Chang’an stared at us like his brain had just short-circuited.

  Zhu Shi spoke in a calm, measured tone. “Strictly speaking, I’m not a ‘superpowered person.’ I’m a demon hunter from Luoshan.”

  “Luoshan? Demon hunter?” Chang’an echoed blankly.

  “Luoshan is the official national organization that handles anomalous incidents. Demon hunters are their professional operatives,” I explained concisely.

  Chang’an fixed his eyes on me. “So… you’re one of those Luoshan demon hunters too?”

  “Yes,” I admitted shamelessly. “I only joined very recently.”

  Technically, my application to become an Outer Path Wuchang hadn’t been finalized yet—and even if it was, it wouldn’t make me a full member of Luoshan in the traditional sense.

  Zhu Shi didn’t call me out on it. Instead she turned back to Chang’an. “Z has already told me what happened to you. You seemed reluctant to share the details with him earlier. But as you can see, we’re both professionals. You should tell us everything you know—every clue.”

  Her tone was all business, treating him not like an older brother but like any ordinary civilian involved in an anomalous case.

  Logically her words made perfect sense. But that blunt, no-nonsense attitude was exactly the kind of thing that triggered Chang’an’s stubborn streak—especially coming from his own little sister. It probably felt like a blow to his pride. Sure enough, he fell silent.

  He wasn’t stupid, though. Deep down he had to know that confiding in actual professionals was the smartest move.

  From a friend’s perspective, I could guess what was going through his head right now. He was probably torn in half: the familiar friend and little sister he’d known forever had suddenly transformed into “experts who deal with monsters.” Yet no amount of “professional” status could override the deeper impressions of “friend” and “sister.” His emotions were likely still stuck on “I can’t let my friend become a killer” or “I can’t drag my friend and sister into my mess.” He just couldn’t make the mental leap yet.

  What he needed wasn’t more words—it was time. Give him a little while and he’d probably talk himself into it.

  Zhu Shi seemed to reach the same conclusion. She changed tack. “We shouldn’t stay here. Let’s head back first.”

  “Back where?” I asked.

  “My house,” she replied.

  —

  Unlike Chang’an, who lived alone, Zhu Shi still lived with family.

  Her parents were out of the picture—one missing, the other hospitalized in a military facility—so the only ones she lived with now were her grandparents.

  Normally “grandparents” means paternal, but the Zhu family wasn’t conventional. Their father had married into the family, so “grandfather and grandmother” automatically referred to their mother’s parents.

  The Zhu family residence sat on the edge of the city proper. It was huge, complete with its own small garden—I couldn’t help thinking of it as an actual “mansion.” The entrance had high walls and an iron gate.

  We took a ride-share app to get there. A kindly-looking elderly woman was already waiting at the main gate—clearly their grandmother. She saw Zhu Shi still dressed in her straw cape and hat, yet showed not the slightest surprise.

  The moment Chang’an spotted her he instinctively shrank back a little. She beckoned him over, then glanced at me with a warm smile. “You must be the Z that Chang’an is always talking about. Thank you for being friends with our boy. Come in and sit for a while.”

  Zhu Shi spoke up beside her. “Grandma, we still have things to take care of.”

  “Huh? You’re not coming in together?” Chang’an looked stunned. “Then I’ll—”

  I was confused too. The grandmother’s voice suddenly turned stern. “Chang’an, you stay.”

  “Yes ma’am!”

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  I’d never seen him obey so instantly. He looked downright docile.

  “Then you two go handle your business,” the grandmother said, her tone softening again as she looked at me. “When you’re done, if you have time, come visit properly, all right?”

  I nodded. She turned and led Chang’an away. He kept glancing back every few steps, clearly itching to bolt. Zhu Shi noticed but ignored it. She guided me away from the mansion grounds and, along the way, stowed her wuxia-style outfit into the guitar case she carried.

  “Why separate from Chang’an? He still hasn’t told us what he knows. And if we leave him alone, he could get targeted again.”

  I stopped at the roadside and turned to her. At the same time I quietly released a single “firefly” and sent it drifting toward the Zhu residence.

  “No need to worry about him. I already informed the family about his situation beforehand. The Zhu estate has a dedicated warding barrier against external threats, and Grandfather is there. Even if several fallen demon hunters attacked in their true forms at once, they wouldn’t be able to breach that defense.” Zhu Shi spoke with absolute confidence in her family home.

  Hearing that, I relaxed a little. Then I asked, “So the Zhu family really is a lineage of demon hunters?”

  “Yes.” She nodded.

  “Everyone in your family knows about the anomalous world—except Chang’an himself? Why?”

  “Mm…” Hesitation crossed her face.

  “If it’s inconvenient to say, I won’t push,” I said, already thinking I could look into it myself later.

  “It is inconvenient…” She shook her head. “Never mind. I’ll tell you. Otherwise you’ll probably go digging on your own.”

  She saw right through me.

  “First, you should know that our older brother is our father’s child with another woman—a so-called illegitimate son.” She chose her words carefully. “But there’s a secret even he doesn’t know: his mother wasn’t human. She was a demonic entity.”

  “—What?” I froze. “Demonic entity? Did I mishear you? You just said Chang’an’s mother isn’t human?”

  The guy I’d known since university, hung out with for so long, who seemed completely oblivious to the anomalous world—he was half-demon?

  “You heard correctly,” Zhu Shi said gravely. “Brother has half demonic blood. He was born with demonic power. At first Grandfather intended to name him the heir of the Zhu family.”

  “Wait… now I’m even more confused.” I tried to sort my thoughts. “Your father married in, and his mother was a demon. That means Chang’an has zero Zhu family blood—and isn’t even fully human.

  “And yet your grandfather originally planned to make him the heir instead of you… Why? Does your grandfather have some extreme son-preference mindset?”

  “No, that’s not it.” She shook her head. “Grandfather hoped the Zhu family could gradually distance itself from the dangerous anomalous world over a long period. During that transition, we would still need at least one family demon hunter to fend off threats. He wanted Brother to take on that role.

  “But during his training, Brother’s demonic side went out of control. To save his life, Grandfather had to seal away his demonic blood, turning him into an ordinary person.

  “After that, the responsibility of heir fell to me.”

  I slowly digested her words, then asked, “So… why doesn’t Chang’an know any of this? Did he lose his memories?”

  “Yes.” She nodded. “Anomalies attract other anomalies. Someone with demonic blood like Brother is especially prone to drawing them in. Even people who have only been involved in anomalous incidents—or who simply know about them—form a karmic connection.

  “Sealing his power alone would leave him defenseless the next time an anomaly appeared. Grandfather studied many methods to sever ties with the anomalous. One of them is to seal away all memories and power related to anomalies.

  “As the price, the person severs their karmic link. In the future they become far less likely to encounter anomalies.”

  I suddenly understood. “That’s why you never mentioned the anomalous world to him—because you were afraid it might trigger his memories?”

  “Exactly. We never expected him to get caught up in anomalous events on his own. Once would have been manageable—the seal would have prevented an immediate connection. But twice in a row…” She sighed. “It might be related to how anomalous incidents have spiked in the last couple of years. And the seal only makes encounters less likely—it’s not absolute.”

  Even so, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was the one who had dragged him into this.

  This incident too—maybe it was because I left a “firefly” near him that he got pulled into the fallen demon hunter mess. Alice had said that simple proximity wouldn’t trigger her jinx, but her experience came from the chaotic end-times environment. It might not be 100% reliable.

  This was my fault.

  I had to end this incident quickly. Find whoever was targeting Chang’an and eliminate them.

  And I still had to locate Alice as fast as possible. When it rains, it pours.

  “Zhu Shi, you still haven’t answered me. Why separate from Chang’an just now? We haven’t gotten his information yet.”

  “The reason is simple: whatever clue Brother has is irrelevant. We don’t need to spend time convincing him. I already have the information we need.” As she spoke, she pulled several photos from her coat. “Z, do you remember who the fallen demon hunters target?”

  “Rich and powerful elites, right?”

  “Correct. I originally thought Agent Kong was the perpetrator. But in the past few days, new victims have appeared—still local dignitaries, scenes identical to the previous ones.” She handed me the photos. “There are other fallen demon hunters still active in the nights of Xianshui City.”

  I took the stack and looked down.

  Most were crime-scene shots: gruesome remains sprawled inside rooms or out in the grass, torn open like prey savaged by a large predator. Brutal.

  A few appeared to be stills from street surveillance—blurry shadowy figures flashing past in the dark, faces impossible to make out.

  When I reached the last photo, my hand nearly jerked, almost dropping the whole stack.

  It looked like another surveillance still.

  But the figure in the center wasn’t a corpse or a shadow.

  It was a girl, maybe thirteen or fourteen.

  She wore a black cat-whisker mask, a black printed hoodie, short pleated skirt, cotton tights, and black ankle Martin boots. On her left wrist was a red GPS tracker bracelet.