Let me continue talking about Z. Though, as always, this topic has to start with my brother.

  Even though the family originally planned to pass the ancestral ritual tools to my brother, he was never truly welcomed at home.

  Or rather, precisely because he wasn’t welcomed, he was chosen as the heir in the first place.

  The Zhu family’s Demon Hunters had been declining in skill generation after generation. By my grandfather’s time, the plan was already to quietly withdraw from the Hunter world.

  But withdrawal couldn’t happen overnight. The Zhu family still had old grudges and favors owed in that world; someone had to carry the banner for a transitional period—either my brother or me. My grandfather harbored deep disgust and wariness toward the Hunter world, so he deliberately placed that dangerous burden on my brother instead.

  My brother’s position in the family was awkward. Our father was a live-in son-in-law, and my brother was his illegitimate child from an affair outside. Mom was Grandfather’s favorite, so naturally Grandfather loathed Father’s infidelity and couldn’t bring himself to treat my brother kindly.

  Logically, since my brother was supposed to become the family’s Hunter, the family should have needed him—they shouldn’t have dared show him such cold faces. Besides, the real culprit deserving scorn was Father. But understanding something rationally doesn’t mean you can handle it emotionally. Grandfather was never good at hiding his likes and dislikes. Father had disappeared years ago, so there was no one left to vent his accumulated anger on.

  Growing up in that atmosphere, my brother was naturally deeply depressed. From high school onward he fell into bad habits—hanging out with lowlife friends, getting into trouble outside. That’s why I gradually drifted away from him. After he entered university, his reckless behavior only worsened.

  The more brazen he became, the worse the trouble he attracted. Later I heard secondhand that someone hired thugs who ambushed him, blindfolded him, dragged him to some wasteland, and beat him severely.

  The beating didn’t break any bones—not because he was tough, or because they held back. Halfway through the assault, someone stepped in and saved him.

  That person who drew the line and intervened was Z, who happened to be investigating anomalous clues in the wilderness at the time.

  That was when the two of them truly met. Before then, my brother had only known of Z unilaterally. Being rescued by the very person he had admired and followed for so long, my brother was naturally overwhelmed with gratitude. He took the initiative to befriend Z, and for a while their relationship was actually quite good.

  It didn’t last.

  Not long after, Z heard about the bad things my brother had done in the past—and even personally witnessed him doing something wrong again. This time Z stepped in to protect the victim, beat my brother up, and cut ties with him on the spot.

  The incident dealt my brother a crushing blow. But he reflected deeply, slowly began to change himself, and eventually rebuilt his friendship with Z.

  They’re very close now—at least that’s what my brother boasts to me. Whether it’s entirely true, I’m not sure.

  I was genuinely happy about my brother’s transformation. At the same time, I felt immense gratitude toward Z.

  Yet at the same time, worry took root.

  Going forward, Z was very likely to encounter real anomalous entities. An ordinary person living an honest life might never stumble across one by chance. But someone like Z—who refuses to “behave”—might have already had encounters… Not just in the past two or three years when anomalies have surged, but perhaps even back in childhood. Otherwise, how could he pursue anomalous leads with such unwavering determination?

  One of his junior-high classmates mentioned how he used to stare obsessively at candles, like he was possessed by something unclean… Could that eccentric behavior have been influenced by some external supernatural force?

  More importantly—would he bring danger to the people around him in the future?

  To confirm that, I arranged to meet him in person through my brother’s connection.

  It was the winter solstice of 2022. I was still in my senior year of high school, planning to apply to the same university as my brother and Z—Xian Shui University. We met at a commercial center near the campus. The excuse was “let’s try that new hotpot place nearby.” I met them both at a steaming hotpot table.

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Seeing is believing. Just looking at him, no outsider would ever guess this was someone obsessed with fantastical ideas.

  He wore a black turtleneck sweater and had his down jacket draped over the chair back. He wasn’t fiddling with his phone; instead he stared intently at the heating white broth pot, seemingly lost in thought. At first glance, from appearance to attire, he looked like any ordinary university student you’d pass on the street.

  If there was anything distinctive, it was how solitary he seemed—unconcerned with the mundane reality around him. The type who could easily sink completely into his own inner world.

  But is that really so unusual? Plenty of young people are like that.

  When I walked over, he only glanced at me once before his attention returned to the hotpot. I understood. I wanted to eat too—when eating hotpot with friends, I’d rather focus on the food than chat.

  “My sister’s here,” my brother introduced from across the table. “Little sis, this is Z. Z, this is my sister, Zhu Shi.”

  When Z looked over again, images of all his famously “oblivious” and “tone-deaf” actions flashed through my mind. A strange mix of respect and wariness rose in me, and without thinking I said, “Senior Zhuang, hello. I’m Zhu Shi.”

  He looked momentarily stunned, then said, “Junior Zhu… no, Zhu Shi. Just call me Z.”

  “Okay…”

  Unless someone is significantly older, I usually prefer calling people by name too.

  But in daily life, I play the part of an ordinary person. The problem is, I don’t really know what “ordinary me” would be like. Someone once said that when people imitate a role they’re unfamiliar with, they tend to fall back on stereotypes. My everyday persona is based on the weak, delicate female characters I’ve read about in web novels—sometimes I overdo it.

  In other words… well, how do I explain this? Basically, some classmates have called me a little “tea.” Unlike when I’m working as a Hunter, my normal speaking voice is softer, higher-pitched. By the time I realized it had become a habit, it was too late to change. People who are always authentic probably don’t understand how hard it is to break out of a persona you’ve already committed to.

  “Senior Zhuang, have you ever actually seen ghosts or demons or anything like that?”

  During the meal, I found an opening and asked the question that was the real purpose of my visit.

  Z didn’t correct my form of address again. He simply shook his head with regret. “No. Not once.”

  “Really?” I was skeptical.

  “I wish it weren’t true.” He gave a helpless half-smile. The expression of someone who had come up empty-handed didn’t seem forced.

  I still found it hard to believe.

  Although I wasn’t as enthusiastic as my brother, I had kept tabs on Z through my own investigations. The results were baffling. In an era when anomalies were growing more active, Z seemed to have achieved absolutely nothing on the path of strange-tale hunting.

  I had visited some of the places he’d investigated. Not all of them were completely free of anomalies—some even harbored blatant malevolent entities. Yet every time, he managed to miss them completely. It was almost as if… as if the anomalies themselves were avoiding him.

  Was something like that even possible?

  Or had he simply been extraordinarily lucky to remain unharmed until now?

  I preferred to believe he was hiding what he had seen.

  But after repeated probing—both direct and indirect—my heart gradually leaned toward the conclusion that everything he said was the truth.

  Afterward I tried to persuade him to give up investigating strange tales. Obviously my words couldn’t shake a conviction he had held for years. Likewise, I couldn’t convince my brother to cut contact with him—privately, my brother was practically Z’s die-hard fan.

  So I exchanged contact information with him. Online, I used “keeping tabs on my brother” as an excuse to chat, subtly gathering information about his own activities and keeping close watch on his movements. We didn’t meet in person often, but we talked a lot online.

  Somewhere along the way, I started to feel genuine fondness for him.

  Contrary to the rumors, he wasn’t some reckless maniac with no boundaries. He had plenty of rationality and conscience. He was simply a young man who loved strange tales more than anyone else and occasionally acted on impulses of justice.

  At least, that’s what I believed.

  That’s precisely why I felt even more strongly that he shouldn’t be dragged into the anomalies… into the dangers of our world.

  As a Demon Hunter, protecting him had become my responsibility too.

  Then, the night before last, my brother told me about the “cave.”

  Only then did I learn that he had recently moved into a house where a Fallen Demon Hunter had committed crimes. But since I couldn’t reveal my Hunter identity in front of him, I had to ask Agent Kong to verify the situation first.

  What I never expected was that Kong not only confirmed the existence of the cave and the ritual array—he also brought me another shocking piece of news: my brother had actually taken Z there to see the cave and the array with his own eyes.

  The unexpected development nearly made my vision go black.

  It wasn’t Z bringing anomalies to my brother—it was my brother bringing anomalies to Z?

  What the hell are you doing, brother?

  Given my brother’s timid personality, he probably wouldn’t have approached the cave on his own initiative. But Z? He must already be itching to investigate it. For someone like him, an anomaly this clear and obvious was impossible to ignore.

  Even though the cave has temporarily vanished, since it appeared a second time, a third, a fourth… are surely coming soon. If he decides to investigate by going inside himself…

  No—no, that’s impossible.

  Even someone as obsessive as him wouldn’t risk entering an unknown domain when the entrance could disappear at any moment, stranding him forever.

  Just to be safe, as soon as the other Hunters arrive to relieve me at dawn, I’ll head straight there and resolve the cave anomaly myself.

  I am a Demon Hunter of Luo Shan. And now, Z is also my friend. Even if it’s just for personal reasons, I have to protect his life and pull him out of any potential anomalous danger.