Yuan Zhi tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep. He had experienced that dream more than ten times.
"I am guilty, what crime have I committed..."
Finally, he got out of bed, walked to the door, and sat on the concrete steps in front of it, lighting a cigarette.
Ever since he returned to his hometown, everything seemed to have changed. His once normal way of life was considered an unforgivable sin in the eyes of others.
And the recurring dream made him feel a chilling sense of unease.
He had suspected he was mentally unwell, but there were no psychiatrists in this town, so he had no way to verify it.
"No, I can't go on like this anymore. I'll leave here and go back to the city tomorrow."
Yuan Zhi made a decision and called his son, who lived in the city, to explain the situation.
After hanging up the phone, as he stood up, he saw his wife, Yan Lisha, standing behind him, looking down at him.
Her eyes held disdain and disgust, but not a shred of the marital care that should have been there.
"What's wrong, you can't sleep either?" Yuan Zhi was startled and said with a dry laugh.
Yan Lisha glanced down at Yuan Zhi and then said to him, "Why are you leaving? Are you trying to escape your sins?"
"I just don't understand, what sin have I committed?"
Yuan Zhi stood up, suppressed his anger, and asked Yan Lisha in a low voice. After these days of staying in the small town, he was on the verge of a mental breakdown.
Yan Lisha tilted her head slightly and looked at Yuan Zhi with a hint of pity. "You are truly beyond hope."
"You're the one who's hopeless, stop looking at me like that!"
Yuan Zhi finally couldn't stand it and roared at Yan Lisha. Yan Lisha's questioning was like a fuse, igniting all the pressure he had accumulated over the past few days.
"I don't understand what's wrong with all of you people. It's like everything I do is wrong, and even what I wear is criticized... You..."
"Don't talk so loudly, don't disturb others' sleep," Yan Lisha put a finger to Yuan Zhi's lips, stopping him from shouting further.
Yuan Zhi roughly pushed Yan Lisha's hand away. "I'm really fed up. You're crazy, everyone in this town is crazy. I'm leaving today, I'm not staying in this hellhole anymore!"
He rushed into the house, put on his clothes, grabbed some money, and stormed out of the house. To his surprise, a circle of people stood outside his yard.
They were the nearby neighbors, woken up by Yuan Zhi's shouting.
But Yuan Zhi only found these people vaguely familiar, he didn't recognize any of them.
Because apart from their faces and names, these people were all the same, without any distinguishing features to make Yuan Zhi remember them.
They all stared blankly at Yuan Zhi, as if he were a social outcast.
Seeing so many people gathered outside his house, Yuan Zhi felt a prickle of fear, but fueled by his anger, he wasn't overly intimidated.
"What are you all looking at? Can't a couple argue? Go back home!"
Those people didn't react to Yuan Zhi's words. Instead, their expressions became even more pitying.
"This man is so pitiful."
"His wife is also pitiful, to have such a husband."
"He's so disgusting..."
Everyone's eyes were the same as his wife's!
Listening to the hushed whispers, Yuan Zhi couldn't hold back any longer. He let out a meaningless roar, pushed through the crowd, and walked out.
"As long as I leave here, I won't have to deal with these lunatics anymore."
Yuan Zhi walked out angrily. As he passed by each house, the lights inside would turn on, and the streetlights would also illuminate.
Wherever he went, it was as if everything was brightly lit, and it was two o'clock in the morning!
Behind those lights, there seemed to be a uniform face, condemning Yuan Zhi in a monotonous manner.
In the darkness, people tend to fear.
But this baseless brightness made Yuan Zhi even more fearful, as if an icy chill had taken over him.
The situation was clearly not right, it felt like some strange force was targeting him.
Yuan Zhi stood in the light, unsure whether to continue walking. It was late at night, and without a car, he could only rely on his legs to go far.
So he sighed and decided to return to town to get his car first.
"Maybe I was just confused by anger earlier, but I definitely can't stay in this place. If I stay any longer, I'll go crazy."
But suddenly, Yuan Zhi froze. He realized he was standing in front of the town's church!
The angel statue on the church's dome seemed to shine like the sun, and a familiar voice echoed.
"You... are guilty!"
This was the same angel's voice he heard in his dreams!
"Why am I hearing this voice, seeing this light? Am I dreaming, or have I truly gone mad?"
Yuan Zhi covered his head, feeling that everything was utterly absurd.
Suddenly, beneath the angel statue, a phantom figure formed from illusory light, holding a long sword, walked step by step towards Yuan Zhi.
Yuan Zhi suddenly froze, knelt on the ground, his eyes losing their luster, and muttered, "I admit my sins. I stole apples from my neighbor when I was little, and I peeked at the neighbor's daughter bathing when I was older..."
The phantom angel reached Yuan Zhi, raised its long sword, and was about to strike.
Suddenly, the pendant on Yuan Zhi's chest shattered. He instantly regained his senses, and then ran and scrambled away from the church grounds. The angel did not pursue him.
He ran for a while before stopping in despair. The town was surrounded by high walls, with only one exit in front of the church. Sultan Novel Network
"It's not my problem after all, it's that church's problem. That's not an angel, it's a demon!"
A tall, stout man in white clothes walked up to him, looking at him with a smile.
Seeing this person, tears suddenly welled up in Yuan Zhi's eyes. This person's gaze towards him was different!
"Save me, I..."
The stout man stopped him, saying, "You've angered the angel, I can't help you. But there's a detective named Wen Wen staying at the town's hotel. He's a demon hunter, you can seek his help, it's your only chance."
After saying that, the stout man left without regard for Yuan Zhi's pleas.
Hope flickered in Yuan Zhi's eyes, and he softly whispered a name, "Wen Wen..."
...
In the hotel, Wen Wen, who had finished reading a novel, was exercising.
With one hand behind his back, he extended two fingers on the other hand and performed push-ups.
Even without using any enhancements, Wen Wen no longer looked like a human.
He completed the push-ups at a rate of two per second for seven or eight minutes before feeling slightly tired.
With each monster he contained, Wen Wen's body grew subtly stronger. By now, relying solely on his physique and trained sword qi, Wen Wen was capable of teaching any disaster-level monster a lesson.
He even had a fighting chance against disaster-level monsters!
But this was not enough. Wen Wen's goal was to be able to survive well in the world of superhumans, even without the augmentation of the Disaster Containment Facility.
And for that, he needed at least the strength of the Assimilation Realm!