Chapter 30 Poisonous Flower

After much deliberation, I decided against using the "fireflies" to follow Zhu Shi.

Regardless of Ma Zao's potential departure at any moment, since I've decided to establish a relationship with Zhu Shi and Luo Shan, it's inconvenient for me to do anything that could damage it. Zhu Shi isn't Chang'an; as a demon hunter, she might discover my "firefly" tactics. Although I eavesdropped on her phone earlier, and she didn't seem to notice when she was with Chang'an at the hospital, things could change in the long run. Everything has to be done in moderation.

As I walked home, I was still reminiscing about my earlier conversation with Zhu Shi.

This is the first time I've officially revealed my superpowers to other people, especially acquaintances. Although I've always kept my true abilities a secret, I've secretly hoped for a moment when I could display my abilities in public.

Wealth and honor not returned to one's hometown are like wearing brocade at night. Gaining great power but not displaying it to anyone is no different from wearing brocade at night.

During my high school years, I would even fantasize before going to sleep, imagining that there was a person with outstanding observation and reasoning abilities. He would discover my subtle suspicious points through clues, and then go through a series of magical reasoning and self-doubt, painfully reconstructing his worldview, and finally find me in front of him, revealing his reasoning with great shock and inability to accept reality—Zhuang Cheng, are you really a superhuman?

And at that time, I would casually acknowledge his reasoning in front of him and display my superpowers—yes, I am.

Who could have predicted that this time, while I confessed to my friend's sister that I was a superhuman, she would also reveal herself as a member of a mysterious organization, the Witcher, in front of me.

It doesn't feel quite like what I imagined...

Just as I was still pondering this, my phone suddenly beeped with the sound of a text message being received. I took it out and saw it was a message from Zhu Shi. It contained only one sentence:

"By the way, Senior Brother Zhuang, you're not allowed to go back to investigate the cave in the fifteenth-floor room tonight. Just in case, I've already asked an agent to keep an eye on it! (<ゝω·)☆"

She's such a contrasting junior sister.

When we first met, she called me "senior brother," apparently because she was already planning to attend Saltwater University. And recently she actually started her freshman year at Saltwater University, so I'm now officially her senior brother.

"I understand, junior sister." I sent the text message back.

After some time, I returned to my doorstep, having bought some late-night snacks on the way, which I put in two plastic bags.

"Firefly" had already returned before me and confirmed Asa's condition. Asa was still at home, and just like when I left, she was on the sofa in the living room.

She seemed exhausted, curled up on the sofa. The suspense novel I'd recommended to her was now half-open, placed next to her head. Some old magazines I'd bought out of curiosity were also on the coffee table, showing signs of having been flipped through.

She was still wearing the gray top and pants I had given her. Perhaps she had taken my words, "Feel free to use anything in the house," to heart, because she found some rubber bands somewhere and used them to secure the rolled-up sleeves and pant legs to her wrists and ankles.

I opened the door and went inside, then went to her side. She looked like she was sleeping very poorly; her eyes were tightly closed, her brows were furrowed, and she was making unintelligible whimpers like a small animal. Even though she was asleep, her whole body was tense, like a bow.

Although I was thinking before, "Now that I have Luoshan, do I no longer need Mazao?", seeing her again now, I couldn't help but throw all those thoughts away.

It wasn't just because I needed Mazao to neutralize the unknown repulsion I felt towards strange events. To be honest, I didn't think about that aspect at all at first. Sometimes I have to admit that I'm actually a short-sighted person who prefers things within reach, and a naive person who is easily swayed by emotions. Her figure awakened the mysteries about her that had settled in my mind, making me unable to extricate myself from my feelings for her once again.

I turned and placed the two plastic bags on the coffee table. To make it easier to keep an eye on her, I wanted to carry her into the bedroom, just like last time, and sleep on the sofa myself. However, the moment I touched the back of her knees, she was startled, her eyes snapping open. In an instant, she sprang up nimbly, grabbing my arm with one hand and lunging for my throat with the other.

I have a feeling that this kind of development has happened during the day as well. Am I going to get locked up by her joint lock again?

The thought popped into my head reflexively. Even though I knew I would be fine, it felt like someone suddenly jumping out to scare you as you were walking around the corner of a hallway. Anyone would be startled, so I was a little frightened too.

The next instant, her swift and agile movements came to a halt as if a pause button had been pressed. The hand that was about to choke me changed from "choking" to "touching" in an emergency.

"Zhuang Cheng?" she asked, sounding surprised and uncertain.

"It's me." I calmed my racing heart. "I'm back."

She stood there stunned for two or three seconds before straightening up and sitting cross-legged on the sofa.

"Where do you think you are?" I asked.

"I'm sorry," she said sullenly.

“I’m not blaming you.” I placed one of the plastic bags containing things on her lap. “Look what I brought back for you?”

She looked down, her nose twitched, and her eyes lit up: "This is..."

I took a hot, cheese-stuffed chicken cutlet out of the plastic bag and said in a friendly tone, "I thought you were probably hungry around this time, so I brought you a late-night snack."

"I'm not that greedy," she protested, but her eyes couldn't leave the fried food in my hand.

I deliberately countered with, "So, you don't want to eat it?"

"...I want to eat it," she said reluctantly.

"Eat up." I handed the chicken cutlet to her and took something else out of another plastic bag. "There's ice cream here too. You can have this after you finish the chicken cutlet."

"Ice cream? I've seen it mentioned in written materials before. It's a delicious thing..." She stared wide-eyed at the chocolate-flavored ice cream in my hand.

"That's right, eat up, just eat as much as you want, and hopefully you'll ruin your stomach so you can't leave my house..." I kept my wicked thoughts to myself and continued to recommend late-night snacks to her. She became increasingly eager to try.

Suddenly, she looked up and asked suspiciously, "Aren't you going to eat?"

"eat."

It seems she won't move if I just watch her eat. Luckily, I anticipated this and bought two portions.

After a long while, we finished eating everything. She seemed satisfied, and once again unconsciously revealed a happy smile.

Perhaps she was already very sleepy, but after eating, she became even more tired, and her eyelids began to droop. I tried to persuade her to go back to her bedroom and sleep in bed, but she insisted on sleeping on the sofa.

“Isn’t there only one bed? This is your home, you should sleep in the bed.” She was much more relaxed than before. “You’re really a strange person. Are there only kind-hearted people like you in this era? If this were the apocalypse, people like you would die very quickly.”

"Not necessarily. There are plenty of bad people in this era too." I shamelessly accepted the title of "good guy," and then asked, "Judging from what you said before, you seem to have had access to materials about this era. What did they say?"

"I haven't had much access to information, and much of it is written by people from the apocalypse based on their memories and impressions. I've heard that in civilized times, people are of very high moral character," she said earnestly. "People who grow up in the apocalypse can't trust anyone; they only know how to deceive and hurt each other, and their minds are only on seeking their own benefit. But people who grow up in civilized times are honest, united, rational, hardworking, and willing to contribute..."

She thought for a moment and added, "Also, she's incredibly dedicated to her work; she even scrubs the toilets so clean you could drink the water inside..."

"Wait, wait, wait..." I felt something was increasingly wrong as I listened to the end. "What information did you leave behind at the end, based on what memories?"

She picked up an old magazine from the coffee table, opened it to a page, pointed to the text, and said, "Isn't that what it says?"

I'll state it outright: "This is a fabricated ghost story; it's fake."

"Actually, I don't believe in those things either, but after seeing you, I started to wonder if all the legends I'd heard about the civilized era were true." As she finished speaking, she couldn't help but yawn.

"Just so you know, I'm not going to drink toilet water," I said.

"How could I ask you to do that? You've been so kind to me, I don't even know how to repay you..." She grew increasingly drowsy, her body swaying.

After a while, she finally couldn't resist and fell asleep again.

Could her easy drowsiness be due to the emotional trauma she mentioned? I tried to pick her up again. Although she insisted on sleeping on the sofa, to be able to detect her movements quickly after she fell asleep, it was natural for her to sleep on the bed and me on the sofa. This wasn't out of pity, but a rational choice. This time she didn't wake up, so I carried her to the bedroom, laid her flat on the bed, and covered her with a blanket.

Perhaps she was having another nightmare, because her brows gradually furrowed and her body tensed up.

I reached out and smoothed the wrinkles between her brows with my fingers, while silently gathering my warmth to make the bed cozy and cozy. Her expression gradually softened, and her whole body relaxed.

I pictured her happy smile after eating the delicious food, her knees swaying slightly like a child's, and then I looked at her relaxed and peaceful face.

I slowly withdrew my fingers and began to reflect on all my previous experiences.

Although there are still some things that cannot be determined, based on my observations and experience, there is no need to add uncertain prefixes such as "maybe," "possibly," or "perhaps" to the authenticity of the "early-onset jinx" constitution.

Caves, ritual arrays, Luoshan, Zhu Shi, Agent Kong, Fallen Witcher... Ever since Ma Zao arrived, I have been encountering one mysterious thing after another that I had never encountered in my past life.

It's like the protagonist of a fantasy story, who lives a boring and uneventful life before the story begins, but after the story starts, it's as if he has encountered a great misfortune, with one wave after another.

In the past, I tried so hard, but I could never come into contact with anything related to the strange. Now, it's as if those things are coming to me on their own. It seems that every step I take could lead to a new adventure.

If this isn't a blessing from Ma Zao, how else can it be explained?

At least, I'm willing to believe that's the truth.

This means that I must take into account that Asaho's jinxed nature will affect "the people around her" as the premise when deciding how to handle my relationship with her in the future.

I need to make a choice—

Either give up on continuing to associate with Mazao, kick her out of the house right now, and return to a boring, uneventful, but safe life that won't involve anyone else;

Either distance yourself from all ordinary interpersonal relationships, part ways with family, friends, classmates... and normal society, and choose to maintain a relationship with Asahi.

...

It's truly a remarkable poisonous flower.

Excellent, just what I wanted.

I just love poisonous flowers; the more poisonous they are, the more delicious they are.

I chose to maintain my relationship with Asahi.

(End of this chapter)