Little Yan Ling

"What..."

The door had barely closed when Li Yao started to ask what was going on. There wasn't a soul on the streets in broad daylight.

But before he could get the words out, the little girl across from him snapped at them.

"Do you two have a death wish? Don't you know these are dangerous times? You nearly got me killed."

Li Yao froze. She looked young, but she had quite a sharp tongue.

"Little girl, we're visitors from out of town. What happened in Heyu Village? Why does everyone have their doors and windows locked in broad daylight?"

The girl looked about eleven or twelve, with a high ponytail and delicate features.

After hearing Li Yao's explanation, she calmed down considerably.

"You picked the one time you shouldn't have come. Congratulations. You hit the jackpot."

"What do you mean?"

Li Yao had a feeling this had little to do with the Snake Demon.

According to the information Li Wenbin had given him, the Snake Demon had appeared in Heyu Village without warning and devoured several people. Before it could hurt anyone else, several local security officers had stepped in and driven it out of the village.

The photos had been taken afterward by intelligence officers from the security bureau.

It was firsthand information.

Given the Snake Demon's strength, it couldn't have caused enough trouble to put the entire village on edge like this.

Unless...

The realization hit Li Yao like a thunderbolt.

There was a second one!

Just then, the girl spoke, confirming his suspicion.

"Since Heyu Village is so close to the sea, we get powerful demons around here pretty often. That's why the security officers here are usually Fifth-Rank Martial Masters or stronger."

"A couple of days ago, a Snake Demon showed up in the village and ate several people. The security officers who rushed over chased it toward the mountain."

"They knew they couldn't let it get away, so they went after it. None of them came back. Then, the next day, more than a dozen other security officers arrived. They asked a few villagers questions and told us what had happened. The life tablets those first officers had left at the security bureau had shattered one after another. They were all dead. One of them had even sent out a distress signal."

"After that, the officer in charge told everyone in the village to lock their doors and windows, just to be safe. That's why things look like this now."

"Once they'd told us, they went up the mountain too. They still haven't come back."

Li Yao's heart sank.

Several security officers, all dead?

And the officers who had gone up afterward hadn't returned either?

There was only one explanation: something terrifying lurked on that mountain.

Li Wenbin frowned. "When did those dozen or so officers go up there?"

"Yesterday afternoon, around one or two."

The girl added, "And I have a name. I'm Yan Ling. Stop calling me 'little girl.' I'm a grown-up!"

She planted her hands on her hips, looking for all the world like a big kid.

Li Yao couldn't help reaching out to ruffle her hair.

"All right, all right, you're a grown-up. So you let two strangers in? Weren't you afraid we might be bad guys?"

He couldn't resist teasing her.

"It's fine. I don't have anything valuable, and even if you're bad guys, you probably won't kill me. Besides, with the two of you here, if that Snake Demon comes back, it definitely won't notice me."

Yan Ling gave him a sly look as she said it.

"You really do live up to your name, Yan Ling. You're a clever little thing."

Li Yao and Li Wenbin exchanged a glance and chuckled under their breath.

**Ding! Host detected in Heyu Village. Location check-in successful. Reward: 10,000 Background Value points. Reward issued; please check.**

**Ding! Traces of demons detected. Demon Detection Function unlocked. When the host faces a demon, this function will automatically display information about it.**

**Ding! Host has activated the Demon Detection Function for the first time. Reward issued: One-Time Exploration Function. Its first use will reveal information on demons within a hundred-li radius.**

As they were still laughing, three system notifications sounded in quick succession.

Li Yao stared at the newly unlocked functions before him.

"Demon Detection Function? A hundred-li radius? Damn!"

"System, you're incredible."

He had been agonizing over whether to run or head up the mountain without knowing what was there.

The system had handed him exactly what he needed.

"System, use the One-Time Exploration Function."

**Ding! One-Time Exploration Function activated. Scanning...**

**Ding! First-Rank demon detected: Forget-Form Grass. First-Rank demon detected: Bewitching Flower... Fifth-Rank demon detected: Deep-Sea Snake Demon. Demon Venerable detected: Flying Centipede.**

"Found them!"

Li Yao's eyes lit up. No doubt about it—those were the two.

The Snake Demon fit the reports. Its cultivation wasn't high enough to beat the security officers.

But that Flying Centipede... He turned toward Yan Ling, who was sitting in a recliner, playing with her phone.

She's got nerves of steel. Even Li Yao had to admire her. She knew there was a demon out there, yet she was completely at ease.

"Little Ling," Li Yao said, trying to sound friendly.

Yan Ling shot him a disdainful look.

"Mister, doesn't making your voice sound like that hurt your throat? It's gross."

Put in his place, Li Yao could only clear his throat to hide his embarrassment.

"Ahem. Lingling, can I ask you something?"

"Go ahead. Nobody's stopping you from talking."

Stung again, Li Yao pressed a hand to his forehead in exasperation.

Behind him, Li Wenbin was holding back his laughter so hard his stomach hurt.

His young master, who had never come off worse in an exchange, had just been silenced by a child.

"Are there any legends about Heyu Village? About snake demons or centipedes, for instance?"

At that, Yan Ling's eyes flickered.

She put down her phone.

"Now that you mention it, I did see a legend about a centipede in Heyu Village in a manuscript my grandpa wrote. I can't remember the details, though. Sit tight. I'll find it for you."

With that, Yan Ling pushed open the door to a room on the left that looked like a storage closet and ducked inside.

She rummaged around while Li Yao waited outside, growing more impatient by the second.

Several minutes passed.

"Found it!"