Chapter 34: I’m Ignoring You, System-chan!

The Devil let out a sigh of relief, wiping away the sweat on his forehead—unsure whether it was from forcibly operating multiple Law Arrays or from being scared by Bai Shuanglian—and looked at Bai Shuanglian, who was heavily restrained and sealed.

For a moment, the Devil felt an odd, absurd sense well up inside.

Who’s the real villain here?

Why am I the one scared into this state by this woman?

A nameless fury rose within him.

The Devil wanted to lash out, but under Bai Shuanglian’s gaze, he didn’t dare make a move.

Even though he knew Bai Shuanglian had basically lost all ability to resist, he still couldn’t bring himself to do anything to this woman.

The reason was simple—this Exorcist was just too terrifying.

This Garden District had once been a place shrouded in darkness, but after this Exorcist arrived, all that darkness was wiped out in just a few days.

If he and Naer hadn’t hidden quickly enough, he’d probably be a dead Devil by now.

“Dong!!”

A sudden sound snapped the Devil out of his thoughts.

He looked toward Bai Shuanglian, who was swinging her icy blue longsword at the Barrier.

He wanted to mock her—‘Don’t waste your energy, this Law Array was designed specifically against cultivators’—but the sound of the Barrier cracking rendered him speechless.

He stared at the crack, barely half a palm wide, and immediately felt cold sweat break out on his forehead again.

This was a Law Array he’d poured almost all his resources into creating.

Yet under so many restrictions, this woman could still manage to do this much—just how absurd was she?!

While the Devil was sweating, Bai Shuanglian was also in a bad mood.

She looked at the Barrier, which had just regenerated, her brows tightly knit.

With the Law Array’s restrictions, her strength was less than a tenth of normal.

At this rate, just wearing down the array’s energy would take a very long time.

Thinking this, Bai Shuanglian glanced at the Devil.

If things went on like this, it would drag out too long.

She didn’t believe the Devil had no way to deal with her.

Although she didn’t understand why they’d only trapped her instead of killing her, she was certain the Devil’s plans weren’t over—there must be more to come.

She had to find a way to respond.

She’d truly been too careless this time, never expecting it to be a trap set by the Devil.

Bai Shuanglian sighed inwardly, though her expression remained unchanged.

She continued hacking at the Barrier while pondering solutions.

***

“You’re saying your mother hasn’t come home for a day, and just now that Devil came to your house, claiming to be your mother’s friend and wanted to take you to see her?”

“That’s right, Pen Fairy Sister! It must have been that Devil who took my mother away!”

In the Suburban Area, Ling Xiaoyou carried Xiaoyu through the dense forest, asking the girl in her arms to explain what had happened.

“Then how did you realize that Devil wasn’t human? He must have disguised himself as a human at first, right?”

Ling Xiaoyou noticed this oddity in Xiaoyu’s words and asked.

“I don’t really know.”

Xiaoyu shook her little head in Ling Xiaoyou’s arms, looking confused.

“I just felt there was something bad about the Devil, and I vaguely saw a monster’s shadow overlapping with his.

That’s how I realized he wasn’t human.”

“So I pretended to agree and said I needed to get something, then used the chance to hide in the Underground Shelter and tried summoning you, Pen Fairy Sister, just like the posts I’d seen online.”

As she spoke, the girl’s eyes sparkled as she looked at Ling Xiaoyou.

“And then I really summoned you, Pen Fairy Sister!”

Hearing this, Ling Xiaoyou smiled and ruffled her hair, but her mind was busy pondering Xiaoyu’s explanation.

This kind of ability doesn’t sound like something an ordinary girl would have.

It was obvious the Devil wanted to capture Xiaoyu because of this unique trait.

And such a unique ability must be what the Devil called a ‘Spirit Nurturer.’

But what does ‘Spirit Nurturer’ even mean?

After searching her memory, Ling Xiaoyou found nothing related.

That was normal—Ling Xiaoyou was usually too lazy to study these topics, so her understanding was limited.

After thinking for a moment, Ling Xiaoyou suddenly remembered she had a System.

Could she ask the System about her question?

Once this idea popped up, it quickly took root and grew into a towering tree in Ling Xiaoyou’s mind.

So, Ling Xiaoyou asked the System internally:

‘System-chan, do you know what’s going on with Xiaoyu? What exactly is a Spirit Nurturer?’

This was her first time asking the System a question, so she felt a bit nervous.

After waiting quietly for a while, the System Panel suddenly popped up before Ling Xiaoyou, nearly startling her into bumping into a tree.

Luckily, she reacted quickly and dodged, avoiding a ‘car crash.’

‘What are you doing, System!’

Ling Xiaoyou grumbled at the System in her mind, but all she got was a single sentence displayed on the System Panel:

[Retrieving]

Eh?

Retrieving what?

Ling Xiaoyou blinked in confusion, then saw the System Panel transform into something resembling a search engine.

At the very top was the encyclopedia entry for [Spirit Nurturer].

Looking at the search results, Ling Xiaoyou’s face lit up.

See, System-chan is actually useful sometimes!

With a thought, Ling Xiaoyou opened the encyclopedia entry, only to go speechless a moment later.

[Viewing this entry requires 5 Happiness Points. Pay?]

[Yes/No]

Ling Xiaoyou: ……

Seriously?

You want Happiness Points for such a simple question?!

Why don’t you just crawl into a pile of money!

And to think I said you were useful.

What a waste of emotion!

Ling Xiaoyou angrily closed the System Panel.

Stupid System, all it cares about is Happiness Points!

Hmph! I’ve decided—I’m ignoring System-chan for a while.

Absolutely!

Ling Xiaoyou was about to ask Xiaoyu about the details of her ability when suddenly, a beast-like roar echoed from far behind her!

The roar surged like a raging wave, rushing closer and instantly flooding Ling Xiaoyou’s ears, leaving her briefly dizzy.

This is…

That Devil’s voice from before?!

Ling Xiaoyou quickly shook her head to clear the dizziness and looked back.

Behind her was a pitch-black forest.

Even though it was all darkness, Ling Xiaoyou could clearly feel a gaze locked onto them, staring at both her and Xiaoyu.

At the same time, the sound of heavy footsteps, like rolling thunder, pounded toward them.

Ling Xiaoyou: “……”

No way, Gomen, I specifically noted to add extra Nether Spring Water in that bowl of Youquan Shaofan!

How can you recover so fast anyway?!

Too tough and resilient!