33: Chapter 33 The Night Watchers (Continued)

At daybreak, Chen Mo was awakened by a strange sound.

A rhythmic tapping.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

He instantly sat up and gripped his cleaver.

Lin Wei also woke up, dual pistols in hand.

The two exchanged a look and simultaneously glanced toward the door.

The alarm was still intact; no one had entered.

But the sound definitely existed.

It was coming from outside.

Chen Mo stood up, walked to the door, and looked out through the crack.

In the yard of the repair shop stood a figure.

To be precise, it was the "Night Prowler" from last night.

It had returned.

But this time, it didn't have an aggressive posture; it just stood there, looking toward the bungalow with those hollow eyes.

It held a stone in its hand and was rhythmically tapping on a nearby junk car.

Chen Mo stared at it.

The Pupil of the Sequence swept over it—its status was still C-Class, but the golden lines on its body were slightly fainter than last night.

[Target: C-Class Ghost Shadow "Night Prowler"]

[Status: Abnormal (Seeking Communication)]

[Threat Assessment: Medium]

[Suggestion: Contact with Caution]

Seeking communication?

Chen Mo was stunned for a moment.

A Ghost Shadow would seek communication?

He pushed open the door and walked out.

Lin Wei tried to stop him but failed.

"Chen Mo!"

Chen Mo did not look back.

He walked into the yard and stood before the Night Prowler, ten meters away.

The thing stopped tapping and turned its head to look at him.

The two stared at each other.

There was a long silence.

Then the Night Prowler spoke.

It wasn't the roar of a Ghost Shadow, but... human speech.

It was intermittent, like someone who hadn't spoken for a very long time.

"You... last night... why... let me go?"

Chen Mo didn't answer.

He was observing.

The changes in those golden lines and the anomalies in the flow of time were all telling him that this thing was indeed trying to communicate.

"Because you didn't come to kill us," he said.

The Night Prowler fell silent for a few seconds.

Then it raised its hand and pointed at its own chest.

The black mist was thickest there, so thick that the skin beneath was almost invisible.

"Here... there is... a person."

Chen Mo was taken aback.

"A person?"

"A person... from a long time ago," its voice was halting. "Trapped... can't get out."

Chen Mo stared at that spot.

He pushed the Pupil of the Sequence to its limit.

His golden vision penetrated the black mist to see what lay beneath—

A heart.

A human heart.

It was still beating.

"Are you... a Transformed One?" Chen Mo asked.

The Night Prowler nodded.

The movement was very slow and stiff, as if its joints were rusted shut.

"I... don't want... to kill," the Night Prowler said. "But... can't control it... at night... it... controls me."

It pointed at its head.

"During the day... I can... be lucid for a while."

Chen Mo understood.

A Transformed One.

Like Old Li, it had been eroded by the will of the ghost realm, becoming something half-human and half-Ghost Shadow.

But unlike Old Li, it still possessed consciousness.

It was still struggling.

"Do you want me to help you?" Chen Mo asked.

The Night Prowler nodded.

"Kill... me," it said. "While... it's day... while I'm... still lucid."

Chen Mo was silent for a few seconds.

He looked at that beating heart, at those golden lines, and at that body enveloped in black mist.

"Are you sure?"

"Sure." Its voice suddenly became a bit clearer. "I... don't want... to kill anymore."

Chen Mo gripped his cleaver.

He took a step forward.

The Night Prowler did not move.

It just stood there, waiting.

Chen Mo raised his blade.

Then he stopped.

"What is your name?"

The Night Prowler was stunned for a moment.

Then it smiled.

The smile was eerie because its face was obscured by black mist, leaving only an outline visible.

But Chen Mo could feel that it was smiling.

"It's been a long time... since someone... asked me," it said. "My name is... Zhang... Weiguo."

Zhang Weiguo.

An ordinary name.

An ordinary person.

Chen Mo nodded.

"Zhang Weiguo," he said. "I will remember it."

The blade swung down.

It cut through the black mist, into the chest, and into that heart.

The Night Prowler's body stiffened.

The black mist began to dissipate, and the golden lines began to snap.

It lowered its head, looking at its own chest.

Then it raised its head and looked at Chen Mo.

That face was finally revealed—it was the face of a middle-aged man with ordinary features, an ordinary complexion, and an ordinary... expression.

But in that expression, there was gratitude.

"Thank you," it said.

Then it collapsed.

Golden threads surged out from its body and flowed into Chen Mo's body.

[Killed C-Class Ghost Shadow "Night Prowler"]

[Obtained: sequence fragment × 20]

[Current Fragments: 220]

[Obtained Special Reward: Heart of the Transformed One]

[Heart of the Transformed One: Can be used to refine items to counter the will of the ghost realm]

Chen Mo stood where he was, looking at the corpse.

The corpse was slowly vanishing, until finally, only a heart remained—a human heart that had already stopped beating.

He bent down and picked it up.

It was very light.

So light it felt like nothing was there.

Lin Wei walked over and stood beside him.

"Are you crying?"

Chen Mo was stunned.

He raised his hand and touched his face—it was wet.

He didn't know when the tears had started falling.

"No," he said, "it's just the wind."

Lin Wei didn't call him out.

She just looked at the heart and remained silent for a long time.

Then she said:

"He was a good man."

Chen Mo nodded.

"Yes."

He put the heart into his pocket and turned toward the pickup truck.

Lin Wei followed.

The two got into the vehicle and started the engine.

The pickup truck drove out of the repair shop and onto the highway.

In the rearview mirror, the yard grew further and further away.

Zhang Weiguo's corpse had completely vanished.

Only the stone he had used for tapping remained on the ground.

Chen Mo watched the stone get smaller and smaller until it finally disappeared over the horizon.

He remembered Zhang Weiguo's final smile.

"Thank you."

Thank him for what?

For killing him?

Or for remembering his name?

Chen Mo didn't know.

But he knew he would remember.

Zhang Weiguo.

A man who didn't want to kill.

A good man trapped inside his own body.

The pickup truck continued forward.

The road ahead was still very long.

But Chen Mo felt that it wasn't so lonely anymore.