Time Traveler Help Hotline

"I also want to know what that person is thinking, and why they refuse to support the resistance."

Mary's clenched teeth expression became the last memory of last night.

Her answer cleared up some of Ji Mo's doubts, but it also brought up more mysteries.

For example, although they are all ghost stories, there are stricter class restrictions between ghost stories than just the bizarre.

Although it is not usually outwardly apparent, this tendency to prevent subordinates from resisting superiors becomes particularly evident when it comes to making important decisions.

When faced with a group of supernatural beings banding together to oppose something, people like Mary, who are supernatural beings, have little say. However, they can unite with human superhumans to form a balance of power.

However, if Hung Yip were to intervene, none of the three factors combined would be sufficient to rescind his proposal.

Fortunately, Hung Yip generally doesn't get involved in official matters; he spends most of his time in public speaking on "Approaching Humanity."

Ji Mo then learned that the resident host of the well-known rule-following program "Approaching Humanity" was the strongest person in Hope City.

There are two reasons why Hongye wields so much power.

First, he is really strong.

Secondly, only he knew the theory behind the bizarre ritual, and only he could carry it out.

In other words, if Hongye left Hope City, the ghost stories would have no way to continue to increase their numbers, which led to his transcendent status.

As for why Hongye did it, all the ghost stories want to know the answer.

Unfortunately, after restricting Hope City Ghost Stories from interfering with the resistance, Hongye went into seclusion, even handing over the program to other ghost stories.

"Hongye is actually a former rebel leader? Where did Mary get this information? Most importantly, why isn't he helping the rebels? Is there another reason...?"

Ji Mo was having a headache from thinking about it.

"Hey, isn't Uncle You coming today either?"

Chen Zhuzhu's voice suddenly rang out; she had arrived in the studio at some point.

Ji Mo suddenly came to her senses and realized that there was less than an hour left before the broadcast started.

"No." Ji Mo flipped through her phone and remembered that You Tianding had said "take two days off."

If the whole sentence weren't expressed using a figurative language, You Tianding should have come to work today.

"Let's wait a bit longer. There's still some time before filming starts, and the program isn't too busy anyway."

As it turns out, the bustling atmosphere on the first day back to work was just a facade. Since reverting the help request settings to their original configuration, not a single hotline call came in during yesterday's entire program.

Even without Ji Mo present, Chen Zhuzhu broadcast the show with ease, as if she had rediscovered the joy of slacking off at the beginning of the program.

It's hard to say whether today will be as deserted as yesterday.

"Is he worried about the hotline issue?" Chen Zhuzhu thought Ji Mo was worried about the listenership data after the broadcast resumed, even though there were only a few days left in the month.

"Hmm?" Ji Mo responded subconsciously, then realized his lapse in composure, raised his hand to rub his temples, "It's nothing, it has nothing to do with the program."

Chen Zhuzhu, however, showed a rare curiosity. She rarely saw Ji Mo like this; he wasn't the type to easily let his mind wander.

Ji Mo shook his head, temporarily suppressing the vague guesses about Hope City in his mind; now was not the time to discuss this.

"I'm fine, but you," Ji Mo looked Chen Zhuzhu up and down instead, "Are you alright? You've been in a lot of trouble ever since Mary's phone call that day. Am I afraid of ghost stories? Or is it a lingering fear from past eerie events?"

"No, not at all." Chen Zhuzhu looked away slightly, a hint of embarrassment in her eyes. "It's just that I've always been terrified of mirrors and doll-like monsters since I was little."

"When my grandmother was still alive, she always told stories like these." Chen Zhuzhu seemed lost in memories, her speech slowing down. "The legends from my old home in the countryside were that old objects could become spirits, dolls couldn't be abandoned casually, and people who shouldn't be there would be reflected in the mirror. They were really scary."

"Besides, my parents were busy with work back then, so whenever something happened, they would leave me with my grandma. You know how old people are, they always try to save on unnecessary things, like not turning on the lights if they can avoid it. When they were putting me to sleep, they simply didn't turn on the lights, so the room was dim, and they would tell me those stories..."

The ghost stories about the moving dolls and eerie mirrors told in dim light amplified the fear of a child left alone in an unfamiliar environment.

"It was just a story at first, nothing serious. But then one time I stayed overnight at a friend's house, and she listened intently as I recounted my grandmother's story. Her eyes lit up, and she deliberately placed that glowing-eyed doll by the bathroom door when I got up in the middle of the night. When I opened the door, I saw it talking to me, and I was so scared that I fell back into the bathroom. I even saw myself transformed into a terrifying image in the mirror..."

"But looking back now, I think I was mostly just scaring myself. My friend said I fainted on the spot."

"So, I guess you could call it a childhood trauma," Chen Zhuzhu concluded, with a hint of self-deprecation. "I know it's fake now that I'm older, but that feeling... it's etched into my bones."

Miss Mary's ghost stories spread so widely that even Chen Zhuzhu knew about them, especially when she learned about the versions involving dolls and mirror summoning; the horror factor skyrocketed.

"Of course, I don't deny that I'm afraid of the supernatural," Chen Zhuzhu added. "Compared to everyone else, I'm indeed not very good at direct combat."

Therefore, Chen Zhuzhu's current goal is to become a reliable intelligence agent, just like the Extraordinary Countermeasures Bureau Team Three.

Although neither Jiu Chonglou nor Ji Mo need to use her abilities for the time being, and they know far more information than she does.

"But I've only been in the Extraordinary Realm for three months, so the future is bright!" Chen Zhuzhu has always been good at self-encouragement.

"Speaking of which, Ji Mo, is there anything you're particularly afraid of or hate? Ghosts, spiders, anything like that, whether it's a supernatural creature or not doesn't matter."

Although she asked the question, she didn't have high hopes. In her opinion, Ji Mo didn't seem like someone with obvious weaknesses.

"There's nothing I'm particularly afraid of, but there are things that make me feel nauseous."

"I knew it wasn't there... Huh?"

"I find tentacle suits disgusting."

"Huh?!?"

Tentacle suit?! Is it what I imagined?!

Chen Zhuzhu blushed, then quickly denied the lewd thoughts in her mind.

We can't think of it that way. Maybe there's some hidden reason. Last time, when Ji Mo talked about why the gods of Sanchuan didn't want to become a mainstream religion, didn't he post a bunch of very explicit pictures?

Sure enough, Ji Mo quickly explained, "The thing I'm talking about isn't as good as you think. It's a parasitic carnivorous creature that wraps around you, essentially to eat you and for disguise."

Ji Mo will never forget the scene from that day.

He simply forgot to retrieve his books from school and braved the heavy rain to return. When he got home, the streets were deserted, pitch black, and eerily quiet.

He walked for an unknown amount of time before finally spotting a working streetlight ahead, casting a dim yellow glow from the darkness.

A woman stood in the halo of light.

The woman didn't use an umbrella, letting the rain wash over her, and she wore a light-colored long dress that accentuated her graceful figure.

Just as he was about to brush past the woman, driven by some unknown force, he turned his head and glanced at the figure in the halo of light.

Almost simultaneously, the woman looked at him, smiling broadly.

"Little brother, would you like to see something that isn't explicit?"

At this point, Ji Mo paused for a moment, then briefly described, "Then it raised its hands, its sharp nails digging into the area near the collarbone, tearing off the human skin like taking off a tight-fitting garment."

He can still clearly recall the sound of that thin flesh tearing.

Like unfolding the inner garment of a coat, it opens up the human skin to reveal the nauseating interior—not internal organs, not bones, but countless tangled, writhing, slippery, and sticky tentacles.

They are small enough and milky white that, when viewed in a blurry way, they look like a nest of maggots wriggling.

The head that had just been smiling at him quickly turned deathly gray, lost its internal support, and fell out with a thud.

"At that time, I could only watch helplessly as that headless body, filled with tentacles, slowly pressed down on me."

Chen Zhuzhu hissed, seemingly having successfully conjured up that image.

Ji Mo could only say that the images she could imagine were not even half as terrifying as what she had witnessed.

"And then?" Chen Zhuzhu asked anxiously, "Did Miss Jiu discover you were in danger?"

Since Ji Mo was referring to his childhood, back then he must have only been able to rely on Miss Jiu for help.

"No, I was already very strong back then. I smashed it into mincemeat." Ji Mo had a complicated expression on his face. He looked down at his hands, and it was hard not to recall that feeling. "Jiu Chonglou did come, but at that time she only helped me forget that memory."

Later, as his level gradually increased and he read a large number of documents related to the extraordinary, that memory instantly resurfaced when he saw records of the disasters caused by that kind of creature.

Even now, Ji Mo still wants to slap his own hand for having to turn that page. Now, even Xiao Jiu can't help him forget.

This is one of the few things Ji Mo regrets.

"The tentacle suit is that kind of monster that's hard to describe, it's disgusting. It's a disgusting existence both physically and mentally."

Even when faced with Duchess Wayne's atrocities, Ji Mo did not show such a disgusted expression.

"I'm suddenly so curious if Miss Jiu has anything she's afraid of or has anything to fear..." Chen Zhuzhu's gossip spirit ignited, but it was obvious that Ji Mo couldn't answer her question. "Miss Jiu isn't here, well, even if she were, I wouldn't dare ask. Hmm, Jiu... eh? Jiu?"

As if struck by a sudden thought, Chen Zhuzhu asked, "Speaking of which, the Primordial Heavenly Lord is also one of the children of [Time], right?"

"Um."

"So where does He rank? No, no! I mean, where does He come from in the family?"

"seventh."

Ji Mo watched as Chen Zhuzhu's eyes widened, and reaffirmed his answer: "Yes, He is the seventh child, and the guardian deity of the magic world is the ninth child."

"What? I was just overthinking it..." Chen Zhuzhu muttered softly.