The moonlight was perfect, clear and transparent. The time had arrived at 10:15 PM, with less than two hours remaining until the arrival of the Ghost Night.
Xu Mu picked up his hunting knife and emotionlessly severed half of Feng Tianzhu's head, ending the man's life. He then sat down on the corpse.
Feng Tianzhu's words echoed in Xu Mu's mind as he closed his eyes in deep thought.
Should he save Fengqing Village, where he grew up, or the extraordinary individuals who were precious to the entire Ghost Night? This was indeed a difficult question.
"On Planet Blue, there's a famous problem: If your mother and lover fell into the water at the same time, who would you save first?"
Charles floated out of Xu Mu's body, pacing leisurely in the space.
He had wanted to ask Xu Mu this question for a long time, but since Xu Mu had no mother and no lover, and the girl from the Li family had feelings for him, yet he paid her no mind, it would have been a wasted question!
Charles felt helpless, but now a similar dilemma had arisen, and he was curious about Xu Mu's choice.
"There's nothing to choose."
"Remember what the book said?" Xu Mu stood up and took a deep breath. "When faced with a choice, egoists tend to save those who can maximize their own interests, while utilitarians tend to save those who contribute more to society."
"From these two perspectives, it's best to save the people from the Demon Eradication Division. I have no connection with the others in Fengqing Village, while the supernaturals of the Demon Eradication Division are not only saviors in this chaotic world but also potential teachers on my cultivation path."
"Moreover, I still need to kill Vilithan. He is clearly the mastermind."
A flicker of fire appeared in Xu Mu's eyes, as if he had already made his decision.
Charles remained silent. In this light, abandoning Fengqing Village seemed like the correct, rational choice.
"However," Xu Mu suddenly smiled mysteriously and continued, "I am neither an egoist nor a utilitarian."
Xu Mu took out a pen from his pocket and placed it in his palm:
"Since I don't know how to choose, I'll leave the choice to fate. You know, I'm an egalitarian, and I should uphold equality and freedom."
As Xu Mu spoke, he spun the pen between his right thumb and index finger.
"Whichever way it points, you go that way?"
In the darkness, Charles pondered. He found Xu Mu's approach intriguing.
Was it too hasty, though?
"Of course, I'm just kidding."
As the pen was about to stop spinning, Xu Mu gently closed his five fingers, caught the pen, and put it back in his pocket.
Charles understood Xu Mu's intention and said,
"The moment you flipped the coin, you knew your heart's desire? You've learned well."
Xu Mu nodded slightly. "Vilithan can be killed later, and cultivation can be done slowly. I've waited for so long, and I don't mind this one opportunity. But if Fengqing Village is gone, the last trace of Uncle Kui in this world will also be gone. I was recommended by Uncle Kui to be the night watchman, and I cannot do this."
Looking at the boy's sincere face, Charles nodded with satisfaction. Reason and emotion coexisting, this was fitting for his host.
"Besides, even if I went to West Mountain, it might not be useful. The people in the Demon Eradication Division are all highly skilled, and there's even a supposed transmigator among them. I don't believe anything will happen to them."
As Xu Mu spoke, he carefully inspected the center of the altar, confirming that nothing special had been left behind. He then took out the incendiary bomb he had brought before leaving.
He didn't understand what the inscriptions on the altar meant, nor what the Totem Church wanted with it.
Xu Mu only knew that his enemies needed this altar, so destroying it was sufficient.
*Click!* The stopper was pulled out, instantly disrupting the balance inside the incendiary bomb. Xu Mu then hurled it with force into the center of the altar.
It was a depression from which a ghost had once emerged.
*Boom!*
Flames erupted instantly, illuminating the entire space. Charles, bathed in the inferno, looked comfortable:
"Fire purifies evil; this is an eternal truth. Even the darkest things will be burned by science."
"Although the formation here is not destroyed, without the altar, even if it is activated, it will be meaningless."
...
As the flames roared, countless evil spirits' screams turned to ashes. Xu Mu took out some bandages from his pocket and, by the firelight, carefully dressed his wounds. He then took a deep breath, ready to leave this place.
However, suddenly, illuminated by the dancing flames, Xu Mu noticed that his shadow seemed to have become much darker than before.
It was as if it had overlapped with someone else's shadow.
"The person is dead, but the ability still exists?"
Xu Mu immediately realized that this shadow was the ability Feng Tianzhu had used to restrain him, and at the last moment of his life, it had also served as his mouthpiece.
"This is unscientific," it was Charles's turn to say this. He had seen many kinds of abilities, but never one so miraculous.
The ability user was dead, yet it still existed?
Xu Mu looked at the shadow on the ground and curiously took a few steps. He found that the shadow always moved with his body.
"In this world, one truly cannot talk about science lightly."
Xu Mu crouched down and tried to touch the shadow with his hand. To his surprise, the shadow suddenly crawled onto his body along his finger.
But this time, unlike the shadow flow that Feng Tianzhu had released earlier, this shadow had no weight. In fact, Xu Mu suddenly felt that his vision in the darkness seemed to have become much clearer.
Was it the effect of this shadow?
"Perhaps, you want to follow me?" Feeling this change, Xu Mu was somewhat excited and quickly asked the question.
The shadow could not speak, but it immediately slid to the ground and assumed a posture of submission.
Xu Mu beamed with joy.
Before tonight, he had been worried about being just an ordinary person. After witnessing the terror of Bai Tong, his desire to become a supernatural became even more urgent.
He had initially thought that absorbing dark energy tonight would be his greatest achievement. He never expected that by chance, he would also gain his own ability!
This meant that from now on, he, Xu Mu, was also a supernatural!
"I can see so clearly, so I don't need night-vision goggles anymore, right!" Xu Mu grinned, looking at the eye-like equipment that had fallen near the altar. Wearing it made everything look green and uncomfortable, and his right eye had been damaged by a sniper rifle.
With the help of the shadow ability, this item seemed rather redundant.
"It seems so. If you don't need them anymore, then they can indeed be discarded."
Charles had no objection. Neither he nor Bai Tong Xu Mu needed the goggles. They had been made purely to practice Bai Tong's operating skills.
"I still have some internal injuries, but it's no big deal. A little over an hour is enough to get back to the village."
Xu Mu closed the map and then, without looking back, set off on the mountain path leading back to the village.
Tree shadows swayed, the mountain path was rugged, and he was injured, yet he pressed on resolutely.
Because he was Xu Mu, the night watchman of Fengqing Village.
...