Luoshan's Shadowy Presence 2

"Police" claimed he had something important to do, but his pace remained unhurried as he left through the community's east gate.

Chang'an, meanwhile, came to the community's south gate—the same place we had entered through—and met up with me.

After seeing me, he openly told me everything he and "the police" had discussed. Then he said worriedly, "I might be in danger lately. I probably won't be able to go to school. You'd better not get too close to me either, so you don't get dragged into this."

While keeping an eye on "the police," I replied, "I understand."

"But why did he send you away just now?" Chang'an asked in confusion.

"To prevent the case from leaking, probably. You're half a party involved, so it doesn't matter. I'm basically unrelated." I was only making a simple analysis based on an amateur's knowledge. "The victims involved in this incident are almost all local nobles and elites. The nature of this case is probably more complicated than just a few people dying. Before the truth comes to light, nobody wants the whole city thrown into turmoil and everyone gossiping about it."

Chang'an suddenly understood. Then he took out his phone, checked the time, and said to me, "I have somewhere to go later, so let's say goodbye here for now."

"Don't you have class this afternoon?" I asked in confusion. "Are you going to skip class and go to a club again? Not that I'm saying anything, but at a time like this..."

One of the main reasons Chang'an was widely criticized at university was that he supposedly frequented places of pleasure.

What was worse, it wasn't a rumor. It was true.

With his looks and financial circumstances, attracting women was effortless. Even with his current reputation, women still threw themselves at him. That was why I could never understand why he would be interested in paying for sex.

"No, no! I'm going to the hospital to visit my mom!" he hurriedly explained. "As for today's classes, I've already asked for leave. I have to stay at the hospital until tonight at least. It happens to be a military hospital with extremely tight security, so I can lie low there. My sister should be going tonight too. She's been nagging me nonstop, saying that I never visit Mom..."

"That's good. But you'd better stop going to clubs in the future too. Doesn't Zhu Shi keep criticizing you for not behaving yourself?"

"Okay, okay, I know, I know... Sigh, I don't know how to talk to my sister. She probably already thinks I've gone crazy," he complained.

"Just act as though nothing happened. Zhu Shi won't bring up your supposed insanity on her own."

"I haven't gone crazy!"

He protested loudly, muttered a few more things, then said goodbye and turned to leave.

I secretly attached another "Firefly" to his back, in case anything happened to him. Although there was currently no evidence that he would become a target of the Serial Killer, his background was similar to that of the previous five victims, and he had also become involved in the case. Precautions were necessary.

After finishing all that, I found a fried-chicken shop on the street, went inside, and sat down, silently monitoring "the police."

-

Not long after Chang'an and I parted ways, "the police" took out his phone by the roadside and dialed a number.

"Firefly" sensed everything in all directions, without any blind spots. Through it, I could clearly perceive every image and sound in this space, which meant I could also see the exact digits of the number he dialed. I silently took out my own phone and recorded it while continuing to monitor him.

The call "the police" made was answered very quickly.

"I've done everything you asked me to do. Unusual traces really did appear at Zhu Changan's residence," "the police" said first. "I didn't see the 'cave' he mentioned when reporting it, but the 'Magic Circle' does exist, and it really is an almost functional ritual circle."

"Thank you, Agent Kong." A young woman's voice came from the other end of the call. Her meticulous personality could be sensed from her voice.

Through "Firefly," I clearly eavesdropped on the conversation.

Agent Kong?

Was "the police" surnamed Kong? Then why was he called an "agent"?

As far as I knew, police officers in our country generally weren't given the suffix "agent." I had merely been somewhat suspicious before, but now it seemed that this person really wasn't a police officer.

The young woman on the other end continued speaking.

"You said that ritual circle was 'almost functional.' What does that mean?"

"It means that the circle shouldn't have worked." Agent Kong patiently explained, "Although I'm not one of your Demon Hunters, I studied Ritual Studies at Luoshan in the past. So I can tell that, as a ritual circle, it's more than ninety percent complete. Its purpose was to open an alternate space overlapping with real time and space, but because the final spell symbols were missing, it couldn't precisely locate the target alternate space.

"To put it simply, that ritual circle is like a row of dominoes missing several pieces near the beginning. No matter how complete the whole thing is, it won't work if the most crucial part is missing."

The young woman understood. "I see... But strange phenomena really did occur there, right?"

Agent Kong shook his head. "I don't know about that. I think Zhu Changan wasn't lying, but I can't explain why the ritual circle suddenly activated."

Wait, what were they suddenly talking about?

A ritual circle? An alternate space?

Demon Hunters? Luoshan?

Was this the Demon Hunter I was thinking of—the kind who "hunted demons"?

As for Luoshan...

I had never heard of such an organization or faction, but I knew the concept.

The Daoist hell was called "Fengdu," and it was also known as "Luofeng Mountain" or "Fengdu Luoshan." Luoshan was the underworld, the realm of the dead. The Daoist text Dongyuan Ji also recorded: "Fengdu Luoshan lies in the north. Guǐ is the gateway of ghosts, the root of deathly darkness. The mountain is two thousand six hundred li high and thirty thousand li around. Within it are cavern palaces, all capitals of ghosts and gods."

I suddenly realized that I seemed to have come into contact with another unfamiliar world completely beyond my expectations.

Who exactly were they?

The conversation continued.

"Perhaps the source of the phenomenon wasn't the ritual circle?" the woman called a Demon Hunter speculated.

"I don't know. I'm only a 'probe.' My responsibility is to inform you of the existence of strange incidents. The follow-up handling is your Demon Hunters' responsibility." Agent Kong first adopted an attitude of detachment, then continued, "Oh, right. I also saw someone else there. He should be Zhu Changan's friend. His name is Zhuang Cheng. Do you have any impression of him?"

Hearing my own name suddenly mentioned, I reflexively sat up straight in the fried-chicken shop.

"Zhuang Cheng..." the Demon Hunter woman repeated my name.

"I've heard rumors about him too. He's a famous Ghost Story enthusiast in Xianshui City and has always investigated supernatural phenomena." Agent Kong actually knew quite a bit about me. "Three or four years ago, didn't an overseas Feng Shui Master give guidance to a local tycoon, only for Zhuang Cheng to expose him as a fraud on the spot? I heard he even assisted official forces in another province in dismantling feudal-superstition organizations.

"He seems to have noticed the many suspicious points in this case, such as why that ritual circle had only been discovered now..."

"Our people at Luoshan have too little criminal-investigation experience. A proper police officer definitely wouldn't have missed such an obvious clue." The Demon Hunter woman sighed. "Luoshan's methods have had serious problems in recent years. At the very least, we should deepen our cooperation with the Public Security Department during investigations. How can we monopolize all the work and still fail to do it properly?"

"That isn't something frontline personnel like us should discuss." Agent Kong avoided the subject and simply continued with what he had been saying. "Judging from his appearance, he probably hasn't given up on pursuing supernatural incidents."

"You mean..." The Demon Hunter woman's voice turned solemn.

Agent Kong nodded on his end of the call. "You know the trend over the past two years. Zhuang Cheng probably came into contact with the world of Demon Hunters long ago. He might even have mastered a certain degree of power."

Huh? I had already come into contact with the world of Demon Hunters?

Did I know about this?

And what did "the trend over the past two years" mean? From his tone, it sounded as if the past two years had been a period when people like me were more likely to encounter the "world of Demon Hunters." Then why had I never encountered it before?

"Are you saying that the source of the strange phenomenon isn't the ritual circle, but him?" the Demon Hunter woman asked.

Hearing this, I gathered my thoughts slightly and felt that this speculation wasn't entirely unreasonable.

If I really had been affected by Maza's jinx-like constitution that attracted strange phenomena, and Chang'an had encountered those phenomena because he was my friend and had been caught up in them, then tracing the source back to me made perfect sense. Even if the source wasn't me but Maza, I still couldn't escape responsibility.

Agent Kong and the Demon Hunter woman's analysis might have been correct.

"I only had that thought. There's actually no evidence pointing in that direction. Ultimately, we don't even know why the Fallen Demon Hunter left an incomplete ritual circle in that house..." Agent Kong only briefly mentioned his suspicion of me. "Let's talk about something practical. Will you have time later to deal with the ritual circle in that house? Something like that isn't convenient for an ordinary person like me to tamper with. It has to be handled by you Demon Hunters."

"I have to go to the hospital tonight, so I'll go this afternoon. I'll deal with the ritual circle soon." The Demon Hunter woman was direct and decisive. "But we still don't know what caused the cave. If necessary, we can break through the entire living-room floor of the house and remove the conditions that allowed the cave to form on a physical level."

"That's one way to do it," Agent Kong agreed.

But an intense sense of urgency immediately rose in my heart.

They wanted to destroy that cave?

No. I hadn't explored it yet.

I couldn't accept that.

To me, whether it was Maza's "apocalypse" and "Blessed Cultivator," or the "Luoshan" and "Demon Hunters" these two people were talking about, they were merely concepts that existed on a verbal level—things I couldn't see or touch.

But the cave was different. It was the only strange thing I had witnessed with my own eyes so far, and it possessed unique value.

It could stop appearing, but only after I had explored it.

I had to do something to stop them.

Just then, Agent Kong spoke again.

"Also, I'm worried that the Fallen Demon Hunter's next target might be Zhu Changan. If someone at that level has set his sights on him, taking him anywhere won't guarantee his safety. I can't protect him either. We'll have to rely on you. Didn't you drive off the Fallen Demon Hunter head-on last time? If you don't have any other leads at the moment, I suggest you try lying in wait at Zhu Changan's place."

"Fine. I'll go protect him right away." The Demon Hunter woman readily agreed, then came to her senses. "But in that case, I won't have time to deal with the ritual circle and the cave for now."

"There's no need to rush that side, right? After all, it hasn't caused any casualties so far."

"No. Unknown supernatural incidents must be resolved as soon as possible..." The Demon Hunter woman pondered for a moment before saying, "Tomorrow. First thing tomorrow morning, I'll ask another Demon Hunter to take over my protection duties temporarily, and I'll handle it personally."