Chapter 77: Is Chen Huaian a Time Bomb?

"Amitabha, boundless longevity, Amen... Fish Benefactor, this humble one knows that you have already become a demon. To prevent you from wreaking havoc in the mortal world, today I shall act on behalf of heaven!"

Chen Huaian bowed three times to the still-alive 10-pound green carp on the chopping board, then pulled out a Thunderfire Talisman tied to a clothes hanger.

This was to prevent his arm from being blown off when the talisman activated.

"My apologies!"

With those words, Chen Huaian pressed down on the clothes hanger, his eyes gleaming as he silently chanted, "Urgent as the law commands!"

Click—!

The green carp flopped once on the chopping board, its eyes wide open.

Nothing happened.

Chen Huaian fell silent, tilting his head at a 45-degree angle to gaze at the ceiling, his eyes filled with desolation. "This humble one knew it. Cultivating immortality is but an illusion. Becoming a Tumor Superman is the only way forward."

At the dining table, Ba Ji stared blankly at Chen Huaian's bizarre behavior, utterly confused.

[What is this big shot doing? Trying to kill a fish with a thunder talisman?]

[As expected of a big shot, so rich!]

[But why isn't he holding the talisman directly?]

"Oh, I get it now." Chen Huaian smacked his forehead and muttered fiercely, "The Thunderfire Talisman must be held directly to activate it. In that case..." He steeled himself, grabbed the talisman, and pressed it onto the green carp.

The carp flopped violently once.

Nothing happened.

Chen Huaian: "..."

Ba Ji: "..."

It didn't understand. If the big shot wanted to kill the fish, why didn't he infuse the talisman with spiritual energy? Didn't he know that activating a talisman required spiritual energy?

This type of deployable talisman had two triggers: either it would activate automatically upon sensing demonic aura, killing intent, ghostly energy, or malice, or the talisman's creator could activate it by infusing it with spiritual energy.

Could it be that this big shot... didn't know?

[No, impossible! This is a trap!]

Ba Ji stared at Chen Huaian's back, as if it could see the sinister, malicious smile on his face.

[He must be pretending to lure me into exposing myself. Once I do, I'll be killed! I don't want to die...]

Ba Ji retreated step by step into a dark corner.

It wanted to shut itself off.

When would this life of constant fear come to an end?

Only spiritual energy could provide some comfort.

It had tried its best to mimic a cat's behavior, but there were still too many things to pay attention to in order to fully play the role of a proper cat.

There was no guarantee when it might be exposed.

Like just now.

"Never mind. This humble one is indeed a Superman, but just a Superman." Chen Huaian shook his head, found a basin for the green carp, filled it with water, and placed it on the windowsill.

The basin was a bit too small, leaving half of the carp's tail sticking out.

But with limited resources, it would have to do.

At least it wasn't dead.

"Ba Ji, you're not interested in such a big fish?" He turned his head, surprised, to look at the black cat. This little cat had been acting strangely all day since recovering from its injuries.

It perfectly embodied the ancestral traits of a cow-patterned cat.

Hearing this, Ba Ji froze for a moment, then scrambled onto the windowsill and began licking the carp's tail while glancing at Chen Huaian's expression.

Chen Huaian: "..."

This cat... is a bit crazy.

He chuckled and shook his head, leaving the carp and Ba Ji alone.

Naturally, he couldn't see the spiritual energy from the Nine-Turn Spirit Orchid gradually permeating the room, seeping into his skin, nourishing his cancer cells, as well as his normal cells and bones. He couldn't see Ba Ji actively absorbing the spiritual energy, nor could he see the previously half-dead green carp gradually calming down near the flowerpot, no longer belly-up.

Changes were happening subtly.

Chen Huaian simply opened the "Electronic Girlfriend" game.

He could teach Li Qingran how to practice swordsmanship now.

...

"Old Li, where's that young man you mentioned?" Under the poplar tree, a middle-aged man with a thick beard looked around anxiously.

"He said he was going to the market. It's been so long, he's probably already bought the groceries and gone home."

The bearded man grew impatient. "Why didn't you keep an eye on him?"

Old Li rolled his eyes. "You told me to stay put! How could I watch him? Do I know how to clone myself?!"

The bearded man opened his mouth, then sighed.

"Alright, let's take a look at the sword marks first."

Old Li led the bearded man around the poplar tree, circling it again and again.

After a while, the two stopped and stood silently under the tree, staring at the trunk as if digesting a massive amount of information.

After a moment, Old Li spoke first. "Well?"

"It's hard to say," the bearded man replied, his expression grave.

"Hard to say?"

"Yes. I'm only at the Master level. What can I say?"

"Are you suggesting that the power of that young man's sword strike is above the Soldier level?"

The bearded man fell silent. Old Li, seeing his constipated expression, also remained quiet.

General level?

Unthinkable.

Even the Soldier level was already outrageous.

"Old Li, last year, Wang the Tiger poached someone from our province. Remember?" The bearded man's eyes flashed with recollection. He paused, leaning on the tree trunk, then continued:

"That guy was originally a video blogger, just messing around with ancient sword techniques for fun. Who knew the cake of spiritual awakening would fall on him? The sword techniques he practiced suddenly became fully realized overnight. When he went to the Demon-Slaying Bureau for testing, he was directly rated as a top-tier Master.

This year, I heard he's already at the Soldier level, having handled over a dozen high-difficulty incidents. His popularity is soaring... But even so, he's only just managed to unleash sword qi, and the power is... well, let's just say it's not as impressive as when he uses his sword directly."

"I know, that ungrateful brat." Old Li snorted, punching his palm, his eyes filled with anger.

He would remember this for the rest of his life.

Wu Haiting—Old Li had even helped him achieve enlightenment in sword techniques back then. But the kid turned out to be money-hungry and was poached by the Demon-Slaying Bureau of a neighboring province.

The C Province Demon-Slaying Bureau had invested a lot of resources in him, only to have him benefit someone else.

As a result, the C Province Demon-Slaying Bureau had been struggling financially for the past two years.

Not enough strong members, poor performance, low efficiency in handling incidents—sometimes they even had to request reinforcements from other bureaus.

The embarrassment was secondary.

The real pain was the casualties caused by demons. If they had even one Soldier-level or above expert, they wouldn't be in such a sorry state.

"So, Old Li, you must help our Demon-Slaying Bureau win over this young man!" The bearded man grasped Old Li's hand, his tone earnest. "Last month, we lost a few more good kids. Now, we have fewer than twenty demon slayers who can take on missions."

"I can't promise anything." Old Li waved his hand tiredly, shaking his head and sighing. "I understand your urgency, but we can't rush this. First, I don't know where he lives. Second, I've only just met him and don't know his background or character.

If this kid has truly mastered sword qi, the two of us together wouldn't be a match for him. Have you forgotten what happened in '31 with that out-of-control guy? How much blood did he spill? He's still at large! It's because we couldn't handle the risk and overestimated his humanity and desires."

The bearded man fell silent again.

Indeed.

At their current level, if something went wrong, they would have no way to control an awakened individual who had mastered sword qi.

While bullets and artillery still posed a threat to awakened individuals,

those at the Master level or above could already sense danger in advance and had a chance of dodging bullets.

Soldier-level awakened individuals, as long as they weren't caught in a dense hail of bullets, could evade gunfire with cover and were nearly impossible to kill. As for General-level individuals, they could deflect bullets with cold weapons.

"I understand." The bearded man took a deep breath. "I was too hasty. Old Li, here's what we'll do: you continue to stay in touch with the young man. Try to test his character if possible. Once we're sure there's no issue, we'll gradually introduce him to the Demon-Slaying Bureau and see how he responds."

"Agreed." Old Li nodded.

He figured that since Chen Huaian was interested in sword techniques and ancient martial arts, he would likely return to this spot one morning. They would have another chance to meet, and he could then inquire about his address, making it easier to find him in the future.

...

With the matter settled, the bearded man hailed a taxi back to the Demon-Slaying Bureau.

No sooner had he sat down than his phone buzzed.

Glancing at the caller ID, he quickly answered.

[BOSS! We've got a problem!]

The voice on the other end was panicked.

[A civilian demon slayer reported that two Class A demons have appeared in Tianfu City!]

"Two Class A demons?! Alright, I'm on it." The bearded man's expression changed, and he clenched his fist. "I'll be right back!"

After hanging up,

he gazed out the window at the towering buildings.

Worry filled his brow.

The streets were bustling with people rushing to work, unaware that the world was gradually descending into chaos.

In the East, demons roamed the neon-lit nights; in the Americas, malevolent spirits ran rampant; in Europe, many places had become hunting grounds for vampires and werewolves.

Sometimes, he missed the days when he was just an ordinary office worker. Though life felt like being an NPC, at least he didn't have to worry about suddenly dropping dead.

But the heavens were unpredictable.

Recently, demons had been appearing more and more frequently.

...

...