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

Chapter 25 The Ribbon
The surrounding electrical wiring made crackling and popping noises, and the lights around the ceiling, which were not turned on, flickered on and off.

The severed Shadow Chains danced and swirled in the air, and one could clearly feel the demon's rage rapidly expanding.

Suddenly, the bright, sunny living room took on the feel of a horror movie.

However, Meng Qingtong was genuinely terrified. This little commotion didn't faze her as much as watching a movie.

Considering that Liu Song and Song Huiping were still unconscious at her feet, she moved to the other side to attract the attention of the net weaver.

Anyway, while the golden light shield is in effect, this guy won't be able to escape so easily.

"You're too scared to go? Is that all?" She flexed her wrists and took a few steps closer to the hidden ropes that had been rewoven into a small net. "Then behave yourself and obediently hand over your real name to your sister."

The small net spun high, then hesitated and retreated two meters.

It suddenly unfurled as if enraged, emitting a series of strange, piercing shrieks that were inaudible to the ears but could shake the mind.

Immediately, the entire small net disintegrated in mid-air, turning into short, jet-black ropes that scattered in all directions.

A few flew towards Aunt Wu, a few towards Liu Song and Song Huiping, and the rest split into several groups, bypassing Meng Qingtong and heading straight for Ya Ya and Dou Dou.

Or rather, head straight for that patch of woolen fabric that is still twisting and provoking.

Meng Qingtong reached out and grabbed one, completely ignoring the others.

Han Jie didn't move either. He glanced at Meng Qingtong and, as agreed beforehand, continued to hold the line.

The Guardian Talisman is still in effect, and the few short cables have absolutely no chance of successfully infiltrating.

On the other side of the wall, the woolen fabric had already unfolded its true form, bursting forth with a large expanse of thin, long threads of light, like a jellyfish catching its prey in the sea, entwining itself around the short rope rushing towards it.

Only Aunt Wu screamed and waved her hands repeatedly, powerless to resist, watching as the short ropes pierced through her forehead.

Han Jie was very curious as to why Meng Qingtong didn't offer any help.

But he also knew that Meng Qingtong must have her reasons for not intervening. In any case, it couldn't be because of something as trivial as Aunt Wu's unpleasant words.

Meng Qingtong was not in a hurry. She slowly played with the short rope in her hand, her spiritual power surrounding it, constantly absorbing information from the source of the evil.

Aunt Wu stood up unsteadily, shaking her head and crying as she waved her hands for help: "Master Meng, Master Meng, please save me! Why are my arms and legs not obeying me?"

“I will save Aunt Wu, but not you.” Meng Qingtong raised the short rope in her hand and pulled it to both sides with force. Amidst the scattered ashes, she revealed a victorious smile. “I have your real name: The Net Weaver, Diefu.”

Upon receiving the divine message, Han Jie frowned, thinking to himself that he didn't know which idiot had given these demons their real names. Not only were they neither evil nor demonic, but they were also obscure and difficult to understand. Even with a search engine stored in his mind, he was getting a headache just looking at them.

Is it the Demon Emperor?

In today's parlance, the Demon Emperor probably had some kind of blood feud with his Chinese teacher.

But regardless of how the real name came about, its discovery had a significant impact on the evil spirits.

The weaver who had been deeply lurking in Aunt Wu's soul has finally revealed himself.

Aunt Wu's body trembled violently, and soon her eyes rolled back and she fainted on the ground. As a small bubble spilled from the corner of her lips, her back jerked violently, releasing a misty shadow.

The shadow rapidly expanded, gradually coalescing into a solid form, transforming into a gigantic insect abdomen covered in bristles.

One after another, sharp legs emerged from both sides of its abdomen, resembling those of a spider, yet they continued to grow until they reached sixteen.

On the nearly two-meter-tall alien insect body, the upper half of a beautiful woman slowly rose, her long, flowing hair revealing a face that bore some resemblance to Song Huiping but was even more alluring.

The face shook off the sticky substance and raised its head to scream.

As before, a strange, piercing shriek erupted without being heard. A flash of eerie light appeared, and the villa, which had been firmly protected by the golden light shield, vanished.

The scene around them suddenly changed into a huge illusion with countless figures flying around and many noisy voices.

"Phew, we've finally waited for this." Meng Qingtong not only didn't panic, but instead let out a long sigh of relief. "If you keep refusing to use the trick recorded in the data, I'll have to increase the price for President Liu to compensate for my financial losses."

"Goo-hoo?" The beautiful woman in the turban tilted her head slightly, mimicking a human expression, as if expressing her confusion—I've already switched the battle environment to my own territory, why do you look like I've been tricked?

Meng Qingtong ignored it completely, turned around and squatted down in front of Ya Ya, blocking the child's view, and said softly, "Okay, it'll be over soon, Ya Ya, be good, close your eyes and don't look."

The silken shrieked angrily again, and sixteen sharp limbs left its body, pulling on the long rope wrapped with barbs as they flew toward Meng Qingtong's back.

Indeed, this is its most advantageous illusory home ground, allowing it to unleash its full potential.

However, there is no longer any surveillance here, and it will not be sensed by any spirit masters who may be nearby. It is still a characteristic ultimate move of the Web Weaver, and there is nothing suspicious about it.

Therefore, Han Jie can now act without any scruples.

He was already tired of waiting, and was constantly worried that he would not do enough and would be letting down his half of the commission fee.

The moment the weaver launched his attack, Han Jie's Night Sorrow was already in his grasp.

The sixteen enormous insect legs had barely left its body when Han Jie's figure had already closed in on the side of the cloaked creature.

The half-human body twisted its waist rapidly, splitting open a gaping maw from its abdomen, from which countless black spider silks spewed forth, layer upon layer, wrapping around the body.

Han Jie took a step, stopped, and swung his arm down.

Starlight flashed on the black sword blade, and wherever it passed, the flying spider silk instantly melted away, even slicing the half-human body in half.

The power of this attack clearly far exceeded Difu's expectations.

Without a superior to oversee them, not all demons are willing to fight to the death.

The remaining insect body flashed to the side with extreme speed, turning into a faint afterimage. At the same time, its sixteen legs flew out and circled around, aiming straight for Han Jie's back.

His slash of Night's Sorrow flowed smoothly, rising upwards like a dance, neither dodging nor avoiding the attacks from behind.

The starlight at the very tip of the sword was still inches away from the silken robe, and the insect's body had long since vanished, yet the wind generated by the slash still managed to cut a massive gash. It wasn't just a simple wound.

It was a massive rift that separated this illusory battlefield from the interwoven layers of space.

Of course, the shroud could not be more "sturdy" than the illusionary space it created with all its might.

Its body, too, was to be torn in two along with the space.

The sixteen flying limbs vanished without even touching Han Jie's clothes, turning to ashes along with his body's demise.

Against the backdrop of a fragmented and collapsing illusion, Han Jie turned to look at Meng Qingtong, his eyes questioning her.

—Is there any need to gather more information about this guy?

She raised an eyebrow, opened her arms to protect Ya Ya, and answered with her expression.

—No need, just let it die.

Han Jie nodded, then with a backhand stroke, plunged his sword into the back of Aunt Wu's neck, leaving her unconscious.

Even though she knew he wouldn't kill indiscriminately, Meng Qingtong still pursed her lips in surprise. But then, her worry turned into curiosity as she stared at his sword, watching the starlit night sky as he pulled a small, knotted net from Aunt Wu's body.

The small net suddenly flew up and rushed madly toward the window that was exposed in the crack where the illusion had collapsed.

But the starlight emanating from Night's Sorrow had already trapped and tightened around it, until it was completely severed and annihilated in a piercing shriek that shook the very soul.

The illusion then vanished.

Liu Song, Song Huiping, and Aunt Wu were still unconscious, but their expressions had become much calmer and more peaceful.

Ya Ya hadn't recovered from her earlier shock; she just hugged her younger brother tightly, closed her eyes, and tried her best to wrap him up with her small body.

Han Jie dispersed his inner sword, pointed at Aunt Wu on the ground, and his eyes flickered slightly.

Meng Qingtong pondered for a moment. Why she had been on guard against the Web Weaver beforehand seemed impossible to explain solely through tacit understanding conveyed through eye contact. She could only say, "While waiting, my spiritual energy was constantly gathering information about the Web Weaver from Liu Song. Later, when Song Huiping came down, I used about a third of my spiritual energy to probe her, all in an effort to obtain the Web Weaver's true name as quickly as possible. But…"

Han Jie frowned and interrupted, "Wait, do you mean that while you were fighting, you were also trying to find the real name?"

Meng Qingtong smiled. "That's right. The Web Weaver is good at mind manipulation, and I'm not afraid of it. If we don't take advantage of this good opportunity to gather information, are we really going to wait until we pin down its physical body, which is nowhere to be found, before we make our move?"

Her eyes sparkled as she sat cross-legged, gesturing wildly as she said, "Those memory fragments are so easy to understand. I could tell at a glance that the source of the Web Weaver is different from what we initially guessed. It's not the Little Magic Carpet type. They're all... well, explaining it like this is too complicated. I'll show you myself."

She expertly flicked a tiny ball of light from between her eyebrows with her fingertips and tossed it to Han Jie.

Han Jie glanced at the list, his brows furrowed, and said, "Let's get straight to the conclusion. This whole thing is incredibly noisy and chaotic."

Meng Qingtong said "Oh," and obediently explained, "The origin of the 'web weaver' is probably people's desire to increase 'relationships.' The trigger point is probably the anxiety that arises when they want to expand their network and social circle but can't achieve it. This is completely different from the fact that the 'magic carpet' was born out of loneliness. The 'magic carpet' originated from the kind of feeling of being rejected and wanting to hide, while the 'web weaver' originated from the type of person who just hates that they don't have enough acquaintances around them and that it's inconvenient to get things done."

“Well,” she pointed to Song Huiping, “my first suspect was definitely her. Staying at home as a pampered lady, a canary in a cage, showing signs of postpartum depression, and the web weaver was also leading me in that direction. But after seeing too many fragments, I realized something was wrong.”

"Oh?" Han Jie wasn't really interested in the content, but he quite enjoyed watching Meng Qingtong talk so attentively.

When she gets serious, she seems to radiate light.

"Song Huiping is, after all, the wife of a successful businessman. What she craves is normal interpersonal interaction, not 'connections.' In fact, she herself can be a 'connection' of relatives and friends. So how could she become so anxious about this? Besides, there are quite a few details in the fragments about Liu Song inviting people to dinner and giving gifts. I've also wondered if his business difficulties made him want to build a larger network of connections. But..."

She deliberately dragged out the last syllable, her eyebrows dancing as if she had transformed into a storyteller, "The Web Weaver is a cowardly demon. Look how much Song Huiping, whom she influenced, rejects us. If its true form were truly residing in Liu Song's body, how could it allow him to spend a fortune hiring a little genius like me? So, my ultimate suspect is naturally the last possible host in the house, Aunt Wu."

"Anyway, this isn't a lawsuit where you need all sorts of evidence. If I think it's her, I have to test her. If I'm wrong, I'll apologize to her after the exorcism." Meng Qingtong stretched contentedly and walked up to Han Jie. "Am I great? Come on, praise me."

Han Jie glanced at her still slightly congested and red left hand, and knew perfectly well that her previous battle was far from as easy and enjoyable as she had appeared. It was just that her thorough preparation, meticulous planning, and rapid response made it difficult for the demon to find any weaknesses.

He raised his hand, gently rubbed her slightly sweaty head, and said softly, "Not bad, you really are a little genius."

He looked at Pulu, who had huddled up behind Yaya since he drew his sword, only a few tiny whiskers showing as she tried to impersonate a ball of yarn, and chuckled, "What about the little guy? What are you planning to do with him? You have to cut ties with the child, right?"

Since this demon had helped Ya Ya hold off the attack for a while, it deserved some credit. He wondered if he could spare its life and wait for its fate.

If negative emotions have a bad influence, you can bring it home and make a cushion for him to sit on.

A little bit of the wool rolled out, and two tiny antennae, like those of a snail, rose up, cautiously observing the area.

Meng Qingtong crossed her arms and stared at the woolen cloth for a while, then strode over, squatted down, and said softly, "Yaya, take your little brother to your older brother's side first. No matter what sounds you hear in your head, don't come over."

Ya Ya nodded, helped her to her feet, and hurriedly stretched her numb legs while holding her younger brother before stumbling over to Han Jie.

Meng Qingtong picked up the woolen cloth, patted it on the floor twice like playing basketball, then held it in her palm and said with a smile, "A couple of days ago, I took Yaya around, not just to help the child relax."

Han Jie hummed in agreement and said, "You're mainly here to investigate Qiao Mu."

"I also wanted to find out how many children this little guy had left a way out for himself."

The woolen fabric, which had been slowly rolling in her palm, suddenly froze at this point.

"You're a demon, you can't just believe everything you tell me, can you?" Meng Qingtong clenched her slender fingers, holding it in her hand, and said with a smile, "I already know your true name. There are many things I can know without you having to confess. You were born in Linghe Park, and you were born directly into Ya Ya's soul as a seed. It was only after Ya Ya chatted with some of her female classmates who had younger brothers that you were truly triggered and activated."

"Having sensed the presence of a web weaver in this household, you planted your seed in suitable classmates in Ya Ya's class. As a result, the couple treated the child's condition as a mental illness, dragging it out for months, giving you ample time to grow." She turned and gave the couple a reproachful look, then suddenly slammed Pulu to the ground. "You contacted your other clones a couple of days ago, didn't you? Did you think that there was hope for evolution after merging back into one, which is why you were so cooperative in helping me?"

A shockwave, as if struck by something, emanated from outside the golden light shield, and it grew increasingly intense.

"Oh, can't get in? Are you in a hurry?" Meng Qingtong smiled and took out a talisman. "I am indeed very curious about the real name of the Great Magic Carpet, but I won't risk Ya Ya's soul. Well then, goodbye. Pulu."

Snapped.

The talisman was affixed to the little magic carpet that was huddled together.

The dazzling spiritual flames enveloped the woolen fabric, and in just a few seconds, they burned it to nothingness, leaving not a trace.

(End of this chapter)