Chapter 20 Zhu Shi 1
I am Zhu Shi, the demon hunter of Luoshan.
My brother, Zhu Chang'an, may soon become a target of the Fallen Witcher. Although I feel the possibility is very low, we do not have any clues to track down the Fallen Witcher.
I never expected him to visit my mother in the hospital. Although I was happy that he would do this, which is rare for him, what if the Fallen Witchers really attacked and affected the surrounding area? I didn't know how to explain to him why even a military hospital wasn't safe, and I'm not good at lying. I couldn't find a suitable reason to send him away for a long time.
Moreover, being in the same room with him was quite uncomfortable. Several agents were watching him, and I had to pretend to be an artsy college student in front of him. The agents' gazes were a bit intense. So I made an excuse to go outside for some fresh air and relieve my fatigue. Not only were there people watching him, but my magic had also been set up around him, and my senses covered the entire inpatient ward, so I didn't have to worry about him taking advantage of any openings.
When I left, he asked me why I brought a guitar case. It actually contained my spirit costume, but I could only say it was for playing guitar in the yard. I didn't intend to tell him about my job in Luoshan.
As soon as I stepped out of the inpatient department, I saw Detective Kong walking towards me from the opposite side, probably to relieve the other detectives.
In Luoshan, the agents' official title is "Probes." Their main job is to investigate clues related to strange events and notify the Witcher to handle them, and they also do other odd jobs.
Detective Kong is the elite among them; his insights into strange events are far richer than mine. The university I currently attend is also within his patrol area, and we've collaborated many times. I've heard from others that his superiors have imposed excessive workloads on him, forcing him to impersonate a police officer and travel around.
Many Witchers look down on agents, believing them to be defective products incapable of becoming Witchers. This sounds as if failing to become a Witcher makes one inferior. Yes, that's truly how they think. Therefore, they also look down on ordinary people. I suspect Agent Kong's superiors share that view; I simply can't get along with them.
With half an hour to go before my shift ended, we went to the pavilion in the courtyard and sat down to chat for a while. Detective Kong was a man in his thirties, and naturally, we couldn't find common ground in talking about everyday topics, so we could only talk about work. We quickly got to the unusual situation that had occurred in the fifteenth-floor room, which I had mentioned on the phone during the day.
"The reason for the appearance of the cave that Zhu Chang'an mentioned is still unknown. Although I asked you first if you had time to deal with it, are you really okay?" he asked worriedly.
"Whether there's a problem or not, we'll only know by trying, and we don't know if that cave is a strange phenomenon that affects those who come into contact with it regardless of distance. He's my brother, and I have to protect him."
"But your specialty is combat, right? If all else fails, you can ask other witchers who are better at it."
"I can't exactly ask other witchers to deal with strange phenomena that I don't even know the details of..."
"Alright, since you've put it that way, I won't try to persuade you any further." He sighed, then changed the subject, "However, while dealing with the cave, you can also take the opportunity to test that Zhuang Cheng."
"Zhuang Cheng? Do you still believe he's involved in the appearance of the cave?"
“That’s a secondary reason, and it’s highly unlikely,” he explained. “What I’m mainly trying to say is that he may have already come into contact with our world. There have been a lot of strange events in the last two years, and it’s strange that someone like him, who has been relentlessly pursuing these strange events, has remained unscathed. Perhaps he has some kind of protective power.”
He said something similar last time, but this time I sensed a different meaning: "You mean, you want to recruit Zhuang Cheng as a partner?"
“Even if he can’t become a combatant, he can definitely become an excellent agent, which would be a fulfillment of his wish.” He smiled. “It was originally my job as a probe to find potential people from the public, but if you are the one to do it, you can then act as his guide and let him assist you. Even without magic, he is still a very talented person and will definitely be able to help you.”
"Thank you for your kindness, but..."
Although I acknowledge that Zhuang Cheng is an outstanding talent, some facts may differ from what Detective Kong thinks.
I recalled how I met Zhuang Cheng.
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Around the time I was in my first year of high school, I heard about Zhuang Cheng from my older brother.
Unlike ordinary families, the Zhu family I belong to is a demon hunter family. I heard that one of our ancestors was a Great Impermanence, but they have fallen on hard times. Originally, my older brother was supposed to inherit the family's magical artifact and become a demon hunter, but due to an accident, I became the heir, while he lost his childhood memories, and the family also kept him from knowing anything about the world of demon hunters.
While he claims to have amnesia, it's not entirely true that he's lost his memory; fragments and vague impressions remain. Therefore, he has always firmly believed in the existence of strange things, claiming to those around him that he has seen and come into contact with them.
His family naturally wouldn't accept his story, and outsiders were even less likely to believe him. He was ridiculed and bullied by classmates in junior high, and his teachers frequently spoke with him. People are easily influenced by their environment, especially during adolescence, a time of rapid personality development and change; therefore, external affirmation and rejection are crucial.
Furthermore, since he hadn't encountered anything strange since losing his memory, he gradually came to accept that those fragmented memories and impressions were just childhood fantasies, and finally stopped mentioning them.
However, he must still harbor some resentment and expectation in some corner of his heart, hoping to find an opportunity to vent and release it to the outside world.
I felt very sorry for my brother, but at the same time, I also envied him a lot.
I once thought I would never become a Witcher.
One day, he suddenly mentioned someone to me during dinner, saying that in his high school, there was a weirdo who was passionate about investigating urban legends, named Zhuang Cheng.
This person is somewhat like the older brother from the past. Although he doesn't publicize the existence of strange things to those around him, he is also trying his best to prove their existence, even more radical than the older brother from the past.
I thought my brother was about to rekindle his interest in strange things. For reasons I couldn't explain to outsiders, my family and I didn't want him to get involved in this world, so we criticized the topic from an ordinary person's perspective, saying it was "a waste of time." My brother was silent for a moment before agreeing with me.
Later, I investigated Zhuang Cheng. He didn't start investigating ghost stories in high school; rather, he had shown extraordinary enthusiasm as early as junior high. His classmates all remembered him well, but almost no one was close to him. One of my seniors from high school was his junior high classmate, and she looked disgusted when she mentioned Zhuang Cheng.
"That person often brought candles to school."
"Candle?"
"Yes, candles. He'd take candles out of his desk drawer all the time and stare at them with a terrifying look, like he was possessed. Isn't he a huge fan of ghost stories and often goes exploring haunted places? He must be possessed by something evil..."
Besides, I also learned from others that he used to focus on studying concepts such as feng shui and metaphysical rituals, often carrying a compass and divination tools with him for practice. After a while, he seemed to lose interest and shifted to other areas, all related to the occult. Most people thought he was either mentally ill or immature, and their criticism of him was even more severe than that of my older brother in junior high school.
However, he was completely oblivious to everyone around him, as if the voices of those around him couldn't reach his ears, and he did everything he wanted.
In high school, there was a girl in my class who liked supernatural romance novels. This led to some strange fantasies, and she wanted to portray herself as a "supernatural girl," claiming that she could "see things." As a result, he followed her by scent and "caught her red-handed," mercilessly exposing all her acting skills.
On one occasion, a feng shui master from overseas approached a local tycoon to swindle money. He, a high school student, somehow sensed something was amiss, went over, and exposed the imposter on the spot.
In the years that followed, he witnessed countless fake supernatural phenomena, yet he remained "mentally ill" and "naive."
Although this is just my own guess, my brother might have been attracted by this very point.
So later, when I criticized Zhuang Cheng in front of him, he no longer agreed with me insincerely as he had in the past, but instead sided with Zhuang Cheng.
It wasn't until I arrived that I realized he had been secretly following Zhuang Cheng's every move ever since he first mentioned him to me, collecting information about him like a fan.
When he mentioned Zhuang Cheng, his tone became increasingly animated, as if he regarded the other person as another possible version of himself.
"Did you know? When he was about to graduate from high school, he went to another province to investigate a case of missing children. It's said to be related to local folklore, similar to Japanese ghost stories. Actually, it involves some incredibly evil force behind the scenes in that area..."
Having heard similar topics many times, I have to admit that he is indeed a "legendary figure".
However, this is dangerous, extremely dangerous.
One day, Zhuang Cheng will find himself in a hopeless situation, dying with regret over the very thing he relentlessly pursued.
Starting about two or three years ago, organizations around the world dealing with the supernatural noticed that strange entities that were previously hidden in the shadows of the world had begun to become more active for some unknown reason, and spacetime distortions that were rarely seen in the past were also increasing. The degree of these distortions increased year by year, and reports of ordinary people dying due to these strange phenomena piled up.
Some people in Luoshan even made unorthodox prophecies, saying that this was a sign of an impending great calamity.
If we define all of human history to date as the "era of humanity," then starting from today, within ten years, this prosperous history of humanity will come to an end.
Afterwards, not only all humans, but also all living beings and all strange creatures will be destroyed in the great calamity.
Ultimately, all matter will vanish.
And the next era... there probably won't be a next era.
If we had to name it, it would be "the era of doomsday".
(End of this chapter)
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