On the night when he was twenty-four years, one thousand six hundred and nine months, and sixteen days old, Gerard sat on the steps of the elevated platform, looking down at the adventurers receiving their blessing injections below, his mind wandering back to who he was 134 years ago.
Back then, having taken the research institute entrance exams three times, he had finally passed before the human age limit of twenty-five. However, having zero real interest in academia, Gerard instead joined the Sin Hunting Hall to become an ordinary hunter.
The senior hunter assigned to mentor him was a member of the Blood Saint clan. A heavy smoker and thoroughly lazy, the man would reliably need to take a dump whenever clerical paperwork had to be done, earning him the nickname "Restroom Hunter"—teaching the young Gerard quite a lesson.
Being a hunter was hardly some glamorous, noble profession; the daily grind was just as full of tiresome, trivial nonsense. Especially back in that era where racial discrimination, sexism, and class prejudice still lingered, many people weren't monstrously evil, but they were like fish bones caught in rice—evoking an inexplicable, lingering revulsion.
Spending too much time around them felt like collecting fish bones in one's throat; sooner or later, they would need to be washed away with blood.
Yet his senior, who seemed unreliable in every respect, could almost always pinpoint Gerard's low spirits, frequently dragging him to tea cafes, casinos, and similar establishments to blow off steam. Although Gerard consistently declined, the senior's scruffy, lecherous grin truly did clear the gloom from Gerard's heart.
Until one day, both Gerard and his senior were reassigned to a special task force to participate in an operation to eradicate the Four Pillar Gods cult. At first, Gerard didn't think much of such an organization. Under the benevolent and righteous Blood Moon, evil was merely a puddle after the rain—sooner or later to be evaporated by the blazing sun.
Yet the suppression operation was fraught with unexpected turns. The main force was split up, and the cultists fought recklessly to the death, dragging hunters down with them. By the time they reached the cult leader's location, only Gerard, his senior, and another veteran hunter were left.
His senior told Gerard to wait outside the door, tasked with keeping watch and preventing anyone from escaping.
It was an entirely valid reason, leaving Gerard no room to refuse.
Seeming to sense Gerard's eagerness to distinguish himself, his senior smiled and said, "When you lead a squad in the future, you'll have plenty of chances to charge in. Right now, this is my time to look cool. You just wait outside like a good kid—but if things go south for me, hurry on in to save my ass."
Even in such a grim atmosphere, his senior could still dispel the darkness in Gerard's heart. So Gerard watched as the two pushed open the heavy doors, holding up their hunter lanterns as they stepped into the dark room to search for the hidden cult leader.
One minute, two minutes, three minutes passed. Not a single sound came from within. Gerard could wait no longer; raising his hunter lantern, he stepped into the room.
The darkness in the room seemed almost thick enough to be tangible. The light of his hunter lantern failed to pierce it, and not even a new-model pistol could counter that fear of the unknown.
*Squelch.* He stepped into a pool of liquid. Blood. Gerard looked down to see an unfamiliar corpse lying on the floor, and tracing the trail of blood, he saw two figures tangled together.
His senior was tearing at the veteran hunter's throat with his fangs, while the veteran hunter had run his sword straight through the senior's heart.
"Beautiful, wouldn't you say?"
The unfamiliar corpse was speaking. Startled, Gerard fell backward onto the floor, instinctively aiming the muzzle of his gun at the corpse.
"I'm not a sorcerer, and I have no weapons. No need to be so nervous," the corpse said, sitting up with a smile. "Pull the trigger, and I'll die."
"You... they, they—"
"The vampire was afraid the hunter would make a move against him, so he struck first to tear out the hunter's throat. The hunter retaliated and killed the vampire. I just happened to be lying here sleeping."
Gerard said fiercely, "Liar!"
"Such a decisive rebuttal. If it doesn't match your truth, it can't be the truth, right? I do rather like that kind of linear thinking." The corpse tilted its head. "You're probably wondering why the vampire would be afraid of the old hunter turning on him. It's because of an old grudge between them, you see."
"Senior was such a good person! How could he—"
"He was good to you, so that makes him a good person for his entire life? Never offended anyone? Never done anything bad?"
Gerard choked on his words, but quickly struck back: "You're the leader of the Four Pillar Gods cult!"
"Because I'm the villain, everything I say must be false, right?" The corpse offered a sweet smile. "I really do love your linear thinking.
"Tell me, though: do you know why the Four Pillar Gods exist?"
"Desire!" Gerard panted, gnashing his teeth. "You're nothing but a bunch of devils of desire tempting people into depravity—"
"It's peace of mind." The corpse placed a hand over its own heart. "Wanting to be stronger, wanting to be smarter, wanting to be more popular, wanting to find more joy... People are pursuing peace of mind, and so the Four Pillar Gods answer their wishes.
"Those two tore each other apart and died here simply because they sought peace of mind. Because if they didn't, they couldn't vent the darkness festering in their hearts."
"Liar!"
"Deep down, you already agree with me, don't you, Hunter Gerard? You're a perceptive boy. Earlier, during the search, you noticed your senior and the old hunter weren't getting along. You've already guessed at the untold story between them..."
"Shut up!"
"What's more, you know very well that his heavy smoking, his laziness, his unkempt slovenliness all stemmed from his vast, grim past. From mere fragments of his words, you deduced that he was a pathetic failure, and that beneath his smile festered a madness capable of destroying his sanity..."
"I told you! Shut up!"
Gerard shoved the barrel of his gun against the corpse's forehead. Yet the corpse merely smiled. She raised a bloodstained finger and traced two bloody tear tracks beneath Gerard's eyes.
"Rainwater may indeed be evaporated by the sun, but some of it has long seeped into the soil, turning into nutrients for the earth. Nor does the evaporated rain vanish; it follows nature's cycle, waiting for the next downpour. The rain will not stop; the rain will keep falling—because I am here, and because you are here.
"In a world where the law has become a butcher's knife, crime is no badge of shame.
"So, Gerard, who are you weeping for?"
*Bang!*
The corpse finally spoke no more. It was then that the other hunters belatedly arrived, and the suppression operation drew to a close.
A century hurried by. Gerard grew lazy, arrogant, and disorderly, but he also grew stronger. Just when he thought he could slumber away in this paradise of Kaimeng City, a familiar name reawakened the memories covered in dust.
And so Gerard had volunteered, drawing up a meticulous plan to wipe out the nascent Four Pillar Gods cult in one fell swoop with overwhelming force, intending to make up for his past regret with current achievements.
Yet Gerard felt not the slightest sense of satisfaction—because the cult leader of this generation was the weakest he had ever seen.
Green, bewildered, speaking so softly he sounded like a fresh college graduate; catching him had been hardly more difficult than catching a cat.
So when Yaxiu claimed during interrogation that he had amnesia, Gerard believed him on the spot, concluding that he was merely an unlucky scapegoat whose memory had been erased by the mastermind behind the scenes.
Later, Professor Xilin approached Gerard to explain Yaxiu's danger, going so far as to call in favors just to ask him to once again "measure" Yaxiu's caliber. Although Gerard spared Yaxiu out of respect for a compatriot, his assessment remained unchanged—he still regarded Yaxiu as a harmless lamb beneath notice.
Then a cascade of events erupted like a tempest: a prison break, taking control of the prison, the Blood Moon Trial, Xilin's disappearance...
Just moments ago, Gerard had received word: Shilin Dole, president of the Elven Rights Protection Association, had gone missing, with his life or death unconfirmed, and news of it was temporarily under embargo.
A hundred years later, though he sat beneath the radiant Blood Moon, Gerard felt as if he had once again stepped into that dark room.
Yaxiu Heath was without question the leader of the Four Pillar Gods cult. He was the source of chaos, the head of secrets. His mere existence bred calamity; he was an evil vortex unto himself!
Through a flawless disguise, he had won the trust of a three-winged sorcerer and played upon the foolishness of a law enforcement captain!
"So just like last time..." Gerard muttered in a voice only he could hear, "am I once again reduced to trying to make amends after the fact?"
Suddenly, a commotion erupted from the blessing queue.
Chapter 167