Chapter Sixty-Eight: Let Us Gather at the Thousand Isles

On the way, Suzuna Tsukimiya absentmindedly played with her phone, watching her friends chat in the group. Nowadays, the internet was under strict information control, and unless ordinary people had witnessed a ghoul with their own eyes, their chances of knowing about the mutations were slim. But her social circle consisted almost entirely of second-generation elites living in Kantei Street—they could hardly be kept in the dark. Although none of them knew exactly what the ghouls were, they roughly understood them as some kind of rabies-like bioweapon virus that turned people into pain-insensitive, highly aggressive monsters. As such, they were all very cautious when going out, and every day someone in the group would post, “Such-and-such place is no longer safe.”

“Jade Rabbit Never Admits Defeat”: Is the road from Akita to the Thousand Islands still safe today?

“Mimi-chan”: Be careful, there have already been three incident reports. I’ll send the exact locations to the group.

Suzuna scrolled through the message log, looking at all the locations her friends posted. She felt quite pleased with her decision to invite her senior to the Thousand Islands—after all, ghouls couldn’t swim and had no way of crossing the Hot Lake to pay the locals a visit.

Another message popped up on her screen; it was Mimi-chan messaging her privately:

“Suzuna, you work at the Northernmost City’s Security Bureau, right? Got any insider info?”

“Mm, from what I know, it’s a pitiful woman whose husband and child were killed by wild wolves. She wants to carry out indiscriminate, large-scale revenge,” Suzuna replied.

“Oh no, that’s awful. Did you catch her yet?”

“Not yet.” Suzuna sighed as she typed back, “The whole unit is in chaos right now. Everything’s been handed over to the military. Honestly, your Song family probably hears more than I do.”

“Maybe, but I haven’t been paying much attention lately. I’m getting married, after all. By the way, did you bring your boyfriend?”

“Don’t get ahead of yourself—it’s not like that yet.”

“No way, no way! Even Suzuna-chan can’t win a guy over?”

“It’s true. You’ll meet him soon enough.”

Suzuna chatted idly with her friend, while beside her, Zi’ang Chen couldn’t sit still either; he was also scrolling through his work group’s messages.

According to his colleagues, the security situation throughout the Northernmost City was far from optimistic—mutations were happening everywhere. The military was responding on all fronts, but on one hand, modern weapons weren’t as effective against the ghouls as they’d hoped, and on the other, their operations were so grandiose it felt like using a cannon to swat mosquitos.

His colleagues found it all rather amusing, but Zi’ang Chen was deeply concerned. If things continued like this, the so-called “concealment of the supernatural from the public” would soon become a laughingstock.

It was clear: as soon as anyone realized there were monsters in the world, their spiritual perception risked a slight increase, which in turn raised the likelihood of future encounters with the uncanny. It was as if they became some kind of bait, drawing beings from the abyss into the world.

If this kind of psychic contamination began to spread widely among the populace, there would soon be a vast group of “low-level perceivers.” Even without Mie Nishikawa taking action, the very existence of these people would rapidly increase the frequency of mutations in the city. What would they do then? Outsource the work? Psychic contamination could spread from one to ten, ten to a hundred, escalating geometrically. Could the number of outsourced personnel keep pace with that? In the end, they would still be short-staffed!

Zi’ang Chen felt a sense of pessimism, as if he were sitting on a bus speeding toward the edge of a cliff, powerless as the passengers watched the driver slam on the accelerator with no say in their fate.

Noticing his troubled expression, Suzuna Tsukimiya guessed that her senior must be worrying about work again. She slyly took out her phone and sent him a picture.

Zi’ang Chen opened it—a selfie of Suzuna pouting cutely… Though, to be honest, she didn’t need to try to be adorable; her looks were already charming enough.

“Cheer up!” Suzuna smiled, her eyes narrowing. “After all, we’re on a trip, Senior.”

What else could he say? He could only force a smile.

“Senior, look at this!” Suzuna sent him a few more selfies. “Which one do you think is best?”

“They all look great,” he replied honestly.

A pretty girl looked delightful no matter if she pouted, made a V sign, poked her cheek, or simply smiled. Besides, Suzuna’s looks were nearly flawless—she hardly needed any touch-ups.

“Miss, after we exit the highway up ahead, it’ll only be a few minutes to the cruise terminal,” Goro Satemon suddenly announced.

“Oh,” Suzuna replied, glancing out the window. “It’s wonderful we’ll get there safely.”

Her words seemed to carry a hidden meaning, but Zi’ang Chen didn’t notice. He simply followed her gaze outside.

A silk veil of mist, the sheen of the lake, and the mountain scenery filled his eyes.

—

Mie Nishikawa stood atop the mountain, gazing at the shimmering lake in the distance, her face blank and expressionless.

She suddenly remembered that before her son’s tenth birthday, he’d said the birthday gift he most wanted was a trip to the Hot Lake Thousand Islands Scenic Area in Jinchuan District.

“The class monitor’s tenth birthday party was held at a resort in the Thousand Islands. Almost the whole class was invited,” her son had once told her.

Why wasn’t her son invited? It seemed it was because he was considered too frugal and from a poor family. After all, at that age, no one wanted to be friends with the classmate who couldn’t even afford an orange soda from the school shop.

At the time, Mie Nishikawa said nothing, silently trimming her monthly expenses and saving up an extra sum, planning to take her family to Hot Lake Thousand Islands once the money was enough.

But that money… In the two years after her family was killed by wild dogs, it was all spent on legal fees and endless lawsuits.

A stabbing pain shot through her heart, contorting her face in agony, her brows twisting into a knot.

At the same time, a certain power surged into her mind.

The ember—she’d naturally learned this term from the moment she became a witch.

Though Mie Nishikawa had never read any system novels, she understood that this ember could be exchanged for the power of vengeance—from a deity known as the King of Ghouls.

So, she’d grown accustomed to taking out those warm memories of the past and reliving them again and again, as if stabbing herself with a knife over her battered body, offering up her pain to that deity in exchange for more embers.

“You’re pushing yourself too hard,” a woman’s voice spoke from behind.

“I don’t need your opinion, Takano,” Mie Nishikawa replied coldly. “You can’t possibly understand my pain.”

“Pain will only destroy your reason,” the woman—Takano—sighed softly. “You are indeed growing stronger, but at what cost?”

“The cost is killing myself,” Mie Nishikawa said with a despairing laugh, baring her white teeth. “For me, the only reason to keep going is to make this world, which took everything from me, taste the same pain—or something deeper.”

“But you’re not like us, Seiko Takano. Even after becoming a witch, you still trust this world. You refuse to rely on your own power, and instead cling to the hope that the rules of civilized society can solve your problems.”

“As for us, we look forward to the day when this cold, merciless world finally drives you into utter despair.”