Zhu Shi 1

I am Zhu Shi, a Demon Hunter of Luoshan.

My brother, Zhu Changan, might become a target for Fallen Demon Hunters soon. Although I feel the possibility is low, we don't have any leads that are sufficient to track Fallen Demon Hunters.

I never expected him to visit Mom at the hospital. While I'm happy he's showing some rare consideration, what if the Fallen Demon Hunters attack and endanger those around him? It's also difficult to explain to him why even a military hospital isn't safe, and I'm not good at lying, so I couldn't find a suitable reason to get him to leave for a long time.

Besides, being in the same room with him is uncomfortable. Several agents are watching him, and I have to pretend to be a cultured university student in front of them. The agents' gazes are quite scorching. So, I found an excuse to go outside for some fresh air and relieve my tired mind. Not only are there people watching him, but my spells are also set up around him, and my senses cover the entire inpatient building. I don't have to worry about anyone taking advantage of a weakness.

When I went out, he asked why I brought my guitar case. It actually contains my Spirit Suit, but I could only say it was for playing guitar in the yard. I have no intention of telling him about my work at Luoshan.

As soon as I walked out of the inpatient building, I saw Agent Kong walking towards me from the opposite direction. He was probably preparing to relieve the other agents.

At Luoshan, the official title for agents is "probes." Their main job is to investigate clues related to strange events and notify Demon Hunters to handle them, but they also do other odd jobs.

Agent Kong is an elite among them. His understanding of strange events is richer than mine. The university I currently attend is also within his patrol area, and we've collaborated many times. I heard from others that he's been forced to take on excessive work by his superiors, having to impersonate police officers and rush around everywhere.

Many Demon Hunters look down on probes, considering them defective products that can't become Demon Hunters. This statement sounds as if anyone who can't become a Demon Hunter is inferior to them. Yes, that's exactly what they think. So, they also look down on ordinary people. I suspect Agent Kong's superiors have the same view. I really don't get along with them.

There's still half an hour until the shift change, so we went to the pavilion in the yard and sat down to chat for a while. Agent Kong is a man in his thirties. It's natural that we couldn't find common ground discussing daily topics, so we could only talk about work. Soon, we got onto the topic of the anomaly in the room on the Fifteenth Floor that was mentioned on the phone earlier that day.

"The reason for the cave that Zhu Changan mentioned is still unknown. Although I was the one who first asked if you were available to handle it, are you really okay?" he asked with concern.

"Whether there's a problem or not, we'll only know after trying. And I don't know if that cave is a strange phenomenon that can affect those who come into contact with it regardless of distance. He's my brother, I have to protect him."

"But your specialty is combat, isn't it? If it doesn't work out, you can ask other Demon Hunters who are more skilled in this area."

"I can't ask other Demon Hunters to handle a strange phenomenon whose details I don't even know..."

"Alright, since you've said so, I won't try to persuade you further." He sighed and changed the subject, "However, while dealing with the cave, you can also take the opportunity to test Zhuang Cheng."

"Zhuang Cheng? You still think he's related to the appearance of the cave?"

"That's a secondary reason, and the possibility is very low." He explained, "What I mainly want to say is that he has likely come into contact with our world long ago. Strange events have been frequent in the past two years. Someone like him, who persistently pursues strange events, has remained safe and sound. Don't you think that's a bit strange? Perhaps he has acquired some protective power."

He said something similar last time, but this time I understood a different meaning: "Are you saying we should recruit Zhuang Cheng as a partner?"

"Even if he can't be a combatant, he can definitely be an excellent probe. It would also be fulfilling his wish," he smiled. "Discovering potential individuals from the public was originally my job as a probe, but if you were to discover him, you could then act as his guide and have him assist you. Even without magical power, he is a very capable person and will surely be of help to you."

"Thank you for the offer, but..."

Although I admit Zhuang Cheng is a capable person, some realities might be different from what Agent Kong imagines.

I recalled my past encounters with Zhuang Cheng.

It was around my first year of high school when I heard about Zhuang Cheng from my brother.

Unlike ordinary families, my family, the Zhu family, is a family of Demon Hunters. I heard that our ancestors even produced a Great Wuchang, though we have fallen on hard times now. My brother was supposed to inherit the family's Magic Tool and become a Demon Hunter, but due to an accident, I became the heir, while he lost his childhood memories, and the family kept all information about the world of Demon Hunters from him.

To say he lost his memory isn't entirely accurate; he retained some fragments and vague impressions. That's why he's always believed in the existence of strange things since childhood, claiming to have seen and encountered them.

Naturally, our family wouldn't acknowledge his claims, and people outside certainly wouldn't believe him. When he was in middle school, he was ridiculed and bullied by his classmates, and teachers often called him in for talks. People are easily influenced by their environment, especially during adolescence when personality is rapidly growing and changing. External denial and affirmation become even more crucial.

Furthermore, after losing his memory, he never encountered any strange things again. Over time, he might have gradually accepted that those fragmented pieces and impressions were just childhood delusions, and finally stopped mentioning them.

However, he surely still harbored some resentment and hope in a corner of his heart, wishing to find an opportunity to vent and release it externally.

I felt immense sympathy for my brother, and at the same time, I was very envious of him.

I once thought I wouldn't become a Demon Hunter.

One day, during dinner, he suddenly mentioned someone to me, saying that there was a weirdo in the high school he attended who was obsessed with investigating urban legends, named Zhuang Cheng.

This person was somewhat like my brother in the past. Although he didn't proclaim the existence of strange things to those around him, he was actively seeking proof of their existence, even more aggressively than my brother in the past.

I thought my brother was going to rekindle his interest in strange things. For reasons that couldn't be explained to outsiders, my family and I didn't want him to get involved in this world, so from a commoner's perspective, I criticized the topic as "a waste of time." After a moment of silence, my brother agreed with me.

Later, I investigated Zhuang Cheng. He didn't start investigating Ghost Stories only in high school; he showed extraordinary enthusiasm at least since middle school. His classmates remembered him vividly, but almost no one was close to him. An older student from my high school was his classmate in middle school, and she spoke of Zhuang Cheng with a look of disgust.

"That guy used to bring candles to school."

"Candles?"

"Yes, candles. He would take candles out of his desk drawer for no reason and stare at them with a terrifying look, as if possessed. He really liked ghost stories and used to explore haunted places, right? He must have been possessed by something evil..."

Besides that, I also heard from others that he used to focus on studying concepts like Feng Shui and occult rituals, and often carried compasses and divination tools with him for practice. After a while, he seemed to lose interest and moved on to other fields, all related to the occult. Most people thought he was either mentally ill or childish, and the criticism directed at him was even worse than what my brother faced in middle school.

However, he seemed completely oblivious, as if the voices of those around him couldn't reach him. His actions were always his own way.

In my high school class, there was a girl who liked supernatural romance novels and developed some strange fantasies, wanting to style herself as a "supernatural girl" and claim she could "see things." He then tracked her down and "caught her red-handed," exposing all her acting without mercy.

There was even an instance where a Feng Shui Master from overseas tried to scam a local wealthy businessman. He, a high school student, somehow got wind of it and went there, exposing the imposter on the spot.

Years passed, and no matter how many fake supernatural phenomena he encountered, he remained "mentally ill" and "childish."

Although this is just my speculation, my brother might have been attracted by this very trait.

So later, when I criticized Zhuang Cheng in front of him, he no longer agreed with me insincerely as he did in the past. Instead, he took Zhuang Cheng's side.

It was only later that I discovered that from the first time he mentioned Zhuang Cheng to me, he had been secretly following the latter's movements, collecting information like a fan.

The tone in which he spoke of Zhuang Cheng became increasingly animated, as if he saw the other person as another possible version of himself.

"Did you know? Towards the end of his third year of high school, he went to another province to investigate a child disappearance case there. It was said to be related to local folk legends, similar to Japan's Kamikakushi ghost stories. In reality, it involved some formidable evil force behind the scenes..."

After hearing similar topics so often, I had to admit that he was indeed a "legendary figure."

But this is dangerous, too dangerous.

One day, Zhuang Cheng would fall into a desperate situation with no hope of turning things around, dying with regret over the very things he relentlessly pursued.

Starting about two to three years ago, organizations worldwide dealing with the uncanny noticed that supernatural phenomena, which had previously lurked in the hidden corners of the world, had inexplicably become more active. Spacetime distortions, once rarely seen, were also increasing. The severity escalated year by year, and reports of ordinary people dying due to these strange occurrences piled up like mountains.

Some in Luoshan even made heretical prophecies, claiming these were signs of an impending Great Tribulation.

If human history up to this point is defined as "The Age of Humanity," then starting from today, within ten years, humanity's prosperous history would come to an end.

Afterward, not only all humans, but all living beings and all supernatural phenomena would be annihilated under the Great Tribulation.

Ultimately, all matter would vanish into nothingness.

And the next era... there probably wouldn't be a next era.

If one absolutely had to name it, it would be "The Age of Doomsday."