Chapter 23

The black shadow bound by water struggled fiercely on the ground. It seemed unable to comprehend how such slippery water could exert such binding force.

Ye Zheng crouched down and carefully observed the black shadow.

The moment she clearly saw its face, her pupils contracted.

The pitch-black, paper-thin shadow actually had fleshy, three-dimensional facial features. Slightly protruding eyeballs stared motionlessly at her.

She could confirm that when she first saw the black shadows, they were merely flat black sheets—without these strange, scalp-tingling features.

Ye Zheng frowned uncomfortably. The shadow was instantly sliced in half by the water—upper and lower body separated.

She looked down, her gaze icy as she examined the bisected shadow on the ground. They actually wriggled toward each other and soon reassembled, restored to normal.

“As expected of shadows—they recover easily.”

“But why do you grow human features? I don’t think this is evolution.”

The shadow turned its pitch-black eyeballs. On its thin, paper-like face, the protruding lips opened and closed, actually producing a labored voice.

“We… we… seek… direction… for survival.”

Hearing the shadow actually respond to her words, Ye Zheng’s lips parted slightly in surprise—she was momentarily at a loss for words.

This was her first time communicating intelligently with an Aberrant Realm creature. In past realms, the monsters she encountered were low-intelligence beings—unable to communicate directly, just like animals.

“Why are you here? How exactly did you arrive?”

The shadow slowly uttered words. “Survival… just as you kill us… to survive.”

"This is human territory. We do not welcome invaders."

"Invaders... This land, who is its true owner?"

"Hypocritical, cunning, affected. You, us, there is no difference."

The black shadow's words became increasingly fluent, and the features on its face grew clearer. Ye Zheng had already recognized it—this was the face of a member from the first academy team in the upper district.

The shadows could not only copy the original's abilities but also gradually grow to resemble the original's appearance—could it be that they could eventually replace the originals?

Ye Zheng's mind wavered for a moment. The black shadow seized the opportunity to break free from the water's restraint. Its black palm had already gained thickness and fiercely lunged toward the person's neck in front of it.

The person it copied possessed the 【Impact】 ability, which could cause powerful shocks to either the ground or human bodies. As long as it touched this person, that person would immediately shatter into pieces!

In the flash of lightning, the black shadow's hand successfully touched the boy's fragile neck as it wished, yet the head it despised did not explode as it had expected. It turned its black eyeballs upward, meeting the boy's downward gaze.

From this person's eyes, it could detect no fear or panic. Those green eyes shimmered with fine fragments of light, like an insignificant breeze brushing over a vast lake, causing the lake to ripple with a touch of pity. In that instant, it seemed to have learned another human word... compassion.

"You're right. Humans are just one link in the food chain. Killing you has no justice or heavenly reason. We merely want to live selfishly, that's all."

The black shadow's palm tightened slightly. It was clearly gripping the boy's neck, and the sensation... yes, it had already evolved human touch. The touch told it that beneath its palm right now was not fragile human skin and bones, but a flowing, soft mass of water. It was this unremarkable water that neutralized its powerful impact.

"Sorry, from the standpoint of being human, I choose a narrow sense of justice. Please all disappear."

A sighing female voice drifted by its ears, but the black shadow's attention was entirely on its own arm. Water flowed along the hand choking the human's neck, gradually climbing and wrapping around its arm, then enveloping its cheeks.

The perception it had only recently gained was annihilated in the water. It could no longer smell the air, nor clearly see the human's face. Its mouth opened only to release feeble bubbles of water foam. From the human memories it had copied, its remaining thoughts extracted the word "suffocation."

It was suffocating to death.

"I cannot eliminate shadows, but humans are always adept at killing their own kind."

"So, why become human? Full of flaws, it's not something good at all."

Ye Zheng spoke casually, her tone carrying a hint of self-mockery and confusion. The voice dissipated like bubbles in the water, yet the black shadow still struggled to hear the human's words.

In its final moments, it thought: if humans are worthless, why would this person kill it for the sake of humans?

Unfortunately, it could no longer experience more as a human. The black shadow evaporated under the glaring sunlight, leaving only a puddle of water on the cracked ground.

Ye Zheng straightened her body. Traces of water remained on her fingertips. She flicked her hand and turned without lingering to walk in another direction.

"System, that black shadow was too much like a human. Is this what killing feels like?"

『I have never killed a person or a monster, but you don't need to have any psychological burden. That was just a monster pretending to be human.』

『It's a pity though. The manga's focus is on the protagonist group. Otherwise, such a spectacular battle scene would definitely gain a lot of fans...』

"I have no psychological burden. I know it had to die, so even if it resembled a human more, I could still strike decisively."

Before the system could sort out the meaning of Ye Zheng's words, it saw the girl reveal a brilliant smile. She usually smiled reservedly and rarely let it out like this.

"Let's go. Next, I'll kill my own shadow."

Ye Zheng walked quickly in one direction.

『This place is so big. How do you know where your shadow is?』

The system set aside the previous unimportant topic and asked curiously.

"This is the eastern district of the lower district, the most prosperous area in the lower district."

"But here, there is a place of dead silence."

The boy's figure shuttled through the complex alleys, as if very familiar with the terrain here.

"Honor Cemetery, commemorating the 300 people who were sacrificed in the Blood Flower Incident."

The silent cemetery was devoid of human voices. Large expanses of gray-white tombstones appeared even more lonely under the blazing sun.

Only then did the system realize that this was the place where Ye Zheng's in her real identity had met Pei Xi last time, and it was also the place that carried painful memories for both of them.

It recalled the original manga's description of the Blood Flower Incident and quieted down, leaving the time to Ye Zheng.

"Every time I come to the lower district, I bring a bouquet of flowers for Grandma and Grandpa. This time—"

She stopped in front of a tombstone engraved with two people's names. Below it, someone had placed a fresh bouquet.

"I knew that the shadow which copied my memories would definitely come to this place."

Ye Zheng turned her head. A black shadow in a white dress stood quietly behind her.

The black shadow already had considerable thickness, with clear features. The simulated black hair fell smoothly, but its height was slightly shorter, appearing only about fourteen years old.

As expected, it manifested her appearance as Ye Zheng. Ye Zheng's gaze flickered slightly, wondering if anyone had seen this shadow before her.

"Blood flowers bloom in the very center, three hundred people come to fill it, the blood flower eats its fill and explodes, flesh and blood melt into one big family..."

The black shadow opened its mouth and sang the most popular nursery rhyme from ten years ago. Ye Zheng's expression remained unchanged as she quietly listened to its cheerful singing.

It sang for a while and then stopped. "Why aren't you angry?"

The black shadow turned its pitch-black eyeballs, staring at the tombstone. "There's clearly nothing inside. All those swallowed by the blood flower became the river of blood that dyed the entire eastern district red. Not even bones remain."

"So why do you always bring flowers here?"

"I don't understand. I imitated you and brought a bouquet too, but I felt nothing."

Ye Zheng squatted down and picked up the fresh bouquet. Her gaze carried a hint of nostalgia as her fingers gently touched the flower stamens.

"That was thoughtful of you. This flower shop is the one Grandma used to love buying from."

"By the way, did you pay? Taking without asking isn't right."

The black shadow's pitch-black features seemed to twitch. Though it didn't understand humans, this original in front of it was still too beyond its comprehension.

"You should be furious and immediately strike to eliminate me. Why are you so calm?"

"Why do you bring flowers?"

Ye Zheng asked in return.

"Because after you copied my memories, you saw something more interesting and even ignored your invasive instincts for it."

The black shadow said nothing. On that eerie pitch-black face, a trace of human-like sadness appeared. Ye Zheng sighed. She stepped closer to the black shadow, seeing features resembling her own, feeling a strange sensation in her heart.

"I'm going to kill you as you wish."

Her fair and slender hand touched the pitch-black face. Water from her fingertips flowed against the contours, like tear tracks falling from a black bronze statue.

"My memories made you uncomfortable, didn't they? Becoming human is a painful thing, so you gave up."

Ye Zheng lowered her head. The black shadow engraved with her teenage features raised its head, meeting her gaze. In a daze, she seemed to see her childhood self—pure, ignorant, and confused. So she controlled the water to form sharp cone-like spikes, pressing them against the shadow's temple.

"You have grown a complete brain. I'll let you die in the easiest way."

With a whoosh, the black shadow widened its eyes and fell beside the tombstone. Under the sunlight, its black body melted until it evaporated.

The system watched all this in silence. It hadn't expected Ye Zheng's shadow to be like this... No wonder this shadow didn't appear in the original plot.

The Blood Flower Incident was the trigger for the male protagonist Pei Xi's ideals. Because he experienced this as a child, he resolved to change everything.

As for Ye Zheng experiencing the same, from the manga's author's creative intent, it was to give her and the male lead shared memories, so she could understand Pei Xi, console him, reasonably warm up their relationship, and set up a gentle beauty to provide comfort to Pei Xi.

Therefore, the system hadn't thought deeply about what impact this event had on Ye Zheng herself.

"System, do you know about the blood flower?"

Of course the system knew. Ten years ago, an S-level aberrant realm appeared in the lower district—a hopeless death trap. There were no other monsters in that aberrant domain, only a massive, thirty-meter-tall crimson flower that constantly devoured humans. No one could stop its power, even though S-level experts from the royal family and the Church were inside.

There was the current Pope's younger brother and royal family members. At that time, it was popular among upper-district nobles to go to the lower district to farm aberrant realms for experience. It was after this incident that upper-district ability users no longer easily set foot in the lower district.

"To satisfy the blood flower's appetite, they herded nearby residents into the aberrant realm until it overate and exploded. Those noble and powerful upper-district ability users escaped safely, covered in ordinary people's flesh and blood."

"I watched with my own eyes as they walked out, celebrating and cursing, covered in my relatives' flesh and blood."

"And afterward, these people became heroes. The empire proclaimed that they had killed the blood flower, and those residents had voluntarily sacrificed themselves to help eliminate the aberrant realm."

The girl narrated calmly, yet the system felt somewhat uneasy. It didn't know what to say. To it, this was just a setting in the manga, but for the living Ye Zheng standing here, it was an etched-in-bone scar.

『I know this must be hard to let go. You and Pei Xi both went through this. You can work together to change this terrible world...』

The system's voice grew weaker. It felt its words were very reasonable, but for some reason, looking at Ye Zheng's expressionless face, it felt it shouldn't have said that. Experiencing the same thing as Pei Xi didn't mean they could understand each other. After a long while, Ye Zheng's eyelashes fluttered slightly, like a statue coming to life.

"Let's go. Having dealt with the biggest hidden danger, I should return to the team."

『By the way, do you need to relax a bit or something?』

She was so dedicated that even the system couldn't stand it.

Ye Zheng chuckled lightly. "Calculating the time, Pei Xi and the others should have caught up to those three shadows."

"It's almost my turn to appear and provide reactions of surprise, admiration, and doubt for Pei Xi."

"Oh right, I also need to go pay for that bouquet."

✧✧✧✧✧

Several young people were chasing three shadows. Unexpectedly, upon turning a corner, the three shadows all vanished. They tacitly gathered together, preparing for a possible attack from the shadows. Rhythmic footsteps sounded from not far away. Pei Xi, highly alert, turned her head.

The mysterious and nimble boy like a black cat waved at them. His face remained calm and gentle, but he could see a trace of fatigue, even his gentle eyes carrying a slight chill. He must have gone through intense battles, Pei Xi thought guiltily. Next time, they must fight side by side. Leaving Zhao Mei alone was still too hard.

"Zhao Mei!"

Lu Qi excitedly ran toward the boy, circling him to check. Suddenly, she lifted Zhao Mei's right arm. "You have several scratches here. Why didn't you heal yourself?"

Ye Zheng glanced at it. It should have been from fighting the shadow with the impact ability, scratched by shattered stones from the ground. It would probably heal on its own soon. She gave Lu Qi a soothing smile and casually made up a reason. "It's fine. I'll heal it once my ability recovers."

Lu Qi looked at the quiet and fragile boy, her amber eyes trembling. Even her ponytail seemed to droop in heartache. Zhao Mei had pushed himself to this extent for them! Pei Xi and the others also gathered around, their gazes toward the boy filled with worry, admiration, and respect.

Clearly unable to easily handle that monster, yet for the sake of protecting more people, he shouldered everything with his slender body. What virtue allowed them to meet such a noble friend in the competition!

"Zhao Mei, from now on, let's all act together!"

"Aberrant realms are too dangerous. Put your own safety first."

"Do you want to rest first? We'll take down those three right away!"

Ye Zheng felt a bit breathless being surrounded, not knowing what they had misunderstood, but it seemed not a bad thing.

Suddenly, Pei Xi's eyes sharpened. he lowered her voice to warn, "The shadows are coming!"

Everyone's expressions changed as they vigilantly summoned their abilities.

Ye Zheng watched the protagonist group like a bystander, silently thinking in her heart: Okay, next prepare to show expressions of panic, admiration, and surprise.

✧✧✧✧✧

It was Friday night again. High school student Li Yixin finally got her phone. Because she was traumatized by Pei Xi and Ye Zheng's plot last time, she decided to check the forum first to see the situation before deciding whether to read the new chapter.

Upon opening the forum, several hot posts that caught her eye were surprisingly all about her newly favored character—Zhao Mei!

【High-definition restoration! Zhao Mei's stunning beauty!】

【A real little angel has appeared! Zhao Mei, you are an angel baby...】

【Discussion: What exactly is Zhao Mei's background?】

【Mysterious, powerful, and kind. Can Zhao Mei become one of the top three popularity gods in Throne of the Aberrant Realm?】

What? The new chapter is Zhao Mei's spotlight? Then she had to savor it frame by frame to soothe her fragile heart wounded by the suspected female lead Ye Zheng last week.

Li Yixin held her phone expectantly and opened the new chapter of the manga.