In Luo Mountain, those responsible for handling the power of the strange and known as demon hunters are called "Impermanence".
And dealing with these strange things does not necessarily depend on fighting and killing. Zhu Shi once told me that sometimes, weird events are caused by demons or humans who wield the power of the strange, and those situations indeed need to be resolved with violence; however, some weird events have no tangible enemy and appear before people in the form of phenomena. "The Basement on the Fifteenth Floor", which I encountered in the past, is more akin to this type.
Soul loss, too, is a weird event that manifests as a phenomenon. While it’s too early to say whether this phenomenon has a hidden hand behind it, the current stage of research is focused more on the phenomenon itself.
The Impermanence responsible for this type of work is "White Evil", who are also adept at dealing with the spread of abnormal phenomena caused by problems like feng shui chaos. The person in charge of contacting us about the soul loss case from Luo Mountain would likely be a White Evil.
Compared to the "Black Evil" like Zhu Shi, who are skilled in violent combat, White Evil doesn’t stand out as much, and I also find it hard to muster much enthusiasm for overly complex knowledge and technology. On the other hand, they are an essential part of the demon hunter world and may bring me unexpected surprises. So, while I remain cautious, there is also a bit of anticipation in my heart.
However, they have yet to initiate contact with Mazao or me—why is that?
Consider that it has been a week since Lu Youxun confirmed Mazao’s whereabouts.
Of course, it wouldn’t be impossible for us to take the initiative to contact them, but considering how Transcendentalism Mountain followed Mazao in unorthodox ways in the past, I find it hard to bring myself to proactively contact Luo Mountain. Since they are the ones in need, they should be the ones to reach out—I can’t help but think that. Yet this time, that side is quiet as death.
Not just Transcendentalism Mountain, where Lu Youxun is located, but also the Governance Ideology Mountain—think that’s what it’s called—where Zhu Shi belongs, is completely silent. All these forces are like a stagnant pond, filling me with doubt.
I’ve also consulted Zhu Shi about this, and he is puzzled as well. He turned to Mr. Zhu, hoping to use the family’s connections to investigate what exactly is going on. Mr. Zhu wants to rescue his daughter, Zhu Jiu, from soul loss and, although he didn’t steer the conversation towards soul loss when he last saw Mazao, he surely cares deeply about it.
Not long after, Mr. Zhu called me just as I had finished lunch at home.
I’ve heard that he’s been out and about a lot lately.
"There’s a problem with this situation," Mr. Zhu said gravely.
"What’s the problem?" I asked. "I know there’s been a dispute over Mazao in Luo Mountain, about a conflict over the distribution of merits and benefits. Every faction doesn’t want the others to get ahead, so they sabotage one another during the search for Mazao, preventing anyone from making progress... Could it be the same this time?"
"It’s similar on the surface; the higher-ups are engaged in a secret standoff while those in the middle and below are ordered not to act rashly," he said.
I asked with interest, "—On the surface?"
"Curing soul loss is indeed a great feat, though not considered significant enough for Impermanence to take notice," Mr. Zhu explained seriously, "but for those below Impermanence, if someone can find a cure for soul loss through that young girl, they could reap both fame and fortune in an instant. But no matter what, this has gone too far, Zhuang Cheng. It’s not just sabotage between the factions in Luo Mountain; they also negotiate and cooperate. You know, soul loss is a public nuisance; if left unaddressed, it will eventually lead to great disasters. In fact, from a societal standpoint, it’s already a disaster, just not disclosed yet.
"The higher-ups currently have a distorted stance of internal stalemate while external disasters worsen... Excuse me for being frank, Luo Mountain is not a flawless organization, but it’s definitely not to the extent of a shoddy, makeshift one.
"I can’t find out exactly what’s happening in the Luo Mountain leadership in just a day or two; it will take some time. The Zhu family has followed a policy of distancing from the abnormal world for many years, which also kept us from many connections. Even though we are returning, we haven’t regained our past influence.
"However, there’s something I can tell you now: that young girl’s situation may have already attracted Impermanence’s attention."
"Impermanence?" I questioned, "Weren’t you saying that soul loss wasn’t significant enough for Impermanence to care?"
Mr. Zhu replied from the other end of the phone, "So, if Impermanence truly is paying attention to that young girl, it may be for reasons unrelated to soul loss."
His words plunged me into a mire of perplexity.
If we were to remove the special title of "soul loss awakening case" from Mazao, she would appear to Luo Mountain as nothing more than a young, civilian demon hunter girl with unknown background. While possessing unusual powers, that’s about it. Unknown background, strange powers—these labels should be dime a dozen in the abnormal world, so why the unusual interest.
Impermanence... What about Mazao is the Luo Mountain hierarchy focusing on?
"Mr. Zhu, in your opinion, if someone from Luo Mountain means harm to Mazao, what should I do?"