Novel Translation – Chapters 13-15
Chapter 13: A Bit Tired
The shark demon’s body was massive and extremely fast, and when humans faced demons alone, their only advantage was agility.
Ji Yueling quickly twisted her body, dodging the shark demon’s charge. Taking advantage of the moment when it couldn’t turn around, she swung the alchemical longsword in her hand. At this moment, runes lit up along the blade, making the sword glow as if enchanted. Following her instinctive judgment, she found the approximate location of the shark demon’s energy core. The moment the shark demon lunged at her again, she raised her sword.
The blade pierced into the shark demon’s chest, and the runes on the sword flickered with blue cold light. The shark demon let out baby-like cries again, but its cries gradually grew smaller and smaller. Its massive body froze in that instant, and Ji Yueling stepped aside as the shark demon crashed down beside her with a thunderous sound.
In a contest of endurance and strength, humans could never surpass demons of the same level, so they could only seek opportunities for a decisive strike.
Ji Yueling had participated in many demon hunts and had fought shark demons before. This strike had some element of luck – the shark demon before her seemed to have fallen into some kind of frenzied state, so even when its weakest point was pierced by the sword, its instinct wasn’t to dodge.
So it was frozen into an ice sculpture by the ice runes in her alchemical longsword.
Of course Ji Yueling didn’t idle. In an instant she swung dozens of strikes at the shark demon’s head, until she had completely chopped its head into fragments. Only then did she turn to look at the injured people nearby. Those milky white glows were keeping them alive. Ji Yueling took out her phone to make a call. After doing all this, she finally sat down on the steps and let out a long breath.
She panted for quite a while before her tense nerves finally relaxed slightly. Only then did she remember something. First she looked around, then took out her phone and called Gu Qing.
“Where are you?”
“Here.”
Gu Qing’s voice came from not far behind her. Only now did he come to Ji Yueling’s side, bringing the somewhat weak-kneed Lu Qianqian with him.
Under the moonlight, the three looked at each other.
Ji Yueling looked into Gu Qing’s eyes. She couldn’t see any fear in them. After a moment, her gaze turned cold as she asked, “You knew there was a shark demon here, so you called me to come watch fireworks?”
“No…” Gu Qing scratched his head. “I just saw that sis sent me a red envelope, so I wanted to be polite and ask if sis wanted to come see the fireworks I got. I knew sis wouldn’t come anyway.”
This single sentence instantly blocked all of Ji Yueling’s suspicions. Her cold expression gradually relaxed, and with a bit more concern she asked, “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. The moment I saw the shark demon, I grabbed her and ran far away.”
Ji Yueling looked at the shark demon’s corpse, then said after a moment, “This shark demon is a bit abnormal.”
“Mm, it’s clearly still in its juvenile stage. It should just feed on fish and shrimp in the lake. Before reaching adulthood, its senses wouldn’t be so developed, and it wouldn’t come to the crowded lakeshore, much less abandon feeding to start indiscriminate killing.” Gu Qing picked up Ji Yueling’s words.
“How do you know?”
“Part of it is from official materials, and part is from the abilities I awakened – I happen to have some memories about shark demon behavior.” Gu Qing answered honestly.
This wasn’t something to be suspicious about. Among the extraordinary, many people’s supernatural abilities were similar to demon abilities, and they would also possess some fragmentary memory images of demonic nature. Since Gu Qing already had E-level demon language ability, knowing these things wasn’t strange.
Ji Yueling pondered for a moment, then gave up.
That was for the logistics team and research team to consider. It had nothing to do with her.
Speaking of which, she’d really been unlucky lately. This was already the second time she’d encountered demons while off duty, and both times she’d happened to run into this young man named Gu Qing. Once he had saved her life, and this time she had saved him.
Ji Yueling suddenly felt a wave of pleasure. Now she no longer had to worry about owing Gu Qing a favor, though she hadn’t planned to repay anything anyway.
The mist by the lakeside gradually dispersed. The crowd had already scattered and fled, while the injured still lay on the ground groaning. Ji Yueling’s ability had temporarily stabilized their injuries, and soon rescue vehicles came rushing over. Personnel in black Alliance uniforms also arrived. Ji Yueling went to negotiate with them for a while. After explaining everything, she went to her car’s trunk and took out a bottle of alcohol from the small trunk.
Meanwhile, Gu Qing and Lu Qianqian still sat in place, describing the shark demon’s appearance as witnesses on the scene.
After the investigation ended, Ji Yueling suddenly came to Gu Qing’s side. She took out her phone to check the time – 10:37 PM. She looked up at Gu Qing. “Where are my fireworks?”
Gu Qing immediately looked away guiltily. “I never thought sis would actually come…”
“Then don’t make such polite small talk next time.” Ji Yueling’s voice turned cold again. She glanced at Lu Qianqian beside Gu Qing, only then noticing that Lu Qianqian’s cheeks were flushed, seemingly slightly drunk. She looked up at Gu Qing with a sideways glance. “New Year’s Eve, you let her drink so much alcohol – what are you planning?”
Perhaps because of Gu Qing’s status as a drifter, even though the Gu Qing before her looked quite young, Ji Yueling inevitably held certain prejudices against him. Over the years she had seen many demons, and also seen many people.
The evil of demons was exposed under sunlight, never hiding, far less than the pure dark evil of humans.
“I-I wanted to drink it myself…” Lu Qianqian spoke up carefully. She hurriedly hugged Gu Qing’s arm, defending him.
Gu Qing smiled helplessly. Ji Yueling glanced at Gu Qing, then looked at Lu Qianqian whose eyes held some worry, and said nothing more.
Perhaps for Lu Qianqian, that suddenly appearing young man had suddenly solved the painful source of her troubles these past two years, and now they lived together day and night in the same room. Even if some small romantic feelings developed, it would all be reasonable.
She had no mind to manage these things. She just silently walked forward and picked up some fireworks that hadn’t been set off yet, left behind by people who had fled, saying indifferently, “It’s fine now. If you want to go back, you can go back.”
Gu Qing looked down at Lu Qianqian and asked gently, “Do you want to go home first, or sit here and rest a bit more?”
“I want… to rest a bit more first.”
“Mm, then we’ll go back later.”
Lu Qianqian’s legs were still a bit weak, and on New Year’s Eve it was impossible to get a taxi. The two could only ride shared bikes back, so Gu Qing brought Lu Qianqian to the other side of the lake. This side had no bloodstains on the ground, and no traces of demons. By the lakeside, Ji Yueling sat alone on the steps, holding a bunch of roman candles in her hand.
The fireworks had already been lit, exploding in her hands toward the distant night sky. With a “pop” they illuminated her snow-white cheeks. At this moment her expression was still very cold, her pitch-black eyes revealing a trace of loneliness.
Beside her sat a bottle of brandy, without even a glass. She just silently lifted the bottle to her mouth and swallowed a big gulp. Even so, her expression didn’t change at all. Just from this one action, Gu Qing could tell she was also an alcohol dependent.
For one alcoholic, the best drinking companion is another alcoholic.
Gu Qing and Lu Qianqian sat to one side. They also picked up some unwanted fireworks. Lu Qianqian lit the fireworks, and the flames drove away the night’s cold while the bright firelight slowly drove away the fear in her heart. Meanwhile, Gu Qing sat directly beside Ji Yueling, without hesitation, and directly asked, “Can you share some with me?”
Only then did Ji Yueling come back to her senses, seeing Gu Qing staring at her bottle with expectant eyes.
“No.” Ji Yueling refused coldly.
“How about I do a magic trick for sis in exchange for a drink?” Gu Qing winked at her.
“Please?” Ji Yueling indicated she was waiting to see.
Gu Qing spread his hands, showing her his empty hands. After some hand movements, he clasped his hands together, then separated them. Between his fingers he held a lollipop.
Very simple close-up magic that could be easily mastered with practice.
“I don’t like candy.” Ji Yueling said indifferently.
Gu Qing showed her his empty hands again, clasped them once more, and opened them. This time between his fingertips he held a cigarette.
“I don’t smoke.” Ji Yueling shook her head.
“Ah, then I guess I have to use my ultimate move.”
Gu Qing showed her once more. This time Ji Yueling’s eyes stared intently at his palms, but this time he changed his technique. After showing his empty hands, he made one hand into a fist while the other hand rested on top, slowly drawing out a rose from that hand.
The rose wasn’t very delicate, already showing faint signs of withering.
“Not bad.” Ji Yueling gave her evaluation.
“I was originally planning to use this to make Lu Qianqian happy.” Gu Qing immediately carefully hid the rose back in the inner pocket of his clothes. Ji Yueling reached out to touch the jade bracelet on her right hand, took out two wine glasses from inside, poured him a full glass of alcohol, and also poured herself a glass.
“Happy New Year.” Gu Qing said to her softly.
Ji Yueling raised her glass, took a sip of the alcohol, and replied indifferently, “Happy New Year.”
Her voice didn’t hold much emotion, as if she was used to being cold, not deliberately targeting Gu Qing but treating everyone this way. Her eyes also didn’t look at Gu Qing again, but silently gazed toward the distant lake, not knowing what she was thinking about.
It was clearly New Year’s Eve, yet she didn’t know why she wasn’t spending it with family, but had come to this lakeside alone to endure the cold wind.
Just thinking about it made one feel lonely. Gu Qing relied on her loneliness to down another big gulp of alcohol. The wine in his glass was quickly emptied. Gu Qing looked at her profile – her cheeks were really beautiful. After spacing out for a little while, he asked softly, “Sis, your ability is healing type, right?”
“Yes.”
“I want to ask sis for a small favor.”
“Is it urgent?”
“Not urgent.”
“Then let’s talk about it next time.”
Ji Yueling lowered her head slightly, gently hugging her knees as she gazed toward the distant lake. Her eyelashes gradually drooped, and her voice also revealed some fatigue and intoxication.
“I’m a bit tired.”