AITAMITB Chapter 73

In the Bright Prison, crystal balls were the most abundant.

Among all the materials that could host the possession of evil gods, crystal balls took the lead with their easy availability and the quality most suitable for observation.

Natural crystal balls were, of course, quite expensive. But the artificially manufactured industrial ones were already very mature. In the storage boxes of the Bright Prison were cardboard boxes stacked high with crystal balls.

Even if there weren’t so many evil gods to capture, going out for a divination wouldn’t be a loss.

The crystal ball was quickly thrown in, and the black smoke seemed to have found a carrier, rushing into it like a brush.

Soon, within the transparent crystal ball, a thick black mist appeared. This black fog rolled, struggled, roared, and a humanoid face frequently appeared, with two hollow eye sockets looking particularly terrifying.

Unfortunately, there was not a single person present who would be frightened.

As the powerful disruptor opened, the black mist that was rolling like dense clouds, suddenly became quiet after a strange pause. The faint mist stretched out in the crystal ball, showing a somewhat calm and undisturbed demeanor. But Zhao Xiaokui knew that it was only because of the disturbance from the disruptor. It was like a person being knocked unconscious, not truly obedient.

When she communicated with the imprisoned evil gods in the Bright Prison before, basically, as long as the restrictions were lifted, there were hardly two honest ones who could talk normally. They were all crazy, making Zhao Xiaokui almost think she had entered a mental hospital. These gods didn’t seem to be any better than the mentally ill.

They were confused and muddled, their consciousness plunged into madness. Only a very few moments of clarity allowed them to plan during the brief intervals, stealing the fate of others, and gaining a new life.

Pitiful, hateful, and even more tragic.

For a whole busy month, the Night Walkers couldn’t separate the evil gods from Tao Zijin. Although they couldn’t predict that the gods would leave Tao Zijin’s body today, after his departure, they immediately followed the procedure and began their orderly arrangements.

These evil gods usually have a solution when they appear outside, let alone in the Bright Prison, which serves as a confinement point for them. Zhao Xiaokui, thinking about this, couldn’t control a shiver in her shoulders. Shi Ning gave her a strange look and asked, “What’s wrong?”

Zhao Xiaokui said, “I just feel like this evil god is really unlucky. Every time it refreshes, it ends up in the Bright Prison. It’s like playing a game, where everyone is born in the newbie village, and you’re born in the prison of the royal city.”

Shi Ning didn’t understand her sense of humor and looked at her strangely. Zhao Xiaokui touched her nose, not saying anything more.

Why the evil god suddenly separated from Tao Zijin became the focus, and soon everyone turned their gaze to Zhao Xiaokui.

Zhao Xiaokui, with her big round eyes, looked like a harmless little creature, innocently saying, “Why are you all looking at me?”

“When the system separated from Tao Zijin, the only variable was you singing,” Shi Ning said.

During the days they spent at the Night Walkers’ base, they also witnessed the charm of Zhao Xiaokui’s singing.

At first, everyone didn’t believe that an ordinary song could have any magic, but after listening once—

It was truly delightful.

Several extraordinary individuals who came from headquarters now had Zhao Xiaokui’s song. A song without lyrics, only humming, as the most played music on their phones every day.

That soothing feeling; every cell feeling relaxed, a soul calming from the inside out. Once experienced, it was unforgettable.

But no one ever thought about applying the song to the situation of separating the system from Tao Zijin.

It was quite ridiculous. How could a calming song possibly separate an evil god from its host?

But the reality was that it happened just like that.

The crystal ball containing the evil god was stored in a dedicated vessel. Although everyone felt somewhat surprised, they first went in to check Tao Zijin’s condition.

She was sleeping soundly, with relaxed brows and eyes, and a calm expression on her face, showing no signs of the anxiety she had been wearing in the past few days.

“Go to the medical station for a full-body examination,” Shi Ning decided.

Zhao Xiaokui stood behind everyone, peering inside past the layers of figures. She pursed her lips.

In her eyes, the spiritual face of Tao Zijin lying on the ground was gradually changing, eventually turning into a somewhat distorted, even ugly visage.

Of course, this was not Tao Zijin’s original appearance, but the influence between the flesh and the soul was mutual. Tao Zijin, parasitized by numerous entities, had her soul undergo continuous “transcendence,” resulting in a grotesque transformation. Seeing this, Zhao Xiaokui didn’t find it particularly surprising.

Her surprise was that, after the separation of the evil god, signs of the disintegration of Tao Zijin’s soul appeared.

Right before her soul completely shattered, Zhao Xiaokui warned, “Be careful!”

These days, many of her whimsical ideas had proven effective, earning Zhao Xiaokui a certain level of respect among the Night Walkers.

Therefore, as soon as her voice sounded, the night watcher who had just reached out, about to touch Tao Zijin’s skin, instinctively withdrew their hand.

Unexpected changes occurred.

One moment, Tao Zijin lying on the ground was fair-skinned, though disheveled, looking like a girl in a deep sleep.

The next moment, the rosy hue of her skin faded, instantly turning pale, as if a video on fast forward, rapidly showing traces of decay.

Only when the bones were exposed did they belatedly smell the stench of decay.

Shi Ning said, “Did you anticipate this scene earlier?”

Zhao Xiaokui certainly couldn’t say it was because she saw the soul dissipate at an abnormal rate and felt something might be wrong. She shook her head casually, saying, “I just feel that separating an evil god from its host isn’t that simple.”

Shi Ning nodded without dwelling on it.

Some extraordinary individuals indeed had unique advantages, with a heightened sense of crisis and judgment compared to others.

The change in Tao Zijin’s condition darkened the expressions of everyone. If it was inevitable for the host to experience such a situation after the separation of the evil god, then regardless of the method used to cause the separation, it couldn’t be casually employed in public.

Under the clear sky, if a person suddenly turned into a skeleton, with the level of information dissemination in modern society, within three days, it would create a sensation and be known to everyone. Although the power of the country was vast, preventing public panic was more challenging than preventing chaos, and unpredictable disturbances were bound to occur.

Zhao Xiaokui didn’t think there was a need to be overly worried. She said, “Actually, I think there’s a way to identify the host of an evil god from the crowd.”

Shi Ning was puzzled, “What way?”

Zhao Xiaokui shook her head and said, “Although people possessed by evil gods may not be easily discernible to the naked eye, and instruments are unable to distinguish them, fundamentally, they have transformed from one person into another. Their behavior is destined to undergo significant changes. We just need to identify those whose lives have undergone drastic changes, whose behavior doesn’t match their past, list them as suspects, and verify them one by one. Moreover, these people are likely to be in the entertainment industry—either singers, actors, or internet celebrities. The recognition the evil gods seek is closely related to the number of fans. Besides these industries, it’s difficult to achieve and fulfill this requirement.”

“It was my oversight.”

Upon hearing Zhao Xiaokui’s explanation, Shi Ning suddenly felt a sense of enlightenment. Although experts might arrive at similar conclusions through analysis, whether from those sent by headquarters or the local researchers in City S, everyone was thinking of solving the evil god issue directly with scientific methods. Using sociological and anthropological perspectives hadn’t crossed their minds.

However, now that a method was identified, implementing it wouldn’t be an easy task. Even if they focused only on the entertainment industry, it still represented a substantial number of individuals.

But with a direction in mind, Shi Ning immediately reported to higher-ups, hoping that the Night Walkers at headquarters could conduct a thorough examination based on the characteristics of evil god hosts, perform large-scale data analysis on the population, and strive to expose the evil god hosts hiding among the masses as soon as possible.

Upon learning of this outcome, Zhao Xiaokui couldn’t help but sigh. This was why she was willing to cooperate with the country. Many things were difficult or even impossible to achieve through individual efforts alone, but in the face of the vast entity of the country, many problems ceased to be problems.

With the results obtained, Tao Zijin was also dealt with. Zhao Xiaokui’s continued stay in the Brightness Prison served no purpose. After experiencing more than half a month of seclusion, she was finally released.

She grabbed her phone, changed clothes in the base dormitory, took a quick shower, and lazily left the elevator with her hair down.

The elevator, which had once left her with a massive psychological shadow, smoothly brought her to the ground this time.

Ding-dong—

As the elevator opened, Zhao Xiaokui stepped out with long strides.

After taking just a couple of steps, she suddenly stopped and looked towards the corner, where a very familiar car was parked.

“How did you get here?”

Seeing her gaze, Shen Zhifei opened the driver’s door and walked out.

She was wearing a thin white sweater, wide-legged pants on the lower half, and a light brown trench coat. Her short hair, permed into slight waves at some point, draped over her shoulders, giving her a particularly gentle appearance.

Seeing her, Zhao Xiaokui couldn’t help but curl up the corners of her lips.

Shen Zhifei said, “I came to pick you up,” and slightly opened her arms towards Zhao Xiaokui.

Zhao Xiaokui walked over quickly and plunged into her embrace.

Having stayed in the base for the past half month, the outside temperature had dropped sharply. As she stepped out of the elevator, the chilly air involuntarily made her shiver. Now being held in Shen Zhifei’s arms, the warmth from her passed through the thin sweater. Zhao Xiaokui deeply breathed in the scent around Shen Zhifei’s neck. The sweater gently brushed against her face, and the familiar scent relaxed every nerve in her body.

She held Shen Zhifei close, her arms exerting so much force that Shen Zhifei couldn’t help but wonder if her waist was about to break.

Shen Zhifei also held her tightly. It had been a long time since they last saw each other, and their mutual longing erupted.

“Ah—what’s that? It’s the radiance of love dogs, blinding my eyes—”

The playful voice of Gou Rixin came. Zhao Xiaokui, back in her senses within her girlfriend’s embrace, rolled her eyes.

She turned around, holding Shen Zhifei’s hand, and said to Gou Rixin, “Single dogs, hahaha.”

Shen Zhifei nodded slightly and greeted Lin Bai and others. Due to Zhao Xiaokui’s connection, she was familiar with several members of Zhang Hongyi’s team.

Due to Zhao Xiaokui’s influence, Lin Bai and Guo Rixin recovered faster than usual. Now, both of them could participate in some daily tasks, as long as it didn’t overly deplete their extraordinary abilities, making them appear no different from normal people.

Thanks to Gou Rixin’s playful interruption, the initial excitement of Zhao Xiaokui seeing Shen Zhifei was somewhat diluted. She pulled Shen Zhifei into the car, saying, “Let’s go, let’s hurry home. Otherwise, there’s a single dog here ready to accuse us of murder.”

Shen Zhifei chuckled and got into the car. Seeing Zhao Xiaokui still bantering with Gou Rixin, she leaned over and pulled the seatbelt from the passenger seat.

Zhao Xiaokui, lowering her head, saw Shen Zhifei’s forehead just inches away from her lips.

Her face suddenly turned red.

They were too close, and their breaths intertwined. Zhao Xiaokui’s keen ears could even hear the sound of blood flowing in Shen Zhifei’s veins.

She swallowed, feeling an inexplicable thirst.

Shen Zhifei raised her head, asking in confusion, “What’s wrong?”

Zhao Xiaokui’s gaze landed on her lips. Shen Zhifei had thin lips, adorned with light-colored lipstick, looking gentle and suitable for kissing.

She somewhat flusteredly averted her gaze, saying, “I… I’m a bit thirsty, want to drink water.”

“There’s water in the trunk. I’ll get it for you.” With that, Shen Zhifei opened the driver’s door and walked out.

As Zhao Xiaokui breathed a sigh of relief, a faint disappointment lingered in her heart.

Shen Zhifei got out of the car just as Zhang Hongyi’s team started their vehicle. Seeing her disembark, Gou Rixin waved goodbye to her.

Sitting in the car, Zhao Xiaokui didn’t wait long before the door was pulled open. She reached out to take the bottled water from Shen Zhifei, but instead of giving it to her, Shen Zhifei unscrewed the cap and took a sip herself.

She looked somewhat bewildered at Shen Zhifei drinking the water and asked, “Isn’t this for me?”

The water was indeed for her.

However, not in the way she had anticipated.

The woman with a gentle expression slightly bent over, half of her body entering the car. Her lips accurately found Zhao Xiaokui’s lips, and the sweet-tasting clear water flowed from her mouth to Zhao Xiaokui’s.

Zhao Xiaokui’s face turned extremely red.

Shen Zhifei noticed!

She grasped the leather seat of the passenger side, her back leaving the chair, the seatbelt tightening. Her head tilted back, her slender neck forming a beautiful curve, and the toes hidden in her shoes involuntarily curled up.

She felt a tingling sensation in her chest.

How could this person… how could she…

Every move of hers resonated with her heartstrings.

She was already completely captivated. Now, she was even more deeply entangled, unable to pull herself out.

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