From the end of the world

Chapter 497 Horrible Ma Zao

We arrived at the second floor of the safe house.

There are many private rooms on the second floor, connected by corridors. The cartographer led the way into one of the rooms, which was not the room where the crazy partner was imprisoned, but his own bedroom. He said he wanted to get his diary first, and then took me to another room for imprisonment.

I glanced at the diary in the cartographer's hand. It was a brown-covered notebook. He had said before that he had an impression of the name Ma Zao, but he might need to look through the diary to remember it. I don't know what was recorded in it. Although it is unethical to try to read other people's diaries, I am indeed very curious about this diary - this "diary of a doomsday survivor".

The cartographer pushed open the door of the cell where he was being held.

As soon as the door was opened, there was a violent struggle from inside, as if the teeth were baring and claws were waving, along with the sound of steel chains. The cartographer walked into the room with the blessing lantern without changing his expression. I followed him in, and Tan Xiang followed in with a determined expression.

After the three people entered, the cartographer closed the door. Not sure if closing the door was a habit for doomsday survivors, Tan Xiang became even more uneasy.

I looked further into the room.

This room was supposed to be a large private room for many people to have dinner together. Now the dining table and chairs inside have been removed. I can see a figure sitting on the ground in the deepest part. The lantern's lighting was not bright enough, so I summoned a fireball to provide more light. This light probably stimulated the figure in the deepest part, causing pain to his eyes that were familiar with the darkness. He quickly covered his eyes and let out a threatening roar like a beast.

From the outside, he was a man who looked even shabbier than a beggar, a wild man. His black hair was long and greasy, tangled and covered with dust, and his chin and upper lip were covered with messy beards. He was wearing dark brown, bloodstained mountaineering clothes, no gloves, no shoes or socks, and his exposed palms and soles were covered with scars.

His face was also covered in blood and dust, and his facial muscles were extremely twisted and hideous, reminiscent of a zombie that preyed on its prey.

As he roared, his eyes swept over the three of us one by one. The cartographer still had his usual attitude. I looked straight into his eyes, and it was Tan Xiang's turn to make a fool of himself again. Tan Xiang couldn't help but take a step back and made a timid sound.

Then, the zombie-like man stared at Tan Xiang, like a killer who had found a flaw in the team. Tan Xiang retreated repeatedly, his back hitting the door, and his legs were weak.

I observed the other person carefully. Does this sloppy man really have any clues about Xiaowan?

Where had he come into contact with the small bowl before? What happened?

"He... why is he always looking at me..." Tan Xiang said with a trembling voice, "Cartographer... isn't this person your partner? You, you talk to him..."

"It's because you showed fear that he treats you as a soft persimmon. Can't you learn from Zhuang Cheng? Look how calm he is." The cartographer placed the lantern on the cabinet beside him.

"He is a person with super powers, of course he can stay calm!" Tan Xiang protested.

"A man can be incompetent, but he must be courageous."

The cartographer said something that made some sense, while flipping through his diary, using the white light of the blessing lantern to illuminate the words, and continued, "If this continues, I can't take you with me when I go out in the future... Well, as a training to build up your courage, should I lock you up with my former partner..."

"Ah!" Tan Xiang was very scared.

"Cartographer, what is the name of your partner? How can I communicate with him?" I asked.

"Like me, he has forgotten his real name. He is now called 'Wandering Soul'."

The cartographer's eyes wandered over his diary, seemingly searching for content related to the "Ma Zao" I mentioned on the road. "As for how to communicate with him... this is also something I really want to know."

"How did he go mad?" I asked.

"I can't remember clearly, but it's probably related to madness. Most of the madness in the apocalyptic era is caused by madness. Especially in his case, one can tell at a glance that it's caused by madness." The cartographer replied, "Now he will frantically try to kill all humans who are close to him, and there is nothing in his mind except the word 'killing'.

"The Karma Demon is also a monster that only acts out of the motive of 'killing'. This is a sign of his transformation into a Karma Demon. Right now, my other two companions and I - the two children you saw downstairs - can only shout his name when we have nothing to do, so that he will not forget that his name is 'Wandering Soul'. Then we can talk to him about trivial matters in the past to see if we can bring back his original sanity.

"In fact, we are about to give up. Not to mention that this approach has no signs of success, we are also gradually forgetting the past experiences with him. Perhaps in the near future, we will even forget his name, and then think that he is just a stranger who appeared inexplicably on the upper floor of our safe house and is on the verge of becoming a demon, and finally abandon him in cold blood..."

His voice was filled with sadness.

According to the knowledge I have about the apocalypse, generally speaking, people who are on the verge of becoming demons cannot be saved. Because people in this state cannot think normally, let alone understand information from the outside world, so even if someone around them keeps calling this person's name, it cannot really reach this person's heart.

However, Ma Zao's power of return is unusual. She can use her power to restore an object that is on the verge of becoming a demon to normal. However, if the object has completely become a demon, even the power of return cannot save it.

In the past, when Ma Zao first met Xiao Wan, she used the power of return to save Xiao Wan who was on the verge of becoming a demon.

Later, when Xiaowan met me in the virtual world as the second identity, she got rid of the evil spirit transformation by retrieving her name, which was also a trick. Because she had normal thinking ability in the virtual world, by retrieving her name in the virtual world and reactivating her memories that had not yet completely sunk, she could get rid of the danger of being on the verge of evil spirit transformation after returning to reality.

"I have a question..." Tan Xiang raised her hand cautiously.

"What's the problem?" asked the cartographer.

"How does this Youhun usually eat and excrete?" Tan Xiang actually noticed this crucial detail. "If he goes crazy and attacks everyone who gets close to him, then it would be difficult to even send him food, right? Does he still know how to eat now?
"The same goes for excretion. We can't untie him every time he needs to excrete, right? I don't think I've seen any signs of him urinating or defecating anywhere..."

In fact, I think Tan Xiang wanted to ask a more cruel question - is it really reasonable to keep such a time bomb with no chance of being saved in your safe house, and to give him food and water in this doomsday environment with scarce resources?
Although Tan Xiang probably didn't know what Karma Demon and Madness meant, he definitely heard the danger of Wandering Soul.

The cartographer replied expressionlessly: "He doesn't need to eat, so he doesn't need to excrete."

"Ah?" Tan Xiang obviously didn't expect this answer.

"People who are on the verge of becoming a demon will show some of the characteristics of a demon in advance. The motive of killing is just one of them." The cartographer said, "Demons are strange entities that do not need food and water, so they do not need food and water either.

"At the same time, they will become extremely powerful, their body regenerates faster, and they can sense the fluctuations of the soul like a blessed monk... Take a close look at his limbs and torso."

If you look closely, you will find that the wandering soul is not only tied up by iron chains, but the chains even pierce his limbs and torso, but no blood flows out of them, as if the blood has dried up.

"If it wasn't done to this extent, the chains wouldn't be able to bind him, and he might even dig through the floor of the room with his hands to escape," said the cartographer.

"He...Isn't he your partner? You treat him like this..." Tan Xiang said in astonishment.

"Yes, he is my partner, but... I can hardly remember who he is..." the cartographer murmured.

His words also answered a question in my mind, which was how Xiaowan survived the apocalypse when he was on the verge of becoming a demon.

The fact that she was not killed by the monster could be explained by luck, but how did she replenish her food and water while being alone and unconscious?

Humans will die if they don't drink water for three days or eat for seven days. Although we don't know how long Xiaowan has been on the verge of becoming a demon, it's obviously more than three or seven days. If she doesn't need food and water in this state, then everything makes sense.

Suddenly, the cartographer's fingers paused as he flipped through the diary. He looked at the words on the pages and turned to look at me.

"Zhuang Cheng, I found a record related to the 'Ma Zao' you mentioned earlier in my diary." The cartographer said, "Let me confirm first, do you really know the girl named Ma Zao?"

"Yes, what's the problem?" I asked.

Perhaps the cartographer realized that Ma Zao was a well-known jinx in the doomsday era, and then realized that his previous bad luck might be related to me, "a person related to Ma Zao." Anyway, I have already come to this safe house, and acting gradually becomes unnecessary, so I simply admit it.

And the cartographer said something beyond my imagination.

"According to my records, this girl named Ma Zao is a blessed monk with power comparable to that of a demigod, and she is also a bloodless and tearless killer." The cartographer said in a deep voice, "regardless of gender, age, or status, as long as they are human, she will personally kill them without mercy.

"The strong are killed, the weak are killed, the good are killed, the evil are killed, those who fight are killed, those who surrender are killed, those who escape are killed... I don't know how many lives were lost under her butcher knife. She is simply the synonym of terror.

"The few who were lucky enough to survive her called her the 'Witch of Gospel.'"

(End of this chapter)