If I really answered "not available" here, would you just let me go home like that? I had this thought and then replied, "Available."
Although I really wanted to go home first to check on Ma Zao’s condition, this wasn’t like the earlier decision of whether or not to re-enter the basement. Choosing to talk with Zhu Shi wouldn’t sever my connection with the “fireflies.”
On my way to this forest, I had already sent a few “fireflies” ahead to return home and check on things in my place.
“You just said that this monster is a fallen demon hunter?” I didn’t miss Zhu Shi’s words about the demon. “So, does that mean it’s actually... human?”
In other words, could this demon possibly be Ma Zao? Absolutely not. Right now, Ma Zao, not only could barely move, even walking normally on flat ground had a high chance of making him fall.
The suspicion that Ma Zao could be the fallen demon hunter (the serial killer) could be ruled out.
"That's right. So, you didn’t know he was human before?" Zhu Shi said thoughtfully, then continued, "Well, it's probably for the best. When dealing with such evil beings, we shouldn’t show mercy. If you knew he was human, you might have hesitated before acting..."
Zhu Shi nodded as if to herself, then walked toward the demon lying on the ground.
"You must have heard about it elsewhere already—there’s been a serial killer in Xianshui City recently. In fact, he was active eight months ago... huh?"
Suddenly, she hesitated, her gaze fixating on the demon.
The demon remained motionless.
"What's wrong?" I asked cautiously, sensing through the lingering flames on the demon's body.
Zhu Shi moved closer, circling the demon twice before leaning down to check his chest. Then, she exclaimed in surprise, "He..."
"…died?" I concluded. "Did you kill him?"
At that moment, the demon was completely lifeless, no longer breathing.
This wasn’t just playing dead—when he was pretending earlier, I could sense it. But now, it was less of a life and more like a lifeless, charred, and rotten piece of flesh.
"No, I didn’t." Zhu Shi shook her head. "I only knocked him out earlier."
"I only damaged his skin and some of his muscles, without causing harm to vital organs or other fatal areas." I explained as well. "Although I blew off his legs, I quickly cauterized the wounds with flames, so he didn’t lose much blood. It’s impossible he died from blood loss… Could it have been burn shock? Did he go into shock and die?"
If the cause was from me, does that mean I killed him?
I tried to find some guilt within myself, but I couldn’t even feel a sense of guilt, let alone any real emotions. This demon didn’t look human, and even when burned, it didn’t resemble a human. It was hard for me to think I had killed a person.
"It’s impossible. A demon hunter with this level of physical enhancement wouldn’t die from such physiological damage in such a short time unless something happened to his brain or heart..." Zhu Shi shook her head again and walked forward. "Anyway, we’ll have the organization come and recover the body, and then conduct an autopsy for analysis."
Upon hearing that she was going to perform an autopsy, I immediately removed the remaining flames from the demon’s body.
Before doing so, considering the slim chance that the demon might have suddenly figured out the art of feigning death while on the brink of life and death, I carefully sensed it again. This demon—this fallen demon hunter—was not only not breathing, but there was also no heartbeat, and the blood wasn’t flowing normally. There was no trace of life force at all.
I judged that he was truly and completely dead, and there was no possibility left.
Zhu Shi’s approach was even more direct. She drew her sword again from her back.
With a flash of the sword, she immediately decapitated the fallen demon hunter. Then, she drove the blade into his chest and shredded his heart, completing a perfect "death check"—as long as she personally killed the person, any erroneous death conclusions were instantly corrected.
Simple and brutal, yet revealing the coldness and efficiency of a professional. It seemed that this was something she had done more than once. Unlike me, a novice dealing with strange battles for the first time, she was already highly skilled.
She then swung the sword through the air to shake off the blood splattered on the blade before returning the sword to its sheath.
---
Zhu Shi took out her phone and made a call. Soon after, some people dressed in gray uniforms arrived at the scene, loaded the demon's body into a vehicle, and left.
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She then led me to a quieter location. Along the way, I observed her attire carefully. The rain cloak, the conical hat, the sword, and paired with her beautiful face—she now looked like the female protagonist from an ancient martial arts drama.
Did this unusual attire have some special meaning? Or was it the uniform exclusive to the combat personnel of Mount Luo? Regardless of the truth, this outfit aligned perfectly with my preferences, and I couldn't help but glance at her a few more times. It wasn’t that I was fond of martial arts-style attire, but in such an unreal night, she intervened in my battle with the demon in a non-realistic manner, and instead of seeming out of place, it only made me more intrigued.
Thinking back to her cold and experienced demeanor when she “finished off” the demon, it really showcased the kind of battlefield presence I imagined someone hunting monsters should have.
The only drawback was that beneath the cloak, I could vaguely see that she was still wearing casual clothes and short boots. This "flaw" would be considered a blooper in an ancient costume martial arts drama. But perhaps there was a beauty in this, too—the kind that comes from a sense of incongruity. I tried to convince myself of that.
It wasn’t just me repeatedly examining Zhu Shi—she was also repeatedly examining me.
Although she maintained a calm demeanor, the initial expression of disbelief was probably her true feelings. Even now, it seemed like she still couldn’t accept it. Her gaze, as she scrutinized me, seemed to be searching for some flaw, some reason to prove I wasn’t the Zhuang Cheng she remembered.
While I wasn’t as unable to accept this as she was, I could understand her feelings. It’s such an incredible coincidence that a friend’s sister is working as a demon hunter in a supernatural organization—this kind of thing only seems to happen in stories. Tonight truly felt like a dream.
"You just said that I could also be considered a demon hunter—what does that mean?" I took the initiative to start the conversation.
Zhu Shi took a moment to steady herself before answering, "It’s just the literal meaning. Anyone who possesses power related to the supernatural is called a demon hunter."
"I suppose I can understand it like this..." I thought for a moment before continuing, "If there’s a person who has supernatural abilities but has never hunted demons, has no intention of doing so, and their abilities aren’t even suitable for fighting... they would still be classified as a 'demon hunter'?"
"Yes," she affirmed.
"Isn't that a bit strange? Why not just call them 'superhumans,' or 'sorcerers,' or even something like 'extraordinary beings' like in web novels?" I asked, puzzled.
"I don’t know, that’s just what everyone calls them," she casually replied.
After a brief moment of contemplation, some vague thoughts formed in my mind.
She, however, clearly wasn’t interested in lingering on these trivial naming issues, and straightforwardly asked, "Zhuang Cheng, when did you first become a superhuman?"
Weren’t you calling me ‘Senior Zhuang’ before? Why the sudden change to just my name... I swallowed this thought.
Before, when Zhu Shi called me that, I always felt like she was putting me on a pedestal, which made me a bit uncomfortable, and I even suggested she just call me by my name. But now that she actually did, I felt uncomfortable from a different angle. I really am a complicated person.
But these were just small details, so I responded normally, "I awakened my powers a little over four years ago."
"Over four years... So that would have been around the time you just started high school? Or maybe a little before that, just before graduating middle school... I see, no wonder you've been..."
She seemed to be thinking to herself, slowly putting the pieces together.
After a brief pause, she asked again, "Based on the injuries sustained from the Fallen Demon Hunter, your superpower must be related to fire, right?"
"My superpower allows me to summon and control fire." I answered without hesitation.
"To think you defeated that Fallen Demon Hunter with such a simple ability?"
She seemed quite surprised, but was it really that surprising?
In the context of superpower combat comics, fire abilities are often the most straightforward and unremarkable, but compared to turning into a hulking, muscle-bound monster, I felt at least in terms of style, fire abilities were superior. In many of the battle stories I had seen before, a character like the Fallen Demon Hunter, who relied on large, physical attacks, would likely only appear as an early-stage antagonist. And even if they were high-class villains, if they used skills to transform into giant monsters, it was basically foreshadowing their eventual defeat, and they were likely to end up with no corpse left to bury.
However, I also knew that I was completely ignorant about the strange world and had no idea how the organization, Mount Luo, evaluated the powers of Demon Hunters. Relying on half-formed knowledge from stories wouldn't work here. Perhaps other fire abilities users were unexpectedly weak, and as a result, fire abilities were seen as just a flashy but useless power in the eyes of others.
"Can you tell me the whole story?" Zhu Shi asked again.
"Of course."
I told her everything from the moment I encountered the Fallen Demon Hunter to the point where Zhu Shi intervened, including all the skills I used during the battle.
Zhu Shi then took out her phone from inside her cloak and used it as a temporary voice recorder to document my story.
Honestly, for someone like me, a superpowered person, it would have been wiser to hide the details of my combat methods to ensure my own safety. But I hoped to leave a good impression on Mount Luo through Zhu Shi. Through this official supernatural organization, I might gain more credible clues about strange events and encounter even more exciting anomalies.
In my mind, gaining access to Mount Luo's resources was even more important than my concerns about Ma Zao.
Furthermore, if I could join Mount Luo and become a part of their organization, Ma Zao would no longer be necessary to me.
Mount Luo was a massive organization, and as the saying goes, "The monk can leave, but the temple remains." Now that I knew about Mount Luo's existence, I would have plenty of ways to contact them in the future.
But what about Ma Zao? Forget about her already strong desire to leave—she even claimed to have the ability to teleport. Assuming what she said was true, she could directly transport herself to somewhere I didn't know once she recovered. While it wouldn't be impossible for me to continue tracking her with my abilities, it seemed I already had a much better option now.
Of course, there was an even better choice I could consider.
That choice was simply: "I want it all."
My encounter with the Fallen Demon Hunter wasn't something that needed much explanation. It was mostly me overwhelming him. Soon, I had explained the whole process clearly to Zhu Shi.
From the moment I began explaining my abilities, Zhu Shi quietly put away her phone, which she had been using as a makeshift voice recorder. Her face gradually showed an expression of shock that she couldn’t hide.
"You can ignite your target with just your gaze? And even targets out of sight can still be burned... an unquenchable flame that keeps burning no matter where the opponent runs?" After a brief pause, she couldn’t help but exclaim, "What kind of 'ordinary control of fire' is this?!"