Paying Tribute to the Legendary Evil Soul Master Hunter, Qian Yuhan

"Whew... Meng... at least wait for me! Whew... Greetings, Princess Tianzhen."

Xiao Hongchen arrived late, carrying bags upon bags. He first greeted Xu Tianzhen, then automatically locked his sharp gaze onto Qian Yuhan, standing behind her.

Seeing how Qian Yuhan was also out shopping with a girl, yet his hands were completely free, as if he didn't have to carry a thing, the human-shaped Soul Guidance-powered donkey Xiao Hongchen felt unbearably out of balance.

Seriously, man, why?! (shrimp, bent over, computer, JPG)

Why don't you have to carry the bags? Because you're handsome?

Well, you are handsome!

But! Compared to me just after a shower, standing in front of the mirror and blow-drying my hair, you're still a little... Hmm, okay, we're about even.

Xiao Hongchen did have a sense of self-awareness. He knew full well that though he could be considered good-looking, he was still a long way from the sort of peerlessly handsome man who could charm people of every age.

So he nodded at Qian Yuhan and briefly introduced himself, counting it as a proper greeting.

Qian Yuhan nodded back and pointed to himself as he introduced himself. "Qian Yuhan."

Yes, sometimes the beginning of a friendship between two real men really was that simple.

"Hello, I'm Xiao Hongchen's younger sister. My name is Meng Hongchen." Meng Hongchen held out her hand to Qian Yuhan and introduced herself again.

"Hello, Miss Meng. I'm Qian Yuhan."

"You two have lovely hair."

Out of courtesy, Qian Yuhan briefly squeezed Meng Hongchen's fingertips and gave her hand a shake. Then he quickly withdrew his hand and, in an exceedingly gentlemanly tone, complimented her beautiful white hair.

Oh, right. He also complimented Xiao Hongchen while he was at it.

Looking at the handsome young man before her, a little younger than herself but with an exceptionally good air about him, sincerely praising her, Meng Hongchen pressed her lips together, raised a hand to tuck a loose strand behind her ear, and said softly:

"Thank you for the compliment. Your golden hair is beautiful too. But you happened to get my name wrong just now. In our Hongchen Family, the surname comes after the given name. The first character in our names is our given name."

"So, if you like, you can call me by my given name, Meng, or call me Senior Meng."

Xiao Hongchen: "(¬~¬)"

Meng, act normal! That young man is handsome, sure, but he's still a kid. If you keep being this infatuated with him, it's against the law. You'll be dragged to the firing range and blasted with mixed beams, understand?!

Xu Tianzhen: "???"

ಠ_ಠ! Seriously, Meng Hongchen, what are you doing?! He just said your hair was pretty, and you're making that weird face for what?! And who wants to call you Senior?! Damn it!

As a seasoned beauty enthusiast, Xu Tianzhen knew all too well what her fellow enthusiasts were like. Sensing the strange shift in the atmosphere around her, she couldn't even focus on eating anymore.

She suddenly raised her head and glared fiercely at the expressionless human-shaped Soul Guidance-powered donkey behind Meng Hongchen—her own brother, Xiao Hongchen.

Her stern gaze seemed to be demanding:

'Xiao Hongchen! Why are you standing there like a stump, spacing out? You're her brother! Get out here and do something about your lovesick little sister!'

In response, Xiao Hongchen gave Xu Tianzhen an innocent look to show how powerless he was. His helpless, blameless gaze seemed to say:

I want to do something too! But I can't! I really can't! I'm just a spare piece in this family. There's no way I can do anything about the family's little darling!

'Hmph (`3´). And here you are, the Sun Moon Empire's once-in-a-millennium first genius in Soul Guidance. You can't even control your own little sister. Useless.'

After mentally roasting Xiao Hongchen, Xu Tianzhen worried that the prospective consort she'd reserved with her father might be a flirt who fell in love with every woman he met. She abruptly took a step back.

She resisted the urge to turn around, grab Qian Yuhan, and leave. Gritting her teeth, she slowly stole a glance at Qian Yuhan, standing beside her, from the corner of her eye.

Good news: though Meng Hongchen had been talking the whole time, Qian Yuhan's attention wasn't on her at all.

Even better news: Qian Yuhan wasn't looking at Meng Hongchen, nor was he looking at anyone else. He was staring intently at an old-fashioned-looking building, lost in thought!

"Phew, I scared myself for nothing~!"

Xu Tianzhen breathed a sigh of relief. Then, as the tension lifted, she burst into giddy laughter inside:

'Wakakaka! He knows to keep his distance from other women. This princess really does have an excellent eye for choosing a consort! Hahaha, Meng Hongchen, this is just the expression I wanted to see on your face... that jealous look.'

Watching the defeated, loser-like expression on Meng Hongchen's face as Qian Yuhan ignored her completely put Xu Tianzhen in a splendid mood. She even suddenly felt the urge to pay to have the building Qian Yuhan had his eye on demolished and give it to him as a present.

But was Qian Yuhan really admiring that old-fashioned building?

Naturally, the answer was no.

If we turned back time by half a minute and secretly joined the consciousness chat between Qian Yuhan and the Rakshasa Phantom, we'd learn something from the conversation between the man and the spirit:

That is... Qian Yuhan wasn't looking at the old building at all. He was looking at the Evil Soul Master hidden beneath it, crawling through the dark, forbidden corners of Bright Capital.

Feeling the Evil Soul Master's aura from more than half a street away, an aura so disgusting it made him want to throw up, Qian Yuhan pressed his lips together. Golden light swirled in his eyes, murderous intent flared, and he said gravely:

"Under the broad daylight, beneath a clear sky, an Evil Soul Master actually came out of its hiding place, openly took a stroll down the street, then crawled back inside. Bright Capital really is crawling with evil. It's time to give the place a thorough cleaning! Every Evil Soul Master deserves to die (◣_◢)!"

The Rakshasa Divine Sense was even angrier than Qian Yuhan. Perched on his shoulder, it glared viciously at the building and ground its teeth:

"Old Qian, did you see that?! That bastard Evil Soul Master even dared to glare at the two of us before going inside! That dog of a thing—who gave it the nerve?!"

"I have to make it suffer until it regrets ever being born to its old man! ༽◺_◿༼"

"Old Qian, should we go kill it now, or kill it tonight?" the Rakshasa Phantom asked.

"Tonight?" Qian Yuhan shot the Rakshasa Phantom a sidelong glance and sneered.

"What if it runs away before we get there tonight? What if it hurts someone else before we arrive?"

"The sooner something like an Evil Soul Master dies, the better! The faster, the better!"