Phantom ultimately didn't dare to utter a curse.

Her condition was already poor; she had lost most of her strength while trapped in the ruins, and the power she could use before was the power of the goat-headed monster from the ruins' puzzles themselves.

Now that she has been directly defeated by Lin Xu, according to the rules of the ruins, she is now considered a solved puzzle and can no longer be Lin Xu's enemy.

Moreover, even if she were allowed to fight again by the ruins, she wouldn't have the strength to fight against Lin Xu.

"Damn humans, if I hadn't been trapped here for two thousand years, if my soul hadn't merged with the ruins..."

The phantom muttered fiercely to itself.

However, Lin Xu had no patience to care about the feelings of this defeated female demon, and poked her buttocks again with the long handle of his scythe:

"Answer my question: Will your memories continue to fade?"

Phantom glared at Lin Xu with annoyance:

"No! Memory loss is a one-time event! Although my memory is incomplete now, the situation won't worsen. Now give me some time to recover a little."

"I see..."

Lin Xu raised an eyebrow. He wasn't sure about the female demon's condition, and he really didn't know if she would cooperate with him obediently after she recovered.

He then spoke:

"According to the rules of the ruins, if I defeat you, it's equivalent to solving the final level of the ruins, right? What reward will the ruins give me now? Do I have to completely eliminate you to obtain the ultimate reward from the ruins?"

"Kill me?"

The phantom screamed in terror:

"What are you trying to do? Stop attacking me! If you keep attacking me, I'm going to completely lose myself and become a slave to the ruins!"

Lin Xu smiled:

"It seems you are indeed an independent will, merely parasitic within the rules of the ruins. In that case, you are also an outsider to the ruins. How did you get trapped here?"

Phantom was not at all surprised that Lin Xu could see through her identity.

She had grown somewhat accustomed to the man's unpleasant insight.

The Phantom said weakly:

"Two thousand years ago, I came to this ruin to gain power in order to defeat a powerful enemy. But I didn't expect to fall into a temptation trap. I only managed to survive by using a secret soul technique, but I was also trapped in this ruin and have been acting as a guide ever since..."

Lin Xu:

"In such a long time, you must have encountered quite a few other intruders, right? What happened to them?"

Phantom's expression was somewhat unnatural, but after glancing at Lin Xu, she decided it was best not to lie to this man.

She obediently replied:

"I initially wanted to lure those people's souls into damnation, then possess their bodies to escape the ruins. But they were all useless; not a single one of them successfully passed the lure, and they all died from soul explosions. As a result, I've been trapped here ever since, until I met you..."

As she said this, Phantom looked at Lin Xu with great resentment.

For the first time in two thousand years, she encountered someone who could solve the puzzles of the ruins and leave them alive.

As a result, she not only failed to seduce or defeat the man, but he also damaged her soul, and now she can't even remember what memories she lost.

If some crucial information is lost, wouldn't she never be able to return to her original state?

The Phantom felt a wave of frustration as it thought about this.

After two thousand years of effort, the desire to escape this predicament has not only failed, but has become even worse than before.

Is she really going to be trapped in these ruins and become a guide?

Looking at Meiying, Lin Xu felt that what the woman said was probably true.

Otherwise, given this woman's spiritual attainments, she should have been able to leave the ruins long ago, instead of being trapped here.

But was the Black Goat Ruins really such a high-level site?

Over two thousand years, with numerous challengers, how come he was the only one who managed to pass?

He wasn't particularly concerned about the Phantom's origins, but rather very interested in much of the knowledge the Phantom had previously shared:

"You said before that soul weapons can undergo a qualitative change, what did you mean by that?"

The Phantom was somewhat surprised:

"You don't know? If a soul weapon absorbs enough souls and is forged with suitable materials, it can undergo a qualitative change, its power increased, and it may even gain new supernatural abilities! The specific method..."

At this point, the Phantom's expression suddenly became somewhat dazed.

"What are the specific steps...? If we want to enhance the quality of our soul weapons, what exactly should we do..."

The Phantom suddenly clutched its head and rolled around again:

"Aaaaah! I completely forgot about something so important! You wretched humans, it was you who used that weapon to cut me!"

Lin Xu stared at the phantom's tumbling body, speechless.

This is not good.

If this woman has forgotten this kind of crucial information, then it will be impossible to ask her any questions.

Thinking about this, Lin Xu had an idea.

Although this woman has lost her memory, there may still be ways to restore it.

If he takes this woman away, can he continue to help her regain her memory and let her tell him about her past?

Moreover, this woman is actually quite strong, especially her mind-reading ability and the technique of summoning phantom souls; most people are no match for her.

Lin Xu's eyes flickered, and he was somewhat tempted.

At this moment, he also realized that the Phantom, as a guide and a tempter, should logically be the answer to the mystery under the rules of the ruins.

In other words, only by defeating the Phantom can you clear the Ruins.

Given this woman's current state, killing her would likely make her disappear completely.

That would mean the loss of a walking ancient "book".

So now he either has to kill Phantom or find a way to take the woman away.

Lin Xu watched as Phantom was still rolling on the ground, then frowned and poked the woman's buttocks:

"Stop yelling! You have a few choices now. First, let me kill you, completely solve the mystery of this ruin, and let me get the ultimate reward..."

Upon hearing Lin Xu's first choice, Phantom's body immediately stiffened:

"Human, don't be so cruel..."

Lin Xu, too lazy to pay attention to the female demon who had completely broken down, continued:

"The second option is that you can immediately regain your memories and answer some key questions I've prepared. If you can provide this knowledge, I might let you off the hook. As long as you can help me pass the ruins challenge, you can stay here as a guide."

When Phantom heard this request, although she wanted to agree immediately, she pouted with a wronged look.

She also wanted to regain her memories immediately, but unfortunately, Lin Xu's scythe was of extraordinary quality. Being struck by such a scythe meant that one would be considered to have profound soul power if not rendered an idiot. For her to regain her memories would be extremely difficult.

Moreover, even if she could regain her memories, she wouldn't be able to find a way to clear the ruins without killing her.

If she had known about this method, she would have solved the mystery of the ruins long ago and left directly. She wouldn't have been trapped here for two thousand years.

Looking at Meiying's expression, Lin Xu knew that she couldn't choose the second option.

He didn't originally offer this option to the Phantom.

So at this moment, the corners of his mouth curled up, revealing a meaningful smile:

"If you are not satisfied with the first two options, then you can only choose the third one."

“Now that our souls are intertwined, we should be able to sign a wholehearted slave contract, right? If you choose to serve me as my slave, according to the laws of the ruins, once the guide submits, their will and body can break free from the ruins and become a follower of their master.”

"That way you can leave the ruins with me and serve me afterwards."

"I can find a way to help you regain your memories, and I also have some questions for you."

Are you willing to accept this option?