C97 — The Origin of All Things

It was Zhuo Huaichu!

Mu Sichen stared at the name on his chat app, utterly shocked.

Last time, after the little octopus exposed Zhuo Huaichu’s identity, Zhuo Huaichu had taken the initiative to delete Mu Sichen. But Mu Sichen hadn’t deleted him in return.

The app they used had a rule: if Mu Sichen never removed the contact, then Zhuo Huaichu could re-add him as a friend without needing to send a new request, since his name still remained on Mu Sichen’s friend list.

At some point, Zhuo Huaichu had re-added Mu Sichen—and had even sent him a message right as Mu Sichen stepped into Limbo Bar.

Mu Sichen looked around at the people in the bar. Though the dim lighting made it hard to see faces clearly, he could still use the “Eye of Truth” to inspect the state of each person.

But he knew full well—this was a reckless thing to do.

If Zhuo Huaichu was among the crowd, and if Mu Sichen’s guess was right—that Zhuo Huaichu was a god-level monster, then to look directly at him with the “Eye of Truth” would basically be courting death.

Still, Mu Sichen reasoned that even if Zhuo Huaichu was a god-level being, it was unlikely that his true body would be present in the real world.

If reality had truly fallen to the point where god-level monsters could enter, it would mean the contamination had penetrated to the bone—the world itself would be beyond saving.

The world’s barrier probably hadn’t weakened enough yet to allow something of that level in.

Mu Sichen believed that, at worst, he might enter a dream state again—like when he saw the butterfly totem last time—but not to the extent of losing his sanity.

He scanned the bar, but everyone appeared normal. Nothing seemed out of place.

Of course, this kind of quick scan couldn’t compare to a detailed inspection with the “Eye of Truth.” Subtle traces of power were easy to miss without close scrutiny.

To avoid draining too much mental energy, Mu Sichen temporarily deactivated his “Eye of Truth.”

His phone buzzed again.

Zhuo Huaichu:

“Stop looking. I’m not there. But I’ve already given you the ticket to Origin Town. Find it—and come meet me.”

Mu Sichen’s pupils contracted. He quickly typed a reply:

Mu Sichen:

“You’re connected to Origin Town? Who exactly are you? Are you A01?”

Zhuo Huaichu:

“What’s A01? Why’s there a censorship filter? That’s a tough one—you’ll have to tell me where you heard that. But if you’re A02, then of course I’m 01.”

With that, Zhuo Huaichu had effectively confirmed his identity:

He had once been a player, the very one the system mentioned—the only one to have acquired god-level power, become a Hidden Star, and later be abandoned by the system, forbidden to return to the real world.

Mu Sichen opened the game app and sent a message to customer support to verify Zhuo Huaichu’s claims.

But this time, unlike before, there was no swift response. He waited… and waited. Nothing.

Zhuo Huaichu:

“Don’t bother asking the system. Its signal here is too weak.”

Mu Sichen:

“What do you want?”

Zhuo Huaichu:

“I want to meet you.”

Mu Sichen froze, gripping his phone tightly, unsure how to respond.

A god-level monster wanted to meet him. That feeling… it was probably like a death row inmate being told their execution was scheduled for today.

Zhuo Huaichu:

“Because I want to see you, I’ll give you a little tip. Limbo Bar really is one of the contamination points you saw in the ‘Sea of Awareness.’ But this pollution wasn’t caused by me—or the butterfly. It was already here. We just made use of it to channel our powers.”

Zhuo Huaichu—even knew he had entered the “Sea of Awareness.”

Mu Sichen furrowed his brows tightly, a deep sense of crisis swelling in his chest—along with a fear that was unknowable, uncontrollable, and unnameable.

Compared to the already insane god-level beings from the otherworld, Zhuo Huaichu was far more terrifying—because, like Mu Sichen, he had once been a player. And yet he had ended up like this.

Mu Sichen had countless questions.

What kind of person had Zhuo Huaichu once been?

What had he felt after being abandoned by the system?

What was his attitude toward the real world now?

But in the end, all Mu Sichen typed into the chat was a single question:

Mu Sichen:

“Was Yang Yunyun your doing?”

Zhuo Huaichu:

“Yes. She was one of the gifts I sent you. Isn’t it great to have state power protecting you? Convenient, isn’t it? You got intel on the bar from Director Liu, but even after searching so long, you had no leads. You even went all the way to Dream Butterfly Town. But the moment you met someone from the state—you found this bar the next day. So convenient.”

Mu Sichen wasn’t some saint. He knew he couldn’t save everyone.

But at the very least—he didn’t want to be the cause of anyone’s suffering.

He thought of Chi Lian’s tears, of Dan Qi’s voice saying that Yang Yunyun’s family would be notified tomorrow.

He knew what it was like to lose someone close. He could imagine the sorrow that would consume Yang Yunyun’s family when they heard the news.

He couldn’t help but ask:

Mu Sichen:

“Do you feel anything about her fate? Her death?”

Zhuo Huaichu:

“Would you care about the life or death of an ant?”

Mu Sichen didn’t rebuke him. There was no point.

Zhuo Huaichu now stood on a level utterly removed from humanity. These things no longer touched him.

With that answer, Mu Sichen knew there was no need to ask any more about his emotions or his views on the real world.

The answer was simple: like all god-level monsters, Zhuo Huaichu was a tragic tale of a dragon-slayer who became the dragon.

Mu Sichen replied calmly:

Mu Sichen:

“I will come find you.”

Zhuo Huaichu:

“I’m really looking forward to it.”

Just then, Lin Wei walked up beside Mu Sichen and asked, “At a time like this, who are you texting? We just found the first man Yang Yunyun met the first time she came to this bar.”

Mu Sichen put away his phone, face expressionless. “Just a troublesome client—insists I play a game with Him tonight.”

Lin Wei said, “Once this case is over, I’ll help you apply for an off-the-books salary. That way, you won’t have to work as a game booster anymore.”

With that, he dragged Mu Sichen to find the man.

The bar was noisy and crowded. The man—Lu Renyi —was sitting at the bar, drinking. His eyes wandered the dance floor, clearly scouting for his partner for the night.

Chi Lian had already made her way to the bar and sat down beside him. She was very beautiful, and due to her recent illness, she now had a soft, quiet elegance.

Lu Renyi’s eyes lit up when he saw her. He leaned over to flirt: “Want a drink? My treat.”

Straight to the point. He didn’t even ask for her name.

Chi Lian asked, “What’s the best-selling drink here? And what’s the most special one?”

Lu Renyi replied, “I don’t really know what sells best—but I do know the most special one. It’s called Origin of All Things. It’s made by their most famous mixologist. Supposedly, it’s not for sale—only given to people deemed ‘worthy.’”

Chi Lian asked, “How do you know all that?”

Lu Renyi said, “I saw it once. I think it was… a month or two ago? A woman came in, and when the bartender saw her, he gave her a glass of Origin of All Things.”

Chi Lian leaned forward slightly. “What did she look like?”

Lu Renyi frowned, trying to recall, then shook his head. “I don’t remember.”

“Is it her?” Lin Wei stepped forward from behind and placed a photo of Yang Yunyun in front of him.

The lighting was dim. Lu Renyi squinted at the picture for a while, then shook his head again. “She looks kind of familiar, but I’m not sure I know her. Can’t say for sure she’s the one who got the Origin of All Things. By the way, who are you people?”

“Police,” Lin Wei said, flashing his badge at Lu Renyi. “You met the woman in the photo here at the bar about a month ago. You went to a hotel that night. You don’t remember her?”

Lu Renyi scratched his face awkwardly. “It was just a one-time thing. Hard to remember. Maybe if we’d met up more, I’d have remembered her.”

Chi Lian turned away slightly, unwilling to look at him.

She knew Lu Renyi wasn’t the main issue. He was just a typical playboy who drifted around bars, with a messy private life. Society might label him a scumbag, but it was his lifestyle. They didn’t know each other, and Chi Lian saw no point in scolding him.

The real issue was the drink— Origin of All Things. The name was far too similar to Origin Town.

Mu Sichen walked over, activating the Eye of Truth, giving Lu Renyi a full scan. He then handed a self-sticker to Lin Wei and whispered, “I don’t see any signs of contamination, but just in case, put one on him.”

Lin Wei handed both the man and the sticker to Dan Qi, who grabbed Lu Renyi with one hand.

“Hey—hey—what are you doing? Did I break any laws?” Lu Renyi shouted.

Dan Qi casually pinched the back of his neck, knocking him out. Lu Renyi slumped over like a drunk and was carried away without resistance.

Mu Sichen turned to the bartender and asked, “Where’s your mixologist?”

The bartender replied, “I make drinks too. But if you mean our most famous one—he’s always acting mysterious. Doesn’t show up regularly. Comes and goes as he pleases. Likes giving out free drinks. I don’t know what the boss sees in him as the ‘head mixologist.’ Honestly, I’m pretty good myself. Want a drink, handsome?”

Mu Sichen asked, “Can you make Origin of All Things?”

The bartender’s face darkened. “That stuff? Who knows what’s even in it? Probably not sanitary. You wanna drink that? Last time he made Origin of All Things for some girl, I swear I saw him drip his own blood into it. My god—what is this, a horror drama? It’s disgusting!”

Mu Sichen pressed further: “Does he make drinks related to butterflies or dreams?”

“Hell no,” the bartender scoffed. “He hates that kind of stuff. Said dreams and butterflies are heresies that should be burned at the stake. Isn’t that totally messed up? Anyway, don’t drink his weirdo cocktails. If you’re into butterflies and dreams, I have a drink called Liang Zhu —want to try?”

Mu Sichen studied the bartender carefully. He didn’t see any traces of contamination. The man’s hostility toward the mixologist seemed to come more from professional jealousy than anything supernatural; he was just badmouthing the competition to draw business.

If he was telling the truth, then the mixologist was likely the one who had polluted Yang Yunyun but he was unrelated to the Butterfly.

So then… how had the Butterfly managed to contaminate Director Liu?

Zhuo Huaichu had said this bar was one of the contamination points. But was it a physical location? Or did it require certain conditions to be met?

As Mu Sichen sat at the bar, lost in thought, Lin Wei leaned over and said, “We’re going to check on the other people Yang Yunyun had contact with. You stay here and think. Chi Lian will wait for the mixologist. I asked around—he’s erratic, but he always shows up at night. Just be patient.”

Mu Sichen handed Lin Wei ten self-stickers. “Just in case.”

Lin Wei took them, and the group split up to pursue their next leads.

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