The scene before him began to fracture, a brain consumed by gnawing was endlessly repairing itself, until everything ultimately returned to reality.
Consciousness flickered momentarily.
Shawn once again felt the presence of his own existence.
"Calm down!"
"Your mental spark is too dazzling!" A familiar voice rang out, it seemed he had just heard these words.
A cold finger.
Before it could touch him, Shawn suddenly shivered, then retreated a large step, avoiding the other's cold finger that reached out to touch him.
"Oh?" The woman's voice carried a hint of surprise.
She hadn't anticipated that Shawn could dodge her Undying Touch, especially at such close range, which no ordinary person could possibly achieve. Even other Transcendents couldn't avoid her Undying Touch within three steps, unless they had predicted her actions in advance.
Shawn now felt his head buzzing.
He had died, just a moment ago.
But at present, he was still alive, his brain hadn't been consumed by those 'living Knowledge', constructing a bizarre honeycomb.
"What is this damned place? Thinking too much will lead to death?" Shawn's heart had a slight stab of pain.
His heart was still beating.
He was still alive, breathing rapidly, yet strangely, he did not seem to be so fearful, rather a bit excited.
Shawn felt he needed to calm down, he sensed his body, confirming his thoughts weren't frozen, his brain hadn't become idle, he instinctively retreated another step, gazing at the dim corridor ahead, then turned his head to look at the woman beside him, his voice hoarse, spoke slowly: "Wait."
Everything that just happened was far too real.
Real enough that he couldn't determine whether he was delusional, or he had somehow been reborn again.
No.
His thoughts remained somewhat chaotic, his idle brain yet to fully recover, he hadn't been reborn, rather returned to the moment before the occurrence of death.
He felt disoriented.
The woman's gaze showed a hint of surprise, her eyes were lively, with light, like stars faintly flickering in the darkness, she stared at Shawn before her, expression rather solemn, seemingly sensed something, spoke softly: "What did you see just now?"
Shawn opened his mouth, hesitated to speak, after a moment of silence said: "Can't you read my thoughts?"
The woman also retreated half a step, maintaining an appropriate distance from Shawn, her expression very cautious, pondered: "Detecting Thoughts isn't an extremely powerful ability, it can only read shallow thought waves of the target."
"I cannot know what you truly feel deep inside."
"Just that moment."
"Filled with fear."
"As if Death had arrived."
Shawn stepped out of the dim corridor, hesitating, spoke softly: "I died."
"I'm not sure if it's an illusion."
"But just now I saw my own death, my brain being devoured by countless fragments of living Knowledge, ultimately turning into the shell of a fictional novel character."
He needed help, needed to know more, because Shawn had a strong intuition that, if he really stepped into that dim corridor again, everything that just happened would likely replay.
Brain devoured by Knowledge.
Extremely painful!
He had absolutely no resistance, could only watch helplessly as himself got consumed completely in the depths of consciousness.
"Morty Laine?!" The woman's expression was very shocked.
Indeed she knew something.
She stared intently at Shawn before her, spoke slowly: "Tell me everything you just saw."
Shawn gradually calmed down.
He examined the strange reliefs around, shadows spread like trees, he felt his consciousness had completely cleared up after 'once dying'.
"I saw the curtain of Shadow, countless Knowledge, living Knowledge, writhing Knowledge, they seemed like a massive swarm of bees, and a terrifying blood-red Angel full of eyes."
Shawn could speak as calmly as possible about everything that just happened.
"Death Retrospect!" The woman's expression grew more shocked, she stared at Shawn before her, voice hoarse, spoke slowly: "The most powerful Special Abilities in the Death Sequence."
"Can glimpse into the future vision at the moment of one's death."
"An ability almost akin to Foreknowledge of the Future."
"What you saw just now wasn't an illusion, but one of the possible futures."
The woman fell silent.
After a moment, she spoke softly: "Only a very few in history have possessed this ability, it allows you to glimpse any future that may lead to your own death."
Shawn at this moment already felt the memory fusion gradually stabilizing.
Because he could understand some of the symbols around him, this Knowledge didn't belong to him, it came from his own body, another soul's Knowledge, that of a young man named Sean.
He gazed intently at the dim gallery, solemnly spoke: "Is there no other passage to leave here?"
If he goes in, he dies.
That blood-red Angel filled with countless eyes, watching him behind the Shadow curtain.
"There is."
"But you must first walk through this gallery." The woman paused for a moment, slowly spoke: "This is the corridor of Soul Resonance."
"Any Otherworld souls arriving in this world must walk it through."
"Because you don't belong to this world."
"Only upon completing the Soul Resonance can you truly become a part of this world and avoid..."
Shawn slightly raised his head, softly asked: "Avoid what?"