The King of Curses
Chapter 58 - 58 23 An Zhizhen's 'True' _2

58: Chapter 23 An Zhizhen’s ‘True’ _2 58: Chapter 23 An Zhizhen’s ‘True’ _2 　　”…So that’s how it was.”

　　He remembered room “310.” The day before the “ghost house transformation” occurred in Xiaokang Building, he had run into Sister Zhi Zhen, who was pulling a suitcase and planning to go out, right in front of this door.

An Zhizhen did not want him to see the scene inside the room.

He had also smelled the scent of formaldehyde…

In other words, Sister Zhi Zhen intended to handle a corpse at the time, but she happened to bump into him, just as she had today.

What a coincidence.

“In this room, I performed a dissection experiment on Wentao.”

　　”Oh.”

　　Cen Dongsheng nodded slightly, his demeanor calm.

“Aren’t you going to ask why?”

　　”Wentao is that Granny Lin’s grandson, right?

He came to the Xiaokang Building a week ago and even met with you.

I’m afraid he harbored ill intentions toward you, Sister Zhi Zhen, at that time.”

　　”Exactly.”

　　An Zhizhen playfully winked at him, as if saying, “See?

I’m quite charming, aren’t I?”

　　”…Sigh, I understand now, it’s all because Sister Zhi Zhen is too beautiful.” Cen Dongsheng remarked knowingly.

“You really understand.”

　　Sister Zhi Zhen chuckled, looking pleased with his reaction.

“He’s just like that Deng Rong.

How could I allow such scum, which would corrupt society, to continue living in this world?”

　　That said, in modern society, even performing surgery on a criminal guilty of a serious crime and using them as an experimental subject is undoubtedly inhumane; it can only be done secretly.

But discussing this with An Zhizhen — a “Forbidden Master” — was obviously meaningless.

Cen Dongsheng’s moral standards were not that high either.

Anyone daring to covet Sister Zhi Zhen deserved to die.

If they appeared before him, he certainly would find a way to kill them, just like with Deng Rong at that time.

“Isn’t it frightening?”

　　”What’s there to be frightened of?” Cen Dongsheng replied, “I fully support you.”

　　”That’s not what I’m talking about.

I mean, as a woman, conducting human experiments in my own home, this kind of behavior akin to a mad scientist, would make people think I’m unapproachable, wouldn’t it?”

　　…Isn’t that obvious?

Cen Dongsheng responded with a perplexed look as if to say, “What are you talking about.”

　　Whether an action is right or wrong and whether the person doing it will be viewed differently are two separate matters.

An Zhizhen’s actions were clearly unconnected to “female charm.”

　　Sister Zhi Zhen puffed her cheeks, expressing dissatisfaction this time.

However, she didn’t delve deeper into the topic and continued speaking.

“…But, even the lives of sinners are equal on the scale of value.

So, first, I made Wentao bear the consequences of overusing the Cursing Prohibition; then, I wanted to confirm the physiological mechanism of the Cursing Prohibition.

He happened to be the kind of Forbidden Master whose physical body wouldn’t mutate…”

　　”Despite being limited by environmental and equipment conditions to reach only preliminary conclusions, I can confirm that his organ test results were similar to ordinary people.

In other words, the implementation of the Cursing Prohibition was not achieved through any specific organ.”

　　Not only did she not conceal the fact that she killed Wentao and conducted human experiments, but Sister Zhi Zhen also had no intention of hiding the experimental conclusions from him.

Seeing her speak endlessly, Cen Dongsheng couldn’t help but feel a sense of amazement.

Some conclusions she mentioned might be known as “common knowledge” in the future Forbidden Master society —

　　But so-called common knowledge, people’s familiar understanding of the world, was originally pieced together by researchers like An Zhizhen, who pursued the truth bit by bit.

An Zhizhen always had this color about her.

She was not merely a ruler and politician but also held the identity of a researcher, serving as both the head of the Governance Bureau and the top advisor of the technical department.

Among the various theoretical constructs about the future human society form, there is a type of rule by experts known as “technocracy” — scientists being not only explorers of truth but also rulers of human society.

This idea is, in a sense, a continuation of the “Philosopher King” in the minds of Ancient Greece philosophers, and the operation mode of the Tiannan Region’s political system was similar to it…

…That was quite the digression.

Cen Dongsheng reined back his thoughts.

Based on what Sister Zhi Zhen had frankly stated, some long-standing questions that perplexed him were finally resolved.

“—And then, the Wentao you killed turned into a ghost.

So, it was due to overusing the Cursing Prohibition…

The reason it appeared as a burnt corpse was because he was burned to death by his own Cursing Prohibition.”

　　So-called “overdevelopment” for a Forbidden Master was one of the taboos, causing irreversible changes to a person’s mind and body, leading ultimately to death or becoming non-human.

“Yes.”

　　”So, this means the reason Xiaokang Building turned into a ‘Ghost House’ was also because of you, Sister Zhi Zhen…”

　　”That’s correct.

The Blood Contract Medium became the center that attracted yin energy, and Wentao became a ghost.

This was also an experiment.

The process of ‘ghost house transformation’ went more smoothly than I had imagined.”

　　The truth had been revealed.

Everything that had happened in the past ten days was all the doing of An Zhizhen herself; she was the culprit behind all the upheavals.

Why did the burnt corpse evil spirit obsess over An Zhizhen so much?

And, although there might have been significant oversights in his past intelligence, in some aspects, it had not —

　　The ghost house transformation of Xiaokang Building did not originally exist in the historical timeline.

Without his presence, Wentao, Deng Rong, and Yulin, the three of them, might have been manipulated once An Zhizhen noticed them.

Cen Dongsheng knew nothing of all this.

Therefore, inherently…

there was deception and concealment.

The atmosphere between the two fell into a temporary silence.

“Why do it?”

　　Cen Dongsheng locked eyes with Sister Zhi Zhen.

“You’ve already guessed, Dongsheng, haven’t you?”

　　An Zhizhen did not avoid his gaze.

“…Because of what I said?”

　　”Yes.”

　　She answered.

“You once told me, ‘I am willing to support you, Sister Zhi Zhen.

No matter what you do, I want to be your partner.’ You might not realize how happy I was to hear that…”

　　”And then, I replied, ‘I have high expectations of you.

If I must choose a suitable partner, it can only be you.

However, my requirements are quite high, so prepare well’—”

　　Before the “ghost house transformation,” he and An Zhizhen had once sat by the flowerbed downstairs talking, during which Sister Zhi Zhen spoke of her ideals, and Cen Dongsheng wanted to seize that chance to achieve his goal.

Those words and her figure from that day slowly overlapped with what was in his ears, in front of his eyes.

“This is a trial, Dongsheng,” she said.

…

Yes, he had certainly guessed it.

Cen Dongsheng’s execution of the plan was based on the time people speculated An Zhizhen awakened her abilities according to her active period in later years.

He was initially hesitant to easily accept this piece of intelligence and had tested it more than once;

　　But until today, every word and action, every move by Sister Zhi Zhen, perfectly portrayed someone who knew nothing about the Forbidden Master world…

Perfect to a fault.

Therefore, he gradually began to genuinely believe.

If at the outset An Zhizhen was unwilling to reveal her abilities due to caution, continuing to pretend to be an ordinary person even after the ghost house transformation could only be deliberate—

　　All along, she had been observing him.

Cen Dongsheng was unsure of the kind of mentality he should adopt towards the “trial” she spoke of.

If placed in a memory of a certain era, after passing a test, being able to follow An Zhizhen herself would indeed excite most people, eager to follow, much like the so-called “the greatest honor is to be the dog of a Philosopher King”…

As for the concealment and deceit during the process, those indeed were inconsequential matters.

However, the current relationship between him and An Zhizhen was not like that.

They had feelings; their relationship was not one of superior and subordinate but equal partners; this was a promise personally made by her.

Therefore, he needed to respond.

“Sister Zhi Zhen, I am hurt,” Cen Dongsheng sincerely told her, “Emotionally…

very hurt.”

　　”Yes, I know.

It’s all my fault.”

　　In the night, An Zhizhen’s eyes reflected the dazzling starlight in the sky.

“I’m sorry, I deceived you.”

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