Doesn't Look Like a Villain

"Guess!" Siberian Rat didn't answer Zhang Shou's question. It uttered those two words flatly, and in the next moment, its body curled inward, collapsed in on itself, and vanished completely. Zhang Shou gripped his saber, remaining on high alert. But after waiting for quite some time without Siberian Rat reappearing, he finally felt certain it had most likely left. He immediately went to contact Yu Xian, only for Yu Xian to contact him first, a light screen popping up automatically. Once he accepted the call, the screen displayed a bright, sunlit scene. Yu Xian was reclining on a picnic blanket, sipping wine, and teased with a slightly tipsy smirk, "Old Zhang, you didn't happen to visit some shady websites, did you? You actually managed to trigger the Admin Dog Ring's antivirus feature." "Get serious for a second. Remember that little rat I had with me earlier? It might be the source of the demonic fall phenomenon! I was almost controlled by it just now, and it even tried to teach me a cultivation method—something called the 'True Self Killing Saber,' I think," Zhang Shou said with utmost gravity. Yu Xian sobered up instantly. He sat up, frowning. "The little rat hiding on you? I honestly didn't pay attention to it earlier. Hold on!" The next instant, he vanished from the screen. Ripples stirred before Zhang Shou's eyes, and Yu Xian materialized. He looked at Zhang Shou, saw him enveloped head to toe in golden light with the GM mark he had designed floating above his head, and nodded. "There really is a problem. Your true self was almost rewritten." Fortunately, Yu Xian had long anticipated every scenario for those who possessed an Admin Dog Ring. After all, the Admin Dog Ring could control the Zhen Realm, so he would never allow its bearer to fall under anyone else's control. The moment such a situation occurred, the ring would channel the power of the Zhen Realm to shield the wearer directly, while clearing away any abnormal status conditions along the way. At that point, unless the attacker possessed the power to destroy the Zhen Realm itself, they couldn't inflict the slightest harm on the wearer. "Tell me everything. How did you meet it, and what does it actually want?" Yu Xian asked, looking straight at Zhang Shou. Zhang Shou naturally had nothing to hide, recounting everything about Siberian Rat from start to finish. When he finished, Yu Xian frowned. "So that means its real objective might be... Little Nora?" "It's possible. Probably because Little Nora refused to take it on as an assistant, and seeing that it could no longer reach her through me, it simply decided to take control of me and have me bring it to see her," Zhang Shou analyzed. Yu Xian closed his eyes and began activating various abilities. Yet it was as if Siberian Rat had never existed in the first place; he couldn't find the faintest trace of it. Presumably, if it hadn't tried to get close to Little Nora, Zhang Shou might never have crossed paths with Siberian Rat in his entire life. Wait, that wasn't right. Yu Xian opened his eyes, looked at Zhang Shou, and asked, "Are you certain coming to this world was entirely your own choice?" "I can vouch for that. I was aboard the Aska at the time—it's very unlikely I was influenced by any outside force," Zhang Shou replied with certainty. Yu Xian nodded. In that case, only two possibilities remained. One was that Siberian Rat possessed extraordinarily potent precognition, foresaw Zhang Shou's arrival, and lay in wait in this world for Zhang Shou to walk into its trap. The second possibility seemed far more likely to Yu Xian. Siberian Rat was merely an avatar. That demon had planted countless contingency measures across the myriad worlds, ready to be activated whenever the opportunity arose to stir up trouble. Yu Xian pondered for a moment, then summoned Auntie Number Two and asked, "Auntie, what is the name of the Siberian Rat that ambushed Zhang Shou?" "Siberian Rat," Auntie Number Two answered. Yu Xian frowned. "What is its true self's name?" "..." Auntie Number Two fell completely silent. Yu Xian stepped behind Auntie Number Two and channeled the power of Grand Dao Myriad Phenomena into her, enhancing her abilities before asking again. Unfortunately, he still received no answer. In truth, this was well within Yu Xian's expectations. The demonic fall phenomenon was already widely discussed among the Mighty Ones, so he certainly wasn't the only one investigating. Other Mighty Ones might not have Auntie Number Two, but some were bound to possess miraculous items. Given that Siberian Rat had managed to stay hidden under such scrutiny, it meant the mastermind possessed an ability or a miraculous item capable of concealing their identity. In fact, after promising Zhang Buyao that he would investigate, Yu Xian had already checked many possibilities he could think of. For instance, with Luomo inside the Everlasting Silence Prison Tower, Yu Xian had directly sifted through his memories, confirming that the matter had nothing whatsoever to do with him. As for whether it was the doing of remnants of the Myriad Demons Sect, that was hard to say. After all, countless years had passed since Luomo was captured; the martial world had long forgotten his legends. Luomo couldn't possibly know what had become of the transcendents who obtained the Myriad Demons Sect's techniques. "Salty Fish, didn't you say you have an ability where whenever someone knows of you, you can know about them too? Do you think it's possible that you already know of the culprit, but just don't realize they're the one?" Zhang Shou suggested. Yu Xian retorted in exasperation, "Right now, across the myriad worlds, the number of people who know of me is enough to burst an entire world. How am I supposed to check through all that?" "Well, who told you to get so famous?" Zhang Shou quipped. Yu Xian was indeed extraordinarily famous, which was largely tied to the Fengxian clan. Thanks to the massive success of their livestreams, they had subsequently launched a fighting game where Yu Xian was literally the final boss, enjoying immense popularity. As a result, those who watched the livestreams knew him, and even those who didn't knew him from playing the game. "Come on, let's go check out its former residence." Seeing that there were no more leads here, Yu Xian simply decided to inspect Siberian Rat's original living quarters. Zhang Shou led the way at once, bringing them to Siberian Rat's former hiding place. A refrigerator, a television, a laptop, an air conditioner, an electric fan... Yu Xian paced around, gazing at the table covered in miniature appliances and the furniture arranged with a warm, lived-in feel. One could easily picture a little rat living here on its own. Yu Xian quickly shrank his body down and landed on the table. He walked over to Siberian Rat's refrigerator, opened it, and saw peanuts, vegetables, and even milk. Next, he walked over to the chair Siberian Rat often sat in and opened the laptop to check it. "Salty Fish, quick, look at its browser! It definitely forgot to delete its history!" Zhang Shou said excitedly. Yu Xian rolled his eyes at him, then opened the browser and found Siberian Rat's history. Sure enough, it had forgotten to clear it. Yet when Yu Xian scrolled through, every single entry was an educational website. The wholesome kind of educational websites! Things like mechanical repair, understanding circuitry from scratch, how to become a veterinary technician... Judging by its browsing history, Siberian Rat was studious and hardworking. It didn't look like a villain in the slightest.