Han Jie closed his eyes and pondered for a long while before saying softly, “That reason isn’t good enough.”
Meng Qingtong tugged the corner of her mouth downward. “Don’t you already know the real reason perfectly well? Why make me say it out loud? It makes me seem so pragmatic and calculating. How unbecoming.”
He opened his eyes and said sincerely, “But my wretched state just now wasn’t entirely an act. My strength has been greatly affected. For the time being, I still can’t find a way to resolve it.”
Meng Qingtong tilted her head and said, a little angrily, “But everything I said just now was true too. I really can fight. I want your help—if I said I didn’t want to make use of your strength, no one would believe it. But I truly don’t want you to go risk your life in battle. I’m not even willing to do something that dangerous myself. I understand the principle of not imposing on others what you yourself do not desire.”
“How about this.” She extended her right hand. “We only officially met today, and speaking too deeply when our acquaintance is still shallow isn’t a good thing. I’ll help you settle down in Dongding City first. You can get to know me better, and I’ll get to know you better too. When the time comes, if you think I’m trustworthy and a decent partner, then we can talk about cooperating. How does that sound?”
Seeing that Han Jie did not move, her tone softened, carrying a hint of pleading. “If you agree, then stretch out your right hand too and hold mine, then gently shake it up and down. This is called a handshake. I’ll teach you for free.”
“Why is there such a strange custom?” Han Jie asked, even as he reached out and lightly clasped her hand. He did not dare touch her for long; after one shake, he immediately let go.
“They say it was because, in the past, spirit cultivators would show they bore no hostility by displaying the right hand they usually used to form seals… Who knows? There have been several great wars, and history has long since been almost completely buried.” Once they had shaken hands, Meng Qingtong’s face lit up with delight. She merrily went under the tree to retrieve her backpack, then walked toward the golden light barrier that was already on the verge of dissipating, preparing to set up the spiritual array again.
After taking two steps, she suddenly thought of something. She turned to look at Han Jie, then raised her head to glance at the two little trees on the mountainside from before she had jumped down, where wild fruit hung from the branches. With a faint smile, she took a small bag from her backpack and came over to hand it to him. “Han Jie, in order not to expose anything, I won’t keep calling you respectful titles like venerable senior. I have bread and milk here. I’m trying to lose weight and can’t finish them. Help me take care of them, okay?”
Han Jie knew that with his cultivation, no matter how hungry he became, he would not starve to death. But it was truly uncomfortable. Moreover, the spiritual energy in the outside world was thin. Replenishing his inner spiritual sea through absorption would be exceptionally slow; with the body’s consumption, how could he be willing to waste spiritual power to make up for it?
But he also knew that the food and drink in this bag were most likely what Meng Qingtong had prepared for lunch. Saying she was dieting and could not finish them was merely because she was afraid he would care about face and refuse to accept them.
He thought for a moment, took the bag, pulled out the thing called bread, tore open the wrapper, and said, “Don’t set up another golden light barrier. Whatever you plan to do, I’ll help you.”
Meng Qingtong took the desiccant packet out of the packaging and put it into a trash bag. “This can’t be eaten. Mm… I need to capture a fiend alive. I’m not entirely sure what this thing would be called in the knowledge system of your era. In any case, we all call it a thief rabbit now.”
Han Jie took a bite of the bread. Compared with the dry cakes his parents had often made for him in his distant memories, it was indeed much more delicious—soft and tasty, though it did not feel very filling.
He looked toward the pile of bait and asked, “Is it that kind of grayish-black fiend, with pointed ears, resembling a large rabbit?”
“Yes, yes, that’s it.”
“People in my time were used to calling it a little thief-demon.” He surveyed the surroundings. “This thing is accustomed to moving in groups. Is there anything special about the one you want to catch?”
“No, just an ordinary one. It was wandering around a neighborhood in the suburbs and happened to steal an important ornament from my client’s home. I came here to bring the item back.” Meng Qingtong took a photograph from her bag. “This photo has a karmic thread connected to the stolen object. By sensing it with divine sense, I can barely lock onto an approximate location.”
Han Jie glanced at the thing called a photograph, silently called up the relevant common knowledge from his sea of consciousness, and studied it while making up for his lack of knowledge. At the same time, he asked doubtfully, “Little thief-demons don’t take the initiative to attack people. How do you plan to lure the target near your trap? Once they reach the wild, they gather in packs. Even if this kind of fiend’s strength is not worth mentioning, if enough of them gather, it would still be very troublesome for you alone, wouldn’t it?”
Meng Qingtong fanned herself with the photo. After hesitating for a while, she said in a low voice, “I know your secret now, so to be fair, I’ll tell you one of my secrets too. Promise me you won’t go around telling people carelessly. Just know it yourself. All right?”
Han Jie frowned. “If I don’t know your secret, does that mean I also won’t be able to understand your method of luring the fiends over?”
“Mm.” She acknowledged it, then grumbled somewhat unhappily, “Don’t you have even a bit of curiosity? I’m taking the initiative to tell you my secret, so why do you look like I still have to give you some money as compensation?”
“Because it feels very troublesome.” Han Jie raised a hand and stroked his own chest, sensing the heart-sword aspects stirring restlessly. “I don’t like things that are too complicated.”
That would affect his sword refinement—for a heart-sword aspect to become a sword within the heart, the emotions used had to be extremely pure.
“Then forget it. I won’t say it. In any case, I can lure the target wherever I want it to go. It works on any fiend, no matter how strong.” Meng Qingtong waved her hand. “You eat first. I still have enough materials on hand. I’ll just set up another golden light barrier. It won’t take more than a few minutes.”
Han Jie roughly understood her plan. First, she would use her secret method to lure over all the nearby little thief-demons, then use the bait to draw them into the golden light barrier’s range. She would lie in ambush in the tree and activate the array to trap the target. With the strength of little thief-demons, even if several hundred of them gathered together, they would have no chance of breaking through the golden light barrier. She could then remain outside and gradually deal with all of them.
As a genius who went out carrying nine heart-sword aspects and, upon seeing fiends, simply chose a suitable heart-sword to cut them down like chopping melons and vegetables, he had never used such a roundabout tactic.
He had to admit that the thin spiritual energy of this world had not truly made cultivators weak.
“No need to set it up.” After thinking it over, he decided it was better to first prove his worth a little, and, in passing, help this thrifty girl save some money—materials for high-grade spiritual arrays were not cheap. “Use your method to lure the little thief-demons here. I’ll help you deal with them.”
His ordinary spiritual techniques were indeed not very responsive because of the problem with his sea of consciousness, but he had already confirmed that all nine heart-swords were completely fine. In that case, let alone a few little thief-demons, even if the Demon Emperor appeared again leading his forces, he would still dare step forward and fight.
“You might lure over a lot of them. Are you sure you can handle it without setting up an array?” Meng Qingtong looked at him with eyes full of expectation, yet her words were worried. It seemed that the fall from the Wind-Thunder Wings earlier had indeed left a deep impression on her.
“For something at the level of little thief-demons, no matter how many are lured over, I guarantee they won’t harm a single hair on you.” Han Jie swallowed the last bite of bread, picked up the milk carton, and pondered over the things he had found in his sea of consciousness, trying to determine which was the correct way to drink it.
“If someone else who didn’t even know how to use a straw said that, I’d definitely think he was bragging.” Meng Qingtong reached out and inserted the straw for him, then spread her hands with a smile. “Then I’ll just go all out provoking them, and you’ll be responsible for cleaning up the mess?”
“Just go all out.” Han Jie finished the milk in one breath and stood in front of her. “I’m also very curious how many you can lure over.”
“Then can you capture one alive? Just one is enough.”
“For what purpose?” He frowned. “Evil must be eradicated completely. Even if they are weak, they should not be spared.”
Meng Qingtong said very seriously, “Didn’t I say before? In the future, I’ll definitely be able to figure out where fiends really come from. Capture one alive for me, and only then can I prove to you that I’m not just spouting empty boasts.”
“There is no need to prove it. I believe you.”
“Uh… Capturing one alive is useful to me too. Can you wait until I’ve squeezed out all its value?”
Han Jie was somewhat surprised. At this point, she had not switched to provoking him into action, and instead was still speaking candidly of the pros and cons. It seemed this request was not a roundabout way of making him display more of his strength; she truly had a need for it. He nodded. “Very well. In a while, I’ll try to kill more slowly. You can look for a chance to catch one alive yourself. Remember this: all of my methods can move at will and be withdrawn or released freely. Just feel at ease and go catch it. You absolutely won’t be hurt by me.”
“All right. Then… I’m starting.” Meng Qingtong pressed both hands to her lower abdomen. Spiritual power circulated, and even through her tight athletic clothes, one could see a faint light emerging around her slender waist.
Han Jie felt slightly surprised.
Without even moving his eyes, he could sense that Meng Qingtong was not activating an array or opening a talisman. Not only was she not using any spiritual technique, she was instead gradually suppressing the effect of a long-term spiritual array on her body.
It was not any spiritual array he had been familiar with before. It seemed to be some immature and clumsy original creation, and its effect was also very peculiar, as though it were blocking and isolating something that was neither spiritual power nor aura.
Even stranger was that as she suppressed it herself, the faint strange pull Han Jie had sensed earlier gradually became clearer and more distinct.
He immediately realized that something was hidden within Meng Qingtong’s soul.
As the isolation was gradually withdrawn, the power of that thing also began to be released.
At once, Han Jie sensed the agitation of a large number of fiends within a radius of several li.
Those originally hiding began to poke their heads out and look around. Those originally wandering began to turn and watch. As for the little thief-demons that had already formed groups nearby, they rushed toward them without the slightest hesitation, their speed incomparably swift.
This time, Han Jie was truly greatly shocked.
From the time he had begun exterminating fiends everywhere until now, he was confident he counted as one of the people in the world who understood fiends best. He had also summarized the behavioral patterns of many kinds of powerful fiends. Yet he had never seen anyone who could, solely by releasing an aura from her own soul, make all the fiends across such a vast area flock toward her.
If, at his peak state, he had such a helper by his side, wouldn’t it have been much easier to wipe out every last fiend?
When he looked at Meng Qingtong again, a trace of fervor had kindled in his gaze. He had not expected that this girl truly had not been speaking nonsense earlier.
Meng Qingtong had no time to pay attention to him. She was rather arduously controlling the degree to which the spiritual array within her body was suppressed. It seemed she had also noticed that, several li away, some auras far stronger than little thief-demons were already slowly moving.
Han Jie did not think it mattered. If one came, he would deal with one; if two came, he would deal with a pair. It was just right for him to familiarize himself with fighting in this completely new environment.
“Don’t you need to warm up?” Meng Qingtong finally controlled the spiritual array to the degree she wanted. She let out a breath of relief and said with a smile, “The thief rabbits will be here any moment.”
Han Jie did not respond to that. Instead, he said to himself, “Using yourself as bait can indeed make fiends appear wherever you want. Is the mystery behind this the secret you wanted to tell me?”
Unexpectedly, she shook her head. “How does that saying go… knowing that something is so, but not knowing why it is so. If you can help me find the true reason, I’ll be very grateful.”
“Then what was the secret you wanted to tell me earlier?”
“Wait until I capture one alive, and I’ll show you.” She rubbed her fists and palms, then pinched two spiritual talismans between her fingers just in case, reminding him, “The first wave is coming. The target isn’t among them. Looks like it’ll have to wait until the next batch.”
“Do you need me to kill more slowly? To avoid scaring off the rest.”
“No need. When I personally fish, before they’ve eaten the bait, none of them can bear to run.”
“Good.” Han Jie took two steps forward. His right hand brushed across the left side of his chest, and strands of spiritual power transformed into fine threads of light, rapidly flowing between his wrist and fingers. In the blink of an eye, they turned into the transparent outline of a longsword.
“That… isn’t a spiritual artifact-type spell.” Meng Qingtong widened her eyes, not even sparing a glance for the fiends that had already appeared in her field of vision.
Han Jie extended his right arm. His five fingers suddenly clenched, and the outline of empty light instantly solidified, becoming a precious sword about four feet long. The blade was silver-white, wrapped in a faint layer of mist. A teardrop-shaped crystal adorned the hilt—not clear and bright, but as though mist were swirling and flowing within the tear.
This was Wumang—the weakest of his heart-swords in terms of offense, yet perfectly suited for this moment.
Several dozen little thief-demons had already accelerated to their limit, dragging grayish-black lines through the mountain forest and wild grass.
Even the weakest fiend was still a fiend. He could not be careless. He could not give them any opportunity.
Since they could not break free from Meng Qingtong’s attraction, and there was no need to worry about them fleeing, Han Jie waited no longer. With a swing of Wumang, he slashed from afar toward that group of little creatures baring their fangs and brandishing their claws.
In the stretch of land several hundred meters before him, a vast expanse of hazy white mist waist-high abruptly appeared, flowing on its own without wind.
In just a few breaths, the little thief-demons at the very front plunged headfirst into the mist.
The mist was very thin and hardly obstructed anyone else’s vision.
Thus, Meng Qingtong saw everything clearly. As soon as those little thief-demons charged into the range of the mist, they seemed to have encountered a ghost wall, spinning around like headless flies. When they bumped into their own kind in the mist, they would even pounce and tear at each other.
She studied it for a while, then praised in a low voice, “What a powerful illusion art. Even fiends fall for it so quickly…”
“It isn’t illusion art.” Han Jie casually flicked his hand and planted Wumang into the ground in front of him.
The spreading mist thickened slightly. Within the altered mist, the movements of those little thief-demons suddenly slowed. Some of the smaller ones even swayed, unable to stand steadily.
By the time the second wave of little thief-demons recklessly charged into the mist, nearly half of their predecessors had already collapsed on the ground, their four limbs twitching.
The target Meng Qingtong was looking for was among this batch.
Clearly, she still remembered what Han Jie had said earlier and believed it without doubt. Therefore, she did not even ask whether the mist would harm her. She pinched the talisman in hand and strode over on her two long legs.
The already weak little thief-demons posed no threat whatsoever within this terrifying mist. Meng Qingtong kicked away a few that were in the way, then smoothly reached the target’s side. Bending down, she grabbed it by the scruff of its neck as if lifting a cat, slapped a spiritual talisman onto it in passing, and ran back in high spirits.
Han Jie was somewhat puzzled. With one hand on Wumang’s hilt, he continued supplying spiritual power and asked, “What use is there in catching this thing?”
Those bright, sparkling eyes turned toward him, carrying a mysterious smile.
“Do you want to know this fiend’s true name?”