141: Chapter 142 Another Possibility: Testing the Waters Personally

He had previously been following the line of thought of "Demon Possession," assuming that the Demon must have possessed a player's body and was hiding beneath that skin.

But what if... it wasn't Possession?

Aside from Possession, there was another possibility for the relationship between an Demon and a human...

Symbiosis!

The so-called Symbiosis meant that the Demon and the human reached a certain degree of coexistence.

The Demon would not completely devour the target's Soul, but instead used it as a vessel—a vessel where it could hide itself and leave at any time.

However, achieving a symbiotic relationship was very difficult.

First, the target had to be willing to coexist with the Demon; otherwise, the moment a thought of resistance arose, the Demon would be kicked out directly.

Second, one's Soul had to be able to withstand the erosion of evil qi; otherwise, as time passed, one would eventually be completely assimilated by the Demon.

Therefore, cases of humans coexisting with Demons were rare.

But rare did not mean non-existent.

Some Demons were very clever. They realized that after completely possessing a host, they would be trapped in the host's body for a short period, which was also their most vulnerable time.

If they chose Symbiosis, they could use the human identity as cover, ensuring both safety and flexibility.

Perhaps that Demon had witnessed Lin Dong's unique ability to travel between the two worlds and feared losing this ability after a complete Possession, leading it to choose Symbiosis with him instead.

Of course, there was another possibility: the talent Lin Dong awakened happened to be related to the "Soul," making it impossible for the Demon to fully possess him.

"When you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth." Lin Ye's eyes grew brighter and brighter.

Whether Lin Dong was actively coexisting with the Demon or passively being used as an anchor, one thing was certain: the root of the recent disappearances in the village lay with Lin Dong.

What he needed to do now was to personally get in contact with Lin Dong.

If the other party truly colluded with the Demon, then he wouldn't hesitate to use thunderous methods.

However, there was one more thing to note: once the target was confirmed, he had to achieve a one-hit kill.

Lin Dong was a player. If he saw things going south and immediately logged off to hide, Lin Ye would have no way to deal with him.

He couldn't just stand guard at the spot where Lin Dong logged off and wait forever.

Thinking of this, Lin Ye no longer hesitated, turned around, and walked toward Lin Dong's house.

...

The two brothers, Lin Yang and Lin Dong, lived in an old two-story building at the east end of the village.

The house was built over a decade ago. The cement on the outer walls was already somewhat mottled, weeds in the yard grew knee-high, and a tractor was parked at the entrance.

When Lin Ye arrived, Lin Yang was squatting by the tractor tinkering with something. Seeing Lin Ye approach, he stood up with some surprise.

"Uncle Xiaoye? What brings you here?"

Although Lin Ye was nearly ten years younger than him, the generational hierarchy was established, and rural people were quite particular about it.

"Here, have a smoke."

Lin Yang said as he pulled a cigarette from his pocket and offered it.

"Thanks, but I don't smoke. Is Lin Dong home? I have something to talk to him about." Lin Ye smiled and waved his hand, his tone casual.

Lin Yang's hand offering the cigarette paused, clearly not expecting Lin Ye to come specifically to catch up with his younger brother.

Although they were from the same village, there was a significant age gap, and they didn't hang out at all. They usually just nodded to each other during holidays.

However, Lin Yang didn't think much of it and shouted toward the house, "Little brother, your Uncle Xiaoye is looking for you!"

A rustling sound came from inside the house, and after a good while, Lin Dong finally walked out.

He was wearing a crumpled T-shirt, his hair was messy, his face was somewhat pale, and his eye sockets were slightly sunken, looking as if he hadn't slept well.

Seeing Lin Ye, his eyes flickered slightly, seemingly confused as to why Lin Ye would suddenly show up at his door.

"Uncle Xiaoye?" Lin Dong's voice was a bit raspy.

"What do you need me for?"

"It's nothing major. It's just been a long time, and I wanted to chat with you." Lin Ye's expression was very natural.

"Come, accompany me for a walk outside the village. I haven't been back in a long time and want to see the changes around the village."

Lin Dong hesitated for a moment upon hearing this but eventually nodded. "Alright then."

Lin Yang stood in the yard watching their figures disappear at the intersection. He scratched his head, feeling like something wasn't quite right, but he didn't dwell on it. He turned back and continued tinkering with the tractor.

...

The two of them walked along the village road toward the outskirts, neither speaking along the way.

Lin Ye walked in front at a moderate pace, as if taking a stroll.

However, as he walked, he used his Mental Energy to observe Lin Dong.

The other's steps were very unsteady, but he could faintly sense the fluctuations of Qi.

This indicated that the other party had indeed practiced Internal Skill, though only at the level of just having developed a Sense of Qi.

The two left the village entrance and walked along the field path for a while. The houses on both sides became sparser, replaced by large stretches of farmland and thin woods, with rolling green mountains in the distance.

When they reached a secluded spot on the field path, Lin Dong, who was behind, suddenly stopped.

"Uncle Xiaoye, if you have something to say, just say it." Lin Dong's voice came from behind, carrying an indescribable tone.

"There's no one here; no need to go any further."

Lin Ye turned around at the words and didn't speak, simply looking at Lin Dong.

The wind on the field path blew past, fluttering their clothes.

Lin Ye activated the Qi Observation Technique again.

Just as he had seen before, there was a thick mass of grayish-black evil qi on Lin Dong, enveloping his entire body like ink.

But at the core of that evil qi, a wisp of white qi of life still stubbornly existed, like a lamp in a storm, flickering but never going out.

Though he didn't know what the qi of someone coexisting with an Demon looked like, he was almost certain that this person was the one in the village most deeply entangled with the Demon.

Retracting the Qi Observation Technique, Lin Ye's expression remained unchanged, but he was already prepared for the worst.

"Lin Dong," Lin Ye spoke, his tone very flat, as if chatting about a common household matter.

"Have you heard of the martial domain game?"

Lin Dong's pupils suddenly constricted.

That change was extremely fast, so fast it was almost negligible.

If Lin Ye's perception hadn't been constantly enveloping him, he would have almost failed to catch this subtle change.

"martial domain game?" Lin Dong tilted his head, a perfectly timed look of confusion appearing on his face.

"Is it a newly released game? I don't usually play games, so I'm not really sure."

Obviously, the other party was playing dumb.

To this, Lin Ye only gave a faint smile:

"Don't be nervous, I don't mean anything else."

"It's just that it's not easy to encounter someone with the same experience, so I wanted to chat about the martial domain game together.

You also know that this kind of thing can't be told to ordinary people; they wouldn't believe it even if you told them."

Lin Dong fell into silence.