"Cough, cough... Oh... It hurts!"

He Zhan groggily woke up, opened his eyes, and found himself in a completely unfamiliar room. The interior decor was diverse, with minimalist furniture in front and ancient-style decorations in the back, occasionally interspersed with old-fashioned items from the seventies and eighties.

Where is this place?

His last memory was of Wu Liang rushing to the battlefield to save him at the very moment.

"Awake? How are you feeling? Are you still alive?"

Just as he thought of Wu Liang, that familiar cheeky voice rang out from outside the door.

Soon, the yawning teenager pushed the door open and walked in, without a trace of victory's joy on his face.

Seeing him like this made He Zhan's heart skip a beat. He didn't even first check the extra blood eyes on his body but immediately flipped off the bed and asked, "The ghost... Did the ghost escape? Is it still possible to chase it now?"

Listening to the urgent tone of the other, Wu Liang sighed and said, "No, the supernatural incident has been resolved, the Lost Realm can never return to our world, and even millions of the supernatural infected have mostly returned to normal. Only a few of those initially affected have had their souls dissipate, and the number of sacrifices is within an acceptable range."

His words instantly relieved He Zhan.

After all, the ultimate goal of this mission was to exorcize the last City-annihilating Ghost of the Lost Realm.

Now, having rescued most of the victims too, one could say the task was accomplished overwhelmingly!

Even if Wu Liang were again called both an official and people's hero, it wouldn't be too much!

"Huh? Then why do you still have a face like you stepped on dog poop?" He Zhan asked in confusion.

Logically, even if he didn't care about the people, he shouldn't be showing such an expression after exorcizing the Fierce Ghost, right?

"Well... Let's not talk about this now. Is your body okay?" Wu Liang didn't answer this question, but instead asked about his physical condition.

The topic was dragged back to He Zhan himself. Only then did he lift his shirt to check those sinister blood eyes.

He carefully counted that about twenty blood eyes had grown from his body. His Awakened Ability could no longer be called Palm Eye since now his body was covered with eerie blood eyes.

But noticing the number of blood eyes, He Zhan showed a complicated expression as he turned to Wu Liang and said extremely helplessly, "You saved me again, didn't you? What kind of price did you pay?"

He was well aware of his Awakened Ability.

From the moment he swallowed the Palm Eye, his body would continue to grow blood eyes to suppress abilities until his Life Force was completely exhausted.

In other words, the growth of twenty blood eyes used up He Zhan's Life Force entirely. When he closed his eyes and fell asleep, it was, in a sense, already death.

The fact he could wake up now was similar to the miracle where he inexplicably recovered after being severely injured in an explosion at the Dongri Grand Hotel.

And coincident with this miracle appeared the same young man in front of him.

Yet, last time He Zhan could barely convince himself with the extraordinary healing ability, this time he truly couldn't think of a way to have been saved.

Could even the exhaustion of Life Force be compensated?

Even if it were indeed possible, he was unlikely to believe there was no price paid.

"It's no real price; most of the Life Force was transferred from the Fierce Ghost's seized parts. Now that you're awake, you should go out for a walk; the people are waiting for you," Wu Liang shrugged as he spoke.

Then he turned and left the room.

Indeed, Wu Liang didn't deceive He Zhan at all.

The souls destroyed by Triton to serve as nutrients for the Golden City were naturally absorbed.

Normally, this Life Force would simply disperse into the air after Triton was exorcized and couldn't return to the sacrificed individuals, as their souls were already obliterated.

Wu Liang simply used modify reality to transfer this Life Force that was meant to dissipate to He Zhan.

He fundamentally didn't change anything, so naturally, there was no price or consumption.

He truly bore the price in altering Triton's final Golden City curse...

......

......

"Hey kid, why're you walking so fast?" He Zhan cursed and followed Wu Liang out from the building temporarily possessed by the Tower Ghost.

Just when he was about to say something else, he heard various noisy comments around him suddenly silent. Then he saw pedestrians on the street all turning their heads to look at him.

Everyone's eyes expressed gratitude; quite a few cried on the spot, and even some not far from him knelt in thanks, startling He Zhan to rush over and help them up.

This left him utterly puzzled.

Next, a middle-aged man with a commanding aura emerged from the crowd.

Even though he'd been somewhat dusted and bloodied by the prior supernatural event, the way the surrounding people made way for him showed he was a well-respected person.

The middle-aged man walked up to He Zhan, firmly gripping his hands, and tearfully said, "Thank you! Comrade, on behalf of everyone in the city, I sincerely thank you! You offered hope for life when we were plunged into despair!"

With his thanks, countless civilians on the street began expressing their gratitude vocally, some even offering gifts and tokens.

Soon, the noise around became so overwhelming that it was painful to the ears, yet no one found the environment bothersome.

Right now, everyone only wanted to thank He Zhan!

"Um... What's... Happened?" He Zhan was now entirely in a daze.

Wu Liang then spoke helplessly, "This person is the mayor of Shangluo, a good man who cares about the people, contributing a lot to their welfare and benefits. He's here to thank you for saving the city; you should say something!"

Upon hearing this, He Zhan only grew more puzzled!

How did these people know about the city-saving efforts? Weren't they infected by the supernatural incident before? And ultimately, Wu Liang was the one who saved the city!

Seeing his confusion, Wu Liang continued to explain, "Their souls were swept within the Soul Shock Waves summoned by the sea snail shell. Although they couldn't control themselves, they felt everything happening outside."

So all of He Zhan's actions and conversations with Triton were actually witnessed by the victims of Shangluo City.

For this official Awakened with a sense of duty to establish life for citizens, they naturally felt overwhelming gratitude.

After the explanation, He Zhan immediately pulled Wu Liang beside him and stood him up before the mayor, saying, "He is the true hero who saved you! You should thank him!"

But an unexpected scene occurred—

Everyone who turned their gaze towards Wu Liang revealed subconscious expressions of resistance, even fear, and some children outright cried.

Even the mayor could only muster a smile worse than crying but did not grasp Wu Liang's hands as he'd done earlier to express gratitude.

This bizarre phenomenon made He Zhan wonder if the civilians hadn't fully recovered from the supernatural infection? Why would they reject the benefactor who saved them like this?

Wu Liang shrugged and said, "It's useless. Until the curse is completely resolved, all humans worldwide will feel the strongest repulsion towards me. It's not their fault."

"This is the last curse attached to me by the Lost Realm—an intense rejection every human will feel towards me at the soul level."

"Even I can't remove this curse because its essence is to protect my soul from outside interference. From a certain angle, it's not really a curse, just a side effect of protection."

"This is the equal price for preserving countless souls; for now, it's already the best outcome."

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