Two Realms Shuttle Gate: Don’t Call Me a Demon! - Chapter 92

Chapter 92: Chapter 8: Wanted (3rd Update)

For the experiment, animals within a few hundred meters had suffered a calamitous fate.

Near the bonfire, the carcasses of animals mercilessly slaughtered were piled into a small hillock, and the Soul Summoning Banner, having absorbed these souls, finally underwent some changes.

The human figure drawn by Su Jie with fresh blood had its face invaded by blackness, its silhouette as dark as ink. Under the bonfire and the night sky, the figure seemed to be slowly moving, its eerie form undergoing subtle transformations.

The gloomy face of the figure, with its especially slender eyes and a twisted body, the skin on its face contorted as if trying to squeeze out of the Soul Summoning Banner.

If one stared for too long, one could feel the chilling aura emanating from the Soul Summoning Banner, accompanied by malice, as if the Yin Soul on the banner was eying the living creatures of the outside world.

Su Jie felt nothing much, but Chen Yun and Ning Xinyue clearly felt a cold shiver down their backs.

“Ptui, filthy thing.”

Ning Xinyue huffed lightly, feeling that this Soul Summoning Banner was very ominous.

Glancing sideways, Su Jie said, “If you don’t like it, why did you agree to the trade in the first place?”

“I was thinking, if I had the Soul Summoning Banner, I’d have free servants to help with the work, how great would that be!”

Ning Xinyue spoke with conviction, then with a look of disgust added, “After the trade, I realized how evil this thing is, and since Yin Souls can’t affect the physical realm, it’s all show and no use. I don’t fancy it one bit.”

Chen Yun pointed at the Yin Soul on the Soul Summoning Banner and asked, “Can it be summoned to fight now?”

Shaking his head, Su Jie answered, “Not yet, there aren’t enough souls, and the Yin Soul has not truly taken form.”

Chen Yun looked at the various animal carcasses slaughtered nearby and said, “It seems that the souls provided by ordinary animals are too few in number. Even if we hunted the animals of several mountains, it wouldn’t condense much Yin Soul. The Soul Summoning Banner can become the signature Magic Artifact of the Heavenly Soul Sect, but it should not be used this way; the efficiency is too poor. It is most likely…”

Chen Yun did not finish her sentence, but Su Jie knew what she wanted to say.

“To quickly refine the Soul Summoning Banner, most likely human souls are needed.”

Su Jie spoke slowly, well aware of the nature of demon cultivators.

Even without experimentation, Su Jie knew that as intelligent beings, humans could provide a far greater quantity of souls than ordinary animals could.

And earlier, Ning Xinyue had also mentioned that the Heavenly Soul Sect loved to kill and extract souls, which was surely not without reason; it was most likely for refining the Soul Summoning Banner and cultivating more Yin Souls, probably going too far in the end, provoking an assault from the various Righteous Sects.

However, that was for ordinary demon cultivators, Su Jie thought as he looked at the animal carcasses.

Since ordinary animals also had some effect, he had plenty of methods to refine the Soul Summoning Banner.

Packing up the Soul Summoning Banner, Su Jie’s gaze turned towards Ning Xinyue.

“What?”

Ning Xinyue became alert.

“Have you eaten your fill?”

“Yes, I have.”

“Since you’re full, why are you still here? Why not leave?”

Su Jie pointed towards the dense forest and tossed a map over to her.

Ning Xinyue had already provided a few Cultivation Techniques and the Soul Summoning Banner; Su Jie guessed that it was unlikely to squeeze much more out of her.

Since she had no further value to exploit and killing her was not an option—this young lady’s background was mysterious, and who knew how extensive it could be—Su Jie did not want to bring major trouble upon himself.

If she could not be killed, then he might as well let her leave on her own.

After all, today’s gains were already substantial; Su Jie was not overly greedy, and the fate of Gu Weonian was still fresh in his mind.

Hearing Su Jie speak like this, Ning Xinyue was visibly shocked and asked incredulously, “What did you just say, you’re letting me go?”

“Take your chance while I haven’t changed my mind.”

Su Jie sneered menacingly and threatened, “I know that the vestment robe you wear will conjure Ice Crystals automatically when your life is in peril, allowing you to safely hide within, but what if I were to dig a hole and bury you deep underground, or find a volcanic vent to throw you into? How would you deal with that? We demon cultivators stop at nothing and are capable of anything.”

Ning Xinyue shivered and suddenly leaped up, her body now free of the paralytic toxin and regained motion.

“You filthy demon cultivator, I’ve committed you to memory, and you better not fall into my hands, or I swear I’ll make you pay for this in the future,” she vowed.

Turning her head back, Ning Xinyue shook her little fist at Su Jie and, without looking back, snatched the map and fled deep into the dense forest.

“Is it really fine to let her go like this? What if she comes back for revenge?”

Chen Yun was somewhat worried. She had discerned that Ning Xinyue’s origins were undoubtedly significant and feared that Su Jie might not be able to handle it.

“What else can we do? Kill her or keep her imprisoned by our side forever? Either of those would only bring about our own demise,” Su Jie replied, shaking his head with a laugh. “Besides, you’ve seen her nature; she’s essentially good-hearted, as innocent as a blank slate. After all, I did save her. She couldn’t possibly repay kindness with enmity.”

Chen Yun pondered this and decided to let it be.

“Let’s pack up, we should also make our exit,” Su Jie said while extinguishing the campfire. Despite saying he wasn’t worried, he was actually a bit afraid that Ning Xinyue, the young girl, might lead people to them.

It would be a huge problem if a big shot from the Secret Realm showed up. Better safe than sorry, they both agreed to withdraw first.

As Chen Yun packed up, she asked, “Are we heading back to Ghost Ridge Palace?”

“No, let’s find a city to settle down in first. Ghost Ridge Palace just had a bunch of human slaves seized by the Righteous Sect. We’ll see what impact that has first,” Su Jie said slowly. He was worried that Ghost Ridge Palace might blame him and the fellow disciples assigned to the escort. Su Jie planned to improve his strength before returning to Ghost Ridge Palace.

Chen Yun had no objections and followed Su Jie as they rapidly left the thicket under the cover of night.

….

Zhenning City!

Su Jie and Chen Yun, having disguised themselves, arrived here.

Zhenning City was just an ordinary city, hardly noteworthy within Jia Shao Prefecture.

Due to this year’s famine in Jingzhou, coupled with the decline of the Da Li Dynasty after more than five hundred years, signs of the dynasty’s final days became evident. Corruption was rampant among officials, who imposed excessive taxes on the common people, and land consolidation had become a severe issue.

As soon as they entered the city, Su Jie saw the city streets crowded with refugees who had lost their homes. Some were victims of Jingzhou’s drought who had fled here after their crops failed, while others were landless poor who had come to the city seeking a livelihood.

“Su Jie, look over there…”

Chen Yun suddenly gasped, lowering her voice.

Su Jie looked in the indicated direction and saw several wanted posters not far from the city gate entrance. Among them was Su Jie’s own face, while not very accurate, the general likeness was discernible.

Many citizens gathered around, murmuring among themselves. On these posters, Su Jie also recognized a few familiar faces, including Yu Wenxian and Xu Yihu, mostly images of inner disciples of Ghost Ridge Palace.

“Notice to all: the following twelve individuals are the remaining scourges from the battle at Golden Sand River, regarded as the most dangerous and brutal among the Ghost Ridge Palace Disciples. Should any traces of them be found, report immediately to the government. A verified sighting will be rewarded with a thousand taels of silver…”

Two constables were announcing loudly, recounting the united strike by the Righteous sects at the battle of Golden Sand River, along with Ghost Ridge Palace’s heavy losses, and details concerning the wanted.

“Let’s go. We’ll find a place to stay, then take our time to gather information,” Su Jie said, lowering his bamboo hat further over his head. It seemed that making himself too conspicuous on the Slave Trading Ship and killing too many Righteous Disciples had landed him on the wanted list.

The two wandered around the city and eventually purchased a residential property where they settled in peacefully.

Before long, Su Jie took the pretext of entering a cultivation retreat but, in fact, he used the Ancient Mirror to return to Blue Star.