlight itself; it seemed as if mist swirled within the beam, causing the light to scatter instead of converge.

Even so, he and Feng Tian could see that right where Kuang Feifan had stood, an identical figure stood there. In the hazy beam of the flashlight, the figure appeared to be enveloped in a layer of ashen mist. Before long, the mist grew thicker, and the shadow gradually receded into it. Its form stretched and twisted upward with the mist before vanishing completely.

"Damn, what was that?" Kuang Feifan asked, startled.

Feng Tian swallowed hard and shook his head. "I don't know. Maybe some kind of shapeshifting ghost?"

Kuang Feifan shot him a side-eye. "Are there things like that?"

Feng Tian shrugged. "The thing is, I have no idea what exists in the 'Corners.' Besides, when the forest is big enough, you find all sorts of creatures. How many ghosts have you ever seen?"

"Hell, I'm seeing ghosts now," Kuang Feifan muttered resentfully.

Suddenly, Feng Tian frowned, gently shook his head, and mused thoughtfully, "Wait, maybe it’s not about ghosts. It’s possible that you were there."

"Can you speak plainly? There are no mirrors here. Am I supposed to be able to split myself?" Kuang Feifan felt utterly confused.

Feng Tian had no choice but to explain. "Did you see the mist around that figure? I suspect there might be something around us capable of influencing the hun, or perhaps that gust of cold wind just now pulled a part of your soul right out of your body. Didn’t it vanish instantly? That figure was a fragment of your soul being sucked out. Didn't you say you felt empty inside? I suspect something drew away a piece of your soul just then, causing you to feel like something was missing."

Kuang Feifan pondered carefully and felt that Feng Tian’s explanation held a sliver of logic. But now he became worried and couldn't help but ask, "Am I in mortal danger?"

Feng Tian hesitated. "It should be fine, probably. If you had stood still just now, maybe. But since you fled, only a very small portion was drawn away—just a tiny bit, not even qualifying as a canhún (residual soul). So there will be an effect, but it shouldn't be life-threatening."

Kuang Feifan instinctively looked around, but the gust of cold wind seemed to have appeared and vanished suddenly; he felt nothing now.

However, he soon realized it wasn't as simple as Feng Tian claimed. Besides the wind, he distinctly felt a hand resting on his shoulder. If it was only his soul fragment being drawn away, how could he have felt that? Moreover, the two identical figures earlier hadn't just appeared; the one identical to Feng Tian had even tried to smash him with a flashlight. That seemed too much for a simple partial soul extraction.

This doubt made Feng Tian concerned as well. It meant that the cold wind might harbor other entities. But since the wind had subsided, the only thing left to do was to quickly find a way to destroy this space.

"We have to find the vehicle first," Feng Tian said, taking a breath.