From the end of the world

Chapter 65 Another village has a bright future

The girl in the photo is so familiar, it’s the Ma Zao that I’ve been dreaming about!
The photo was probably taken at night, with a black sky. Ma Zao was walking on a deserted street, with no passers-by passing by and the shops on both sides closed. I remember this street was a pedestrian street in the next district. It should be a more lively place at ordinary times, but it was so deserted in the photo, indicating that it was probably in the early morning.

Ma Zao's face was covered by a mask and no expression could be seen. Her eyes seemed to be searching for something around her, and her posture vaguely revealed a sense of vigilance and tension. Strangely, she didn't seem to notice the person taking the photo.

Why does Ma Zao appear in the photo Zhu Shi gave me? Aren’t we talking about the Fallen Demon Hunter now?
Luo Shan is looking for Ma Zao. Does Zhu Shi also have a mission in this regard? Am I being tested?

But Agent Kong said that Zhu Shi was not in the same group as the group that was looking for Ma Zao… No, Zhu Shi was not in the same group as the group that “used extreme means to look for Ma Zao”, and he might be looking for Ma Zao on more than one mountain. Moreover, Agent Kong was already dead, so perhaps the task that originally belonged to Agent Kong had now fallen to Zhu Shi…

It's also possible that my train of thought has gone astray. The Fallen Demon Hunter incident and Ma Zao are not unrelated. Ma Zao took Agent Kong's charcoal finger from my house before he left, and Agent Kong was the last Fallen Demon Hunter...

"Zhuang Cheng, what's wrong with you?" Zhu Shi's voice suddenly rang out, "Is there something wrong with this photo?"

I shuddered, and before I could recover from the shock, I lied to myself: "Nothing, it's just that this photo is a little different from the others. Who is the girl in the photo? Is she related to the Fallen Demon Hunter?"

"Didn't you ask me before who the girl was that Agent Kong was looking for while disguised as a police officer? Although she was wearing a mask, according to our analysis, she should be that girl." She didn't seem to realize that I was acting.

"So that's it. She is the girl with amnesia. Agent Kong talked to me about her before he died..." I was not lying. Agent Kong really told me about her.

"Since you know this, I don't need to explain it any further." Zhu Shi nodded. "This girl suddenly appeared when we were looking for clues about the new fallen demon hunter. Having said that, none of our people have witnessed her directly."

"No direct witnesses?" I asked, puzzled. "Didn't you take photos?"

"Zhuang Cheng, does the photo in your hand look like a screenshot of a street surveillance? But in fact, there is no camera at this point on this pedestrian street." She explained, "This is a photo that our Luoshan people who are good at divination and reconnaissance read the land memory along the route that the fallen demon hunter may have passed in the past, and combined with the ability of reading and writing to get this photo.

"He originally wanted to divine clues about the fallen demon hunter, but he didn't expect that this girl would appear in the photo formed by divination and telepathy."

No wonder Ma in the photo didn’t notice the photographer. It turns out this is a “historical image”.

I asked with concern: "Does Luo Shan think that this girl is the fallen demon hunter?"

"Although she was lying in a vegetative state in the hospital most of the time when the fallen demon hunter was causing trouble, but... yes, the possibility you mentioned cannot be ruled out." Zhu Shi actually said, "Because there is obviously more than one fallen demon hunter, and the source of his power and motives are unknown. And this amnesiac girl also has 'power of unknown origin', and her motives for escaping from the hospital and stealing guns and ammunition are also unclear..."

As she spoke, she lowered her head and seemed to begin to think carefully.

Oops, did I give her some weird ideas?

I can understand why Ma Zao appears when fortune-telling a fallen demon hunter. Although I don't know the specific principle of Luo Shan's fortune-telling, Ma Zao does have the charcoal finger of the fallen demon hunter.

What makes me most grateful now is undoubtedly the fact that "Ma Zao is still in Xianshui City."

I couldn't find Ma Zao these past two days, and I was most worried that Ma Zao had moved to another city. I also thought about whether I should use Luoshan's power to find Ma Zao, but I'm not a member of Luoshan yet, and I can't come up with a logical reason. I didn't expect that I would get clues about Ma Zao through Zhu Shi in the end.

From what I see, maybe Mazao is also looking for the fallen demon hunter.

It is not clear what her motive is, but in such a big city, her figure appeared on the "route suspected to be passed by the fallen witcher" and she was carrying the charred finger of the fallen witcher on her body. It is hard to imagine that her current target has nothing to do with the fallen witcher.

Of course, there is another possibility, that is, her unlucky physique is attracting the "Fallen Demon Hunter Incident".

It doesn't matter which side the truth lies on. The most important thing now is to combine the two tasks of "finding the fallen demon hunter who is endangering Chang'an" and "finding Ma Zao" into one thing.

As long as the former is found, it is possible to lead to the latter.

It is true that there is no way out of mountains and rivers, and there is another village with dark flowers and bright flowers!
Suddenly, I felt something was wrong and asked, "Zhu Shi, you showed me these photos because you want me to act with you next time?"

"Yes." Zhu Shi nodded happily.

"Has my application to become Luoshan Heretic Wuchang been approved?" I asked.

"Not yet." She shook her head.

This is strange. Although I really want to participate in the investigation of this incident, Zhu Shi is very cautious about strange events, so she probably won't involve me as an outsider. Because I am a "capable person", she thinks I should "work harder" - she is not the kind of person who thinks that way.

"Actually, the reason why I came to you to participate in this incident is because it is related to your becoming an Outer Dao Wuchang..." Zhu Shi seemed to be trying to find an angle to start the topic. "I don't know if Agent Kong has mentioned to you that he was the agent in charge of the area around Saltwater University. Now that he is dead, this area naturally needs new personnel to take over." I heard her hidden meaning: "My becoming an Outer Dao Wuchang is also related to the new agent?"

"Yes, but the ones taking over our area now are not agents, but 'patrolmen'," she said.

"Youxun?" I immediately thought of the same thing. "Is it the same as 'Youshen'?"

"That's right." She nodded.

In the folk beliefs of our country, there are two kinds of gods, the day-wandering gods and the night-wandering gods. They are subordinates of the underworld gods such as the King of Hell and the City God.

They are also called Day Patrol and Night Patrol, and are responsible for monitoring the good and evil in the world.

"In Luoshan, the demon hunter responsible for dealing with weird things is called 'Wu Chang', and the demon hunter responsible for detecting weird things is called 'You Xun'," said Zhu Shi.

"What about the 'probes'?" I asked, "Are the agents' duties also to detect strange things?"

She thought for a moment and asked me a question first: "Zhuang Cheng, do you think that compared to Wu Chang and You Xun, the names of probe and agent are too modern?"

“That’s the feeling,” I admitted.

"In ancient times, agents were called Yinchai, or Guizu, etc. Because they were actually ordinary people, Luo Shan did not regard them as one of his own, but as a private force of patrols." She said, "In ancient times, patrols were rare, and it was very difficult to grasp the strange activities in the jurisdiction area, so they had to cultivate their own power among the people. This was the predecessor of the agents.

"It was not until modern times that agents were officially accepted by Luoshan. And because agents are the closest to the people in Luoshan, it is not easy to call themselves Yinchai or Guizu when they refer to themselves to the outside world, so they took names that are in line with modern styles."

"I see……"

I am not convinced by this explanation. Because it is not easy to say that they are ghosts or ghosts, so they are given a name like "probe" which has obvious material imagery? I feel that Luoshan may have invisible discrimination against ordinary people.

"You mean, the patrol officer is the agent's superior?" At this point, I suddenly had an association.

Agent Kong said that the reason he disguised himself as a policeman to look for Ma Zao was because of the order from his superiors.

Is it possible...

"Who is Agent Kong's superior now in charge of patrolling the area where our university is located?" I asked.

"Yes." Zhu Shi said affirmatively, "At the same time, the patrol also has another job, which is to monitor the activities of civilian demon hunters. And if there is a civilian demon hunter who is qualified to become an outsider, the patrol also has the power to examine him.

"Originally, I hoped to use my family's connections to help you avoid those procedures, but after the patrolman learned that you defeated Agent Kong, he proposed to use this incident of the fallen demon hunter as an assessment to test your strength level."

After thinking about it, I asked, "Does the patrolman have a good relationship with Agent Kong?"

"Very good." She said, "That patrol officer was only transferred to patrol officer last year. He used to be a skilled Wuchang.

"I heard that 20 years ago, before Agent Kong joined Luoshan, he was involved in a strange incident and nearly starved to death in the ghost wall of evil spirits. The one who saved him at that time was the patrolman who was still the impermanence.

"I think he might have some opinions about you now and wants to trip you up..."

Before she finished her words, I heard a voice coming from the side: "It's not good to say bad things about me behind my back, Zhu Shi."

"Lu Chan?" Zhu Shi frowned.

I looked in the direction of the sound and saw a young man walking towards me from across the street. He was wearing dark blue clothes that were modern in style with some ancient elements.

"I saw you suddenly ran out while analyzing the case. You haven't come back for such a long time, so I came here by myself." The man spoke to Zhu Shi first, then looked at me and smiled kindly, "I guess this is Zhuang Chengcheng. Nice to meet you. I am Lu Chan, Luo Shan Youxun."

He held out his hand to me, and I watched him.

He was the one who ordered Agent Kong to find Ma Zao.

(End of this chapter)