Chapter 109 Interrogation 3

It was an ordinary night, and as usual, he attended a banquet hosted by the powerful and wealthy. Although he sat at the same table, he could only play the role of smiling and toasting, unable to retaliate when he was criticized and lectured.

Coming from the underworld, he wasn't genuinely trusted by the powerful. Many were outwardly polite, but secretly treated him like an ungrateful dog. As long as he remained a compliant tool, he could stay at their table; but once he lost their trust, he would be kicked off the table, or even served on it.

Because of his humble origins, he felt a strong sense of inferiority and pride when facing those from privileged backgrounds and powerful families. This inferiority and pride became extremely distorted after being humiliated by the powerful, causing his heart to be filled with and burned by anger and resentment like poisonous fire.

He felt that his career and life had hit a ceiling that was invisible yet undeniably clear. Achieving true upward mobility in his generation through personal effort was no longer an option. He analyzed the reasons day and night, sometimes attributing it to his environment, sometimes to his background, and sometimes even to his wife.

Yes, he might even blame his wife, and this idea wasn't entirely unfounded.

In Xianshui City, there is a politician named Ying Lingyun, who is said to have come from the same grassroots background as him and is about the same age. He has also been involved in shady underground activities.

In stark contrast, that politician, in his youth, had managed to marry the daughter of the local, reclusive wealthy Zhu family. By living off her, he achieved upward social mobility and smoothly entered politics, enjoying unparalleled success. His past involvement in the underworld had no negative impact on his career. Even many local dignitaries who had previously treated him with disdain had to fawn over him, despite the latter having once treated him like a nobody.

Both of them came from humble backgrounds, so why could the other person rise to prominence while he could only swallow his anger? The anger and resentment in his heart grew more and more distorted and swollen, and finally he blasted his wife, who had accompanied him from the countryside to the city, through thick and thin.

This is the truth behind the dramatic change in the relationship between Jinyu's parents after she graduated from elementary school.

After the drinking party ended that night, he stumbled home, reeking of alcohol and filled with intense humiliation.

Just then, a figure wearing a silver mask appeared before him like a ghost.

That was a night that changed my destiny.

Do you want power?

"...You mean, power?"

"It has nothing to do with power and wealth, fame and background, but can easily transcend those mundane things, a power beyond the comprehension of ordinary people..." The other person's voice echoed in my ear like the whisper of a devil, "True power."

"True power..."

To a normal person, what the other person said sounded like utter nonsense, but incredibly, he understood it and believed it.

He understood and believed that if he agreed, he would become a being beyond humanity, forced to feed on human souls. The voice seemed to possess an inexplicable allure, helping him skip the stages of questioning and doubt. He began to seriously consider whether to accept the power bestowed upon him.

What a joke! There's no need to hesitate when such a good thing is delivered to your door. He nodded without hesitation.

From that night on, he was no longer human, but a monster.

After becoming an eccentric, he began to prey on the powerful and wealthy who had humiliated him in the past and the marginalized groups of society who were ignored by everyone.

To avoid being investigated by official forces, even a normal person who wanted to kill a powerful person would be very careful about how the body was disposed of afterward, ideally making it appear as an accidental death or disappearance. But his thinking was completely different. Driven by revenge and confidence in his supernatural abilities, he deliberately wanted to create a scene where the victim's body was completely mutilated, causing the powerful to live in constant fear.

At the same time, he still couldn't let go of his past ambitions and desires, and his dream of achieving upward mobility in his human identity. Therefore, he sought out a nightclub owner with powerful influence and connections in the local upper class, forcing the owner to submit to him.

He deliberately chose the role of a nightclub owner as a "collaborator," which seems inexplicable at first glance, but there are actually two reasons for it.

First, the nightclub owner wields such power and influence because she possesses extensive incriminating material on local elites. This is an "open secret" among the local upper class. Having had enough of being used against others, the Shadow Changer is now eager to take the position of having leverage over others.

Secondly, the Shadow Changer was a regular at this nightclub. He had his eye on a particular worker there and wanted to "buy out" her "usage rights" as soon as possible. To this end, he didn't hesitate to reveal his monstrous form in front of the nightclub owner.

The girl he had his eye on was the youngest girl in the nightclub.

The Shadow Man has a perverted tendency to like young girls. In the past, he was brought to this nightclub by other powerful people, and the first girl he chose was this little girl.

At first, he only made this choice for the thrill, but after forcing the little girl to remove her mask and seeing her true face, he fell in love with her instantly. After that, every time he went to this nightclub, he would choose this little girl, and he would even bring clothes that fit her body shape for her to wear, or take out hair clips and other accessories from somewhere to carefully dress her up.

Goldfish used the fact that she had the right to refuse customers' requests to remove their masks while working at the nightclub as a basis for plotting to frame her father. As it turned out, many of the wealthy and powerful guests didn't care about such rules, and even if they broke them, they weren't held accountable.

As for most of the interactions between the Shadow Man and the little girl at night, Lu Youxun, who was interrogating and reading the Shadow Man's surface thoughts, did not elaborate on them to us. He only told us that the Shadow Man did not seem to have truly lost his humanity.

The Shadow Changer harbors some basic human guilt regarding his past actions of beating his wife and daughter, and of destroying numerous families through his indiscriminate killings as a monster. Beyond that, he also experiences a great deal of unspeakable sorrow and regret about the hardships he has endured over the years.

He told all these things to the thin, timid little girl as if he were confessing to a nun, and asked the little girl to hold him like a mother would hold her child.

He, on the other hand, acted like a child, even burying his face in her chest like a baby.

The Shadow Man, forced to reveal these secrets by Lu Youxun using magic, was like a netizen whose browser history was being publicly displayed on a projector. His eyes widened in fury, and he cursed in utter humiliation: "You bastard...you bastard!"

Zhu Shi looked like her brain had gone blank, and after a short while, she managed to utter a single word: "...Huh?"

"Actually, it's not entirely incomprehensible. Since ancient times, men have had two great fantasies. One is to sacrifice their lives for righteousness and ideals; the other is to be unconditionally loved and forgiven in the arms of a pure young girl." Lu Youxun sighed. "Many men, after experiencing heartbreak, fantasize about seeking maternal love from girls younger than themselves. For example, I used to..."

Seeing that such a handsome and dignified man could actually say something that made him feel empathetic, Zhu Shi looked at him with increasing disdain, and Ma Zao quietly moved away from him without making a sound.

I tactfully interrupted him: "Lu Youxun, are you reading too much of the Shadow Man's surface-level thinking, and is your train of thought being affected a bit?"

"...Ahem!" Lu Youxun seemed to wake from a dream, coughed twice, and then said, "Sorry, I went off-topic. It seems that the interrogation gloves do have some side effects. Reading other people's thoughts for a long time can have this effect. It was really dangerous. I was almost affected by this pervert who likes little girls."

Zhu Shi glanced sideways and said, "While overusing mind-reading abilities does make one susceptible to the influence of the target, what you're doing..."

"What do you all know?" The Shadow Man seemed to be trying to salvage some dignity, and began to spout some unbearable sophistry, "Every mature woman grows up from a naive little girl. If you can't love a little girl, it's like you can't love a complete person..."

"Shut up!"

Lu Youxun seemed to have used some kind of magic by grabbing the Shadow Man's head with his hand, and the latter immediately showed a pained expression and was unable to continue speaking.

Not only that, the Shadow Man's entire body also underwent a drastic change. It rapidly shrank from a demonic monster form into a human form that was only about 1.7 meters tall.

After watching him use his monster form for so long, it was quite jarring to see him suddenly revert to his human form. Besides, I burned his silk bathrobe to ashes, so now he's completely naked, bound to the tree trunk by the fiery hand – it's quite an eyesore.

“My power!” he cried out in disbelief.

"Hmm...you were rejected by the Seed of Hearts." After observing you with a penetrating gaze, Zhu Shi said in a judgmental tone, "Although Ma Zao pulled the Seed of Hearts that wanted to leave back from you earlier, it doesn't mean that the Seed of Hearts will accept you again. The reason your monster form wasn't immediately dispelled is simply because the Seed of Hearts hasn't run away yet."

"But if you apply some strong external stimulation like you did just now, your monster form will be popped like a bubble and you will never be able to return to your original form."

The Shadow Man revealed an expression as if the sky had fallen.

(End of this chapter)