Chapter 5: Public salvation

He Denghong’s main body instinctively closed his eyes, but the clone’s vision remained clear.

Following the guidance of the Crimson Crow Rabbit, he attempted to “see” existences that transcended material form.

Inside the red pupils of the **[Kan Jian]** clone, the black cross patterns seemed to come alive, rotating slowly.

With a short pseudoword, He Denghong’s perception was forcibly elevated once more, and the clone’s vision suddenly shifted.

The原本dim alleyway remained dim, and the bloodstains and headless corpse were still shocking to behold.

However, hovering above the patch of ground where the White Frog had melted away was a faint, flickering halo of light.

The halo possessed a translucent texture, its shape vaguely retaining the outline of a frog, though it was extremely distorted and pained. Within it, tiny, bubble-like fragments were constantly forming and bursting.

It made no sound, yet it radiated a sense of pure, near-death terror and confusion.

“Is that the soul of the White Frog?” He Denghong and the clone spoke simultaneously, their voices carrying a slight, imperceptible tremor.

This experience of “seeing” non-physical things made him feel a wave of dizziness, as if his very cognition was being subverted.

“Goo-goo-chirp, that’s the one. It hasn’t been dead for long, so the soul hasn’t begun to dissipate or turn into a ghost yet. It’s the perfect time for ‘recovery’.”

The Crimson Crow Rabbit shifted atop his head. “Use your wand, or just use the clone’s hand to touch it. The Skeletal Stamen will automatically absorb it. Remember to recite the ‘pseudoword’ for recovery.”

He Denghong hesitated for a moment. Letting the clone touch that eerie soul light with her mangled right hand felt incredibly awkward.

Ultimately, he chose to raise the clone’s left hand, carefully extending the pitch-black cane named “Dictator” toward the trembling halo of the soul.

Through the cane, the clone’s fingertips indirectly felt a cold, slight prickling sensation, similar to touching a static electricity ball.

She concentrated, recalling the corresponding information emerging in her consciousness. Through the clone’s throat, she squeezed out another distorted syllable: **[Shuo Yi Wei Ji]**

The moment the tip of the cane touched the light, the White Frog’s soul was pulled by an invisible force. It let out an incredibly brief shriek before turning into a thin stream of light, sucked into “Dictator.”

The small red seal script patterns on the surface of the cane seemed to glow faintly before returning to their original state.

At the same time, He Denghong felt the cold Skeletal Stamen inside his body vibrate gently, conveying a very faint sense of “satiety,” as if he had eaten a single, insignificant sesame seed.

The intense pain at the clone’s severed wrist also seemed to lessen by a tiny fraction, and the granulation at the edge of the wound began to wiggle slightly faster.

“That’s… it?” He Denghong was somewhat disappointed.

After going through such a brutal battle and nearly dying, the harvest was this meager.

“Goo-goo-chirp-chirp!” The Crimson Crow Rabbit let out a mocking laugh.

“I told you already. This is a low-level anomaly with the lowest hazard rating. The ‘Elements’ contained in its soul are pitifully few. It’s good enough that it can dull your pain and speed up your recovery a bit!”

“If you want to get stronger with this, you’ll have to hunt much bigger guys! By the way, you need to give your clone a nickname. Also, give me your phone number so I can report it to ‘Common Salvation’.”

“Common Salvation? What on earth is that? It sounds like the name of an organization…” He Denghong asked.

“Exactly as the name implies. Common Salvation… is an institution created by our civilization that spans two universes to seal away the supernatural. In our world, we mainly handle material bodies that have permeated the world of consciousness.”

“But at the same time, our civilization uses public funds to set up branches of Common Salvation for civilizations like yours. The specific operation of the branch is left to you natives. I’ll go talk to the mayor of this city later.”

“The anomalies of these two universes always end up in each other’s societies because of space distortions even we don’t understand. And the trend seems to be that the higher the level of civilization development, the more frequently they appear, and the greater the impact on the overlapping of universes.”

“Sounds like a lot of inescapable trouble,” He Denghong and the clone muttered simultaneously, their tone full of reluctance.

His main body instinctively touched the phone in his pocket. “My number is 180XXXXXXX. As for the clone’s nickname…”

He looked at the girl in the military uniform — red pupils, a world-weary yet delicate face, and the gruesome wound that was still healing. A strange sense of possession and alienation emerged at once.

“Let’s call her ‘He Jiulu’,” He Denghong decided. It was simple and direct, much like the reality he had been forced to accept.

The girl named He Jiulu remained expressionless, merely blinking her eyes once in response.

“Chirp, He Denghong, phone number recorded. Eshe code name: ‘He Jiulu’. Information will be reported to the local Common Salvation database for the record.”

The Crimson Crow Rabbit’s button eyes seemed to flicker, as if performing some operation. “Alright, preliminary registration complete.”

“Next, I’ll go talk to the mayor here to secure a legal identity for you and some necessary startup resources.”

“While money isn’t a guarantee, I can at least get you some identification so you can move around freely without your terrifying appearance causing trouble with your local security personnel.” It patted He Denghong’s head with its paw.

“Goo-goo-chirp, I should get going to handle my own business. I’ll contact you directly by phone if anything comes up…”

The Crimson Crow Rabbit hopped down from his head and landed on the ground, tilting its head. “I hope your civilization isn’t as short-lived as the last one I served.”

“What? Was the last civilization you visited not protected by Common Salvation and the Eshe?”

Faced with He Denghong’s question, the Crimson Crow Rabbit only gave an evasive answer. “That civilization… was completely destroyed by a ‘pawn’ of this universe’s ‘Common Logic’. I’ll tell you more about it when the time comes.”

With that, the red and black rabbit didn’t wait for a response. Its body glowed faintly, and its figure quickly faded, vanishing as if melting into the air, leaving only a sentence that gradually drifted away:

“Strive to survive, new Hero…”

***

A cold wind blew through the mouth of the alley, swirling a few fallen leaves past the patch of blood that had begun to darken and the cold, headless corpse on the ground.

He Denghong stood there. The night wind rushed into his collar, making him shiver.

The sensation of the rabbit’s fur seemed to linger on his head, and his mouth still felt that strange sensation of having been forcibly intruded upon.

He took a deep breath of the cold air, which carried the scent of blood, and struggled to calm himself down.

He walked quickly out of the dark alley with his clone, bypassing the tragic scene and heading toward the apartment building where he lived.

Along the way, he kept his head down, trying his best to avoid eye contact with anyone.