Apocalyptic Era: Starting from picking up a Bishoujo
Chapter 284 - 266 Night Talks Dong Che 3

Chapter 284: 266 Night Talks Dong Che 3

Regarding Mazao’s Broom Star Physique, there might be some operational mechanisms that I am yet unaware of, or perhaps there are external disturbances causing the effects of the Broom Star Physique to deviate. At the moment, I can only remember this paradox I have discovered and continue to observe and research it.

At least for now, it is certain that Dong Che harbors no special intentions towards Mazao, he himself doesn’t even know why he is so focused on Mazao. And after parting ways, perhaps there will be no further entanglements between us for the time being.

Is it really going to end this simply? I doubt this in my mind. Dong Che is a strange creature attracted by the Broom Star Physique, if we can shake him off this easily, wouldn’t that underestimate Mazao’s gravitational pull on strange incidents?

I decide to take the initiative, saying, "We plan to leave Fufeng Base after dawn, and the reason for your confinement by Fu Feng will also disappear then, what do you plan to do afterwards?"

"Is that so? As for me... I want to continue my mission," he says.

I recall briefly, then say, "You seemed to be planning to go to a place called Hu Family Village to investigate strange incidents."

"Yes. Governance Ideology has more mission quotas for official demon hunters compared to Extraordinaryism, and I have to complete a specified number of strange incident tasks every year. I have not been in Governance Ideology for long, and there are only two months left in this year," he says distressedly, "Although according to the rules, the number of tasks I need to complete can be reduced, I know there are still many people within Governance Ideology who are skeptical of me...

"I don’t know how to solve this, so I want to at least complete the same number of tasks as other Governance Ideology demon hunters. Through my personal channels, I found out that a place in the west called Hu Family Village is experiencing strange phenomena. I intend to target that place... This is the superficial reason."

He seemed like he didn’t plan to reveal that last sentence initially but towards the end, he seemed somewhat unable to resist confessing the truth to me.

Next, he seems a bit regretful. However, words spoken in reality are not like messages in a chat app; they can’t simply be retracted if you wish.

"The superficial reason... So, what is the real reason?" I ask, following the flow of conversation.

"This..." he hesitates.

"If it’s your secret, it’s okay not to tell," I say.

"It’s not really a secret... No, it indeed contains content that is inconvenient to tell others, but it should be alright to tell you, senior Zhuang Cheng," he hesitates for a moment before saying, "Actually, I feel like I am about to die."

"Die?" I ask incredulously.

"It’s a premonition. People like me, naturally possessing strong sensing abilities, automatically generate perceptions when the time of death is near. The more unavoidable the death’s fate, the easier it is for people like me to perceive it," he says, "Recently, I sensed that my destined death is approaching.

"Because my master is skilled in Divination, I also know a bit about divinatory techniques, and I cast a divination for myself. The divination shows that I am like a bone in a tomb; death has even manifested on my face.

"Senior Zhuang Cheng, do I look like a dead person to you?"

I scrutinize his earnest, youthful face closely. His tone sounds as hopeless and despondent as a terminally ill patient who has received a terminal notification. Perhaps influenced by his words, for a moment, I indeed see a glimpse of imminent death in his countenance. It seems like my illusion, for when I look closely again, it’s no longer visible.

I am not naive enough to believe it was merely my illusion. Just as I am about to honestly convey the strange sensation I perceived, a peculiar inspiration arises in my heart, as if the words I am about to say could really come true.

Speaking truthfully might not be a good idea... Instead, I say, "You don’t look like a dead person at all."

"May your words be auspicious," he smiles weakly.

I ponder over the feeling I just experienced. Why did I feel that the words I uttered would become prophetic? Could it be that by acknowledging here that he really resembles a dead person, he would indeed become doomed to die? Can my words determine his future fate?

Just as my overpowering strength prevents strange entities from easily bonding with me, powerful forces themselves are often accompanied by numerous mysteries. In Mysticism, "language" is considered innately supernatural and supernatural, and the words I speak may be even more so. If I possess an inner potential akin to that of God, then with my power now awakened, my words may also be seen to some extent as the words of God, possessing a mysterious effect of "sealing and defining."

Dong Che seemed not to realize the abnormal signs he had just showed. Perhaps the death calamity he calculated for himself is deeply related to the weird impression of him I sensed, which felt "not human."

I once suspected that the real Dong Che had been killed and replaced by a strange entity long ago. If I combine this suspicion with the information previously obtained, it is easy to speculate that the real Dong Che had already fallen to his death calamity.

I do not feel any malice or deception from this Dong Che in front of me. Could it be that the strange entity that killed and replaced Dong Che mistakenly believes it is the true Dong Che, and is still busy dealing with a death calamity that has long ended? Although this is a far-fetched hypothesis, it seems to also explain many problems.

"So, what does this have to do with your trip to Hu Family Village?" I asked.

"Firstly, Hu Family Village is a place name that appeared in my dreams. Through the verification of Divination Spell, I am certain it is a real place. Unfortunately, there are too many places called Hu Family Village in reality, and I can only rely on my intuition to determine that it should be in the west. According to the divination, my only chance of survival lies in that direction," he said.

"I see," I nodded, "What exactly did you dream? Are you sure you can find that place?"

"I don’t remember very clearly, just vaguely recall that I seemed to have gotten lost in the dream," he sighed, "As for whether I can find it... I am quite confident about this. I have a feeling that as long as I am willing to search, I can definitely find the location."

"Is there a time limit on this matter? For example, if you don’t reach Hu Family Village within a certain number of days, are you bound to die?" I asked.

Upon hearing this, he pondered for a moment, then said, "Although there is no absolute time constraint, it does not feel very urgent, as long as I arrive within ten days, there should be no major problems."

"Then, can you avoid heading in that direction for at least these two days?" I asked.

He asked in surprise, "Why?"

The reason is simple, I believe Hu Family Village is likely around Moon Concealing Mountain.

This conclusion was reached by combining the speculation "Mazao and I are likely unable to detach ourselves from Dong Che’s involvement in the near future." If we are bound to encounter him again going to Hu Family Village during our upcoming trip to Moon Concealing Mountain, then it’s highly probable that our destinations coincide.

And I might have to confront Yinyue on Moon Concealing Mountain once again, a battle with the strange so bizarre that even I cannot imagine how it will start and end. At that time, if Dong Che gets too close to us, he might be caught in the crossfire. Furthermore, his so-called death calamity might just refer to this very situation.

Our affairs can be resolved within these two days, and if we have more spare time afterward, it wouldn’t hurt to check on Dong Che’s situation. In any case, there are still at least eight days left, much safer than arriving early. In case it turns out that Dong Che is indeed a Demon in human skin, it would not be too late to deal with it then. This is what I thought.

Just in case, I did not directly tell Dong Che the name "Moon Concealing Mountain," nor was it convenient to directly answer his questions. So I could only say "You’ll find out in two days." And the topic ended there.

Dong Che returned, burdened with heavy thoughts, while I also went back to my own room. Mazao was still sleeping peacefully. I sat down at the desk again and used my phone to look up information about Hu Family Village online.

There were indeed many places named Hu Family Village, or rather, any village named in the format "Somebody’s Family Village" filled with a not so uncommon surname would yield many search results. And that’s only the countable number, if we include those small villages not searchable online, the number would be even higher.

Right, Dong Che mentioned that the Hu Family Village he was looking for was in the west... I tried to search for the location of Moon Concealing Mountain on the map again. Sure enough, Moon Concealing Mountain was also to the west from where I was currently located. It seems my previous suspicion was correct.

I then investigated other related information, and time ticked away, reaching the morning hours. It must have been daylight outside the base. Suddenly, during my search for information related to strange events, I stumbled upon a freshly released piece of news.

The government, on official platforms, announced the existence of the soul loss syndrome to the public. Currently, over a hundred thousand people in the country have fallen into a vegetative state due to the syndrome, and the number of patients keeps skyrocketing every moment.

The cause is unknown, the resolution is unknown, with no scientific explanation... The government’s statement was equivalent to admitting that the situation is a supernatural event. Though it was still early morning, related comments were already fiercely exploding across major media platforms.

The world beyond common sense was officially revealed to the public’s eyes.

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