Chapter 66 The Daytime Witch, Her Home Has Been Raided

Sang Li instantly became certain of her guess.

Chi Du, that's the raven.

The marks are exactly the same.

The evidence is conclusive and irrefutable.

However, Ike Wataru didn't seem to want to hide it at all; on the contrary, he seemed very proud and honored.

He was the one who was protecting himself.

Other crows certainly weren't as kind as him, nor did they have his abilities.

They met right after he left the management bureau.

So, in a sense, Ike Watari peeked at his sleeping self.

And it even uses its adorable raven appearance to let you pet it.

Sang Li was dissatisfied.

Now that he can find himself, what does those two years in the shelter matter?

Couldn't they storm the execution ground and rescue the prisoners?

Sang Li asked, "So what exactly is this?"

Chi Du: "Guess."

If you let her guess, the answer is definitely not obvious.

Sang Li asked, "This isn't location tracking? I thought you were going to track me."

Chi Du smiled and pressed his mark down, his fingers gently tracing it as if caressing a precious treasure.

As he touched her, Sang Li also touched her own chest.

What's so interesting about touching this?

However, the moment she looked up, Chi Du's expression suddenly changed.

Chi Du gasped, his body visibly trembling, his previously calm expression replaced by a surge of intense emotion.

My body swayed suddenly, caught off guard.

Almost instantly, his face flushed, his eyes turned a near-sunset crimson, his Adam's apple bobbed, his lips parted slightly but he said nothing, and his breathing became heavy and labored.

"You—" Chi Du bit his lower lip, as if suppressing something, his voice trembling slightly, "Don't touch me."

It's like, you can't help it.

"Huh?" Sang Li was startled and quickly withdrew her hand.

This reaction.

This one.

“You, Chi Du…you are a succubus?” Sang Li managed to utter.

She's an adult; she knows what that sound means!

In public, a handsome man suddenly made this sound.

If there are mermaids among the abnormal beings, then the existence of succubi isn't anything new, is it?

"No." Chi Du gritted his teeth. "Don't touch it again. Even if you want to touch it, you have to tell me."

"oh."

He gently gripped the edge of the shelf, his knuckles white, as if all the strength had drained from his body, making him unsteady on his feet. His ears were bright red, as if they were on fire, and even his neck was flushed a delicate pink.

If he's not a succubus... then I am?!

Oh, it does look quite similar.

Chi Du tried to compose himself, but his voice was still trembling: "I shouldn't have activated it so early."

Sang Li: "You seem a bit strange. Could it be because of me?"

Has my ability evolved?

Oh, that's not a good idea.

Wouldn't that make me the embodiment of the seven deadly sins?

Chi Du, unusually losing his composure, retorted, "Nonsense, who else could it be!"

“I,” Sang Li surrendered, “okay, I was wrong.”

Chi Du: "The shared origin between us is connected; your touch... will be transmitted to me."

Sang Li stammered, "Then...it's uncomfortable? I only touched it, where did it travel to?"

Sang Li's gaze slid down his Adam's apple, across his chest, waist, and abdomen...

"Stop looking," Chi Du said, his eyes half-open, his face flushed red as if stained with blood, his voice almost inaudible: "No, don't worry about these details."

"You can't sense it, can you?" Sang Li asked awkwardly.

Okay, that's a good adult standard.

Chi Du coughed: "We haven't seen each other for too long, it won't happen again. My body needs some time to adjust."

Sang Li asked, "So what exactly is this?"

“This isn’t about positioning at all,” he said softly. “It’s about shared origins.”

“You haven’t regained your memories yet, so you don’t know that this mark was given to me by you.”

“You created me, Lili.”

Sang Li was stunned.

Chi Du's voice whispered in her ear: "My life exists because of you. I was not chosen; you put me into this world yourself."

"That's why you feel familiar with me, and why you accept my approach without any resistance."

His eyes were fixed on her, without any fervor, only a deep and unfathomable obsession.

Me?

Sang Li's fingertips felt cold, and it felt as if some seal was violently vibrating in her mind.

What exactly are my own abilities?

What does it mean that she created Ike Watari?

In terms of seniority...

Is Chi Du her...son?

Hey, my good son.

Call her "Mommy".

She tried to speak, but found her throat so dry that she couldn't utter a single word.

Sudden.

"Sang Li?"

Bai Heng's voice came through.

In the blink of an eye, Chi Du was gone.

Just like when he appears, he often disappears without a trace.

Bai Heng walked over: "What's wrong?"

"I'm fine." Sang Li concealed what she had just seen. Before the truth came out, she didn't want anyone else to get involved. In truth, she also had some distrust of Bai Heng and Lu Jin.

After all, she was an anomaly, and they were humans.

Different species.

Bai Heng looked around and seemed to sense a slight fluctuation from an anomaly, but it was very weak.

However, such fluctuations around Sangli are normal.

Bai Heng looked at the yogurt in her hand and felt that something was wrong.

Just as he was about to speak, Sang Li interrupted his thoughts: "What else do you want to eat tonight? I see there's a freshly baked cake."

Bai Heng: "You can eat whatever you want."

In the evening, I returned home.

Actually, Sang Li was still not used to Bai Heng taking care of her, but this little thought was quickly overshadowed by the aroma of food wafting from the kitchen.

Looking at Bai Heng cooking, Sang Li felt as if she had returned to the human world.

Bai Heng was still wearing an apron as he took the sea bass out of the steamer and skillfully stir-fried the shredded potatoes in the pan.

Before long, Kung Pao Chicken was plated on the table, its color a tempting red and shiny, and the aroma of peanuts filling the air.

Sang Li exclaimed in surprise, "You can actually cook such down-to-earth dishes? This is so relatable and authentic!"

Very traditional Chinese food.

This made Sang Li feel that Bai Heng was also very much like a traditional... husband.

Three points?

Sang Li thinks Bai Heng deserves at least an 8 out of 10!

However, Lu Jin seems to be quite good at cooking.

The two have different styles. Bai Heng is more of a contrast, like a chef in a Chinese restaurant. Lu Jin's cooking is more Western-style, or similar to fusion cuisine. He doesn't really like Chinese cooking methods like stir-frying vegetables, dislikes oil fumes, and doesn't like stir-frying.

These two seem to be the opposite.

Bai Heng smiled, carried the plate out, and Sang Li went to get the bowls and chopsticks.

He said, "When I was studying abroad, I was too picky about food. How could I survive without learning some skills? Did you think I was just someone who microwaved lunchboxes in a lab?"

Sang Li narrowed her eyes, feigning suspicion as she looked him over: "At first, I thought you'd be the kind of rich young master who cooks steak, pasta, and pairs it with red wine. You know, the kind of aloof big shot in a lab who makes cold dishes. You know what I mean."

In the game, she still really liked Bai Heng's style.

Dragging a highbrow beauty down into the mud is just as enjoyable as men often doing the thing of persuading someone to reform.

"And what about now?" Bai Heng asked.

“Now… it’s kind of like that too,” she reached out and stole a mouthful of shredded potatoes, nodding with satisfaction. “The dishes you’ve prepared are more like an old father who has been worn down by life.”

Bai Heng was both amused and exasperated: "Thank you for calling me old."

Sang Li's phone lit up as soon as she sat down at the dining table.

Lu Jin: [How are you feeling today? Are you feeling unwell?]

This is Lu Jin's first WeChat message of the day.

He seems to be quite busy.

She thought for a moment, then quickly replied: [Everything is fine, I'm still alive. Bai Heng is cooking.]

Lu Jin: [Enjoy this delicious food. I'll take you out this weekend.]

Sang Li: [Sending love, I want to go to the food festival this weekend]

Lu Jin replied instantly: [Okay]

Sang Li: [Please be careful too]

But Lu Jin didn't reply; he was probably busy.

Bai Heng asked, "Was the food delicious? I made mung bean soup. I noticed that Lu Jin's house has nothing. What do you all eat at home?"

Sang Li: "I make steak, cream soup, pumpkin soup, and once I even made lobster soup. Actually, Lu Jin really enjoys cooking; he never makes the same dish twice, which I think is quite impressive."

Bai Heng: "I didn't realize he used to eat in the cafeteria."

"Wow, you know him pretty well," she laughed, biting her chopsticks, and casually asked, "Hey, what mission did Lu Jin go on? Oh right, it's so tiring, do you get overtime pay for working on weekends? You guys must pay a lot for overtime, I remember you guys have a lot in your housing provident fund too."

Bai Heng was serving her soup when she caught off guard by her question and almost burst out laughing: "Why do you always have such strange things on your mind?"

“Can’t I care about my friend’s labor rights?” Sang Li said seriously. “Besides, you don’t know how high the cost of living is these days. Moreover, I also need a salary, right? I need to see if the Administration Bureau has treated me unfairly.”

Bai Heng looked at her and smiled: "Your logic makes some sense."

Sang Li raised an eyebrow and said seriously, "So did he get overtime pay or not?"

"Probably not." Bai Heng thought for a moment, "But his year-end bonus was quite high."

"That's alright." Sang Li nodded in satisfaction. "When he comes back, I want him to treat me to a big meal. What's he doing on this business trip? Is your mission very important? Is it another joint operation? It seems a bit dangerous."

Bai Heng admitted: "Joint operations to capture anomalous entities are generally quite challenging."

Sang Li: "Then why won't you let me go? I'm not human, I want overtime pay."

"..."

Sang Li: "So, it's a danger that I can't bear."

Bai Heng did not answer.

Judging from his inside information, it seems that Lu Jin rejected Sang Li's colleague.

After all, the arrest was a bit dangerous for Sang Li.

Sang Li asked curiously, "How dangerous is it?"

“BEAM-107,” Bai Heng said.

Sang Li's gaze sharpened: "Raven?"

Bai Heng: "Yes, it's the one you met a few times before. They must have found traces of him in the South China Sea. This time it's too dangerous. It's understandable that they didn't take you, after all, he can't protect you properly."

Sang Li lowered her eyes.

Isn't the raven just... Ike-dori?

Although Chi Du didn't say it, Sang Li was certain that Raven was that man. However, she had seen Chi Du in the supermarket just three hours ago.

So, does Lu Jin know that his base has been raided?

He didn't know.

At this moment, Sang Li actually felt a little sorry for Lu Jin.

By the way, she didn't even know what Chi Du's abilities were. There was very little information about his unusual abilities; she had only heard that he had been seen in many murder cases in the 18th century or many years ago.

But Ike Watari doesn't have the smell of an old person...

Sang Li felt the files were unreliable.

After all, BEAM's files were written by humans from the Bureau, but what do humans actually know?

I know nothing.

I just love making things up.

It's possible that these were all written by working-class people using AI!

Sang Li, resting her chin on her hand, asked, "Tell me, why are we arresting so many abnormal beings? Just because they're different? Don't they have any rights?"

That dissatisfaction rose again, lingering in my chest.

She wasn't asking Bai Heng, but rather human society as a whole, that cold, impersonal system.

As a "minority".

Bai Heng paused for a moment, then slowly put down the spoon.

"For the sake of stability," he said, his tone calm, yet with the composure typical of a researcher.

“But many anomalous individuals don’t do anything at all.” Sang Li frowned, her fingertips unconsciously tapping lightly on the table. “They also have their own emotions and lives. Many of them don’t even know they are anomalous individuals. Suddenly one day they are labeled, arrested, and locked up in a laboratory like animals.”

A brief silence fell over the dining table.

“This world needs a set of rules defined by humans,” Bai Heng finally spoke. “Otherwise, order will collapse. The power of anomalous entities is too great. If they are not controlled, even a one-in-a-thousand chance of danger is enough to cause a catastrophe.”

"So, should we treat all anomalous entities as monsters?"

Bai Heng shook his head slightly, a barely perceptible ripple appearing in his eyes.

“I didn’t say that was right.” Bai Heng didn’t explain, but instead softly uttered a name, “Have you heard of the ‘Daylight Witch’?”

“No,” Sang Li replied.

“BEAM number 001,” he began, “the Witch of Daylight.”

“Number 001?” Sang Li’s pupils contracted slightly; she had never heard of this number before.

"This is the earliest known individual with a clear record of an anomaly. It appeared in late medieval Europe, during a large-scale witch trials, when the inquisitors claimed to have captured a 'real witch.' According to contemporary records, it was a girl with a completely white body—no, the so-called witch."

Bai Heng gently raised his eyes, his gaze passing through the window: "It is said that her eyes were pale gold, like sunlight shining into deep water. Her hair was as white as snow, her skin was bloodless, and when she was captured, she did not struggle, but kept saying that disaster was coming."

Sang Li unconsciously held her breath.

Witches will be burned at the stake.

This is the template for medieval stories.

“She walked herself to the stake,” Bai Heng continued. “When people asked her who she was, she said, ‘I am the Witch of the Day, I will not die, and everything that humans do will bring about the destruction of mankind.’”

He said this with almost no change in expression, but it made people's hearts skip a beat.

"They piled firewood at her feet and lit torches."

"Then what?"

"The fire didn't start."

Bai Heng's voice lowered further: "The sky was cloudless, but the sunlight grew increasingly blinding. Brighter and hotter. Until the on-site recorder wrote down the last sentence, 'The fire did not ignite, but the crowd set themselves on fire.'"

Sang Li suddenly looked up, a chill running down her spine: "How could this be..."

"The death toll was 666 at the time," Bai Heng said slowly. "Everyone was burned to death by the inexplicable high temperature, their skin blistered and their flesh charred black. Only that abnormal body walked out of the ashes unharmed."

Sang Li: "Is this a real witch?"

Bai Heng: "Later, the Day Witch continued to appear in various corners of the world, slaughtering humans. She killed more than two thousand people in total. BEAM was founded because of the Day Witch, in order to capture her and maintain stability."

Sang Li asked, "What happened next? Were they not caught?"

Bai Heng: "We caught him. He died 20 years ago in BEAM's containment facility. His body has been sealed up."

Sang Li blinked; "You've abused her!"

“It wasn’t me. I’ve never even seen her remains,” Bai Heng said softly. “Eat up, don’t listen to the story anymore. Your blood sugar will rise soon, and you won’t be hungry anymore.”

A gust of wind outside the window blew the curtains.

Like a whisper, like a song.