What do you mean you also want to return to the world?

Chapter 15 Courage, Young Man

Shi Yan roughly understood.

Simply put, the Sword-Wielding Bureau is divided into two parts: one is responsible for combat and demon extermination, like Qi Fei and Tang Shi, while the other is responsible for intelligence and logistics. However, the demon extermination warriors who are responsible for combat often feel that their logistics capabilities are not up to par, so they also take on some intelligence work themselves. But this is not considered a formal job, and there is no unified standard, which is why unconventional methods like Qi Fei's, such as live-streaming treasure hunting to find demons, have emerged.

But does this really work?

"Of course it works." Qi Fei saw through Shi Yan's doubts. "If it didn't work, why would I be doing this live stream? Do you really think I'm just bored and want to do something risqué or suggestive? This is my persona! Only this down-to-earth persona can attract more viewers, and with more viewers, I can better investigate and prevent problems before they occur... Sigh, those who know me understand my worries, while those who don't think I'm vulgar."

Shi Yan's lips twitched slightly; he really wanted to complain, but he held back.

"So if I join you, I'll be like you..." Shi Yan glanced at the phone behind Qi Fei, "...live streaming?"

"No, no, no, the host can let me do it alone." Qi Fei shook his head repeatedly and refused. "I have experience with this kind of thing, so I don't need you to come... Ah, I seem to have gone too far. I don't even know if you can become one of us."

"Any further conditions are needed?"

"Of course, do you think we're playing house? You think we can just come here, sign a contract, and start working?" Qi Fei looked into Shi Yan's eyes. "Do you know the difference between the two paths I'm giving you? This isn't just a simple division of labor; it's a fundamental difference in career paths."

"I don't quite understand."

"Simply put, one option is to conceal your demonic power as much as possible from now on and become a normal person," Qi Fei said. "The other is to try every means to use your demonic power and become a demon, because only demons can fight demons. But by then, it will be too late to regret it. Humans won't see us as their kin, and demons will want nothing more than to kill us... Do you understand?"

Whether I understand or not is irrelevant now.

Shi Yan sighed heavily in his heart, but said aloud, "I had already thought it through when I came here. You don't need to persuade me anymore. Just tell me what to do."

"Hehe, I was just giving you a routine reminder." Qi Fei grinned. "It would be even better if you wanted to join. Didn't I say I don't dislike passionate people like you? It would definitely be interesting to be colleagues with you. I hope you'll be assigned to my team."

"Then?" Shi Yan asked, puzzled. "What do you mean? Can't we do it now?"

"Yes, you need to go to headquarters first for a more detailed check-up." Qi Fei leaned back in his chair, picked up his phone and started scrolling. "The people at headquarters will guide you then."

Shi Yan's heart tightened.

A more detailed examination? What if they discover the two powerful demons inside him and kill them on the spot?

That won't do; it's too risky.

"Can't you teach me?" Shi Yan asked quickly.

"That won't work. Although I am indeed qualified to discover and train Swordholders, you are not a Swordholder."

"Huh?" Shi Yan was a little confused. "What do you mean?"

Qi Fei looked up at Shi Yan, then belatedly realized something and slapped his forehead: "Ah, I knew I forgot to tell you something important. Tsk tsk tsk, my brain."

He shook his head and said, "When I say 'you are not a sword wielder,' I don't mean profession, but identity. Okay, you don't need to ask what the difference is, I'll just tell you directly, there are no demons within us."

Shi Yan was stunned.

"In this world, demon hunters are generally divided into three types. The first type uses weapons imbued with demonic power, usually swords. They use swords to vanquish demons and monsters, and are called 'sword wielders.' A famous example is Emperor Gaozu of Han, who slew a snake with his sword a thousand years ago," Qi Fei said. "Influenced by him, demon hunters in our country are generally equipped with this setup. Their power comes from the weapons used to vanquish demons, not from the demons themselves. That's why demon hunters in our country are called sword wielders; it's both a profession and a status."

"The second type is from Japan. In ancient times, their samurai did not have the ability to slay demons, so when fighting demons, they often had to fight poison with poison, inviting the demons to possess them to subdue the demons with demons. Therefore, their demon exorcists were usually half-human, half-demon priests. Their demon exorcism organization is called Saiteireo, and your source of power is the same as theirs."

"As for the third type, it's the ouroboros from the West. That's another kind of being, and it's not relevant to you for now, so just ignore it. You only need to know that your power comes from the second type."

Qi Fei's words were hard for Shi Yan to accept: "So I've become a Japanese?"

"That's definitely not the case. It's just a different source of power. However, your situation is indeed very rare in our country, so we don't have any corresponding training experience," Qi Fei said lazily. "That's why we're having you report to headquarters. If nothing unexpected happens, headquarters should invite someone from Saiting Dormitory to guide you... Hmm, I just don't know if Saiting Dormitory will ask headquarters for someone and take you back to Japan. I hope not."

"Take me back to Japan?" While frantically racking his brains for ways to avoid being taken back to headquarters for further investigation, Shi Yan suddenly grasped the key point. "Why?"

"The three major demon-slaying forces are only nominal partners, but each of them highly values ​​the secrecy of their own power sources. Therefore, they may not be willing to train a 'priest' for us," Qi Fei said. "However, they would be very happy to accept you as one of them."

Shi Yan realized that this might be the best excuse for him to avoid inspection, so he pretended to be silent for a while before saying, "I don't want to go to Japan."

"Oh, you don't want to go?" Qi Fei said. "The girls in Japan are very gentle, and the 'priests' of the Saiten Dormitory are different from the 'sword bearers' of the Sword-Holding Bureau. They have a very high status in Japan. If you go, you'll have many fair-skinned shrine maidens serving you."

Damn, what kind of persuasion is this? It's making him almost want to agree.

But soon, the desire to live overcame lust, and Shi Yan resolutely refused: "My parents are still here, I don't want to go anywhere."

"I see." Hearing Shi Yan say this, Qi Fei's carefree smile gradually faded, and his voice softened. "Yes, your parents are still here. If it were me, I probably wouldn't want to leave either."

"So is there any way?" Shi Yan, using filial piety as a pretext, looked at Qi Fei very sincerely. "The only way to let me stay is in this city."

It's unclear whether Shi Yan's sincerity moved Qi Fei, or whether he genuinely didn't want to see such a promising talent like Shi Yan fall into the hands of other forces.

After thinking for a while, Qi Fei nodded slightly: "There really is a way."

"What method?" Shi Yan asked impatiently.

Qi Fei looked into Shi Yan's eyes and said, word by word.

"Do you dare to challenge the monster inside you?"

……

A few minutes later, Qi Fei placed a combination lock box on the table, which was completely out of place with the surrounding furniture.

After opening the box, Shi Yan saw several syringes filled with an unknown liquid inside.

"What is this?" Shi Yan had a bad feeling as soon as he saw it.

"This is something that will allow you to meet the monster inside you." Qi Fei took out one of the vials, flicking it lightly with his finger as he explained, "After it's injected, your body will enter a state of suspended animation for a period of time, and your spirit will fall into the deepest space of consciousness. There, you will be able to see the monster inside you."

Shi Yan thought for a moment, then looked at the glove on his left hand: "Just like yesterday when you asked me to put a limiter on it?"

"No, no, no, that's far from it." Qi Fei shook his head. "Yesterday, when you put a restraint on it, it was like putting a leash on the head of a tiger that had been locked in a cage and starving for several days. There was no danger in itself, and if you failed, you could just change the leash and try again."

"And what about this time?"

"This time you have to open the cage and climb in yourself," Qi Fei said. "Then you have to draw a vial of blood from the tiger."

Shi Yan's lips twitched slightly: "Are you kidding me?"

"Do I look like I'm joking with you?" Qi Fei shrugged. "That's why I suggested you go to Japan. The priests there know how to help you. But we don't, so you'll have to go in on your own."

"But why do we have to go in? And what's the point of drawing blood?"

"Of course, it's for power." Qi Fei held up two fingers. "The first type is power that the monsters give you willingly. This power is very strong, but it also has a strong corrupting effect. If you use it too much, you will be corrupted by the monsters. You should already know this. So, in order not to be corrupted, we can only use the second type of power—stealing it from the monsters. What we steal is ours."

Shi Yan was very surprised: "That's possible? So the stolen power won't be contaminated?"

"Yes, but relatively speaking, it's much smaller and is now within a controllable range."

I can't believe it...

"Is that dangerous?"

"Of course, it's very dangerous," Qi Fei said. "Otherwise, why would I say it's like entering a cage? You're in direct contact with monsters in the deepest part of your consciousness. If you're not careful..."

"Will I die?"

"You'll go insane. Getting injured in the consciousness space won't kill you instantly, but for a normal person, going insane is pretty much the same as being dead," Qi Fei said. "However, the probability isn't particularly high; it depends a lot on luck."

"How so?"

"You've been wearing your limiter properly since yesterday, haven't you?" Qi Fei glanced at Shi Yan's gloves. "Can you still hear that monster's voice?"

Shi Yan thought back for a moment and realized that it had indeed been a while since he had heard it.

"That means the limiter is working well; it's very weak now, so theoretically it shouldn't be too dangerous. Like even the most ferocious beast, after being tormented like this for a while, it should eventually doze off. And that's your chance," Qi Fei said. "Of course, it's just a chance; it's definitely not safe. If you really want to be safe, you should still go east..."

"Come on." Shi Yan rolled up his sleeves, his expression resolute. "I'm ready. If I succeed, I can stay, right?"

"...That brave?" Qi Fei shrugged. "If you succeed, of course you can stay. Because that means you can already use the power of demons, which makes you a basic demon exorcist."

Anyone who can extract demonic power from monsters is considered a demon exorcist.

It sounds simple enough, but when Shi Yan recalled the enormous fiery phoenix from yesterday, he couldn't help but feel a chill run down his spine.

Is he really able to get a vial of blood from that thing?

However, there is really no way out now, so we have no choice but to go for it.

"Wait a minute." Qi Fei glanced at his phone. "Yeah, they should be here soon."

As soon as he finished speaking, the door was pushed open, and the icy senior sister Tang Shi strode in. She was carrying a black box in her left hand and a bronze mirror under her right arm, her brows furrowed.

"Perform the ceremony here?" Her gaze swept quickly across Shi Yan's face before settling on Qi Fei's. "Isn't that too risky?"

"He doesn't want to go to Japan, so this is the only way." Qi Fei shrugged.

Tang Shi opened her mouth, as if she wanted to say something more, but after hesitating for a moment, she gave up and began to fiddle with the bronze mirror in front of her, placing it in front of Shi Yan.

"What is this?"

There was a notch in the center of the bronze mirror in front of me, which looked like a half-open mouth and was rather lewd.

"The Gluttony Mirror," Qi Fei said, "is used to test the strength of your demonic power, provided you can successfully bring it out."

"How do we test for this?"

"If the demonic energy you bring out is strong and concentrated, it will react." Qi Fei pointed to the gap, "It will stick out its tongue and lick you hard."

No, is this really a mouth?

Shi Yan felt nauseous: "Aren't there any other testing methods?"

"This is the most obvious one," Qi Fei said with a smile. "When this monster was alive, it fed on other monsters. The stronger the monster, the more delicious it was to it. And the weaker the monster, the less attractive it was to it. So if it doesn't even glance at you after you bring out your demonic power, that means..."

"Am I unpalatable?"

"You're safe." Qi Fei patted Shi Yan's shoulder hard. "In our line of work, the weaker the monster, the safer it is. Just like how ugly women never need to be afraid of sexual harassment."

Shi Yan's heart skipped a beat: "What if I'm not that safe?"

"It's alright, we have other measures in place." Qi Fei pointed to the black box on the other side. "You'll definitely be safe."

That's completely unsettling.

Shi Yan sighed: "I still don't know if I can succeed."

The more confident you are, the greater your chances of success.

"Is this some kind of inspirational story?"

"No." Qi Fei shook his head. "It's true. You need to understand that even the deepest space of consciousness is still your own consciousness. There, how powerful a monster is depends not only on its own strength, but also on your imagination."

Shi Yan was taken aback: "It also depends on my imagination?"

"Yes, so believe in yourself, Shi Yan." Qi Fei pulled out a syringe and injected himself. "Passion can create miracles!"

"Wait, I'm not ready yet..."

Before he could finish speaking, the medicine took effect, and Shi Yan's head lolled to the side as he fell asleep.

Afterwards, Tang Shi looked at Qi Fei with considerable suspicion: "The strength of a demon depends on the courage of its host—is there really such a saying in the Zhaitingliao?"

Qi Fei immediately revealed a sly smile.

"you guess."