With a bang, the apartment door shut.
When it opened again, Tang Yue had already changed into casual clothes, swapping her pencil skirt for fitted skinny jeans.
Her face was slightly flushed, perhaps because she had been flustered while changing clothes just now.
"Come in. I'll answer whatever questions you have," Tang Yue said.
Jiang Yuan did not stand on ceremony and walked straight in.
Sitting on the sofa in the living room, he brought up some of his questions.
Tang Yue answered them patiently.
Her soft voice was pleasant to listen to. Jiang Yuan's gaze inadvertently swept over Tang Yue's long legs, the skinny jeans perfectly showing off their proportions.
He could not help thinking of how she had looked in black stockings earlier.
Were there stockings beneath those pants?
Jiang Yuan was briefly distracted and hurriedly looked away.
But he was still a step too late. Tang Yue's sharp intuition had already caught it.
After finishing her explanation, Tang Yue coughed. "Jiang Yuan, I know you're currently going through puberty. It's normal to be curious about the opposite sex, but as your teacher, I still hope you'll focus on studying and meditation."
What followed was a lengthy lecture, full of the tone of a teacher instructing a student.
Jiang Yuan looked at Tang Yue. "Teacher, you're not that much older than me, are you? Why do you sound like I'm some little kid?"
Tang Yue paused, then laughed helplessly.
She was indeed not much older than Jiang Yuan. Some siblings had a greater age difference than the two of them.
And in terms of height, Jiang Yuan stood at 1.85 meters, a whole head taller than her.
"With your talent, you'll definitely reach a broader world in the future. Otherwise, why would I tell you all this?" Tang Yue said, no longer referring to herself as his teacher and speaking entirely in the tone of an older sister.
Jiang Yuan nodded.
"That's more like it." Tang Yue was quite pleased and planned to keep Jiang Yuan for dinner.
It was not as if she was only this kind to Jiang Yuan; she treated her other students the same way. It was simply that Jiang Yuan, who excelled in both character and academics, drew a little more of her attention.
Just as Jiang Yuan was about to agree, a call came in.
It was from Xu Dahang.
Jiang Yuan had no choice but to decline. "Teacher, I have something to do later, so I won't be eating here tonight."
Something again?
Tang Yue found it strange. Jiang Yuan was often so mysterious; she had no idea what he was doing.
But he did not seem like the kind of student who would do bad things.
As his teacher, she felt it was necessary to find a time to have a proper talk with him.
It would be bad if he went down the wrong path.
"Then go on. Don't skip today's meditation," Tang Yue said.
Jiang Yuan agreed, left the apartment, and met up with Mo Fan.
The two found Xu Dahang, who had been waiting for them for a while, and took the mission details from him.
This mission was to investigate strange occurrences at a factory. People kept feeling vibrations underground, and some had recently gone missing.
Because it was suspected to involve demons, a demon-hunting commission had been submitted.
"That's roughly the situation. It's nothing too difficult."
"I still have another commission to finish, so Jiang Yuan, you go investigate the factory first. Fan Mo has just arrived, so take him around and help him get familiar with things," Xu Dahang told Jiang Yuan about his arrangements.
The mission was not particularly dangerous. Even if there were demons, Jiang Yuan could handle a single Servant-level demon by himself.
And since it was only an investigation, the risk was even lower.
"Alright, Captain. I'll take Fan Mo over to investigate first. We'll contact you if anything comes up," Jiang Yuan replied.
Before they left, Xu Dahang repeatedly reminded them to be careful.
After Xu Dahang left to complete his other commission, the curious Mo Fan finally could not hold back any longer. "Are there demons in the city too? The captain kept telling us to be careful. Could it be that the two of us mages can't even beat one demon?"
Jiang Yuan thought for a moment, his expression serious. "Whether there are demons in the city or not, you'll find out after doing a few more missions. As for how powerful demons are..."
"Let me put it this way. For an ordinary mage to deal with a demon of the same level, they would need at least a small team. Anyone who can face a demon alone is a one-in-ten-thousand genius!"
Mo Fan had not studied much and believed Jiang Yuan's words completely, staring in stunned disbelief.
"Even if we run into a demon, it's no problem. With two geniuses like us, wouldn't we handle it easily?" Mo Fan was not worried in the slightest. His face was full of excitement, and he could not wait to see a demon for himself.
The two took a slow-moving vehicle all the way to the factory.
Because of the disappearances, the factory had stopped work that morning and was simply waiting for the City Demon Hunting Squad to arrive.
Not long after the person in charge led them into the factory, Jiang Yuan caught a faint whiff of something rancid.
It seemed to be an old friend.
"I don't know where a rat died, but there's always this rancid smell. We can't get rid of it no matter what we do," the person in charge complained.
Jiang Yuan told him to leave first, then led Mo Fan deeper into the factory.
The rancid odor grew much stronger. Its source seemed to be the equipment room.
Jiang Yuan lowered his voice. "If nothing unexpected happens, there should be demons inside that equipment room. I just don't know how many there are."
There was plenty of equipment piled up in the room, making it convenient for Giant-eyed Stinky Rats to hide.
"You're sure?" Mo Fan carefully sniffed toward the equipment room and nearly threw up.
Jiang Yuan nodded. "I'm basically certain."
"Then should we leave right away, or?" Mo Fan did not want to leave yet. He wanted to see one for himself.
"Not yet. We need to find out roughly how many demons there are. If there are too many, we'll need to call in City Demon Hunting Squads from other areas for reinforcements."
"Then what are we waiting for?"
Mo Fan charged ahead, kicking the equipment room door open.
.
Holy shit?
Since when had Mo Fan become so reckless?
Jiang Yuan remembered Mo Fan being quite cautious the first time he encountered a demon.
That kick directly alerted the Giant-eyed Stinky Rats hidden in the equipment room.
Mo Fan had only poked his head inside when a scarlet beam shot toward him.
Jiang Yuan had remained on guard the entire time. The instant danger appeared, he shoved Mo Fan aside and dodged to the other side himself.
The scarlet beam struck the nearby wall and exploded with a bang, spraying chunks of earth everywhere.
Cold sweat immediately broke out on Mo Fan's forehead.
"What the fuck? It's that powerful?"
If Jiang Yuan had not acted just now, would he not have been blown to death by that beam?
"Mo Fan, get away from the equipment room. The demon is coming out!" Jiang Yuan warned.
A figure carrying the stench of decay rushed from the equipment room, its target directly being Mo Fan, who had provoked it moments ago.
Seeing this, Mo Fan tried to connect his Star Track.
But the Star Particles in his mind would not obey him. He had only connected a few before they scattered in all directions.
He had no practical combat experience at all and simply could not use magic in such a sudden situation.
Ice Control!
Blue magical light flashed, and a crystalline spear carrying a chilling frost shot out, blocking the Giant-eyed Stinky Rat from Mo Fan.
Mo Fan looked at Jiang Yuan in astonishment. "How can you use Ice element magic?"
"I'll explain later. Let's deal with this Giant-eyed Stinky Rat first!"
Jiang Yuan closed the distance slightly and cast Ice Control again, stabbing at the Giant-eyed Stinky Rat.
Seeing someone interfere, the Giant-eyed Stinky Rat abruptly turned around and swung its terrifyingly sharp claws at Jiang Yuan!
Before you continue