Chapter 6: Even Killing Children! I Am Not Human!

Thud!
The steel pipe struck the old director’s forehead!
Her vision darkened, her legs wobbled, nearly causing her to fall to her knees.
“Sorry!”
Thud!
Another blow landed, this time on her left shoulder.
The old director grimaced in pain.
Blood flowed into her eyes, blurring her sight even further.
In an instant, overwhelming sorrow flooded her heart.
Madman!
If you want to kill me, then just do it—why apologize? Do you expect me to forgive you?
She felt stifled and crushed inside.
Hidden away in the basement, performing rites to an evil god, she had done no harm to anyone, yet this madman suddenly appeared and beat her nearly to death with two strikes.
Why? Why, in the end?
If it was to save someone, it was far too late, wasn’t it?
The children were all dead!
The old director was utterly perplexed, yet she knew there was no escaping her fate tonight.
Suddenly, she turned sharply, eyes wide open.
Her vision cleared briefly, and without hesitation, summoning her last reserves of strength and spirit, she hurled her cane.
But the man seemed to anticipate it.
He tilted his head slightly, and the cane brushed past him harmlessly, not so much as a hair touched.
The old director’s face immediately drained of color.
At the moment the cane left her hand, she had harbored a fleeting hope.
But that hope shattered like a soap bubble the instant the man tilted his head.
“I was wrong!” The man raised the steel pipe again.
The old director stared at him, her pupils reflecting the glow of the hexagram.
From some unknown moment, the light of the hexagram had changed—its dark purple aura now rimmed with a ring of blood red, giving it a particularly eerie glow.
“Hahaha!” The old director let out a dry laugh. “Whatever you intend to do, it’s too late!”
Her voice was laced with madness and grim satisfaction.
“The gods have already cast their gaze!”
“The ritual cannot be interrupted!”
“You will perish along with this disgusting city...”
Thud!
Her voice was abruptly cut off, followed by the sound of something heavy falling and a series of blows.
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
Thud! Thud! Thud!
“I am a servant of the evil god, I deserve to suffer!” The man grabbed the old director’s hair.
From his waist, he drew a triangular dagger and plunged it into her neck.
The old director’s pupils lost focus.
Her life had already been extinguished long before the blade pierced her neck.
The man knelt before her corpse, head bowed as if drained of all strength.
“Save me... god...”

A faint voice emanated from the hexagram.
A little boy curled up on the ground, his body covered in blood, gazing at the man with eyes full of despair and pain.
God!
Please save poor Achi!
Achi is willing to offer everything!
The red light of the hexagram flared intensely, evil power bursting forth from the circle, sketching a blazing gate in midair.
The boy’s eyelids grew heavier and heavier, nearly closing.
Creak—
The gate cracked open slightly.
Behind the gap, an indescribable shadow stirred, a maddening aura spreading forth.
The boy’s suffering reached its peak.
He convulsed uncontrollably, life force rising with his blood, transforming into glistening red threads that floated toward the gate above.
The nameless entity was using the boy’s life to push open the gate to the mortal world!
“I am guilty.”
Suddenly, the man kneeling whispered.
As his voice sounded, tendrils of black mist rose from the old director’s corpse.
The mist exuded an evil presence that chilled the soul, a sight too horrifying to contemplate deeply.
The old director’s gray hair faded away, her figure returning to that of a normal human.
“It’s all my fault.”
The man continued murmuring on his knees.
The twisted symbols on the ceiling, floor, and walls emitted black mist, their colors quietly fading away, and the oppressive atmosphere lifted.
“Forgive me.”
The whispered voice lingered in the hall.
The gate in midair also dissolved into black mist, the red flames forming the gate swiftly melting like ice cream under the blazing sun.
The shadow in the gap writhed in agitation.
It tried to force its way through, but before it could reach the gate, the gate vanished.
The hall was enveloped in swirling black mist, resembling a purgatory.
The man slowly rose.
A terrifying gravitational pull emanated from him, like an invisible vortex, drawing all the mist in the hall toward him.
Within seconds, the hall was cleared of all black mist, pristine and pure.
The man stood firm, silent.
His body gradually turned translucent, like a bubble in water.
“Thank you... god...”
The little boy lay curled on the ground, barely clinging to life.
The hexagram that had bound him had just transformed into black mist and drifted into the man’s body.
He was free now.
“Please... take Achi with you...”
You saved Achi.
From today onward, Achi will live for you.
The boy showed a strained expression.
His body slowly sank, transforming into a black shadow which floated steadily and resolutely toward the man.
The man remained silent, his form growing ever more transparent.

At the final moment before his disappearance, the boy’s transforming shadow drifted to the man’s feet, merging with his own shadow.
Silence engulfed the hall like death.
Several hours later, the sound of turning gears came from the tunnel exit.
Soon after, a flurry of footsteps approached.
“Oh my God!”
“Damn it! What happened here?”
“Secure the scene!”
“The old director and the children are all dead!”
“Requesting headquarters backup!”
...
Sunlight streamed through the window, casting warmth upon Zhou Quan’s face.
He felt a cozy warmth.
Since his parents had been cursed, he hadn’t slept so soundly in days.
“Get up.”
Zhou Quan opened his eyes and got out of bed.
He rarely lingered in bed, especially after his parents were cursed; every extra second felt like a crime against them.
He poured himself a cup of hot water, then moved to his desk and opened the evil god’s notebook.
[Simulation completed successfully: The orphanage director who craves fame and fortune]
[Start next simulation?]
The sun had risen once again, time for a new simulation.
Zhou Quan was silent for two seconds.
He did not immediately initiate the next simulation. Instead, he took out his phone and checked today’s news.
He shielded the screen with his palm, scrolling down slowly.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
His nerves were frayed; he could hear his own heartbeat clearly.
He dreaded seeing...
“Breaking news! Orphanage massacre!”
“Famous philanthropist Ms. Roanne confirmed dead! Case under full investigation!”
“No survivors! Who slaughtered the orphanage?”
“Heartless! Seventeen dead!”
“Saint Heart Orphanage tragedy! Who is to blame?”
Snap!
His phone slipped to the floor.
Zhou Quan’s expression was vacant; his hands trembled uncontrollably.
Emotions surged from his heart, overflowing his eyes as tears of remorse dripped onto the desk.
“It’s all my fault!” Zhou Quan broke down, covering his face and crying out hoarsely.
“I’m not human!”
“I brought this upon you!”