Chapter 94

Chapter 96: The Hunter Association Needs Your Abilities

"I'm hungry."

Moyou's brainstorming was interrupted by a strong sense of hunger in his stomach.

After all, he had been in a coma for two days without a drop of water or a grain of rice.

Putting away the replicated aura box, Moyou got up and left the room, heading to the living room.

Moyou glanced around the living room.

There was only a single sofa and a coffee table, with no other furniture or decorations.

The overall style was frighteningly simple, as if the house had just been renovated.

"Is this Lizi's place? It doesn't look like it."

Moyou's gaze swept over the single sofa and then turned to the kitchen.

Fortunately, the kitchen was stocked with various instant foods like instant noodles.

Moyou boiled a pot of water, then took out a bunch of instant noodles and placed them on the dining table outside the kitchen.

After a while,

The house was filled with the unique aroma of instant noodles.

Moyou was extremely hungry and scooped all the noodles into a bowl, then started eating voraciously.

Halfway through his meal, the sound of a key turning in the lock came from the entrance.

Hearing the noise, Moyou assumed it was Lizi returning and didn't pay much attention, continuing to eat his noodles.

The next second, the door opened.

"Wow, this property isn't under your name, and there's no related rental agreement. It would really take some effort to investigate, big lawyer. Could this house be a gift from a wealthy client?"

A strange female voice sounded from the entrance.

Moyou immediately stopped eating and then heard Lizi's voice.

"Mao Tu, if you don't want to waste time, stop being sarcastic."

"Just a joke, huh? Hey, there's a strong smell of instant noodles."

Piaoyun, while playing with her phone, walked to the front as if she were the guest of honor.

After passing through the entrance, Piaoyun held her phone in front of her face, her fingers moving quickly on the keys, and she glanced at Moyou at the dining table.

A faint light flashed in her pale pink eyes.

This young man was precisely her target.

Moyou also looked at Piaoyun.

The revealing bunny girl outfit, combined with Lizi's earlier call of "Mao Tu," made her identity clear.

A member of the Twelve Earthly Branches, Mao Tu Piaoyun, the Ancient Text Hunter.

They've found me...

It seems the Hunter Association has started to address the Swamp Man incident.

Moyou calmly observed Piaoyun.

Just from Lizi's call of "Mao Tu" and her tone, it was clear that their relationship was not close.

From this, a basic conclusion could be drawn.

Mao Tu was not brought back as a friend but more likely as a representative of the Hunter Association.

In just a couple of seconds, Moyou deduced the reason and prepared himself mentally for being discovered.

The worst outcome would be that his actions in the dining room were exposed to the Hunter Association.

How should he explain the phenomenon of absorbing the black, viscous substance?

Actually, it wasn't that difficult.

"Although I'm not an exorcist... I can use exorcism as a cover."

Moyou thought and found an excuse in advance.

Piaoyun's attention was mostly on her phone, but she still observed Moyou.

She walked over and sat directly across from Moyou.

Moyou glanced at Piaoyun, who was glued to her phone, and ignored her, continuing to eat his noodles in large bites.

Piaoyun didn't mind Moyou's indifference, her attention focused on her phone, her fingers moving faster and faster.

At this moment, Lizi, who had closed the door, walked over and saw Moyou eating noodles.

"Kester, you're awake."

With Piaoyun present, she called Moyou by the name on his fake ID.

"Don't eat this anymore; I'll order you a meal now."

Lizi quickly came to the dining table and pressed down on Moyou's chopsticks.

She, who usually ate instant foods, now didn't want Moyou to touch them.

"Lizi, it's fine."

Moyou gently pushed Lizi's hand away, not caring about the presence of others, and ate the noodles in the bowl voraciously, as if he were a starving ghost.

Lizi, helpless, could only watch Moyou eat ravenously.

She knew Moyou had been asleep for two days and must be very hungry.

Hearing the sound of Moyou eating noodles, Piaoyun's attention finally shifted from her phone to Moyou.

His wild eating style made Piaoyun unconsciously swallow.

Goodness, can instant noodles be so delicious?

It made her hungry too.

Piaoyun suddenly had the urge to take out her phone and record a video.

Not for the sake of clicks, but to help those with eating disorders by showing the video.

But she resisted the urge.

After Moyou finally finished the noodles in the bowl, Piaoyun, who usually spent most of her time on her phone, now adhered to the principle of not wasting time and got straight to the point.

She even skipped the introduction.

"The incident at the Delta Restaurant, I've seen the video. The situation was really dangerous."

When discussing the matter, Piaoyun didn't put away her phone, looking directly at Moyou and said seriously,

"Halfway through, I actually thought you two were dead. After all, the opponent's strength was clearly superior, and their tactics left you no room to maneuver. But you proved me wrong."

"..."

Moyou met Piaoyun's probing gaze, calmly took out two tissues, and wiped the soup stains from the corners of his mouth.

Sure enough, he couldn't avoid it.

At the dining table, Lizi, hearing Piaoyun's words, frowned and looked at Moyou, her eyes filled with apology.

She had promised Moyou but failed to clean up the mess.

Moyou, sensing Lizi's apologetic gaze, had no intention of blaming her.

Regardless of the Hunter Association's involvement,

In the end—

The battle that night could have been avoided.

But in terms of the outcome, Moyou gained a lot.

If he had to do it again, even if Lizi could have left the restaurant to avoid the fight, he would still take the risk to get the reward.

"Who are you?"

Moyou put down the tissues and looked at Piaoyun in confusion.

Piaoyun didn't answer but looked at Lizi.

As a newcomer, having Lizi introduce her would be more convincing.

"She is a member of the Twelve Earthly Branches of the Hunter Association, Mao Tu Piaoyun. She's here to investigate the Delta Restaurant incident and the matter of the Toran group turning into black, unknown substances after death. They seem to be a highly dangerous existence called Swamp Men."

Lizi introduced Piaoyun and provided more information to Moyou.

Moyou nodded at Lizi, then looked at Piaoyun and asked, "So you're here specifically for me? Are you planning to arrest me for 'intentional homicide'?"

"Hey, you're really funny."

Piaoyun, leaning on the table, held her phone with the rabbit ears in front of her, pressing the keys quickly and said,

"Although the Association is still struggling to define whether 'Swamp Men are still human,' in my opinion, normal humans don't turn into swamp mud. If they're not human, how can there be a charge of intentional homicide?"

"That's a relief."

Moyou nodded calmly.

Piaoyun looked at Moyou's reaction and sighed, "Don't try to change the subject. To save time, let's get straight to the point. First, I have a question..."

Halfway through her sentence, she suddenly exclaimed, her eyes fixed on her phone screen, "Which little brat dared to steal resources while I wasn't paying attention?"

As she spoke, her fingers moved quickly, even using her aura to release a soft, stable energy to envelop her hands and phone.

"..."

Moyou's eyes twitched.

This is a member of the Twelve Earthly Branches...

Lizi, on the side, also frowned.

At the Delta Restaurant, she had already recognized Piaoyun's eccentricity, but this still refreshed her understanding.

After about half a minute,

Piaoyun seemed to finish the battle on her phone, slowed down her key presses, and said sarcastically, "No way, no way, there are actually fools who steal resources without leaving a way out. They deserve to be defeated."

Seeing Piaoyun so engrossed, Moyou couldn't find a moment to interject.

Fortunately, after the battle, Piaoyun finally remembered the main issue and looked at Moyou.

"Handsome guy, let's continue our conversation."

"..."

Moyou remained silent.

Piaoyun, as if nothing had happened, asked normally, "Why can you absorb those swamp-like substances?"

Hearing this, Moyou didn't answer Piaoyun's question directly but pretended to frown, showing a hesitant look.

This was a necessary setup.

Because exorcism ability is equivalent to aura ability, and a normal aura user would not give a straightforward answer when asked about their own ability.

Piaoyun alternated between staring at her phone and observing Moyou's reaction.

Actually, before asking this question, Piaoyun had withheld a crucial piece of information.

According to the information the Association had gathered, Swamp Men, after death, were no different from normal human corpses and did not turn into black, swamp-like substances.

This was the fundamental reason why the Association and official institutions could not yet define whether "Swamp Men are still human."

If it weren't for the difficulty in distinguishing between normal humans and Swamp Men, leading to a lack of suitable experimental materials, more information would have been available by now.

Piaoyun actually believed that using heavy criminals sentenced to hundreds of years in prison as experimental subjects would be feasible, but unfortunately,

The troublesome departments above cited "human rights" as a reason, stating that such matters needed to be decided through multiple discussions.

Considering the impact, national image, and other reasons that gave Piaoyun a headache, the decision on this application was delayed for several days.

Piaoyun thought—

Since they had committed heinous crimes warranting hundreds of years in prison, what was the point of labor reform? Wouldn't it be more straightforward to give them a quick execution?

But the law was the law.

Piaoyun found it silly and thought some institutions were not doing their job, but she could only complain here.

However, the current issue was—

Why did the Swamp Men killed by Moyou turn into swamp-like substances?

This was what Piaoyun needed to figure out.

"I can exorcise."

After a moment of hesitation, Moyou finally answered Piaoyun's question.

"You're an exorcist, no wonder you could absorb those black, swamp-like substances so calmly."

Piaoyun had already guessed this and wasn't surprised by Moyou's answer.

Exorcists have different abilities, but the methods of exorcism are generally similar.

Mostly, they transfer the "aura" they need to remove to themselves and then purify or eliminate it.

However, Piaoyun, who had been nodding in understanding, suddenly changed her tone:

"But I noticed that when the first 'Swamp Man' turned into swamp mud after death, you didn't seem surprised. Did you already know he wasn't a normal human before you acted? Or did you know he would turn into swamp mud after death?"

"I wasn't surprised because I had encountered a Swamp Man before."

Moyou's expression was calm.

Piaoyun lowered her phone slightly and said seriously, "If possible, please describe the situation when you first encountered a 'Swamp Man.' This is very important."

"Sure."

Moyou nodded and then recounted the encounter with the pedophile at the inn.

Hearing Moyou's story, Piaoyun's doubts were dispelled.

But she still hadn't figured out the key issue.

Why did other 'Swamp Men' leave normal corpses after death, while those killed by Moyou turned into swamp mud?

Was it just because Moyou was an exorcist?

To understand the difference, she would have to reveal to Moyou that 'Swamp Men' leave normal corpses after death.

This would clearly violate confidentiality rules.

Piaoyun, as one of the more reform-minded hawks in the Association, often found the strict rules of the Association and the state frustrating.

To turn Moyou from an outsider into an insider,

Piaoyun had an idea.

"Kester."

Piaoyun finally put her phone on the table.

She looked at Moyou seriously.

She had changed from calling him "handsome guy" to "Kester."

"The Hunter Association needs your abilities. Therefore, I now invite you, on behalf of the Hunter Association, to join the 'Swamp Man Phenomenon Emergency Response Team.'"

"..."

Moyou remained silent.

---

Meanwhile,

The other members of the Twelve Earthly Branches found the family of Swamp Men that Moyou had encountered on the spaceship.

Currently, it was difficult to find many Swamp Men through the positions of human-shaped burn marks, surveillance, and other means.

To find an efficient way to distinguish Swamp Men from normal humans,

The Hunter Association could only hope that Wu Ma Saqiu's "Psychological Counseling Room" would be effective.

Otherwise, they would need to find the suspected culprit, the Swamp Man author Davidson, as soon as possible.

Initially, the character of Mao Tu Piaoyun was not intended to be tied to the characteristics of a super low-head tribe or a net-addicted girl, as it seemed too deliberate and exaggerated.

But when visiting a friend and returning, riding the elevator from the 16th floor, five residents entered the elevator, and each one, from entering to leaving, was looking down at their phones.

Of course, including myself...

Then it suddenly seemed that Piaoyun, who always stared at her phone, had become normal.