The Twelve Trials Starting from Zero

From afar it looks like a worm, up close it looks like a dragon... That's what Su Qi was thinking at that moment.

After more than a month of intensive cramming, Su Qi was no longer the ignorant and clueless nerd he once was about martial arts. Just by looking at this body, he could vaguely imagine the immense destructive power it could unleash in battle. At least for now, he would be utterly defeated by such an opponent.

A moment later, Liuli returned after dealing with the landlady. After Su Qi helped the drunkard get dressed, she easily lifted him up and carried him on her back.

The man was tall and robust, while the girl, though taller and stronger than the average woman, was still petite compared to the man. So when she carried him on her back, there was a subtle visual contrast, making one worry that she might be crushed by the drunkard on her back.

But Su Qi, who knew the inside story, wasn't worried at all. He knew that the girl's seemingly petite body concealed a strength far beyond what ordinary people could imagine, capable of easily lifting him up with one hand. He had once asked her why she was so strong, and she replied that it was due to the breathing techniques and visualization methods secretly passed down in the Fudo Myoshin-ryu school, so he wisely didn't ask any further questions.

Then, to the astonishment of onlookers, Liuli, the woman, carried Su Qi on her back, and the two left the brothel, heading towards the Taoist temple.

By the time they left, it was completely dark.

In ancient times, lamp oil was expensive, and people were afraid of demons and ghosts at night and dared not go out. In addition, the temple was relatively remote. After walking for a while, the surrounding area was quiet, with only a few scattered lights occasionally illuminating a corner.

The two listened to their own footsteps, remaining silent for a while, until the girl spoke softly, "Isn't it surprising that my father looks so slovenly, dirty, and untidy?"

Looking up at the dazzling night sky, Su Qiping said calmly, "It's alright. People have a thousand faces, but drunkards are all the same."

"He wasn't like this before."

Ignoring Su Qi's comforting words, the girl said in a complicated tone, "When I was little, he was calm and reliable. He didn't shed a single tear even on the day my mother passed away. He was like an iron mountain, shielding me from all the storms and never falling down. But as soon as I grew up, he collapsed and became dissolute and unrestrained, turning into the person he is today."

Su Qi's lips moved slightly, but after thinking for a moment, he ultimately remained silent. Perhaps what the other person wanted right now wasn't comfort or comment, but simply a quiet listener.

As expected, he didn't respond, and the girl didn't seem to care. She continued, "He has fulfilled his responsibilities as a father. Even though he was all alone, he raised me to be healthy and strong, able to survive on my own in this world—I understand that, so although I'm often angry at his indulgences, I've never resented him. I just can't let him go. I want to go out and see the world, but I can never let him go..."

She paused abruptly, falling silent, before adding, "I'm sorry, it's rare to find someone I can have an equal conversation with, but I've said a lot of nonsensical things."

"Rare?" Su Qi asked curiously, "Aren't there many people in the dojo? Don't you have any other friends?"

“It’s different.” Liuli’s tone returned to calm as she said lightly, “I am a woman, a woman who is more powerful than them. People in the dojo, whether good or bad, look at me differently because of these two points. Although they think they are hiding it well, my senses are extremely sharp because of my cultivation, so those disgusting thoughts are all clearly seen by me.”

"I see."

Su Qi finally understood why the girl looked at him differently: because he was a time traveler from the modern era, and his values ​​were different from those of men in this era. He believed from the bottom of his heart that gender equality was common sense.

After that, the two remained silent, simply standing side by side under the starry sky, quietly strolling through the quiet streets and alleys.

A peaceful atmosphere slowly permeated their hearts, until a bright light suddenly appeared ahead.

A light suddenly appeared?

Su Qi's heart skipped a beat. He looked up and saw a sexy woman in gorgeous clothes, revealing her fair shoulders, who had appeared ahead of them at some point. She was leisurely walking with wooden clogs, carrying a lantern, and leading the two of them.

Seemingly sensing his gaze, the woman in front of her suddenly stopped, turned around, revealing a skull-like face with empty eyes. Her jaw twitched, and she said in a strange voice, "My lords, would you like me to show you the way?"

Chapter Twenty-One: Last-Minute Deception

"you again!"

Su Qi reacted instantly. Looking around, he found it was completely dark, with only the lantern in the other person's hand illuminating the surrounding area of ​​about ten feet.

"That's right, it's me..." The woman wiped her face, revealing her human form again, and sneered, "Just a mere human, daring to mock me last time. I told you to remember this, and now I've finally found a chance to catch you!"

"Miss monster, let's make a deal. I'll apologize, and you can just pretend that what happened last time never happened, okay?"

"What do you say?"

Su Qi clapped his hands and said to himself, "Alright, it's settled then. As expected of the Demon Lord, you are indeed magnanimous."

"Shut up!!" the woman snapped. "When did I say I was going to let you go?"

Su Qi looked completely innocent. "Huh? Didn't you tell me to say it? Of course, what I said was to let myself off the hook."

"Enough!!" She was no longer willing to waste any more time arguing with this strange man in front of her, and said with a murderous look, "You will all die today!"

"Tsk, what a narrow-minded monster. He wants to eat people just because I told him a few Buddhist principles..." Su Qi stared at the other party, his eyes narrowed slightly. "But 'Lantern Guide,' if we stay where we are and don't go with you, how are you going to kill us? Did you bring other helpers with you this time?"

"Hehehe, congratulations, you got it right."

As soon as the monster in human skin finished speaking, half of a woman's body slowly emerged from the darkness beside him.

The woman only showed her upper body, completely naked, with a seductive appearance, full breasts, a slender waist, and a graceful figure. However, her overly white skin reminded people of pale bones, and in contrast to the surrounding darkness, she looked as if she were floating in mid-air.

But then, as a gaping maw, taller than the woman's upper body, appeared behind her, Su Qi realized that she was indeed suspended in mid-air. She wasn't a separate person, but merely the upper half of a large, blood-red tongue, which was connected to the gaping maw emerging from the darkness behind her.

"A demon bite?" Upon seeing this, he thought of a certain famous Japanese monster.

The monster was called Oni-Ichi-Ichi, and its true form was a giant ghost head. The front half of its tongue was a beautiful woman. It often appeared in the dark corners of the streets at night, luring humans in like an anglerfish by using the beautiful woman on its tongue as bait, and then swallowing them whole.

"Hmph, I didn't realize you humans were so knowledgeable, but it's useless..." The demon Hua Deng stared at Su Qi with a vicious look, and said smugly, "A ghost doesn't need to be guided to eat people like I do. As long as it's alive, it can eat anything, anytime, anywhere."

"Don't misunderstand..." The woman on the tongue spoke at this moment. She stuck out a long, forked tongue like a snake, with drool dripping from one corner of her mouth. She stared at Su Qi and the others with a hungry look on her face, and said, "I don't eat everything. I only eat people. Adults, children, men, women, the elderly, the sick, the noble, the lowly... I eat everyone."

"Kenshin, stand behind me."

Liuli, who had been observing coldly, finally spoke up, placing the drunkard on the ground while gesturing for Su Qi to stand behind her.

"Keep an eye on the old man for me; I'll handle them."

As she spoke, she drew her katana and confronted the two demons, her expression as calm as ever, showing no fear whatsoever.

Can we win?

Su Qi also drew his samurai sword and stood to the left and behind Liuli, next to the drunkard on the ground.

"Don't treat battle as a simple calculation, and don't ask such silly questions. No one can perfectly grasp everything in a battle. Even a sword saint fighting a child can't say that there will be no accidents."

As Liuli got into position, she said seriously, "So whether we win or lose, we'll only know after the fight."

"Hehehe, what a boastful statement." Oni grinned sinisterly. "You're doomed. I've eaten samurai meat before; at most, it's just a little chewier than ordinary meat."

"Alright," Hua Dengyin said coldly, "Let's eat them right now, the night has only just begun."

“Of course.” Oni stared at Su Qi, his eyes filled with greed. “But don’t forget, if I help you kill this man, you have to help me seize the Shikon Jewel shards. As long as the two of us join forces, no other demons will be a match for us.”

The Shikon Jewel shards? The plot has begun? A collaboration? Can their abilities complement each other? The power of the lantern guides people into darkness; could the power of the demon's mouth be related to darkness?

In an instant, Su Qi gleaned a great deal from that short sentence, then his eyes lit up, and he shouted, "Wait a minute! You want more Shikon Jewels?!"

"Ok?"

The two demons were startled and looked at Su Qi at the same time.

The demon exclaimed in surprise, "Human, you also know about the Shikon Jewel?"

Hua Dengyin's tone was a mixture of suspicion and wariness: "Human, what trick are you up to now?"

Su Qi ignored the latter and said directly to the demon, "I not only know about the Shikon Jewel, but I also know how to find more Shikon Jewel fragments."

"How do we find it?!" Ghost blurted out impatiently.

"Of course I know how to find it..." Su Qi raised his chin slightly, looking arrogant, "but why should I tell you?"

"Tell me or I'll eat you up!!"

"Eat me, and you'll miss out on many Shikon Jewel shards." He held a sword in one hand and the other behind his back, gazing at the sky at a 45-degree angle, his face weathered as he said, "As the saying goes, what joy is there in living, and what sorrow in dying? If my death can bring you more distress, then what harm is there in my death?"

The ghost said: "..."

Hua Dengyin: "..."

Liuli: "..."

Changgu Eight Wheels: "ZZZZZZ..."

"Ghost One Bite, that guy is just talking nonsense!" Hua Dengyin took a deep breath, suppressing the frustration caused by the mishap of the plan, and said coldly, "He is just a human. Even if he has occasionally heard of the Shikon Jewel, how could he possibly know where the Shikon Jewel fragments are? It is said that the Shikon Jewel can grant any wish. If he really knew, wouldn't he go find it himself?"

"It's obvious that guy is just saying that to buy himself more time. Don't fall for it!"

"The key to finding the Shikon Jewel lies with the priestess." Seeing that Kiichikuchi was starting to hesitate and his expression was gradually turning unfriendly, Su Qi also sneered and retorted sharply, "Only the priestess who once guarded the Shikon Jewel can see its light. Only with her eyes can the Shikon Jewel be collected in its entirety."

"Who is the shrine maiden!?" Instantly, Oni Ichigo's attention was focused on Su Qi again, and he asked urgently.

"Want to know?" Su Qi smiled slightly and pointed to the lantern. "Kill it, and I'll tell you."

"Wait! Ghost Bite, don't fall for it! This guy wants us to kill each other!"

"Of course, how could I possibly fall for that..."

The ghost gave a cold laugh, and before it could finish speaking, the tongue that had grown to the half-body of a beautiful woman suddenly retracted, and the gaping maw on its back opened, biting down hard at the nearby lantern.

"Lantern Light, you're useless now!"

Chapter Twenty-Two: Just Go All Out!

"Idiot! You've been fooled by him!"

The ghost bit half of the lantern's body, but at that moment, the lantern in her hand suddenly burst into a blinding light.

Suddenly, the ghost's body, which had been hidden in the darkness, was exposed in the light.

It was a gigantic ghost head, taller than two people. Its face was bluish-purple, covered with disgusting, toad-like bumps, with a single horn on its forehead, eyes like a pair of red lanterns, a hooked nose, and prominent cheekbones, making it look extremely ferocious.

As a bright light suddenly appeared before his eyes, Guiyi instinctively closed his eyes and loosened his grip slightly.

A few breaths later, the light faded, and the group suddenly appeared on the dark and silent street. Hua Dengyin also took the opportunity to escape, leaving only his left arm hanging from the mouth of the ghost, which casually spat it onto the ground, instantly turning it into a withered arm bone covered by a sleeve.

Seriously? Are all monsters this reckless?

In the blink of an eye, the two demons fled and turned back, leaving Su Qi, the instigator, somewhat bewildered.

He did intend to incite the two demons to fight amongst themselves, but he didn't expect that Oni-Ichi would fall for the trick so easily and attack his own companion so quickly.

Didn't it consider whether it could control the priestess guarding the Shikon Jewel without its help? Could it snatch the Shikon Jewel shards from other youkai? Or were the two of them not on good terms and only reluctantly allied? Or was this youkai simply driven by greed and impulsiveness?

Just as Su Qi was somewhat confused by Oni's actions, the latter stuck out the beautiful tongue again, its eyes flashing red, and slowly approached. "Alright, I've driven away the extra guys. Now... tell me, how can I find the priestess who guards the Shikon Jewel?"

Su Qi looked up, revealing a businesslike smile, "I'm sorry, sir, you haven't met my requirements, so I can't tell you."

"You lied to me!?"

Enraged, the beautiful woman on the ghost's tongue underwent a dramatic transformation. In an instant, she grew fangs, claws, horns, and crimson scales; her eyes bulged outwards; her blood-red lips turned outwards; her face turned blue and her eyes red; and her mouth split open to her ears... In the blink of an eye, she transformed from a beauty into "Prajna".

This dramatic change of expression happened right before his eyes, making Su Qi feel a chill run down his spine and a bit terrified.

But he still suppressed his negative emotions and forced a smile, saying, "Hey, how can this be called lying? I, Su Qi, have always treated people with sincerity. I said before that I would tell you if you killed her, but now you failed to kill her and only bit off a hand, right? How about this, I'll give you a discount and tell you where the witch might appear, and you can go find her yourself, how about that?"

It's easy to imagine that once it truly believes it, whether it goes to Kagome or Kikyo, it will only face certain death.

"Enough! You cunning human, I'll eat your hands and feet first, then you can lead the way for me!"

Completely blinded by rage, Gui Yikou no longer wanted to negotiate with him slowly. Before he finished speaking, the ghost woman on his tongue shot out like an arrow and rushed in front of Su Qi in an instant.