Chapter 24

1

"Nana!" When we returned to our apartment building, Nana, with a black face, was sitting silently in a simple skirt.

"I thought you got lost!"

"Well, something came up..."

"Last night, Hisa and the Fist Demon King were being controlled."

"You mean the endless loop?"

"They haven't spoken or interacted since entering yesterday, so there shouldn't have been any arguments."

I thought for a moment. It was tricky to think of who could control them.

"The banquet was chaotic yesterday, and you kept emphasizing the safety of your parents. But you were missing last night. Weren't you worried?"

After 18 years, they're still fine. I don't see a need to worry," Nana replied.

"It seems like you completely trust the laws of your world."

"Don't you believe?"

"In the beginning, you seemed skeptical too, right?"

"After the war ended, I believed. Unless there is evidence that overturns everything."

"But what if Tony doesn't believe?" Nana furrowed her brow.

"Are you saying he's the one behind this?"

"Tony must have known that you came back!"

"Evidence?"

"None."

"You're joking, right?" I lightly tapped Nana's forehead with my index finger. Today, Nana was actually wearing a small hairpin. I realized her forehead was quite high.

"But I found a snake on them, an ordinary snake without any magic."

"A snake? Was it a small snake?"

Nana nodded.

"The reincarnation of the Spirit Snake Princess? Before the war between gods and demons, its soul should have been shattered into pieces. Did someone have so much free time to bring it back?"

"The legend says that the Spirit Snake Princess can cause the Ten Demon Kings to engage in civil war without any scruples, but she died at the hands of the Divine Dragon."

"The Ten Demon Kings were already chaotic among themselves. It could make it even worse. I don't care, but if it was trying to disrupt the order of The Divine Realm, there's no way White would just ignore it. But strictly speaking, White didn't kill it; it committed suicide." It probably committed suicide because it couldn't manipulate the Divine Dragon and felt life was meaningless. Some people have such peculiar tastes that if they can't achieve something, they resort to self-harm.

Suddenly, I noticed our young neighbor looking up at the top of the banyan tree near the apartment.

"Good morning, little beauty." I held a small flower in my hand.

"Qin... Qin Yang, big brother."

"How come you don't like it?"

"The key to the Hua family's house is missing!"

Hua Yu is the little girl from the house next door. She's six years old and buys breakfast for her family every morning. It's hard to understand why young girls nowadays are so diligent.

"It's over there." Nana pointed to the crowd across the road.

"Nana is really good at seeing things. Why can't Hua Yu see it?"

"Hua Yu should stay here. Big brother will help you find it."

After crossing the road, I picked up the key and noticed a large crowd gathered here.

"Mister, what are they gathered for?" I casually asked an onlooker.

"It seems like someone died."

I looked inside. This building was also an apartment, and instead of police, the lobby was surrounded by the military.

"Lots of people dead, and there are eight Underworld Envoys negotiating with the Empire."

"Underworld Envoys? Where?"

"Huh? You can't see them, Mister. They haven't appeared."

"Kid, don't deceive me with your low magic power."

"They're over there, the woman in the red cheongsam. That's the Emperor's sister. Don't tell me you don't recognize her. She's been talking, but is she talking to the air?"

I pricked up my ears and listened very carefully.

There are thousands of people in the entire building, including bus drivers and security guards passing by. They were all killed, their throats slashed, without a drop of blood spilling onto the ground, but not a drop left in their bodies either. Besides blood, there was also their souls. The biggest issue the envoy of the underworld is negotiating is that not even one soul was taken away by the envoy. This is a serious work mistake, considering so many people died but not a single soul was brought back.

At the same time, what makes the Empire and the underworld uneasy is the large number of souls that have disappeared simultaneously, indicating that someone is using these souls to intentionally cultivate something, at least evil spirits or magic tools.

"The whole building reeks of fish." I caught a faint smell, but it lingered throughout the entire building.

I returned to the other side of the road and signaled Nana to go home.

"Huayou, here's your key back."

"Thank you, brother." Huayou finally smiled.

"It's just a bunch of keys. No need to be so nervous."

"Huayou's keys can't be lost!"

"Why?"

"Huayou won't tell her brother~"

"So secretive."

Nana held Huayou's little hand and said, "Let's go home. You still have to go to class."

"We'll leave on the fifteenth of next month. Tony has found some substantial help, and we can only have a chance to defeat him if we go back."

"Can't we do it now?"

"We need to save our strength for when we return. It's not about confronting him head-on; there are too many unknown factors with his demon sword and his unknown helper. I don't want any trouble."

2

In the green walkway on campus, all the students were in class. The only people walking on the quiet road were the campus workers and teachers who didn't have class.

"Qin... Qin Yang!"

I seemed to hear someone calling me, and when I turned my head, it was Guffy.

"Remember to get up for work?"

"Um... yeah~"

"I'll be leaving next month!"

"..." I heard Guffy take a sharp breath, and the footsteps that were approaching me stopped.

"It might be a very long time before we can see each other again."

The conversation that had just started suddenly came to an end, followed by a silence.

"A long time?"

"A very long time..."

Guffy continued walking, and her initially refreshing aura instantly turned icy.

Suddenly, a strong wind blew, and a stack of book pages pushed me away. The golden flames burned all the pages.

As I watched Guffy walking away coldly, I muttered to myself, "It's not like we'll never see each other again. She has such a bad temper."

With my hands in my pockets, I thought for a moment and decided to let Coyalu keep an eye on her during these years.

3

In the school's convenience store, three students were eating ice cream. It was obvious that these students were skipping class.

"He said he'll leave next month, what about your Demon Whale King?"

"They'll catch up..." Tony took a bite of the whole ice cream and looked at my back, saying, "That woman, can't let her live too comfortably."

"Qing, give us another two... Tony, seriously, this school seems pretty good to me. Don't turn it into a slaughterhouse."

"Don't beat around the bush. If you don't want me to take care of her, just say it. I know you knew her before." Tony picked up another ice cream, greedily stuffing it into his mouth.

"The only thing I care about is him—Reisgolo!"

"I like to call him the Demon Dragon. That's the only name he has in my eyes!" Tony's face, devouring everything in sight, startled the store lady.