Han Li walked around the corridor for a while, and his frown became even deeper. Nobody had yet come to attack him. Nor had he sensed anything that was truly solidifying enough to call tonight a night of murder and assassinations. It started to worry him slightly.
With a flourish of green moss that sprung up beside him in crisp layers, a woman appeared beside him. Green hair, green eyes, a beautiful figure with buxom curves—Who else could it be other than his trusty Dao Protector, Hua Yu?
Han Li didn't speak and just continued walking forward in the corridor with a frown.
Hua Yu was silent for a second and surveyed the surroundings with her green eyes, doubt evident in her eyes. Why did he summon her here at this time?
A red energy had come to her room like a bird, and it made her immensely lustful. She understood it was his way of summoning her, but it was so rude.
She used her Soul Sense. She didn't find anything worthy of note.
"Nothing seems suspicious..." Hua Yu mumbled and blinked. "But that is suspicious. Where are all the monks and hermits? None of them are around."
Han Li calmly said, "Go protect the others. Don't mind me—something is going on."
Without questioning his decision, Hua Yu vanished. Before leaving, she asked, "I'll gather all of them around in one room and wait for you—Should I try to find Hen Shin?"
"Don't. I'll find him, keep all of them safe."
Her presence vanished entirely. Han Li sighed.
He began to use Soul Sense, but this time, he missed his Existential powers with it, and he could now sense the existence of anyone 10 meters around him. There was a faint calmness in the surroundings and a lack of life in general.
Han Li placed a hand on his face, and a dark veil appeared around it. He entered a nearby room and, seeing the emptiness inside, took a bamboo hat hanging over the wall.
With a smile, Han Li's figure began to warp like an illusion, and he ran out in a blur.
The Spirit said from his Empty Space, her tone grave, "I know this style of assassinations—it's those creepy bunch. At first, the mortals vanish from the surroundings, then Awakened vanish, then Evolved will vanish, and then a dark veil covers the horizon. The night would become so utterly dark it would be as if you were deep underwater. Then—"
Han Li continued the rest, "When the darkness covers the world, they will strike. When they leave, nothing will remain to tell the story."
"You know them?" she was surprised.
Han Li's face was dark. "I should have anticipated this. This is going to get a bit messy."
Suddenly, he turned a corridor, and Han Li's heart skipped a beat. An Existence had appeared in his senses, and it was not an enemy's. He ran towards her position and immediately scolded, "Mom, what the fuck are you doing here at this night?"
Yue Li was at first a bit frightened by the masked figure in a bamboo hat, and she had already raised her knife unknowingly. But she quickly calmed down.
"Xiao Li, something is wrong!"
Han Li reached closer to her, and Yue Li's expression suddenly changed as she struck with her sword. It headed straight for Han Li's eyes in a vicious stab, but he quickly neutralized her attack, and before she knew it, she had lost the knife.
Her posture had also turned weird; she was about to fall, but Han Li held her by her robes near her ass, not letting her fall.
"It really is you, Xiao Li..." she said coyly and then straightened herself in a soft jump. Then, she showed him a hand, and he gave her the knife.
She said shyly, "I wanted to test if it was y—"
Han Li didn't speak to her, and she could see his eyes suddenly roaming around. There was some tension on his brows, and just as she wondered what was about to happen, his hands moved like a blur with immense speed. When everything cleared up before her, an explosion of blood, followed by a woman's corpse, gently fell from Han Li's side.
"I won't have to kill. Let's go watch it—a bloodbath. We are spectators this time and we would get some benefits too."
A moss ball appeared beside Han Li and he received a small letter.
"Everyone's safe. Except your mother but I can see her with you—Should I pick her up?"
Han Li looked up at a pagoda in the sky. Hua Yu was looking at him from there. He could also see many other beautiful woman gawking from the limited space of the window, pushing each other away for space to see.
Even Liyue was there, extremely clear to his senses due to the Paradise Mark he left on her. Unlike other women trying to see from there, she was not pushing anyone and was given a wide berth. Her body was a bit uncontrollably powerful now.
Anyone she touched would be injured. She had Han Li's physical prowess and the control of an infant—of course, she was struggling, and the only one she could interact with was Hua Yu.
Han Li shook his head.
He didn't need Hua Yu to take care of his mother.
"Where do you think the fight is going on?" he asked.
The Spirit shook her head. She had no idea.
"How would I know..." Yue Li shook her head too, grumbling. "I came out because you called me but you say you didn't call me. I am confused—so confused. And the first thing I see is murder."
Han Li looked at her with a side-eye.
A murder happened, yet, she was calmly talking with him as if nothing had happened, this little woman really had grown some warrior spirit.
He gave her a short kiss, and she could only accept it.
"Now? You are kissing me now of all times—"
She was silenced with another kiss.
"Grr, explain this s—"
"Okay, that's enough. Let's go." He pulled her hand and ran towards the tallest building where he could see everything.
He had just given her the first of the three Paradise Marks, but she didn't have to know that—from now on, he could sense her as clearly as a moon among the mottling stars in the sky. And he would have to give her the next Mark later.
For now, it was time to see the Sacred Cult's attempt at murdering Hen Shin.
Han Li licked his lips. Hen Shin was not going to die—unless the Transcendent Cult Master of the Cult came. But that was impossible. He knew what was going to happen in clear detail but it was going to be fun to watch it unfold regardless. And he could even violate his mother while doing it.
"Ah, I just lack a bottle of wine."
And maybe, just maybe, he should also join the bloodbath for fun.
Soon, he and his mother were on the top of a Pagoda's roof and they could see down the ground. Yue Li held onto his hand tight and took a deep breath.
Han Li's gaze moved to a globe of darkness in the middle of the skies, floating there like a dark pearl. He smirked.
"Found you."