Era of Magic and Martial Arts

He is the one who gives warmth to those who are cold, guidance to those who are lost, and hope to those in despair, a beacon in the darkness, weaving hope anew for them... the leader of the Cult.

Isn’t this a hundred times better than any lab mentor?

The man gazed deeply at his female assistant, sighing softly, with a hint of helplessness and pity in his voice:

"Following the rules is a good thing, it shows you are a responsible person. But you must not disregard your own life."

He paused for a moment, his voice turning wistful:

"The premise of following the rules is staying alive. Because, once you’re dead, you’re truly dead."

The female assistant stared blankly at the man, her lips parting several times but unable to produce sound, only able to murmur repeatedly:

"Once you’re dead, you’re truly dead..."

The man leaned forward slightly, his voice soft like a whisper, yet each word struck her heart:

"Be mindful. Stay away from those who would send you to die. They’re all bad people. You’re a good girl, you should be around good people to live longer."

The female assistant felt as if she’d awakened from a nightmare, having brushed past death’s door; her soul seemed to have undergone a thorough cleansing, becoming clear and transparent.

She looked at the man in front of her, tears glistening at the corners of her eyes, an indescribable warmth and gratitude welling up in her heart.

Where are the good people?

Far away in the horizon, right before her eyes.

She took a deep breath, wiped away her tears, and bowed deeply to the man in front of her:

"Thank you for saving my life, you are the best person I’ve ever met. My name is Zhao Jingyi."

The man remained silent for a long time, his slender fingers gently adjusting the frame of his gold-rimmed glasses, his voice seemingly full of endless stories and vicissitudes:

"You’re wrong again, Jingyi. I am not the good person you imagine, I am a man burdened with guilt, a wandering, homeless ghost..."

His tone was low and drawn out, each word seemed to bear the weight of past bitterness and heaviness.

He originally didn’t want to unveil his true self, but under Zhao Jingyi’s gaze filled with hope, he ultimately sighed helplessly, quietly revealing his name:

"You can call me... Zheng Hang."

Upon hearing this name, Zhao Jingyi’s brow furrowed slightly, a sense of familiarity tugged at her heart, as if she had heard it somewhere before, yet the memory was too blurred to grasp.

However, when Zheng Hang claimed to be a sinner, the last trace of her doubt dissipated completely.

What bad person would admit they’re a bad person?

Zhao Jingyi felt ashamed of her suspicion, she said excitedly:

"No, Zheng Hang, you’re definitely a good person!"

Zheng Hang’s lips curled into a bitter smile, his eyes filled with complex emotions, as if thousands of words had condensed into a single sigh:

"Ah—, a good person? Yes, I always wanted to be a good person, instead of hiding in sewers, keeping company with rats..."

"But unfortunately, I can never go back, ah..."

Zhao Jingyi perked her ears, detecting a faint sadness in Zheng Hang’s expression and tone.

The sadness wasn’t intense, yet seemed polished by time, leaving only the numb embers.

She was familiar with this feeling—she often recalled, in the dead of night, the day she first entered the laboratory, fantasizing about escaping far from there.

But in reality, she had no way out either.

Zheng Hang noticed the subtle changes on Zhao Jingyi’s face, sensing the fleeting resonance in her eyes.

He forced a smile, trying to change the subject:

"And you? Judging by your attire, you should be someone who stays in a hospital or laboratory, right? How did you end up in the sewer? And earlier, you called a rat ’senior sister’, what was that about?"

Zheng Hang asked a series of questions, all quite sensitive actually, but his wording was very well thought out, and his emotions were very well built up.

Zhao Jingyi wasn’t suspicious at all, of course, she was more eager to know Zheng Hang’s story.

But the pained expression on his face made her reluctant to touch his scars.

Seeing Zhao Jingyi remain silent, Zheng Hang didn’t press her, only his expression grew slightly stern, yet his tone remained gentle and understanding:

"You can’t talk about it, right? I understand, it’s another one of those rules set by your mentor, correct? It’s all right, let me get you out first.

This sewer is too dangerous, if the rats come back around, it’ll be terrible."

The words "mentor’s rules" pierced precisely into Zhao Jingyi’s most forbidden scar.

This call-back was a dead-on kill.

In addition, Zheng Hang’s considerate words regarding her safety were like a double kill.

How could Zhao Jingyi withstand it?

She rubbed her eyes hard, steeling her heart as if to throw off all the rules binding her.

"It’s not that I can’t talk about it, I just don’t know where to start..."

Clenching her teeth, she opened her heart completely to the good man who had saved her, speaking in earnest:

"Um, right, Zheng Hang, have you seen a group of three-meter-tall humanoid monsters with scales in the sewer? They were chasing a female student, and those monsters are my senior sisters!"

A look of clear astonishment appeared on Zheng Hang’s face, and he blurted out:

"I indeed saw a few monsters from afar in the sewer in recent days, one even wearing clothes... but you say they’re your senior sisters? What does that mean?"

His expression gradually grew serious, with a hint of inquisitiveness in his voice:

"Zhao Jingyi, who exactly are you?"

Seeing the look of shock on her savior’s face, a strange sense of satisfaction rose within Zhao Jingyi’s heart.

She harbored so many secrets, like heavy shackles, suffocating her.

At this moment, she finally found someone she could trust and, once she began speaking, couldn’t stop.

No need for Zheng Hang to guide or prompt her, Zhao Jingyi spilled everything like beans from a bamboo tube.

She began to recount, her voice low and hurried, as if emptying all the long-buried secrets in one breath.

She described the mentor’s plan—a plan of inhuman madness, how it unraveled, causing the senior sisters to appear prematurely, turning into an uncontrollable disaster.

She spoke of the mentor’s sick pursuit of perfection, and how her senior sisters were slowly transformed into unrecognizable monsters.

She also talked about how happy she was upon receiving the lab offer, thinking she was grasping at the hope of life.

And how, after passing through rigorous selection and ultimately being chosen to join the lab, she was filled with anticipation, believing she was embarking on a path of Bright.

However, as she finally glimpsed the hidden horrors within the lab, and the secrets behind it, her world utterly collapsed.

Zhao Jingyi recounted how she had walked step by step into her current predicament, sinking deeper with no way out, like falling into an endless abyss.

Her tone carried a calmness of despair, with hardly a tear shed, as if she had accepted the merciless manipulation of Destiny on her fate.

Zheng Hang was the perfect listener, never interrupting or interjecting, only listening patiently in silence.

Only at the very end, when the timeline returned from distant memories to the present, did he faintly ask:

"So, you still haven’t told me, what’s the name of the lab you joined, and who is this mentor you speak of?"