Apocalyptic Era: Starting from picking up a Bishoujo
Chapter 53 - 50 Friends1

Chapter 53: 50 Friends1

Changan had never been one to indulge in pretense, and as his friend, I considered myself well acquainted with his personality.

He possessed a stubborn—or rather, a contrarian—streak. If I directly asked him to do something, he might comply; but if I outright forbade him from doing something, he might just develop an oppositional attitude, insisting on doing exactly what was forbidden and announcing it loud and clear, as if afraid no one would notice.

Therefore, I was acutely aware that if I suddenly distanced myself without saying anything or bluntly told him we were done, he would never accept it. Worse, he might even hound me daily. That was the last thing I wanted to see. I had no wish to pass on the misfortune Mazao had inflicted on me to him.

Deep down, I already had a detailed plan to distance myself from Changan and other normal inter-personal relationships. This distancing wasn’t going to be abrupt, but rather, gradual and progressive.

It was just that, although I had already rehearsed my excuses, the moment I saw Changan’s face, I suddenly didn’t know what to say, and the well-rehearsed words evaporated like smoke.

I could only strive to regain the composure I was supposed to have.

Perhaps it was just an excuse, and I merely wanted to talk more with a good friend during our last moments together. The topic didn’t matter.

Changan and I sat side by side at the long table in the fried chicken shop. He chuckled, relaxed his collar, and started telling me about his past two days, "I’ve been at the military hospital recently. The meals there may be healthy, but they’re quite miserable to eat. Plus, there was no one to talk to, and my mom can’t speak either."

I replied dryly, "How is your aunt doing now?"

"Same as before, lying in bed with no reaction," he said.

Changan and Zhu Shi’s mother was in a vegetative state. According to Changan, one day she suddenly fell into a mysterious coma and had since remained unconscious. While medical examinations showed all her physical data to be healthy, she simply wouldn’t wake up. If not for her physiological functions still continuing, she could almost be declared a corpse.

Of course, this was something Changan couldn’t fathom, though Zhu Shi surely understood, and I had come to realize it as well.

It was "soul loss."

Unknown source of transmission, unknown mode of transmission, and unknown treatment methods... It wasn’t a disease that fit with a typical medical diagnosis but more akin to the curse of a strange being. The affected had lost their souls and were part of a bizarre, worldwide phenomenon.

Mazao was the world’s only known case to awaken, and that was the fundamental reason Luo Mountain was searching for her nationwide.

If Mazao truly was a Doomsday Transcender, then logically, her awakening shouldn’t be related to soul loss, and researching her wouldn’t reveal anything useful, let alone help Changan’s mother.

But I harbored other ideas. Why had she specifically transmigrated into the body of a soul loss patient, and why did this patient’s body nearly match her own? Was her transmigration really unrelated to soul loss?

From my perspective, if she refused to maintain a relationship with me, I would have no choice but to detain her, hiding her somewhere completely inaccessible. Conversely, as long as I could ensure our relationship continued, and she was willing, even if Luo Mountain sought a cure for soul loss through her, it wouldn’t be an issue. This would certainly be something Changan would be pleased to see happen.

Yet here lay a critical problem: some of Luo Mountain’s forces had shown utter disregard for Mazao’s basic rights in their search for her, giving me a vague sense of skullduggery. I had no position to criticize their disregard for others’ rights, but that didn’t stop me from being inherently wary and suspicious of such behavior.

Changan continued to grumble, "My sister, she used to visit mom frequently. As soon as I arrived, she disappeared, leaving me alone to face everything. Odd, isn’t it?"

I knew Zhu Shi was occupied with the Fallen Demon Hunter incident and couldn’t broach the subject with Changan. I could only respond with a noncommittal, "Maybe it’s because you’re not behaving properly, and she’s taken a dislike to you."

He ignored this, sighing, "She used to be a cute girl who loved music, always playing with her guitar. Look at her now, still carrying her guitar case everywhere, probably playing in a band somewhere. But ever since she changed her name a few years ago, she’s been so cold toward me..."

Nowadays, what Zhu Shi carried in her guitar case was unlikely to be a guitar—most likely it was the sword she had wielded before me.

Thinking this, I picked up on crucial information in Changan’s words, "Changed her name?"

Changan seemed to have mentioned something similar in the past, but back then I didn’t know Zhu Shi’s true identity and had little interest in her, so I had missed the conversation.

"Right, she now goes by ’Zhu Shi,’ doesn’t she? Haven’t you noticed that name doesn’t quite fit with that of a girl?" Changan asked.

"The name Zhu Shi does sound rather unisex, but giving a girl a gender-neutral name isn’t all that unusual," I replied.

"I’m telling you, this ’Shi’ isn’t the ’Shi’ from ’pick up’," Changan gave me an answer from an unexpected angle, "Our Zhu family has some weird traditions, for some reason we always give the younger generations numerical names. For instance, my mom’s name is ’Zhu Jiu’, and before her were ’Zhu Ba’, ’Zhu Qi’, ’Zhu Liu’..."

This was indeed a rather mysterious tradition.

The Zhu family was a local hidden rich family, and I had never before associated them with anything strange.

Previously, when I saw Zhu Shi hiding the fact that he was a demon hunter from Changan, I thought Zhu Shi was a lone demon hunter unaware of his family. Now, it seems that the Zhu family might have some secrets of their own, just that Changan himself doesn’t know?

"What if there are other siblings?" I asked.

"Usually, we give all the children non-numerical names first, then after selecting the heir, we give that heir a numerical name," he said, "Like my sister, she used to be called ’Zhu Jiuxing’, but after she started middle school, she began to be called ’Zhu Shi’."

"Your name is Changan, and hers is Jiuxing; they indeed make a nice set for siblings," I commented.

"Although we’re not biological siblings," he said sorrowfully, "As you know, I’m just the illegitimate son my no-good dad had with another woman, and the woman lying in the hospital now isn’t my biological mother. Even though in my heart she’s my real mother and she’s very good to me, but..."

"Is this why you never visit your aunt?"

"I know I’m being petulant, but... do you think Zhu Shi is becoming distant from me because of this too?" he said with a hollow tone, "Is it also because of this that my dad never comes to see me?"

He always acted carefree in front of others, but now he was showing his vulnerable side in front of me.

Since he was my friend, I had looked into it before. His father was a high-ranking official in the official forces, who has been missing for many years.

It’s not that Changan’s father met with tragedy somewhere, but rather it seemed like he was involved in some secretive activities that couldn’t be revealed. Perhaps it had something to do with some confidential projects of the government. He was still officially in his position within the official forces, it was just that he wasn’t present. And it seemed he kept a hidden eye on Changan, whenever Changan did something bad that needed cleaning up, he’d send someone to deal with it.

He was a son-in-law who had married into the Zhu family, his position itself wasn’t very stable. As his illegitimate child, Changan naturally didn’t feel the warmth of a normal family from the Zhu family. I had wondered before if the reason Changan always caused trouble was not only to vent his negative emotions but also to attract his father’s attention.

"He probably cares about you in his own way; it’s just not convenient for him to show up because of his job," I consoled.

"I hope so," he said, quickly steering the topic to another matter, "By the way, Ah Cheng, about that cave... the one in the room on the fifteenth floor, you remember it, right?"

"Of course, I wouldn’t forget."

"I actually... have some regrets. I wasn’t interested in weird things only after getting to know you; I had always wanted to prove their existence. But I... I ran away from in front of that cave, not even daring to go inside," he ground his teeth, "These past two days, I’ve been having nightmares, dreaming of a massive hand reaching out from the cave, dragging me into the pitch-dark below. Then the entrance disappears, and I can’t find my way out... I feel it’s better to face it than to be scared all the time..."

As he continued, he suddenly became dejected and said self-deprecatingly, "Sorry... what am I talking about? Forget what I just said. It’s too crazy, no matter how I think about it..."

"I’m sorry, but you might be disappointed by the news I have to tell you," I said, "About the cave you mentioned, it’s not going to appear again."

"... Ah?" his eyes widened, "What!"

"I actually called you out to tell you this," I said, resolved, "I’ve already explored that cave, and due to some processes that I can’t explain clearly, the cave has now completely disappeared."

"Wait! Don’t gloss over it, what kind of process are you talking about?" he pressed.

I took a breath, firmed up my resolve again, and then began to spin a lie, "The problem isn’t there; it’s what happened after."

"After?" he looked at me intently.

"I might have been cursed by that cave. I can’t tell you the entire process because I don’t know if the information I provide might harm you. You should know, right? Just being informed about weird things can be dangerous," I said seriously.

"Ah, yeah, some new odd tales have that kind of setup, like memetics or whatever..." he nodded half-understandingly at first and then was shocked, "So you’ve been tangled up by that kind of thing!?"

"Yes. Simply telling you over the phone might lack a sense of reality, so I’m telling you in person." I said gravely, "For the time being, it might be better if we don’t continue to see each other."

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