Chapter 22: Helping the Protagonist Unlock His Talent Skill

Chapter 22: Helping the Protagonist Unlock His Innate Talent

Sure enough, the second Xiao Yiheng finished speaking, Pei Zhi's face darkened.

Pei Zhi's lower face was already wrapped in bandages from his injuries, and now with his eyelids half-lowered, combined with his pallid complexion, he looked even more sinister and unhinged, like he could snap at any second.

But Xiao Yiheng, completely oblivious to the shift, kept poking the bear: "What are you looking at? Don't think just because Master favors you, I wouldn't dare touch you. On Cangya Mountain, I'm your senior brother! You have to do whatever I say."

You'd think this would send Pei Zhi into an even crazier frenzy, but surprisingly, after hearing this, Pei Zhi's expression went from sinister to delighted, and the murderous aura radiating off him slowly faded.

???

What just happened? Wasn't Xiao Yiheng insulting him? Why did the protagonist look pleased by the scolding?

Xue Youtan mulled over the last part of Xiao Yiheng's words, totally confused about which phrase had made Pei Zhi flip his attitude.

But whatever, it didn't really matter.

"Enough." Xue Youtan flicked his sleeve, and the sobriety talismans at his fingertips shot toward the foreheads of Xiao Yiheng and Li Luoshu. "I brought you down the mountain to catch demons, not to drink. Snap out of it, now."

Xiao Yiheng and Li Luoshu shook their heads, mostly sober now. Just as they were about to say something, they saw Yuan Changsheng sprinting frantically from outside the courtyard, yelling as he ran, "Heavenly Master, Heavenly Master, save my sister, save my sister~"

Yuan Changsheng's face and body were covered in blood, a smear of it turning his right eye red, mixed with what looked like tears or sweat as it dripped down—at first glance, you'd think he was crying blood.

"What happened to her?" Xue Youtan straightened up, locking his gaze on the man.

"I—I don't know," Yuan Changsheng stammered, clearly scared out of his wits, his words all jumbled. "I was in my sister's room just now, when all of a sudden a gust of wind blew in and the door burst open, and then, and then my sister... she just collapsed."

Wind...

Xue Youtan sniffed the air and sure enough caught an unusual scent on the breeze.

It was similar to the demonic aura he'd sensed in the mansion earlier, but somehow slightly different.

Xue Youtan steadied himself, raised his right hand to his brow to form a seal, and closed his eyes. The mark of the epiphyllum on his forehead began to glow.

The colorless demonic aura gathered into a glowing hue in Xue Youtan's mind, as eye-catching as fireflies with glowing tails in the dead of night.

Unlike the faint demonic aura he'd sensed before, this one wasn't hiding at all—it all converged and headed toward the easternmost room in the front courtyard.

That room was the very one where he had seen Yuan Yingdi earlier.

For the evil spirit to dare show off in front of him while it was still daylight—pretty bold!

Xue Youtan opened his eyes. "The demonic aura is strong. Stay here, all of you. I'm going to deal with it."

With that, Xue Youtan formed a seal in his palm, ready to fly off and take care of the demon, but before he could move, Pei Zhi grabbed hold of his robes. "Master, take me along."

What for? Your spells are weak and you're crippled—why not just sit back and enjoy the free ride?

Xue Youtan was about to refuse without a second thought. His lips parted, but before he could speak, Pei Zhi cut in: "Didn't Master say this trip down the mountain was for our training? How can we train without experiencing it ourselves?"

That did make some sense, but watching with your eyes still counted as participating!

The system only said participation would boost the quest's satisfaction rating—it never said he had to bring the protagonist along to fight the boss.

There's really no need to take it so literally, protagonist!

Just as this thought crossed Xue Youtan's mind, a "ding" went off in his head.

"Congratulations, player. A temporary side quest has been triggered: Help the protagonist unlock his innate talent. Completion reward: 200 prestige points. Failure penalty: none. Accept? Yes 10", No 10""

Here we go again! Every time he thought of something, the damn system would set it up accordingly—was it using his brain as a bug-fixer or what?

And "temporary side quest"—the name was about as thrown-together as it sounded, clearly something 2484 had just made up on the spot.

It knew damn well he was desperate to rack up prestige points to exchange for a calamity-avoiding pill and wouldn't refuse any dropped instance, so it shoved this temporary quest at him.

Now it was shamelessly shoving the protagonist into the spotlight at every turn.

Wasn't this supposed to be his demon-subduing instance? Why did every single step feel like it was paving the way for the protagonist? God damn it.

In the middle of his grumbling, the countdown ended, and the system automatically accepted the quest.

"Congratulations, player. Temporary side quest activated. Friendly reminder: Innate talents are usually triggered in life-threatening situations. Wishing you a pleasant gaming experience."

2484, do I look like I'm having a good time right now?

Xue Youtan's mouth twitched over and over. If there weren't so many people around and lives at stake, he would've stood there with his hands on his hips and cursed the system out.

And what the hell was the point of that hint? If he understood it right, the only life-threatening situation in this instance was when fighting the monster.

What was it saying? That he should hold back his big moves during the fight and just throw Pei Zhi in?

Oh, well, well.

Seeing Xue Youtan stay silent, his expression shifting between cloudy and clear, Pei Zhi spoke up again: "That monster comes and goes without a trace. I'm scared to stay here. Please, just let me follow you, Master."

Xue Youtan had just snapped back to reality when he heard Pei Zhi's words. He bit his lip hard, barely holding back a laugh.

You're scared? You're the great demon lord who could make all five major sects kneel and surrender with a snap of your fingers—and you're scared of a monster that only goes after women?

Who taught the protagonist to play the innocent little flower? If you're going to claim you're scared, at least put on a scared face!

That said, even if the kid hadn't said a word, Xue Youtan would have brought him along anyway for those 200 temporary prestige points. So he took half a step toward Pei Zhi, reached out and grabbed his slender wrist, and was just about to take off when the other end of his sleeve was tugged by someone else.

???

Xue Youtan turned to look and saw Yuan Changsheng clutching his sleeve. Seeming to realize his hands were bloody, Yuan Changsheng released the sleeve abruptly, sobbing with snot and tears streaming down his face. "Heavenly Master, please take me too. I want to save my sister! I really want to save her... wuwuwu..."

Any more delay and it would be too late. Without another word, Xue Youtan grabbed one person in each hand and flew straight toward the room where the demonic aura had gathered.

As they neared the eastern room, a thick stench of blood hit their noses.

The moment the three landed and Xue Youtan released his grip, Yuan Changsheng rushed frantically toward the room where the bloody smell emanated, kicked the door open, and charged inside.

As the door swung open, the overwhelming stench of blood rushed out, nearly making Xue Youtan gag. He covered his nose and stepped up onto the threshold, about to wave his hand to release spirit butterflies to burn and illuminate the room so he could see what was inside, when Yuan Changsheng lit the candle on the table.

But the wick seemed to be soaked in oil, leaving only a tiny flame flickering weakly—the dim light sputtered and danced, making it hard to see clearly.

Xue Youtan could only vaguely make out a figure lying sideways on the table, back facing the door, motionless—whether alive or dead was unclear.