The Supreme Soul, Starting with Death

Gu Shi couldn't bring himself to accept such flattery. Even if this boy wasn't Aizen, his exaggerated talent was still genuine, and he could probably easily crush him.

Before the boy, Yusuke, could say anything more, the Grim Reaper girl had lost all interest in listening to their continued pleasantries and simply waved her hand, slicing the air between them in two.

"Stop! Enough with the mutual flattery! Yusuke, right? I'll deliver food and other supplies to you on time, just like the bearded guy did before. You can continue with your old life and just keep attracting Hollows to this area."

After saying that, the Death Girl effortlessly jumped onto Gu Shi's shoulder.

"As for us, now that the big guy is gone, let's hurry up and hunt Hollows to accumulate spiritual power. If you want to break through the boundary between the Grim Reaper and the Hollow and return to your original form, the spiritual power you need is enormous. If you keep dawdling, by the time you've accumulated enough spiritual power, you might have forgotten how to wield a sword!"

For the first time, Gu Shi agreed with the Death Girl's words. He couldn't wait to get away from this dangerous shrine as soon as possible, so he nodded in agreement.

"Alright, alright, let's go now. Young man, we're off first. Be careful on your own!"

After saying that, Gu Shi called out to Erlang and strode out of the shrine.

Gu Shi ran non-stop all the way until he reached the foot of the mountain where the shrine was located, at which point he slowed down a little.

"Phew, this kid's talent is no joke. I almost lost control just now. Thank goodness. I must stay away from him in the future."

As soon as he opened his mouth, Gu Shi quickly reinforced the rationale behind his statement that he was staying away from the young Yusuke because he didn't want to lose control of his appetite, so as not to let the Death Girl see anything amiss.

Fortunately, Gu Shi's excuse was indeed reasonable, and the Death Girl had no doubts, only nodding in agreement.

"Indeed, with that little guy's talent, if you plan to eat him, you'll definitely be killed in a one-on-one fight. If you ever have to see him in the future, remember to call me along. Even if you lose control of your appetite, I can help you cut off his arms and legs so you don't get hurt while eating."

"That's not what I meant."

Having composed himself, Gu Shi rolled his eyes and returned to his usual normal state, casually making a sarcastic remark before taking a deep sniff of the air.

"Goodness, as expected of a shrine's vicinity, the scent of Hollows can be smelled from all directions. Hueco Mundo's environment couldn't be better than this."

"This is nothing. The density of Hollows in Hueco Mundo is much higher than here. If you entered Hueco Mundo with your strength, you would basically be a walking piece of meat, devoured by the Hollows in the blink of an eye. You won't have time to sigh like that."

The Death Girl used her spiritual network technique again to detect the residual spiritual energy in the air, and pointed to the southwest.

"Let's go this way, the void here is relatively weak."

Gu Shi nodded, tried his best to conceal his aura, and ran in the direction the Death Girl pointed out.

In the shrine behind the two, the gentle boy continued to sweep the courtyard at a leisurely pace. Even alone, a gentle smile remained on his lips. With each swing of the broom, the spiritual energy emanating from his soul subtly changed.

Among the Hollows wandering near the shrine, many powerful Hollows suddenly raised their heads. Just now, that enticingly fragrant soul, whose source could not be found upon closer inspection, seemed to have been engaged in battle with someone, and the spiritual energy fragrance permeating the surroundings suddenly intensified.

The source of the flavor change...

This is the direction!

In an instant, many powerful Void beings became excited and eagerly moved towards a certain direction.

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Silly Girl

The commotion and jeering erupted behind him again. Hai Ren frowned impatiently and turned around. Sure enough, the silly girl was following him again, and further away, there was that same group of troublemakers who were always causing trouble.

Waving his farm tools, Hai Ren glared at the jeering guys, threatening to beat them up if they didn't shut up. Then he glared at the silly girl who could only giggle, and with a look of exasperation, he pulled her along towards the field.

The silly girl and the sea man are not related by blood. The reason they spend every day together is due to an accident.

About three years ago, on a similarly hot day, Hai Ren was rushing to work in the fields, just like today. As he was walking along, he suddenly heard someone behind him cursing him as an idiot and an orphan, and saying things like, "How come you're still alive?"

At the time, Hai Ren was eleven years old and already familiar with the rules of survival in the village. He knew clearly that if someone provoked him, he had to fight back fiercely, otherwise even worse bullying would soon follow. So he didn't hesitate to curse back, using extremely foul language and throwing out all the swear words he had learned from his elders.

As a result, Hai Ren, who couldn't wait to retaliate, turned around and realized that those people his age weren't cursing him, but rather the silly girl who happened to be passing by not far behind him.

Everyone had long forgotten the silly girl's name. All they knew was that she fell ill when she was seven years old, and after recovering, she became mentally challenged, acting crazy all the time. No one in the village liked her, and even her parents abandoned her soon after she became mentally challenged, kicking her out of the house and leaving her to fend for herself.

The villagers couldn't understand how the silly girl had survived all by herself, but she did survive, only becoming increasingly insane and foolish, her filthy appearance making her repulsive.

Hai Ren didn't like the silly girl either. When he realized he had misunderstood, he secretly regretted it and muttered to himself, "These idle guys, can't they at least add a name before they curse someone and clearly state who they are cursing?"

However, no matter how much he regretted it, he would never back down. Hai Ren had no intention of apologizing because he knew that even if he apologized, those guys would not be so magnanimous as to forgive him. Instead, they would think he was weak and easy to bully and would treat him as a target for bullying as well.

Therefore, Hai Ren directly swung his farm tools and rushed up to beat up all those guys, saying threateningly, "This silly girl is under my protection! If any of you dare to bully her again, I'll beat you all up!"

Hai Ren claimed he would protect the silly girl, but it was just to save face and find a plausible reason for him to take action. However, the silly girl seemed to take it seriously.

Of course, the silly girl was probably too naive to understand what the sea man was saying, but at least she could tell that the sea man had protected her.

So, from that day on, the silly girl became completely attached to Hai Ren. When the group of guys who had been beaten up came to retaliate, she swung her fists randomly and, together with Hai Ren, gave those guys a good beating.

It's strange, but when the silly girl was bullied, she would just smile foolishly and never fight back, even if she was beaten. But ever since she followed Hai Ren, whenever someone came to cause trouble for Hai Ren, she would get very angry and rush up to beat them up, and she was incredibly strong.

At first, Hai Ren was only annoyed by the silly girl who was bothering him, thinking she was a nuisance. But after the silly girl helped him fight a few battles, Hai Ren's thoughts changed slightly. He felt that this silly girl was not so annoying after all, and he stopped thinking about how to get rid of her.

After that, the silly girl followed Hai Ren for three whole years. During those three years, Hai Ren also developed many uses for the silly girl beyond fighting.

For example, the silly girl is unusually strong. Although she doesn't know how to do farm work, every time we go to work in the fields, as long as we give her a farm tool and let her imitate our movements, we can reduce the workload by half.

Of course, after the silly girl's parents discovered that she could do farm work, they thought about taking her back, but the silly girl had no intention of going with them at all. When her father grabbed her hand and tried to forcibly take her away, she swung a farm tool and beat the man up.

Or, when climbing other people's fruit trees to steal fruit in the fall, the silly girl can help keep watch. Compared to those friends who grew up together but would run away as soon as the fruit tree owner arrived, the silly girl is much more loyal and would never leave him behind.

However, the silly girl is strong and has a big appetite. Often, the sea people can only eat one or two of the fruits they risk to steal, and the rest will all disappear into the silly girl's stomach.

In short, over the past three years, although Hai Ren still sometimes feels that the silly girl can't speak clearly and can't express herself well during occasional conversations, which can be a bit annoying, it is undeniable that the silly girl has become an indispensable part of his life.

Many times, even if he complains, Hai Ren will still hide part of his dinner and bring it to the silly girl the next day, while secretly thinking to himself that he is the real fool for not being able to eat enough himself and yet treating others to food.

Today, it was another familiar day after three years. Hai Ren handed the second set of farm tools to the silly girl and prepared to start working.

But at that moment, the silly girl, who was always smiling foolishly, showed an expression that Hai Ren had never seen before. He was stunned for a moment before he realized that it seemed to be an intense fear.

Hai Ren couldn't help but tense up. He gripped his farm tools tightly, turned around, and looked in the direction the silly girl was staring at. But all he could see was the same scenery as before, without any change.

Hai Ren secretly breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that the silly girl had probably gone crazy again and had seen some terrible hallucination. He decided to comfort her and let her rest in the shade for a while.

Before he could even offer a word of comfort, the silly girl grabbed his hand and started pulling him away desperately. Caught off guard, Hai Ren stumbled and nearly fell. He couldn't help but feel annoyed and was about to scold the silly girl.

But just then, a loud bang suddenly exploded. The sea man saw with his own eyes that the place where he and the silly girl had just been standing, which was still empty, looked as if it had been hit hard by something. The ground was deeply dented, forming a shape like a claw mark.

In an instant, a strong sense of fear surged into his heart, and Hai Ren began to run desperately. Although the silly girl was stronger than him, he was much taller than the silly girl who never grew up. When they ran, it was he who was pulling the silly girl along.

After running a few steps, the silly girl and he, who were holding hands tightly, suddenly tugged gently to the right. The tacit understanding they had developed over the past three years allowed Hai Ren to turn around without thinking and continue running wildly. The next moment, another huge claw mark appeared out of thin air in the direction they had originally been heading.

Having narrowly escaped death once again, Hai Ren ran for his life while silently cursing loudly in his mind to alleviate his fear.

[Damn it, damn it, damn it! What is this thing?! Are we going to die today?!]

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Conspiracy?

"I say, isn't something wrong? The two Hollows we've encountered seem to be quite excited."

As Gu Shi forcefully crushed the rooster-like Hollow's head in his mouth, he looked behind him in confusion. He wondered if it was just his imagination, but he felt that the two Hollows he had encountered after leaving the shrine were not wandering aimlessly, but rather moving in a specific direction with a clear goal.

Clearly, Gu Shi wasn't the only one with this thought; the Death Girl, who was standing guard nearby, also had similar doubts. She frowned, carefully discerned the direction, and suddenly felt a sense of foreboding.

[If we extend the paths of these two virtual routes, the point where they eventually converge seems to be very close to the place where I placed the bearded man?]

The bearded Shinigami is currently seriously injured and unconscious. If he is discovered by a Hollow, his fate will undoubtedly be to be eaten. The death of the Shinigami guarding the human world will certainly lead to the Soul Society sending people to investigate. When the investigation team arrives, even a Shinigami girl, as a noble, will inevitably feel some trouble.

Putting everything else aside, concealing the existence of the giant under the investigation team's search will not be an easy task. If she is unlucky and the investigation team discovers the giant, she will most likely have to find a way to kill those Grim Reapers who come to search.

This will inevitably lead to a more intense search by Soul Society. She may have to defect with Gu Shi for a while before she can return to Soul Society with a new identity through the family's efforts.

After a slight hesitation, the Grim Reaper girl immediately made a decision, gently placing her hand on the Zanpakuto and giving Gu Shi, who was still somewhat puzzled, a bright yet somewhat frightening smile.

"Big guy, there seems to be some trouble over there. I'll go check it out first. Try not to wander around recklessly, lest you run into something you can't handle and lose your life for nothing."

"Well, if you really can't sit still and want to wander around, that's fine too. With the spiritual network, I can find you quickly, so don't worry about getting lost."

After uttering a few words of feigned concern that concealed a threat, the Death Girl didn't linger any longer. She activated her Instant Step and rushed towards the direction where she had placed the bearded Death God.

As she traveled, the Death Girl couldn't help but feel a sense of unease.

Are these fictitious targets really Big Beard?

[The bearded man was just an ordinary Grim Reaper. When I placed him in his place, I already used the Severing Void technique to isolate his aura.]

[Under these circumstances, given the bearded man's level of spiritual power, the scent he emitted shouldn't even be noticeable to Hollows within a ten-meter radius for several days. How could it possibly attract Hollows from such a distance?]

[Could it be that I'm just unlucky, and some genius happened to die nearby, their soul leaving their body, leaving a large amount of spiritual energy exposed and attracting the attention of the Void Clan?]

[Although the big guy was also an illusion, he had been following me closely, enveloped by my spiritual energy, which is why he didn't notice the subtle fragrance in the air?]

[Tsk, when did genius become so cheap? When we found the big guy, we encountered a vice-captain-level genius; the bearded guy has a super genius under his wing; and there's even a genius hidden in the nearby countryside?]

The Death Girl cursed inwardly, but her pace quickened even further. Her original plan to first help the big guy get used to the surroundings before going back to deal with the bearded man was ruined, which made her mood worse and her killing intent intensified.

Gu Shi watched the Death Girl disappear into the distance, and couldn't help but narrow his eyes. He had guessed that the Hollows' target was the bearded man, and the previous question was just to remind the Death Girl to notice the situation.

The Death Girl believed that her bad luck had led to the bearded man being discovered by the Hollows, even though this danger appeared shortly after the two left the shrine. She had no doubt about the super genius in the shrine.

In her mind, no matter how talented a living person is, they are still just a living person. Under the limitations of the physical body, being able to develop the means to use spiritual power to kill some voids is already amazing enough. How could they be a chess player, secretly manipulating events and plotting against her, the Grim Reaper, behind the scenes?

But Gu Shi didn't think so. The face of that genius, the face of a younger version of Aizen, made him immediately point his suspicions at that genius.

If that genius really was Aizen, given his intelligence, he would probably have already exhausted Aizen's knowledge through his daily interactions with the bearded man, learning all the common knowledge about Soul Society, knowing that the death of a Shinigami in the human world would attract an investigation from Soul Society, and it's even possible that he had learned some of the Kido techniques in advance.

Knowing a great deal of information about Soul Society, the Shinigami girl's lies become incredibly fragile, and her flaws are immediately apparent.

Furthermore, considering that she clearly had something to ask of Aizen, this genius, yet she wasn't in a hurry to take him away, and instead insisted that Aizen continue living in the shrine, Aizen, with his intelligence, deduced that the bearded man wasn't dead, but rather imprisoned somewhere. That's why the Shinigami girl wasn't worried about the Soul Society's investigation, finding it utterly effortless.

As for where the bearded Grim Reaper was imprisoned, it's even easier to guess. At the time, the Grim Reaper girl was in a hurry to receive the bearded man's inheritance, so she rushed headlong to the shrine. Searching in the opposite direction from where she came from would definitely not be difficult to find the bearded Grim Reaper.

The problem is, how did Aizen manage to manipulate the Hollows and make them act according to his wishes? Gu Shi just couldn't understand it.

However, as long as that person is indeed Aizen, Gu Shi will not find it outrageous no matter how outrageous his actions are.

After all, besides his cunning and resourcefulness, Aizen was also incredibly strong. Even without the power of the Hogyoku, he could kill that dog-headed captain in one move.

With such strength, one can only imagine how powerful Aizen's talent must be.

Even if someone is so powerful that they can do things far beyond what a normal Grim Reaper can do, Gu Shi thinks it's only natural.

[But what was Aizen's purpose in doing this? Was he silencing the bearded man to prevent him from leaking information? Or was he digging a huge pit, intending to bury that madman along with him?]

[It's unlikely that my target was actually the bearded man, and that the attack was just a ploy to distract the madman and create an opportunity to be alone with me, is it?]

Thinking of this, Gu Shi couldn't help but shudder. Although he didn't think that Aizen could discover his special qualities after only meeting him once, the thought of this possibility still gave him the illusion that a dark hand was enveloping him.

"Forget it, let's not think about it anymore, let's just run away, let's run away!"

Fortunately, Gu Shi's advantage of being able to shed negative emotions when he was in a virtual state was once again demonstrated. Whether it was tension or fear, it could only stay in his heart for a short time, and he quickly became optimistic again.

"As long as I take this opportunity to find a Hollow that can speak into the Dark Chamber and force it to do so, I can successfully escape Hueco Mundo. At that time, whatever schemes these people have will be completely irrelevant to me."