"The darkness slumbers, the day arrives, but the world will ultimately fall!"
An ancient and familiar prophecy echoed in his ears, and Xu Mu suddenly awoke. His pale gray pupils met this world, then quickly turned black.
Following this, a magnificently majestic celestial palace appeared before his eyes.
This palace was crafted from glazed jade, standing amidst the colorful clouds of the nine heavens. Countless steps led upwards, and at its sides stood colossal pillars reaching the sky, entwined with golden-scaled, sun-illuminating crimson-maned dragons, shrouded in white mist.
Gazing at this structure, so close yet seemingly at the ends of the earth, Xu Mu felt an involuntary sense of annoyance.
Ever since he was seven years old, before waking up each morning, his consciousness would linger in this space for a while. At first, he was filled with curiosity, regarding it as some unspeakable opportunity. But as time passed, he realized that despite the vastness of this space and the grandeur of the palace, no matter what he did, he could never get any closer to it.
Perhaps it was all an illusion?
Xu Mu patted his dazed head. Over the years, he had come to treat this as a dream, perhaps merely a malicious trick played by the parasite in his mind.
Hmm… he had slept for so long, what had he done last night?
Xu Mu's expression was vacant. He only remembered that he had been on his usual patrol, then exerted great effort to drive away a horde of ghastly creatures, only to see another one at the very end. httpδ:/m.kuAisugg.nět
And that ghastly creature seemed strangely familiar?
As he thought of the ghastly creature's face, Xu Mu's heart involuntarily quickened, for he suddenly couldn't recall its appearance. He only remembered that the moment he saw it, his heart had skipped a beat.
That person was very important to him.
"Hmm? There's a window."
Xu Mu walked aimlessly. Suddenly, the thick fog ahead dispersed, revealing a window suspended there, as if waiting for him to open it.
Creak…
Xu Mu cautiously pushed open the window and then saw a familiar courtyard.
Training stakes, drying beast hides, and unfinished wild boar meat… all these things were very familiar, for this was his home in Fengqing Village, and the house window was indeed open.
Through the window, he seemed to glimpse something inside his room.
Looking at the blurry dark shadow, Xu Mu's right eyelid twitched violently. He suddenly had a bad premonition and quickly leaned closer, wanting to see more clearly.
"A corpse?"
Xu Mu's heart rate increased. Just as he leaned closer, wanting to get a clear view of who was lying on the ground, the corpse on the ground suddenly turned its head.
…
"Boom!"
The clock on the wall swung, and seven o'clock arrived. The celestial palace in Xu Mu's dream suddenly collapsed, the surrounding space shattering into pieces like a dropped mirror, with countless broken fragments hurtling towards the ground.
Just as he was about to be unable to evade it, in an instant, he woke up.
Hoo!
Xu Mu opened his eyes. Unaffected by the dreamscape, he performed a quick roll out of bed, getting up without a moment's pause.
"It's exactly as I saw in the dream!"
Xu Mu stared at the corpse on the ground, his body trembling uncontrollably. He recognized this corpse.
His name was Wu Kui, and Xu Mu was more than just acquainted with this man.
For Wu Kui was his savior and his adoptive father.
Xu Mu closed his eyes, trembling. He remembered Wu Kui saying that he was an infant abandoned in the Great Western Mountains, whom Wu Kui had found and brought back to Fengqing Village, raising him with the help of the villagers.
Wu Kui treated him like family, teaching him to read and write, and imparting survival skills… More than ten years passed, and Xu Mu himself became the most renowned hunter within a hundred-mile radius. Due to his innate strength and taciturn nature, he was appointed by the court as the night watchman of Fengqing Village.
But now Wu Kui was dead, killed on his watch during the night.
"Charles, can you tell me what's going on?"
Xu Mu's voice trembled. He had clearly instructed Wu Kui to stay indoors and not go out before the strange night arrived, but why was he dead this morning upon waking?
"Investigate yourself," a mechanical voice sounded in his mind. Xu Mu picked up the corpse, feeling the chilling cold that transcended time and space, tears welling in his eyes.
…
After a long while, Xu Mu wiped away his tears and let out a heavy sigh.
"Alright, I'll do it myself," the young man, his eyes red-rimmed, drew the hunting knife at his waist.
"It's just an autopsy, you taught me. First, analyze the cause of death, right? You said we should examine the surface first."
Xu Mu's hands trembled uncontrollably as he stripped Wu Kui's clothes:
"Knife wound to the neck, incision five centimeters, one of the fatal wounds."
"Unidentified bite marks on the abdomen, subcutaneous tissue punctured, bite marks unevenly spaced, preliminarily determined to be from a ghastly creature."
"Fingernails are dark purple and rough, epidermis dry and cold, localized ulceration. No blood in the body!"
Xu Mu's movements suddenly stopped. Bite marks, no blood in the body – clearly, his vital essence had been consumed by a ghastly creature.
Xu Mu's heart sank as if into an ice cellar. The sequence was becoming clear: Wu Kui had first become a ghastly creature, then appeared before him. At that moment, control of his body was taken away.
And finally, the cause of Wu Kui's death was the knife wound!
Xu Mu was utterly exhausted, looking at the hunting knife in his hand, unable to believe the conclusion he had reached.
Years ago, two souls, who claimed to have been dormant within his body since his birth, suddenly awoke.
One was a robot, claiming to be the sole being on Blue Star capable of understanding human emotions, possessing encyclopedic knowledge in mathematics, physics, medicine, chemistry, and more, truly omniscient and omnipotent.
The other was an annoying fellow who had never revealed his origins. He was mysterious, indifferent by nature, yet possessed eyes that were sometimes brilliant and sometimes gray. Late every night, he would seize control of Xu Mu's body.
During that time, Xu Mu would fall into a deep sleep, completely unaware of what that fellow did with his body.
Just like last night, he had just driven off the ghastly creatures when that fellow appeared and took over his body.
He saw Wu Kui turn into a ghastly creature, so he drew his knife and killed Wu Kui?
"Charles, it's as I suspect, isn't it?"
Based on his simple analysis, Xu Mu had guessed the cause of Wu Kui's death. He then clutched his head in frustration and sat down on the ground.
He deeply regretted not having watched over Wu Kui more carefully last night.
As Xu Mu spoke, a string of silver-white light figures floated out of his body.
"Congratulations, Host, your forensic science skills have finally reached the introductory level!" the stream of light said, though it had no features.
"It's just as you analyzed. Last night, Wu Kui was infected by a ghastly creature and appeared before you, so you drew your sword and killed him."
Even though he was now only a soul, Charles was fundamentally a robot. He would tell Xu Mu the truth without hesitation when faced with a reasonable question.
"To be clear, was it me, or him?"
Xu Mu's voice was hoarse. In truth, even if that fellow hadn't taken control of his body, his memory of last night was hazy. So, it was crucial for him to know who had wielded the knife.
"Me or him?" The silver-white data flowed continuously. Charles repeated solemnly, "Please note, I am the great technology on Blue Star uniquely capable of understanding human emotions, and my linguistic logic is infallible."
"Regardless of who acted at the time, it can be considered that you killed him, or rather, killed a ghastly creature. You used your left hand and then brought the body back."
Charles's tone remained calm. He floated in front of Xu Mu, and streams of information pointed to the corpse on the ground, much like a criminal pointing out a crime scene.
Xu Mu's facial muscles twitched. If it was framed that way, wouldn't he be committing a grave offense?
"Is there any possibility of bringing him back to life?"
Charles: "If it were on my planet, it would be possible. But here…"
"You taught me, a man never says 'can't'!"
Xu Mu, his eyes red-rimmed, fiercely interrupted Charles.
Charles fell silent. He knew Xu Mu was in a bad mood, but the medical technology here was truly limited. The means required to resurrect someone were too complex, and he was genuinely powerless. So, he could only fly into Xu Mu's mind to rest temporarily:
"You have one minute left. Please dispose of the body quickly and place sachets in the room, as the smell of blood and iron ions in the air will expose you."
"Be careful, the visitor is not friendly!"
His pleading was futile. Xu Mu tried to control his emotions, sat up with a pale face, and didn't understand what Charles meant.
The visitor is not friendly – who was he referring to?
…
"Creak!"
The iron ring gate of the courtyard was pushed open, and the wind chimes jingled. The sound of footsteps echoed in the courtyard.
Xu Mu was busy collecting the body when his right ear twitched, and he heard two sets of footsteps.
Normally, only two people came here: Wu Kui and Zhao Dayong. But now Wu Kui was dead, and the heavy footsteps outside were Zhao Dayong's.
So, who was making that faint sound, only audible when stepping on dry leaves?
"Clang!" The door of the wooden house was pushed open, and a bit more light entered the dim room.
The woman had a beautiful face and wore the official uniform of the court. Opposite her, Xu Mu looked dispirited.
"Are you the night watchman of Fengqing Village?"
The woman's voice was clear and cold, her phoenix eyes bright, and she questioned Xu Mu with palpable pressure.
Xu Mu nodded slightly, pretending to have just woken up, and yawned lazily, saying:
"I am Xu Mu, may I ask who you are?"
Xu Mu rubbed his eyes, taking the opportunity to observe her attire with his peripheral vision.
"Red sandalwood square token, black gold short sword at the waist, and a large crimson official robe."
Xu Mu's eye-rubbing motion suddenly froze. Perhaps he now knew who Charles's "visitor is not friendly" referred to.
"Yin Shuier, from the Demon Exorcism Division, dispatched to investigate the case."
Yin Shuier's gaze was sharp, as if containing thirty knives:
"You are a person of significant suspicion and must cooperate with the investigation!"
…