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

Chapter 7 Encyclopedia of Demons

"What's the point of knowing that?" Han Jie completely ignored the expectation that was about to burst from the girl's bright, clear eyes, and turned his head to continue staring at the little thief demon struggling and waiting to die in the fog.

Meng Qingtong, feeling rebuffed, pursed her lips sheepishly. Then, she patted her cheek with her free hand, clenched her fist to encourage herself, and said with a smile, "What if I told you that knowing the true names of demons would allow me to obtain clues about their causal relationships, and ultimately, there would be a good chance of piecing together the reasons for their formation?"

Han Jie tightened his right palm, pressing the mist down several inches. To conceal his actions, he activated his spiritual power, making the killing intent within the mist even stronger. In the blink of an eye, he wiped out the two groups of minor demon thieves completely.

As he drew his sword, Meng Qingtong quickly released the suppression of the spiritual array on her body, no longer attracting more demons. She smiled and said, "It's not easy, you've finally shown some interest, sir."

Han Jie released his grip, and the mist transformed into wisps of spiritual energy, returning to his soul. He stared at the little thief wriggling in Meng Qingtong's hand and asked, "Is this your secret?"

Meng Qingtong nodded and said softly, "The constitution that attracts demons isn't exactly a secret; many people know it. My file in the Second Academy is simply labeled 'Girl who attracts demons.' But the demon's real name is something that very few people know."

She picked up the little thief demon and slapped its furry bottom. "I've been testing it repeatedly, and I've only recently become familiar with its usage. This confirms the effectiveness of its real name."

What are the effects?

“It’s hard to explain to you…” Meng Qingtong hesitated for a moment, then extended her free left hand to him. “I’ll demonstrate it for you in a moment. I’ll unleash my divine sense, and you can feel it for yourself.”

Han Jie didn't take her hand, but frowned again. "Miss Meng, our divine senses are connected to our sea of ​​consciousness. It's not quite appropriate for you to let go of me so abruptly."

In his past experience, even cultivation partners might not be willing to do such a thing. After all, there are many things a spiritual cultivator with some strength can do for a vast, unguarded sea of ​​consciousness.

Meng Qingtong said, both angry and amused, "Han, you're so handsome, I'm not that infatuated. I'm covered in talismans and arrays. If you have any bad intentions, even if I can't fight back, I'll fight to the death. Don't always make it seem like I'm throwing myself at someone I can't get..."

"It's just pure empathy, stop dawdling." She muttered, waving her hand impatiently.

What she didn't expect was that Han Jie's hesitation wasn't just because he was worried about the consequences of her being unprepared; there were also reasons of his own.

Although his life was extremely long, for nearly two thousand years, he spent over eighteen hundred years concentrating all his energy on rebuilding his body, and over a hundred years carrying a deep-seated blood feud, slaying demons everywhere. His interactions with women were pitifully few, and his relevant experience was probably less than that of a charming little boy just starting school in this world. Even the most skilled demonic creatures, the Bewitching Birds, who were adept at using romantic feelings as a means, couldn't do anything to him.

So, he couldn't do anything about Meng Qingtong's hand—opening their divine senses, empathizing, and holding hands, wasn't that... a bit too intimate?

Meng Qingtong blinked twice, looked at her left palm, and whispered, "So fussy? It's just a little dirt from when I landed. Never mind, I'll wash it with some water. You hold onto this little guy for me, so it doesn't run away."

"No need." Han Jie suppressed the slight flush on his face, turned his gaze away, and gently took her index fingertip in his hand. "I don't mind that it's dirty."

Meng Qingtong stared wide-eyed at his hand. His thumb and forefinger had only encircled one of her fingers, and he hadn't used any force at all. She observed Han Jie's expression and, after confirming that he wasn't just pretending to be disgusted, she suppressed a laugh and gently pulled her finger away. Then, she grabbed his large hand in return. "It's good that you don't mind the dirt. I'll begin then."

Han Jie turned his face even further away, wrinkles appearing on his neck from the effort. He didn't reply, just hummed in response.

If they weren't still getting to know each other well and not knowing the limits of his jokes, Meng Qingtong really wanted to tickle his palm to see if he would jump up in fright.

No matter how you look at him, he seems like a pure and handsome young man with a serious face. She really couldn't associate him with an old man who had lived for nearly two thousand years, and couldn't help but become disrespectful.

She steadied herself, pinched the increasingly ferocious little thief demon in her hand, held it to her chest, took several deep breaths, and without mobilizing the surrounding spiritual energy, simply used her own stored spiritual power to slowly envelop the demon. At the same time, she whispered to Han Jie, who had begun to empathize with her, "The more times my spiritual power comes into contact with the demon, and the longer it lasts, the more comprehensive the information I can obtain. This may include the demon's true name. Once I know its true name, the information I can obtain will become even more... primordial."

"I've already encountered the little thief demon a few times before, which is why I came up with this plan. I believe its true name will be revealed soon..."

Her words were soon proven true.

In his empathic state, Han Jie was able to clearly perceive that something was connecting with evil spirits deep within Meng Qingtong's soul, like a swaying pontoon bridge being erected in the torrent of spiritual energy, allowing a series of messages to pass through with difficulty.

The information was chaotic and complex to the point of being incomprehensible, but Meng Qingtong had already figured out an effective method. In the blink of an eye, her divine sense captured a strange word—"xue dun".

Noticing her delight, Han Jie asked in confusion, "This... is the little thief's real name?"

"Hmm. Concentrate, now's the time to dig out more information using the true name!" Meng Qingtong's eyes lit up as she channeled more spiritual energy around the controlled stray beast.

The giant shrew suddenly went berserk, its claws and sharp teeth growing several inches longer, and its deathly gray eyes flashing with a terrifying red light.

But the talisman that had been taken earlier was prepared for this moment. Its spiritual light suddenly shone brightly, and several pale purple lightning bolts instantly struck the top of the stray's head. It let out a long and sharp scream, convulsed a few times, and slowly turned into dust particles that dissipated in the wind in Meng Qingtong's hand.

With a flick of her right hand, she maintained the surrounding spiritual energy, binding the remaining aura left by the stingray within, prolonging the contact time as much as possible.

At this moment, Han Jie finally discovered what was hidden behind the demon's true name through empathy.

Countless chaotic and blurry images and sounds surged and flowed, like a river of fragmented memories rushing head-on towards Meng Qingtong. Normally, only the parts that directly impacted her could be recognized and captured by her, but perhaps her special constitution that attracted demons was working here as well, and those flowing past her were like iron filings drawn to a magnet, merging into her memories.

His breath hitched, and his mind was instantly overwhelmed by those incomprehensible scenes.

If Meng Qingtong hadn't acted as his guide in the realm of divine sense for a while, helping him understand the general meaning of these scenes, he would have ended up completely confused even if he had tried to empathize...

An elderly woman, trembling and frail, was pulling out rolls of public toilet paper from the bathroom.

A stylishly dressed young man sat at the table, stuffing roasted chicken legs from the buffet into his backpack lined with plastic bags.

A middle-aged farmer, all smiles, secretly swapped her pre-packaged vegetables for another bag under her stall while a customer was looking at their phone. A lean, muscular, dark-skinned man tossed bags of construction materials over the wall in the darkness.

The bored-looking blond student casually pulled a new pen refill from the drawer of the next desk.

Even though he understood what these seemingly disparate but similar scenes were all about, Han Jie still didn't understand what they had to do with the thugs.
It felt like a long time had passed, but in reality, the impact of that information only lasted for a few breaths.

Meng Qingtong let out a long breath and released Han Jie's hand. "It's over."

"that's it?"

“That’s it. It’s quite clear and intuitive.” As she spoke, she took out her phone from her backpack, opened a document, and quickly typed in the information. “It seems that unless something unexpected happens, the entry for ‘xuedu’ will not need to be added.”

"What exactly is the connection between those things and the origin of the demons?" Han Jie didn't want to disturb her as she was focused on typing, but his curiosity got the better of him, and he couldn't help but ask, "What are you doing now?"

“Those were the clues to the origin of the demons that I found by combining their true names with my divine sense. The demons are relatively weak, so these clues are quite obvious. To put it bluntly, it's just that little bit of greed that people often have.” Meng Qingtong was very excited, her speech became much faster, and a faint blush appeared on her soft cheeks. “Now I'm even more confident. The root of the demons must be found by looking into the human heart.”

Han Jie was slightly taken aback, then a chill ran through his body, and he couldn't help but say in a deep voice, "You mean to say that the root of all evil is actually... in the human heart?"

Seeing his expression, Meng Qingtong quickly said, "No, how could I draw such a conclusion so rashly? I've only thoroughly investigated two demons at most, and this is only the third. The sample size is so small that it has no statistical value. You... what's wrong? You look terrible. Are you very hungry? I'm done with my work. Let's pack up and go. I'll treat you to something delicious, okay?"

Han Jie composed himself, his expression no longer betraying any weakness, and said calmly, "I'm probably really hungry. Let's pack our things first. By the way, you still haven't told me what those things you were writing earlier were?"

"The struggle against evil is bound to be a long process. With such a great talent, I definitely need to find ways to help everyone deal with evil more effectively and efficiently." She packed her backpack and said casually in a conversational tone, "So I plan to create a comprehensive encyclopedia of evil, compiling detailed information about them for all spiritual practitioners to reference. I know you probably think this is too big a task for me to handle. That's why I'm trying to find partners. Besides... no matter how difficult the goal, you have to do it to have a chance of achieving it. Once I've done it and gained credibility, I can find more people to help."

Han Jie gazed at her and slowly said, "Have you ever thought that if evil truly comes from the human heart, wouldn't this world... never have a day of peace?"

“How could that be?” she replied with a smile. “I believe that no matter how the process goes, how it goes up and down, the world and people’s hearts are getting better and better. Yes, there will always be good and bad in the world, but… it’s already very good that there are more and more good things and fewer and fewer bad things. One day, evil will be reduced to the point where spiritualists can easily solve all the troubles. Wouldn’t that be a peaceful day for the world?”

“Besides…” She picked up another photo from this collection and waved it at Han Jie, “Don’t think all evil spirits deserve to die. If they really all come from the human heart, I believe there are good parts too.”

The photo shows a man and a woman who appear to be a couple. One is handsome and the other is beautiful. They look quite well-matched. However, the woman seems a little timid in her eyes, unlike her male companion who is full of vigor.

"The good part? Is it related to this thing called a photograph?"

She carefully packed the photos away, nodded, and said, "This is my request. You'll come with me, and I'll show you that demons aren't all that hateful. I've been thinking that if my guesses are proven true in the future, should we advocate renaming them 'inner demons'? Tsk... the word 'demon' is still very negative. I'll think about it later."

Han Jie looked up at the sky, feeling a sense of confusion. Even the heart sword he had just put away resonated with him.

He wasn't unaware of the possibility that evil originated from the human heart. In fact, the clues he had noticed earlier all pointed to this answer, but he was simply unwilling to admit it.

Because once he believes this outcome, his grand ambition to eradicate evil in the human world becomes a joke that can never be realized.

Why are cities with large populations more prone to demonic invasions?

Why is it that, despite being a spiritual technique, the Heart Sword is so unreasonably strong against evil spirits?
Why do evil spirits appear without warning and disappear without a trace when they die?
Why are some powerful evil spirits able to manipulate people's emotions and desires as if they could see into their very soul?

Evil spirits breed in people's hearts.

Therefore, the more people there are, the more evil spirits there are.

Therefore, only the Heart Sword, which also originates from inner strength, can slay demons as easily as cutting grass.

Therefore... Meng Qingtong's deduction is probably the answer.

He gazed at the boundless sky and wondered, "Could this be what the immortal from beyond the realm wants me to see?"
Meng Qingtong quickly finished tidying up, even picking up almost everything scattered on the battlefield. Seeing him lost in thought, she came over, waved her hand in front of his face, and said with a smile, "Hey, you're back to your senses! Come on, I'll treat you to dinner. Can't we discuss our cooperation? You know all my secrets and what I'm planning to do. I trust you so much, so please help me out, okay?"

“I…” He frowned slightly, feeling an emptiness in his chest and abdomen, and couldn’t muster the energy to do anything. “I need to think about it some more.”

But for some reason, seeing Meng Qingtong's disappointed and dejected look, he felt a little sad.

In that case, at least give the other party the same level of honesty first.

He cleared his throat and said in a low voice, "Miss Meng, I have a little secret that I haven't told you yet."

Meng Qingtong waved her hand magnanimously, "Everyone has secrets, even husband and wife can't tell each other everything. We just met today, and I'm telling you my secret to persuade you to cooperate with me. You can keep your secret, anyway, I'm the one who's eager to work with you now."

“I want to say that you shouldn’t have trusted me so easily,” Han Jie said slowly. “My attempt to save you earlier wasn’t out of kindness, as you misunderstand. It was because I sensed a strange pull deep within your soul, something that was closely related to me, which is why I jumped after you.”

Meng Qingtong tilted her head and looked him over, her small, fan-like eyelashes fluttering twice. "You mean... you were attracted to my physique, which is why you jumped down with me?"

That's roughly the idea. He thought for a moment and nodded.

Meng Qingtong scratched her head, looking somewhat embarrassed. "You wouldn't suspect that you're actually a demon because of this, would you?"

(End of this chapter)