Faintly Visible

This finally piqued Zhu Yan’s interest.

The purpose of [Everyone Has Their Fate] was to sever him from a certain chain of causality.

If it had gone out of its way to point out a lie to Zhu Yan, did that mean the lie told by this Walking Corpse old man was also part of the so-called “causal chain”?

At that thought, the corners of Zhu Yan’s lips curved upward ever so slightly.

Ignoring Jin Rongxu’s disdainful look—the kind one might give an idiot—he stepped forward and continued pressing the old man.

“Why do you know all this? You’re from this village, and you know Li Daochang.”

“Hey, old man. You weren’t involved too, were you?”

There was still plenty of time left in this instance. He could test the old man one question at a time.

It was not every day that he got hold of a level-two weakling while the truth ahead remained shrouded in mystery. It would be a waste not to get something out of him.

Jin Rongxu glanced at Zhu Yan irritably but said nothing.

This Zhu Zeyu had asked two incredibly stupid questions earlier, and even his inner thoughts sounded muddled and absent-minded.

This latest question was at least somewhat worthwhile, though he was being far too dismissive of Jin Rongxu.

“I know about these things. That’s perfectly normal! We’re neighbors—what’s wrong with hearing things through the grapevine?”

The old man had already begun screeching hoarsely again.

“Involved? I wasn’t involved! Who could afford to buy that thing?”

But the red words before Zhu Yan’s eyes said otherwise.

“Detected: [Walking Corpse] has lied to you. [Everyone Has Their Fate] offers a gentle reminder…”

“Detected: [Walking Corpse] has lied to you…”

All right.

No matter what, Zhu Yan had gotten the answer he wanted.

The old man’s claim that he had not been involved was a lie, which meant he had definitely taken part.

The only question was: which of the buyers was he?

“You haven’t been parasitized or controlled by some other entity, have you?”

Zhu Yan asked the last question as casually as he could. To make his act more convincing, he pointed at his own eyes.

“A normal person’s eyes aren’t supposed to look like yours. You’d better not lie to us. Take a look at your situation.”

This was what he most wanted to know.

“No, no!”

The old man was on the verge of tears.

“What’s wrong with you, boy? How can things be so supernatural? We’re simply trapped here and unable to leave!”

Zhu Yan: “…”

He saw the red words flickering across his retinas.

“Detected: [Walking Corpse] is currently lying to you. [Everyone Has Their Fate] warmly reminds you: do not believe a single word.”

Hilarious.

“Don’t believe a single word”—and Zhu Yan had asked another yes-or-no question with clearly defined conditions.

If he reversed the old man’s answer completely, wouldn’t that give him exactly the truth he wanted?

The old man had participated in the transaction. The deal had not involved human flesh, but it was definitely related to women.

After taking part in the transaction, he had been controlled by an unknown entity. He really was nothing more than a complete, low-level Walking Corpse.

Jin Rongxu let out a cold laugh, and the enormous hand around the old man’s neck tightened again.

His [Supernatural Parasitic Armor] had a time limit of seven minutes, and the time was almost up.

Although the ring contained enough limbs from horrifying creatures preserved through special means, he did not want to waste them.

The old man understood Jin Rongxu’s threat and began screaming like a slaughtered pig.

“It’s true! It’s true! I really wasn’t lying—”

Jin Rongxu did not bother arguing with him. Instead, he changed the subject and went straight for the core of the instance.

“What exactly happened in the village?”

The old man swallowed hard, an expression of helpless misery vividly appearing on his face.

“Oh, my ancestor…”

“If you’re asking about the specific details, I’ve told you everything I know.”

“His family sold human flesh, and then something happened. The several households that remained in the village could no longer get out.”

“They couldn’t contact the outside world either…”

The prompts from [Everyone Has Their Fate] continued flickering across Zhu Yan’s retinas. He raised a hand to rub his temples and sighed inwardly.

This Walking Corpse was truly rather crafty.

The previous few times, the prompts had simply indicated that it was lying. This time, however, the old man’s words were a mixture of truth and falsehood.

The old man was crying so hard that his nose was running as he begged Jin Rongxu.

“Please, ancestor, stop tormenting these old bones of mine. I know you’re no ordinary person. You must have some real ability.”

“How about this? I’ll take you to Li Daochang’s house in the village. Stay there for a few days and see if you can learn anything from your Uncle Li.”

“Ancestor, if I do that, can you let me go?”

The frightening, muscular arm around Jin Rongxu’s neck vanished.

He waved his hand and produced a counterfeit of Zhu Yan’s level-thirteen military saber.

“Lead the way, old man.”

…

“Captain, are you sure everything is normal?”

The army medic asked in a quiet, uncertain voice.

By now, the group had come quite close to the ramshackle houses halfway up the mountain. The desolate state of the village was clearly visible.

Zhu Yan and Pot Lid walked side by side behind the other three.

Pot Lid’s face was pale and green with obvious unease. Zhu Zeyu, on the other hand, looked considerably better. He was holding his breath and secretly listening to the conversation between the army medic and Jin Rongxu.

Perhaps afraid that the old man walking ahead would hear them, the two kept their voices low.

“Normal.” That was Jin Rongxu’s voice. “The old man’s thoughts match the answers he gave me on the surface.”

“There was nothing abnormal when that other person interrupted to ask questions, either.”

The army medic warily glanced around.

“But Captain, if he’s really an ordinary villager, how could he have appeared out of nowhere?”

“And… if he were a normal person, the moment he witnessed your ability, he should have been scared shitless.”

“But he’s acted that way the entire time, and he can still keep walking even now…”

It was indeed highly illogical.

Jin Rongxu, however, shook his head.

“He really was terrified at the time. I could hear him screaming in his mind, saying that he was finished this time.”

“This time, I deliberately chose a limb from a level-three horrifying creature. A level-three limb was enough to affect him, so this old man really is just a weakling.”

The army medic nodded. Then he suddenly took a step back and grabbed Pot Lid.

Pot Lid shuddered violently, clearly startled.

“What the hell are you doing?”

The army medic asked, “Can you sense anything? Which direction is the horrifying creature in?”

His voice was not loud, but he made no deliberate effort to keep Zhu Yan from hearing.

As a result, Zhu Yan heard every word clearly.

Pot Lid.

Pot Lid’s ability was to determine and distinguish the exact location of horrifying creatures?

Zhu Yan curiously turned his head to look, only to find that Pot Lid’s expression had grown even worse.

“Army medic,” he said, rolling his eyes and edging closer to the army medic. “To be honest, I can’t distinguish it. I’m scared half to death.”

“What do you mean, you can’t distinguish it?”

“It’s just… it’s just…”

Pot Lid thought for a moment.

“It’s faint and indistinct, as if those sinister, eerie things are everywhere.”

“I keep feeling like it’s covering the entire village, but—but I can’t be sure…”