"Many things," Zheng Yichen tossed the Essence of Life to the woman resembling a zombie bride; the recipient clutched the small bottle tightly, displaying an infatuated expression.
"I’m an open book, co on in first," the woman stepped aside, presenting the room to Zheng Yichen. How to describe the room? It was rather ordinary.
Normal tables and chairs, even so basic appliances, with a radio on the table and an old-fashioned television in another spot.
"Too ordinary..."
"No one wants their ho to look terrible."
Uh, do you still count as a person? Zheng Yichen resisted the urge to ask this as he observed the woman who looked like a zombie bride. He walked in and the woman quickly brought over a teapot.
The tea that was poured out had a jasmine scent. Zheng Yichen took a sip; it tasted quite good, almost like sunlight.
"...Didn’t your family ever teach you not to accept food from strangers?" the ’zombie bride’ curiously remarked upon Zheng Yichen’s straightforward action.
"They did, but I don’t mind. I’m very curious about how you beca like this; can you explain?"
The zombie bride didn’t care much about Zheng Yichen’s question: "My na is Alice. As for the issue with my appearance, it was caused by so Evil Spirits. You can understand it as either a curse or corruption, and I’ve been trying to find a way to return to normal."
"Hmm... nice na." Zheng Yichen’s gaze fell on a photo not far away, where a little girl could be seen. Despite the thick layer of makeup, her ashen skin couldn’t be completely concealed.
There was also a middle-aged woman by her side, smiling, albeit with a sowhat bitter smile.
"That’s my mother," Alice said to Zheng Yichen, who was looking at the photo: "She’s dead."
"Did you beco like this since you were little?"
"Specifically, since I was in the womb. My mother was an exorcist, and during one of her battles against an Evil Spirit, she was affected by its power. At that ti, she hadn’t realized she was pregnant with , and that’s sothing she regretted for many years."
"Hmm, okay, let’s start with the questions." Although Alice didn’t seem impatient, Zheng Yichen didn’t plan to dwell on this topic any longer. He went straight to the point, as Alice did not seem to be an ordinary person, which ant he could ask for more information.
First thing he learned about was the field of herbs that gave off a sense of despair because it was filled with a multitude of corpses, those of animals and so dead people who had been left uncollected.
The herbs cultivated in that field were all negative; that was why it was called the Despair herbs field. She was growing those herbs in order to resolve her own issue.
Fighting poison with poison... As for the conventional thods, Alice’s mother had tried many standard treatnts during her life, all to no avail.
In ti, affected by her own afflictions, she resorted to another thod.
"My mother taught a lot, but she died because of her profession. That’s why I don’t want to beco an exorcist, even though the influence of these Evil Spirits and ntal Aberration creatures on is minimal. But among people, I am recognized as a freak, a walking corpse."
"So you’re familiar with those Evil Spirits? Good, because the next thing I want to know about is precisely that." A large amount of information had been stored by Lilith from the Evil Spirits she encountered on her trip to Hazy City, but those records were from the perspective of the Evil Spirits.
He now wanted to understand these things from a human perspective.
"...Are you an extraterrestrial being?" Alice looked at Zheng Yichen sowhat incredulously: "You could have learned about these from a primary school Chinese language class, and yet you’re asking ?"
"Strictly speaking, I co from an alien world," Zheng Yichen corrected Alice’s words: "I know very little about this world at the mont, but don’t worry, I’m here to do good."
"Are you serious?" Sothing occurred to Alice, and she signaled Zheng Yichen to wait before she left and returned with an old notebook.
It appeared similar to a diary, but obviously, it wasn’t used for that purpose; it was for recording special events encountered on any given day.
"My mother ntioned several things to before she passed... are you here through an otherworldly apparition?" After turning to a page in the notebook, Alice looked up at Zheng Yichen as if she were truly seeing an extraterrestrial being: "I always thought it was a legend, that my mother had been influenced by an Evil Spirit and had hallucinations because of it..."
"You are quite the dutiful daughter; apparitions indeed connect to other worlds."
"Then I might try to find other apparitions as well when I get a chance. It’s just unfortunate that apparitions last for such a short ti and pop up in completely random places. It’s all about luck," Alice said with a hint of regret.
"Actually, you don’t need to look for apparitions. If you have the ans, you could visit the Dusk Cathedral in the closest city from here... But after you get there and contact the Dusk nun, the dangers you face will depend on the choices you make."
Zheng Yichen had initially not planned to recruit anyone, but Alice’s first comnt about praising his beautiful eyes had stuck with him. Was she unaware of her own situation? It was likely not just his eyes she praised but the part related to Dusk within them.
The bartender had ntioned this to him not long ago, and now that he had encountered an actual case, Zheng Yichen felt that making a recomndation was appropriate.
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