Zhu Shi looked at Mazao with uncertainty, then turned towards .
This kind of situation was, after all, quite easy to anticipate.
If I were to collaborate with Zhu Shi to investigate the strange person, but then find Mazao when we aren’t together, that would actually be the strange part. Without having arranged it in advance with Mazao, there was a very likely chance she would reveal that she and I have known each other for a long ti.
Being prepared makes everything work; failing to prepare ruins everything. Although I couldn’t say this was my personal motto, I did follow this principle in many things I did. Therefore, under these circumstances, I was supposed to have been prepared.
However, as much as I am supposed to be, have I ever truly been prepared?
Honestly, I had not.
This might co as a surprise to people who know well, but I hadn’t even thought beforehand about this situation occurring.
There’s a saying, "Over-concern leads to chaos." When people face sothing they deeply care about, they lose their normal state of mind and can’t maintain their usual pace. Only now did I deeply realize the truth in this saying. Over the past few days, I had repeatedly imagined scenarios of finding Mazao, but those imaginations were of no practical guiding significance.
I was able to think relatively normally about what to do before finding Mazao, as well as after finding her, but the scenario of "finding Mazao" itself was hard to remain calm about. This matter was simply too important to , to say it concerned my very life wasn’t an exaggeration. Every ti I sketched out the scene of finding Mazao in my mind, the imaginary ink was all used to outline the elent of Mazao, lacking the depiction of any other scenario elents.
Simply put, while I would imagine what Mazao might say to after finding her, and what I might say to her in return, I never imagined if soone might overhear our conversation nearby and what kind of reaction that eavesdropper might have.
Now this was a real problem.
In the past, I had lied to Zhu Shi to prevent Luo Mountain from discovering that Mazao was with , and now the ti had co to pay the piper.
While I was still racking my brains, Zhu Shi’s look had already beco dangerous: "— Senior Brother Zhuang?"
So could you just not call "Senior Brother Zhuang" at this ti.
"Let’s find another place to talk," I reflexively changed the subject, "There was too much noise here just now, look, people are already watching this way."
The strange person had smashed through the neighborhood fence, and I had set him on fire causing him to yell and scream. So residents from the surrounding buildings had begun to appear, either coming out onto balconies or opening windows, looking to see what had happened here. It seed like there were also a few security guards moving towards us.
Mazao showed an expression that suggested she wanted to leave alone. This reaction was all too familiar to , as she had occasionally shown similar emotions when we lived together.
To prevent her from suddenly performing a Space Transfer and leaving, I imdiately said to her, "Mazao, don’t go. We have a clue about that strange person."
She had already turned on her heels to leave, but at my words, she turned back, asking warily, "Really? Zhuang Cheng, if you’re fooling again..."
What kind of thing is that to say; have I ever fooled you? I almost blurted that out, but looking at Mazao and then at Zhu Shi, I swallowed back those words and simply stated, "I promise I’m not fooling you."
"You two seem to know each other quite well..." Zhu Shi seed to already realize I was hiding a lot from her.
Mazao let go of her Illusionary Curved Blade, which quickly disappeared into the air. Then she picked up the severed hand from the ground, took out a plastic bag from her pocket, and placed the hand inside.
We quickly left that place of trouble. On the way, my mind was whirling with different thoughts. I was thinking about how to explain things to Zhu Shi, and also about asking Mazao what she had been up to these past few days, why her thermal energy marker and GPS bracelet had failed, and so much more.
At the sa ti, the overwhelming emotion surging in my heart was joy. I had finally found Mazao. My current mood was joy beyond asure, and I even wanted to make today my lucky commorative day.
After getting so distance from the neighborhood, we stopped outside a small grove.
Mazao put her cat-whisker mask back on her face.
"Zhuang Cheng, you just said you had a clue about that Sin Demon, what’s that about?" she initiated the conversation, "And, who is she really?"
"Senior Brother Zhuang, what’s your relationship with her?" Zhu Shi also looked at seriously, "You told before that you didn’t know anything about her, were you deceiving all along?"
"Wait, wait..." I spread my hands, "One at a ti, one at a ti..."
I felt like a cheating man whose affairs with two won had been exposed and was being confronted by them together, completely at a loss of what to do. Of course, my relationship with both of them was not that kind of intimate relationship. Zhu Shi was just a friend, and Mazao was just my... my what, exactly? An objective? Forr cohabitant? Partner in cri? Whatever it was, it definitely wasn’t that kind of ssy romantic relationship.
Better to calm myself down by thinking about the lucky things. Fortunately, Lu Youxun had not followed us to the front lines, or else he would have discovered Mazao’s existence. He even told before we parted last night that he wouldn’t use electronic telescopes or the like to spy on from a distance anymore, and now he probably hadn’t seen this scene. I hoped he would keep his word.
"Can I tell her about your situation?" I first sought Mazao’s opinion.
"You an the Doomsday and ti travelling thing?" Mazao seed to be judging my stance, "No problem, those things I intended to make public from the beginning. It’s just that even if I talk about it now, no one would believe it."
"Doomsday? Ti travel?" Zhu Shi was puzzled.
Mazao thought for a mont, then said, "Let explain."
In the past, she told the truth to test how people of this era would react to her description of Doomsday; now, she seed to treat Zhu Shi as a similar sample for reaction.
Mazao revealed her identity as a Doomsday Transcender to Zhu Shi, along with the ssage that the end was near. She also talked about her interactions with in the past days.
As a reciprocal exchange, Zhu Shi revealed her identity as a demon hunter and the existence of Luo Mountain to Mazao.
During this process, I interject occasionally, explaining my relationship with Zhu Shi, while also observing Mazao’s current state.
Her health seed noticeably better than when she lived with . Back then, her complexion was pale, she would occasionally wobble as she walked, and even standing for long periods would tire her out. But now, her walking and standing postures were very stable. Although her complexion couldn’t be said to be particularly ruddy and spirited, she at least did not appear weak.
More than that, she had even engaged in close combat with a freak and was able to sever its head. Lu Youxun had said that these creatures could withstand a barrage of bullets and possessed dynamic vision and reflexes sufficient to capture the trajectory of a bullet. Yet, those extraordinary qualities seed effortlessly surpassed by Mazao.
With such formidable combat abilities, the Mazao of the past surely didn’t need to steal real guns while gathering intelligence at the public security departnt. But, from another perspective, perhaps she was so weak back then that she had to rely on ordinary firearms and ammunition.
Soul injury—this was how she described the wound she suffered. I wondered how much that injury had healed by now.
"Luo Mountain... demon hunters..." Mazao digested the information from Zhu Shi’s side. "I see, so the monks of this era really are all hidden..."
I noticed she used the term "monk."
In her self-introduction from the past, she also used phrases like "Blessed Monk."
Monk is the term Extraordinaryism uses for demon hunters, and one of their fundantal demands is to change the term "demon hunter" to "monk."
If in the Doomsday era, the term "demon hunter" had disappeared, replaced by "monk," did that an Extraordinaryism won out in the internal conflicts within Luo Mountain?
Although Zhu Shi frowned upon hearing the term monk, she didn’t dwell on it but showed a thoughtful expression instead.
During the previous exchange, I noticed her occasionally giving that penetrating glance. Although her eyes didn’t change color, she must have used "Buzhou Mountain" to discern whether Mazao’s talk of Doomsday and ti travel was a lie or the truth.
She had said before that she generally wouldn’t use this ability on her own people. Evidently, in her eyes, Mazao wasn’t "one of her own," but a "civilian demon hunter" whose nature of good or evil was still unknown.
After a mont, Zhu Shi cautiously said, "...I’m sorry, but I still can’t believe the Doomsday and ti travel you speak of.
"You ntioned before that you planned to make this public, probably hoping that the people of this era could muster their power to nip the Doomsday in the bud. But without evidence, nobody will believe your prophecy.
"Can you provide evidence to support your words?"
"Can’t my blessing power serve as evidence?" Mazao probably said this, rembering my previous statent that I would believe her as long as she demonstrated her superpower in front of .
Zhu Shi glanced at her and asked, "Are you referring to the Power of Return you used against that freak?"
"You!" Mazao was startled.
Power of Return? Was that what they were calling Mazao’s ability I had witnessed earlier? I analyzed in my mind the information this term revealed.
"I’m sorry, but I can see through the functions of special abilities when soone triggers them. I accidentally saw it while you were fighting the freak," Zhu Shi spoke calmly, "I admit the power you used isn’t part of any system I’ve seen before, but in the world of demon hunters, there are countless mysterious magic systems. Your power cannot serve as evidence of the approaching Doomsday."
"Uh..." Mazao looked both wary and distressed.
"And one more thing... May I ask you a question?" Zhu Shi’s expression turned suspicious, "At first I thought I saw it wrong, but the more I look at it, the more I feel sothing’s off..."
"What are you referring to?" Mazao was confused.
Zhu Shi’s gaze fell on the other’s left wrist.
"What is that you’re wearing on your wrist?" she asked.
I felt like I was sitting on pins and needles.
What she was staring at now was the red GPS bracelet on Mazao’s left wrist.
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