"No matter whether it's a demon or not, isn't it always something we have to deal with?" Ye Tian was always like this, making the best of any situation.

"Mm."

Almost no one was on the streets, but the neon lights still lit up half the sky. The moon was nowhere to be seen, its presence overshadowed by the brightness of the Human World.

Thinking about Xiaoqian's mysterious demeanour that afternoon, Ye Tian felt that this girl was truly unfathomable.

"Ye Tian, don't you want to try out your recent progress in strength?" Xiaoqian pleaded with a face that could melt hearts, adding a tail in the picture would have made her the spitting image of a puppy begging for meat.

But as adorable as she was, Ye Tian knew Xiaoqian was really just a wolf in sheep's clothing; he wouldn't believe for a second that she was actually after something good for him.

"I don't want to." Ye Tian turned over, continuing his rest.

"But I want to see. Come on, don't you think it'd be bad if I went out on my own and your bad luck returned, possibly causing all the women you've picked up these days to ignore you?"

"You... you're threatening me!" Ye Tian felt deflated.

From the first day, Ye Tian had felt that Xiaoqian was undoubtedly sent by Xu Kong to discipline him. He couldn't possibly take her along with him for everything, but without her, nothing would go his way.

Like that night when he couldn't resist the urge, sneaking out in the middle of the night, finally cozying up to a woman, about to explore life and its wonders – only to find he couldn't go through with it, and left in shame under the woman's contemptuous gaze.

This was a great humiliation, and Ye Tian decided he had to forget this event, completely forget it.

"It's not a threat, just telling you the truth. Are you sure you won't go?" Xiaoqian turned away.

"I'll go!" Ye Tian got up, slamming the bed furiously, imagining it was Xiaoqian's face.

"That's better. Hurry up, hurry up."

With great reluctance, Ye Tian followed Xiaoqian outside the hotel. The brutal June sun beat down like a harsh stepmother punishing you mercilessly.

"Xiaoqian, what's your full name?" Ye Tian asked.

"Why do you ask?" Xiaoqian seemed panic-stricken for a moment, but quickly regained her composure.

"It's nothing. Just so I know who to seek revenge on if I unluckily die at the hands of a demon."

"If you die at the hands of a demon, naturally you should seek out the demon." Xiaoqian looked up at the sky, her brows furrowing slightly. Then she glanced at her hand, which was empty. She quickly started walking east.

Ye Tian hastily followed.

Talking incessantly along the way, making the hot summer even more unbearable. Xiaoqian remained silent while Ye Tian never stopped chattering.

"Ye Tian, are you afraid of dying?" Xiaoqian, silent for a long while, asked.

"I am but also not."

"Mm."

"Is there danger this time?" Ye Tian inquired.

"It's not a demon this time, there's no demon aura, at most it's a half-human half-demon. I don't even know if I can defeat him; whether I die or not doesn't really have much to do with me," Xiaoqian said with a bitter smile.

"I've never known what abilities you actually have." Ye Tian never liked to fight battles he wasn't sure of winning, as long as he knew his situation, he would ensure the opponent suffered greatly, even if he were to die.

"I've told you, I can't do anything."

"I don't believe that. Now you're taking me to look for something, why not bring Fatty Xu along, wouldn't that increase our chances of winning?"

"I'm a bit tired of following you. I want to go back. My grandfather said to wait until you're dead, so now I'm taking you on a death trip."

"Ever heard the saying? Good people don't live long, disasters linger for a thousand years."

"Don't say that, it actually suits you pretty well," said Xiaoqian with a smile.

"Come on, tell me the truth."

"This IS the truth!"

"..."

Xiaoqian's path wasn't straight but serpentine, gradually veering away from the city center, leaving the hustle and bustle behind them.

Suhe City was originally a small county town. With the influx of industry, it rapidly transformed into a city, but the outskirts still retained the look of the old county town. However, one could still see dilapidated bungalows in the suburbs, now uninhabited and in ruins.

To the east of Suhe City stood a hill blanketed in bamboo forest, not too tall. It was said to be private property, which, unlike the city's smoggy foulness, retained its spiritual air.

"What are you doing here?"

"Do you know why these bamboo plants grow so well?" Xiaoqian asked.

"I don't know. I never learned how to cultivate bamboo."

Ye Tian felt a chill when he approached the bamboo, and with years of practical experience, he sensed a dense, suffocating aura of bloodthirstiness pervading the area.

Ye Tian immediately gathered his Gang Qi, knowing that Xiaoqian hadn't brought him here for fun. The wind rustled through the bamboo leaves, sounding eerily like the howling of ghostly birds.

"I came to Suhe City and asked the local elders. This bamboo is privately owned, but no one has ever seen anyone visit. What do you think their purpose is?" Xiaoqian's hand slowly traced over the bamboo.

"I don't know," Ye Tian honestly replied.

"Bamboo is hollow in the middle. Some people use Albizzia julibrissin trees to nurture ghosts, but it's practically the same with bamboo," Xiaoqian's voice sounded ethereal in the bamboo forest, the silence around them so profound that the only other sound was their footsteps on the dry bamboo leaves.

"Are you saying there are ghosts in here?" Ye Tian licked his lips, unable to imagine if all this bamboo was filled with such legless beings. He felt a chill running down his spine.

"No. I was just saying. Why are you so tense?" Xiaoqian wore a mischievous grin on his face.

"Xiaoqian!" Ye Tian's shout startled the birds nesting in the bamboo, causing them to take flight.

"Hahaha..." Xiaoqian laughed joyfully, her eyes curving into shallow crescents.

Ye Tian and Xiaoqian hastened up the mountain, and the higher they went, the more intense the killing aura in the air.

"Xiaoqian, this place is..."

"A den." Xiaoqian's smile faded, her youthful face bearing a solemn expression that seemed out of place.

Ye Tian concentrated all his Gang Qi into his right hand, holding it lightly, ready to unleash the full extent of his Panchen Finger should anything unforeseen occur.

Xiaoqian proceeded cautiously ahead, while Ye Tian continually glanced back, worried about any sudden emergencies. The two of them fell silent, the stillness of the bamboo forest allowing their gentle breathing to be heard.

Xiaoqian suddenly stopped Ye Tian, and they both quickly crouched down, eyeing a cave in front of them with a large pot outside, beneath which lay the ash of burnt wood and grass.

Ye Tian placed his hand on the ground, sensing nothing unusual in the surroundings.

"There's just the two of us," Ye Tian said.

"Yeah," Xiaoqian stood up, looking somewhat relieved, "I don't want to see what's inside. You take care of it."

Ye Tian hesitated a moment, then quickly moved forward to what was clearly a man-made cave, its walls showing the neat marks left by tools. The cave wasn't very deep, around five meters or so, and the sunlight allowed the entire scene inside to be seen.

Ye Tian was shocked, finally understanding why there was such an overwhelming killing aura. In a corner of the cave, numerous human bones were neatly arranged, their ghostly whiteness sending shivers down one's spine.

It turned out that the demon hadn't just killed four people; by the looks of it, there were at least twenty, if not forty. The hollow eyes in the skulls seemed to hold the last despair of the victims as they stared at Ye Tian, who couldn't help but slam his fist against the cave wall, shaking down a cloud of dust.

"Let's clean up quickly; we still need to get back," Xiaoqian's voice echoed over.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.