Chapter 73 Only today did you know that I am me

Ning Zhe took off the evil ghost mask on the man's face, revealing a pale and thin face. He looked to be in his twenties, with deep facial features and a decent appearance. He could be considered a masculine and handsome man.

After further searching the body, Ning Zhe did not find any documents or items on him that could prove his identity. The mobile phone in his arms was a brand new machine that had just been opened. There was nothing installed in it except the pre-installed software that came with it. The address book was also empty. It was obvious that the person's identity was deliberately concealed.

Fortunately, his call records had not been deleted completely, and a video call made about half an hour ago was still retained in the history records. This was the only clue at present.

Ning Zhe's own cell phone was buzzing. It was Feng Yusu calling him.

Ning Zhe ignored the call from Feng Yusu, took the masked man's phone, opened the call record from half an hour ago, and called back.

The call was quickly connected, and a gentle and elegant male voice came from the speaker:
"Calling me at this time... did you get the concession?"

As soon as he finished speaking, a hideous demon mask appeared on Ning Zhe's face, and a hoarse voice that was obviously faked by a voice changer came out of his throat: "Hmm."

"Congratulations." The man's voice came out of the loudspeaker with a hint of laughter: "Then I'll leave now. This deal is settled. It's a pleasure to work with you. If you need help next time, you're welcome to come to me again. My prices are always fair."

"I will." Ning Zhe said softly.

The phone hangs up.

At the same time, the sky over Taoyuan City lit up.

The floor beside him was suddenly covered with traces of wind erosion. A mobile signal base station was erected on the roof of a building not far away. Ning Zhe stood up and looked into the distance. The eye-catching huge glass dome on the edge of Taojiang River had been replaced by a riverside park. Hengsha Ecological Park was demolished two years ago.

As time passed, he returned to Taoyuan City in 2018.

Ning Zhe let out a long sigh, a faint smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, "I see."

As the identity of 'Ye Yao that Tu Yu knew' melted in his mind like sugar in a coffee cup, Ning Zhe understood a lot of things.

After spending some time dealing with the masked man's body, Ning Zhe finally remembered to reply to Feng Yuxu's several missed calls.

Hospitals are packed with people on weekdays, especially top-level hospitals with a good reputation like Qinzhou Medical College. The flow of people is even more terrifying. The entire first-floor lobby is bustling with people, which is not suitable for meeting and discussing things. Feng Yushu quickly booked a private room in a hotel on the commercial street and sent the coordinates and room number.

Half an hour later, Ning Zhe finally arrived and sat down in the box. Feng Yusu sat opposite him stiffly.

"Where is Bai Zhi?" Ning Zhe asked as he sat down.

"She... fell asleep. She's still in the hospital." Feng Yushu looked troubled and said, "As soon as the false world of four years ago disappeared, Ah Zhi fell into a coma. The doctor said she was fine, just a little sleep deprived and mentally frightened."

"The doctor is right."

Ning Zhe nodded and said, "Your daughter seems to be a bit schizophrenic... She was probably scared to death by ghosts when she was young. She selectively forgot all the information related to ghosts. She usually looks gloomy and not good at communication. But when she really encounters a ghost, Bai Zhi will change into another extreme personality."

Ning Zhe had seen it at the gas station.

"I, what should I do?" Feng Yusu asked quickly.

"Why are you asking me? If you have any psychological problems, you should go see a psychologist. Don't blame me for everything. I don't owe you anything." Ning Zhe leaned back in his chair and said, "On the contrary, you owe me something. So I will need you to help me with something soon. Remember to make time to help me then."

"Okay, I will." Feng Yushu answered seriously: "There is one more thing, about Ye Yao..."

"I came to you just to talk about this." Ning Zhe said, a hideous devil mask covering his face: "This is the man who was chasing us before. His real name is 'Yu Ziqian'. Like your husband, he is from Yongzhou, but he is a musician. I got a part of his identity. I know some things."

Feng Yushu nodded quickly: "Go ahead."

"First of all, you are very lucky. This ghost, 'Te Ran', originally belonged to Yu Ziqian. He paid a huge price to buy it." Ning Zhe said, "Now it's a bargain for you."

Feng Yusu couldn't quite understand what he said. Encountering a ghost had nothing to do with good luck.

Ning Zhe didn't pay attention to her awkward expression, and continued, "First of all, ghosts and strange events caused by ghosts are not uncommon in our world. There is such a sentence in Bai Zhi's diary - ghosts are everywhere."

"The essence of ghosts is rules, and rules can be cracked and mastered by people. The first group of people who mastered the rules felt that they were superior to others because they possessed extraordinary powers, and they arrogantly called themselves 'Ascendants'. This group of people are now mostly dead."

"To be specific, Auntie, you and I are both Upgraded—and not even ordinary Upgraded, because you have mastered the two rules of 'Special Allowance' and 'Industry'. What's even rarer is that these two rules are in line with each other."

"Mutual, fit?" Feng Yushu was a little confused: "Can you tell me what it means in detail?"

Ning Zhe smiled and said, "It's very simple. Ghosts are rules, and rules are fair. For example, the rule of the special allowance is 'if someone's shadow is stepped on, you will die'. This rule can be used by you to kill others, and it can also be used by others to kill you. Is it fair enough?"

Ning Zhe pointed behind Feng Yushu and said, "If I lift one leg and step on the cushion under your butt, you will die. I believe you already know this."

Feng Yusu glanced at the umbrella leaning against the table and nodded.

"Then I will continue to talk about Ye Yao's abilities and flaws."

Ning Zhe took a sip of the aperitif in the crystal glass and found it not very tasty. He continued, "When I killed Zi Qian in the hospital, you should have noticed that his shadow was separated from his body and moved independently. This is one of Ye Yao's abilities - he can make his shadow separate from his body and move independently. It's quite sinister."

Feng Yushu recalled the situation at that time and nodded, "Yes, and his shadow is very strange. It looks tattered, with a piece missing here and a leg missing there, just like a disabled person."

"Yes, it seems you noticed it." Ning Zhe pushed the wine glass aside and said, "Allowing the shadow to separate from the body and act independently is just a side effect of Ye Yao. Its core rule is just two words: synchronization. To be precise, it is to synchronize a person's shadow with his life. ... How about this, Auntie, please stand up for a moment."

"Okay." Feng Yuxu stood up obediently, and the chandelier above her head cast a graceful shadow on the dining table.

"Look, this is your own shadow." Ning Zhe said, and stretched one of his hands under the light: "This is mine."

Then Ning Zhe flicked his fingers and tapped twice in the air on the dining table.

"Ah!" Feng Yushu trembled all over and subconsciously covered his forehead with both hands: "Actually..."

"Okay, Auntie, sit down." Ning Zhe took his hand back and said, "This is the rule of Ye Yao: synchronization. I didn't touch you, but my shadow touched your shadow, so you can feel me hitting your forehead." "You can now let your shadow leave your body, run through the crack in the door to the outside of the room, and punch the hotel manager's shadow so hard that he won't even know where you hit him. Of course, you can also just use a fruit knife to cut his neck, and no one will know you killed him."

"However, all this is based on the fact that other people don't know the rules of karma. You can hurt others through your shadow, and others can certainly hurt you through their shadows. Just like what I did just now."

Feng Yushu's eyes widened unconsciously: "Terang's ability, and Ye Yao..."

"Very close, right? And they complement each other, like two pieces of a puzzle, one convex and one concave." Ning Zhe nodded and said, "So this is why I said you are lucky."

Ning Zhe said as he took off the hideous and terrifying evil ghost mask on his face, revealing Yu Ziqian's pale and handsome face to Feng Yusu:

"Five years ago, Yu Ziqian was involved in a strange incident in an apartment in Yongzhou. That incident was the 'Tongxin Street Apartment Gas Explosion Case' reported in the newspaper at the time. Many people died... But in fact, just like the leakage accident at Bishuiwan Manor, this was a strange incident that was covered up. The apartment was haunted."

"The ghost that was causing trouble in the apartment was Ye Yao. Yu Ziqian was the only survivor of that incident. He cracked Ye Yao's rules, mastered the first ghost, and joined the circle of ascenders, also known as the 'Ascension Network'. His code name in the network was Ye Yao."

"Yu Ziqian relied on Ye Yao's ability to help others steal business secrets, assassinate political opponents and enemies, and made a lot of money. But you just learned about Ye Yao's flaws, so now I will tell you one more thing - injuries to the body can be treated and sutured, but injuries to the shadow will never heal, and they will remain there forever."

"Over the past few years, Yu Ziqian has become more and more proficient in the rules of Ye Yao, but because he did not know how to hide his abilities when he was a novice, he left behind many clues. Many ascenders have deduced his ability flaws. Yu Ziqian's shadow has been injured repeatedly and has not recovered. The damage has accumulated layer by layer, causing his body to become thin and weak."

"Today, he is almost dead."

"So he spent a huge amount of money some time ago to buy a ghost from an old ascender codenamed 'Fen Wu'. A ghost that perfectly fits the rules of Ye Yao and can reset his death countdown to zero."

"The ghost's name is - Tejang."

Feng Yushu was listening intently, but Ning Zhe chuckled at this moment: "But Fenwu is an old man without moral integrity. After receiving the payment from Yu Ziqian, he not only did not deliver the goods, but also released Terang to kill people. That's how the Bishuiwan Manor incident happened."

"You also know what happened later. I cracked the system and you controlled it. Fen Wu took the money but couldn't deliver the goods, so he handed over the list of survivors in Bishuiwan Manor."

"When a man is about to die, Yu Ziqian is almost crazy. He once again pays a huge price and invites an Ascendant codenamed 'Tu Yu' to fuse the space-time of the entire Taoyuan City, trapping all the survivors in a fictional world for hunting. He needs the special person to prolong his life no matter what... In the end, he failed to hunt and was killed instead. Now his karma is in your hands."

Ning Zhe spread his hands: "So, Auntie, you are really lucky. Most of the upgraded ones cannot find two ghosts that are compatible with each other until they are killed by the backlash of the rules. Ye Yao and Te Rang are Yu Ziqian's life's work, but they are just for you. To be honest, I am quite jealous of you."

But there is no point in being jealous. Everything is determined by fate and cannot be controlled by humans.

"This, is really..." Feng Yuxu was in a complicated mood. The excessive amount of information made her a little overwhelmed and she didn't know what to say.

Yu Ziqian's story has come to an end. From his first encounter with strange events to becoming an ascender, and then to his death, a short period of five years condensed into this final night of madness, but in the end, it became a wedding dress for others.

The ordinary world revealed an extraordinary corner to her, and Feng Yusu only felt a sense of emotion and confusion.

Suddenly a crisp sound brought her back to reality. Feng Yuxu looked up and saw Ning Zhe hunched over the table with his head down, curled up in pain. The wine glass had fallen to the ground and shattered into pieces.

"Ningzhe!" Feng Yushu suddenly panicked. She stood up and walked to Ningzhe's side, holding his shoulders with concern: "What's wrong with you?"

Ning Zhe raised his head, and a confusion of facial features appeared on his pale face. Several different pairs of eyes were rolling around in his face. Bright red lips opened from his ears, revealing white and neat teeth in a playful smile. Dark green snake scales grew out layer by layer from Ning Zhe's neck, and fine bird feathers scrambled out of his pores like spring buds breaking through the ground.

"Ning, Ning Zhe..." Feng Yusu's palms began to tremble. She could feel that Ning Zhe was turning into a strange monster.

This sudden change left her at a loss. From Hejia Village to Taoyuan City, Feng Yusu had gradually become accustomed to relying on this young man who seemed to know everything and could do everything. No matter what desperate situation she encountered, she would feel at ease as long as he was by her side. As long as he was still there, everything would be over.

Ning Zhe was the first person who brought her a sense of security and belonging, and was the only harbor where she could relax and rely on in the endless storm. However, when strange and terrifying changes began to occur in this only harbor, Feng Yushu finally realized how powerless she was. Ning Zhe had helped her so much, but she could not give anything in return, and could not even slightly alleviate his pain. She could only stand aside and worry.

"Aunt……"

Ning Zhe's clear voice was very inconspicuous amid the laughter of women and the hissing of snakes, but Feng Yusu still keenly heard his call.

Feng Yushu grabbed Ning Zhe's hands, which had turned into a pair of bird claws, and said in a trembling voice: "Ning Zhe, what's wrong with you? I, I want to help you, I want to help you no matter what... But I don't know, Ning Zhe, what should I do? Ning Zhe, what can I do to help you?"

Ning Zhe's bird claws clenched suddenly, and the sharp nails pierced a series of deep bloody holes in her hands.

"Give...give me a mirror." Ning Zhe said intermittently.

"Mirror? A mirror? I see, Ningzhe, I'll find it for you right away, Ningzhe..." Feng Yushu didn't care about the pain of her palm being pierced. She frantically took out a small makeup mirror from her small leather bag with her left hand that was not caught by the bird's claws, opened it, and handed it to the increasingly deformed monster.

The humanoid monster made up of various features slowly raised its head, and the small mirror reflected a face densely covered with different human facial features.

"I am Ning Zhe." Ning Zhe whispered to himself in the mirror.

"I am also Ning Zhe." He said again.

"We are all Ningzhe." All the mouths on his face made a sound together.

This strange and terrifying scene was enough to scare anyone to death, but there was no fear or terror in Feng Yusu's eyes when she looked at him, only deep worry and haggardness.

Gradually, the wriggling organs and biological features on Ning Zhe's body slowly subsided. His body was no longer horribly bloated. The twisted and deformed monster turned back into the calm and peaceful boy in front of the dining table, just as usual.

Ning Zhe let go of Feng Yusu's bloody hand, sat down on the chair and let out a long sigh of relief.

"Are you okay?" Feng Yusu asked immediately with concern, ignoring her bleeding palm.

"It's okay, Auntie, it's okay for now."

Ning Zhe closed his eyes, the blood vessels on his forehead throbbing slightly, and he said softly:
"I just stamped myself with the idea that 'I am Ning Zhe'."

The tide is coming in Taojiang River, and today I know who I am.

(End of this chapter)

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