Epilogue of Chapter 111
Strictly speaking, this was my first time killing someone.
But I don't know if it's because I've done many things that are close to murder in the past, or because the people I killed deserved to die, but I feel nothing about it.
Or perhaps Detective Kong was right after all; murder is far too easy for me. With a mere thought, I can obliterate a person. In this process, I see no bloodshed, hear no screams, only a flash of fire. The victim might not even have time to feel the pain of death. Therefore, as the murderer, I naturally feel no sense of reality, let alone guilt.
I don't see it as a bad thing. I'll likely continue fighting in the future, and I'll likely encounter situations where I have to kill opponents again. Being indifferent is far better than feeling resistance, or even developing unnecessary fascination.
However, on the other hand, I did experience a strange feeling. It wasn't a change in my inner state, but rather a matter of sensation—as I actually took lives, my superpowers seemed to undergo subtle changes.
What happened? I moved my hands and feet in surprise, feeling the operation of my superpowers. The superpowers themselves were functioning perfectly, but it seemed like there was an unprecedented foreign object, which I couldn't detect for the time being.
Seeing that I took the initiative to kill, Zhu Shi seemed to want to offer his opinion, but in the end he said nothing and just let out a long sigh.
Incidentally, I didn't burn all the Shadow-Switch monsters to ashes; at least I kept their heads. These are necessary items for Asaho to investigate where the monster creators might go.
Under the complex gaze of the goldfish, I handed my head to Asa, then turned to Lu Youxun and said, "Let's disband here and discuss it again when Asa has some results."
Lu Youxun had no objections and turned to leave. Chang'an, however, seemed to have something to say. Perfect timing, I also have something to say to him.
The existence of the Witcher family and the blood of monsters destined Chang'an to delve deeper into the strange world, and Mazao's existence had already been exposed to various forces. Therefore, I no longer needed to persist in the lie I told him when we parted. I took him aside and spoke to him alone, revealing the true reasons why I had distanced myself from him in the past.
Furthermore, I was already worried that my "fireflies" might bring him misfortune. Now that his personal crisis has been resolved, and he will likely continue to enter and exit the Zhu family mansion's barrier, I will no longer use "fireflies" to monitor him.
“No wonder you suddenly acted so strangely last time, so that’s what happened to you,” Chang’an said with sudden realization.
"Yes. So you'd better stay away from me from now on," I said.
He nodded in deep agreement: "I understand. I'm not really stupid; I wouldn't do anything to become a burden to my friends or cause them unnecessary worry."
Did he mean those things? Does he really have any self-awareness?
"But what if I become stronger in the future? For example, through the blood of sealed monsters or the heritage of a demon hunter family, and obtain the power to protect myself? At that time..." He hesitated, then stopped.
I took the initiative to say, "When that time comes, let's be friends again, just like before."
That's what we say, but to avoid causing him unnecessary danger, it's best to have less contact with him in the future.
I thought it would be appropriate to say those words before parting, but his attitude was quite strange. After hearing what I said, he paused, then looked at me with a gaze that I couldn't understand.
"Will it be the same as before..." he muttered to himself.
"What's wrong?" I asked, puzzled.
He shook his head first, then smiled and said, "Well then, see you later."
We parted ways thereafter.
-
Lu Youxun called shortly afterward, briefly informing him of the situation at the nightclub, marking the end of the Shadow Changer incident.
Although I caused quite a commotion inside the nightclub while capturing the Shadow Man, the nightclub owner didn't seem to notice and didn't move away. Whether it was a lack of vigilance, a desire to stick with the nightclub to the death, or simply indifference, law enforcement successfully arrested him after raiding the nightclub.
During the interrogation by the detectives, she confessed to what she had done, including things related to goldfish.
Why did she allow Goldfish to work in the shop even though she knew the Shadow Changer's true identity? It wasn't just that Goldfish wanted to use her body to create dirt on her father; she also needed this leverage to retaliate against the Shadow Changer who forced her to cooperate. She genuinely despised the Shadow Changer, yet in the past she had been forced to submit to his tyranny, a fact that filled her with resentment.
She saw through the Shadow Changer's obsession with transcending social classes as a normal human being, believing this leverage was enough to destroy his future. Of course, once he had this leverage, the Shadow Changer might also overturn the table and violently retaliate against her rebellion. Any rational person would realize that this leverage was actually a ticking time bomb that could destroy them.
Unfortunately, she really isn't a rational person. In the past, she was able to come up with a revenge plan of sending her body to brothels just because her husband cheated on her, which shows that she is essentially a crazy woman, just like a goldfish, with something definitely wrong with her brain.
She doesn't care whether the methods she chooses will backfire and destroy her; she uses whatever methods she comes up with. In other words, she has incredible drive, making people want to keep their distance while remaining speechless.
"Women are always unreasonable, and she's quite the odd one out there."
Before ending the call, Lu Youxun sighed on the phone. "I think his views on women are biased. Did he suffer a great loss at the hands of women in the past?"
We walked out of the grove.
Chang'an was supposed to go back to the Zhu family mansion, but Zhu Shi didn't go back with him; instead, he stayed with me and Ma Zao.
Ma found an abandoned plastic bag by the roadside and put her head inside. She seemed to be reflecting on her past experiences, glancing at me every now and then. I asked her what she was thinking about, and after a moment's thought, she confessed to me.
“That Lu Chan guy said before that men have two big fantasies…” She looked at me very seriously, “Zhuang Cheng, do you also want to be hugged like a mother by a girl younger than you? You helped me a lot before and were very kind to me. If you want, I can hug you too.”
Upon hearing this, Zhu Shi, who was walking beside him, almost tripped and fell.
Looking at Mazao's youthful beauty, as delicate as a flower bud, and her slender, supple body, I was actually a little tempted. However, the righteous gaze of someone with common sense beside me forced me to temporarily suppress my feelings and politely decline.
Ma Zao seemed to remember that Zhu Shi was still nearby, so she added unnecessarily, "If you need anything in the future, you can come to me alone. You can ask me to do this kind of thing anytime."
“No, no, no, this is definitely strange!” Zhu Shi couldn’t help but interject, then said, “Also, Zhuang Cheng, I’ve been wanting to tell you this for a while now…”
"You mean the murder?" I was prepared for this question.
“Of course I’ll talk about that too, but we can talk about it later. Now I have a different question,” she said. “When the Shadow Man attacked you during your trial, why didn’t you dodge? Although his attack speed was very fast, judging from your reaction afterward, it seemed like you never intended to dodge in the first place.”
“There’s really no need to dodge,” I said. “Although he’s manipulating shadows, it’s still a physical attack at its core. You know my physical condition; that kind of attack is useless against me.”
"That's a misconception, Zhuang Cheng," she said seriously. "Your elementalization is indeed a remarkable skill, but the soul is extremely fragile. The body is both a seal and a protection for the soul. Transforming the body into natural elements means exposing the soul completely defenseless."
"We demon hunters can imbue our physical attacks with soul-destroying power simply by focusing our magic with the intention of killing souls. I imagine your soul is countless times stronger than that of a normal demon hunter, otherwise the flames generated from your spirit wouldn't be so powerful, and destroying them wouldn't be such a simple matter."
"Even so, your soul is still defenseless when it becomes elemental. This is probably your only weakness. You shouldn't take advantage of your ability to ignore physical attacks and suffer damage from enemies without any defense."
"Soul attacks are so common among Witchers?" I didn't expect that the attack attribute I feared most could be achieved so easily.
“That’s right. The two strange guys we fought before probably didn’t know the tricks of attacking souls, and Agent Kong, who fought you in the past, was probably killed by your powerful firepower before he could even use a soul attack. Otherwise, even you would have felt some damage to your soul.” She nodded. “Actually, I should have reminded you earlier. But this is common knowledge for demon hunters, so I just couldn’t remember to tell you. I guess that’s a kind of cognitive bias.”
"You don't need to worry too much about that. Because soul attacks are so common, items that increase soul defense are also very common. I'll try to collect some powerful items for you in the future. Just equip them and pay close attention to enemy attacks."
"Thank you," I said solemnly.
Zhu Shi nodded, then looked at the plastic bag containing the monster's head in Ma Zao's hand and asked, "Ma Zao, you told Lu Chan that you needed a week to investigate where the monster creators conducted physical examinations on the monsters. Was that a lie after all?"
“It’s a lie.” Asahi nodded. “I don’t believe him, and he seems quite obsessed with the matter of the monster creator and the Humanitarian Affairs Bureau. Just to be on the safe side, I didn’t tell him the truth.”
"So how long does it actually take?" Zhu Shi asked.
Asaho said confidently, "It's hard to say exactly when, but as long as I investigate with the intention of getting close to the strange event, I should be able to find out before we miss our chance."
(End of this chapter)
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