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

Chapter 46 Aunt Huang

Han Jie had never worked as an accountant in either of his lives.

But the mass in his mind not only encompasses everything, but also contains a new thing called artificial intelligence. It is very convenient to use, but the only drawback is that it requires a lot of information, which makes his head ache when he uses it.

After quickly reviewing the documents and making notes, Han Jie began to stare blankly at the ledger, resting his chin on his hand, while also listening to what the two people next to him were saying.

They were all just family matters.

One person asked the younger children at the orphanage if anything had happened this month, if so-and-so's illness had improved, if so-and-so was growing taller and needed to be kept up to eat more, and if so-and-so who said they wanted to adopt a family had actually followed up with anything... and so on.

One person asked if she encountered any danger while running errands. They said if things got really bad, she should just run away and not try to act like a hero without a man. They also said that it's better for a girl to stick her neck out and marry a rich and handsome man to improve her life in the orphanage.

After rambling on for a while, Xiang Zi didn't finish his story. He didn't even bother to check how well the accounts were looking at them. Instead, he took the two of them to the cafeteria and ate a meal with them next to the group of children.

Han Jie remained silently by his side, his spare time spent recalling the accounts he had just seen.

According to Meng Qingtong, the Dongding City Children's Welfare Institute was originally a directly affiliated welfare institution, funded directly by the regional government. However, after a series of scandals and disputes, it became a private organization receiving only a small amount of financial support from the government. The original subordinate departments were reduced to only a childcare center for young children and a kindergarten for older children.

The biggest support from higher authorities was this piece of land allocated to the welfare home. Apart from that, the institution had to raise 90% of its own funds for all expenses, including the salaries of caregivers, early childhood educators, cleaners, and security guards.

If the operation becomes unsustainable, the land will be auctioned off. The children still inside will be reassigned to similar institutions in other satellite cities, or their adoption procedures will be expedited.

Looking at the income and expenditure details, it's clear that they've tried their best to be extremely frugal, stretching every penny to its limit. And whenever a large donation comes in, the top priority is always to address the children's basic needs: food, clothing, shelter, and transportation.

After sorting things out briefly, Han Jie looked at Xiang Zi again and suddenly found this nagging, grumbling old lady, who almost never gave people a kind look, much more pleasing to the eye.

He thought that if he used Meng Qingtong's power to observe here, the number of seeds that could allow evil to sprout would be much smaller than in the Second Academy.

Meng Qingtong knew she had classes to catch up on that evening, and there was also a new, large house waiting for her to tidy up every nook and cranny. She couldn't linger at the orphanage for too long.

After finishing her meal, she chatted briefly with the children before getting up to go to the dormitory manager's room to find Xiang Zi and say goodbye.

As soon as they entered, they heard Xiang Zi shouting loudly while holding Meng Qingtong's old, discarded phone: "Who begged you to come? Come if you want, don't come if you don't. I've told you eight hundred times, money is more important than your presence. You're a great spiritual cultivator, so powerful (beep—), you don't even care about money and filth. You should use the money to buy more summer clothes for the kids."

Han Jie couldn't tell who was on the other end, but Meng Qingtong's eyes lit up, and she whispered, "How about we go back a little later? I'll definitely make up for the missed extra lessons tomorrow."

"Who is coming?"

A joyful smile bloomed on her lips. "I knew it was Aunt Huang just by hearing her voice. She always stops by the orphanage to check on the children when she gets back from outside. Can I wait for her?"

"Of course." Han Jie had no reason to refuse. Besides, of the three people who had the greatest influence on Meng Qingtong when she was young, this was the only one he hadn't met yet.

If the existence of the Ten Thousand Demons Guidance is for a series of secret plans, the Demon Emperor would definitely leave at least one informant to monitor Meng Qingtong's situation.

Based on his understanding of the Demon Emperor, that guy wouldn't let low-level demons he could summon do anything other than cannon fodder.

Within the second ring road of Dongding City, spiritualists are everywhere, and it's impossible for it to command a powerful demon to remain there without revealing its true nature for long. Once it stops personally directing the demon, it may not obediently follow the predetermined path.

Therefore, the most likely scenario is that a clone of the Demon Emperor is hiding here.

Aunt Huang, Demon Emperor, look, coincidentally, there's another word that sounds the same.

Perhaps she is a fragment of the Demon Emperor's true form, who implanted the Ten Thousand Demon Summoning into Meng Qingtong's body back then, and has been taking care of her as a kind aunt ever since, while also keeping track of her situation.

With this in mind, he was filled with anticipation for the upcoming meeting.

Meng Qingtong keenly sensed this expectation, but her understanding of the Demon Emperor was not enough for her to comprehend Han Jie's intentions. So, naturally, she misunderstood it in another direction.

As a result, during the waiting time, her face remained slightly flushed, and she made small talk with Xiang Zi, barely glancing at Han Jie.

About twenty minutes later, Xiang Zi glanced at the message on his phone, pulled Meng Qingtong up, and slapped her on the bottom. "Go, bring Huang Yin in."

Just as Han Jie was about to stand up, the old lady turned her head and glared at him, saying sarcastically, "Young man, don't become a tagalong when you're in love. Girls won't like that."

As Meng Qingtong walked towards the door, she turned her head to clarify, "I already said, I'm not in a relationship!"

"I know, I know, I know. You haven't even dated yet. You get so anxious when I say something to him. Look at you, you're always crawling into bed as soon as someone lifts the covers. You're such a useless thing."

She rolled her eyes and ran off to pick up the person.

Han Jie looked thoughtfully at Xiang Zi.

Xiang Zi pushed up her reading glasses. "What are you looking at? I'm almost seventy years old and I still haven't found a suitable young man to marry. Does that mean I'm not allowed to be a psychopath?"

Han Jie learned a lot from his interactions with Meng Qingtong.

He could vaguely sense the emotions hidden beneath Xiang Zi's harsh words.

He simply couldn't fully comprehend that complex sadness yet.

He could only guess that it seemed to be a sense of reluctance and loneliness at the thought of Meng Qingtong truly growing up.

"Young man, can't you give me a hairpin?"

"Huh?" Han Jie frowned, feeling puzzled.

She chuckled and said, "I'm just an old woman all alone, with no skills or connections. If you treat Xiaotong badly in the future and change your mind, all I can do is make a straw effigy and curse you to die every day."

Han Jie turned his face away, thinking to himself, "Luckily, Meng Qingtong didn't learn her joking skills from this person."

Xiang Zi walked to the window and looked at Meng Qingtong, who was going to the door to greet someone. Her voice suddenly lowered a lot, and her tone became somewhat dazed, as if she was recalling something. "Xiao Han, Xiao Tong... she's quite stubborn. Once she's made up her mind about something or someone, she won't easily change her mind. Don't bully her, don't let her get hurt, don't let her... end up like me... otherwise, this old woman will die with her eyes wide open and become a vengeful ghost to haunt you."

There are too many stories in the mortal world, and Han Jie has no interest in exploring them one by one.

He only cared about Meng Qingtong's past and future. But now, he just wanted to take a good look at that Huang Yin.

Soon, a bright yellow sedan stopped at the gate. A slightly plump middle-aged woman got out of the driver's seat, walked over to Meng Qingtong, and gave her a big hug.

The moment Han Jie saw that person, his divine sense had already probed over with lightning speed.

Without any concealment or beating around the bush, he had already ruled out Fang Min and Xiang Zi as two incorrect options. This sharp perception was almost a provocation.

Unexpectedly, he did not find the expected result.

It's difficult to determine Huang Yin's actual age, but this only shows that her spiritual power far surpasses that of Fang Min and others.

The rest of the parts showed absolutely nothing suspicious.

She didn't even notice Han Jie's probing, unlike Meng Qingtong who was under the influence of the Ten Thousand Demons.

It wasn't until he more brazenly unleashed his divine sense that Huang Yin suspiciously raised her gaze, looking over Meng Qingtong's shoulder towards the window.

Han Jie frowned and withdrew his gaze, slightly frustrated. He had already subtly gathered a considerable amount of information about Meng Qingtong's childhood, and had also taken the opportunity during his several encounters with Fang Min to carefully examine it. After seeing that Xiang Zi was indeed a completely ordinary person, he had assumed that Huang Yin was the answer he was looking for.

Unfortunately not.

Did the Demon Emperor really just leave behind the Myriad Demon Summoning Tool and then abandon it?
The Demon Emperor, the ancestor of all demons, would he really be so reckless and audacious?
In their previous nine encounters, he had taken the initiative to pursue the enemy the first two times. The Demon Emperor thought the young man was arrogant and conceited and never used any means necessary. As a result, he died completely twice.

For the next seven times, the Demon Emperor kept searching for ways to deal with it, hiding, transforming, creating clones, roaming across multiple realms, setting traps, ambushing and killing. But Han Jie was still full of hatred at that time, with a great hatred in his hand, sharp as a blade that could split the heavens, and invincible.

The longest it took was twenty-seven years to plan.

That time, filled with hatred, he repeatedly slaughtered a realm of demons, forcefully stepping into traps and ambushing them, until the Demon Emperor's true form could no longer restrain himself and gathered the demons to launch an angry counterattack.

After that incident, the Demon Emperor was no longer willing to fight him head-on.

In the final battle of his previous life, filled with resentment, he even had to break through several interdimensional barriers and chase the enemy all the way to the desolate void.

Han Jie touched his chest, feeling the subtle throbbing of deep hatred within.

He knew why he was so disappointed after seeing Huang Yin.

The deep hatred remains.

He couldn't let go of the sword image in his heart, and still longed to taste the flavor of destruction.

Without achieving the symbolic goal of completely annihilating the Demon Emperor, how can he resolve his inner conflict and return to the ordinary life he has been occasionally fantasizing about lately?

While Han Jie was distracted for a moment, Meng Qingtong had already brought Huang Yin to the dormitory supervisor's office.

When Meng Qingtong introduced him and Huang Yin to each other, he examined them closely again.

Still, nothing was gained. Apart from her formidable strength, Huang Yin looked nothing more than a kind-faced, slightly plump middle-aged woman with a small idol around her neck that didn't quite fit the image of a spirit mage.

Hanhen had seen many incarnations and clones of the Demon Emperor before, and as long as they took human form, they were all handsome men and beautiful women who could shake people's hearts.

Even when it flees in a panic, its transformed appearance still stands out from the crowd, displaying a strange and stubborn determination to die a beautiful death.

Han Jie had no choice but to temporarily set aside his suspicions about her and treat her as one of Meng Qingtong's adoptive mothers.

Huang Yin and Xiang Zi were old acquaintances. They exchanged a few pleasantries before getting down to business—the matter of donations.

Like Meng Qingtong, Huang Yin's main source of income is processing commissions published through various channels.

She is capable and well-connected. Her firm is top-notch, and unlike Meng Qingtong, she doesn't donate 90% of her assets every time. Naturally, her net worth is quite considerable.

She made this special trip after returning from her business trip. Besides regularly checking on the newly arrived children at the orphanage to see if there were any promising talents, she also wanted to do so because several of her friends were persuaded to donate some money to show their kindness and accumulate good karma.

While they were discussing serious matters, Huang Yin was already glancing sideways at Han Jie.

Meng Qingtong sat between the two, looking around nervously.

Strangely enough, Xiang Zi raised her from a young age and disciplined her very strictly, almost harshly. Fang Min officially became her legal guardian from the beginning of her spiritual arts class, and all her affairs, big and small, had to be reviewed by Fang Min. Only Aunt Huang, with whom she had no real social relationship, and who was the kindest, most gentle, and caring of the three, was the person she had always respected the most.

The meeting was quite sudden, and Meng Qingtong was not prepared at all. When she finally sat down in the room, she started to feel nervous and regretted that she should have gone back first and rescheduled for another day.

After Huang Yin finished discussing the business and sent the donation information to her friend, she put away her phone, turned to Han Jie, and smiled, "Fang Min told me a lot about you. Indeed, seeing is believing. You're good-looking, capable, and very impressive. The Second Hospital has really struck gold."

Han Jie didn't speak, but just glanced at Meng Qingtong.

His partner, already quite self-aware in shielding him from worthless social interactions, smiled and said, "Of course, look who you're thanks to."

"What's wrong, Xiaotong? Han Jie seems to be in a bad mood after seeing me."

"Huh?" Meng Qingtong quickly connected with her divine sense and asked, "What's wrong? Did Aunt Huang offend you in some way?"

"No. I'm just a little irritable." Han Jie had nothing to hide and answered, "I thought I could at least find some clues about the origin of the Ten Thousand Demons Guidance. But I've come up empty-handed."

"Don't worry, don't worry. I'll talk to the headmistress another day and ask her to check if anyone else took care of me when I was adopted. Also, shouldn't you consider other possibilities?"

"what?"

"Is it possible that I was already infected with the Ten Thousand Demons Attraction when I was sent to the orphanage?" Meng Qingtong analyzed seriously, while also multitasking by talking to Huang Yin and helping Han Jie deal with things. She felt very busy.

“That makes sense.” Han Jie had wanted to help for a long time, and immediately made up his mind, “You’ve already been investigating your background, haven’t you? I’ll join you, and we’ll investigate together.”

With such a legitimate reason, Meng Qingtong could no longer use personal matters as an excuse to refuse.

She felt a little embarrassed, wondering why her principles seemed to be yielding more and more naturally in front of Han Jie.

Perhaps it's because she hadn't met anyone before who was willing to go to such lengths to consider her feelings...

After staying for more than an hour, Huang Yin and Meng Qingtong said goodbye and left the orphanage.

Xiang Zi didn't come out to see them off, but a few of the older children stood outside the gate until the car was almost at the corner, waving goodbye to them earnestly, as if making a promise to meet again.

Huang Yin's place and Han Jie's new home are in the same community, except that Huang Yin's place is in a larger, more upscale apartment building.

Once on the highway, Huang Yin activated the agile driver assistance function, took out a slender women's cigarette, rolled down the window, and lit it.

Wisps of smoke escaped from between her lips and teeth, melting into the wind outside the car window.

Meng Qingtong glanced at her and whispered, "Started smoking again? You've only been abstinent for a short time, three months already?"

Huang Yin smiled and flicked a bit of ash out the window. "When a cultivator reaches my stage, they should enjoy ordinary pleasures more. Otherwise, they will slowly forget how to be human."

"Then you might as well find a partner; at least it won't harm your health."

“It would be heartbreaking if we couldn’t find it,” Huang Yin said, glancing at the rearview mirror. “In our spiritual practice, when faced with two evils, we would rather suffer physical harm than be heartbroken. Have you forgotten?”

Meng Qingtong also looked in the rearview mirror, gazing at Han Jie's profile as he admired the scenery outside the window, and said softly, "No."

"What can't you do? Xiaotong, you like to just give vague answers like this when you don't want to answer."

She smiled, no longer hiding her confident expectation, "I won't misjudge people. So, the person I like will definitely not make me sad."

Huang Yin didn't say anything, just silently smoked.

When only the cigarette butt remained between her fingers, she sighed and exhaled the last puff of her fluttering white veil, saying slowly, "I hope... you really didn't see wrong... that's good."

(End of this chapter)