Poison Flower

After much thought, I ultimately decided not to use "Firefly" to tail Zhu Shi.

Regardless of Maza, who could leave at any moment, if I'd already decided to build a relationship with Zhu Shi and Luoshan, engaging in behavior that would ruin it wouldn't be wise. Zhu Shi isn't like Chang'an; as a Demon Hunter, she might detect my "Firefly." Although she didn't seem to notice when I eavesdropped on her call earlier, or when she was with Chang'an at the hospital, it's hard to say over a long period. Everything has its limits.

As I walked home, I replayed my earlier conversation with Zhu Shi.

This was the first time I had officially revealed myself as a superpowered individual to someone else, especially someone I knew. While I had always insisted on hiding my true strength, I hadn't been without a secret desire for a moment of public display.

To be wealthy but not return to one's hometown is like wearing brocade at night. To gain great power but not show it to anyone around you is no different from wearing brocade at night.

In high school, I would even indulge in fantasies before sleep, imagining someone with exceptional observational and deductive skills who would discover my subtle peculiarities through clues. Then, after a series of fantastical deductions and self-denials, they would rebuild their worldview in agony, follow the clues, and finally confront me, asking with immense shock and disbelief, "Zhuang Cheng, are you really a superpowered individual?"

And then, I would calmly admit their deductions in front of them and reveal my superpower—"Yes, I am."

Who would have thought that this time, while I admitted the truth of being a superpowered individual to my friend's sister, she would, in turn, reveal herself as a member of the mysterious organization of Demon Hunters?

It felt quite different from what I had imagined...

As I was pondering this with lingering thoughts, my phone suddenly chimed with a received text message. I took it out and saw it was from Zhu Shi. The message contained only one line:

"Oh, right, Senior Brother Zhuang, you are forbidden from returning to investigate the cave in the fifteenth-floor room tonight. Just in case, I've already asked an agent to keep an eye on it! (^▽^) "

What a junior sister with such a drastic contrast between her demeanor.

The first time we met, she called me Senior Brother, perhaps because she was already planning to attend Xianshui University. Now that she has indeed enrolled as a freshman at Xianshui University, my title as Senior Brother is quite fitting.

"I understand, Junior Sister Zhu," I replied, sending the message back.

A while later, I returned to my doorstep, having specifically bought some late-night snacks on the way, packed in two plastic bags.

"Firefly" had already returned ahead of me and confirmed Maza's status. Maza was still at home, lying on the living room sofa just as I had left her.

However, she seemed exhausted now, curled up on the sofa. The suspense novel I had recommended to her was now lying open halfway beside her head. Some old magazines I had bought out of curiosity were also on the coffee table, showing signs of being flipped through.

She was still wearing the gray top and pants I had given her. Perhaps she had taken my words of "feel free to use anything in the house" to heart, as she had found some rubber bands from somewhere and secured the rolled-up sleeves and pant legs at her wrists and ankles.

I opened the door and entered, then went to her side. Her sleep quality looked poor, her eyes tightly shut, her brow furrowed, and she was making indistinct whimpers like a small animal. Even though she was asleep, her entire body was tense like a bow.

Although I had been thinking earlier, "Since I have Luoshan, do I still need Maza?", seeing her again now, I couldn't help but discard those thoughts.

It wasn't just because my unknown repulsion effect with strange incidents still needed Maza to neutralize it. To be honest, I didn't think about that aspect at all initially. Sometimes I had to admit that I was a shortsighted person who leaned towards what was tangible and a naive person easily swayed by emotions. Her appearance awakened the lingering mysteries about her in my mind, drawing me back to her uncontrollably.

I turned and placed the two plastic bags on the coffee table. To monitor her, I still wanted to carry her into the bedroom like last time and sleep on the sofa myself. However, as soon as my finger touched the back of her knee, she startled violently, her eyes snapping open. In an instant, she sprang up nimbly, one hand grabbing my arm, the other lunging for my throat.

It felt like this development had happened during the day too. Was I about to be locked in a joint lock by her again?

I reflexively had this thought. Even though I knew I would be fine, it was like someone deliberately jumping out to scare you from around a corner; anyone would be startled, so I was a little scared too.

The next moment, her swift and agile movement stopped as if paused. The hand that was about to grip my throat suddenly braked sharply from "gripping" to "touching."

"Zhuang Cheng?" she asked, surprised and uncertain.

"It's me," I replied, my heart rate calming down. "I'm back."

She stared blankly for two or three seconds before sitting back down, cross-legged on the sofa.

"Where did you think you were?" I asked.

"I'm sorry," she said dejectedly.

"I'm not blaming you," I said, placing one of the bags with food on her lap. "Look, what did I bring back for you?"

She looked down, her nose twitched, and her eyes lit up: "Is this..."

I took out a steaming cheese-filled chicken cutlet from the plastic bag and said in a friendly tone, "I thought you'd be hungry around this time, so I brought you some late-night snacks."

"I'm not that greedy," she protested unhappily, though her eyes couldn't leave the fried food in my hand.

I deliberately asked, "So, you don't want to eat it?"

"...I do," she said reluctantly.

"Eat up," I said, placing the chicken cutlet in her hand, then took out something else from the other bag. "There's ice cream here too. You can have this after you finish the chicken cutlet."

"Ice cream? I've seen it in written materials before; it's supposed to be delicious..." Her eyes widened as she looked at the chocolate-flavored ice cream in my hand.

That's right, eat it, just eat it, and may your stomach get upset so you can't leave my house... I hid my wicked intentions and continued to encourage her to eat. She became increasingly eager.

Suddenly, she looked up and asked suspiciously, "Aren't you eating?"

"I am."

It seemed she wouldn't touch it if I just watched her eat. Fortunately, I had anticipated this and bought two portions.

After a long while, we finished everything. She seemed somewhat satisfied, unconsciously displaying a happy smile again.

Perhaps she was already very sleepy, and after eating, she became even more so, her eyelids gradually drooping. I suggested she go to the bedroom to sleep, but she insisted on sleeping on the sofa.

"Isn't there only one bed? This is your home; you should sleep in the bed," she said, much more relaxed now. "You're really strange. Are you the only kind old person left in this era? If it were the doomsday era, someone like you would die quickly."

"That's not necessarily true. There are many bad people in this era too," I shamelessly accepted the title of 'kind old person' and then asked, "Based on what you said earlier, you seem to have come into contact with information about this era. What does it say?"

"I haven't encountered much information, and a lot of it was written by people from the doomsday era based on their memories and impressions. I heard that in the civilized era, people's morals were very high," she said earnestly. "No one who grew up in the doomsday era can be trusted; they only know how to deceive and harm each other, only thinking of their own benefit. Those who grew up in the civilized era are honest, united, rational, diligent, and willing to contribute..."

She paused, then added, "Also, they are incredibly serious about their work, to the point where they would scrub a toilet until it was clean enough to drink the water from..."

"Wait, wait, wait..." I felt increasingly uneasy as I listened to the latter part. "What kind of people wrote that last part, based on what memories, and what kind of material is it?"

She picked up an old magazine from the coffee table, flipped to a page, and pointed at the text, saying, "Doesn't it say so right here?"

I immediately made a definitive judgment: "This is a fabricated ghost story, it's fake."

"Actually, I don't believe those things either, but after seeing you, I started to wonder if all the legends I've heard about the civilized era were true." As she spoke, she couldn't help but yawn.

"Let's be clear beforehand, I'm not going to drink toilet water," I said.

"How could I ask you to do that? You've been kind to me, I don't even know how to repay you..." She became increasingly drowsy, her body swaying.

After a long while, she finally couldn't hold on and fell asleep again.

Could this easy fatigue also be due to the soul trauma she mentioned? I tried to pick her up in my arms again. Although she insisted on sleeping on the sofa, in order to detect her movements immediately after she fell asleep, of course she should sleep in the bed and I on the sofa. This isn't me being soft-hearted; it's a rational choice. This time, she didn't wake up, and I carried her into the bedroom, laid her down on the bed, and covered her with a quilt.

I don't know if she was having another nightmare, but her brows gradually furrowed again, and her body tensed up.

I reached out my finger and smoothed the wrinkles between her brows, while silently concentrating heat to make the bedding warm and cozy. Her expression gradually softened, and her whole body relaxed.

Her happy smile when she ate delicious food, and her knees that swayed slightly like a child's, flashed through my mind. Looking at her now relaxed face, I recalled them.

I slowly withdrew my finger and pondered all the experiences I'd had so far.

Although there were still some things that couldn't be definitively determined, based on my observations and experiences, I no longer needed to add prefixes like "perhaps," "maybe," or "possibly" to the truth of Maza's jinx constitution.

Caves, ritual arrays, Luoshan, Zhu Shi, Agent Kong, Fallen Demon Hunters... Ever since Maza arrived, I've encountered one mysterious thing after another that I'd never encountered in my past life.

It's like the protagonist of a fantasy story, who lived a boring, uneventful life before the story began, but after the story started, they encountered immense misfortune, with one problem after another.

My past self tried so hard, yet could never come into contact with anything related to the strange. Now, those things seem to be seeking me out, as if every step I take from now on could lead to a new adventure.

If this isn't Maza's favor, how else can it be explained?

At least, I'm willing to believe that's the case.

This means I must take Maza's jinx constitution, which affects "the people around the people around me," as the primary premise for deciding how to handle my relationship with her from now on.

I have to make a choice--

Either I give up continuing to interact with Maza, kick her out of my house right now, and return to a boring, uneventful life that guarantees safety and doesn't implicate anyone;

Or I distance myself from all ordinary human relationships, parting ways with family, friends, classmates... with normal society, and choose the path of maintaining a relationship with Maza.

What an extraordinary Poison Flower.

Good, it suits me perfectly.

I just love Poison Flowers; the more poisonous, the more delicious.

I chose the path of maintaining a relationship with Maza.