The best of the new generation of disciples of the Luo family were working together… It sounded pretty good.
Luo Qingqing not only had the capability but also had a stunning appearance. With such an outstanding woman by his side, the future work must be exceptionally interesting, right?
“Hey, what are you giggling about?” A voice full of disgust interrupted Xia Fan’s thoughts.
“Uh.” He regained his senses and scooped a spoonful of broth into the fox demon’s mouth. “I was thinking about the future… What do you think about the capital city?”
Because of the disruption of people in Qing Shan Town, the hunting squad had gained a lot in the afternoon. Under the lead of hunter “Brother Yan”, not only did they catch more than ten hares and roe deer, but also caught a pair of mountain deers, which were served as dinner for 100 over candidates. The bowl of venison mince stew was also something he specially prepared for the fox demon’s recovery. Considering that she wouldn’t be able to move around freely and might tear her wounds if she ate the food by herself, he ignored Li’s protests and fed her.
After touching the spoon, Li grimaced after getting scalded.
“Ah… Sorry.” Xia Fan took back the spoon and blew on it again. “It should be fine now.”
However, Li looked at him with an even stranger expression and seemed to be examining him as though he was abnormal. After a while, she drank the soup and asked, “Why did you suddenly ask about Shang Yuan?”
Shang Yuan City was the metropolis of the Qi Country. It was also where the capital city was located.
“Nothing much, I was just wondering what would happen if I go there.” Xia Fan stirred the minced meat in the bowl and said, “I was told that the top-ranked candidates in the examination will be assigned to the Privy Council in the capital. However, as the capital, there should be very few evil spirits there, right? Everyone should be very free since there are so many mystics.”
“I have never been there. However, I heard from my master that Shang Yuan looks very grand and prosperous but is actually secretly filled with dangers everywhere. The mystics who stay there for good are all very capable.”
“Dangerous?” Xia Fan said with surprise.
“Don’t you think that the Privy Council is dedicated to deal with evil spirits?” Li sneered, her expression looking familiar. Xia Fan remembered that when she said “Privy Council is way scarier than what you think”, she smiled the same way. “Indeed, there are no mass graves in big cities and the order there is much better than in smaller cities. However, as the concentration of power in the Qi Country, how would Shang Yuan possibly be peaceful? Based on what my master said, not only are there many mystics, but many talented and extraordinary people are also all over the place. For example, the scripture seekers who arrived across the sea, the missionaries from the West Pole, the visiting missions from neighboring countries… Monitoring them alone will give the Privy Council a huge headache.”
“What do you mean?”
“When the enemy uses magic to plot mischief, if the superiors are not prepared, won’t there be no room for resistance?”
Xia Fan was stunned.
“It would be a waste to have powers that ordinary people do not possess, but only use them to deal with evil spirits.” Li narrowed her eyes and said, “It’s true that demons harm people, but the number is only a fraction. The real killers are always you humans. However, all of you do not know it. Since the mystics can become a sharp blade, how to use the weapon normally and how to continue using it, isn’t that simple logic?
“You haven’t asked me how I got injured, so let me tell you now,” Li told the full story of the fight with Ba Xingtian. “This man is the ‘weapon’ I was talking about. I can feel the intense killing aura in him, which means he must have killed hundreds of people. Moreover, he’s only an inspector of the Privy Council. The mystics at higher positions definitely killed much more people than him. As for how many evil spirits have been killed, do the officials in the Shang Yuan City really care? In my opinion…”
Li suddenly paused as Xia Fan had brought another spoonful of soup to her mouth.
She glared at him furiously but eventually opened her mouth obediently.
“I did think a little too simplistically earlier on. However, this situation shouldn’t be treated as the norm.” Xia Fan pleaded for his kind. “We want to lead a good life. As long as there’s a leader, the world will become better. By then, even if we have powerful weapons, we won’t be able to use them because of restrictions.”
Nonsense. Although Li thought so, she didn’t say it out loud as Xia Fan’s words revealed inexplicable confidence. Eventually, she snorted softly. “You speak as though you have gone through it.”
“Didn’t all of us experience this? If there’s no improvement at all, humans would be still in the trees drinking blood.”
“I hope you can continue thinking so in the future.” Li shrugged.
“If I go to the capital city…” Xia Fan paused. “Will you go with me?”
Li was silent for a while before twitching her ears. “Rest assured, I keep my promises. Although the demons there make it risky, the opportunities huge too. If we talk about the best place to retain an Azure Sword, I’m afraid it will be the Privy Council in a big city. It’s just that…”
“What?”
“Do you really think you can rank in the top positions in the mystic examination?” Li rolled her eyes. “Excuse my frankness, but I was able to injure you with my tail before I got injured. You were just all talk and no action. I told you to not force yourself and to wait for three more years, but not only you did not leave, but you still want to get in the top positions? Think about what you can do to stay alive in the Night of Great Desolation first!”
…
When Xia Fan slept, it was already half-past midnight.
Li didn’t sleep. It was her first time spending the night in a tiny room with a human ever since she gained consciousness.
Xia Fan had relaid the blanket and mattress on the floor, so they didn’t interfere with each other. However, considering that she was a demon, such a distance was considered incredible.
Li didn’t care about the unspoken rules of humans, the talk about how opposite genders could not interact with each other was just mere talk. The critical point was the difference in identity between her and Xia Fan. Master didn’t mind getting close to her because of the difference in their capability. However, Xia Fan didn’t have the assurance to overthrow herself and was still sleeping soundly. That was somewhat unbelievable.
However, speaking of unbelievable, how was she not? She was determined to take revenge on the Privy Council but was sleeping in the same room as a mystic who was determined to enter the Privy Council. Moreover, she received his care.
What exactly went wrong?
She couldn’t figure it out.
Until the moonlight outside the window shone on the empty bowl used to hold the porridge, Li’s gaze froze.
The image that appeared in her mind was Xia Fan blowing on the spoon.
Would any humans do that for a demon?
No… nobody would do that. Unless the other party didn’t treat her as a demon or a weird species.
An answer suddenly emerged in Li’s mind.
She was surprised to find out that from the first time she had met Xia Fan until now, he didn’t seem to have shown any signs of rejection, as though he was no different from her.
This was also why she felt that he was “abnormal”. Even her master wouldn’t do that. At least, she could feel that her master still treated her as another species and was completely different from a human. Therefore, her master kept telling her to stay away from others.
However, Xia Fan did not. His gaze was very normal, and this kind of “normal” made Li feel delusional. As for how she neglected the unreasonable nature of this, when she remembered, she realized how rare it was.
It wasn’t the first time he had come into contact with a demon. It had been hundreds or thousands of times since he experienced it.
However, based on what he said, she was the first demon he saw.
He had never come into contact with a demon before but acted as though he was used to it. This was similar to him being born with it. However… did such a thing really exist in the world?
…
Two days was not a long time. On the seventh day at five in the afternoon, the remaining candidates had gathered in the middle of Qing Shan Town and were ready to face the last difficult task of the mystic examination.
Xia Fan climbed to the top floor of the inn. The best room was converted into a “defense command post” as it had a fantastic view. He could see the entire town from the window.
It was about six o’clock and the sun was about to set. The red-orange glow of the sun covered half of the sky, and even the mountains stretching across the horizon were no longer green. Large shadows were cast at the foot of the mountains and seemed to give a reminder of the night’s arrival. Together with the birds returning to their nests and the sounds made by the insects, everything seemed to be no different from the usual.
“Looking at this peaceful scenery. Sometimes, I really feel that I have deduced wrongly,” said Luo Qingqing, the first person to realize Xia Fan’s arrival, as she put down the scroll in her hand and walked over.
He always felt that her attitude towards him had become more proactive after the speech the other day.
“Isn’t it better to be wrong? Holding the source of spirit fire is already equivalent to passing. We just have to wait until tomorrow.” Xia Fan pretended to be relaxed. “As for this town… With the power of the Privy Council, we shouldn’t be the ones who need to compensate for the losses, right?”
The so-called usual did not include the town.
After some renovation, the inner circle of Qing Shan Town had been integrated. Compared to a normal fortress, it didn’t even have a “gate”. The only access was completely sealed after the hunting group finished their last hunt, theoretically eliminating the possibility of enemies swarming in. Of course, on the other hand, it also eliminated the idea of candidates escaping.
Meanwhile, the houses at the outer circle were torn to the ground and could be described as a wreck.
Luo Qingqing couldn’t help but laugh when she heard Xia Fan mention compensation.
“I have to admit, your plan is very good.” Fei Nian followed Luo Qingqing over. As the leader of the Fei family, he had a completely different attitude towards the plan. Perhaps it was because they were dissatisfied with the Fang family’s occupation of the well tunnels, or perhaps it was because he wanted to show the Fei family’s ability to the invigilator. He not only proactively participated in the decision-making process of defense but also took over many defense tasks. “Although the well tunnels will put constraints on the evil spirits, it will also put constraints on us. Now that we’re on the ground, not only can we take the advantage of looking from above, but we can also change flexibly and bring down the powerful. From every aspect, it would be more advantageous for us to stay here than being restricted underground.
“You can wait until tomorrow to praise me.” Xia Fan smiled and said, “I have some experience in arranging for people to repair things. However, I’m not able to lead a team in a fight. Whether we can successfully survive until tomorrow morning still depends on the command of both of you.”
“Rest assured. This is what the Fei family is good at.” Fei Nian was about to continue when a gasp interrupted their conversation.
“Look at the direction of the mountain!”
This sentence caused everyone in the room to look out of the window.
That included Xia Fan.
Layers of white mist had risen from the mountains, just like the vapor rising from the trees after heavy rain. However, it didn’t feel light at all nor did it reflect the light of dusk. It was as though it had nothing to do with the world at all.
As the mist spread, the outline of the mountain became blurred. Then, the distant dense forest and mountain roads, thatched houses, and streets became blurred too.
In just a few seconds, the town had become shrouded by the white mist. Even the run-down houses nearby couldn’t be seen very well.