The Natives of This World Are Fierce

In the distance, a figure emerged slowly from the main building, swaying as they walked as if they had just woken up.

Seeing someone finally emerge, the oppressive feeling in the group’s hearts inexplicably lightened. They then subconsciously looked up again for the crow.

Huh? Where’s the crow?

Their line of sight revealed only the high, white wall. Not only was the crow gone, but even the dead branch had vanished, as if it had all been an illusion.

But from the looks they exchanged, they knew they hadn’t been seeing things.

"Boss... something’s not right with this place!"

"Maybe we should get out of here..."

"Yeah, I’ve got goosebumps that won’t go away!"

The underlings whispered their unease to Blaise.

Although Blaise also felt uneasy, it only strengthened his resolve to get to the bottom of things.

"Not right? What’s not right?"

A woman’s voice suddenly sounded right beside them, startling the entire group. They looked over and saw that the figure who should have been far away was now standing by the iron gate. Her footsteps had been completely silent, like a ghost’s.

She was a young woman. Her looks were decent enough, but she had a peculiar aura.

Jenny yawned. For someone who hadn’t yet awakened their Magic Power, staying up for days to study Magic Patterns was an immense strain on both mind and body. The only reason she hadn’t dropped dead was that her constitution had already grown much stronger.

"And you are?"

She sized up the group of big, burly men.

"Are you the plumbers or from the equipment company? You’re a day early, aren’t you?"

She had clearly mistaken them for someone else. Blaise quickly stepped forward to explain before his clueless underlings could say the wrong thing.

"No, ma’am. We’re not construction workers. We came here to, uh... find someone!"

Blaise didn’t know how to explain about the mysterious person, but luckily, he had come prepared.

He immediately had his men retrieve two large boxes from the trunks of their cars—the same kind of coolers that had been used to hide the painting.

"That case of meat we had wasn’t worth 1,000 USD, so I brought a few more as compensation!"

Jenny was a little surprised. ’So these are the thugs.’

Channeling borrowed Magic Power to her eyes, she could see a faint, sinister chill still clinging to Blaise.

’That must be the residual aura of the Faceless Shadow Ghost my Mentor mentioned.’

The Faceless Shadow Ghost and its evolved form, the Ghoul—which Su Su had told her about—once filled Jenny with a deep fear of Demons from the Otherworld.

But now, as her training with Magic Power progressed and with the help of Magic Potions from the association’s Tree Shepherds, she had gradually grown stronger.

Especially since over half a month ago, she had begun to feel power welling up from her own soul, a sign that she possessed, at the very least, the aptitude of a Knight.

Although she still lacked the ability to remove the Faceless Shadow Ghost’s parasitic influence, she had gradually built up her confidence. There was no way she would be afraid of such a low-level Demon anymore.

"Oh, you’re quick-witted. You actually managed to track me down. It seems my Mentor was right—big muscles don’t always mean a small brain."

"Mhm. Leave the boxes. You can go now."

Her words were a confident, tacit admission of everything Blaise suspected, yet she immediately followed it with an order for them to leave.

Jenny opened the newly-locked iron gate from the inside, nonchalantly picked up the boxes, and started walking in without any intention of inviting them to follow.

"Still here? You have cars. You don’t need me to see you out."

She carried the two boxes inside with ease and prepared to shut the iron gate.

One of the burly men quickly moved to block the gate with his body. His expression was fierce, but he was clearly struggling to restrain himself.

"Hey, girlie, our boss isn’t finished talking!"

Jenny’s face was a mask of annoyance at their dithering.

"What else?"

Blaise couldn’t just watch the opportunity slip away. He had to get answers today, no matter what.

"Can I meet the person who saved me in the church yesterday?"

He never expected such a simple sentence to provoke such an extreme reaction.

A sensation like a jolt of static electricity washed over them, and everyone’s hair stood on end.

"Who... do... you... think... you... are?"

The icy female voice spoke, each word deliberate and devoid of emotion.

"Did you think I don’t know what people like you do for a living?"

The gaze of the once-harmless girl was now so intense that the six or seven burly men didn’t dare to meet her eyes. They felt like prey being stared down by a predator.

In any other situation, they would have already blown up. But now, this group of men was so intimidated by a single girl that they hardly dared to breathe.

Jenny loathed them. At that moment, her subtly transforming Soul Essence and body drew upon Qin Xiaoxia’s Magic Power. On a plane invisible to the naked eye, a suffocating malice enveloped Blaise and his men from all sides.

"CAW—"

The crow’s caw rang out just as Blaise felt he was about to suffocate.

The pressure on everyone suddenly vanished. As if released from a chokehold, they all began gasping for fresh air.

No one dared to underestimate the girl any longer. The burly man blocking the gate quietly backed away. She was practically a Witch!

"Aha~ Sorry about that. I almost forced your souls right out of your bodies. It’s just that the first Technique I ever learned was a bit on the dark side..."

Of course, Jenny was exaggerating. She wasn’t nearly that powerful yet. She was just trying to scare them off.

Indeed, her Mentor had told her these men would come. She was, in a sense, Blaise’s examiner.

Whether Blaise could enter the Secret Place and meet the Mentor was entirely up to her. But she had no love for a gang boss. As far as she was concerned, there was no way he was getting past her!

"Alright, you can go. In a few days, your memories of what happened recently will fade. You’ll forget all about the scary parts soon enough."

Recalling her Mentor’s words from yesterday, Jenny offered Blaise a piece of well-intentioned advice, assuming he was still terrified of the Faceless Shadow Ghost.

Blaise had actually been ready to retreat. This girl was clearly not someone to mess with, and he didn’t want to leave a bad impression.

But Jenny’s words, "You’ll forget all about it soon enough," made Blaise’s heart leap into his throat. An intense feeling of anxiety and panic washed over him.

’Does that mean... I’m going to forget?’

’I might not get another chance for the rest of my life!’

"Ma’am, I still want to meet him!"

Just as Jenny was about to speak, Blaise quickly cut in, his voice growing louder.

"I know you hate me, and I know he probably hates me even more! I may be a scoundrel, but I’m not a monster! I just... I just want to thank him in person!"

Blaise panted, fighting the urge to look away as he stared directly into Jenny’s eyes.

"I’ve been going to church for over twenty years. I know full well my deeds won’t get me into heaven, so I thank Him for His grace while I’m still on earth!"

"You said I’m going to forget this experience soon. I’m begging you, please give me a chance to say thank you before I do!"

Blaise’s gaze never wavered. He fought the urge to blink even as his eyes began to sting, holding back until the corners of his eyes turned red.

’Please, please, God, let this work! She has to be moved by this!!’

Jenny was stunned for a moment. It felt like a scene from a movie, the "honor among thieves" trope. The unexpected impact of this "tough guy with a tender heart" persona left her a little shaken.

’Maybe this Blaise isn’t so hopeless after all.’

"If it’s just to say thanks..."

She glanced at the hopeful, almost child-like look in Blaise’s eyes.

"Oh, whatever. You can come in."

...

"All the world’s a stage, and it all comes down to acting. Jenny’s still a little too green!"

Qin Xiaoxia remarked with a laugh.

At that moment, Mark, Joey, Doudou, the Red Demoness, and even Mumu—who had just passed a trial through the Secret Realm Ring’s passage—were all gathered somewhere in a branch of the Secret Realm, gazing at a mirror-like surface.

The Shadow of the Secret Realm here was a crow, and what it saw was broadcast to the group with perfect, three-dimensional clarity.

"Mentor, are you saying that Blaise was just acting?"

"Haha, not entirely. He just exaggerated his true feelings a little. But if he hadn’t, Jenny probably wouldn’t have let him in."

It was a performance good enough to fool Jenny, but for Qin Xiaoxia or anyone from the orthodox Dawn, it was far from convincing.

PS: Second Chapter for Tuesday.