Dear Mr. Zhang Wei,
Comrade Zhang Aidao encountered a sudden attack by the Heavenly Demons on December 22, Year 503 of the Heavenly Court, and died heroically on the East China battlefield. He has been approved as a martyr against the demons, and a martyr certificate will be issued by Donghua City.
We extend our heartfelt condolences to you and your other relatives, and hope that you will turn grief into strength, strive for the construction of civilization and the defense of humanity.
...
Looking at the death notice in his hand, seeing those few simple lines of text, Zhou Bai stayed silent for a long time, then slowly said, "This world is really unpredictably dangerous."
A young man in a police uniform sat in front of him, glanced at Zhou Bai's deep expression, and said helplessly, "This was found in his room and delivered this morning. The old man might have been emotionally shocked by reading it..."
"Hmm." Zhou Bai nodded slowly, "He had some dementia before."
The young man nodded too, "That makes sense then. If his mental state was already unstable, encountering a major shock could indeed cause him to be infected by the spiritual contamination, mutate, and become a monster."
Zhou Bai suddenly raised his head and stared at the young man, "Aren't all spiritual contaminations in Donghua City supposed to be purified? Wasn't he adjusted by the Primordial Spirit? Didn't he get the rune vaccine? Why... why did he still mutate?"
The young man paused for a moment and then slowly said, "None of those are 100% foolproof. Even within the Dao School, student mutation incidents have occurred. And in recent years, the degree of spiritual contamination has been increasing..."
Zhou Bai lowered his head, "Officer Li, how did Zhang Aidao die?"
"He encountered Heavenly Demons during a patrol in the wild. I heard half of his team died, and he was among them."
Zhou Bai took a deep breath, "Could I... could I see him?"
"Sorry, all mutated bodies are handed over to the Heavenly Court to prevent secondary contamination. Besides, by studying their corpses, we can better understand the current distortion of the Heavenly Dao."
"Phew..." Zhou Bai clenched his fist tightly and loosened it after a long while.
A few minutes later, Zhou Bai followed Officer Li out. On the way, he saw an elderly woman with a numb expression, constantly shedding tears, surrounded by relatives comforting her.
Zhou Bai heard the words of comfort and paused slightly, "Who is she?"
Officer Li asked, "She is Zhang Aidao's mother, Zhang Wei's ex-wife. Do you want to see her?"
"No... there's no need."
Following Officer Li to pick up Aisha, Officer Li looked at the always silent Zhou Bai and comforted him, "You don't need to feel guilty or regretful. Once the mutation completes and they turn into monsters, there's no recovery, no reversal. Death is the only release. You were right to call for help immediately."
"No, I don't feel guilty," Zhou Bai said, "I was just thinking about when I can kill all those Heavenly Demons."
Officer Li was slightly taken aback and raised his eyebrows at Zhou Bai. When he sent him out of the police station, he handed Zhou Bai a piece of paper, "My name is Li Xiuzhu. This is my contact information and address. If you need anything, you can find me anytime."
Zhou Bai took the note, nodded, and left with Aisha.
Watching him leave, Li Xiuzhu had a faint smile on his face.
...
Zhou Bai walked back to the old man's apartment with Aisha.
The entire apartment had been cordoned off by the police's isolation runes. The blue runes flashed like neon lights, surrounding the entire crime scene.
Zhou Bai found a spot to sit down, patted Aisha's head, "Good girl, Aisha. There's nothing for you to eat today. In a few hours, it will be dawn. Then we'll go to school and get you something to eat."
"Speaking of which... the Dao School should allow dogs, right?"
Zhou Bai looked at Christina in his mind, but saw her curled into a ball, rolling around.
Since Zhou Bai threw her out, Christina hadn't spoken again, staying silent until now.
Seeing her like this, Zhou Bai helplessly said, "Come on, Nana, don't be angry. I did it to save all of us, didn't I?"
"Who are you calling Nana?" Christina snorted coldly, "You actually threw me out? No more talking, I'm heartbroken."
Zhou Bai said, "I didn't really throw you away. I just wanted you to distract him, and then I would pull you back."
Christina said, "The issue isn't about pulling me back or not. The key issue is you threw me out!"
Zhou Bai rolled his eyes, "Why are you so petty."
"Petty? I'm petty???" Christina got angry, "You throw a cat out when you're in danger, and now you blame me for being petty?"
"Alright, alright, I was wrong, I was wrong," Zhou Bai said, too lazy to argue with her, "I promise I'll never throw you again, okay?"
Lazy value +1
Lazy value +1
...
Lazy value +1
Zhou Bai's eyes brightened, not expecting that by avoiding an argument with Christina, he would actually gain lazy value.
On the other side, Christina nodded, "You promised. If you throw me again, we will cut ties forever, never to see each other again!"
Seeing Zhou Bai agree, Christina quickly added, "I want to come out! I don't want to stay in your mind all the time."
Zhou Bai nodded and agreed. He had originally planned to show Christina off as his pet cat; otherwise, it would be too troublesome to keep her in his mind all the time, unable to do anything.
So he let Christina out, and she happily ran around.
Zhou Bai yawned and slowly lay down, closing his eyes, watching as the lazy value slowly increased.
Aisha crouched by his side for a while, then also leaned against him, snuggling into his arms before lying down.
Touching Aisha's fur, Zhou Bai thought to himself, 'I must... get stronger, strong enough that I will never be helpless again, never... be unable to do anything.'
After Zhou Bai fell asleep, Christina came over, squatting on his chest and dozing off.
Early the next morning, Zhou Bai felt someone shaking him.
He opened his eyes and saw Jing Xiu staring at him blankly, "Brother Zhou... Brother Zhou, why are you sleeping on the street? And what's going on here?"
Zhou Bai sighed and said deeply, "Well... someone mutated into a monster where I live, so I had to make do on the street for the night." He didn't want to explain too much to Jing Xiu, so he kept it brief.
He stood up, stretched, twisted his neck, and looked at his panel.
After spending another night lying down, plus the lazy value accumulated from avoiding arguments with Christina.
Dao Conversion Rate: 0%
Primordial Spirit Value: 99
Divine Chart: Nine Calamities of Heaven and Man
Lazy Value: 1210
Zhou Bai nodded in satisfaction, "Let's go, time to enroll."
"Oh," Jing Xiu said, "Brother Zhou, don't you need to bring any luggage?"
"Didn't the Dao School say they'd provide everything?" Zhou Bai led Aisha along, "I only need this dog and this cat. By the way, the Dao School allows pets, right?"
Jing Xiu said, "I think so."
The Dao School was very efficient. In just one morning, they had allocated rooms and provided student cards and other supplies to the 600 new students.
Zhou Bai was also assigned a single room. He left Aisha in the room, hiding Christina in his mind, and went to attend his first class in the afternoon.
(A new week, please vote for recommendations)