Chapter 126 The Blessing of the Next Day 3
I once tried to infiltrate the Zhu family mansion using "fireflies," but unfortunately, the attempt was thwarted by the protective barrier surrounding the mansion. Ever since then, I've been curious about the mysterious Zhu family mansion. Now, I'm proposing to visit the Zhu family mansion, partly because I genuinely feel it wouldn't be appropriate to have Zhu Shi personally "bring his head to me," and partly because I want to satisfy my curiosity.
Zhu Shi seemed unaware of my intentions and readily nodded.
“Take Asahi with you,” she said. “My grandfather is far more knowledgeable than I am; perhaps he can heal Asahi’s soul.”
Upon hearing this, my expectations grew even higher.
And so, she came to my house with me.
Perhaps it wasn't just me who was interested in Zhu Shi's home; Zhu Shi also harbored an inquisitive mind about my home, or rather, about "my cohabitation with Ma Zao." At first, I didn't realize it and chatted amicably with her on the way. But as soon as we entered the foyer, her eyes suddenly sharpened, scanning our surroundings.
By this time, I realized something was wrong. I didn't see Ma Zao in the living room; she seemed to be taking a nap. That meant she was sleeping in the bedroom. It's worth noting that the only bed available in my house is the double bed in the bedroom.
Zhu Shi quickly found Ma Zao in the bedroom. Sure enough, Ma Zao was fast asleep on my bed. It was a rare high-quality sleep for her; the noise we made when we came in didn't wake her at all.
“Senior Brother Zhuang…” Zhu Shi slowly turned his head towards me.
I couldn't help but turn my head away: "What is it... Junior Sister Zhu?"
“From what I’ve observed, it seems you only have this one bed in your house…” she said with a sinister look in her eyes.
“We usually sleep separately,” I said seriously.
Of course, "normal times" is "normal times," and "last night" is "last night." The latter is a special case and should not be generalized.
"So, there really are pillows and blankets on the sofa in the living room..." she said thoughtfully.
Luckily, I didn't put away the pillow and blanket I used to sleep on the sofa last time.
She finally let me go, then turned to look at Mazao.
"She's sleeping so soundly." She seemed a little worried. "Can I use 'Mount Buzhou' to check on her condition?"
"Why are you asking me?" I said, "Just wait and see, she probably won't care."
Zhu Shi nodded and looked at Ma Zao with a discerning gaze.
Then, she gave a horrified look.
“…It’s utterly shattered, this child’s soul,” she said with difficulty.
Upon hearing this, I had a very bad feeling: "Is it serious?"
“Normally, her soul should be shattered into pieces. It's only because a powerful supernatural force is gluing her fragmented soul back together that she can maintain its structure.” She stared intently at Asao. “Yesterday, when I observed her using ‘Mount Buzhou,’ her soul, while having significant flaws, was at least still intact. Was it because she overexerted herself in last night's battle? But she's used her powers repeatedly before, and she wasn't this badly affected…”
Seemingly awakened by her voice, Mazao slowly came to her senses.
"...Ah, my soul is whole again." Zhu Shi muttered to himself, "So that's why my powers become more active when I awaken..."
Ma Zao cautiously propped herself up and turned to look at me and Zhu Shi.
Her attention was focused on Zhu Shi, and she tensed up like a small animal with a strong sense of territory that had discovered a stranger who had suddenly intruded. She asked warily, "Zhu Shi? What are you doing here?"
As she spoke, she glanced at me out of the corner of her eye, seemingly blaming me for bringing others into her home without greeting them. "I'm sorry, it was my fault this time. I'll inform them beforehand next time." "Wait, isn't this my home?"
“We’re going to the Zhu family to retrieve the head of the monster’s creator. Zhu Shi is here to guide us,” I explained first, then handed over the steamed buns and fried pork chops I had brought back. “This is your breakfast. Eat it while it’s hot.”
Her nose twitched, as if she had smelled the aroma of fried pork chops, and her expression instantly brightened.
However, she seemed uncomfortable eating alone, so she gave me half a fried pork chop and two steamed buns to Zhu Shi.
I went straight to the point and asked her about her soul state. She seemed normal and replied that although she was a little tired, she felt better than last night. It seemed that the fragmented state of her soul was quite normal for her at that moment.
However, Zhu Shi and I couldn't see it that way. Zhu Shi's concern for Ma Zao was the kind care of an adult for a child, but in my eyes, Ma Zao was truly indispensable, and there was absolutely no way he could be harmed.
After obtaining Asaho's permission, I tried again to probe deeper into her body. After all, my ability is to manipulate fire; if Asaho's injuries were slow to heal because the demon's flames remained in the wounds, then perhaps I could extract them. Unfortunately, I couldn't sense the flames. Asaho also said that her soul contained no flames, only incurable wounds.
Hopefully, this trip to the Zhu family mansion will yield a way to slightly improve Ma Zao's soul. We don't expect a complete cure, but at least something to alleviate the symptoms.
"Speaking of which, wouldn't this kind of behavior of randomly probing other people's bodies be considered sexual harassment?" Mazao suddenly asked.
"Huh?" I was startled.
Seeing this, she quickly said, "Oh, it's okay. I just saw the word 'sexual harassment' in a book. I know you didn't mean it that way."
Although I really didn't mean it that way, since you've said it like that, I might find it hard to shake off this kind of thinking in the future... I can only complain like this in my heart.
After Ma finished breakfast, we set off for the Zhu family mansion.
Chang'an is currently at the Zhu family residence. Zhu Shi specifically instructed us that if we encounter him, we must not reveal that the creator of the monster is Ying Lingyun, or that Ying Lingyun is likely dead. Furthermore, we must not show him the monster's head. Unlike herself, Chang'an would absolutely go mad if he saw that head.
By the way, Asahi buried the head of the Shadow Man outside yesterday and used a blessing to fix it in place and preserve it. It hasn't been retrieved yet. We also didn't retrieve the black-suited man who was also fixed in place by the blessing and bound inside the hotel. However, we heard that he was captured by Lu Youxun's men and eventually handed over to the police.
Zhu Shi took out his phone, explaining that he had already told his family he would be bringing us over. Ma Zao looked at the phone thoughtfully, perhaps pondering the inconveniences I had mentioned before regarding the lack of mobile payment and identification. Now that I wanted to keep Ma Zao by my side, I didn't need those excuses anymore; I'd just buy her a phone on the way home.
Looking at the black guitar case on Zhu Shi's back, I remembered the "forging of the Yama Sword" and the "eye of divine manifestation" mentioned by the eccentric creator, so I asked her about them. You see, I even revealed something like the fragments of the divine seal, so asking her about her secrets shouldn't be a problem, right?
"You're asking about my eyes and weapons?"
She seemed to still be pondering Mazao's spiritual trauma. When I asked her a question, she was taken aback at first, and then seemed to realize something. She quickly said, "Wait, the reason I didn't explain to you beforehand wasn't because I didn't trust you."
“I didn’t ask that,” I said.
"Really?" she said skeptically. "Senior Brother Zhuang, you sometimes seem quite serious, like the type who's extremely sensitive to these little details. Maybe if you get a girlfriend in the future, and she suddenly becomes cold towards you, you'll grab her arm and interrogate her relentlessly. If she doesn't answer, you might even secretly disguise yourself and follow her to find out the truth..."
"It's so heavy..." Mazao turned to look at me, nodding as if she understood. Really? Am I the kind of person who's so clumsy in interpersonal relationships? They've definitely misunderstood me.
“Now that you mention it, I’ve suddenly become concerned,” I said deliberately. “If you don’t explain to me, I’m going to plant thermal energy marks all over you and keep an eye on you until you’re willing to explain.”
“You don’t sound like you’re joking at all…” Zhu Shi first said in a low voice, then explained, “My eyes are actually related to the ancestors of the Zhu family. Although our Zhu family has declined now, we actually had a Great Impermanence a long time ago. This Great Impermanence was the first family head, ‘Zhu Yi’.”
"The Great Impermanence?" I never imagined that the Zhu family had once been so glorious.
“The Great Impermanence is considered to be on par with the gods, even possessing true divinity. This divinity occasionally manifests in the descendants of the Great Impermanence. I am the tenth generation descendant of the Zhu family, and the blood of the Great Impermanence has become very diluted in my generation, so it is an accident that it can manifest divinity.” As he spoke, Zhu Shi’s tone became humorous, “Perhaps the spirits of the Zhu family ancestors in heaven felt that we descendants were not up to par, so they gave my generation a special advantage.”
"My ability 'Mount Buzhou' is just a powerful, ordinary perception-based ability without divine blessing. However, after receiving divine blessing, it will manifest some incredible power. The condition for this blessing is that I must be in a combat state. At that time, the color of my eyes will change, and my personality will also become different from usual."
"As for why I didn't explain this to you beforehand..."
She suddenly became hesitant, which puzzled me: "What's wrong? Is it inconvenient for you to say?"
"—Because it's so embarrassing!" she couldn't help but say loudly, "I've actually been waiting for you guys to ask! If no one had asked me, would I have bothered to explain things like 'eyes that change color during battle,' 'eyes that reveal divinity,' or 'a sudden change in personality like switching to a second personality in times of crisis'...wouldn't that make me seem like I enjoy explaining my own chuunibyou (middle school syndrome) fantasies?!"
"Senior Brother Zhuang, I really envy you! Your ability to manipulate fire might not seem like much, but as a demon hunter with the Demon Eye ability, I always feel embarrassed when explaining my abilities to others!"
"Ah, um, is that so? You've really worked hard..."
I was overwhelmed by her torrent of resentment, so I had to change the subject: "Okay, let's not talk about that for now... So what exactly is the 'Forging the Yama Sword'?"
(End of this chapter)
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