Peering cautiously through the hotel window, Tang Yue pointed out an ordinary middle-aged man on the street below. He had long, spiky black hair and sharp, yellow eyes like a predator. He wore a faded, worn-out suit and a battered cap.
«That's Chao He,» Judge Tang instructed, giving me a quick field briefing. «Keep a close eye on him, but try to stay out of his sight. If he notices you, just act natural. Go on, I believe in you. The main thing is to wait until he leaves the city before making the arrest; otherwise, the collateral damage and casualties will be immense. Do you understand everything?»
«Yes, Yue'er,» I nodded, making her flush bright red. She clearly wasn't used to me addressing her so intimately yet.
«Just go already!» she shooed me away.
I shadowed Chao He from a distance of about a hundred meters, sometimes trailing further back, sometimes closing in slightly. To blend in, I deliberately made a show of letting Pikachu look around the city, dropping into various merchant stalls along the way. All in all, I put on a thoroughly convincing performance as a loud, clueless tourist.
I stalked the criminal like this for thirty minutes until he approached a pair of elderly farmers and struck up a conversation. After shooting the breeze with them for about five minutes, Chao He made his way up the mountain slope. He had likely been asking for directions to the riverbed.
When he finally cleared the city limits, Tang Yue slipped out from the shadows on my right.
«Besides him, two other groups are heading up the mountain,» she whispered, hastily leading me up the mountain trail. «Let's move fast. I think it'll be easier to stay hidden in all the commotion.» I recalled Pikachu into his sphere; it was far too early for him to get caught up in a fight of this scale.
As we neared the summit, Tang Yue suddenly clapped a hand over my mouth, pulled me into her soft embrace, and dragged me behind a tree, shrouding us both in shadow.
«Keep quiet,» she murmured intimately against my ear. I'd have to get back at her later for this unintentional physical torture, but I certainly wasn't going to pull away from her embrace now-I wasn't a fool.
Moments later, crunching footsteps echoed through the trees, and a group of people emerged into the clearing. Judging by their rugged gear, they were a hunter squad.
Leading them was a scar-faced man named Pan Xiong, an Intermediate-level mage. From their hushed conversation, they were already dividing up their expected profits from selling a Soul-grade Fire Seed. They certainly didn't lack confidence.
«Soul Seeds are rare, natural treasures born from heaven and earth…» Tang Yue began, attempting to explain the basics to me.
«No need,» I cut off her impromptu lesson. «I'm not like that dimwit Mo Fan, who uses his theory textbooks as doorstops. I have a Soul-grade Ice Seed of my own.»
«Ahem. You could have mentioned that earlier,» she muttered, her cheeks reddening slightly.
«At any rate, it seems Chao He is after the seed as well, since his secondary element is fire,» she continued, gesturing for me to follow the squad that had just passed. «We can't let him get his hands on it, or he'll become even more dangerous.»
By the time we reached the destination, Pan Xiong's eight-man team had bumped into another group of four. Judging by the second group's tailored robes and arrogant expressions, they were clearly clan-affiliated mages.
«Pan Xiong, my Dongfang family has claimed this Soul Seed,» the leader of the second group declared, trying to pull rank on the hunters. «Take your men and get lost!»
«Dongfang Jiong, don't even dream about it!» Pan Xiong scoffed, completely ignoring the threat. «If you want to fight for it, let's fight!»
«Why don't we hide and let them tear each other apart?» I whispered to Tang Yue. «Then we can just snatch the Fire Seed from the exhausted survivors.»
«Why are you so devious at such a young age?» Tang Yue remarked with a slight smile, though she dutifully retreated deeper into the brush with me.
«Don't forget, according to our deal, all harvested resources belong to me,» I reminded her with a grin.
«You scheming rascal! You knew there was a Soul Seed here all along!» Tang Yue stated flatly, not even bothering to phrase it as a question.
«Well, obviously. Why else would I demand the resources if I didn't intend to collect them?» My response caused her face to sour slightly.
«Don't feel too bad. Compared to how I treated Mo Fan, I'm practically letting you off easy,» I offered cheerfully. The two groups were still squaring off, so we had plenty of time to chat.
«I knew it! You deliberately tricked Mo Fan with that Stardust Magic Tool!» Tang Yue said, torn between sympathy for the boy and genuine curiosity. «You knew he had a evolving magic tool and set a trap for him! What did you take from the poor kid in exchange?»
«Oh, nothing much… just his future cultivation time in the Three-Step Tower,» I admitted modestly.
… You monster, Tang Yue said, staring at me in utter disbelief. Nobody except a clueless backwoods idiot who ignored his theory classes would ever trade a month of cultivation with a basic Stardust Tool for time in one of the country's premiere sacred cultivation spots-especially given that Mo Fan had managed to break the tool almost immediately.
«I just knew you'd step in to help him out anyway, Yue'er. By the way, do you want to buy his debt off me?» I asked with a playful wink. In response, Tang Yue pointedly shifted a few inches away from me.
The battle ahead didn't last long. Relying on their superior magical artifacts, the clan mages overwhelmed the hunter squad despite being outnumbered two to one.
«Pan Xiong, out of respect for the Hunter Union, I'm letting you walk away today. Now get lost!» Dongfang Jiong panted heavily, driving the hunters off. Glum and defeated, Pan Xiong's team withdrew in silence.
As Dongfang Jiong stood gloating over their victory, discussing the rewards he would bestow upon his squad once he absorbed the Soul Seed, our old friend made his grand entrance.
«I'm afraid that Soul Seed belongs to me, Chao He. As for your rewards… I'll grant you a quick and painless death. Well, mostly painless,» the fugitive killer said, stepping out from the shadows of the trees. He removed his cap, revealing the vivid Magic Court execution mark branded onto his forehead-a brand that signaled he could be killed on sight by anyone.
The Dongfang clan members turned pale instantly. They recognized him. He wasn't just a murderer; he was a notorious cannibal. Many mages were prepared to die in battle, but very few were prepared to be eaten.
«Actually, I arrived long before you lot and prepared a little gift,» Chao He chuckled, activating a pre-cast Curse Element spell.
«It's the Wicked Spider Trap! Run!» Dongfang Jiong barked, taking off first, but dark, ethereal threads instantly ensnared all four of them. A monstrous black spider materialized above them, leeching their life force and spiritual energy.
«Damn it, it really is the Wicked Spider Trap! I can't save them in time!» Tang Yue's face drained of color. As a representative of the Magic Court, she was duty-bound to protect civilians, but Curse Element constructs could only be dispelled by Light or Spirit magic, leaving her completely helpless.
«I'll rescue them. You immobilize Chao He,» I instructed her before bursting out from the trees to draw his attention.
While simultaneously preparing an Intermediate-level Ice spell, I summoned a dagger infused with Light magic from my spiritual space and hurled it straight at the shadowy arachnid.
Upon impact, the spider vanished with a sharp hiss, and the dagger dissolved back into my spirit space, its charge fully depleted. Freed from the spell's grip, the four clan mages collapsed unconscious from severe mental and magical exhaustion.
«Well, well, what do we have here…» Chao He began his villainous monologue, but before he could finish, Tang Yue materialized behind him. She cast the Intermediate Shadow spell, Shadow Spike, pinning his shadow to the ground and freezing him in place.
Seizing the moment, I instantly unleashed a second-tier Intermediate Ice spell: Ground Bones.
If I remembered correctly, Chao He had a second Wicked Spider Trap hidden nearby, and I couldn't afford to give him the time to trigger it. Otherwise, I'd be forced to expose my Light or Spirit element publicly, which I had no intention of doing.
A massive ice chain condensed out of thin air. Bolstered by my Soul-grade Seed, its power matched that of a fourth-tier Intermediate spell. That wasn't even taking into account the spell enhancement from my star-alignment gear. Money truly was the ultimate superpower.
The icy chain lashed around Chao He, tearing through his low-grade armor like paper and freezing him down to his marrow, transforming him into a frozen, lifeless statue.
«I wanted to take him alive…» Tang Yue said with a hint of reproach, staring in shock at Chao He's frozen corpse.
«Yue'er, let me teach you a secret to workplace efficiency,» I said lazily. «Never work at full capacity. That way, when you actually exert yourself, your superiors praise your productivity instead of demanding more. Why bother taking him alive when he already has an execution mark on his forehead? If you bring him in alive, they'll just expect you to do it every time. Do you really want that kind of hassle?»
… With an attitude like that, you're going to get kicked out of your clan real quick, she sighed. Poor girl didn't know I'd already been kicked out long ago.
Suddenly, Tang Yue gasped, clutching her stomach as a deep flush spread across her face. Her breathing turned heavy, and her eyes took on a strange, frantic glow as she looked at me.
«Something… is wrong… with me,» she panted heavily. It seemed the aphrodisiac Chao He had slipped her earlier was finally taking full effect.
«Yue'er, as it happens, I know a thing or two about drugs,» I said, putting on a deeply concerned face. «And your symptoms look an awful lot like the effects of a potent aphrodisiac.»
«Chao He must have spotted you in the city after all and poisoned you in advance,» I added, stepping closer and crouching beside her. «It's terrifying to think what would have happened if you were up here alone.»
«Don't… come any closer,» Tang Yue muttered, swallowing hard as her predatory gaze locked onto me. She was clearly terrified I might take advantage of her compromised state.
«Don't worry, I'm not morally bankrupt enough to use your condition just to drag you into bed,» I reassured her.
… Then again, I'm not quite saintly enough to pass up using this situation to my advantage in other ways, I added with a sly grin. Tang Yue looked at me nervously, wondering what kind of scheme I was cooking up now.
«You see, I'm a very cautious guy with a rather high sense of self-worth,» I explained, pulling a small vial from my spatial ring.
«So, I couldn't rule out the possibility that some lady might get thirsty enough to drug me with an aphrodisiac, which is why I made sure to carry an antidote.» Tang Yue's eyes glued themselves to the vial in my hand.
… What… do you want? She asked, struggling to fight off the rising tide of lust.
«It's simple. Become my sugar mommy,» I smiled.
«What?!» She was so stunned she almost forgot her condition.
«Don't misunderstand, I won't be draining your bank account or asking you for resources,» I rushed to clarify.
«It's just that I happened to find a hidden stash with a couple of high-grade magical artifacts, and I don't feel like explaining where I really got them. So, I'll just tell everyone they were generous gifts from my sugar mommy, Tang Yue. How does that sound?» I flashed her a brilliant smile.
… Fine. I agree, Tang Yue said, giving me a deeply bewildered look. Most young men would be mortified at the thought of being seen as a woman's kept toy, yet here I was, actively planning to advertise it to the world.
The naive girl had no idea that I intended to use my new «sugar mommy» to cover the origins of every single artifact and resource I brought back from other worlds. I was already looking forward to seeing the scandalized looks on her colleagues' faces when they realized she was supposedly spending hundreds of millions of yuan on her little boy toy.
I couldn't help but grin like a fox, wondering what expression she'd make when she finally realized how badly she'd been played. Tang Yue visibly shuddered. I needed to compose myself; I couldn't afford to scare off my brand-new benefactor just yet.
After swallowing the antidote, Tang Yue called the Magic Court to report the completed mission and requested a medical team for the injured Dongfang family mages.
Once she was settled, I carefully sealed the Fire Seed into a containment vessel for later sale, and with that, we parted ways.
I certainly look forward to our next meeting. Heh-heh.