Chapter 120 Everyone goes home
I thought I had misheard.
Perhaps Zhu Shi didn't actually call out "Dad," but simply uttered the meaningless syllable "ba." As for why she would inexplicably utter such a silly syllable at this moment, let's leave that aside for now; it's certainly much more reasonable than her calling the monster creator "Dad." I genuinely had that thought at first.
But what happened next completely contradicted my expectations. Zhu Shi strode over to us, then bent down and cradled the monster's head in his hands. The latter was utterly mutilated, the only redeeming quality being his intact face, which wasn't particularly gruesome; his expression was calm. However, from the perspective of the deceased's family, this level of consolation might seem more like nitpicking.
Zhu Shi stared blankly at the head, her expression slowly shifting from disbelief at the incomprehension of the situation to disbelief after understanding it.
Mazao and I looked at each other, at a loss for what to do. In the end, I spoke first.
"Is the creator of this monster your father?" I asked, forcing myself to be brave.
“…Yes.” Zhu Shi said with difficulty, “There is no mistake, this face…is my father, Ying Lingyun.”
Ying Lingyun? Shouldn't your father's surname be "Zhu"? It took me a beat to remember that Zhu Shi and Chang'an's father were married into the family.
Moreover, I definitely heard the name "Ying Lingyun" not long ago. By the way, the Shadow Changer mentioned a politician from humble beginnings in Saltwater City who rose rapidly through the ranks of officialdom after becoming involved with the daughter of the local, hidden wealthy family, the "Zhu family." When I first heard about this, I intended to ask him about it, but I was quickly distracted by the Shadow Changer's twisted interests and completely forgot about it.
Actually, I had heard of the name "Ying Lingyun" a long time ago when I was interacting with Chang'an, but since it was someone I had virtually no connection with, I didn't pay much attention to it. To me at the time, he was just an irresponsible and unscrupulous father figure appearing in Chang'an's "background story."
Regardless, I killed someone's father by accident. No, actually, it wasn't accidental; I'd killed him twenty or thirty times before, and just now, with the intention of thoroughly destroying him, I burned his consciousness network along with his physical body. To claim it was accidental is utterly absurd. In short, I think I should apologize first.
"Um... I'm sorry?" I said.
“No need to apologize to me. Besides, I just provided you with intelligence support. I was involved in this too.” Zhu Shi shook his head, then said blankly, “Oh, I see. He’s the creator of the monster… He’s been missing for so many years, so he wasn’t involved in any secret official project, but secretly joined the Humanitarian Affairs Department…”
It's also possible that the Humanitarian Affairs Bureau is an organization secretly controlled by official forces—I recall the suspicions mentioned in the materials Lu Youxun gave us. And now, the true identity of the monster creator seems to corroborate this.
As a politician and official, Ying Lingyun is undoubtedly a member of the official forces. Since he also serves as a high-level decision-maker in the Humanitarian Affairs Department, it is hard not to suspect the connection between the official forces and the Humanitarian Affairs Department.
This also explains why the creator of the monster needs to hide his true appearance. Once the true face beneath the mask is exposed to Luo Shan, everyone will suspect the background and connections of the Humanitarian Division. In fact, even without being exposed, people like Lu Youxun from Luo Shan are already highly suspicious.
Considering Luo Shan's past suspicion that the official forces might possess the Divine Seal, it seems possible to connect this to the fragments of the Divine Seal that the creator of the monsters is suspected of having. Perhaps the official forces did indeed possess the complete Divine Seal in the past, but due to some accident, the Divine Seal shattered, the Fantian Incident occurred, and the power that separated the secular world and the supernatural world disappeared. The shattered Divine Seal, however, remained in the possession of the official forces…
So why would such an important item appear in the basement of a fifteenth-floor room, and why would I find it?
Where did the official forces obtain this apocalyptic technology that "turns humans into monsters"?
Perhaps it's too prudent to suspect any connection between the official forces and the Humanitarian Affairs Bureau at this point. It's also possible that Ying Lingyun is a traitor to the official forces, and that the Humanitarian Affairs Bureau is indeed a dark organization that is irreconcilably opposed to both the official forces and Luoshan.
Now it's clear that Lu Youxun really didn't have any affair with the creator of the weirdo.
The initial suspicion against Lu Youxun stemmed primarily from the creator of the strange figure's knowledge of Zhu Shi. However, now that the creator's true identity is Ying Lingyun, everything makes sense. After all, Ying Lingyun is the Zhu family's son-in-law and Zhu Shi's father; it's perfectly normal for him to be aware of his daughter's abilities and the Yama Sword she wields.
Okay, now that I've sorted out my thoughts, I'm pretty much out of the shock of realizing that "the freak was created by Zhu Shi's father."
Zhu Shi seemed to have barely surfaced from his turbulent emotions, muttering to himself, "Why would he join such an evil organization as the Humanitarian Division? Could it be that he actually hates demon hunters... hates our Zhu family?"
She was a person who hated evil as if it were her enemy. Even if her father was truly doing something heinous, she would never associate with him and might even show an attitude of irreconcilable enmity. That being said, as a daughter, personally participating in the act of killing her father must have been unpleasant for her.
I can't imagine what she's feeling right now.
"Do you want me to help you investigate?" Asaha seemed to be racking his brains for the right words. "Although it will probably take a few days or ten days, I should be able to find out some information."
“…I’ll ask you for help later.” Zhu Shi sighed. “As for tonight, let me take his head back first. I need to report to Grandpa; this will serve as evidence.”
Ma Zao didn't suggest going to Zhu Shi's house with him, but instead turned to look at me first.
As Zhu Shi's "father's killer," I'm now at a loss for how to talk to him. I accidentally killed the father of a close female friend, and he witnessed the crime. How can I emotionally soothe him and rebuild a friendly and harmonious conversation? —If I post this as the title on an online forum, will anyone give me good advice? I can't help but overthink.
Subsequently, I proposed a temporary disbandment.
After a brief discussion about tomorrow's itinerary, we each went our separate ways, lost in our own thoughts.
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com