Eating bizarre things in public upgrades my status; the Special Affairs Bureau wants me to join them

"who?!!!"

He Li's eyelids twitched wildly, and his voice rose.

Lie was a little stunned by He Li's reaction.

But he repeated, "Sui...Suirenshi!"

Did I hear that right? Suirenshi? The legendary first being to master the power of fire, known as the Ancestor of Fire, and also the Human Emperor among the Three Sovereigns of Heaven, Earth, and Man!

He Li never expected that his settlement would involve the Suiren clan.

Seeing He Li, they were both surprised and stunned...

Lie asked with some concern, "Jiu, are you alright?"

"Huh? It's nothing!" Hearing Lie's voice, He Li snapped out of his daze, shook his head to indicate that he was alright, and then asked, "You just said that the Fire Ancestor lit a campfire every night and received protection..."

"And what about the possibility of disaster if you don't do this under the cover of night?"

"This..." Lie thought for a moment.

Then he said, "I don't know much."

"However, I've heard that many evil spirits appear outside after nightfall."

"They are even more terrifying."

"These beings are not only numerous, but also difficult to kill and like wolves, they prefer to move in packs; in the past, before the light of fire, our human race suffered heavy losses."

"Until Suirenshi discovered and mastered fire."

"The flames can illuminate those things."

"They are also afraid of fire."

"But as time went by, they became more powerful and even became able to ignore ordinary flames. Only flames influenced by the power of the Fire Ancestor could deter them..."

Lie continued to speak about what he knew.

According to him, those terrifying beings in the night need to be driven away by fire.

But those things are too powerful.

Ordinary fires were useless, so they gradually started setting up large bonfires to enhance the power of the flames and to draw upon the power of the Fire Ancestor to protect the settlement from threats.

According to popular legend, the Fire Ancestor did this to reduce human casualties at night...

It will exert its power at night to drive away the darkness...

May dawn come sooner!

Humans also believed this.

In each settlement, the ritual of lighting bonfires by the Fire Ancestor at Night has been passed down for many years.

Lie doesn't know much more about the specifics.

Even the elders only know so much.

However, in the end...

Lie added, "In short, the calamity is that if the settlement doesn't do this, it will be attacked and destroyed by hordes of monsters. Also, I heard that there are descendants of the Fire Ancestor Suiren nearby..."

"It was through their communication with the Fire Ancestor in the darkness that they were able to draw upon the Fire Ancestor's power to protect us."

"Of course, there are many descendants of the Fire Ancestor."

"It's not just around here."

"They also exist in other places, but very few people have seen them. It is said that they sleep during the day, preparing to communicate with the Fire Ancestor at night to guide the power and protect more people."

After Lie finished speaking, He Li finally had a concrete understanding of the matter of the campfire at night.

Meanwhile, according to Lie...

He Li vaguely guessed what the source of Jiang Hongxian's earlier statement about sensing a scorching flame power in the distance that was comparable to, or even stronger than, the sun was...

If nothing unexpected happens, it must be Suirenshi.

And the surrounding power resembled the flames of Suirenshi...

That would naturally be the other party's protection.

At the same time, Jiang Hongxian sensed something nearby that was different from the source but stronger than the flames in the settlement. It must be one of the descendants of Suirenshi that Lie had mentioned.

He felt a little excited thinking about this.

At the same time, his mind was also full of questions.

He was excited because of the existence of Suirenshi, and he might have a chance to meet this legendary human emperor.

As for the question? Well, He Li suddenly remembered the contents of the "Great Nuo Rhapsody" on the stone tablet in the Netherworld, and the Nuo technique he hadn't mastered, "Fire Burns the Night"...

The name of this power is "Flint Burns the Night"...

It seems to be related to Suirenshi no matter how you look at it. Who knows, this power might have originated from Suirenshi?

In other words, the creator of the "Great Nuo Rhapsody" and the existence of the Nuo techniques within it likely knew Suirenshi.

I even had contact with him.

Moreover, He Li had a feeling...

That is, the creation of the Refining Spirit Method "Great Nuo Fu" is very likely related to him personally, and the torch in his Purple Mansion space may also be related.

However, we still have too little information.

He Li could not confirm these speculations.

But don't panic, since Jiang Hongxian can sense the approximate location of what appears to be a descendant of Suiren...

He can go find the other party now, and perhaps he can establish a connection with Suirenshi through the descendants of Suirenshi. If he's lucky, he might even gain a lot of benefits.

Thinking this, he suddenly looked intently at Jiang Hongxian, who was deep in thought beside him.

The latter seemed to sense the burning gaze.

She was suddenly jolted awake from her reverie.

"You want to... find the descendants of Suiren?"

Without even guessing, Jiang Hongxian could tell what He Li was thinking by looking at him with that kind of gaze.

Seeing He Li nod quickly, she hesitated and did not immediately agree with He Li's intention to go find him.

After all, it was almost dark, and according to Lie, there were many dangerous beings lurking in the night. Their strength had plummeted, and if they encountered anything truly terrifying…

Then they really can't go back.

So she hesitated, considering whether to go look for him now or persuade He Li to go during the day.

Anyway, she sensed the other party's approximate location.

Even if it's not perceptible during the day...

If we can confirm the general location now, we can find it by searching slowly after daytime, right?

This way, the risk is even lower.

However, before she could even advise He Li to wait until daytime to search for the descendants of Suiren, He Li continued, "Apart from finding that descendant of Suiren..."

"I also want to see what Lie has in mind, what is that thing in the darkness that resembles an evil spirit but is even more dangerous."

"No, I need to know!"

As he continued, He Li became serious.

Fangxiangshi had not yet appeared in this era, or at least not in its entirety. Before it was certain whether Fangxiangshi's appearance was related to his overlapping body...

The default assumption is related to He Li.

Therefore, he wanted to gather as much information as possible to see if he could confirm the condition of the body, or complete the birth of the Fangxiangshi for this body according to history.

And those evil spirits, and the mysterious monsters in the darkness that Lie described as even more terrifying than evil spirits...

How could anyone doubt that those were all sorts of epidemic parasites!

Legend has it that when Fang Xiangshi performed the Great Exorcism to expel plagues, it's hard to say that he wasn't also expelling these strange and bizarre beings, since according to Lie, those ghostly things would gradually become stronger.

They used to be afraid of ordinary flames.

Later, they lost their fear, so they needed to rely on the power of the Fire Ancestor Suirenshi to deter them.

What if they become even stronger in the future?

What if even the power of the Fire Ancestor is ineffective as a deterrent?

Does that mean we need new, more powerful forces to fight against these terrifying beings in the night?

And that new, powerful force...

Could it be Fang Xiangshi?

There were too many questions that needed to be confirmed, and He Li wouldn't waste time sitting here waiting for dawn. Jiang Hongxian, on the other hand, wasn't too keen on taking the risk of going out now...

Seeing He Li's expression, she knew even more clearly that she probably couldn't persuade He Li not to go.

So she could only nod.

"Alright, if you really want to go, it's not impossible."

"But I must warn you first, if we encounter an insurmountable danger, I won't continue to be foolish with you. You must know... the future generations will need us to go back and save them!"

Jiang Hongxian said this.

"Don't worry!" He Li shrugged. "If I encounter a danger I can't overcome, I'll run away too."

"I'm not so desperate as to risk my life."

"That would be best!" Jiang Hongxian added.

He Li then looked at the others.

"Yu Ji and Yu Qingge, come out with me. You two stay here and keep an eye on the settlement. You can also ask the people in the settlement about the things I mentioned earlier."

He made the arrangements, and Mu Lan frowned slightly but did not object; she simply nodded in agreement.

She wasn't afraid of any danger.

Anyway, she's fast, so even if she encounters danger and can't win, she has enough strength to escape smoothly.

So she wasn't worried about her own side; what she was worried about was whether He Li and the others would get into trouble when they went out, since He Li and Jiang Hong's strength had dropped drastically.

"Then be careful!"

Seeing that He Li and the other three were about to leave, Mu Lan gave them a word of advice, and He Li waved his hand before walking out.

By this time, it had become completely dark.

In the pitch-black night, where one could not see their own hand in front of their face, the whispers of some creature could be faintly heard. They were indistinct, yet those who heard them felt a strange unease in their hearts.