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

Chapter 35 What is the Traffic Code?

"Ring ring..."

"drop……"

The phone alarm rang for less than two seconds before being quickly turned off, but it was still enough to wake the phone's owner from their sleep.

He groggily opened his eyes. Because the thick curtains were drawn, the whole room was dimly lit. The only light source was his phone on the bedside table, where his left hand was strangely "reading" a novel, turning the pages by itself.

"I'm telling you," Shi Yan sighed, "could you please not turn off my alarm?"

"You're awake now, aren't you?" Crimson said without turning her head, her tone quite displeased. "Do you really have to set this alarm clock? Every time I'm having a good time, it suddenly pops up and scares me."

"How am I supposed to get up and work if I don't set an alarm?" Shi Yan said irritably. "Are you going to wake me up?"

"What I mean is, why do you get up and work when you're clearly not fully awake?" Scarlet said. "Can't you humans just sleep until you naturally wake up?"

Shi Yan: "..."

That's a good question. Don't ask it again.

Shi Yan regained control of his left hand, then ignored Scarlet's protests and put the phone away.

A week has passed since he officially became the Swordholder. During this time, his relationship with Crimson has improved, and they are no longer like before, wanting to kill each other—of course, also because they realize that they really can't kill each other, at least not in the short term—so the two made another deal.

That means that during the day, Fei Hong wouldn't cause him any trouble, and at night, Shi Yan would lend her his phone so she could read novels.

However, Shi Yan still had to choose which novels to read for her before bed, and she only needed to kowtow and turn the pages—after all, she still hadn't learned how to use a mobile phone, and her sluggishness with electronic products was comparable to that of a centenarian.

Well, that makes sense, after all, a centenarian looks like a fertilized egg in front of this ancient monster.

After getting up, Shi Yan went to the bathroom to brush his teeth, wash his face, and use the toilet. Having this crimson finger that wasn't originally his own didn't affect his life most of the time, but there were times when it was a little inconvenient, like when he needed to use the toilet.

Because it involves private parts, Shi Yan would try to avoid using his left hand whether it was for urination or defecation. After all, Scarlet was, after all, a female beast... uh, that seems a bit vulgar, so why not a female demon... that feels a bit strange too? Anyway, that's the gist of it. In short, Shi Yan, who had been single since birth in both his two lives, really didn't want Scarlet to have intimate contact with his little brother.

At first, Scarlet didn't take it seriously and even used it to mock Shi Yan.

Until one morning, Shi Yan was still half asleep and vaguely forgot about her. Then, after relieving himself, he accidentally shoved the toilet paper through the back of the toilet paper while wiping with his left hand...

In short, she cursed him horribly that day and refused to allow Shi Yan to touch her genitals again. She even questioned why Shi Yan couldn't find someone to help him clean up his mess.

Shi Yan was very surprised. How could someone possibly help clean up your mess? Where did you learn that from?

Fei Hong replied, "That's exactly what Prince Jing of Dongshan did back then. Not only was his food, clothing, and shelter all taken care of by others, but after he got her, his left hand not only stopped doing anything, but he also worshipped her and offered incense to her every day, treating her like a deity. Unlike when he was with Shi Yan, he not only didn't receive any special treatment, but he also had to clean up her messes. He deserves to be torn to pieces."

Shi Yan naturally did not accept such accusations and immediately retorted with things like, "You were the one who insisted on coming in, it wasn't me who begged you," which sparked a new round of arguments.

However, since Fei Hong doesn't understand a lot of swear words or jokes, her sarcasm is completely ineffective. So Shi Yan can only use more colloquial and easy-to-understand words to curse, which sounds like two elementary school students arguing.

At times like this, Shi Yan couldn't help but wonder if this guy was the mythical monster Qi Fei had mentioned.

Yes, Qi Fei's words alone are not enough to determine Scarlet's identity, because the records of the Shang Dynasty are too vague. Qi Fei's statement, "The sky is burning, the world is crimson," is merely a translation and interpretation by later generations, and whether the original meaning was truly accurate is unknown. Moreover, ancient records themselves tend to exaggerate. Let's not even mention things like the Magic Book Catalogue; just consider the Classic of Mountains and Seas—it simply couldn't be... wait a minute, this world has monsters, so it's hard to say whether those things are factual literature.

More importantly, according to Scarlet's limited memories, humans hadn't even come down from the trees when she was alive, let alone had any human civilization.

From this perspective, Crimson is likely an earlier type of yokai, but earlier doesn't necessarily mean stronger. After all, Crimson's status as a mythical creature was self-proclaimed, while the definition of a mythical yokai by exorcists came later; the two cannot be equated.

However, Shi Yan himself still tends to believe that the two scarlet figures are actually the same demon. After all, there are hardly any coincidences in this world, so it's probably true.

However, this raises another question.

"Shua Lala".

At the sink, Shi Yan washed his face clean, then leaned close to the mirror and stared at his left eye reflected in it.

He wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but a faint golden light seemed to be emanating from the bottom of his left eye.

If Scarlet is truly that mythical-level demon, then what is the eye that has been fighting with Scarlet for two thousand years?

Another mythical-level demon? Or one that isn't even recorded in any records or legends?

Shi Yan really wanted to ask the other party directly, since the other party was definitely much more reliable than Fei Hong.

However, since entering his body, the other party has only spoken one sentence at the very beginning, and Shi Yan saw her silhouette in the consciousness space. Aside from that, the two have had no interaction. According to Scarlet, her injuries haven't healed yet. But almost two weeks have passed since then; hasn't her injury healed? And can't she communicate when she's injured?

Shi Yan couldn't figure it out, but if possible, he really wanted to have a good talk with the other party, at least to find out what kind of person the other party was, and it would be even better if he could get more information from it.

Unfortunately, it's not possible right now.

Shi Yan sighed softly, then packed her things and went to work.

It's called going to work, but it's really just going upstairs; Qi Fei's studio is upstairs.

Yes, he has moved here and worked with Qi Fei for a week, and he hasn't even gone back to school.

There was no other way. Now, a "good uncle" was searching for him everywhere, and he was also under the control of two powerful demons who were eager to possess him at any time (let's assume the other one had the same intention). In addition, he had to be wary of Qi Fei and the others noticing anything amiss. Under these circumstances, he couldn't care less about a relaxed and enjoyable campus life.

He is now truly walking a tightrope, every step fraught with danger, and a single misstep could send him plummeting into an abyss.

Therefore, we must be extremely careful and cautious.

Standing in front of the studio, Shi Yan took a deep breath, composed himself, and then pushed the door open to enter.

Inside the studio, Qi Fei was looking at the documents with a serious expression. When Shi Yan greeted him, he simply nodded slightly without saying a word.

This immediately made Shi Yan realize that something was wrong, because Qi Fei hadn't done anything serious in the past week.

He's either watching big breasts on live stream or watching big breasts live stream, which leaves Shi Yan with nothing to do all day. He always wants to do something, but he doesn't know what to do, so he just wastes his time here.

But today is clearly different; there's probably work to be done.

Is there news about his uncle, or is there some other monster lurking somewhere else?

Shi Yan was eager to know, but wisely refrained from asking further questions and simply waited on the side.

After waiting for about 10 minutes, Qi Fei took a deep breath, leaned back in his chair, and looked exhausted. "I think I'm in trouble, a trouble I can't solve on my own. Shi Yan, I need your help."

Has it come to the point where his help is needed? Could it be that his uncle has some news about him, and he needs to act as bait?

Before Shi Yan could figure it out, Qi Fei handed him the documents in his hand: "Take a look at this."

Shi Yan carefully took it, but after just one glance, his expression froze instantly.

Because this isn't information about any monsters at all, but rather a booklet of images featuring black stockings and large breasts.

"This is a tough choice," Qi Fei said in a deep voice. "Breasts or legs, which one is the more popular answer? Can you choose? I certainly can't, so you have to help me."

Shi Yan took a deep breath.

Is this what the Sword-Holding Bureau does?

Damn, he wouldn't do that kind of job.

"Don't you have anything important to do?" Shi Yan couldn't help but ask.

"Isn't this the important thing?" Qi Fei said. "Do you know how much my viewership has dropped recently? The donations have decreased by half. If I don't come up with a solution soon, I'll be forgotten."

"This wasn't even your official job to begin with! Don't make it sound like it's your due."

"How is this not a proper job? Isn't everything I'm doing for the sake of better demon slaying?" Qi Fei said with considerable dissatisfaction. "Instead of complaining here, why don't you send me a couple of big rockets to boost my popularity first?"

"Please," Shi Yan sighed, "I haven't received a single penny of salary yet, and you've cut off my living expenses."

"That's nonsense," Qi Fei said. "We haven't paid you your salary yet, but we haven't stopped giving you living expenses either."

"My living expenses are all given to me by my uncle," Shi Yan said expressionlessly. "Do you think he'll still give them to me now?"

"Uh, that makes sense," Qi Fei said. "Then shouldn't you be helping me with the live stream? The Sword-Wielding Bureau's salary won't be paid for a while, but my live stream earnings are readily available. You don't want to be without living expenses in the future, do you? If not, hurry up and get to work for me. These are all the female guests who have submitted their content to me. Can you help me see which one is more suitable for the live stream?"

Shi Yan: "..."

I feel like I've come to the wrong place.

After a small complaint in his heart, Shi Yan still picked up the documents.

It was then that he realized that the female guests who submitted their photos were indeed there to appraise antiques; every photo contained a cultural relic. For example, the one Shi Yan was holding was a ceramic vase from the Qing Dynasty, which looked quite beautiful.

But the problem is... there's a pair of woman's legs wrapped in black stockings wrapped around this ceramic bottle.

The same is true for other cultural relics, such as ancient coins stuck in ravines and stamps held between toes.

"No way, these guys are just appraising treasures, why do they have to make it like this?" Shi Yan couldn't help but complain.

"Traffic, you know," Qi Fei said casually. "Antiques paired with beautiful women are such a perfect match. Don't you think it's precisely because of their existence that these cold antiques come alive?"

"Don't say such strange things so seriously," Shi Yan sighed. "We're a legitimate organization, after all."

"I'm not talking nonsense," Qi Fei said. "If you just do those treasure appraisal live streams, who's going to watch them? The most important thing in live streaming is to lure people in first, and then you can talk about other things after you have traffic."

Shi Yan ignored Qi Fei. He didn't believe that this method could be used to find monsters. After all, what decent person would actually throw away their treasure on such an unserious live stream?

Just find two big-breasted, beautiful-legged women to appease Qi Fei.

But at that moment, his hand stopped in front of a photograph.

The photographer was wearing a school uniform, specifically the uniform of Lincheng No. 1 Middle School.

What the heck is this? I even saw my classmate's profile picture?

The photographer didn't show her face, but she unbuttoned her school uniform halfway in front of the camera, revealing a large expanse of smooth skin. While not as revealing as adult women who openly expose their legs and cleavage, her youth gave her a unique charm.

Wait, wait, have I been assimilated? Why am I starting to look at body parts now?

Shi Yan cursed himself inwardly before looking at the girl's "treasure," which she placed in front of her chest.

This is a round mirror, no bigger than the palm of your hand. Apart from being old, it doesn't have any special features.

But for some reason, this mirror gave Shi Yan a very uncomfortable feeling.

"Hehehehe."

A crimson laugh rang out at the opportune moment, and upon hearing it, Shi Yan realized that this mirror was indeed extraordinary. He casually asked, "Is there something strange about this mirror?"

He was just asking casually, not expecting Scarlet to answer. After all, Scarlet was the kind of person who wouldn't do anything without a reason, and she would definitely use this to get him to do some kind of deal.

But to everyone's surprise, Crimson said directly, "I don't know if there's anything strange about this mirror. But this human has definitely been influenced by a demon."

Shi Yan raised an eyebrow, surprised that Fei Hong actually answered.

Of course, what surprised him even more was that Qi Fei's method could actually find the monster!