I carefully observed the man in front of me named Lu Chan, a Mount Luo Patrol.

His appearance was handsome and refined, no less than someone from Chang'an. His walk was full of vigor, and his stance was upright and proper. Although he was said to have saved Agent Kong from a strange incident twenty years ago as a former Wuchang, he didn’t seem as old as I had imagined. Judging by his face alone, he looked only a few years older than me—he could probably even disguise himself as a student and sneak into Xianshui University without raising suspicion.

After all, he was a Demon Hunter. It wasn’t surprising that someone in their twenties outwardly might carry a soul aged forty or fifty. In reality, there are also so-called “beauty witches” who maintain youthful appearances through makeup and wellness techniques. Compared to various supernatural abilities, this level of preservation could only be described as excellent skincare.

“Hello, I’m Zhuang Cheng.” I shook hands with him.

Lu Chan’s gaze shifted between Zhu Shi and me. Smiling, he asked, “You two seem pretty close. Are you dating?”

I replied earnestly, “She’s my guide.”

“Oh, I see, a mentor-student relationship.” Lu Chan seemed to take it seriously.

“No, I’m not!” Zhu Shi’s face turned red as she quickly clarified, “I’m not at the level of being able to teach and guide yet!”

“Those who excel are teachers,” I said.

“Alright, let’s stop the jokes here for now. Zhuang Cheng, I hope you don’t misunderstand me because of what Zhu Shi said earlier. I’m not trying to make things difficult for you.” Lu Chan withdrew his hand and explained, “Kong’s descent into becoming a Fallen Demon Hunter, and his eventual defeat at your hands… one could only call it karmic retribution. While I deeply regret his downfall, I certainly do not blame you.”

“Who knows what you’re really thinking?” Zhu Shi shot him a cold look. “If you truly have no issue with Zhuang Cheng, why did you intervene in his appointment as a Mount Luo Wuchang?”

“Isn’t that your problem?” Lu Chan countered.

Zhu Shi was taken aback. “Huh? Me?”

“Your report on Zhuang Cheng clearly had many ambiguities. As a Mount Luo Patrol, I cannot turn a blind eye to that.” Lu Chan first pointed this out, then turned to me. “You can rest assured, regardless of the results of this assessment, I will approve your appointment as a new External Wuchang. After all, the ‘traces’ of your power are still evident at that abandoned construction site. However, I have a responsibility to oversee freelance Demon Hunters and must understand your true capabilities.”

After a brief pause, he added, “And personally, I’m also quite interested in you.”

“What kind of interest?” I asked.

“A typical flame ability user, no matter how strong their offensive power might be, would find it incredibly difficult to defeat a Fallen Demon Hunter with no apparent weaknesses in a one-on-one battle.” He spoke meaningfully, “At least, in other cities, there has never been such a case.”

“You said ‘other cities’…” A thought crossed my mind. “Are there Fallen Demon Hunters like Agent Kong in other places as well?”

He nodded first, then delivered words that hit like a thunderclap.

“In Mount Luo, we now refer to this type of Fallen Demon Hunter as ‘Oddities’,” he said.

For a moment, I thought I had misheard. “Oddities?”

Oddities was another term for Demon Beasts—survivors who, in the apocalypse, were driven mad and turned into abominations by their mania.

Could these really be special phenomena that only exist in the apocalyptic era? Or was the “Oddities” he mentioned merely a coincidence in naming, completely different from what I was thinking?

No, I shouldn’t dismiss this as mere coincidence. Just like in the Foggy Dream, when I suspected No. 2 was a friend of Ma Zao even before she revealed her identity, I should connect this clue back to Ma Zao as well. If for no other reason, it’s because I am still caught in the vortex centered around her.

Reflecting on my past battle with Agent Kong, he did indeed transform into a monstrous form. Although he didn’t entirely lose his name and past like the Demon Beasts Ma Zao described, I think it’s reasonable to assume a connection between him and the "Signs of the Apocalypse."

With that assumption, Ma Zao taking Agent Kong’s charred finger becomes much more intriguing.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

From her perspective, that might not have been just an ordinary charred finger, but rather "a remnant of a Demon Beasts that inexplicably appeared in this era." Combined with the clue I gave her—that I recently fought against humans who turned into monsters—it’s highly likely she believes she needs to search for evidence of the approaching apocalypse here in Xianshui City.

No wonder she’s still active in this city. Honestly, I hadn’t seen her for the past couple of days, and I even worried that she might have returned to the apocalyptic era. After all, she had previously been accidentally transported to the present day through spatial displacement—who could guarantee that she wouldn’t disappear again under similar circumstances?

At least now, I can finally put one of the stones in my heart down.

“Let’s not talk by the roadside anymore. Why don’t we find a place to sit down?” Lu Chan suggested.

---

We headed to a nearby teahouse.

On the way, I checked on the "firefly" I had sent to the Zhu family estate. Whether I should say it was "as expected" or not, the firefly had now lost all contact. Zhu Shi had mentioned that the Zhu family estate had a barrier specifically designed to detect and repel intruders, and my firefly, at its core, was nothing more than an insignificant spark of flame. It might have been intercepted and extinguished by that barrier, like a mosquito hitting an electric grid.

Coincidentally, I had been worried that my firefly might bring misfortune to Chang’an. In this way, the severed connection could be considered a relief, cutting off my lingering concerns.

At the same time, Lu Chan briefly introduced me to the investigation progress regarding the Fallen Demon Hunters on the Mount Luo side.

Regardless of his true opinion about me, at least on the surface, he spoke politely and carried himself with a professional demeanor, making it hard for me to hold any resentment toward him.

Firstly, concerning the Fallen Demon Hunters (hereafter referred to as "Oddities"), Agent Kong had kept many things hidden from Zhu Shi.

The biggest secret was this: the monster incidents weren’t limited to Xianshui City but had occurred nationwide. While not frequent enough to be widely known, there had been dozens, if not hundreds, of recorded cases, with the earliest traceable incident dating back to eighteen months ago. Anyone who made the effort to connect the dots would undoubtedly see the pattern.

Agent Kong’s original task was to hand over the relevant data to Zhu Shi. However, he deliberately withheld this part of the information, most likely to prevent Zhu Shi from realizing that “there were more Oddities out there.” Such concealment was never a long-term solution. Perhaps he had already planned to abandon his role as an Probe and leave Xianshui City.

It wasn’t until Lu Chan took over the task that the complete set of information finally reached Zhu Shi’s hands.

Incidentally, the photo clues collected through divination abilities were also obtained by Lu Chan. Investigation skills like these seemed to be his specialty.

However, Zhu Shi didn’t seem to have much fondness for Lu Chan. It didn’t appear to be solely because he had interfered with my appointment as a External Wuchang.

Lu Chan walked in front while I lingered at the back, pulling out my phone. Like a student secretly passing a note in class, I discreetly sent Zhu Shi a text:

“Do you dislike Patrol Lu?”

Zhu Shi glanced at her phone, then at Lu Chan, before slowly typing a reply. It took her a while before she sent back:

“Lu Chan belongs to the faction that believes ‘Demon Hunters should become earthly gods and turn all mortals into slaves.’ I don’t get along with people like him.”

After reading her response, I couldn’t help but look again at Lu Chan’s back.

Truly, appearances can be deceiving!

It made sense, though. Agent Kong had admitted that his faction was considered “extremist,” and since Lu Chan was Kong’s superior, how could he possibly have a moderate or balanced philosophy?

Yet, at this moment, I needed Lu Chan’s help.

The photo of Ma Zao had also been obtained through his divination abilities. Over the past two days, I’d come to understand that my own skills alone weren’t enough to find Ma Zao. Even though relying on his power might mean that, once we find her, Ma Zao would inevitably be exposed to his gaze, I no longer had the luxury of worrying about such things.

We sat down in a private room at the teahouse. Lu Chan pulled photos from his pocket and spread them out one by one, almost like laying out a deck of cards. They were the same photos Zhu Shi had shown me before.

“There are currently two Demon Hunters responsible for the Oddities incidents in Xianshui City: one is Zhu Shi, who handles combat, and the other is me, responsible for investigation,” Lu Chan said. “Now, there’s a third person—you, Zhuang Cheng. So from here on, I’d like you to analyze the case with us.”

“All right,” I nodded.

"Over the past five days, two more local elites in Xianshui City have been killed by Oddities. Or to be precise, it’s actually four people..." Lu Chan pulled out two photographs, each corresponding to a separate crime scene.

One scene was outdoors. The victim appeared to have been a wealthy elderly man in life, but his body had been torn apart beyond recognition, as if savaged by a wild beast. His remains lay in disarray in the grass, the scene unbearably gruesome.

The second scene was indoors. The victim was a robust middle-aged man, similarly ripped to shreds, the brutality of the attack hinting at an almost hysterical rage. Nearby were two more bodies—a middle-aged woman and a young boy, seemingly mother and child.

Unlike the elderly man and the middle-aged man, the mother and child had been killed instantly. Their cause of death seemed to be severe head trauma, their skulls visibly deformed. They were likely family members of the middle-aged man, killed incidentally by the attacker.

The indoor crime scene also had many bloody footprints, chaotic and scattered. They didn’t look human at all but resembled the tracks of a large beast. In my mind, I compared them to the transformed state of Agent Kong—yes, these were definitely monster footprints.

Lu Chan briefly explained the findings of his investigation. As the photos suggested, on what must have seemed like an ordinary day to the victims, a monster had suddenly appeared, brutally slaughtering them before leaving without a trace. The sequence of events at both crime scenes was disturbingly simple.

Then, he took out a third photograph—a picture of Ma Zao, walking alone on a dark street at night.

“Zhuang Cheng, do you know who she is?”

“I know a little,” I replied.

“Zhu Shi must have told you, right?” he said. “So, what do you think about this ‘Soul-Loss Syndrome’ girl?”