I am a full-level celestial master, you let me enter the strange talk of rules?

Zhang Yangqing and Xiao Xuan didn't feel anything special; to them, it was just a slightly interesting and somewhat folkloric event.

From Chen Wen's perspective, these two people seemed even more terrifying than Xiao Wan, who was frozen in place next to him!
No matter what, Xiao Wan is still someone you can communicate with, but these two big brothers have unfathomable strength and unpredictable behavior. They don't seem like normal people at all.

He braced himself, swallowed hard, and cautiously asked Zhang Yangqing and Xiao Xuan, "Brothers, are you human or demon?"

Upon hearing this, Xiao Xuan rolled his eyes at him, annoyed, and said, "We are cultivators, disciples of the Xuanmen! The orthodox kind!"

Upon hearing this, Chen Wen's eyes lit up as if he had grasped a lifeline, and he quickly said, "So that's how it is! No wonder you two are so amazing! We really owe you both a lot today!"

He spoke sincerely, with the simplicity of a mountain dweller and a natural trust in the right path.

At this moment, Xiao Wan, who was still frozen but seemed to be able to hear the conversation, said to Chen Wen as if possessed, "You silly boy, why do you believe everything anyone says?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Wen scratched his head sheepishly and said honestly, "I'm just not quick-witted, but I'm not stupid. I don't believe there's anything I can do."

This sentence made Xiao Wan unable to hold back. Holy crap, that makes sense!

These two are so incredibly powerful; they are the rule-makers of the game. What they say goes! I was so foolish!
Xiao Wan also looked at Chen Wen with suspicion, her expression seemingly saying: When did this kid become so smart?

Zhang Yangqing couldn't help but laugh when he heard Chen Wen's words.

Looking at Chen Wen's cowardly yet insightful appearance, he inexplicably thought of the "intelligent natives" he had encountered in the world of ghost stories—those who, though not strong, were clear-headed and knew how to assess situations.

Those indigenous people also faced a life-or-death crisis, but they firmly found a way to survive: clinging to Zhang Yangqing's coattails, and thus they survived.

"You're quite something," Zhang Yangqing remarked with a smile.

Although he was praised, to be honest, deep down, Chen Wen's fear of Zhang Yangqing far exceeded his fear of Xiao Xuan.

Compared to Xiao Xuan's researcher-like inquisitiveness and relatively casual attitude, there was relatively little danger.

Zhang Yangqing possesses an innate air of authority; his calm and profound gaze seems to contain boundless majesty, making people dare not look him directly in the eye, much less joke with him, and inspiring a natural sense of solemnity.

Although Xiao Xuan was also powerful, he seemed more like an ordinary strongman and didn't have that strong sense of oppression.

This was Chen Wen's internal judgment.

Seeing that Chen Wen was still somewhat nervous, Xiao Xuan took the initiative to ease the tension, patted him on the shoulder, and said in a relatively casual tone:
"Alright, don't be afraid. We were just doing our job and doing some 'research'. We didn't mean anything by it. We were just going up the mountain to get something and were passing through your village, so we asked to stay the night. Since we happened to run into your situation, it's fate. We'll help you out."

Upon hearing this, Chen Wen was overjoyed and quickly bowed, saying, "Thank you so much, Brother Xiao! Thank you, Brother Zhang!"

My gratitude is beyond words.

In his mind, as an ordinary mountain dweller and common man, it was incredibly lucky that such a powerful person was willing to help him when he encountered such danger.

The most powerful person he had ever met in his life was Old Hu, the shaman in the village.

Old Hu could summon spirits to possess him, exorcise evil spirits, and cure diseases. In Chen Wen's eyes, he was already a "half-immortal" and a very remarkable person.

But he had a vague feeling that these two older brothers seemed to be much more capable than Lao Hu!

Of course, he didn't know that not long ago, the half-immortal Old Hu in his mind had already vomited blood and was seriously injured and unconscious simply because he tried to spy on Zhang Yangqing.

The difference is not just a little bit.

After dealing with Chen Wen, Xiao Xuan turned to Xiao Wan, who was still frozen in place, and then looked at Zhang Yangqing questioningly: "Senior brother, what should we do with this descendant of the 'Karmic Fire Phoenix'?" Zhang Yangqing remained calm, his gaze sweeping over Xiao Wan before finally settling on Chen Wen. He said in a composed tone: "This is his karma. We are just passing by. Getting involved in too much karma is not beneficial to our cultivation. Let Chen Wen decide how to handle it."

Therefore, all three of them focused their attention on Chen Wen.

Chen Wen was somewhat at a loss under his gaze. He lowered his head and pondered for a moment, as if weighing something, then raised his head, looked at the immobilized Xiao Wan, and said in a complicated tone:

"Xiao Wan, I may be slow to react, but I know that when you first approached me and stayed at my house, you didn't intend to harm me, right? And later, when you wanted to use me to kill the fox, it must have been for some other reason?"

Xiao Wan looked into his earnest eyes, remained silent for a few seconds, and finally sighed. Her tone was no longer as deceptive as before, but more genuine and helpless:
“Sigh, it’s because things haven’t been peaceful in the mountains lately, you’ve felt it too, haven’t you? There are more and more of those ‘strange’ things. They use bizarre and unreasonable methods, occupying places with abundant spiritual energy and robbing resources. It’s getting harder and harder for us local spirits who cultivate here.”

"Among the five great immortal families, there are some scoundrels who, in order to protect themselves or gain power, have begun to secretly cooperate with those strange beings, and even help them suppress us rogue cultivators who are unwilling to go along with them. I was forced into this situation and have no choice but to improve my strength as soon as possible in order to protect myself in the chaos to come."

Chen Wen continued, "Then what about these two foxes?"

Xiao Wan explained, "They did come to commit violence, but I don't know what their purpose was. However, I saw them loitering near the village, so I took them into custody."

After thinking it over carefully, Chen Wen respectfully said to Zhang Yangqing, "Brother Zhang, I think since Xiao Wan doesn't want to harm anyone, let's release it for now."

Zhang Yangqing nodded. "Anyway, it was your choice, so I won't give you any advice. I respect your decision."

Whether things turn out well or badly, whether you live or die, you'll have to bear it all yourself.

Only after Zhang Yangqing snapped his fingers could Xiao Wan move.

But her eyes were filled with fear when she looked at Zhang Yangqing, because she couldn't see through this man at all.

She didn't try to see through it, because the last person who did ended up in a bad situation.

Zhang Yangqing clearly had little interest in these trivial matters such as the grudges and entanglements between the demon races and their strange infiltration.

His main purpose was to retrieve his master's sword, Dichen.

Now that he had a general understanding of the situation, he handed over the follow-up work to Xiao Xuan.

With Xiao Xuan's abilities and methods, handling these "grassroots demon clan affairs" in the Changbai Mountain region is more than enough, and far more than enough.

Once the two foxes that had been controlled by Xiao Wan's magic were released from their restraints and regained their freedom, they still trembled in fear before Xiao Xuan, keeping their bodies low and not daring to make the slightest move.

Xiao Xuan needs to question them.

However, these two fox demons were still inexperienced and could not speak human language; they could only utter some incomprehensible hisses.

Xiao Xuan glanced at Xiao Wan beside him, whose eyes were darting around and who clearly had many thoughts in her mind. He felt that it was unreliable to let her be the translator, and she might even cause trouble in secret.

After a moment's thought, he took out two brown pills, each the size of a soybean and emitting a faint fragrance, from a small cloth bag he carried with him.

These are pills he usually makes using scraps and low-grade spiritual herbs when refining elixirs; they are quite effective.

For these little demons who have just awakened their intelligence and have a certain level of cultivation, this is enough to help them initially transform into a partial human form, making it easier to communicate.

"Open your mouth," Xiao Xuan said to the two foxes, his tone leaving no room for argument.

Although the two foxes couldn't understand the words, they could sense the gentle spiritual energy contained within the elixir. Out of fear of the powerful and a thirst for strength, they hesitated for a moment, then obediently opened their mouths. (End of Chapter)