“I know,” Zhu Shi nodded confidently. “The instant he was engulfed by Z’s flames, he activated his ability.”

  “What exactly is his ability?” I asked, just as eager to hear the details.

  “Hmm… For convenience, let’s call it ‘Body Swap’ or ‘Shadow Exchange.’”

  With that, Zhu Shi began explaining what she had observed about this “Shadow Exchange” power in detail.

  The ability was actually quite straightforward. The previous anomaly could transfer damage to its clone, while this one could instantly swap positions with its clone regardless of distance. To keep things simple, we’ll refer to the first as the “Immortal Anomaly” and this one as the “Swap Anomaly.”

  Both abilities shared a key trait: when the main body faced lethal harm, the power would trigger passively to save its owner’s life.

  The moment I dealt a fatal blow to the Swap Anomaly’s true body, it automatically exchanged places with a clone located elsewhere. This passive swap even carried the power to rewrite causality. Originally, the true body had genuinely been scorched by my flames—but after the ability activated, the causality of the burn was transferred to the clone. Reality retroactively became: “It was the clone that got burned from the very beginning.”

  I was genuinely surprised by this explanation, while Alice wore an expression of someone who’d seen it all before.

  “Is this kind of causality-altering anomalous power really that common?” I asked.

  “It’s not exactly common, but it’s not that unusual either,” Zhu Shi replied. “Think about the anomaly we fought last night—its ‘Damage Transfer’ ability was also a form of shifting the causality of injury onto a clone. That’s why it could go from being on the brink of death to completely unharmed in an instant. That too is a form of reality distortion.”

  “Phenomena that alter reality or reverse causality were fairly frequent in the apocalypse era,” Alice nodded in agreement.

  “Humans tend—consciously or not—to rank the concepts we encounter, placing things like causality and spacetime far above something tangible like visible flames,” Zhu Shi continued. “We find them mysterious because they lie so far beyond our intuitive grasp. If we viewed the world more naturally, we might realize they’re just elements of nature like anything else, and we’re the ones overreacting.

  “Anomalies don’t follow common sense, and they certainly don’t care about human intuition. Anomalous abilities are the same. Powers involving causality or spacetime can appear as if they’re perfectly ordinary—even on run-of-the-mill monsters or hunters. That doesn’t mean those monsters or hunters are especially powerful.

  “For true powerhouses, rewriting reality or causality is just flashy sleight of hand. The Great Impermanence would still be the Great Impermanence even without those tricks, because rules are ultimately set by sheer, overwhelming strength. So Z, there’s no need to be shocked by those abilities. Your flame manipulation is actually far stronger than tricks like that.”

  Only toward the end did I realize she was worried I might feel intimidated.

  Truth be told, I wasn’t afraid.

  I recalled the sensation when I’d seized that anomaly with my flaming palm. Back then, I’d felt something trying to slip away—and because I reacted too slowly, it really did escape. According to what Zhu Shi just described, was what escaped back then something like causality itself?

  If I’d been prepared at the time, could I have grabbed hold of that “causality” directly?

  The thought sparked my curiosity. I wanted to know. I wanted to try again. If I ever got my hands on that anomaly once more, maybe next time I could catch whatever had slipped away right in the palm of my hand.

  “Since you don’t have any leads on the escaped anomaly, could you hand over its severed hand?” Zhu Shi asked, glancing at the plastic bag Alice was carrying. “We have divination specialists on our side. With that hand, we might be able to track its location.”

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  “Um…” Alice hesitated.

  “Is that a no?”

  Perhaps without even realizing it, Zhu Shi’s tone had softened noticeably. I suspected she was treating Alice—who looked no older than a middle-school girl—like a little sister.

  Alice did have many traits that triggered people’s protective instincts. Despite her constant wariness, her prickly demeanor, her solitary mission to prevent the apocalypse, and her misfortune-attracting constitution, she was still just a thirteen- or fourteen-year-old girl. It was impossible not to feel some pity for her. Even someone like me—who openly calls himself a villain—couldn’t help but watch whenever she smiled at food, quietly hoping to see that smile again.

  “…Actually, I have something similar to divination myself,” Alice said after thinking it over. “Since you’ve already seen through my blessing power, I’ll be direct. When I use my blessing, I can trace back to scenes from an object’s past with my consciousness. So this severed hand is useful to me too. However…”

  “However?” Zhu Shi prompted.

  “I don’t mind giving you the hand, but I’d like to keep one finger for myself. Is that okay?”

  “Fine,” Zhu Shi agreed immediately.

  Alice took the severed hand out of the bag, summoned that phantom recurve blade, sliced off the thumb, and handed the rest to Zhu Shi.

  I glanced around—thankfully, no passersby were nearby. On these nighttime streets, a beautiful girl who looked like a middle-schooler and a stunning college-aged young woman were casually exchanging a bloody human limb. The scene was bizarre beyond words. If someone had walked by and snapped a photo, who knows what kind of weird urban legend would spread online.

  And I was a firsthand witness to the birth of that potential legend. Realizing this filled me with a strange sense of excitement and accomplishment.

  After accepting the hand, Zhu Shi said to Alice, “Then I’ll pass this on to our patrollers. Where are you planning to stay tonight? If you don’t have anywhere…”

  “Alice is obviously staying at my place,” I answered without hesitation.

  “You really don’t hold back, do you…” Zhu Shi stared at me in disbelief. “Most people wouldn’t so casually invite someone of the opposite sex to stay over. I’m not saying you have bad intentions, but at least have some sense of propriety, you know?”

  “It’s the logical choice by process of elimination,” I said seriously. “First, she can’t sleep on the streets. She has no ID, so hotels and inns are out. Your place has Chang’an, plus your grandparents—not convenient. I live alone, and Alice already has experience staying at my place. So logically, my house is the best option.”

  Of course, all of that was improvised on the spot. The real reason was simply that I didn’t want her out of my sight.

  “Why can’t she stay at my place just because my brother and grandparents are there?” Zhu Shi still seemed confused.

  But Alice had already understood. She quickly spoke up. “Didn’t I mention earlier? I’m a jinx that attracts anomalies… Even just talking with you two like this is already putting you in danger. I do want to use your resources to gather evidence of the approaching apocalypse, but if you feel I’ll bring disaster to you, then…”

  Her expression grew increasingly downcast as she spoke. Zhu Shi suddenly raised her voice.

  “No problem at all!”

  “Huh?” Alice flinched at the sudden increase in volume.

  “You left Z before because you were afraid of dragging him into danger, right?” Zhu Shi placed both hands on Alice’s shoulders, staring straight into her eyes.

  “Y-yes…” Alice looked flustered and shot me a pleading glance for help.

  “But you don’t have to worry about affecting me!” Zhu Shi declared firmly. “I’m a Luo Shan Impermanence. My job is to sweep away anomalies and protect society. If you can lure every hidden anomaly in this city out into the open, I’d actually be grateful. At the same time, I’ll protect you and keep you safe from their threats.”

  “Uh… I can protect myself,” Alice said in an unusually subdued tone. “Also… you’re gripping my shoulders a bit too hard.”

  “Ah, sorry.” Zhu Shi let go and continued. “In short, you don’t need to worry about endangering me. You can cooperate with me without holding back.”

  “Same here,” I added. “I’m an Outlaw Impermanence now. Outlaw or not, I’m still an Impermanence. If you’re ever in danger, Alice, come to me for help.”

  Zhu Shi couldn’t help but quip, “Honestly, I feel like Senior Brother Zhuang is one of the biggest dangers around you…”

  “Danger to me?” Alice looked puzzled. “Why?”

  “Probably because she thinks it’s inappropriate for someone of the opposite sex to live under the same roof as you,” I said.

  “I see. It’s fine, though. I did worry about that at first too, but Z doesn’t have those kinds of intentions toward me.” Alice turned to Zhu Shi. “I’ll be staying at Z’s place from now on. Thank you for your concern.”

  “…All right,” Zhu Shi reluctantly accepted.

  Alice studied Zhu Shi’s face for a moment, then suddenly asked, “By the way, have we met somewhere before?”

  “Hm? No, I don’t think so. Why do you ask?” Zhu Shi looked confused.

  “I just have this feeling like I’ve seen your face somewhere…” Alice trailed off, unable to explain it further.

  I silently noted her odd behavior.

  When no more came of it, Zhu Shi let the matter drop. She parted ways with us, saying she’d take the severed hand to Lu Patrol.

  Alice and I headed in the opposite direction, toward my home.

  After walking some distance, we both stopped at the same time.

  Now came the part we couldn’t let Zhu Shi overhear.