The fox immortal possessing Hu Manni realized what it had done after howling that shout, and it immediately fled, leaving behind a bewildered Hu Manni.
—Are you kidding? How could it not run?
Its Hu family was on the Mountain Lord's side, and they already didn't get along with the Demon Suppression Division. If the Mountain Lord found out that it had called someone from the Demon Suppression Division “Little Aunt”...
Flee first, think later.
“As expected of a fox, cunning and quick on its feet. It slipped away fast.”
Understanding the key to it, Nan Zhi couldn't help but chuckle and curse playfully.
In fact, she had arrived long ago.
She had just been hiding in the mist, observing in secret. It was only when she saw the witch Harley control the zombie to kill that Nan Zhi decisively threw out the Green Beetle Needles.
“Bzzz... Bzzz...”
Two jade-like green needles buzzed, moving at an incredible speed, guaranteed to strike their target.
After piercing through the enemy's forehead, the two Green Beetle Needles landed with absolute precision into a green needle pouch.
“This treasure is called the ‘Green Beetle Needles.’ It houses one hundred and twenty-eight beautiful green needle magic treasures. Nurtured day and night by my master, they have long possessed spirituality and can defeat enemies for me.
Before I went out to gain experience, Master lent me this treasure for protection, but I didn't expect it to actually come in handy today.”
Nan Zhi put away the needle pouch, stepped forward to glance at the witch on the ground who had died with her eyes open, and made a surprised expression:
“Wait, how is this... the black witch? How did you end up fighting? Could their target have been Ghost Sand too?
She's American. This won't cause any diplomatic issues, will it?”
“There's no way to contact the outside world inside the secret realm. As long as we keep the news locked down, it'll be fine.
Besides, she was the one who attacked first. We acted in self-defense out of absolute necessity. Whether in terms of international law or common morality, it does not violate discipline in principle.
I'm sorry. I overthought things, which gave her an opportunity to take advantage of.”
Qin Yue pursed her lips. The latter apology was directed at the fox immortal possessing Hu Manni.
For this expedition, although the organization had given her significant command authority and they had simulated potential clashes with the Americans before entering the secret realm, it was inevitable to still have some reservations when it came to actual combat.
—After all, strictly speaking, Harley Gisele was not an active American soldier, but still technically a civilian.
“You aren't a member of the Demon Suppression Division yet, and you have a dual identity, so it's normal to have too many concerns.”
Nan Zhi casually comforted her, borrowing Ma Guniang's prestige:
“Besides, more and more secret realms will appear in the world in the future, and there will be more opportunities to gain experience.
I suppose the reason Senior Sister Ma has delayed taking you in as a disciple is also because she wants you to gain more experience and properly polish your character.
Master once said that we of the Demon Suppression Division ‘slay evil, suppress demons, do good deeds, and reap good rewards.’ Just follow your heart.”
Qin Yue fell into deep thought.
So that was why Ma Guniang refused to accept her as a disciple?
For cultivators, the biggest taboo in combat was softheartedness. Once distracting thoughts arose, life and death were often decided in a single instant.
Although she had already embarked on the path, deep down, she had always been filled with conflict.
Did she really want to join the Demon Suppression Division?
If there were ever a conflict of interest between the Demon Suppression Division and the authorities in the future, without a doubt, Qin Yue's bottom line would definitely lie with Huaxia.
Ma Guniang must have seen through this, which was why she used Nan Zhi to guide her to gain more experience.
This was both a reminder and a hope that she could find a balance between her beliefs and her pursuit of the Dao.
She was telling her in this way that she didn't have to choose—she only needed to follow her heart and hold true to her original intentions.
In essence, both the Demon Suppression Division and the authorities existed for the peace and stability of Huaxia.
She was never required to choose.
She understood.
A sudden realization washed over Qin Yue.
“Little Aunt.”
Her gaze grew increasingly resolute, and her determination to pursue the Dao burned even brighter:
“I understand. I will never let this happen again.”
With the weight lifted from her chest, Qin Yue suddenly gained a minor insight. The spiritual energy within her circulated, and in the blink of an eye, her cultivation level rose to the next level.
She had failed to break through the shackles of Qi Refinement level 2 during the life-and-death struggle earlier, yet at this moment, she had actually achieved sudden enlightenment!
“?”
What did you understand?
“Congratulations.”
Nan Zhi had no idea what Qin Yue had imagined, but seeing the growing admiration in the other girl's eyes, she didn't ask too directly. Instead, she merely gave an enigmatic smile:
“You do possess wisdom roots. No wonder Senior Sister Ma values you so highly. Now that you have attained enlightenment, your path of cultivation will surely be smooth sailing in the future.”
“Thank you for your kind words, Little Aunt.”
Qin Yue's entire aura sharpened, shining even more brilliantly like a sword drawn from its sheath.
“Um...”
Standing to the side, Hu Manni timidly raised her hand and smiled shyly:
“Leaving the corpse here isn't very good either. Why don't we just burn it? That way, no one should be able to find out what happened here.”
Nan Zhi: “...”
Qin Yue: “...”
For a shy-looking little girl, you're pretty ruthless.
Sure enough, how could anyone hanging out with a Northeast fox not have a little something to them?
...
Burning a corpse was much simpler than killing someone.
Ghost Sand was everywhere. Within just two breaths of scattering it over the corpse, raging flames erupted out of thin air, burning the flesh and equipment on the body to nothing, leaving only a dirty skeleton behind.
“Logically, such a sudden burst of high temperature should have turned even human bones to ash—”
Qin Yue crouched down, using a gold knife to scoop up a portion of Ghost Sand from the heart of a ghost soul flower, carefully placing it into a glass bottle:
“The things in the secret realm truly are mysterious. Fortunately, we listened to you, Little Aunt, and wore gold items on our person.”
“In the cultivation world, nothing is too strange. Ghost Sand can burn flesh, but it cannot harm bone, and wearing gold items can suppress its fiery nature.”
Nan Zhi skillfully harvested a heart-shaped ghost soul flower, but her foot suddenly kicked something the size of a fist.
She picked it up and looked. It was actually the heart-shaped lingzhi that the witches had been fighting over just now.
It had somehow fallen into the flowers during the struggle, and Nan Zhi had conveniently picked it up.
“Your luck is too good, Little Aunt.”
Hu Manni's eyes were full of envy: “My old guardian spirit said this thing only grows in mass graves and wild cemeteries. It's highly nourishing for foxes.
Those American werewolves came for this thing too, saying it can make a potion that brings people back to life and resurrects the dead.”
With that, she repeated the conversation between Harley, Martin, and the others, including the fact that the force behind this team was a major American financial tycoon family.
“‘Bringing people back to life’ and ‘resurrecting the dead’? That goes against the heavens. If any random spirit herb could do that, resurrection would have been commonplace long ago.
This thing is called ‘Coffin Fungus.’ It only grows on the coffins of zombies that have achieved some climate. If someone is bitten by a zombie, consuming this can cure the corpse poison.”
Nan Zhi laughed when she heard this and explained:
“A living person who eats Coffin Fungus will turn stiff as a board into a zombie, and a zombie that eats this will increase its cultivation and become rock-hard. How is that not highly nourishing?
Voodoo witches are indeed very skilled in black magic, but the resurrection in their concept is different from what cultivators understand.
They directly guide the departed spirit back into the corpse. Although the soul can be maintained for a period, as the physical body decays, the resurrected person's soul will be trapped in the corpse forever, unable to enter reincarnation or find peace.
Even if they really managed to take this thing back, at most they would only turn people into zombies—oh, or rather, just the kind of living dead from American horror-comedy movies that continuously rot and stink, with a fondness for eating brains.”
Hearing this, both Qin Yue and Hu Manni couldn't help but feel a shiver of disgust.
This thing was of no use to Nan Zhi, so she broke off a piece to keep as a collectible and casually tossed the rest to Hu Manni:
“This is for that big, silly fox of yours. Don't run the next time you see me. Our Demon Suppression Division doesn't just kill any demon we see.”
!
Such a huge piece of Coffin Fungus, she's actually giving it away!
If it had known that calling her “Little Aunt” would bring such a huge benefit, it would have worn the title out and plastered those words on its forehead day and night!
The big fox lying on Hu Manni's shoulder wagged its tail, its eyes sparkling with golden light.
The Mountain Lord was magnanimous and probably wouldn't hold it against a little demon like itself.
Rate on N.U.
