74: Chapter 74 Chu Xuan, why did you kill me?!

Not giving the opponent a chance to resist, Chu Xuan swept his leg to kick them down. Holding the lantern, he leaned over, swinging his blade repeatedly with one hand. Then, with fingers like hooks, he gripped the top of the opponent's skull tightly and yanked hard.

In the next second, a headless monster corpse replaced the delivery guy.

Only then did Chu Xuan control the oil lamp to extinguish it.

[You have slain Specter: Lurker. Your spirituality +35.]

[Current spirituality value: 75]

Originally it was 50 points of spirituality value. Just now, to be safe, Chu Xuan did not control the oil lamp to reduce its brightness range or intensity. It deducted spirituality value at a rate of almost 1 point per second, for a total deduction of 10 points.

Overall, he still gained 25 points.

This felt great!

Chu Xuan took out his phone and sent a message to [Future Tang Zheng]:

[It's safe here. How are things on your end? Is there anything you need my help with?]

[Tang Zheng: Brother, I might be dying again.]

Chu Xuan's mind froze: [What happened? Didn't you just come back to life?]

[Tang Zheng: In my newly emerged memories, a very powerful guy has inexplicably appeared. He has been watching me for a long time, and today he's hunting me down.]

[You've seen my talent. Although it's very fierce, its endurance is poor and it can't be kept active constantly. I was too focused while messaging you just now and was ambushed when I wasn't paying attention. Although I've escaped now, I'm seriously injured. And I can feel that person has been chasing me.]

[Chu Xuan: Who is the person hunting you? I can find a way to kill him ahead of time in this period. That way, it'll be settled once and for all, and your future self won't be hunted anymore.]

[Tang Zheng: This guy is very mysterious. He eats both humans and Specters, and he's unpredictable. I don't know where he stands. No one knows what he looks like; I don't even know who he is now, let alone how I offended him. Although I prepared an item long ago that could reveal his true identity, unfortunately, I haven't had a chance to use it. I'll see if I can find an opportunity later...]

Chu Xuan couldn't help but frown deeply.

An inexplicably added person, mysterious and unpredictable...

[Tang Zheng: Don't worry about that for now. Let's stick to the old plan. Tell the past me about this so I can be prepared in advance, and then it should be fine. Now I have another very important matter to tell you, which is also one of the reasons I contacted you. If you can accomplish this, it might have a positive impact on the current me as well.]

Chu Xuan's expression turned solemn.

It's finally coming!

Chu Xuan had many questions in his mind, one of which was why [Future Tang Zheng] would contact him and what the other party needed him to do.

Two minutes passed in waiting.

Chu Xuan's heart skipped a beat.

[Future Tang Zheng] couldn't have been killed already, right?

While waiting, the Phantom Demon's voice drifted over: "My friend, so this is your talent? Truly incredible, to be able to communicate with someone from the future? However, just how deep is the bond between you and this Tang Zheng that you established a connection with him instead of your own self..."

My future self is already dead, so who the hell would I contact?!

However, Chu Xuan did not say this out loud. He didn't want to deal with the Phantom Demon's pretenses right now, so he simply remained silent.

"I can feel you restraining your inner anxiety. Actually, there's no need to worry at all because this is your talent. If the Future Tang Zheng dies, perhaps you can contact another person from the future."

As the Phantom Demon's laughter rang out, Chu Xuan felt his heart grow increasingly restless. He immediately knew he was being influenced by this old schemer again.

During this wait, another two minutes passed. Just when Chu Xuan thought [Future Tang Zheng] had really been killed, he saw the other party suddenly send a message that made his brain stall.

[Tang Zheng: Chu Xuan, why do you want to kill me?!]

Chu Xuan was stunned for a moment and hurriedly sent a message: [What nonsense are you talking about? How could I possibly kill you?]

[Tang Zheng: I've already forced your future self to reveal his true form. It's you, no mistake! If I didn't have a backup plan, I would have been killed by your future self just now!]

[Chu Xuan: Don't be stupid. Without your tip, I would have been eaten by the Delivery Ghost just now. How could I kill you in the future?]

[Tang Zheng: ...]

[Tang Zheng: That's right, you should have died long ago, how could you kill me... Thinking carefully, although that person looked like you and had a similar aura, there were some differences. Certain body structures were even similar to a Strange Creatures. What on earth is going on... Wait, my memories are a bit chaotic, let me straighten them out...]

[Tang Zheng: Right! I remember now! In the new memories, I did indeed see the Delivery Ghost break through the door on the surveillance three years ago, but I didn't see it eat you with my own eyes. I only saw a pool of blood and a broken window, so I naturally assumed the Delivery Ghost ate you. But in reality, there's another possibility, which is...]

Chu Xuan, you've been parasitized!

It wasn't the Delivery Ghost that ate you; rather, it was you, after being parasitized, who ate the Delivery Ghost and then broke through the window to leave, disappearing since then. This led me to mistakenly believe you were eaten by the Delivery Ghost! The Strange Creatures parasitizing you knows that the me three years from now can contact the you from three years ago, so it has been trying everything to kill me, to eliminate me as a variable. Until today, it's finally about to succeed!]

Chu Xuan's gaze sharpened as he stared intently at every word Tang Zheng sent.

At this moment, the thoughts that had been suppressed time and again before entering the dream flooded into his mind.

All those suspicious points about the Phantom Demon's abnormal behavior, various things that didn't feel right.

Those questions he didn't even dare to think about in reality, suspicious points he feared the Phantom Demon would find clues to.

Now, within the dream.

When Chu Xuan finally had no more reservations, they erupted in his mind like a torrential storm.

Chu Xuan suddenly smiled.

The corners of his mouth curled up slightly as he sent a passage:

[Answer me one question. In your memory, after the Delivery Ghost broke through the door, I disappeared. But why at that specific point in time? Why didn't I disappear at any other time? Why was it only after the Delivery Ghost came in that I disappeared?]

[Tang Zheng: Because that Specter left you a bit of consciousness that it could wipe out at any time to completely parasitize you. The reason it did that was all for a perfect Fusion. It's just that because of the Delivery Ghost's intervention, it had to abandon that plan and parasitize you early!]

[Tang Zheng: Yes, that's it! Just now I even asked what talent you awakened in the dormitory. How ridiculous, I didn't think of it just now! For an ordinary person to awaken a talent, besides some necessary conditions, the most important thing is to obtain the dissipation from a collision of rules...]

And as an A-Rank Specter, the Night Demon only used the Forbidden Domain opened by the promotion ritual. How could it possibly allow both of us to awaken talents? This is naturally because an S-rank Specter came to this world... I remember now. At that time, I overtaxed my talent to beat the Night Demon and was somewhat delirious. When you were carrying me to escape, there seemed to be a powerful Specter controlling the Night Demon to hunt us. It must have been that one; it's parasitizing your body...]

[Tang Zheng: Chu Xuan, you've already been parasitized. You must do exactly as I say next...]

[Tang Zheng: No, it won't work! It's useless. That S-rank Specter parasitizing your body must be watching us exchange messages too. It can see any method I give you. It's all a joke; it can wipe out your consciousness at any time...]

[Tang Zheng: It's over, everything is over!]

Chu Xuan could fully feel the despair revealed between the lines, yet he didn't panic at all. He sent a message with extreme composure:

[I haven't been parasitized. It failed.]