"As expected, when she heard this question, Ma Zao's expression immediately changed.

'Why are you suddenly asking this?' She observed my expression. 'Could it be that you...'

'It's not what you think,' I replied in a calm tone. 'It's just that, to prevent any unforeseen circumstances, I need to confirm this in advance.'

'How would you even prevent something like this in advance?' She frowned. 'And weren't you don't believed what I said before? Why are you suddenly asking such in-depth questions now...?'

'The only thing I found hard to believe was your talk of the apocalypse, not your description of how you might bring disaster upon yourself. Seeing how concerned you are about the possible misfortune you could bring, I can't just dismiss it as a joke. And also...'"

She asked suspiciously, "...And what else?"

"I can't fully believe you, but... I want to believe you." I looked at her eyes sincerely. "Ma Zao, can you let me believe in you?"

This was truly how I felt. Whether it was the apocalypse or her misfortune-attracting nature, these were things I found hard to fully believe in but wanted to believe were real.

However, to be honest, I never expected such a cliché line to come out of my own mouth one day. I don’t know who once said that when a person is playing a role they’re unfamiliar with, they inevitably end up reflecting the stereotypes they have about that role. Perhaps it’s because I’ve watched so many anime, but whenever I try to act like the nice guy, the lines that come out are always overly dramatic like this.

Not sure if it’s because I disgusted her, but Ma Zao instinctively stepped back again. This time, she backed all the way up until her back was against the wall, staring at me in shock and saying, 'You’re really... really unbelievable... How could someone like you even exist?'

'So, does your misfortune-attracting nature affect the people around you as well?' I couldn’t help but return to the question I had started with.

She composed herself and, after a moment of thought, replied, 'I’m not really sure either.'

'You don’t even know yourself?' I asked, puzzled. 'Shouldn’t you be the one who knows best about something like this?'

'If you just think about it for a moment, you’ll understand. In the apocalyptic world I live in, strange creatures are everywhere. Survivors try their best to avoid these monsters, but anyone could be spotted by one and fall into danger at any moment,' she explained. 'In such a situation, I can’t really tell which anomalies are caused by my misfortune-attracting nature and which ones are just the result of bad luck.'"

"Since everyone has a considerable chance of being attacked by strange creatures, how can you be sure that the anomalies you encounter are the ones caused by your own actions?" I didn’t let this question slip by.

"...It’s based on statistics." Her tone became subdued. "From the information I’ve gathered by communicating with other survivors, I noticed that the frequency with which I encounter these strange creatures is unusually high. And this abnormality seems to gradually affect the people who cooperate with me... Some of them, who might have survived longer. It should be me who’s supposed to die, not them..."

By the end, she could no longer conceal her negativity and frustration.

It seemed that the trauma caused by this issue was really serious for her; she exuded a sense of fragility and a disdain for the world.

Seeing this, I tried to shift her attention: "I understand. It's like black paint being most noticeable when applied to white paper, but if it's on black paper, it becomes blurry. Your misfortune-attracting nature can only be observed in a blurry way in an environment already filled with disaster. Is that the idea?"

That said, perhaps even in such an environment, with enough trials, a more accurate conclusion could still be reached. But that would mean sacrificing more lives, which clearly wasn’t something Ma Zao would do.

"Yes..." Ma Zao took a deep breath, seeming a bit tired.

Suddenly, her legs gave way, and she swayed, almost collapsing to the ground again.

I quickly stepped forward and supported her. She had fainted before, and it seemed like those symptoms were returning now.

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Fortunately, she didn’t lose consciousness this time, but instead grabbed onto my arm to steady herself.

I helped her over to the sofa and had her sit down.

"Are you alright?" I recalled the patient’s gown she had been wearing earlier. "Do you have an illness? If you need any medication..."

"No, it’s not a physical illness." She said seriously. "Didn’t I tell you before? My soul was severely injured by the apocalyptic demon, and I can’t even use the power of blessings anymore. The fact that I can't move right now and pass out is also because of my soul..."

Before she could finish speaking, her stomach suddenly rumbled loudly.

She fell silent.

"Are you hungry?" It suddenly hit me what I had forgotten before coming home.

I forgot to give Ma Zao something to eat!

Since I found her last night, I hadn’t seen her eat anything, and she had been in a weak state the whole time.

This was the first time I had left someone at home for this long, so I never considered her needs for food and drink. It was like the first time someone keeps a pet but forgets to prepare food for it, leaving the poor animal at home while they happily go out.

No wonder Ma Zao seemed dissatisfied when she saw me return earlier. She probably thought I would be back soon, but I ended up leaving her hungry at home for so long.

I felt extremely guilty about it.

"I'm sorry, I was careless. You must be very hungry right now, right?"

"It's nothing, I'm used to it." She looked unfazed, but her hand couldn't help but gently touch her stomach.

Hearing this, I felt even more guilty towards her.

"I didn’t expect you to faint from hunger..."

"It's not because of hunger!" She furrowed her brow and tried to argue, but then couldn't resist touching her stomach again. "I already ate yesterday. It's just that I’ve been hungry for a day, so it’s not enough to make me faint. I fainted because of the soul injury... Wait, what kind of look is that?"

"Yeah, I understand. A soul injury, right? I get it."

"No, that expression on your face... You clearly don’t believe me! Don’t look at me with those sympathetic eyes! Didn’t you just say 'you want to believe me'?"

It seemed that, more than being embarrassed about being hungry, she minded my pitying gaze more. She was so angry that it seemed like she wanted to bite me.

I quickly changed the subject. "But, isn’t there still food in the fridge? There should be some snacks in the bedroom too, didn’t you touch any of it?"

"Are you talking about the stir-fried meat and rice in the fridge? That’s your food, right?" She said matter-of-factly. "I still have to hide here for the next three days. How could I take your food or water without permission? Anyone who does that deserves to be killed."

"This isn't an apocalyptic world, no one will be killed over a small mistake like that." I hoped she could relax while staying here. "This time it’s my fault, I didn’t think things through in advance. From now on, you can use anything in my house freely, just treat it like your own home. My things are your things. You can eat and drink whatever you want, and if you're running low on anything, just let me know."

Instead of being happy about such generous treatment, she gave me a suspicious look. "Is that really okay?"

"Well, you’re only staying for three days, aren’t you?" I said to reassure her, then walked towards the fridge. "Wait a moment, I’ll cook for you. Just to be sure, let me confirm—you're really not fainting because you're hungry, right? There’s no issue with your health?"

"No problem." She didn’t seem like she was lying.

"Then I'll make you some fried rice, but remember to chew slowly." I took out the food from the fridge.

It was leftover from the last time I ordered takeout. Since the takeout app often has large discounts for ordering more, I usually order a lot of dishes, then save the leftovers in the fridge to reheat when I’m hungry. What’s left now is stir-fried peppers with meat and rice, stir-fried shredded potatoes, and a few eggs. I planned to mix everything together and make fried rice for Ma Zao.

Actually, there was another question I wanted to ask her, but I decided to fill her stomach first.

However, it seemed like she sensed something from my attitude.

"You probably have other questions you want to ask me, right?" She stopped me while repeatedly observing the plastic container with the food I was holding. "I didn’t answer your last question properly, so I won’t count it as a fair exchange for food. You can ask me one more question."

"If I ask, will you answer?" I retorted.

"I can’t guarantee that. It depends on the question." Her attitude remained unchanged.

I placed the plastic container with the food onto the dining table beside us.

"Alright... then first, you traveled from the apocalypse to this time period, yesterday, right?"

"I said that last time too."

"The police officer who knocked on my door this morning said you’re a serial killer who has killed five people in the past two or three months. What do you think about that?"

"I didn’t do it," she said firmly. "Before yesterday, I wasn’t even in this era."

Yes, that was her alibi.

Someone between Ma Zao and Agent Kong must be lying. The possibility of Ma Zao lying is higher because there’s a record of her large portrait photo in this era.

But I knew there was a possibility that could make both their testimonies valid at the same time.

Ma Zao is a time traveler, and "time travel" was originally a literary concept referring to the phenomenon where a person moves to another time or space for certain reasons. This phenomenon can generally be divided into two forms: one is when the person moves to another time or space along with their body and soul; the other is when only their soul moves to another time or space. In many works of fiction, time travelers who only move their souls to another time or space often possess the bodies of others.

Ma Zao once mentioned that she arrived in this era after a failed spatial transfer. So, I subconsciously assumed that she had moved to this era with both her body and soul.

However, if we assume that Ma Zao is not using her original body, and that the original owner of this body is the true serial killer, most of the mysteries would be easily explained.

"Ma Zao, is this body really yours?"