I adopted a child demon from the Gap, and I'm a special agent for the Bureau of Supernatural Ab

No, if no one appears who can change all of this, that day is probably inevitable.

Perhaps, restricting humanity in this way is not a bad thing. At least in this way, they will no longer have the possibility of falling into madness and killing. Although they only have extremely limited freedom, they can at least retain a certain degree of peace and happiness.

But can such happiness truly be considered happiness? Having their fangs removed, they are essentially left here merely as a safeguard for the existence of the monsters. Unable to leave the town safely, with menacing man-eating monsters roaming the wilderness, this is hardly happiness; it's nothing more than a form of imprisonment.

Ha, there's really no way to have the best of both worlds.

Li Cheng felt a headache coming on.

Ugh, forget it, honestly, why do I have to think about all this nonsense? I'm just making trouble for myself.

Clearing his mind of all distractions, Li Cheng quickly walked across the street and came to a road with relatively few pedestrians.

Leaving the bustling crowd, the environment suddenly became tranquil. Li Cheng calmed his wandering thoughts and began to think about the most important questions he needed to consider.

That is, how should he leave this place?

After all, the most important thing for him is to return to the outside world and to Zi's side. This forced separation is really frustrating and must be ended as soon as possible.

Li Cheng looked towards the end of the street, where the crowds of people and monsters were still chatting and laughing. Their pronunciation, which was slightly different from that of modern times, exuded a warm and everyday atmosphere. It could be said to be the most authentic reflection of the residents' emotions every day.

However, Li Cheng could also sense a faint sense of alienation, a feeling that probably only he himself could have.

I feel completely out of place here, and it seems impossible for me to integrate into this environment.

Having come into contact with Zi's memories and emotions, and clearly understanding her love for the world she protected, as well as the pain she felt after losing everything, Li Cheng's happiness and warmth in this remarkably similar world would probably all turn into excruciating pain in her eyes.

Therefore, he couldn't accept staying in this place, couldn't continue to stay in this world that didn't belong to Zi's efforts to protect. Her side was where he truly belonged.

I need to get back to her as soon as possible. I haven't made breakfast or lunch yet, and if I miss dinner too, she might get angry if I get back too late.

With that thought in mind, Li Cheng turned around and continued walking down the street, pondering other ways to leave, or at least ways that might break out of his predicament.

If you can't leave directly through the barrier, it means there must be some problem with the barrier itself. If you follow this line of thought, find the problem and solve it, then everything will return to normal, and you will be able to leave this place and return to the outside world.

Reimu Hakurei, who is now essentially the administrator of this world, is searching for the root cause of the incident. According to what she learned from Yukari's memories, this girl, who is only sixteen or seventeen years old, has a strong intuition and may be able to quickly find the mastermind behind this. So, she will go and find that girl. As long as she stays near her, she should be able to find the enemy as soon as possible and then find a way to resolve this incident.

As Li Cheng was pondering this, he suddenly heard a commotion coming from ahead.

"Whoa, I've finally found you! You little fairy thief who stole coffee beans, stop right there!"

It sounded like something had happened, so Li Cheng stopped in his tracks out of curiosity. Soon he saw a petite figure darting out from the side of the street in a panic. And coincidentally, it was someone he had just met.

"Eeeeeeeeeeeeee—"

The frantically fleeing fairy flapped her wings anxiously, flying with all her might through the streets of the human world. She could easily shake off the humans chasing her by simply flying a little higher and over the houses, but perhaps because she was too stupid, the fairy was only focused on her hasty escape, completely forgetting her advantage of maneuverability.

If I remember correctly, this fairy's name is Luna Cherud, right?

One of the three fairies who, along with two other companions, tricked Li Cheng into the puddle a few hours earlier, possessed the ability to silence others and enjoyed playing pranks. However, she was also a rather clumsy fairy, often finding herself in unlucky situations. Li Cheng's decision to stop when she was about to punish the three fairies was partly due to her clumsy attempt to escape—she even forgot how to fly and fell to the ground.

Did she steal coffee beans?

Her clothes were visibly bulging, and two or three coffee beans were peeking out. She could be heard crying out as if trying to retrieve the beans, but the three or five strong young men chasing closely behind her forced her to speed up her escape.

It seems to be heading in my direction.

Perhaps because it was in such a hurry to escape, the fairy did not notice that a man was standing not far away in this alley that was usually deserted, watching the show.

Hey, you over there, come help stop this guy!

The man who was chasing her noticed Li Cheng's presence and called out loudly, hoping he could help stop him.

Oh, I've been noticed.

The three or five people over there were still closely following the demon. When they shouted, the demon heard their voices and then stared blankly ahead of it, at the location where Li Cheng was.

Judging from the despair on her face the next moment, she must have recognized the man who had wiped out her trio just a few minutes earlier.

"Whoa, a dangerous human!"

The young fairy screamed in terror, instinctively trying to turn and run away, but then she noticed a group of people chasing after her, and even more frightened, she tried to turn around again. Unexpectedly, while turning left and right, she suddenly lost her balance and fell to the ground.

"Waaah!"

The wailing fairy fell to the ground, surrounded by a group of people.

Li Cheng: "..."

"In short, thank you so much. Without your help in stopping her, we might not have been able to catch up with this fairy. Flying creatures are really too cheating. Luckily, she's a fool and can't fly very high all at once, otherwise, even if there were many of us, we probably wouldn't have been able to catch her."

Standing before Li Cheng was a tea shop owner, probably around forty years old. According to him, this demon seemed to frequently come to steal his coffee beans, time and time again, causing him endless suffering. Because this demon had the ability to silence, the owner even had to make some noise in the shop every minute to check if the demon had appeared.

Grabbing the unconscious fairy by the back of her collar, as if lifting a kitten, the uncle thanked the young men who had helped him chase after her, and also thanked Li Cheng. Then he prepared to leave with the fairy.

"Speaking of which, what are your plans for dealing with this fairy?"

Li Cheng, curious about what the other party was going to do, asked.

Should we hand it over to the appropriate authorities? Or should we handle it ourselves? Beat it up, draw blood, or kill it and post it as a warning? Bury it alive?

"A little lesson will suffice. Anyway, she didn't steal much. If it really comes down to it, I can treat her to coffee when she comes over. Just let her know not to steal like this all the time. Fairies are really clumsy and always spill a bunch of dried fruit and tea leaves. It's a real hassle to clean up after them."

The answer was slightly different from what Li Cheng had expected. The tea shop owner just smiled, as if he only wanted to give the demon a little verbal reprimand.

It seems I was overthinking things.

"Young man, are you from out of town?"

The shop owner noticed that Li Cheng's hair was shorter than others and asked him curiously.

"Ah, yes, we're trying to figure out how to get out of here right now."

Li Cheng wasn't too surprised. As an outsider who was new to this place, he was bound to be out of place with the atmosphere, which was easy for someone with a keen eye to notice.

"Oh, you want to leave? This place is quite nice. If you don't mind me rambling, young man, why don't you listen to me and stay here a little longer? You'll definitely love the atmosphere here, hahaha."

"Haha, thanks for the suggestion, I'll think about it."

The shop owner laughed heartily and left with the fairy. Li Cheng rubbed his hair, slightly surprised by the locals' enthusiasm, and then opened a gap and left the town.

Next, it would be best to find Reimu Hakurei as soon as possible.

He traversed the gap and returned to the Hakurei Shrine once more, but this time he wasn't after the barrier tree; instead, he was searching for the girl's aura. Li Cheng activated his demonic power, quickly locating the direction from which the girl's aura was extending, and swiftly gave chase.

Outside the shrine avenue, a petite girl looked at Li Cheng with a somewhat bewildered gaze, as he kept flashing through the gaps in the air, tracking her.

"Hmm, why does this human—no, this half-demon—know how to use the gap?"

The girl muttered to herself, somewhat puzzled.

Holding a gourd almost a third the size of herself, the girl gulped down a large mouthful, letting out a satisfied sigh. In the breeze, the two huge, pointed horns on her head were extremely eye-catching.

After frowning and thinking for a while, the girl suddenly opened her eyes wide and revealed a rather strange smile.

"Hehehe, half-demon, gap power, I get it, he must be Zi's illegitimate child! Hehehe, it's amazing that a human could handle that woman Zi. I'll ask Zi about it next time."

Muttering to herself, the girl took another big gulp of wine and staggered into the shrine.

"Reimu, I've come to play with you—wait, is nobody home?"

Completely unaware that he had been noticed by someone, Li Cheng was still using his demonic power in mid-air to track the direction in which Reimu Hakurei's aura had disappeared through the gaps.

It was obvious that he didn't care at all whether anyone would see him.

In a field of blooming sunflowers, a green-haired girl sits on a chair, admiring her own patch of flowers.

At that moment, she suddenly noticed the gaps that flashed one after another in the distant sky, and a man occasionally peeking out from within them.

Man, half-demon, power from the gap.

The girl's expression softened with a smile.

……

"Crack!"

Meanwhile, in another location, another yokai girl, who had been flying around, excitedly snapped photos, capturing the man who appeared in the gap in the distance completely in the pictures.

"Haha, it looks like the next issue of the newspaper will have some really, really exciting topics!"

As she spoke, the girl disappeared into the distance like the wind, at an unbelievable speed.

……

At the same time, even more people, or rather, non-human beings, noticed Li Cheng in the sky.

Unaware of this, he continued to intently track down Reimu Hakurei.

…………

Thank you to the reader for the exceptionally generous monthly pass.

Thank you to readers Yu Sheng Lin Qing, Ding Ye, Feng Yong Sui You Fei, Terrifying Rabbit, Ye Luo Feng Fei, Zhuo Yue De Wu Li, Da Tu Zi, and Zui Mo Yao Wang EX for their recommendation votes.

Chapter 8, Section 298: The Misty Ruins of the Aberration

In the slightly chilly season, even under the warm winter sun, there is still not much warmth to be felt.

Following Reimu Hakurei's trail, Li Cheng traveled for more than half an hour before finally arriving at the edge of this world. It was an area that should have been a mountainous region, but was now shrouded in thick fog, making it impossible to see anything.

Is this the place?

Li Cheng stopped in his tracks. He could clearly sense that the witch had entered the thick fog, but compared to the witch's aura, another, stronger aura, filled with a sense of decay, gave him an even more intense feeling.

For some reason, it was a very familiar feeling, yet I couldn't recall where I had seen it before. Just standing outside this thick fog, that sense of desolation and annihilation was imprinted on my heart with an incredibly strong feeling. It was such a strange feeling; where had I seen this thing before?

Li Cheng carefully recalled his past experiences, but he couldn't recall where he had come into contact with such a thing.

Forget it, whatever it is, I have to face it now.

Li Cheng did not feel a strong sense of threat from this thick fog. If even with the enhanced senses brought by the power of the Gap Demon, he could not find any problems, then at least for the time being, this area should be safe, or at least there should be nothing that could kill him immediately.

Li Cheng did not hesitate for long and quickly stepped into the thick fog, continuing to move forward.

The wind howled, the white fog obscured the view, and the temperature was frigid all around. The road seemed unexpectedly long. Li Cheng kept moving at a high speed and walked for at least half an hour before finally seeing the light at the end of the fog.

But what he saw beyond the mist made him stop in his tracks.

It was at this moment that Li Cheng finally understood why the sense of decay in the mist felt so familiar to him.

The dark, thick clouds exuded a dense aura of death. Beneath his feet lay a ripped-out earth, broken and twisted, with collapsed ruins and endless deserts. This was a world devoid of all life.

It also belongs to the purple memory, that despairing world after everything was destroyed.