Chapter 142: Astonishing Identity

"Qiansheng? That is quite a unique name. I am Zhang Shouheng. Why shouldn't I be here? Are you a demon? But how can there be no demonic aura on you? Could you also be a transformed demon?"

Upon thinking of this, Zhang Shouheng felt a slight chill in his heart, and his complexion instantly turned pale.

Indeed, the other party had summoned vines to attack him without using any talismanic techniques, chanting incantations, or forming hand seals. This was simply something humans could not achieve; only demons were capable of it. Could the other party also be a transformed demon like Tianbao?

"You... your entire family are demons! I am not a demon, so how could I have any demonic aura? If you keep this up, I am going to get angry! You are simply indiscriminate and unreasonable!"

Qiansheng pouted, raised her scepter with her hand, but as soon as she waved it, the wound on her arm split open. She let out a sudden cry of surprise, and her arm dropped limply again.

"Indiscriminate and unreasonable! You are injured!"

Zhang Shouheng felt the vines binding his body transform into specks of emerald light and finally dissipate completely. After breaking free, he grabbed the young woman's arm and inspected her wound. This bloodstain looked very much like a knife wound, but it was somewhat strange; wisps of black mist were faintly rolling inside it, preventing the wound from healing.

Just as he intended to touch the wound to see what this black mist was, Qiansheng suddenly spoke and pulled away from him, saying, "This is demonic Qi. If you touch it, you will be eroded by the demonic Qi. Seeing that you seem somewhat kind at heart, let me hide at your place for a while. I will leave after three days. Can I, intellectual?"

With that, Qiansheng blinked her large eyes, which were misty with moisture, looking utterly pitiful.

Zhang Shouheng furrowed his brow. Although this girl named Qiansheng gave him a very special feeling, she was far too bizarre. Why would she appear inexplicably on top of a mountain? Furthermore, she was being hunted, and the wound on her arm was caused by demonic Qi. No wonder it was so difficult to heal.

Demons came in many varieties and were a very special existence. Fiends were also divided into many kinds; some were humans transformed into fiends, while others were fiends transformed from ghostly entities. There were numerous factors leading to demonization, such as a drastic change in temperament or external forces. However, demons were extremely rare—even rarer than monsters. Moreover, the strength of a demon was terrifyingly immense, and most fiends were extremely ferocious, horrifying, and powerful. To think Qiansheng had actually managed to escape with her life from the hands of a fiend.

"What are you still pondering? Do you think this young lady is someone devoid of all conscience? It's just that this time when I came out, I accidentally got targeted by that fiend, and now I can't go back, so I can only hide outside for a while!"

Qiansheng pouted her small mouth, looking extremely aggrieved as she stared at the hesitating Zhang Shouheng.

"Devoid of all conscience? Miss, we have never met before. I threw a rock at you earlier, and you attacked me with vines, so we are even now. Alright, the sun is about to come out, and I must practice."

Zhang Shouheng gave her a calm glance, looked at the gradually rising sun on the horizon, walked to the edge of the cliff, and sat cross-legged with his legs folded. A cyan light began to flicker within his eyes.

The breath of the interplay between Yin and Yang in heaven and earth began to merge into his eyes bit by bit. Qiansheng did not leave either; instead, she squatted beside him, staring at the two small cyan dragons in his eye sockets with a look of utter astonishment. The practice of the Azure Dragon Spiritual Eyes could only last for these few short minutes. Soon, the sun rose completely, the Yin Qi vanished, and Yang Qi filled heaven and earth. The light in his eyes gradually receded. He turned his head and saw Qiansheng staring fixedly into his eyes without moving. Being so close, he could even smell the fragrance of grass coming from her.

"Qiansheng, why are you still here? Aren't you leaving?"

Zhang Shouheng spoke nonchalantly. In truth, he also wanted to help her, but what she had provoked was a fiend, and he could not afford to offend such a being.

"I only escaped into this mountain today. I beg you, save me! I will definitely repay you. Besides, that fiend only hunts me down and doesn't dare to appear in front of people casually. I really want to enter that hospital down below. A hospital is a boundary where life and death meet, and ghostly officials frequently haunt such places. Fiends and underworld ghostly officials are mortal enemies. If I go inside, that fiend won't dare to enter. However, there is a very powerful entity inside that hospital. I am currently injured and dare not enter rashly. Take me in."

Qiansheng grabbed Zhang Shouheng's arm, shaking it gently as if acting spoiled.

Zhang Shouheng chuckled, his expression turning cold as he looked at Qiansheng and said, "Did you see me come out from there? So you've been following me all along? Qiansheng, to be frank, do you think I would take you in? This is our first time meeting, and the abilities you displayed are extremely powerful. Even though the aura on you is restrained to perfection, I still cannot take this risk."

Qiansheng released Zhang Shouheng's arm, suddenly grinned, and said, "Alright, your sense of caution is very strong. But let me tell you, this young lady is truly not a bad person. I sneaked away from home this time, and the one hunting me is indeed a powerful fiend—and a very peculiar entity at that. He wants to devour my flesh and blood. As long as I wait for the Three Realms Market to open, I can go home. Once that fellow dares to step into the Three Realms Market, he will be dead for sure."

"The Three Realms Market? Are you from the Three Realms Market? If I can help you, can you take me to the Three Realms Market?"

A trace of joy welled up in Zhang Shouheng's heart, but his face remained calm without any emotional fluctuation.

Qiansheng shook her head and said, "I'm truly sorry, but Grandfather only issues a few tokens every year, and all of them for this year have already been distributed. I don't have a token on me either. The most important thing to reach the Three Realms Market is actually the token, because the Three Realms Market does not exist within this space, but rather in another minor space. Don't misunderstand, that space is not a ghostly domain, but a genuine parallel space. Because this space is extremely stable, the Three Realms Market is very suitable to be built there. Reaching the Three Realms Market requires a teleportation array, and the token protects oneself from being harmed by the distorting power of space. Therefore, anyone who forces their way into the Three Realms Market without a token will be destroyed by the force generated by spatial distortion."

"So that's what the token is for."

Zhang Shouheng nodded in sudden realization. However, hearing that she had no token, he asked again:

"You said earlier that you wanted me to shelter you for three days, and once the three days are over, you would go back. But now you say you have no token. How will you pass through the teleportation array? Aren't you afraid of being torn apart by the distorting power of space?"

Qiansheng smiled, her eyes rippling with moisture, and said:

"I only said that mortals would be shredded by that power, but I am not a mortal, so naturally I won't be shredded by this force."