He is the leader of the Tantric sect in Chagdu.

The blade is obscure and hidden under the cover of night.

With ruthless intent, the attacker plunged the knife into the enemy's eye, then instinctively followed up with a series of blows, twisting the knife around the eye socket—

This was an attack that should have hit, but something is more invisible than a thin blade.

For example, darkness itself.

The strange sound of the sharp edge piercing the air was instantly swallowed up by the omnipresent shadow—the sudden sneak attack could only shatter the outline like a reflection in water, unable to touch any solid entity.

"pity."

An arm had somehow hooked around the attacker's neck, and a voice, so close it seemed to be right next to his ear, murmured softly beside him.

"The way you greeted me... wasn't very friendly."

-I'll give you one back--

The next moment, controlling this high-performance body, Ai used brute force to press the attacker's head down below her arm, and then slammed her knee into his chin—blood that was red to black instantly gushed from the attacker's nostrils, and then gradually turned transparent.

Dizziness and lightheadedness overwhelmed his mind, his limbs became weak and powerless, and he finally lost his balance, staggering and falling to the ground. He struggled for a long time but could not get up.

"How are you?"

Ai placed her hands on her knees, half-squatting, looking down at the failed attacker, who could only support himself on his arms, staring intently at the enemy in front of him, his twitching pupils almost blurring out afterimages.

"Looks like... you'll be able to stay quiet for a long time."

Seeing that he had stopped moving for a moment, Ai began to speak freely: "Let me guess, who sent you... uh, it seems there's no need to guess—I've only seen a few people since I came to this village, and the only one with a motive to kill me is that old Deng..."

He shook his head, sighed, and sounded even a little frustrated: "This happened way too fast."

-I thought it would be a werewolf game, but the werewolf brother slammed the knife on the first night?

It seems I was a bit too arrogant during the day; I need to be more low-key next time.

...However, there's a high probability there won't be a "next time".

After sighing, Ai began to rub her hands together, eager to get started. "As a detective, I should have some knowledge of interrogation techniques, right?"

Ay showed absolutely no mercy to this kind of thug who wanted to stab someone in the eye the moment he met him—Lott's partial memories showed him some basic interrogation techniques. He had just used "suffocation" on Abram, and now he would try another one.

He circled around to the attacker's side and delivered a powerful elbow strike to his ribs—the cracking sound was crystal clear in the night. A scream was abruptly cut off and forced back into his throat.

Elbow strike, do you take an elbow strike?

The broken ribs brought almost unbearable pain—the attacker squeezed out a strange, drowning-like sound from his throat, a hoarse, sharp gasp like a broken plastic straw.

"Now, we can start talking about topics that interest me," Ai clapped her hands and said slowly, "like... why do the people in this village have wings?"

This is the question he most urgently wants to understand.

In the era of Ys, the sacred tree still stood on the earth, defining life as independent and complete... In this world, the differences between species were solid and distinct, and there was no reason for bestial characteristics to appear on human bodies.

Unless... there is some mysterious force involved—that was originally the only explanation, but Xiaobai told him before he came in that there was no trace of mystery in this history.

The two pieces of information conflicted, which was the part that Ai couldn't understand the most.

Is there something wrong with the door? Or is there a problem with the secret history?

Let's ask again.

Looking at the silent attacker, Ai sighed, realizing that she still needed to rely on the power of some moths.

Interrogation, coupled with inducement, simultaneously dissects a person's body and mind, thoroughly dissecting them: no matter how strong your will is, no matter how deep your secrets are hidden, as long as you retain that humble body and vessel, one of them will always betray you first.

and so……

"Induction Technique"

Grabbing the attacker by the hair and pulling him up, a buzzing sound created subtle ripples, vibrating the vessel that had invaded him and stirring his red liquid—at the same time, Ai asked softly, "Tell me, why do people grow wings on their backs?"

one second...

Two seconds…

Looking at the man who remained silent, Ai frowned, seemingly not understanding why such a thin layer of red fluid could resist his inducement. However, he quickly realized something: "I see... You still have hope?"

He said jokingly, "Is it because you're pinning your hopes on your companions?"

The darkness behind them rippled like the surface of water, and amidst the omnipresent rumbling, no one could remain hidden.

"I'm just too lazy to deal with them for the time being, but that doesn't mean I haven't noticed them."

Before she could finish speaking, Ai suddenly realized something and abruptly turned her head back—

The sound of the gun leaving the barrel preceded his movement, followed by a cold glint tearing through the night.

In Ai's shimmering eyes, the bullet pierced through the shadow woven from shadows, tearing open a corner of the camouflage before disappearing into the depths of darkness.

-strangeness.

He said softly, "You surprised me."

This is really unexpected...

It wasn't about the method of attack with guns; firearms were normal in the industrial age. What surprised Ai was that they could actually spot their own shadows in the pitch-black night.

The fact that the bullet actually pierced through the "camouflage" indicates that these guys have the ability to lock onto targets in the dark.

Even I don't have a gray vision right now.

The next instant, the suddenly enhanced reverberation spell cleared the entire nearby space. After this round of shots missed, the enemies in the darkness were retreating to a more distant location.

Unfortunately... the moth's flapping wings are a disordered sound, which can only be used to expand the reaction range, and cannot accurately locate the enemy like the neighing technique of the Prime Minister.

Although Ai knew that danger still existed around her, she was still unable to pinpoint the enemy's exact location.

This makes things a little tricky.

Ai frowned slightly, rubbing his temples with a headache. During the exploration of the secret history, he could not freely switch bodies, so he could not use the advantages of his fox form. As a pure human with a normal physiological structure, Rhodes would definitely not be able to see the enemy clearly in the dark. And once he used a light source... losing the advantage of camouflage in the dark, the situation might be worse than it is now.

So, the problem ultimately boils down to this: where did these guys get their dark vision from...?

Could it be that, like wings, it's developed through mutation?

While Ai was increasingly missing his fox form, he was also a little annoyed—after all, his methods of killing required "seeing the enemy" as a prerequisite. He thought he would always be the only one who could bully others by relying on the dark environment, but he didn't expect to be outmaneuvered today.

Fox, who has only been in the industry for half a month, is still an immature newbie.

But it doesn't matter. A few ordinary people—a thorough search will find them all, it's just a little troublesome...like swatting mosquitoes in a mosquito net at night.

As the vibrations transformed into an invisible net, Ai's figure gradually dissolved into the darkness. He whispered, "Now it's time for hide-and-seek... I hope you're all hidden well."

Just a second before he was about to begin his hunt, a sharp, bird-like cry from behind interrupted him.

"Eeu——"

Ai stopped, frowned, and turned her head. She saw the first attacker, who had been lying on the ground, stand up unsteadily. His ankles were twisted unnaturally, and he moved like a boneless insect.

"Eeu——"

His cheeks bulged so much they were almost transparent, and a constant, piercing hiss came from somewhere unknown.

"I don't have time for you right now, be quiet—"

The principle of silence was poured into his throat like lime, and the hissing solidified in the next instant.

Ai watched the figure coldly, initially not understanding what he was going to do. She simply watched him move step by step towards her, and then, to her utter bewilderment, he lunged towards an open space to the side—

-etc!

The tactile sensation of objects colliding, a pair of powerless hands pressing down hard on Ai's shoulders, an adult using all his weight as a bargaining chip, pressing down on that ethereal shadow briefly revealed by the hiss.

He did it.

Caught off guard, Ai was pinned to the ground by an overwhelming force. Although he tried his fastest to tear the attacker off him, it was too late.

In a silent screech, the attacker's shoulder blades tore through his clothes in an instant, unfolding in mid-air into two sharp, grotesque, and deformed bone wings of different sizes. The wings were a resolute determination to die; they pierced deep into the soil beneath him, turning his body into a cage, temporarily immobilizing this unseen and terrifying enemy.

-not good……

Black ash poured into his red liquid through his pupils, and the ash poison almost instantly took his life—but this dead cage imprisoned Ai Yi here, even if only for a few seconds.

- It's all over.

Seeing this, Ai closed his eyes, sighed softly, but his expression remained as playful as ever; he gave a wry smile.

"Hehe, we crashed."

At the same moment, a series of gunshots rang out.

Bullets from the darkness pierced through the deep fields, raining down upon them.

Almost instantly, the prison made of flesh and blood was blasted to pieces, and blood gushed out like a tidal wave, turning the frozen night into a dark red.

I don't know how much time has passed.

Until all sound ceased in death, as if nothing had ever happened.

Only fragments of flesh and bone silently revealed this desperate murder in the darkness.

After confirming that no one else could survive at the scene, the figures gradually disappeared into the distance amidst a faint tremor.

.

.

Is nobody here?

Beneath the pool of blood covered in minced flesh, a riddled arm pushed aside the corpses above, and then... a mangled body slowly rose from the ground.

Although there were two holes in his face, you could still tell that he looked embarrassed.

"Damn... This is incredibly embarrassing."

Ai wiped the bits of flesh from his face and quietly waited for the vines coiling around his body to repair it completely—perhaps because there were too many and too many wounds, the repair process was unusually slow and agonizing. He was now itchy all over, so he could only watch the mistletoe crawling around in the holes in his palm to distract himself.

To be honest, a fox in its true form would have died long ago from such injuries. If it weren't for the fact that it was parasitizing someone else's body in the secret history, resulting in no physical "vital points" on its body, even Huan Sheng wouldn't have been able to save it.

It was really embarrassing, considering that I almost got knocked out of the second stage by a bunch of ordinary people...

But Ai still wanted to excuse himself; he felt that the situation in Rusty Village was a bit too complicated.

A remote village could train such elite assassins... perhaps even more terrifying than assassins themselves. Even though the attackers were subdued in one move upon first sight, they still maintained their fighting spirit.

Even though his vessel was humble in nature, it was incredibly sturdy on the foundation of ordinary things. Until the very last moment before his death, madness still shone in his eyes...

……No.

Perhaps it's not madness.

Ai thought to herself.

It's "fanatical" —

Despite not possessing any intangible techniques and having unremarkable physical strength, they possess an inexplicably terrifying fighting spirit, willing to wager their lives on the gambling table... This is definitely not an elite force that can be produced through training alone.

A group of ordinary people, despite having incomprehensible night vision abilities... managed to force themselves into this predicament through improvisation in battle, even resorting to the power of mistletoe.

-That's incredible.

but.

Ai stared blankly as she picked up the wing bones scattered on the ground, shattered by the barrage of bullets. She then selected the most intact piece of bone and examined it closely.

Without feathers, the wings are just a nearly weightless skeleton, with a transparent periosteum covering the hollow, fragmented structures, making them appear even thinner.

The wings of birds are so light and delicate, as if they could be broken at the slightest touch.

But when it is fully unfolded, it can send life to the heavens; when it is inserted into the earth, it can become a curtain or a cage.

It's such a contradiction.

Ai Yi also had a deeper guess in her heart—the only thing that could make a "mortal" have such a strong mind is faith, ideals, or love.

The classic three dishes.

In Rusty Village, perhaps faith is more likely. "Fanatics" are among the most terrifying beings among mortals. When a certain doctrine is placed above life in their hearts, their vessels are indestructible before that doctrine is overthrown.

Whether it's a cult or a secret society... any form of worship that has reached its extreme is similar to this.

The thought that the enemies I might face are perhaps just ordinary people like this...

A strange excitement flickered in Ai's eyes—

This instance doesn't seem as boring as I imagined.

Just as he was deep in thought, suddenly, the door to the room next to him was gently opened a crack from the inside.

Ai silently raised her head, and Abram peered out from inside, his dark eyes dull and lifeless.

He walked straight toward us with a blank expression.

"Tsk..." Ai raised an eyebrow and said teasingly, "Brother, I'm really not in a good position right now. If you insist on retaliating at this time... perhaps it would be a smart choice?"

To his surprise, Abram bypassed him and simply walked blankly toward the scattered wing bones.

He picked up a piece and placed it in front of Ai.

"Bone carving," he said.

"Bone carving?"

"Agdeu's guardian bird, the featherless bone carving—just now, one of its earthly vessels died, died because of you..."

"?"

Aye did not respond; he felt that Abram had more to say than that.

"Agadius, our Lord's Church has always recorded a legend—in that paradise high in the sky, there lived the Lord's people: their bodies were as light as the wind, and the tips of their outstretched wings always pointed towards the sky—they had colorful and splendid wings, and were beautiful figures soaring among the clouds."

They were the first birds, descendants of the Lord.

"Birds have no worries or anxieties. All they need to do every day is keep the wind company and frolic with the clouds and mist—as long as the sky continues to favor its offspring, that will be the birds' eternal paradise."

"Until one day..."

Abram sat cross-legged in the pool of blood, head bowed, and continued softly, "In Paradise, where joyful songs echoed forever, suddenly a strange bird was born. Its bones were hard and dense, its body heavy and bloated—because the wind disliked it, the strange bird's gravity was different from that of other birds. The downward force of gravity tore these wingless monsters down to the ground, forever separating them from Paradise. From then on, the wingless birds could only glimpse the lightness of the high heavens through the song of the wind."

"Other birds, ashamed to be of the same kind as the wingless birds, used the concept of 'beak and lips' to separate their languages, forbidding them from learning about bird songs, and banishing their names back to the ground as well..."

-etc.

Ai whispered as if in a dream, "This can't be...."

"Yes, that is so." Abram let out a soft, enigmatic sigh: "This is the ancient legend that 'humans were originally birds,' the origin of species passed down from ancient times in Agdeweg..."

"In Rusty Village, humans are like wingless birds."