Chapter 79: The Story of the Jia Family

Wu Xian's expression flickered in shock.

He trembled as he asked the man: "You mean they refer to…?"

The scruffy man jumped down from the ventilation duct; Wu Xian finally saw his full appearance—he wore a baseball cap, had a full beard, dressed in a tattered sweatshirt, and his shoes revealed his toes, looking like a vagrant who had wandered for years.

The vagrant sneered.

"The 'they' I mean are everyone you've seen since you woke up, everyone except me—Xu Ming, the pedestrians on the street, those soldiers, the waiters… they're all not human!"

After he finished saying this.

"Don't you find my appearance familiar? My wanted posters are plastered all over every alley and street—if I were a malevolent spirit, why would they be hunting me?"

"A game, entertainment, or just childish mischief—who can know what those malevolent spirits think? But one thing is certain: if you keep associating with them, your fate… hehe."

"Fine, I believe you!"

Wu Xian fell into a long silence, his face growing paler.

After a moment of hesitation, Wu Xian raised his head and spoke.

Jia Xing felt uneasy under the gaze and slightly sharpened his tone: "Aren't you going to take a bath? Even in this shelter, lingering in your own stench for too long will draw malevolent spirits."

"If not for that, how could I possibly have risked my life to save you?"

Wu Xian fell silent again, unsure whether to believe Jia Xing.

Wu Xian's expression cleared suddenly.

"Your first flaw is that you're too professional. On the way to this hidden room, the skills you displayed could only be mastered by a professional."

Jia Xing laughed bitterly: "Can't I have trained specifically? If I didn't have these skills, how could I have survived until now?"

Jia Xing is one-third of the cycle, and also the deputy whose body was possessed in Xu Ming's story!

To ease his doubts, Wu Xian recounted Xu Ming's story to him once again.

"After all, that giant snake didn't look anything like it was treating me…"

"Yes, that explains many inconsistencies."

"Unfortunately, you have three obvious flaws."

"Xu Ming's story is flawed—if I'm the one who doubted the new equipment the most, why would I volunteer myself as the test subject and sacrifice myself for everyone else?"

The vagrant laughed.

At that moment, a servant's voice came from outside: "Mr. Wu, have you not finished yet? The Leader has arrived—please hurry, don't keep the Leader waiting too long…"

"Acting?"

He pulled up a chair, sat down, and calmly stared at Jia Xing.

"Go take a bath first, then spray this all over your body—make sure you cover evenly, leave no blind spots."

The opulent Leader's residence suddenly grew dark and sinister, everywhere thick with malevolent energy.

Jia Xing smiled and explained:

"This is one of my research achievements—it emits the same scent as malevolent spirits, so they won't detect you're alive. Otherwise, how do you think I've survived in a world full of malevolent spirits?"

Wu Xian leaned back.

The Investigation Bureau sent people to question Xu Ming and others—no one returned alive.

"I think we don't need to keep pretending anymore."

The interior of the hidden room was spacious, with two bedrooms and a living room, a bathroom and kitchen—all essentials present, but no windows, lit entirely by artificial lights.

Wu Xian took a deep breath—he couldn't just believe this vagrant's one-sided words.

…

"Your timing was too convenient—you appeared just as I was beginning to doubt many things, and your explanation matched some of my suspicions, so at first I truly believed you."

Jia Xing blinked: "What did you say?"

Because Jia Xing had always been suspicious of the equipment, he was the only member of the development team who did not participate.

Wu Xian sprayed the air, then waved his sleeve to sniff.

"Hmm, though a bit forced… I'll accept it for now."

And Xu Ming had invested all his wealth into it.

"The real situation is actually this…"

Along the way, they passed through many buildings and avoided several groups of passersby, unseen by anyone.

It was said all investigators had been torn into pieces, arranged like fruit platters on tables, with bloodstained utensils nearby—proof someone had held a banquet of flesh here.

Wu Xian's eyes widened.

Jia Xing stared into Wu Xian's eyes.

"Also, my name—you should remember it well—I'm… Jia Xing."

Finally, Jia Xing brought the panting Wu Xian into a hidden room.

This hidden room was concealed within the middle of a building, its entrance disguised as a bookshelf—ordinary people would never discover its existence unless they measured the entire floor.

"Everything I said is true—do you believe me or them? Survival or death—it's your choice."

Then he rummaged through a somewhat empty storage room and pulled out a large bottle of spray, handing it to Wu Xian.

So he set the spray down.

"From then on, I foresaw the disaster the possession syndrome might bring, and began long-term research—but just as I made slight progress, there were almost no true living humans left in this world."

…

Jia Xing took Wu Xian on a tour of his shelter.

Jia Xing listened, then slightly shook his head.

Jia Xing…

Jia Xing froze.

After using the device, Xu Ming and the others seemed to instantly become different people—a transformation that filled the man surnamed Jia with dread.

The spray bottle emitted a fresh scent, devoid of any cold, musty odor.

"Climbing pipes, ascending stairs, leaping over obstacles, dodging pedestrians—I barely kept up just by following you. I can't imagine this is something a researcher could do…"

The homeless man shrugged.

The man surnamed Jia told Wu Xian another version of the story.

"But—but what motive could so many malevolent spirits have to act along with me?"

"How do you prove you're not a malevolent spirit?"

To resolve the crisis, Xu Ming decided to lead the development team in a public livestream of the device's use, to prove its safety.

After the device was deployed, it drew overwhelming criticism from all sides.

The man surnamed Jia led Wu Xian to escape through the ventilation duct.

Wu Xian played with his fingers.

At the gathering, the group shared food and drank merrily, singing loudly!

The man surnamed Jia let out a long sigh.

Wu Xian asked curiously, "What is this spray?"

After leaving the testing site, the man surnamed Jia reported the matter to the Investigation Bureau.

While climbing the duct, Wu Xian followed right behind the man surnamed Jia and nearly fainted from the stench of his filth.

The earlier parts of the story were much the same, but the commercialization of the new device did not go as smoothly as Xu Ming claimed.

Wu Xian raised his arm, pointing to the left, then slowly shifting right, up, and down, indicating everything in the room.

"This—that is your second flaw."

(End of Chapter)