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

Chapter 24 Even if the fish doesn't die, the net will break.
"Mr. Liu, I've already emphasized that for the safety of your family, you'd better cancel all your outside business today and stay home quietly for the day. You can make money after this is resolved."

Despite Meng Qingtong's patient and gentle explanation, Liu Song, who was pacing back and forth in the living room with his phone in hand, was still like an ant on a hot plate.

“This deal is really important, Master Meng. Why don’t you hurry up? If we can finish this sooner, I can make it to lunch. How about this, I…” Liu Song glanced at his watch, then slapped his forehead in frustration, “I’ll postpone the lunch to 12 o’clock. I’ll arrive at 12 and leave by 11:30. Is that alright?”

Meng Qingtong looked at Ya Ya, who had huddled behind her, and was clearly annoyed. She glanced at Liu Song and said, "Fine, since Mr. Liu doesn't seem to care too much about things at home, you can go about your business. I've taken on the job and I'll make sure to protect Ya Ya. As for other things, that's not my job. If anything goes wrong, don't blame me."

At this moment, Aunt Wu, standing at the entrance, said timidly, "Boss, this little kid... this little master is blocking the door, but... but I have to go out to buy groceries."

Han Jie stood at the door, arms crossed, and said coldly, "No one is allowed to leave this house until this matter is resolved."

His tone wasn't very pleasant.

If Liu Song hadn't said he had company business to attend to early in the morning and insisted on leaving, he could have extended his precious breakfast time by at least ten minutes.

Meng Qingtong had indeed figured out his favorite flavor. The seemingly ordinary egg pancake was rolled with some shredded radish, pork tenderloin, and chopped onion, and drizzled with a spoonful of sauce that she had made herself. Even when served with congee and side dishes, it was still fresh, fragrant, and delicious.

The same food tastes completely different when you sit at the dinner table chatting casually with Meng Qingtong and savoring it slowly, compared to when you hurriedly stuff it into your mouth in the car.

So right now he really dislikes Liu Song.

Meng Qingtong glanced at the doorway and chuckled inwardly. She thought that the old senior Han's angry appearance was quite intimidating, and his presence there gave him a sense of being able to hold the pass by.

"Mr. Liu, since you're in such a hurry, shouldn't you urge your wife? It's been over half an hour, and she's still breastfeeding up there. Your son must be sucking her dry!" With her partner's support, her tone became sarcastic, fueled by her annoyance. "I've already told you, it's not just Yaya who's in danger; your whole family is at risk. I haven't even discussed the extra pay with you yet. What's the rush to run away?"

Han Jie narrowed his eyes slightly, his gaze sweeping across the room like lightning.

As expected, the slight fluctuation he felt earlier was not his imagination; something did indeed appear briefly, then quickly disappeared again upon realizing the situation was not good.

However, the aura was extremely weak, not like it was trying to escape, but rather like it was trying to distract someone.

Meng Qingtong glanced around and clearly noticed the anomaly just now. She raised her hand and snapped her fingers, "Golden Light Shield."

The names were called out, but the formation was not yet activated. The array surrounding the entire house was immediately poised to be unleashed.

If there is any further disturbance, she will immediately activate the formation completely, giving the evil spirits inside no chance to escape.

At this moment, Song Huiping came down the stairs.

She held her son, her face pale, her eyes still bloodshot, her expression almost empty. The way she held the child was unusually strong, as if she were fighting against something, yet her steps down the stairs were unsteady and stiff, as if beyond her control. She looked like a puppet on strings with some semblance of self-awareness, an indescribably eerie sight.

Liu Song ignored this and went up to her, cursing and yelling, "What are you dawdling about! You've been hiding up there feeding the baby for so long, are you going to use the milk to bathe the baby? Get over here right now! I have important things to do this morning, I can't afford to be delayed any longer!"

Song Huiping's arms, which were holding the baby boy, suddenly trembled, and veins bulged on the back of her pale hands.

Aunt Wu, carrying a shopping basket, walked over with a smile and extended her hand: "Come on, let me hold the child. You haven't been resting well lately, so don't let him fall. You young people are just too hot-tempered. You argue over the smallest things in front of outsiders. It's not worth it, not worth it at all."

Meng Qingtong rushed ahead and stood in front of Song Huiping.

She was already taller than the average girl, around 1.7 meters, and only Han Jie, who was over 1.8 meters tall, made her appear slightly petite. With a swipe of her long legs and a push of her shoulders, she easily pushed Aunt Wu aside and casually stuck a calming talisman on Song Huiping's chest.

She touched the talisman with her fingers, causing the peaks on which the talisman was attached to to sway up and down.

Song Huiping's expression changed. Just as she was about to say something, she found that her arms suddenly went limp and she could not muster any strength. Her son was snatched away by Meng Qingtong.

"What are you doing!" she roared, her voice cracking.

Strangely, she only stretched out her hand, but didn't move her legs, and remained standing at the top of the stairs, as if she were nailed to the spot.

"Give me back my child...give him back to me..." she murmured, her lips curling up to reveal scarlet canine teeth stained with lipstick, as if she were laughing, or as if she were tearing at something invisible.

Tears streamed down the upper half of her face.

Her once beautiful face has been distorted to the point that it is impossible to associate it with any word related to beauty.

The air in the room trembled unnaturally. Meng Qingtong took two steps back while holding Dou Dou and handed the child to Ya Ya. "Hold him and go to the wall. Don't come near here, no matter what happens."

Ya Ya hugged her younger brother tightly, her small body trembling as she retreated to the wall and hid directly behind Meng Qingtong.

Liu Song shook his head vigorously, then rubbed his eyes, looking at Song Huiping with a mixture of confusion and bewilderment, as if he had just bought her yesterday.

Aunt Wu was so frightened that she retreated to a corner far away from the window, her face ashen, her legs trembling like leaves, and she muttered some kind of rural protective spell from who-knows-where.

"Yaya, bring your little brother to Mommy, quick, bring him to Mommy." Song Huiping's eyes suddenly went blank. She slowly turned her neck, staring intently in Yaya's direction, and dragged her stiff legs to move over.

The calming talisman shook violently, and under the light it emitted, the shadows of thick ropes could be faintly seen emerging from behind Song Huiping.

The shadows intertwined to form a part of a giant web, slowly unfolding behind her, making her look like a spider dragging a hunting weapon.

"Are you fucking crazy?!" Liu Song raised his arm, took two steps, and slapped him across the face.

This is enough to show that Liu Song has also become completely abnormal.

Otherwise, as an ordinary middle-aged man, he would have been considered brave enough not to run away when he saw his wife in this state, let alone have the ability to slap her.

Strangely, the slap actually landed.

Snapped!
The sound was extremely loud and clear.

Song Huiping's face immediately turned to the other side, her messy long hair swung down to her chest, and the light of the calming talisman quickly dimmed and fell to the ground.

Meng Qingtong glanced at Han Jie, and noticing a slight change in his expression, she immediately raised her hand and shouted, "Rise!"

The golden light shield array activated, enveloping the entire house. At the same time, the spirit pattern application connected to the array automatically sent the pre-set alarms to the nearest spiritual security agency.

Two long and one short alarm sounded a few seconds later, and all nearby residents who received the alert were instructed to seek shelter in the nearest building. As the alarm blared, Liu Song's expression became even more ferocious.

He grabbed his wife by the neck with both hands, shaking her violently while roaring, "When will you ever understand me! All you ever think about is yourself! I told you if you don't want to have children, then don't. I'll handle the pressure from my parents; it's none of your business! And you? Your mother told you a few times and you changed your mind! Well, don't regret it! Why are you throwing a tantrum because you can't have a son? You whine and complain to me about every woman in my company. Do you think I can hire a rough old man for the reception? You're always suspecting this woman is my mistress and that woman is my mistress. Even when Master Meng came to exorcise the demons in our house, you said he came to provoke you. Shouldn't you empty your brain?"

Neither Meng Qingtong nor Han Jie offered any help.

Because Song Huiping, whose neck was being choked, did not struggle or resist at all, she just tilted her head, stared at the baby in Ya Ya's arms with her eyes squinted, and made a hoarse sound in her throat.

As Liu Song's curses grew faster and louder, strands of shadow suddenly emerged from his shoulders and back, like slender tentacles, twisting and weaving into another net that quickly connected with the part behind Song Huiping.

The eerie scene has moved beyond the realm of illusion and is gradually becoming reality, no longer something that can only be detected by spiritualists.

Aunt Wu covered her eyes, peered through her fingers at the two people in the living room, and screamed loudly.

Ya Ya was so frightened that she couldn't stand up, and she slumped against the wall, hugging her younger brother.

Unbeknownst to her, behind her, a transparent, silk-like fabric slowly floated out, with countless fine threads swirling and coiling around it, seemingly defying the interwoven net.

Whoosh!
The nothingness solidified completely, and a long rope suddenly left the net in the air, rushing towards Ya Ya at high speed.

The resentment and hatred between husband and wife cannot be avoided by children, no matter how hard they try.

Fortunately, Ya Ya didn't need to hide this time.

With a frosty expression, Meng Qingtong raised her left hand and grabbed the flying rope tightly. Her expression seemed to say, "No matter what kind of mental, illusion, or non-physical magic you are, I'm going to smash you with one punch."

She actually grabbed the long rope and rushed forward, throwing a powerful right punch at a spot on Song Huiping's shoulder where there was clearly a gap in the mesh.

Song Huiping, who was still being choked and swayed by her husband's movements, suddenly reacted. Her stiff right leg seemed to be pulled, and she kicked hard at Meng Qingtong who was rushing towards her.

Liu Song, who was originally performing his signature "Roaring Emperor" act by choking his wife, suddenly screamed and turned his hands around, lunging at Meng Qingtong.

Meng Qingtong completely ignored the two's actions. Just as her fist was about to strike, she suddenly opened her five fingers and revealed one of the talismans folded into a small piece.

"Divine Altar of Precious Light, Open!"

The talisman instantly unfolded and burst into a dazzling golden light within the grid.

Meng Qingtong moved with lightning speed. Taking advantage of the moment when the couple grabbed her and were about to pull her away, she used a move she had practiced with great skill to slap two talismans onto their foreheads and whispered, "Guard One, open!"

Han Jie raised his eyebrows slightly, feeling that he had learned a new way to deal with enemies.

The Divine Altar Treasure Light Talisman is only considered a mid-tier talisman in this era, but in Han Jie's world, it wouldn't even qualify as a divine talisman. Its main effect is to significantly enhance the spiritual intelligence of everyone within its light's range, impacting cultivation efficiency comparable to a high-grade magic weapon.

But few cultivators at that time probably could have imagined that since the talisman's precious light could greatly enhance one's intelligence, it would certainly be a great counteracting effect on spells that could disturb the mind and lower intelligence.

The weaver has clearly taken control of Liu and Song's minds. Meng Qingtong found the junction of the two mental nets and directly unleashed a divine light, which can be described as a brilliant tactic that takes a different approach.

Moreover, just as the inspiration arrived, the two protective talismans for mental defense were activated, which was equivalent to quickly cutting away the rotten flesh from the wound, disinfecting it, and then wrapping it tightly with gauze and bandage.

It seems that after she was exhausted last night, she lay in bed for half a day without sleeping, just mentally rehearsing this fighting style.

Wherever the talisman's light shone, the flying shadows and long ropes retreated. However, under the protection of the talisman, Liu Song and Song Huiping covered their heads and bent over, struggling in pain and no longer following along.

Within seconds, several tears appeared along the lower edges of the two large nets.

Meng Qingtong's offensive was not over yet.

She slightly bent her knees and crouched low, clenching her fists, and roared, "Earth Fire Formation, activate!"

Han Jie was taken aback, unable to figure out where she had set up the spirit array.

The answer immediately became clear.

A blazing white spiritual flame suddenly erupted from the back of Meng Qingtong's clenched left fist!
Although it was just a small formation, and the miniature version drawn on the fist was even less powerful, fire is still fire, how could it not hurt?

In order to hit an enemy she couldn't directly strike with her fist, she didn't hesitate to set her own hand on fire.

That burning left fist rose from below like a dragon!
Wherever they went, all the hidden ropes were broken!

The swaying shadow ropes changed direction and pounced madly towards Meng Qingtong.

Meng Qingtong pulled the couple behind her with both hands, then straightened her back without a care, facing the oncoming net weaver head-on.

For a moment, crisscrossing transparent ripples surged in the air.

Han Jie counted them briefly and secretly admired her. She was indeed a crazy girl who felt it was a loss if she didn't use up all her spiritual energy before going to sleep. At least a dozen spiritual arrays were activated on her body at the moment.

The image of the net weaver rushing madly towards her was a literal depiction of a moth drawn to a flame.

However, I still need to advise her that even if she's used to using herself as bait, she can't always devise tactics in that direction.

A rich man's son doesn't sit on a low platform... oops, I mean a low platform.

With proper planning, thorough preparation, and swift action, the net was broken in one fell swoop.

In less than a minute, the battle was decided.

Meng Qingtong blew on her still sore left hand, smiled and looked at the Weaver who was scattered in the air and seemed to have been seriously injured, and said mockingly, "Come on, you naughty thing who only thinks about bullying children, come and play with your big sister for a while longer."

(End of this chapter)