Amelia was terrified, her tongue tangling in her mouth as she stammered, «Erase… erase my memories? Splitting my soul?» Even with her meager understanding of occultism, those terms sounded ominous. «Lee, tell me-isn't there any other way?»
Li Yunlong pondered carefully for a moment before looking at her. «Amelia, if I remember correctly, you're a Christian, right?»
«Yes, that's right,» she confirmed. «I'm a Christian.»
«In that case, unless you can elevate yourself from a casual believer into a true, devout follower before the curse takes full effect, you're out of options.»
«Are you saying the almighty, omniscient Lord can save me?» Her face lit up with hope. «I knew His power was boundless! Oh, heavenly Father, I am Your faithful servant!»
Li Yunlong gave a wry, helpless smile, realizing she had completely missed his point. «Amelia, praying like this won't help. For a true believer to reach a level where they can borrow divine power to dispel a curse, it doesn't matter what you say or do. You must achieve a state of 'being one with God.' Only when divine glory fills your body and mind, and divine love enfolds you completely, will the curse naturally dissolve.»
Amelia's face paled. Li Yunlong's second alternative sounded even more impossible than his first. Raised in a devoutly Christian family, she knew exactly what kind of people were described as 'being one with God.' Even if one combed through Catholic history, only a fraction of the canonized saints had ever earned that descriptor in church annals-and she was expected to achieve that state before the curse triggered? She knew, deep down, that it was a completely impossible task. Grasping at straws, she asked nervously, «Lee, are you sure you're not mistaken? I only watched a short video. How could I have caught such a terrifying curse?»
Li Yunlong could empathize with her distress. Anyone would feel outraged and helpless after unexpectedly falling prey to a curse. «Amelia, you have to realize that in occultism, time and space are merely relative concepts,» he explained, holding up a hand to illustrate the distance between them. «In physical space, the distance between us might seem fixed. But in the realm of the occult, these physical gaps are purely relative. If there is enough power and a medium to connect the dots…» He clapped his hands together with a sharp crack. … Snap! A direct link is formed instantly.
Ignoring her increasingly pale complexion, Li Yunlong continued, «In your case, the Train to Paradise possesses immense supernatural strength, and the video served as the medium. The moment you watched it, the curse naturally latched onto you. Though it entered through your eyes, its primary target is your memory, designed to contaminate your very soul. I could use my own power to forcibly wear down the curse on your body, but as long as the corruption remains anchored in your mind and soul, the Train to Paradise can continuously pour energy back in, strengthening the curse anew. Unless we eradicate the root cause, any effort I expend will be in vain. No defense is completely airtight-rooting it out entirely is the only real solution.»
Amelia swallowed hard, processing his words. «So… Lee… is there really no other way?»
Curses were indeed a massive headache. Had he been the target, Li Yunlong wouldn't have been nearly as bothered; to practitioners of the mystic arts, curses were ordinary hazards. When two occultists crossed paths, it was simply a battle of strength and skill. But plain mortals were a different story. Everyone had their own specialty, and as an unaffiliated rogue cultivator, Li Yunlong was adept at direct, blunt applications of power. Performing delicate technical operations like cleansing a curse from a fragile human soul was decidedly outside his wheelhouse. He brooded over the problem for a long time before asking, «Amelia, did you bring that video with you?»
She shook her head. «I had no idea the video was dangerous, so I didn't bring it along. Should I call a colleague and have them email it over?»
«No,» Li Yunlong said firmly. «I'll go to the TV station with you. Can you get me a temporary visitor pass?»
«That won't be a problem, Lee. But why do you need to go to the station?»
«I want to examine the original video file directly.»
ped in alarm. «Lee, didn't you just say the video is cursed? Won't anyone who watches it get affected?»
«It is cursed, yes,» Li Yunlong admitted. «However, as a practitioner of occultism, I have my own means of protection. I won't succumb so easily-otherwise, I wouldn't have survived this long.»
«But even if you're immune, why go to the station just to watch it?»
«To try our luck,» he explained. «Even though the curse spreads through the video, the principles of occultism dictate that every curse has a definitive source. If we're lucky and the origin of this curse isn't the actual Train to Paradise, but rather the original video footage itself, destroying the master file will automatically break the curse on you!»
Even though Li Yunlong emphasized it was a long shot, the mere prospect of a simple solution rekindled Amelia's spirits. Anxious to resolve her plight, she practically dragged him out the door and sped toward the TV station. She drove while Li Yunlong leaned back in the passenger seat with his eyes closed, resting his mind.
Though he had been honest with her, there were certain details he chose to keep to himself. As a business partner, he had steadfastly refused to accept her money for this favor-partly out of pride, but mostly because he was flying blind. Supernatural phenomena like the Train to Paradise were far more perilous than their benign-sounding names suggested. 'Train to Paradise' was merely a broad classification. Unlike a standard ghost born from an individual's tragic death and lingering resentment, it represented a complex, multi-layered paranormal entity. Its origins were so convoluted that experts had yet to establish a clear taxonomy for it, dumping various anomalous manifestations under that single umbrella term.
While some of these phenomena were relatively harmless, the vast majority were lethal. An entity capable of autonomously projecting curses through video recordings was almost certainly a high-level threat. He couldn't bring himself to abandon Amelia to her fate after working with her for so long, yet he was equally unwilling to throw his life away for her. It was all a matter of striking the right balance. Helping her was fine, and doing it for free was no big deal, but if things turned sour enough to threaten his own life, he would cut his losses and run without hesitation.
He took stock of the assets at his disposal. His sensory control ability gave him an absolute edge in information gathering; his vital aura provided raw, supernatural force as a trump card; and his specialized combat techniques-combining his Essence Qi pill method with spatial threads-offered incredible tactical versatility. When he laid it all out, he surprised himself. With a toolkit like that, couldn't he just charge right in?
No, don't get cocky! he reminded himself. This version of Marvel was notorious for being a place where heroes roamed the streets, villains were dime-a-dozen, and only heavy hitters like Thanos could truly hold the floor. His current skills were fine for intimidating ordinary humans, but if he ran into a real monster, he'd be wiped out in an instant. Stay grounded. As soon as I get back, I'm having someone write 'Caution keeps the ship sailing for ten thousand years' to frame on my wall as a motto.
With her life on the line, Amelia moved with impressive efficiency. She navigated the traffic quickly and secured a temporary pass for Li Yunlong as soon as they arrived. «Lee, clip this pass somewhere visible on your chest,» she instructed. «I'll tell everyone you're a private investor interested in funding my current project, and that you're here to evaluate the material. Wealthy investors-especially generous ones-are always welcome around here.» Back on her home turf, she seemed to have recovered enough composure to joke around.
Li Yunlong shrugged nonchalantly. «No problem, ma'am. You're the boss, I'm just following your lead.»
As a somewhat renowned news reporter in Los Angeles, Amelia had her own small office within the building, tucked away at the end of a maze of corridors. Since it was Li Yunlong's first time inside a television network facility, he glanced around curiously as he followed her, though the reality proved somewhat disappointing. Aging equipment was still actively in use across various departments, and both the office spaces and production studios looked cluttered and chaotic. It was a far cry from the glamorous image he had harbored, proving that the media industry wasn't nearly as sleek as outsiders imagined.
Inside her office, Amelia pulled up the file on her computer. Hesitating before opening it, she looked up nervously. «Lee… what should I do now?»
«Step behind the monitor,» Li Yunlong directed. «Don't look at the screen while it plays.»
Once she stepped away, he operated the mouse and launched the video. It was a short clip, running under five minutes in total, shot from inside a train carriage. The footage captured various landscapes passing outside, though the sequence was clearly disjointed-it was hard to tell whether the recording had been paused repeatedly or edited in post-production. The clip featured three distinct locations: an underground lake of molten lava, an intricate network of subterranean tunnels, and finally, a breathtaking, radiant starry sky situated far above the cloud layer.
Li Yunlong watched the cursed footage twice through, analyzing every frame, before closing the file and closing his eyes in deep thought.
After several minutes of silence, Amelia couldn't hold back her anxiety any longer. «Lee? How does it look? Can we break the curse by destroying the file?»
Li Yunlong opened his eyes and shook his head slowly. «I examined it carefully. The source of the curse isn't the video file itself-it definitely originates from the Train to Paradise. But what bothers me is that logically, this doesn't make any sense.»
Hearing that destroying the file wouldn't save her, Amelia's heart sank. Despair was bad enough, but having a flicker of hope dangled and then crushed was far worse. She snapped bitterly, «Evil forces are always insane! They never make sense, do they?»
«Right-insane!» Li Yunlong smacked his fist into his open palm, his eyes lighting up. «Amelia, you're a genius! This whole thing might actually be easy to solve after all.»
Amelia stood frozen, her face a mask of total bewilderment. What was going on? She had just vented a bit of frustration, so how had she suddenly become a genius? Had she spontaneously unlocked some prophetic power? «Lee…» she asked cautiously. «Are you saying my curse can be cured?»