"Did you guys hear? There's another victim in the serial killings in the old district."

August 8th, 12:30 PM. The summer heat made the streets feel like a steamer.

On the bustling street, a group of students, looking to be about seventeen or eighteen years old, stood under the trees on the pedestrian street.

The Hongcheng No.1 High School Class 2-1's barbeque restaurant gathering was about to begin. The young people, determined to relax one last time before the start of school, had managed to temporarily cast aside their pressures, drinking beverages and chatting amongst themselves.

"This morning's local news was all censored."

A girl with hair past her shoulders held up her phone, putting on a solemn expression as she said to her friends beside her, "I heard most of the victims' bodies are incomplete, some are even hard to identify... Guess which parts are missing?"

"Could you close your fragrant little mouth and show some respect for the dead!"

A tall girl, at least 1.8 meters tall with a waist-length ponytail, snapped, heavily slapping the other girl's shoulder and interrupting her. She glared, feigning anger, "We're going to a gathering, and you're talking about this? Are you planning to have me stuff bloody fatty meat down your throat later!"

"Wuuu, don't want to! I just wanted to rehearse my internship after I get into the 'Central Criminal Justice Academy'~"

Without a shred of guilt, the girl smoothed out her disheveled hair, adopting a serious expression and continuing, "Little Liu... it's said the victims' heads were chopped off cleanly, and even their skin was peeled off, hahaha."

After speaking, she ignored the 'already used to it but still finding it a headache' looks from her classmates and laughed to herself in a rather nasty manner.

—Someone like that would never pass the political and psychological tests!

"There have been so many murders lately. The 719 serial killings were only solved a few days ago."

A tall boy, half a head taller than most of the people there, overheard this.

He had been discussing future academy aspirations with Shao Qiming, but was now drawn to the girls' topic, interjecting, "My family lives in the old district. I heard the dead people are all elderly living alone, single women, guys who go out late at night... Basically, the killer is a coward who bullies the weak and fears the strong."

With his build, he actually sounded quite convincing saying that.

"Even if it's a coward who bullies the weak and fears the strong, they're still a crazy person who dares to kill. Don't be a tough guy, bring some more people with you when you go out lately, and be careful," a friend suggested with a frown.

"There are too many crazy people lately. The perpetrator of the 719 killings had already killed over a dozen people before being caught. I wonder if the police can catch this madman sooner," someone else said with worry.

And with this topic, everyone spoke at once, and the atmosphere became lively.

Recently, during this period close to the start of school, many strange rumors were emerging one after another, and there was also a slight increase in serious criminal incidents. Even high school students, who should be oblivious to things outside of school, knew a little due to their families' discussions and the general environment of panic and confusion.

Their discussion wasn't just idle gossip, it was also a way to comfort each other's fear and unease, using their peer group to numb themselves and deal with these 'abnormalities' happening around them.

"Speaking of which, what about Su Zhou? Aren't his family all cops?"

In the middle of the discussion, a girl suddenly thought of one of her classmates, a strange kind of horror enthusiast, "He must know some inside information!"

"He's not here today, said he's feeling a little unwell?"

Shao Qiming blinked, not very good at lying, he used a very unconvincing reason that even carried a question mark, "...seems like he's not feeling well, stomachache... just take it as real."

"He's sick? If he doesn't want to come, just say he doesn't want to come, this excuse is so lame. I've been going to the same middle school and high school with him for five years, I've never even seen him sneeze!"

"Wow, a virus that can make Brother Zhou sick, even unable to go out for barbeque? If there really is one, wouldn't everyone in the city be dead by now!"

"Give him a call to ask how he's doing. Without Brother Zhou performing his daily feat of eating a cow, solving twenty plates of beef tongue, twenty plates of short ribs, and thirty plates of fatty beef in an hour, it's no fun eating barbeque."

Nodding in agreement, a decisive classmate picked up his phone and dialed.

Didi didi...

"Awei? What's up?"

The call connected, and a somewhat low, muffled voice came from the other end, "Weren't you guys going to a gathering? Why do you have the time to call me?"

"Listening to this voice, you're actually really sick?!" The boy called Awei had an extremely shocked expression on the other end of the phone, "Is the world about to end?!"

And Shao Qiming, who knew some inside information, smiled wryly on the side.

—Daring to answer the phone at a time like this... you really are bold and skilled.

"Actually, it's nothing, just wanted to ask... sorry to bother your rest." This muffled nasal voice was definitely not fake. Awei felt a little embarrassed to be disturbing someone's rest, "It's just that, do you know anything about the murder case in the old district? After all, your family are all cops, is there any news?"

"If there's anything you're not comfortable saying, then don't, I'm just asking casually!" After speaking, Awei thought of something and quickly added.

"The murder case, huh..."

The voice on the other end of the phone, Su Zhou's, drew out the syllables, becoming meaningful, "This matter... bang!"

"Wait, something came up on my end, let's talk later."

Scene change.

A room filled with scattered photos and paper scraps, reeking of corpse rot and blood.

Everything had been knocked over, the tables and cabinets swept aside. In the center of the cleared floor was an elaborate array that seemed to be drawn with mercury, and at the core of the array was a middle-aged man bound tightly with nylon rope.

His mouth was taped shut, only his neck and eyes could move freely. This middle-aged man had originally been asleep, with a cross symbol painted on his forehead with holy water, giving him a clarity he hadn't felt in a long time.

But now, he was awakened by the sound of Su Zhou's voice, the man looked around, realizing his situation, and immediately began to struggle, making 'wu wu' sounds.

"Hoo!"

Just as he was struggling, a long spear swept across, bringing with it a gust of wind, the spiraling spearhead steadily pointing at the middle-aged man's forehead.

Purple-blue demonic flames burned at the spearhead, emitting a nebula-like radiance, also firmly silencing the middle-aged man's attempts to speak.

Forcing himself to lift his head, the middle-aged man saw a handsome young man shrouded in shadows, staring at him with an expression that was hard to tell whether it was pity or indifference. The pressure from the upper echelons of the Dragon Serpent spiritual energy made his body convulse, then completely collapse.

"You're awake."

Greeting him softly, and then picking up the phone again, Su Zhou put on a smile again, and said to the classmate on the other end of the phone, "Although there are a lot of things I can't say, I can tell you that the murder case in the old district is about to end - the killer has been found, and the news will probably broadcast it in a day or two."

Although he had a smile on his face, Su Zhou's eyes were indifferent, and if you didn't look at the terrifying situation around him, his relaxed and carefree tone really made him seem like a normal big boy.

After chatting with his classmate for a while, Su Zhou hung up the phone.

He twisted his wrist, using the spine of the spearhead to lift the middle-aged man's chin, raising his head and forcing him to look directly into his eyes.

Looking at the man's frightened, puzzled, and confused eyes, Su Zhou didn't feel any sadistic pleasure. There was even a deep sadness in his eyes.

"Li Zhi, marketing manager of Zhenghui Real Estate, originally lived in Building 9, 402 of Liyu Community, had a wife and daughter, lived in harmony, with no affairs or factors that would cause family instability, a happy and fulfilling life, everything was fine."

"But in the last three months, your wife suddenly moved away with your daughter, breaking off contact with you, and you also moved from Liyu Community to this old building in the old district, taking a long leave from the company... Do you know why?"

"Wu wu wu?!"

Listening to the other party's chaotic wails, Su Zhou nodded, calmly saying, "You must be wondering why such an ordinary person like you would encounter such a thing? Doing nothing wrong, yet being separated from your wife and children, and being targeted by someone like me?"

"Want to know the truth?"

"Wu wu wu!" Although the middle-aged man couldn't speak, he nodded desperately. He was completely confused, and coupled with the torment of recent days, his fragile spirit couldn't support thinking at all.

Faced with Su Zhou's question, what else could he do but agree? He could only nod desperately, wanting to die knowing why.

"Now. I'll tell you the truth."

Su Zhou had no intention of toying with him, he said directly, "You're already dead."

Under the middle-aged man's suddenly widened eyes, Su Zhou calmly revealed the entire truth, "Li Zhi, as a human being, you died five years ago. Since then, your soul has been devoured by a monster from the otherworld, the Dusk of the End, and your body has been occupied - the one listening to me now is not 'Li Zhi.' It is a 'protective shell' made by the Dusk True Demon using the remnants of his soul in order to lurk."

"Recently, spiritual energy has revived, and it has also awakened, causing you to go out and hunt living people every night, chopping off their heads and condensing their blood energy and souls, so that this demon can have more face options - in the future, it can abandon your face, which has little value left, and use the faces of others to hide in the city, stirring up unrest, suspicion, and destruction."

After finishing these words, Su Zhou put away his spear, he turned around, raised his hand, and pulled up the blinds that tightly covered the window, allowing the bright midday sunlight to shine into the room.

After Su Zhou finished doing all of this, he sighed long.

"I could have killed you a long time ago, but I've set a rule for myself, I will never harm innocent people who know nothing - at least, those that I think know nothing."

"So that the part of your soul that belongs to a human can rest in peace, you must know the truth."

Turning his head again, Su Zhou's side face was illuminated by the sunlight, revealing a sacred meaning, while the other side was in shadow, only his blue-purple dragon eyes could be seen releasing a cold spiritual light.

That expression, mixed with dread, compassion, and seeming to sigh, was directly reflected in the man's eyes.

"Wu, wu wu?! Wu wu!!"

With a look of astonishment, seeming to want to laugh, yet wanting to cry, the middle-aged man named Li Zhi frantically twisted his body, he looked at the seemingly merciful young man with hateful eyes, he didn't believe this absurd...

...

Wait...

The vocal cords, which hadn't spoken for a long time, moved, the throat, which had once swallowed so much blood, flesh and brains, wanted to vibrate, to make a sound.

A foul stench filled with rot and blood permeated from the deepest part of the body, surging to the nose and brain.

Li Zhi's gaze instantly became dull, his stomach instinctively wanted to retch, but he couldn't vomit anything... That's right, he hadn't eaten food or drank water for three months... Then how had he survived?

The moment the man began to doubt his own abnormality, there was a crisp cracking sound, echoing in the deepest part of his thoughts and soul.

Something rose from the deepest part of his spirit, from the center of the dregs, a memory obscured by some force, shone upon by the spiritual light released by Su Zhou, returning to the surface of Li Zhi's thoughts.

The man suddenly recalled the scene of 'his' death five years ago.

—It was a dusk where dark clouds were gradually accumulating, darker than night.

Humming a song, he took out the umbrella his wife had packed, his daughter had embroidered a cute pink rabbit on it - of course, it would leak a little water, but who cared about that!

"I wonder what my wife made tonight~"

And just as he was full of anticipation, holding an umbrella and returning home, just as torrential rain poured down, thick dark clouds obscured all sunlight, plunging everything into darkness.

An intangible shadow welled out from a rift in another world that had opened at some unknown time, enveloping him walking in the alley.

An indescribable evil invaded his body, devouring his soul and spirituality.

【Dusk True Demon】

A monster from another world, the lowest and most vile, rooted in destruction, doom, and dusk.

It uses the bodies and souls of intelligent life as incubation vessels, using the remnants of souls to create outer shells and skins like 'the current Li Zhi' to protect its fragile self before incubation - all the human remnants who have long died will not realize that they have already died, and will still hum a song to go home, spending the lurking period called 'embryo' with their wife, husband, children, and relatives.

【Everything is happening silently. I had already died.】

Li Zhi suddenly understood that he was already beyond redemption.

Recently, with the revival of spiritual energy, the True Demon awoke, 'it' gradually took over his body, and began to hunt and kill unconsciously, devouring the spirituality and flesh of other intelligent beings, strengthening the True Demon's true shell.

He had driven away his wife and daughter and moved alone because he sensed something was wrong with his condition...

Ah... I see... I... early...

As his thoughts were about to fall into pure nothingness, the man didn't know whether to cry or laugh, he didn't want to die, but he didn't want to turn into that kind of demon, harming his family.

But, was there a choice?

Just as Li Zhi was about to completely collapse and turn into a True Demon.

A hand reached out, tearing off the tape on the man's mouth.

Su Zhou seemed gentle, but actually forcibly stood the man up, facing him towards the sunlight, so that he could see the streets and people outside the window.

Su Zhou and Li Zhi looked out the window together, he calmly said, "Look at the sunlight."

"Look at the world."

Lastly...

"Look at the photo of your family of three."

The middle-aged man, whose gaze was gradually becoming lifeless, suddenly saw a photo of his family of three in front of him.

His daughter was jumping and cheering in the park, his wife was sitting on a chair beside her, smiling helplessly.

And himself, like a fool, was closely following behind his daughter, afraid she would fall.

This was a precious memory specially taken and preserved in physical form... The smiles of his wife and daughter appeared in his mind.

—Right... I can't, hurt them...

He recalled the scene where he arbitrarily found an excuse to fly into a rage, driving his wife and daughter back to his hometown... His wife, sensing that something was wrong with him and his hidden intentions, left with tears, but the last thing she said was to comfort her daughter, 'Daddy is just a little anxious, let's go play with Grandpa and Grandma in the countryside.'

She was truly a good wife, his partner for life. She might still be waiting for him to return to normal.

But she didn't know that 'Li Zhi' had already died five years ago.

Thinking this, a little bit of spirituality gradually returned to the man's eyes.

Then, he faced the sunlight and shed tears.

—Yes, I understand. In that case, my dying is the only release...

It's just...

What a... pity.

The man, with black air emerging from all seven orifices, turned his head with difficulty. Li Zhi looked at the expressionless Su Zhou, the stiff muscles on his face seemed to want to force out a smile.

He opened his mouth, seeming to want to say something, but in the end, no sound came out.

—Thank, thank you...

The last bit of human consciousness flickered in and out of 'Li Zhi's' soul. Then, accompanied by a sound like shattering glass, shadows spread, and the Dusk that poured out from the depths of his body took over this body.

He was transforming—completely transforming from a 'human,' from the inside out, being eroded and replaced by the 'Dusk True Demon,' becoming a node for the 'Dusk' to erode this world.

"Completely dead... Goodbye, no need to thank me."

Because this is the morality I adhere to.

Watching 'Li Zhi's' expression gradually recover from collapse to normal, and some strange纹路 (wénlù) [markings/patterns] began to appear on his body, with faint rays of light flashing, black air drifted like mist, enveloping the entire room.

Su Zhou couldn't help but sigh, as a lament for Li Zhi's last bit of human will.

Then, he solemnly threw Li Zhi's body back to the center of the array, and activated the mercury ritual that covered the floor.

Located in the center of the array, was a fragment of wood chips encased in a small crystal box.

"Purification ritual, lest you explode after death, polluting the area and harming others."

Pulling out a small bottle from his belt, Su Zhou haphazardly sprinkled nearly semi-solidified holy water, igniting the fire of spiritual power, turning it into water vapor, causing the white mist to fill the room.

And in the array, due to the rich divine spiritual power in the air, holy runes lit up one by one, and the blazing white light spread throughout the room, suppressing all the black air in the entire ninth floor back into the tightly bound demon body.

"Crack - creak!"

Accompanied by the creaking sound produced by bone friction, the still-humanoid 'Dusk True Demon' writhed violently due to the almost sulfuric acid-like corrosion of the holy water, seeming to want to break free from the seal, but the ropes that Su Zhou bound it with perfectly restrained all the points of force, even if this demon had the ability to reach the heavens, it couldn't do anything with this human body, unless it transformed into a grotesque异怪 (yìguài) [strange monster] body.

But it didn't have this opportunity.

"Rest in peace."

With blue-purple light flashing in his eyes, Su Zhou raised his spear and thrust it directly through 'Li Zhi's' head.

It could be seen that now, the fleshly body of this middle-aged man had undergone various abnormalities, with deformed meat strips and节肢 (jiézhī) [arthropods] breaking through his clothes, scraping the floor, and his slightly obese body had begun to transform, completely becoming the most ugly monster originating from the imagination of the host.

Even with a spear piercing through its head, such a monster did not die, it was still struggling, writhing, using its increasingly solidifying deformed meat strips to cut the ropes, wanting to regain its freedom.

"And you, you're going to die miserably!"

With spiritual light rising in his hand, Su Zhou didn't hesitate, he let go of the hand holding the spear, and directly grabbed the monster's head, pressing it firmly in place.

At this time, the Dusk True Demon's deformed body had almost broken free from the ropes, and the black air surrounding it was gradually overwhelming the light of the array.

But now, at the cross-shaped spearhead stuck in the True Demon, like the mandibles and tail stinger of a centipede, dazzling demon fire and holy light blazed. It burned fiercely, like fire igniting natural gas, instantly devouring all the black demon energy, turning it into its own nourishment!

The holy water mist, the purifying ritual, and the fiercely burning demon fire, supported by a constant stream of spiritual power, directly enveloped the entire True Demon魔躯 (móqū) [demon body], directly burning it into a black, dried corpse before it could even transform into its complete form!

Boom!

After losing its activity, this dried corpse seemed to still want to self-destruct, but the mercury in the purification array also released great spiritual light at this time, rising up as if it had its own life, completely sealing and enveloping the entire dried corpse, suppressing all the black air that intended to burst out, forcing it to shrink back into the range of the blue-purple magic fire, sizzling as it was scorched.

The black air dissipated, and the demonic nature was destroyed.

Before long, even the last bit of spirituality of this True Demon was completely destroyed in silence.

And a black light团 (tuán) [sphere/orb], the size of a human fist, appeared in the silent Su Zhou's hand.

【Dusk True Demon's Evil Soul】

【The soul of the Dusk True Demon that has not yet been fully born】

【An evil soul with the power of destructive demonic nature】

【After use, can increase a small amount of all-round mental resistance, strengthening soul韧性 (rènxìng) [tenacity/resilience]】

【Can also be transformed into an enchantment of 'Spirit of Madness' through spiritual煅烧 (duànshāo) [tempering/smelting], attached to all equipment and道具 (dàojù) [items/props]】

【Dusk True Demons are born from the guidance of nothingness】

【All超凡者 (chāofánzhě) [transcendent/supernatural beings] who intend to escape death are their natural enemies】

"Yala, True Demons, can they be completely killed off?"

In the long silence, holding this black evil soul that he hunted for the first time, Su Zhou didn't feel any joy, he asked his contractor in a soft voice.

"Perhaps."

And the snake spirit replied softly, with a thought-provoking meaning, "At least, the total number of them entering the mortal world cannot be infinite."

"That's good."

An extremely firm voice rang out, Su Zhou grabbed his long spear, pulled it out from the True Demon corpse that had already turned into ashes, he turned with his spear in hand, the corpse turned into smoke and dust behind him, and a spherical blood-colored crystal fell to the ground, rolling.

The superpower user who once looked forward to 'change,' but now clearly knew the 'price of change,' gazed at the sunny window, and behind him was a shadow filled with blood and corpses.

"I will hunt all the monsters." He said this, narrating his thoughts, "In the name of the Devourer of Evil Demons, with the spear in my hand, this hunt will continue forever."

"Until the end of 'demons'."

——This is a planet where humans and妖魔 (yāomó) [monsters/demons] coexist.

Evil gods erode the world through their眷族 (juànzú) [dependents/families], the monsters from the Dusk lurk in human bodies, and play with hearts and minds on the inside of shadows.

And visitors from outer space and other worlds hide in the crowd, observing this crazy world.

Su Zhou, an ordinary student, encountered a mysterious organization's祭祀 (jìsì) [ritual/sacrifice] during a trip.

Due to some accident, he possessed the ability to devour souls and become stronger.

From then on, he vowed to hunt the souls of邪魔 (xiémó) [evil spirits/demons] and sinners.

For any existence that can be called '邪魔 (xiémó) [evil spirits/demons]', he doesn't mind using the most evil means, nor does he care about anyone's opinion, whether it is虐杀 (nüèshā) [torture-killing/slaughter], traps, ambushes, or raids.

He will not hesitate to do it, in order to become stronger, in order to...

Justice.

In the name of justice alone, devour evil.

Unlike the ordinary exorcists spread all over the world, he is the only 'Evil God Hunter' in this world.
Chapter 1 Incident