From the end of the world

Chapter 28 Extraordinary Communication 2
I think my superpowers are pretty average, but I've never said I'm weak.

Although I have never used my full strength, I expect that if I work hard, it will be no problem for me to destroy a street with a fireball. However, does a strong destructive power mean a high level? Not necessarily. I was trapped under a cave before, and what helped me escape was not the destructive power that was enough to destroy the entire basement, but analysis and reasoning.

Therefore, I have doubts about whether my strength can be classified as "strong". Who knows the average strength of demon hunters, and what the specific evaluation criteria are for strength? Maybe many people will use "how big a hole can be made on the ground" as the evaluation standard for strength, but now I can no longer see it that way.

"You have such a powerful superpower, but you have never revealed it to the people around you?" Zhu Shi suddenly became suspicious after calming down, "So many people criticized you and said you were mentally ill, but you never thought of taking revenge on them?

"Since you have this ability to 'kill with your eyes'... no, you don't even need to be present. As long as you have the intention, you can set the target of your revenge on fire from a distance of several kilometers. Whether to burn light injuries or burn heavy injuries is entirely up to your mind. Others won't suspect you at all, right?"

Seeing that she was suspicious, I deliberately agreed with her and said, "So there is such a way. Thank you. I will try it next time."

She stared.

"That was a joke. Don't worry, I never thought of doing anything like that," I promised.

She glared at me for a long while, then relaxed her shoulders and said helplessly: "That's better. I don't want to see you become a fallen demon hunter..."

"Thank you for your concern," I said. "So, the fallen demon hunter is not a traitor among you, but a villain who has been using his extraordinary power to do evil things from the beginning?"

Because the title is "Fallen Demon Hunter", when I first heard this title, I thought that the other party was originally a demon hunter of positive forces, but later became corrupted and became a thug who hunted humans. But since I can change my job to "Fallen Demon Hunter" on the spot, then the other party can certainly be one too.

Zhu Shi nodded and said, "Yes, he first appeared eight months ago in a murder case in a room on the fifteenth floor. He is the murderer."

I still have some questions about the origins of the fallen demon hunter, but I still asked the question that concerns me most first: "In your opinion, is he powerful or weak?"

"… Considered powerful." Zhu Shi gave a very clear answer. "Luo Shan roughly divides demon hunters into four levels, ranked from strong to weak, namely, Cheng, Zhu, Bad, and Kong. Most demon hunters are at the 'Bad' level, while the fallen demon hunter is at the 'Zhu' level. He also possesses very comprehensive physical strengthening abilities, making him a leader even among the 'Zhu' level."

Creation, existence, destruction and emptiness are Buddhist concepts used to describe the four stages of the world from formation to destruction.

"Cheng" corresponds to the world of birth and formation, "Zhu" corresponds to the world of continued stability after formation, and the final "Huai" and "Nu" correspond to the world entering decline and the stage where nothing is left after destruction.

Obviously, "Luoshan" is a Taoist concept, but the level of the demon hunter uses a Buddhist concept, which sounds a bit strange. But then again, the mutual influence between Taoism and Buddhism can be seen everywhere in history. For example, the Taoist hell world was first formed under the influence of Buddhism, and "Fengdu Luoshan" was also a concept formed after that.

Zhu Shi added: "I only started dealing with the Fallen Demon Hunter incident a week ago. Before me, two Luoshan Demon Hunters who were in charge of this incident had already been killed by the Fallen Demon Hunter."

"Is he that dangerous?" I was surprised.

"Very dangerous." She then analyzed for me, "Since your superpowers can destroy the body of a fallen demon hunter, it means that your attack methods are at least at the 'Survival' level. This kind of power is rare among demon hunters."

"So according to you..." I asked the question that concerned me the most, "Can I join Luo Shan?"

Unexpectedly, she frowned immediately and asked, "You want to join Luo Shan?"

"Is there a problem?" I was surprised.

"Given your personality, it's not surprising that you want to join Luoshan, but..." She hesitated, "I suggest that you better not join Luoshan, especially during this period... Luoshan is in a very chaotic situation, and conflicts are likely to break out in the near future. I can't go into details, but I suggest that you don't join during this troubled time."

Chaos? Conflict? I became excited when I heard it. The unknown chaos and conflict within the supernatural organization sounded very attractive. She wanted me to stay away from the vortex of disputes. I could see that she had good intentions towards me. I could only say sorry. Whether I should get involved or not, I have to wait until I understand the details.

But her expression seemed very resistant, so I could only switch to another more concerned question: "Does Changan know that you are a demon hunter in Luoshan?"

"He doesn't know. Not only does he not know that I'm a demon hunter, he also knows nothing about our side of the world."

Her words made me happy. It wasn't about "Chang'an didn't know", but about her saying "our world". As a demon hunter, she personally bound herself and me to the same realm, which made me feel like I was recognized in some way.

She went on: "Also, I hope you don't tell him. Neither about my work nor anything related to weird things."

"Does it need to be kept secret? But he has already come into contact with the strange phenomena in the room on the fifteenth floor." I pointed out, "After all, why would Luo Shan hide information about strange things from ordinary society?"

"I don't know how to explain this to you. I'm sure you will have the same feeling as me in the future." She sighed, "As for the room on the 15th floor, it was an accident. We had no choice but to accept it. We can't just give up, right? Tomorrow morning I will go and deal with the ritual array and cave there." "Ritual array, you mean the magic array?" I pretended that I had not eavesdropped on her call with Agent Kong.

"Yes." She nodded, "But the ritual array and the appearance of the cave are not necessarily related. The latter is still an unknown event. You have no experience in dealing with truly strange events. I suggest you don't get involved..."

At this point, she noticed something suspicious: "--Hmm? Wait, where did you say you met the Fallen Demon Hunter before?"

Instead of answering her latter question first, I took the initiative to provide her with information about the cave.

"That cave is actually related to the ritual array. I have solved the mystery of the cave's appearance. The answer is the missing symbol of the array, and the letters on the carpet just make up for the missing part. So every time the carpet is covered, the cave will switch between disappearing and appearing."

"Ah?" She was stunned for a moment, then asked subconsciously, "But the carpet and the floor are not on the same plane, right?"

"It doesn't matter if we're not on the same plane. Even if there's a floor underneath the cave, we can reopen the cave by filling in the corresponding symbols." I explained patiently, "But there are still some things that haven't been solved. For example, after people outside go in, the entrance and exit of the cave disappear on their own for some reason. I haven't found the reason for this phenomenon yet. You must be alert to this if you want to go in..."

"Wait, wait, wait a minute..." She finally came to her senses and looked at me in astonishment, "Can you tell me first...why you know that you can reopen the cave even if you are under it, and why the entrance and exit of the cave disappear by themselves after entering..."

“Because I went in.”

"You went in!?" She suddenly asked loudly, then realized that she was too excited and quickly calmed down, "Aren't you afraid that you will never get out?"

"that's not important."

"No, this is important..." she complained.

I continued: "Anyway, since you are going to deal with that cave, I will give you all the information I know first..."

Then, I began to tell you the information I knew.

In fact, I hope she won't deal with the cave for the time being, so that I can continue to investigate other unknown parts of the cave. But firstly, I don't know whether the existence of the cave will affect Chang'an as a contactor; secondly, rather than standing on the opposite side of Zhu Shi to stop her, I want to give her convenience and establish a good relationship with her and the Luoshan forces behind her. As I said, I can clearly distinguish between a full meal and a full meal.

As she listened to me tell about my personal experience in the cave, her eyes became more and more strange.

After I finished speaking, she sighed deeply, and it took her a long time to finally digest the content, and her expression became very empty.

"I always thought you just really liked ghost stories. When people outside said you were a lunatic, I thought it was because they didn't understand you as well as I did. They all deeply misunderstood you..."

"Regardless of whether they have any misunderstandings about me, you and I have only met a few times offline, right?" I wondered.

She asked back as if it was a matter of course: "Don't we chat online often?"

That's just online.

She did often chat with me online about Chang'an, and we communicated a lot. But the Internet is the Internet after all, and how can you guarantee that you can grasp the other person's sincerity when you can't even see each other's face? I can't just talk to my friend's sister about my failed experiences in investigating ghost stories, and the latter is actually the focus of my life.

She couldn't be the type who could be easily scammed by bad guys.

It seems that she has always unilaterally treated me as a good friend, and I have only just come to my senses and can't help feeling a little ashamed.

"But now I have to admit that I was the one who misunderstood." She said very frustratedly, "When I heard that you had awakened your superpowers a long time ago, I even thought that the reason you have been able to persist in pursuing strange stories for so many years is because you yourself are the evidence of the existence of strange things. Now it seems that I misunderstood."

“No, that’s exactly what happened,” I said. “Without my super powers, I don’t know if I would have survived until today.”

"Whether you are sure of the existence of strange things and how deeply you are obsessed with them are two different things." She shook her head, "Now I am really sure that whether you have superpowers or not, you will definitely keep going."

(End of this chapter)