By the river bank, Xu Zhifei spoke, and Bai Yanliang listened.

"Memory is a key that can unlock the intellect from chaos."

"That unique human-shaped creature that stored Meng Zhen's memory surpassed the lifespan limits of its clan, and its appearance became increasingly clear and more... human-like."

"Then one day, as Meng Zhen continued talking to it, she noticed that this strange life form from the Fog Realm had grown a complete and distinct human face."

The story reached this point as told by Xu Zhifei, and emotions suddenly shifted.

Xu Zhifei said that the face that emerged on the Fog Realm creature somewhat resembled Meng Zhen but was not exactly like her. It stared eerily at Meng Zhen and suddenly let out a strange and piercing scream.

Then…

"Mom!"

A childish voice came from the front.

Meng Zhen was taken aback at first. Looking down, she saw the distorted and blurry human shape in front of her, its outer "skin" was cracking open, revealing a slippery and sticky lifeform inside.

It bore a strong resemblance to a human infant, but it was clearly not the same kind of creature, as its eyes held a definite emotion. This was a monster born with memories, by no means an ignorant infant.

"Mom! Mom! Mommy, mommy!" The monster, storing part of Meng Zhen's memory, excitedly flopped beside her, reaching out with sticky hands to tug at her clothes, while opening its mouth to call out in a piercing yet affectionate manner.

Meng Zhen was dumbfounded.

She was indeed pregnant, but the child in her belly had not yet been born; instead, a life from the Fog Realm had been "nurtured" first.

It really did resemble a human, yet Meng Zhen knew clearly it wasn't human at all.

And just as it was born and called out 'mom', the other previously aimless "human shapes" on the Mother Tree, who only knew how to crawl around, suddenly became like sharks that smelled blood and all rushed towards Meng Zhen.

Meng Zhen collapsed to the ground, and at this time, the creature calling 'mom' showed no hesitation, its body was expanding and its eyes flashed with bloodthirsty light, also charging at the surrounding human shapes with dazzling speed.

Meng Zhen could only vaguely see, from its mouth extended an eerie blood-hued appendage that drank clean the life out of those human shapes around once it pierced them.

"Mom!"

The joy of narrowly escaping death instantly solidified.

Meng Zhen looked at it; it was squatting in front of her, looking somewhat confused, puzzled even, as if it couldn't understand why, after helping 'mom' resolve the difficulty, she still appeared so frightened.

"At this moment, a voice appeared," Xu Zhifei said, "It was Zhou Tian who found a way to project his consciousness into the Fog Realm."

Bai Yanliang was quite surprised; so, implying that while Zhou Tian couldn't personally enter the Fog Realm to bring Meng Zhen back, he had actually located Meng Zhen very early on and even accompanied her for a long time.

"Next, I'll tell you the most important memory Meng Zhen left me."

Xu Zhifei gave Bai Yanliang a deep look:

"This memory also relates to where the real you came from."

Bai Yanliang gently nodded; he was already prepared.

————

"Meng Zhen, did it really change from those things?"

Zhou Tian's voice echoed in the heart. Since that day, Meng Zhen had often been able to hear Zhou Tian's voice.

According to Zhou Tian himself, he had found a way to communicate between the Fog Realm and the Human World, but he temporarily couldn't physically enter; he could only project his consciousness.

"It wasn't a change but something I nurtured." Meng Zhen frowned, not liking Zhou Tian's choice of words.

"Nurtured?" Zhou Tian's voice sounded odd.

"Yes, I stored part of my memories in one of these human-shaped outlines, and from then on it began to change and turned into this."

"So, it was nurtured by me, no doubt."

Zhou Tian fell silent for a while, his voice carrying a hint of seriousness: "I think not so."

"What do you mean?" Meng Zhen's emotions seemed unstable.

"If it were merely a life born from a human-shaped outline of the Fog Realm, then why does it feed on these human shapes, have you seen... these human shapes are more like food to it than its clan."

Zhou Tian paused, "It is practically the bane of the Fog Realm's life."

At this moment, Meng Zhen happened to look up and saw it greedily staring at the Fog Realm's human-shaped outlines crawling on the tree trunk, its tongue with a mouthpart licking its lips.

That gaze... was indeed one of appetite.

In fact, an appetite so terrifying.

"What on earth are you trying to say?" Meng Zhen trembled slightly, yet, in her heart, there was already a vague answer.

"You've been studying the Fog Realm with me, the life forms of the Fog Realm. You and I are well aware of how the life of the Fog Realm came to be." Zhou Tian's life echoed in Meng Zhen's heart.

"Rather than saying this monster is the nemesis of the Fog Realm's life, it would be more accurate to say it is the nemesis of human souls."

"Fog Realm life is just the residue nurtured by the overflow of human Emotion."

"What it truly likes, craves... is humanity itself."

"Look at the glance it sometimes gives you... Meng Zhen, while it still listens to you, you must not let it continue eating."

As they spoke, the creature once again lunged at the Mother Tree, using its tongue appendage to consume all the life forms of the Fog Realm. No screams were heard from these human shapes, no wailing.

But the world seemed to echo with a silence called despair.

It licked its lips, quickly darting back.

Its appearance became more inconceivably bizarre, its face sometimes resembling Meng Zhen, sometimes Zhou Tian, sometimes other people from Meng Zhen's memories, with its neck downward, all its skin and flesh writhing, occasionally shifting to another person's features, expressions mingling with laughter, crying, mourning, or joy beyond the reach of words.

"Mom, I'm full!" It returned to Meng Zhen's side, satisfied, with its terrifying aura spreading in all directions, making Meng Zhen shiver.

At this moment, Meng Zhen was conversing with Zhou Tian about "it."

She had to admit, Zhou Tian made a valid point: even though this creature called her 'mom,' its aura of danger was intolerable.

The feeling extending from it ignored physicality entirely, penetrating inward to the spirit, as if from Purgatory, full of bloody savagery, causing Meng Zhen to instinctively generate some terrifying, painful, chaotic negative emotions, completely uncontrollable.

"Meng Zhen, listen to me, the only way now... is to stop it while it still calls you mom, while it still listens to you."

"Smother it in the cradle; this creature's existence is an existential threat to humanity."

Meng Zhen wavered, no... more precisely, she was afraid.

"How... how do I do it?"

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