Inner Destroyer

　"You might be able to... enter her sight as prey..."

　These words made her heart skip a beat and her breathing hitch.

　The voice seemed to come from the depths of her soul, as if responding to her obsession, responding to all her anger, unwillingness, jealousy, and humiliation, stirring those negative emotions into a ball, turning them into boiling black mud, filling her already broken heart.

　It felt like all the thoughts that had ever flashed through her mind... were magnified tens of thousands of times at this moment.

　At the moment when her spirit was on the verge of collapse but could not collapse, at the moment when a terrible desire deep in her heart was about to awaken——

　"enough."

　Lin suddenly spoke up, stopping the shrine maiden who wanted to continue asking questions.

　The heat that had been rising from her body dissipated. Instead, she stared at Kito Reima with an icy gaze, then slowly spoke, "Let me ask you one last question—which is more important to you, the lives of the people or my approval?"

　These words actually made Lingzhen stunned for a moment. It even made the darkness in her heart, which was about to explode but was suppressed by Qi Xing, pause for a moment.

　"Of course I care about the lives of the people! Every exorcist who protects their land has this awareness!"

　Having said that, what Liezhen did was obviously unconvincing, and even she knew it.

　The more she talked about it, the more desperate she felt.

　"I—not everyone can be as righteous, noble, and kind as you, always right, and always putting the safety of the people first in everything!"

　He just wanted to prove himself, he just wanted to achieve something, he just wanted to be an ordinary good person, is there anything wrong with that? He, Guitou Liezhen, is not a saint!

　However, to her surprise, Lin frowned and asked her, "Who told you that I'm kind and always right?"

　ah? ah? !

　Ling Zhen was finally a little confused: "Then why did you tie your hands and feet to protect civilians and let us beat you to the point of almost overturning the car..."

　"Because I like it."

　Lin answered calmly, his eyes calm, as if stating a natural fact.

　This clear and concise sentence made the surrounding priestesses look embarrassed, surprised Qi Xing, and completely confused Ling Zhen.

　Then Qi Xing couldn't help but complain: "Do you like being tied up and almost flipping over to protect civilians?"

　"of course not!"

　Lin frowned and said,

　"Of course I prefer to just beat up the bad guys. But I don't want to be the kind of person who lets people die just to beat up the bad guys."

　"I don't want to become the kind of person I hate. That's all."

　"Why are you looking at me like that? Why do you act like I'm a bad person? Isn't it okay to save someone just because you like them?"

　Seeing Lingzhen staring at her blankly, and even Qixing staring at her blankly, Lin finally couldn't help it and said angrily, "I'm not born to be a savior! I just hate people bullying others, and I just want to beat up those "disgusting evils", is that okay?"

　Therefore,

　"Kito Retsujin."

　So she turned around and said to the still stunned feminized victim,

　"I'm not interested in watching your heroic drama."

　"But you don't need my approval, and you don't need to perform for anyone else."

　Her voice was very soft, but it was like a sharp blade passing across the joints, so cold that it could cut through the knot.

　“Just help whoever you can right now.”

　"The Northeast isn't for you. Once everything settles and you're no longer a danger, I'll grant you the status of an exorcist."

　Lin said lightly, her sky-blue eyes as calm as the sky, without pity, anger, or even disgust.

　"There are many places in Hokkaido. The Onmyoji Bureau is understaffed, and I can't travel that far. You wouldn't think Hokkaido is too rural and refuse to go, would you?"

　Lingzhen opened her mouth, but couldn't say a word.

　She never thought she would hear such words in such a situation.

　Kamigorin—the man she had always considered her target, the one she had always hated, resented, and envied—actually said to her in such an unbelievably calm tone, "You don't need my approval, and you don't need to put on a show for anyone."

　She is even thinking about her own future.

　She obviously had no reason to do so.

　If it were someone else, if it were her family, if it were one of those demon-fighting families, they would have regarded her as a complete loser, or even a stain, and would have wanted to erase her from the family history.

　But Shingorin didn't care about her "failure" at all from beginning to end.

　She didn't even care about who she was or what she had done.

　She only cares about what she can do in the future.

　Staring blankly at Lin, the huge shadow that had once weighed on Lingzhen's heart, the jealousy and resentment that tormented her. Even that charming voice had been silent for some time.

　The darkness in her heart did not stir again.

　“Woo…

223

　... "

　Her throat seemed to be blocked and she couldn't make a sound, but tears flowed uncontrollably.

　Even though she wanted to hold back her tears, the harder she tried, the more she couldn't stop crying.

　She couldn't remember the last time she cried like this.

　Tears flowed from her filthy body, dripping onto the broken road surface, mixed with dust, but clearer and cleaner than ever before.

　083: Straightforward

　There's probably no need to go into too much detail about the official handling details that followed.

　The traces at the scene were quickly covered up by the official exorcist team as a "gas explosion"—a common cover-up tactic in the paranormal community. Cleanup trucks, repair teams, traffic controllers, and even a third-party investigation company arrived immediately. They had rehearsed the relevant contingency plan countless times.

　As for the unconscious citizens, after being purified and regaining consciousness, they had no recollection of why they fell, leaving only some vague fragments like dreams.

　In less than two hours, the entire street was "normalized," as if nothing had happened.

　The relevant departments immediately launched an investigation into the Qingshui Sacred Heart Hospital that Lingzhen had mentioned - but in the basement, they only found some remnants of cables, bolts, and contact slots. All the equipment was gone, not even the bloodstains left by Liezhen being beaten by Kong.

　Within three or four hours, at least tens of tons of equipment were moved away without anyone noticing, and there was no record of the relevant vehicles. I'm afraid this transportation was not accomplished by physical means at all.

　This is not an escape, but a well-prepared "evacuation".

　If Guitou Liezhen had not lost his mind and jumped out of the ventilation duct to try to save the girls, but instead honestly crawled out and called to report, perhaps the public exorcists would have had a chance to rescue the victims in the sink.

　If Reijin had really crawled out of the ventilation duct and called to report, he would definitely not have been captured and feminized by the white-robed priestess Ise. He might even have been able to directly ask Rin for a civil service exorcist position.

　As for now... Well, there's no point in talking about it after the fact.

　Fortunately, Lingzhen still provided an important clue that is very likely to influence the direction of the investigation.

　"Of the thirty tanks I saw, at least a dozen were people I knew or had heard of... girls from other demon-exorcist families."

　She stammered, adding in a low voice, very nervously,

　"One of them might be from a branch of our Guitou family."

　This left Lin silent for a long while.

　But what is even more disturbing is that so many priestesses "disappeared" collectively, and Rin, the "Guardian of the North", didn't receive any intelligence at all before?

　The reason is actually very simple - if these shrine maidens really "disappeared", there would be a report on the case, so Rin would certainly know about it. But are they really "disappeared"?

　These people may not have been captured at all... but rather "betrayed".

　If no one reports the case, naturally no one will investigate.

　Elsewhere, Qi Xing stood on the street corner, looking at the hospital surrounded by police cordons, and couldn't help but frown. "I remember that opening a hospital in Japan is quite difficult. How much would it cost to open a hospital of this size?"

　"Land, equipment, licenses, personnel... and such a large asset was abandoned without a trace. Where did all the money come from?"

　Money, even in the supernatural world, even in the absurd porn universe, is a very serious thing. Where do they get so much money?

　At the same time, who are the people who are in dire need of money right now?

　Not long after, Elaine and Lao Lang also arrived at the scene. After knowing what happened, Lao Lang was fine, but Elaine sighed directly: "This matter has become more and more serious."

　"I will immediately report this to the Papal Council and request assistance. I hope the Holy See will make a request to the Japanese government that this case involves Satanism, and we need to conduct a joint investigation."

　Compared to the Satanic cult, which possessed such terrifying potential, the fact that Shingorin possessed angelic powers was a minor issue for the Vatican. There were priorities. The Vatican wasn't so foolish as to not know which was which.

　"Are you sure it's a Satan-worshiping cult? Is it that serious?" Qi Xing rubbed his forehead and frowned, "But Satan is still lying on my head."

　Elaine shook her head. "That doesn't mean they can't gain dangerous powers through other means."

　Rather, in this absurd world, even without the intervention of the devil himself, there are probably enough ways to obtain dark power in absurd ways.

　"I think I killed that white-haired witch." Qi Xing pondered, "I feel like she was the leader. Shouldn't they be leaderless now?"

　"Hard to say."

　Elaine is not optimistic about this.

　Qi Xing was a super warrior, a powerful man. In the past, he only needed to kill people, and he was usually responsible for beheading them, destroying the main force of the cult, the strongest, and the leader.

　As a manager, Elaine knew that even though a cult was built on the personal charisma of its leader, it would often decline quickly once its head was chopped off—but "often" did not mean "absolutely," and "quickly" did not mean "immediately."

　Besides, they both knew that in this magical world, even if they were "killed once", they still had a way out.

　In any case, if a joint investigation is to be conducted, Kamigorin, the "Guardian of the North", will definitely be the one

224

　You have to nod first. When Qi Xing and Yi Lian walked over, they happened to see Lin listening to Ling Zhen tell her the last important information in her memory.

　"I saw all three of them. I've never seen the white-robed shrine maiden or the girl with the samurai sword before. But the third girl dressed as an Onmyoji, I just thought, I should know her."

　Lingzhen said nervously.

　This is really good news. Lin immediately said, "Tell me in detail."

　"It's the Kisaragi family's cocoon," Reima said sadly. "It's the Kisaragi family from Iwate Prefecture who, unwilling to accept the Onmyoji Bureau's control, secretly changed their profession to become a curse caster. But when they were exposed, you came and exterminated them."

　To strengthen their bloodlines, many demon-fighting families would choose to intermarry with one another or incorporate outstanding foreign sorcerers into their families. Families that actually engaged in inbreeding were actually quite rare, as such practices were too prone to self-destruction.

　The Kito family and the Kisaragi family in Iwate Prefecture are also distant relatives. When Kito Reshin was a child, he once saw his distant cousin Kisaragi at a family gathering.

　"Her hair was black and white, very distinctive. Once you see it, you'll never forget it. So when I saw her in the basement of the hospital, I remembered her immediately."

　Reijin explained.

　Lin's brows suddenly furrowed even tighter.

　Qi Xing had also heard Elaine tell this story before, so he asked her, "I thought you destroyed all the families that had embarked on evil paths?"

　"Ruyue Jian, I do remember her," Lin replied calmly. "She was younger than me at the time, and she wasn't involved in the crime. I couldn't possibly burn the energy of a thirteen-year-old with black flames."

　"Indeed." Qi Xing nodded, "But after her whole family was imprisoned, what did she do?"

　"I think he was sent to a foster care institution in Sendai."

　Sendai, the largest city in Japan's Tohoku region and technically under the jurisdiction of the "Hotland Guardian," is less than 300 kilometers from Rin's home. A flight for Rin takes only a dozen minutes. Normally, if there were a case, she'd definitely be there in time to fight the monsters. But if she really wanted to maintain the same meticulous control as back home, she simply couldn't achieve the precision she needed.

　What's more, the Japanese public administration efficiency is actually not very good.

　Now Lin immediately asked his subordinates to call and inquire - but when they asked, they found out that Ruyue Jian had disappeared last year!

　No one knew where she ran off to.

　"Why didn't anyone report it to me?"

　Lin looked so angry that he was about to smoke.

　"They're probably hiding it because they're afraid of being held accountable," Qi Xing said calmly. He'd traveled all over the world over the past decade and had seen many bastards like this. "Besides, with that white-haired witch's abilities, it would be really easy for her to kidnap someone without anyone noticing."

　That being said, all of the Ruyue family's cursed tools and inherited spells must have been burned by Lin's black fire. Just kidnapping a little girl, what could they possibly do with her?

　Out of curiosity, Qi Xing poked Ling Zhen, who was quite afraid of him, and asked her, "What kind of magic is the Ruyue family good at?"

　"Well, they used to be the best Yin-Yang magic doctors in the Northeast."

　Ling was really afraid that Qi would wake up and was terrified, so she quickly retreated.