A Helping Hand

Only children had the luxury of making choices. Adults... had no choice at all.

The battle had already begun.

Li Qingjun's silver spear flashed forth. The Spider Demon seemingly had not expected them to break their tacit understanding, anger rising on its face as it swung up an arm to block. With a clang, the collision rang out like iron striking steel.

The Spider Demon's other arm shot straight at Li Qingjun's face like a longsword. She tilted slightly aside, and the spider limb brushed past her hair, shearing off a lock.

With a snapping force, the silver spear swept toward its waist. The monster blocked again, and both sides took a step back.

Seven or eight human-shaped cocoons, wrapped tightly shut, lay around them. Li Qingjun held her spear one-handed as she faced the demon. The fear she had felt before was already gone, replaced by a chilling coldness in her eyes.

In the pouring rain, her long hair streamed loose, plastered against her cheeks by the water. She was even more drenched than when Qin Yi had soaked her before, yet her figure stood straight as a spear, immovable as a mountain.

"Where are the Daoists who were originally in this Daoist Temple?"

The Spider Demon gave a shrill cackle and actually answered in a human voice. "Of course, I ate them."

Of course it had eaten them. Li Qingjun could already see a pile of ghastly white bones in one corner of the rear courtyard, Daoist robes still draped over them.

She drew a deep breath and shouted coldly, "Your crimes cannot be forgiven!"

Silver light rose again, slicing through the blackened Daoist Temple. The monster deflected the force of the blow, and it punched a massive hole through an earthen wall in the courtyard.

Li Qinglin had also left the courtyard. With a long spear strapped across his back, he stood to one side guarding his sister's flank without joining the fight. It was clear he intended to temper her through battle.

Liusu was sighing. "Those people clearly offended her. What was there to save? And those original Daoists? They were already dead, so why bother?"

Qin Yi ignored it. He did not think Li Qingjun was wrong this time. If anything, he found himself quietly admiring her. After considering it, he quietly moved to the courtyard exit and used the pointed teeth at the end of his Wolf Tooth Club to carve a simple formation into the ground.

It was a simplified, miniature Demon Binding Array—the same sort used against the demon tiger before. He had no idea whether it would work against a Spider Demon, but he would do whatever he could.

Looking back at the fierce fight, one side had flowing long hair and a silver spear like a dragon, graceful as a startled swan. Wind, rain, and thunder illuminated a jade-like face weaving amid countless white threads; simply watching her was a pleasure. The other side was hideous, roaring like thunder. As their figures crossed, the extreme visual contrast made Li Qingjun seem all the more like a Fairy.

"I never thought that reckless girl was this beautiful before. Sure enough, red flowers need green leaves to set them off," Qin Yi muttered.

Liusu laughed.

Qin Yi looked at the human-shaped white cocoons on the ground, his stomach still churning. He asked cautiously, "Apart from binding people, does this monster have any special Daoist Arts?"

"Poison. Spiders are most likely venomous," Liusu said. "I do not see that it has cultivated anything else. After all, it is only a minor demon. In terms of fighting techniques alone, it may not even match Li Qingjun. But Daoist Arts are troublesome. Fighting alone, Li Qingjun may not be able to defeat it."

At the center of the battle, Li Qingjun swept aside several strands of white silk with her spear and stabbed straight toward the Spider Demon's shoulder.

The Spider Demon failed to evade, letting out a pained roar as several of its legs staggered backward at once. Even its body, which seemed impervious to blades and spears, had been pierced open, blue-green blood pouring from the wound.

But at the same time, spiderwebs rapidly spread across the spearhead embedded in it, tangling around it so tightly that she could not pull it free. Then a dark green hue crept upward from the spearhead, heading straight for Li Qingjun's hands.

Li Qingjun violently burst the webbing apart, yanked back her spear, and retreated in some disarray.

Qin Yi stroked his chin and muttered, "Sure enough, this Spider Demon looks terrifying, but it is not exceptionally strong... Judging by its raw power, it even seems weaker than that demon tiger?"

"Strength is limited by the innate gifts of one's body. Taking all kinds of Daoist Arts into account, it is far stronger than that demon tiger," Liusu said. "Especially its traps. Li Qingjun simply did not fall into one. The greatest difference between demons and beasts is not strength, but this."

"Intelligence?"

"Yes. Look at how it has never dared provoke Li Qinglin, while its eyes keep darting toward you. It has probably pegged you as the soft persimmon, planning to break through toward you if things go wrong. How clever."

"..."

Within the battle, Li Qingjun had already fallen into a disadvantage.

Just as Liusu had said, the Spider Demon had no particular brilliance in its fighting techniques. But Li Qingjun likewise had no experience dealing with Daoist Arts. Whenever victory seemed within reach, strange techniques would always leave her in a sorry state.

Qin Yi was still watching with great interest when Li Qinglin, worried that his sister might come to harm, finally made his move.

Whoosh!

Before anyone could even see the motion, the silver spear was already before the Spider Demon's face. Its fierce baleful intent made the demon's bristles stand on end. It instinctively raised an arm to block, and its sword-like upper limb immediately began to sizzle with the smell of scorching flesh. The spiraling force that erupted in an instant had bored a burning wound into its incomparably tough arm.

At the same time, some kind of radiance seemed to ripple from Li Qinglin's body. The Spider Demon gave a terrified shriek and charged wildly toward Li Qingjun in blind panic, paying no heed to the fact that Li Qingjun's own spearpoint had already reached its face.

Liusu mused, "There is something on Li Qinglin... This is not an effect pure martial arts can achieve..."

Perhaps the terror Li Qinglin inspired was too intense. The Spider Demon did not even try to dodge, instead ramming its shoulder forward to knock aside Li Qingjun's spearpoint before hurling its whole body at her. Li Qingjun chopped with her left palm, striking the Spider Demon squarely in the throat of its human face. The Spider Demon endured the pain and kept charging, driving Li Qingjun backward for more than ten steps.

Li Qingjun did not panic. As she resisted the Spider Demon's advance, her spear had already adjusted. Her slender hand gripped the front end of the shaft, and she viciously thrust it into the human mouth. Several fangs shattered as the spear pierced straight through its throat.

The Spider Demon let out an earthshaking shriek of agony, but red mist suddenly spewed from its mouth, instantly engulfing Li Qingjun at close range.

Poison. Who knew what kind of spider this was, or what kind of venom it carried?

Li Qinglin was startled and was just about to help his sister when he suddenly froze and stopped.

Just as the Spider Demon's upper arm was about to stab into Li Qingjun's throat, a sharp smack rang out. It cried out in pain again. The upper arm that should have pierced Li Qingjun's throat had instead stabbed into a Wolf Tooth Club that had appeared from nowhere.

The grim teeth on the Wolf Tooth Club dug into its arm. Even though its limb was as hard as a sword, the pain was unbearable.

Their struggle had carried them close to Qin Yi.

Qin Yi blocked the spider limb with the Wolf Tooth Club in one hand. With the other, he wrapped an arm around Li Qingjun's waist and retreated three steps. The instant he came to a stop, he pulled out a pill and stuffed it into Li Qingjun's mouth.

Li Qinglin did not pursue them, seeming instead to watch Qin Yi's performance with great interest.

Li Qingjun was stunned as well.

The pill dissolved upon entering her mouth. Coolness spread into her mind and seeped into her limbs. Her head, which had become muddled from the poison, instantly cleared, and strength returned to her hands.

When she turned her head, she saw Qin Yi's smiling face.

"This is a True Detoxification pill. Your brother would not take it when I offered it to him before."

Li Qingjun pursed her lips, just about to say something, when Qin Yi suddenly wrapped his arm around her waist again and drifted backward three feet at high speed.

The Spider Demon missed again and came charging after them on all fours with a furious roar.

Qin Yi held Li Qingjun as they retreated to the doorway. The Spider Demon had just caught up when it suddenly stopped moving.

Its feet had stepped on something. It was as if they had been glued to the ground; no matter what it did, it could not lift them. It reached out to attack Qin Yi and Li Qingjun, but they were one foot too far away, forever beyond its reach.

It looked up to see Qin Yi baring his teeth in a grin as he raised the Wolf Tooth Club.

"Taking me for a soft persimmon? This club will teach you how to ascend to immortality."

"Many thanks to our Benefactor for saving us." The martial artists freed from the white cocoons showered them with thanks. "When we return, we will surely offer incense at Longevity Temple and pray for our Benefactor's blessings."

"Hey!" Li Qingjun said unhappily. "We were the ones who saved you. Why are you offering incense at Longevity Temple?"

"Though we should certainly thank our Benefactor, now that we have seen a real demon, should we not revere immortals and gods all the more...?"

Li Qingjun did not even know how to refute that. She silently watched them leave amid profuse thanks.

The three of them did not remain in the Daoist Temple any longer. They came to a pavilion beyond the mountain. The pavilion amid the rain was fresh and clean, easing the spirits of the three who had just escaped the temple's stench.

Li Qingjun's gloom also quickly lifted. Stretching her arms, she said, "I actually killed a man-eating demon. Does that mean I can count as a Fairy now?"

Qin Yi found her quite interesting. What he really wanted to ask was, after holding it in for so long, did she truly not need to relieve herself?

He watched Li Qingjun with interest, while Li Qinglin watched him with equal interest. "We truly must thank Brother Qin for helping us just now."

Li Qingjun curled her lip, turned her head toward the distant mountains, and said nothing.

"It was nothing," Qin Yi said. "I only acted in a moment of urgency. Thinking about it afterward, even if I had not intervened, Brother Li would never have let your sister come to harm. That monster was no match for you at all."

"Brother Qin helped regardless," Li Qinglin said with a smile. "And Brother Qin was even able to sense in advance that there was a demon here. You have quite the skill."

Qin Yi felt embarrassed.

Li Qinglin glanced at Qin Yi's Wolf Tooth Club and smiled. "Still, I could not tell before. Brother Qin's Wolf Tooth Club looked unremarkable, yet it was able to smash that monster's head apart."

"Ahahaha, its head was a human head. It was not hard enough, was it?" Qin Yi did not want them investigating the Wolf Tooth Club, so he immediately changed the subject. "From what Brother Li said before, you did not seem to believe immortals existed. A tiger growing wings might still be called a mutation, but this sort of demon was alive right before us. Why were you not surprised at all?"

Li Qinglin explained, "Brother Qin misunderstands. What I do not believe in is the exaggerated claim of eternal life. I have no doubt about demons, ghosts, or Daoist Arts that subdue demons and eliminate evil. There is no concrete proof for the former, while there are many facts proving the latter. In truth, it is not as though I have never killed demons before."

"I see..." If that was the case, the "immortals" in Li Qinglin's eyes differed from those in other people's eyes. To ordinary people, possessing a little Daoist Arts made one an immortal. But in Li Qinglin's eyes, such people merely possessed certain special methods—perhaps they could not even defeat him.

Without immortality, one had not truly surpassed the realm of man.

No wonder he had no interest whatsoever in his sister's pursuit of immortals. Perhaps there were many "immortal traces" and no shortage of "demons," but none of that was enough to surprise him.

Li Qinglin added, "Actually, dealing with demons is simple. Dealing with people is far harder."

Qin Yi was taken aback. "Why is that?"

"Because demons are nothing remarkable. One spear still leaves one hole in them, and killing them carries no burden at all. Even if the demon you kill has done no evil, people will still praise you when word spreads. But if you kill a person, all kinds of trouble will follow. No matter who you are, it is difficult to do as you please."

Qin Yi fell silent.