Volume 2, Chapter 53 (Chapter 91): Is There Anyone Normal Here?

‘Why do I feel as if someone has been spying on me for the past two days? Am I being targeted?’

Jiangli implied that Zigu is a fallen goddess, and this only served to confirm Lu Yibei’s suspicions.

‘I think I’m in danger!’

He decided that staying in the Night Division for a long period of time is not good; if he were to transform uncontrollably, he’ll die even before Zigu gets to him.

‘She knows that I study at the University, that’s for sure,’ he trembled. ‘I’m safe… for now.’

However, he couldn’t ever predict how this fallen goddess was going to act. She could easily catch him off guard!

‘I need to be ready.’

“Excuse me, but…” Yibei turned to Jiangli. “About the fallen gods—how do they differ from ordinary urban legends?”

Jiangli merely stared at him in silence.

“Hello? What are you thinking about?”

Jiangli shook her head and said, “I was thinking of sending you to the nearest mental hospital. You have put yourself in more danger than a full-time operator, and I suspect that…”

“Absolutely not!” Yibei interrupted, his eyes meeting Jiangli’s. “Do I look like the kind of person who commits crimes? I am an upstanding citizen who follows the rules, and…”

“I told you,” she sighed as she put her hand up to interrupt Yibei. “I was just thinking about it.”

After a pregnant pause, she raised her eyebrows and asked, “The forum—they were discussing Zigu, correct? What else did you find?”

“Nothing else.”

His face betrayed no emotion, but his heart pounded against his chest. He felt wrong for lying to her, but he couldn’t tell her the entire story—not yet. Doing so would only raise her suspicions.

‘I’ll pretend to obtain information from time to time; then, it’ll be more credible!’

Jiangli massaged her temples with her hands and nodded, “I see.” She then limped over to Yibei’s side and closed the Night Division Records, toying with them in her hands.

“Since you asked, for today’s lesson, I’ll be teaching you about fallen gods.”

“Most gods are urban legends that are born of people’s worship,” she explained as she sat in front of him. “However, gods, like urban legends, still need to sustain themselves, and that’s where human worship comes into play.”

“Worship tends to be of good intentions, so the gods take upon this worship to define themselves, and in order to sustain this worship and belief, they will bless their worshippers.”

Yibei’s eyes lit up expectedly, but Jiangli shook her head and lightly raised her hand up as if to quell his excitement.

“Belief is power. This is a well-known mantra to us,” she said, staring into Yibei’s eyes. “Belief changes over time—culture, history, faith—and the gods redefine themselves to fit these changes.”

“Do you know Beelzebub?” she added.

“A demon, if I remember correctly.”

Jiangli nodded: “His original name is Baalzebub, the God of the Phoenicians, and he rules over the sky. However, because of these changes, he ended up devolving into a terrifying demon.”

“W-wait,” Yibei interrupted. “So, if what you’re saying is true, does that mean that demons exist too?”

Yibei couldn’t help but fidget in his seat. He thought that if he kept a low profile, he would be able to deal with the impending doom looming over him.

Now, with Jiangli’s words, he couldn’t help but feel afraid. What’s the point of fighting back if his enemy is an ancient, former god-turned-demon?

“I’m just giving you an example,” she said.

Jiangli thought that his reaction was strange; he is a lonely yet interesting boy. What god would target him?

“Although the reasons for a god to fall from grace are more complicated, the process is more or less similar to what I have described,” she explained further.

“Got it,” Yibei nodded. “Good gods turn bad when exposed to bad things. Got it.”

“I guess, but…” she frowned. “I believe that urban legends are more attuned to evil from the very moment they are born. It is inevitable that they become evil.”

“Humans are their main source of food,” she continued. “Even gods hunt after humans like prey, albeit in a less common way.”

It is inevitable that they become evil.’

Yibei silently repeated Jiangli’s words in his heart. He thought of his other form, and a slight trace of anger seemed to prick at his heart.

‘Do you think that I want to become like this?’ He huffed silently. ‘I want to be normal, too.’

He couldn’t stay angry at her, though. His own problems had nothing to do with her.

Her job is to keep urban legends contained, and inherently, there was nothing wrong with that.

But he didn’t want to let the messy wheel of fate run over him. He wants to live, and inherently, there is nothing wrong with that.

“My apologies,” Jiangli interrupted his train of thought, and she seemed to tread carefully with her words. “I may sound extreme, but this is my job. Consider yourself lucky that you were able to experience… feel the world with your hands; a world where the anomalous is nothing but strange stories that you read on the Internet.”

Seeing Jiangli as vulnerable, Yibei couldn’t help but be taken aback.

‘If only she knew.’

Jiangli ended her session early and escorted Lu Yibei out of her office.

The two walked through the dimly lit corridor that stretched infinitely into the darkness behind them and through the atrium, where the entrance was.

With a silent nod, Jiangli was about to return to her office, and Yibei was also about to leave. At this moment, a burst of laughter could be heard outside, and Du Sixian and An Qing were seen giggling at each other from a distance.

He froze in place.

A Witch in the Night Division, alongside her completely oblivious dependent seen at the same place…

I wish I was a normal boy, he thought.