What if I don't want to ascend to immortality?

Chapter 18: Ten Thousand Demons Lead

"What is that? An ancient magical artifact?" Meng Qingtong blinked, then her eyes lit up. "Is it very powerful? Can we dig it up and sell it?"

Caught off guard by her unconventional thinking, Han Jie coughed twice and laughed, "Even if we could dig it up, who would dare to buy it?"

Her gaze shifted slightly, concealing a fleeting hint of sadness, and she smiled, saying, "So you really can't dig it out. Tell me then, what exactly is it, and what harm does it do to you?"

Sensing that she was harboring some ill intentions, Han Jie frowned and said, "It won't do me any harm. If I had known you in my previous life, I would have tied you to my side even if it meant being tied up. You attract the evil spirits, and I'll kill them."

"If there's no harm in it, why would you feel like it's targeting you?"

"Because this is the Demon Emperor's natal magic weapon," Han Jie said solemnly. "My strength has not yet fully recovered, and I only vaguely sensed something from your soul. It didn't simply store the Myriad Demon Summoning Staff there; it used some other method, and perhaps even used fragments of its original body. Strangely, the connection I felt with you had nothing to do with the Myriad Demon Summoning Staff. It wasn't even related to your soul. It was more like a resonance of bloodlines."

"Huh?" Meng Qingtong's eyes widened suddenly. "Bloodline? Then, then, then... wait, you didn't do anything at Hanmeng Village nearby before you went into seclusion, did you?"

Han Jie said irritably, "Back then I was just a ball of light, what could I do?"

She patted her chest gently and whispered, "That's good. I hope it's not some great-great-great-grandfather who suddenly appears."

After much thought, Han Jie could only guess that it was mostly related to the spirit array he had casually left behind back then.

“The Demon Emperor is not human, so it’s pointless to try to figure out what he’s thinking,” he said solemnly. “In that case, I’ve definitely made the right choice to cooperate with you.”

Meng Qingtong disagreed, "Knowing that they're targeting you, shouldn't you stay far away? What's that saying again? A rich man's child doesn't work as a prostitute."

“A son of a wealthy family should not sit under a dangerous roof,” he laughed. “When you occasionally act ignorant and incompetent, it’s truly beyond words.”

He gently stroked his chest, suppressing the tremor of his Heart Sword Form, and slowly said, "If it really is the Demon Emperor, why would I hide from it? I'm just afraid it's hiding and won't come looking for me."

Meng Qingtong said uneasily, "What if I really am a trap?"

"It's not like it hasn't tried to use traps against me before," Han Jie said with a slight smile. "We'll just deal with it then."

She straightened her face and said, "Being overconfident is called arrogance, you know? And being even more arrogant is just being stinky."

"Stop beating around the bush, it's not like you at all. Just say what you want to say."

Meng Qingtong unconsciously clenched her fist as she gripped the doorframe. "If, ever, the Ten Thousand Demons Guidance has a negative impact on you, you must tell me. I can't... let you take risks for my own dreams."

Han Jie and she looked at each other silently for a moment, then Han Jie smiled and nodded, "Okay, I promise you."

She then turned around, wearily walked to the kitchen, and forced herself to pay the interest.

He had only taken two steps when he heard Han Jie's cheerful voice behind him.

"I ordered takeout. I was really impressed with your performance today. Take a break."

"Where did you get the money?" Meng Qingtong was slightly surprised. "You didn't use some special means to transfer money to yourself, did you? Han Jie, it's a serious matter for a spiritualist to use secret methods to disrupt the financial order!"

"Don't worry, I don't have the habit of robbing others to help myself." He waved his phone, as if showing off his ability to learn new things. "The Linglongxin app has spiritual magic problems with bounties. I didn't think it was too difficult, so I sent him an answer, and the reward arrived quite quickly."

"Those are all old bookworms, setting questions for each other and making things difficult for one another. Why did you wander off there?"

"Didn't you say that in such a great era, wise people should step out of seclusion and make some contributions for everyone?" Feeling that he was a little closer to integrating into this world, Han Jie was in a good mood and laughed, "Doesn't this count?"

"Okay." Meng Qingtong nodded, then reminded him, "But don't go too far. If you use a problem with a bounty of tens of thousands to make money, the Spirit Science Academy will be coming to you in a few days. If you're invited to be a visiting professor or something, you won't have time to cooperate with me."

At this point, she felt a little embarrassed and reluctantly said, "Of course, if you think that's better, that's fine too. The Spiritual Science Academy offers good benefits and a stable environment. Once you prove your worth, the authorities will keep your identity confidential. From now on..."

Han Jie interrupted her, "The takeout is here, let's eat."

To put her mind at ease, Han Jie stood up, patted her shoulder, and said with a smile, "I'm not very interested in jobs that don't involve directly killing demons."

During the meal, Meng Qingtong spent a long time subtly inquiring about the Ten Thousand Demon Spell.

However, firstly, Han Jie did not want the idea of ​​retreating that was sprouting in her heart to grow stronger, and secondly, he did have limited knowledge of the Demon Emperor's magic weapon and could not tell her much.

After thoroughly investigating Meng Qingtong's soul, Han Jie is now more concerned about the nine Demon-Suppressing Cauldrons.

No matter how you look at it, that doesn't seem like the methods used in this world.

Suppressing demons... If demons originate from the human heart as Meng Qingtong demonstrated, how can they be suppressed? If it wasn't for suppressing demons, where did the spiritual energy consumed by the nine cauldrons go?
"Qingtong, would it be convenient for me to take a closer look at the Dongding?"

Meng Qingtong was taken aback. "How close do you want it to be?"

"The closer the better."

She frowned, thought seriously for a moment, and then said, "If you're thinking of getting close enough to touch and rub against the cauldron, that's definitely not going to work; the Spirit Security Bureau would go crazy. Just to see what it looks like, you could see it from the rooftop of the Second Academy's tallest teaching building. But I doubt you'd be satisfied. With my current abilities, I can probably only get you close to the outer edge of the spirit vein's warning line. It's still several hundred meters away from the Eastern Cauldron... Is that alright?"

"Should we force our way in?"

She widened her eyes. "No, if you do that, you'll definitely expose everything completely. It would have been fine a few years ago, but in recent years there have been rumors that some unknown spiritualist has gone mad and has designs on the Demon-Suppressing Cauldron. The Spirit Security System's protection around the cauldron is at its strongest in history. You should at least wait until things calm down before you say anything."

"It seems that sneaking in quietly is no longer an option..."

"What do you want to know? Can't I find out for you?" She stretched her sore arms and suggested earnestly, "The circle of spiritual practitioners isn't that big. There are alumni from the Second Academy all over the region. I can contact my senior brothers and sisters and get some inside information. It won't be difficult."

Han Jie sighed softly, "The trouble is, I don't know what I want to know, or what I can know."

"You're spouting rhymes all the time, are you planning to take the postgraduate entrance exam?" Meng Qingtong rolled her eyes. "Then I'll get you all the information I can. The Demon-Suppressing Cauldron was here before you arrived in this world, so the information circulating about it might not be entirely reliable. I'll see if there are any senior brothers or sisters who specialize in this and help you filter it out first."

“Okay.” He smiled. “If you can find any useful information, you can consider it as repaying the favor I did for opening this space.”

Meng Qingtong was silent for a moment, and after considering it, she said, "Let's see how useful it is first. I'm not the kind of person who takes ten dollars and then pays back eight."

The information they mentioned was certainly not the jumbled mess of data in Han Jie's mind that could be easily found online. Sensing that Meng Qingtong was also uncertain, Han Jie said no more and silently got up to clear away the disposable tableware.

As a result, Meng Qingtong regained some of her strength, glared at him, and then finished packing everything without any room for doubt.

As the thunderclouds receded into the distance and the sunlight outside the window began to fade, Meng Qingtong, who absolutely did not want to be late, dragged Han Jie out early to take a stroll towards Liu Song's house.

That area is clearly an upscale residential community, with rows of townhouses nestled in gardens and green spaces. A tributary of the Sui River flows diagonally through the community, and the quaint bridges and nearby pavilions complement each other, making a walk through it truly feel like stepping into a painting.

In the distance, several young women dressed in traditional Chinese clothing were live-streaming, singing and dancing.

Meng Qingtong glanced at it, nudged him gently with her elbow, and said with a smile, "Hey, look at that, don't you miss it?"

Han Jie observed for a moment, then shook his head. "No. They're not similar. Besides, even if they were, I wouldn't have anything to miss."

"Over a hundred years! Didn't you ever think about interacting with more people?"

"No. Otherwise, I might have discovered the source of the evil spirits much sooner." He gazed at the setting sun and wondered what horrifying things he might have done if he had discovered such a secret back then.

After all, if demons arise in people's hearts, then as long as there are no people in the world, there will naturally be no more demons...

"What are you thinking about now? Your eyes have become strangely frightening."

"I'm thinking about a 'what if' scenario," Han Jie sighed. "Fortunately, I didn't know the source of the evil back then."

Meng Qingtong shook her head and said seriously, "Don't think of yourself as so terrifying. Let me tell you, I'm very good at judging people. You're not that kind of person. You definitely haven't forgotten who you worked so hard to kill demons for in the end. Revenge? In the end, it will definitely just be an excuse."

"Nonsense."

“If you were truly such an extreme person, no matter how many benefits Little Rabbit could bring to Sister Lin, you would still chop her to pieces with one sword. I’ve seen plenty of spirit masters; those who care about ordinary people and those who don’t are no longer the same species.” She turned to look at Han Jie, nodding with considerable appreciation, “Fortunately, you, senior, are in my line of work.”

"Am I that old?" Han Jie stroked his chin and asked, glancing at her sideways.

"Not old at all, not old at all. The first thing I did upon meeting you was to praise you as my favorite handsome young man in ancient style." Meng Qingtong smiled and picked up her backpack, which was already half empty, and walked forward unsteadily, letting the long shadow of the setting sun sway gently in front of her. "You have to allow me to remind myself from time to time, right? Otherwise, sooner or later I will forget that you are a senior and become completely disrespectful to you."

Han Jie followed slowly behind, and after walking a distance, he said calmly, "Since I've started over, I'm no longer some senior."

"Then I'll call you Little Jie, little brother."

"No."

"Hey, stingy."

Do I look younger than you?

"He may look big, but his mental age is still young. Ah... he's putting on that scary act again. Can't I say he's young? Flying, have you forgotten? Flying's great genius little brother, Xiao Jie..."

Meng Qingtong burst into laughter, slung her bag over her shoulder, and spread her arms wide, mimicking flying motions as she ran like a child.

"A childish, crazy girl."

Han Jie gave a low rebuke, but his eyes were full of smiles.

After strolling and laughing in the gardens and green spaces of the upscale residential area for a while, Meng Qingtong saw that it was almost time, so she stood by the gate and took out her phone to send a message.

A moment later, a middle-aged woman wearing an apron opened the door, her face filled with fear. She wiped her hands on the apron as she said, "Are you the spirit mediums who came to save Ya Ya? Oh, you've finally arrived! Quickly, take a look at Ya Ya. She hasn't eaten a single bite of the food I made for her today."

"And you are?" Meng Qingtong asked, taking it upon herself to handle all the negotiations while looking around the room.

"Ah, I'm a nanny, you know, the kind of live-in nanny that's popular these days. I'm so close to Yaya, but seeing her like this, I can't concentrate on my work at all." As she spoke, her eyes reddened, and she lifted her apron to wipe away her tears, smearing flour all over her face.

A listless female voice came from inside the house: "Aunt Wu, let them come in first, don't talk at the door."

"Oh right, right, I'm such a pig brain." Aunt Wu slapped her forehead in self-reproach, quickly took out two pairs of guest slippers, arranged them, and turned to walk inside.

She muttered to herself, "Why are they so young? Two little kids, could they be scammers?"

Both Han and Meng were genius spiritual cultivators whose five senses and eight perceptions far surpassed those of ordinary people, so they naturally heard their whispered conversation. Meng Qingtong immediately turned around and gave Han Jie a look.

Han Jie nodded and chuckled, "I know this is only human nature, why would I get angry? You underestimate me."

The woman of the house rushed out to greet them, and to prevent the nanny from gossiping again, she patted her and said, "Go and keep an eye on Dou Dou, it's time to change her diaper."

She led the two into the living room, poured them two cups of hot tea, then gathered her skirt and sat down, leaning against the armrest of the sofa.

She was a young woman whose opulent style perfectly matched the surrounding luxurious decor. She was plump and lithe, with a seductive gaze. Even though she was at home taking care of her child, she still wore a not-so-light makeup. Her silk slip dress made Han Jie turn his face away and look out the window. He immediately thought that Meng Qingtong's usual attire was extremely appropriate.

This family is so wealthy, they certainly wouldn't dress like that to save money. There's also a young child inside; it's probably for convenience in feeding him/her…

"What strange things are you speculating about... your expression keeps changing." Meng Qingtong gently patted him and whispered, "Even if you don't talk about it, you can't just ignore the client."

He kept his neck stiff and refused to turn his head.

Back when he was learning his craft in the mountains, he wore more clothes than this when he took showers with well water in the courtyard.

It's unbearable to look at!
Meng Qingtong cleared her throat and raised her voice, "Yes, could you help me look up the information? It's on my phone. Don't just stand there. Um, Song Huiping... Sister Song, right? I saw your request. Could you tell me the details?"

Without saying a word, Han Jie started playing on his phone.

Song Huiping moved her eyes, and the bloodshot veins in her white eyes made them appear somewhat red.

“I didn’t entrust anything.” Her words were unusually cold, clearly intentional. “My husband entrusted you with this. You can wait for him to come back.”

(End of this chapter)