Listening to the childish voice behind her, the girl's already furrowed brow tightened further. She clenched her fists and slowly turned around, only to freeze. "Who are you?" She was genuinely startled by Hun Ling's appearance.
"Who am I," Hun Ling said, glancing towards Jia and then smiling. "Who I am isn't important. You can detoxify, can't you?"
"What do you mean by that?" the girl said, coldly eyeing Hun Ling and sneering.
"Isn't it obvious?" Hun Ling said, clicking his tongue. "Never mind. I'll give you two choices: one, die, or two, detoxify them."
"You little thing, you..."
"Watch your mouth," Hun Ling sharply interrupted. He raised his hand and waved it through the air towards the girl, who was abruptly forced to turn her face away. "If you keep mouthing off, don't blame me for not being polite."
The girl had not expected Hun Ling to possess such abilities. Her eyes widened, and with disbelief etched on her face, she slowly raised a hand to touch her slightly stinging cheek. Then, she looked back at the furious Hun Ling and asked, "What exactly are you, you..."
He slapped her again.
"It's tiring to keep slapping you," Hun Ling said, lowering his hand and looking coldly at the girl, who had turned her face away once more.
"You..."
"Watch your mouth. I've given you two choices. I advise you to pick quickly, or else," Hun Ling said, looking down at his own greyish-white hand. "I'll have to take action."
"This is murder," the girl said, covering her face with her hands.
"Murder," Hun Ling said, lowering his gaze and smiling. "Yang Pan'er, I'm keeping track of everything you've done."
"How do you know my name?" the girl exclaimed in shock.
Decades ago, Hun Ling's duty was merely to report offenses. With the passage of 'time,' they had evolved from mere informants to 'envoys' who collected evidence of demonic misdeeds. Once sufficient proof was gathered, they would appear to observe the demons' attitude towards their confessions. If their attitude was poor, they could deal with the demons on the spot. If their attitude was good, they would summon Yin Chai (underworld officials) for a lighter sentence upon their return.
Clearly, Yang Pan'er's attitude was not good.
Of course, if it weren't for Jia and Lou Yi's presence now, he wouldn't have bothered with so many words.
"Your methods are indeed profound," he said coldly.
Yang Pan'er's gaze flickered. "I don't understand what you're talking about."
"Some things I didn't want to say, but the Yin Chai you bribed have all been caught. Of course, it was they who revealed your name. You..."
"What are you saying? I don't understand," Yang Pan'er interrupted sharply.
Hun Ling remained unfazed and sneered, "If you don't understand what I'm saying, then fine, I'll read you an account of your good deeds." As he spoke, he opened his palm and produced a ledger.
Upon seeing it, Yang Pan'er exclaimed in surprise, "What is this?"
"What is this? Of course, it's a ledger recording your good deeds," Hun Ling said, flipping open the first page.
"You..."
"Don't rush. I'll read it to you," Hun Ling said, staring at the words on the first page for a few seconds before reading aloud, "Bribing Yin Chai..."
"Shut up," Yang Pan'er roared in anger.
Hearing this, Hun Ling casually closed the ledger, tilted his head back to look at the enraged Yang Pan'er, and sneered, "I've only read four words, and you're already this terrified. It's clear you've gone too far."
"You..."
"It's fine if you don't want me to read. It's time for you to make your choice," Hun Ling said, deliberately not wanting to listen to Yang Pan'er's nonsense.
"I won't choose. What can you do to me?" Yang Pan'er said arrogantly. "Don't tell me you can kill me until my soul is scattered? Little thing, you..."
"That's why I don't want to talk to you. Your mouth is always so foul," Hun Ling said, opening his palm to produce an axe. "Don't think I can't truly scatter your soul." With that, he swung the axe through the air towards Yang Pan'er.
Seeing this, Yang Pan'er sneered and was about to speak when the hair on her shoulder snapped and fell to the ground. She stared in astonishment. "How could this happen?" she muttered, looking down at the strand of hair on the ground.
Then, Hun Ling lowered the axe and said coldly, "This is your last chance. Choose: detoxify them, or die." His eyes were indifferent.
This time, Yang Pan'er was truly frightened. "Are you even an envoy from below? You..."
"Who I am is none of your concern. Choose," Hun Ling said coldly. His bulging eyes appeared particularly gruesome.
Looking at Hun Ling's appearance, Yang Pan'er grew even more afraid. "I choose to detoxify."
"Since you've chosen to detoxify, then go do it. If you dare to play any tricks," Hun Ling said, looking down at the axe in his hand, "don't blame me for not being polite."
"You... I'll go," Yang Pan'er said, no longer daring to cause trouble.
As Hun Ling spoke, Lou Yi opened his eyes and sat up.
Hun Ling glanced at Lou Yi but said nothing.
Conversely, Yang Pan'er became flustered. "Who should I save first?" she asked, seeking Hun Ling's opinion.
Hun Ling snorted, putting on an impatient expression. "Don't ask me. Choose yourself."
"Choose myself," Yang Pan'er said, looking at Lou Yi and then finally shifting her gaze to Jia. "Let's start with him."
"You'd best not try any tricks. My temper isn't good," Hun Ling said coldly.
"I wouldn't dare, I wouldn't dare," Yang Pan'er said, crouching down to begin detoxifying Jia.
At the same time, Lou Yi stood up and walked to Hun Ling's side. "Thank you," he said, looking down at Hun Ling.
Knowing his appearance was unsightly, Hun Ling avoided Lou Yi's gaze. "Don't be too quick to thank me. Wait until she has detoxified you, then speak." He then fixed his gaze firmly on Yang Pan'er as a supervisor.
Yang Pan'er, sensing Hun Ling's stare, did not dare to be negligent.
Meanwhile.
Mu An Xiao stopped beneath the rockery. Before she could even catch her breath, she sensed a faint spiritual energy from Feng Qi Shi. "Not good," she muttered, turning to look at Ouyang Ye, who had also stopped. She frowned tightly. "Why are you following me?"
"You ran quite far," Ouyang Ye said plainly.
"I ran far, you..."
"What did that Hun Ling say to you?" Ouyang Ye interrupted.
Hun Ling...
Mu An Xiao had thought her cooperation with Hun Ling was flawless. Who knew... Ouyang Ye already knew everything. Faced with this, Mu An Xiao suddenly didn't know what to say. But even so, she showed no signs of guilt. "You saw."
"What did he say to you?" Ouyang Ye asked again.
"Nothing."
"If he said nothing, why did you run?" Ouyang Ye said coldly.
"He said the poison you administered might be in the air, so I thought," Mu An Xiao, to prevent Ouyang Ye from prying too much, fabricated, "What if I got infected? I just recovered from my injuries, and I don't want to be poisoned again. It wouldn't be worth it."
"You don't want to die now."