Chapter 29 Extraordinary Communication 3

Life cannot be assumed, just as one cannot know how one will live ten years from now, nor can one know how one will live now if certain conditions in the past have changed.

Therefore, I can only remain noncommittal regarding Zhu Shi's statement. However, she still misunderstands one thing. I have emphasized before that the object of my true obsession is not the bizarre, but the unpredictable, surreal adventure. It's just that the bizarre world is closest to this answer. Seemingly similar, this difference is actually quite important to me.

“Since you’ve mentioned my superpowers, I have a question I’d like to ask you,” I said solemnly. “This question has troubled me for years and is very important to me.”

Seeing my seriousness, she also became serious: "Go ahead and ask."

That's when I voiced my question.

"What exactly is this superpower of mine?"

"Huh?" she asked, puzzled. "You're asking me this? Don't you know the answer best yourself?"

"Actually, it's like this..."

I explained the whole story of how I awakened my superpowers.

"Ah, no wonder you always carried candles with you in junior high and would take them out to stare at them from time to time..." After listening, she suddenly realized and then said the cruel words she didn't mean, "I was wondering if you were really possessed by some evil spirit to behave so strangely. It turns out that it was your brain that was acting strangely."

Did you just say something?

And how did she know about my middle school days?

"Ahem!" She finally realized what was going on, coughed twice, and finally became serious. "Um, I understand. So, what you want to know is the principle behind your superpowers, right?"

"Yes. Even in fictional worlds, the source of superpowers is always explained. Is it from some kind of gene that scientists haven't discovered yet, or from radiation from some special mineral, or perhaps humans are naturally capable of awakening superpowers, but in very small proportions..." I gave a few examples.

"It's difficult for me to give you a precise answer to this question," she said, looking me up and down.

I don’t know if she used some special power at that moment, but I suddenly had a strange feeling that I was being stripped naked and stared at.

The feeling quickly faded, and she withdrew her gaze, concluding, "There are many reasons why people develop superpowers. The cases you mentioned earlier are all real. All I can say now is that you are at least not infected with the blood of demons or monsters. I can't draw any more specific conclusions; perhaps only a thorough examination can reveal the truth."

Should I ask Rosan to conduct a thorough inspection...? I weighed this option repeatedly in my mind.

“But this is strange…” Zhu Shi suddenly remembered something. “Oddities should attract each other. Since you are already a superpowered person, you must be one of us. It’s even more unreasonable that you haven’t encountered any strange events yet.”

"Why would weirdos attract each other?" I wondered.

She gave an irresponsible answer: "I don't know, it's just a generally accepted phenomenon."

"Isn't this answer too crude?" I complained.

“And I’ve also investigated those locations you’ve investigated before.” She then said something I couldn’t understand at all, “Many of those locations are genuinely strange, and finding them shouldn’t be that difficult for you. But you just just haven’t encountered them…”

Her words stirred up a storm in my heart: "Wait, I don't understand, what are you saying..."

“I don’t understand it either. It’s like you and strange events aren’t attracted to each other, but rather repelled,” she said, puzzled.

Are there many genuine cases among the strange events I've investigated before? Or am I mutually repelled by strange events?

This is the first time I've ever heard of something like this!

But if what she said before was true, then I should indeed be more likely to encounter strange events than normal people, and it is indeed illogical that I have been tracking it for many years without any results.

I composed myself slightly, then tentatively asked, "...So, following this trend, let's assume I join Luoshan..."

"If we can't find out the reason, even if you become a member of Luoshan, you're probably destined to never encounter strange events again." She concluded first, then fell into thought. "Speaking of which, logically speaking, you should have just missed the cave in the fifteenth-floor room as before... Has something special changed that made you finally encounter strange events this time?"

Upon hearing this, I could only think of one decisive change—that I had met Mazao.

I used to think that as long as I could get in touch with Luo Shan, I would no longer need Ma Zao's "jinx" constitution. Now it seems that was just wishful thinking on my part.

We really can't let Ma leave early!

She remains indispensable, even more important than before.

I must hold her firmly in my grasp and never let her leave me.

Luo Shan seems to be searching for Ma Zao as well, but I don't know what his purpose is. Could I find out something from Zhu Shi? I carefully considered my questioning techniques. A slight misstep could expose my weakness, leading the other party to discover that I know Ma Zao's whereabouts.

"Is there anything else you want to know?" Zhu Shi seemed to notice the question I was holding in my mouth. "It's okay, we've gotten to know each other again today. I've already learned a lot from you, so feel free to ask me any questions you have, and I'll answer them as best I can."

"It's just about the Fallen Witcher." I finally came up with a specific explanation in my mind. "Didn't you say before that this Fallen Witcher was the murderer in the case eight months ago? And I met a policeman before who said that the murderer from eight months ago is the serial killer who has recently appeared."

She thought for a moment and said, "The police officer you're talking about is Detective Kong, right? I asked him to investigate the room on the fifteenth floor for me."

"Is that policeman also from Luoshan?" I asked, feigning ignorance.

"Yes, but his real job is as a frontline investigator in Luoshan. He only impersonated a police officer because of mission requirements; he's not a real police officer."

“I see…” I continued, “Anyway, Detective Kong told me that the murderer and the serial killer are the same person, and that she is a thirteen or fourteen-year-old girl. Could it be that the fallen demon hunter was a girl before she transformed?”

"Ah, you mean that..." She looked embarrassed. "No, no. Don't worry, you've never burned such a young girl."

"So, Detective Kong lied to me back then, deliberately accusing someone who hadn't committed murder of being a killer?" I pressed. "Why? Who was the girl he was looking for?"

"This matter is related to the mission that Detective Kong is currently carrying out, and it's not convenient for me to disclose it..."

Judging from her expression, she seemed to think that Luo Shan's accusation of Ma Zao as a serial killer was against his conscience. But I was, after all, an outsider to Luo Shan, and in her eyes, I had nothing to do with this matter. If I investigated too deeply, it might arouse suspicion. I could only think of other ways to probe.

Just then, Zhu Shi's phone rang.

She glanced down at the caller ID, her expression turning businesslike, before answering the phone.

I silently turned my right hand behind my back, quietly lit the "firefly," and used my special senses to eavesdrop on the phone call. The person on the other end seemed to be the gray-uniformed personnel who had previously retrieved the fallen demon hunter's corpse. Their tone was a bit strange, saying that the preliminary results of the autopsy were in, and they hoped that Zhu Shi would also come over to take a look.

What exactly is it that requires Zhu Shi, a frontline worker, to go back and investigate?

After Zhu Shi agreed, she hung up the phone and then gave me an apologetic look: "I'm sorry, I have to go back first, it's about work."

"Is it related to that fallen witcher? Before he died, he said he had seen me two years ago and had a grudge against me, but I don't remember him at all."

I mentioned this to her when I described the battle to her earlier.

“I will investigate.” She nodded first, then said, “Actually, I think there’s something very strange about the death of the Fallen Witcher.”

"What is it?" I asked.

“He also has a skill: using shadows as passageways to move between different spaces,” she said. “However, according to your description, he didn’t use this skill, which is perfect for escaping, during his escape. Although I might be overthinking it… this incident may not be over yet.”

I wasn't completely unfamiliar with the skills she mentioned.

The Fallen Witcher first appeared before me, emerging from the shadows.

If you can come out of the shadows, you can definitely go back into the shadows.

However, in his hasty escape, he never escaped into the shadows until his death. Was it because his body was engulfed in flames, dispelling the shadows wherever he went? But when he attempted to manipulate the shadows to extinguish his own flames, he was not affected by the firelight. At that time, the shadows he manipulated were simply burned by the flames, not dispelled by the firelight.

This incident may not be over yet—I couldn't help but think so.

After saying goodbye to me, Zhu Shi turned around in a hurry, and I was also preparing to go home first.

Actually, if conditions allowed, I originally wanted to take out the black jade I obtained from the basement and ask Zhu Shi to appraise it for me. However, judging from her wary attitude towards strange objects and her sense of mission as a demon hunter of Luoshan, I might not be able to get the black jade back after handing it over, so I had to give up this plan for now.

Suddenly, I noticed that after taking a few steps, Zhu Shi turned back to look at me, his eyes seeming somewhat hesitant.

I didn't know what she wanted to say, so I stood still and waited for her voice.

After a moment, she finally exhaled, her expression softened, her voice returned to its usual tone, and she smiled slightly at me.

See you tomorrow, Senior Brother Zhuang.

She spoke with a smile while waving goodbye.

(End of this chapter)