Chapter 84 Ma Zao Reappears 1

I immediately felt a cold sweat break out on my back.

Can Zhu Shi see through lies? I reflexively recall whether I have lied to Zhu Shi, and how many lies I have told.

Fortunately, unlike when I was dealing with Ma Zao and Chang'an, I was generally quite sincere with Zhu Shi, so I didn't lie much... That's impossible. I did lie to her face before, always using Detective Kong as an excuse to say I'd heard this or that, and pretending not to know Ma Zao while trying to gather information from her and Lu Youxun.

While I didn't lie to Zhu Shi as many times as I did to Ma Zao, to say that I was particularly sincere towards Zhu Shi in my daily life would be utterly absurd. Because I've lied so much lately, I don't even know if there are any lies I've forgotten as soon as I uttered them.

Did Zhu Shi see all of that? I used to even think to myself that she was easily scammed!

"Zhuang Cheng, what's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?" Zhu Shi asked curiously.

"No, it's nothing..."

Wait, did she really see through all my lies? Calm down, don't panic. If she could truly discern every lie she encountered, then even if the former Detective Kong could temporarily relinquish the Heart Seed, he couldn't possibly hide his eccentric identity from her.

Furthermore, if she had pretended not to know about my lies before, there's no need for her to tell me now that she has the ability to see through them.

Based on the clues I've observed in the past, this ability of hers shouldn't be the type that's activated frequently. I must test it again.

Perhaps noticing my unusual reaction, Zhu Shi looked thoughtful and asked, "Did you tell me a lie before?"

Did she really not know?

"I did say that." I admitted it directly at first, then took the initiative and asked in a testing tone, "Do you know which sentence it was?"

Seeing my calm attitude, she seemed to think it wasn't a serious lie, and answered in a light tone, "I don't know. Which sentence?"

"It's what I just said: if you're not comfortable explaining your abilities, you don't have to force yourself," I said.

"Ah, that's it!" she exclaimed, suddenly understanding. "That makes sense! You're so interested in strange things, you'd definitely want to know everything about my abilities. So that was just a polite remark!"

It seems she genuinely didn't know. Besides, I really hadn't planned to pry. The unknown has its own allure, and I'm not that impatient.

"Don't you usually use that ability?" I asked.

"We generally don't use it with our own people, because it's easy to offend them. And using it all the time can strain your eyes," she replied.

I breathed a sigh of relief, then noticed the problem in her words: "Does seeing through a lie easily offend people?"

I tried to construct that logic in my mind. While it wasn't entirely incoherent, it still felt insufficient.

“It’s not just about seeing through lies; my ability also makes it easy to see through other people’s abilities,” she said. “Do you remember that strange guy from last night?”

“I remember. You rendered his ability unusable. Was that also related to you finding his weakness?” I asked.

“When an opponent uses their ability in front of me, I can find the flaws in their ability. And in the process, the truth of their ability is also revealed to me. So I saw at a glance that his ability was ‘damage transfer’,” she said.

I see. She had told me before about the importance of concealing one's power. For those who wish to hide their trump cards, her ability is a significant threat, so naturally she wouldn't use it casually on her own people.

In those superpowered battle of wits comics, her ability could be described as a "golden finger" that fundamentally overturns the entire genre. She used to say my skills were excessive, but her ability is, in some ways, far more excessive than mine.

"However, what flaw did you find in the 'damage transfer' ability that made it suddenly unable to be activated?" I pondered.

“Actually, there is no such flaw. It’s just that…” She paused, then said something even more outrageous, “If the target has no objective flaws, or if there are no flaws that I can exploit, my ability allows me to subjectively forcibly observe a flaw that I can exploit.”

"Then, as long as I attack that weakness, I can create extraordinary effects. Because his ability is 'damage transfer,' I can deal damage to him that cannot be transferred."

What kind of foul ability is this? If I'm not mistaken, she can make the opponent suddenly have a weakness that even they themselves don't know about?

“Your abilities are actually far beyond mine…” I said.

"No way!" she said, seemingly a little proud.

"Does this ability have a name?" I asked curiously.

“Yes. It was named by my grandfather.” She clenched her fist to her mouth, coughed slightly, and then said seriously, “The name of this ability is ‘Buzhou Mountain.’ ‘Bu’ means ‘negation,’ and ‘Zhou’ means ‘complete.’ Buzhou is the negation of completeness.”

"And 'mountain' represents the wish that this ability was placed upon. My grandfather hoped that I could grow to the point where I could cut a mountain in half with a single sword strike, just like the ancient gods who knocked down Mount Buzhou..."

As she spoke, she seemed very shy, and her voice grew softer and softer.

I completely understand her. Explaining the meaning behind her ability's name so earnestly is like explaining the settings she wrote in her cringey diary. Even though those "settings" were written by her grandfather, she must feel incredibly embarrassed to say them aloud. At first, she didn't seem to realize anything was wrong, but from the middle onward, she became increasingly embarrassed.

Seeing how shy she was, I wisely helped her out and skillfully changed the subject: "Since your ability can be activated even on inanimate objects, could you help me take a look at this thing?"

She asked hastily, as if she had grasped a lifeline, "What is it?"

I took out the black rope heart-locking ring that Lu Youxun had given me.

"The Black Rope Heart-Locking Ring?" She was slightly taken aback. "This is a prop that simulates the authority of the King of Hell in the underworld, making it impossible for the recipient to lie or remain silent, otherwise they will be punished with death... But I remember this should be Lu Chan's item, so why is it in your hands?"

“This was given to me by Lu Youxun. He said that I helped him track down clues about the Humanitarian Affairs Bureau, so he gave me this gift in a private capacity,” I said. “But I’m not familiar with him, and I’m worried about him suddenly giving me a gift, so I wanted to show it to you.”

"What!" Upon hearing that Lu Youxun had given me a gift, Zhu Shi was shocked. "You two have been seeing each other in private!"

"Oh? Yes." I guessed she was worried I'd be recruited by Lu Youxun, so I explained first, "He wanted to recruit me into the Transcendental Movement, but don't worry, I refused. Rather, take a look at this ring first?"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Shi immediately took the ring and examined it closely.

Her expression grew increasingly serious.

My heart started pounding. Could there really be something wrong with this ring? Should I just give it up? I really don't want to let go of a supernatural item that I finally got a usable one.

After a long while, she finally raised her face and said seriously, "There's nothing wrong with this ring."

"Then why do you look so serious..."

"That wretched Lu Chan, I haven't even given Senior Brother Zhuang a gift yet..." She ignored my question and just said resentfully, then suddenly asked me, "Senior Brother Zhuang, is there any gift you want?"

“You don’t need to give me a gift, and I haven’t done anything for you.” I’m not very good at this kind of conversation, so I could only change the subject again. “Besides, it seems you’ve been putting a lot of effort into hiding my elemental transformation, but I have to say, Lu Youxun already knows I can transform into an elemental being. Last night he was spying on our battle from a distance using a telescope.”

"Huh? He actually had that trick up his sleeve! That Lu Chan guy..." She showed a hateful expression again.

I was thinking about how to explain my conversation with Lu Youxun last night to her.

Although Lu Youxun accused Zhu Shi's faction of being the one that would ultimately enslave mortals, I don't believe they currently harbor such subjective thoughts. At least Zhu Shi doesn't, a point even Lu Youxun cannot deny.

I have no interest in thoroughly studying the ideologies and programs of both sides, nor do I intend to participate in their open and covert struggles. I will concentrate on pursuing what I want to pursue, walking the path I have chosen, and accepting with equanimity the various difficulties and consequences that arise from my choices.

If Zhu Shi eventually finds it unbearable to be on her current precipice, I will continue to stand by her side as a friend. That will be enough.

Before I could finish speaking, an unusual roar suddenly came from afar, and it was moving at high speed toward us.

Zhu Shi and I exchanged a glance and immediately hid behind a car parked nearby.

I had just hidden myself when I saw the outer wall of the residential compound smashed through in the distance. A huge, dark shadow forcefully entered the compound. Although it was night, its distinct silhouette made it instantly recognizable to me. It was a humanoid monster with an ugly, terrifying sheep's head, a towering three-meter-tall body, and bulging muscles all over its body.

That's the weirdo we've been looking for!

The strange man didn't stop after breaking into the residential area; he ran towards us at an alarming speed.

Has he spotted us? No, although it's just my feeling, it seems like he's running away. And just when he was less than twenty meters away from us, a new figure appeared out of nowhere behind him.

The new figure appeared without warning, as if it were exhaled from the air and floated directly into the air, holding a large recurve knife in its hand.

Upon appearing, the newcomer swung his weapon and slashed at the back of the monster's neck.

I recognized the other person's true colors instantly.

The other party was a girl of thirteen or fourteen years old, with a face that haunted my dreams and a petite and soft body, but her movements were extremely sharp and swift, and when she did speak, she was astonishing.

The blade fell like a guillotine, severing the enemy's solid muscles and strong bones.

Suddenly appearing, Asahi chopped off the monster's head with a single stroke.

(End of this chapter)