Chapter 23-The Manga Pariah's Guide to Self-Salvation

The black shadow, bound by a stream of water, struggled on the ground. It seemed unable to comprehend why this slippery flow of water possessed such coercive force.

Ye Zheng squatted down and carefully observed the shadow.

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

The black, paper-thin shadow had surprisingly grown fleshy, three-dimensional facial features. Its slightly protruding eyeballs stared motionlessly at her.

She was certain that the first time she saw the shadow, it was just a black sheet of paper, without these strange and unsettling features.

Ye Zheng uncomfortably lowered her gaze, and the shadow was instantly sliced into two halves by the water, separating its upper and lower body.

She lowered her eyes, her gaze cold as she examined the two halves of the shadow on the ground. They actually wriggled toward each other, quickly reassembling themselves and returning to their original state.

"As expected, it's a shadow; it can recover so easily."

"But why do you want to grow human features? I don't think this is an evolution."

The shadow rolled its jet-black eyeballs. Its protruding lips on its paper-thin face moved up and down, and it emitted a difficult, scraping sound.

"We... we... are searching... for a way to survive."

Hearing that the shadow had actually responded to her, Ye Zheng's lips parted. She was so surprised that she didn't know what to say for a moment.

This was the first time she had an intelligent conversation with a Demonic Domain creature. The monsters she had encountered in the Demonic Domain before were all low-intelligence creatures, like animals that couldn't be communicated with directly.

"Why did you come here? And how did you come here?"

The shadow slowly spat out the words, "Survival... like you killing us, we have to survive."

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

"Invading... this land. Who is its owner?"

"Hypocritical, cunning, and deceptive. You, and us, are no different."

The shadow's words became more and more fluent, and its facial features became more distinct. Ye Zheng had already recognized it—it was the face of a member of the upper district's First Academy team.

The shadow could not only replicate the original's abilities but also slowly grow into the original's appearance—could they eventually replace the original?

Ye Zheng's mind wavered, and the shadow seized the opportunity to break free from the water's confinement. Its black hands had gained thickness and struck fiercely at the neck of the person in front of it.

The person it had copied had the ability of [Impact], which could cause a powerful impact on both the ground and the human body. As soon as it touched this person, they would be torn apart!

In a flash, the shadow's hand successfully touched the young man's fragile neck, but the head it loathed did not burst as it had expected.

It rolled its black eyeballs upward, meeting the young man's downcast gaze.

From this person's eyes, it saw no fear or panic. The green pupils shimmered with fragmented light, like an insignificant breeze brushing across a vast lake, causing a ripple of compassion.

In that instant, it seemed to have learned another human word... 'pity'.

"You're right. Humans are also just a link in the food chain. There's no justice or natural law in killing you. We just want to selfishly live, too."

The shadow's hand tightened slightly. It was clearly gripping the young man's neck, but the sensation... yes, it had evolved to have a human sense of touch. The sensation told it that under its palm was not fragile human skin and bones, but a pool of flowing, soft water.

It was this insignificant water that had neutralized its powerful impact.

"I apologize. I, as a human, choose a narrow sense of justice. Please, all of you, disappear."

A sighing female voice drifted in its ear, but the shadow's attention was focused on its own arm.

The flowing water, starting from the hand that was gripping the human's neck, slowly wrapped around its arm, then enveloped its face.

The senses it had just recently gained were extinguished by the flowing water. It couldn't smell the air or see the human's face clearly. When it opened its mouth, it could only spit out powerless water bubbles. The remnants of its consciousness extracted the word 'suffocation' from the human memories it had copied.

It was dying of suffocation.

"I can't destroy shadows, but humans are always adept at killing their own kind."

"So I ask, why become human? They're full of flaws. They're not a good thing."

Ye Zheng spoke casually, her tone tinged with self-mockery and confusion.

Her voice dissipated like foam in the water, yet the shadow still managed to hear the human's words.

In its final moments, it wondered, if humans were so worthless, why would this person kill it for the sake of humans?

Unfortunately, it could no longer experience more as a human.

The shadow evaporated under the dazzling sunlight, leaving only a pool of water on the cracked ground.

Ye Zheng stood up straight, watermarks remaining on her fingertips. She shook her hand and turned to walk in another direction without hesitation.

"System, that black shadow was too human-like. Is this what it feels like to kill someone?"

[I've never killed a person or a monster, but you don't need to feel guilty. That was just a monster pretending to be human.]

[It's a pity that the camera is focused on the protagonist group in the manga, otherwise such a spectacular battle scene would have definitely won a lot of fans...]

"I don't feel guilty. I know it had to die, so no matter how much it resembled a human, I could do it cleanly."

The system hadn't had a chance to process the meaning of Ye Zheng's words when it saw the girl reveal a radiant smile. She usually smiled reservedly and rarely so openly.

"Let's go. Next, I'm going to kill my shadow."

Ye Zheng walked quickly in one direction.

[This place is so big, how do you know where your shadow is?]

The system abandoned the previous irrelevant topic and asked curiously.

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

"But here, there's a place of deathly silence."

The young man's figure wove through the complex streets and alleys, as if he were very familiar with the geography here.

"Honorary Cemetery, commemorating the 300 people who sacrificed themselves during the 'Blood Flower' Incident."

The quiet cemetery was deserted. Large gray and white tombstones looked even lonelier under the scorching sun.

The system then realized that this was the same place where Ye Zheng's original body and Percy had met last time, and it also carried their painful memories.

It recalled the description of the 'Blood Flower' Incident in the original novel and fell silent, giving Ye Zheng some time.

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

She stopped in front of a tombstone. Two names were written on it, and someone had placed a fresh bouquet of flowers underneath.

"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 silently behind her.

The shadow had already gained the thickness of a physical body. Its features were distinct, and the black hair it had simulated hung down smoothly. However, it was a bit shorter, looking around fourteen years old.

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

"The blood flower blooms in the center, three hundred people fill it, the blood flower eats its fill and explodes, flesh and blood melt into one big family..."

The shadow opened its mouth and sang a popular nursery rhyme from ten years ago.

Ye Zheng's expression didn't change as she listened quietly to its cheerful singing.

After singing for a while, it stopped. "Why aren't you angry?"

The black shadow rolled its jet-black eyeballs, staring at the tombstone. "There's nothing inside. Everyone who was consumed by the blood flower became the bloody river that dyed the entire eastern district red. There weren't even bones left."

"So why do you always bring flowers here?"

"I don't understand. I also tried bringing a bouquet, but I felt nothing."

Ye Zheng squatted down and picked up the bouquet of flowers. Her gaze held a hint of nostalgia as her fingers gently toyed with the petals.

"That's thoughtful of you. This flower shop was where my grandma used to love to shop."

"By the way, did you pay for it? Taking things without asking is not okay."

The shadow's dark features seemed to twitch slightly. Although it didn't understand humans, its original body in front of it was still too far beyond its comprehension.

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

"Why do you bring flowers?"

Ye Zheng retorted.

"Because after you copied my memories, you saw something that interested you more, and you even ignored your instinct to invade for it."

The shadow didn't speak. A hint of humanized sadness appeared on its bizarre, jet-black face.

Ye Zheng sighed. She walked step by step toward the shadow, and a strange feeling arose in her heart as she saw the face that so resembled her own.

"I'm going to kill you, as you wished."

Her fair, slender hand touched the jet-black face. The stream of water on her fingertips flowed against the surface, like teardrops falling from a black bronze statue.

"My memories must have made you uncomfortable. Becoming human is a painful thing, so you gave up."

Ye Zheng lowered her head. The shadow, which had her teenage face, looked up and met her gaze.

In a trance, she seemed to see her younger self—pure, ignorant, and confused.

So she controlled the water to form a sharp spike and held it against the shadow's temple.

"You have grown a complete brain. I will give you the most painless death."

With a whoosh, the shadow's eyes widened and it fell beside the tombstone. Its black body melted and evaporated in the sunlight.

The system watched silently. It hadn't expected Ye Zheng's shadow to be like this... no wonder this shadow hadn't appeared in the original plot.

The 'Blood Flower' Incident was the catalyst for the male protagonist, Percy's ideals. Because he had experienced this event as a child, he became determined to change everything.

As for Ye Zheng, who also experienced the event, from the perspective of the manga creator's purpose, it was to give her the same memories as the male protagonist so she could understand and comfort Percy, to logically heat up their relationship, and to set up a kind and beautiful woman to give Percy solace.

Therefore, the system hadn't given much thought to what effect this incident had on Ye Zheng herself.

"System, do you know about the 'Blood Flower'?"

Of course, the system knew. It was an S-rank Demonic Domain that appeared in the lower district ten years ago, an unsolvable dead end.

There were no other monsters in that Demonic Domain, only a massive, thirty-meter-tall crimson flower. It constantly devoured humans, and no one could stop its power, not even the S-rank ability users from the Royal Family and the Sei Curia who were in that Demonic Domain.

There were the brother of the then-current Pope and members of the Royal Family. At that time, it was popular for the upper district's elites to practice in the lower district by clearing Demonic Domains. It was after this incident that ability users from the upper district rarely set foot in the lower district.

"To satisfy the 'Blood Flower's' appetite, they drove the nearby residents into the Demonic Domain. After it was full, it exploded, and those noble and powerful upper district ability users safely escaped, covered in the flesh and blood of ordinary people."

"I watched them walk out with my own eyes. They were celebrating and cursing, with the flesh and blood of my relatives on them."

"And afterward, this group of people became heroes. The Empire claimed they had killed the 'Blood Flower,' and that those residents had sacrificed themselves willingly to help eliminate the Demonic Domain."

The girl recounted this calmly, but the system felt a bit anxious.

It didn't know what to say. To it, this was just a setting in a manga, but for Ye Zheng, who was standing there alive, it was a deeply ingrained scar.

[I know it must be hard to let go of something like this. You and Percy both experienced this, and you can work together to change this terrible world...]

The system's voice grew weaker and weaker. It felt its words were perfectly logical, but for some reason, looking at Ye Zheng's expressionless face, it felt it shouldn't have said that.

Just because she and Percy experienced the same thing didn't mean they could understand each other.

After a long time, the standing Ye Zheng's eyelashes flickered, like a statue coming to life.

"Let's go. Now that the biggest hidden danger is gone, I should rejoin the squad."

[By the way, do you need to relax or something?]

The system found such diligence to be unacceptable.

Ye Zheng chuckled softly. "By my estimation, Percy and the others should have caught up to those three shadows."

"It'll be my turn to appear soon, responsible for offering reactions of surprise, admiration, and confusion to Percy."

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

A few young people were chasing three shadows when, at a corner, the three shadows all disappeared.

They instinctively huddled together, preparing for a potential shadow attack.

Footsteps sounded rhythmically from not far away. Percy, who was highly focused, turned his head.

The young man, as mysterious and light-footed as a black cat, waved at them. His expression was still calm and gentle, but he could make out a hint of weariness and a slight coldness in his gentle eyes.

He must have been through a fierce battle, Percy thought with a pang of guilt. Next time, they must fight side by side. Leaving Zhao Mei alone was too much work for him.

"Zhao Mei!"

Lucy excitedly ran toward the young man, circling him once to examine him.

Suddenly, she held up Zhao Mei's right arm. "You have several scratches here. Why didn't you heal yourself?"

Ye Zheng took a look. They must have been from the shattered rocks that flew up from the ground during the fight with the [Impact] shadow. It would probably heal on its own soon.

She gave Lucy a reassuring smile and found a random excuse. "It's fine. I'll just heal it once my ability recovers."

Lucy looked at the quiet and seemingly fragile young man. Her amber eyes trembled, and her ponytail seemed to droop sadly. Zhao Mei had exhausted himself to this extent for them!

Percy and the others also gathered around, looking at the young man with concern, admiration, and respect.

How could they have been so lucky to meet such a noble friend during the competition, someone who, despite not being able to easily handle that monster, took everything on with his frail body to protect more people!

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

"The Demonic Domain is too dangerous. You have to put your own safety first."

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

Ye Zheng felt a little suffocated by being surrounded. She didn't know what they had misunderstood, but it didn't seem like a bad thing.

Suddenly, Percy's eyes narrowed, and he reminded them in a low voice, "The shadows are here!"

Everyone's expression changed, and they vigilantly summoned their abilities.

Ye Zheng watched the protagonist group as an observer, thinking to herself, "Okay, next I'll prepare to show a flustered, admiring, and surprised expression."

It was Friday night again, and high school student Li Yixin finally got her phone back. Since she had been emotionally devastated by the plot with Percy and Ye Zheng last time, she decided to check the forum first before deciding whether to read the new chapter.

As soon as she opened the forum, several hot posts were about her newly-supported character—Zhao Mei!

[HD Restoration! The stunning beauty of Zhao Mei!]

[A true little angel has appeared! Zhao Mei, you're an angel baby...]

[Let's discuss, what's Zhao Mei's background?]

[Mysterious, powerful, and kind, can Zhao Mei become one of the three popular Demonic Domain King Gods?]

What, the new chapter is centered on Zhao Mei? Then she'd have to savor every frame. It would soothe her fragile heart that was hurt by Ye Zheng, the suspected female protagonist, last week.

Li Yixin excitedly picked up her phone and opened the new manga chapter.

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