Chapter 66: I Was in Her Memories

He still hadn’t come up with an answer when something changed in Lucia’s body, lying in the pool of blood.

A white-glowing soul had barely emerged from her when the two blades in his hands came down one after the other, one cutting straight at it while the other sealed off the side.

The blades passed through its body without giving him any real feedback at all.

By the time he realized something was wrong, the soul was already rushing straight at him and sinking into his body.

A room lit by oil lamps appeared before him, the air thick with the mixed smells of herbs, sweat, and blood.

A man lay on the bed coughing so hard that his whole body shook, blood continuously running from the corner of his mouth. Someone sat beside him with his head lowered, passing a curved needle through torn flesh before slowly tightening the thread.

In the next instant, the surroundings became a muddy street.

Low houses crowded both sides. A woman hurried out carrying a feverish child. Those hands expertly touched the child’s forehead, then lifted an eyelid to check underneath, while several possible illnesses and their corresponding treatments naturally surfaced in his mind.

After that came a completely unfamiliar city.

Hundreds of people gathered in a square, all lowering their heads as they repeated the same name. At first, it was only a jumble of prayers, but as more and more voices joined in, an extremely faint force began to gather in the air.

More memories followed.

Patients, herbs, medical books, streets, and faces belonging to people who had died decades or even centuries ago. The bitterness of a certain herb, the rough texture of old paper, the habit of an old man who always coughed twice before speaking—even details so trivial they should have meant nothing came pouring into his mind.

At first, Lin Yan was still somewhat dazed by the flood of memories. It wasn’t until more and more details arrived together with the emotions, habits, and thoughts that had accompanied them that he finally realized, a beat too late, what he was seeing.

These were all memories belonging to the soul that had just entered him.

His heart sank.

Shit.

He was being possessed.

But that thought had barely appeared when the memories that followed began to grow stranger, and his viewpoint suddenly dropped much lower.

A pair of tiny hands held a wooden bowl. The fingers were short, with dirt still caught beneath the nails. Someone stood in front of him speaking, and he had to tilt his head upward just to see their face.

Then those hands changed.

This pair was much paler, with fine embroidery along the cuffs, currently holding a piece of candy and bringing it toward her mouth. Someone beside her was brushing her hair, while another person murmured about the etiquette lessons she would have to attend tomorrow.

A dim room, where a small hand clenched the bedsheets.

A crowded street, where someone led her forward by the hand, the waists and shoulders of passing adults filling most of her field of vision.

A church. Wooden pews. The sound of prayer.

Someone lowered their head and placed a necklace around her neck. She reached up to touch the object hanging against her chest, her palm still impossibly small.

One memory followed another until one of them suddenly became unusually clear.

A red can of soda was handed to her.

Small hands turned the can over and over for a while, apparently unable to figure out how it was supposed to open.

Then a hand reached in from the side.

A finger hooked beneath the pull tab and tugged lightly.

Pop.

The can opened and was handed back.

Her gaze followed that hand upward.

And then Lin Yan saw himself.

He instinctively tried to take a step back, but only the upper half of his body moved. Everything below his waist remained exactly where it was. The command had clearly gone out from his mind, yet both legs seemed to have suddenly disconnected from him, even his toes refusing to move.

Fuck.

It was already starting to take his body.

He immediately pulled up the Trait Library.

Strength, recovery, vision, language, physical enhancement... one stored Trait after another swept past his eyes until, near the bottom of the list, a White Trait he had never used before came into view.

[Soul Cohesion I — White]

[Minor improvement to the cohesion and stability of the user’s soul. Provides limited resistance against spiritual erosion, possession and external interference.]

"Equip it."

[Replace Blade Arts II with Soul Cohesion I]

The moment the Trait was swapped in, the sensation of another consciousness forcing its way deeper into him eased slightly.

If before it had felt like standing in a packed rush-hour subway with a two-hundred-pound fat guy forcibly squeezing in beside him, now it felt more like riding in an illegal cab with the same guy still pressed against him, except there were a few fewer passengers in the car.

There was a difference,just not much of one. At least it proved the Trait worked. A White Trait could help him hold out a little longer, and that was about it.

The lottery interface opened immediately afterward.

[Current points: 8,800.]

He hadn’t touched those points since killing the man-eating bear. He had originally planned to keep saving until he reached ten thousand, then use it to unlock a fifth Trait slot.

But with things looking like this, what was the point of saving?

He was about to die.

Basic Draw cost one hundred points each, with a ninety-percent chance of Gray.

Standard Draw cost one thousand, guaranteed at least White, with a chance of Green or even Blue.

"Standard Draw. Eight times."

Eight thousand points vanished instantly, and the first result appeared.

[Badminton Expert — White]

[Long-term one-sided racket training has given your dominant arm significantly greater strength than your other arm.]

[Effect: Dominant-arm strength is increased to twice that of the non-dominant arm.]

Lin Yan paused.

The name sounded a little ridiculous, but the effect was honestly pretty good.

Unfortunately, the thing inside his body had no physical form.

There was nowhere for all that strength to go.

The second white light appeared.

[One-Armed Champion — White]

[Through a certain long-term, regular, and highly repetitive one-handed activity, your dominant arm has received unusually thorough training.]

[Effect: Dominant-arm strength is increased to twice that of the non-dominant arm.]

[This effect can stack with other similar unilateral-limb enhancements.]

"..."