CHAPTER 49: CHAPTER 20: THE FINAL WRAP-UP (PART 2)

But even with her experience, she still felt that this scene was somewhat fantastical. No matter how she looked, this person didn’t have any Demon Qi or Demonic Power; he really seemed to be purely human.

"By the way, Ah Xiu, do you want to wash your hands too?"

At this moment, feeling uncomfortable under the girl’s gaze, Gu Mo wanted to divert her attention.

Subconsciously glancing at the river nearby, Hidechika, whose thoughts were interrupted, gently shook her head. She knew she definitely couldn’t achieve that level, and certainly it wasn’t an issue with the river water, so there was no need to attempt such a foolish thing.

"Not going to wash, huh? Hmm, it seems you indeed don’t really need to... So what do we do now?"

Gu Mo coughed lightly and continued to play dumb. Of course, he knew what issue the girl was struggling with right now, but since it was hard to explain, he simply chose not to.

After all, in a world so full of Demons and Ghosts, letting Ah Xiu come up with a reasonable explanation herself was certainly better than any flawed, temporary story he could concoct... Plus, since the girl hadn’t asked, he pretended not to know.

The black-haired girl considered for a moment, then slightly hesitated and turned her head towards the mountain behind them. Under the faintly bright sky, the dark silhouette of the mountain had a mysterious allure, and in her view, a swirl of Demon Qi encircled the temple halfway up the mountain.

There was still one place that hadn’t been cleared out; there were fish that escaped the net.

Looking deeply at a certain someone, knowing they were unwilling to explain the secret behind washing hands to regain health, Hidechika stopped dwelling on it and decided to first deal with the problem in this village.

Seeing the girl no longer staring at him intensely but turning to walk down the mountain path, seemingly preparing to retrace their steps, Gu Mo sighed in relief and quickly caught up.

Just watching the girl’s slender back and thin shoulders, he hesitated for a moment. He recalled some signs he had noticed and the plot he controlled, unable to resist asking:

"How about... we take a break first?"

Though he believed there shouldn’t be any problem, he sensed the girl’s state seemed somewhat unstable. For example, not long ago in the shrine, she could have handled the Demon Ghosts much faster but failed to do so. And during the fierce counterattack from the Ape Ghost, she narrowly avoided failure.

Considering she could easily handle the Ox-headed Ghost, there was no reason the Horse-headed Ghost in the story would pose such a risk...

There must be a deeper reason behind it, so Gu Mo felt somewhat concerned.

The black-haired girl didn’t respond, felt her demon bloodline, which seemed no longer as agitated as before. Her violent instincts and impulses seemed completely calmed down, implying no imminent problem. Anyway, the temple they just left didn’t have a third Lord of Constant Darkness.

Fighting twice in a short time within the Constant Dark Domains of Demon Ghosts had made her demon bloodline more active... In her youth, it wasn’t much of a problem, but for the past two years, she’s been troubled by this issue. It seemed that as a Half-Demon, her demonic side had grown as she matured.

Though the active demon bloodline could significantly enhance her Demonic Power every time, her physical capabilities growing increasingly inhuman, yet...

The violent force hidden deep in her bloodline, seemingly capable of destroying everything, made her, vaguely aware of her demonic nature’s essence, subconsciously suppress this progression.

......

Returning along the mountain path to the shrine, Gu Mo took the opportunity to inspect the Demon Ghost corpses scattered all over the courtyard, wanting to see if anything good had dropped.

He had actually noticed tool enchantments appearing earlier, but at that time there was no chance to pick them up, having to let Ah Xiu quickly take him down to the river to wash his hands. Now, back, he found they hadn’t disappeared, which gave him a sense of relief.

It seems departing the battlefield doesn’t erase loot, plus party relations are indeed maintained. Although it’s unclear whether experience can be shared, at least "teammates" defeating monsters can yield items.

It’s a pity the person involved can’t see them...

Noticing the expression and gaze of the black-haired girl, Gu Mo quietly reached out to grab the enchanting tool points in the air.

However—

Regarding the fact that Ah Xiu fought the monsters and the items she dropped she couldn’t see or touch, these unidentified spoils seemed non-existent to her, ultimately all benefiting him...

The more he thought about it, the more wrong it felt, like he was increasingly mooching off someone; Gu Mo smacked his lips, feeling this is excessively satisfying... Ahem, making his heart unsettled.

Moreover, there’s also the question of whether Ah Xiu is overly lucky? Or maybe he is exceptionally unlucky?

From the village entrance to the village end, he only got a small Spirit Stone... So why in this small courtyard did a wealth of items appear? Seeing five new items appear in his special "visual" inventory made Gu Mo ponder.

No, it must be because he cleared out cannon fodder like the Hungry Ghosts, while the creatures Ah Xiu handled were higher-tier Demon Ghosts, naturally raising the drop rate.

Hidechika didn’t know what the peculiar client was up to but had somewhat become immune to it. She quickly inspected the shrine, confirmed there were no fish that escaped the net, then hurriedly left the courtyard and continued up the mountain path.

A certain slacker followed closely in the footsteps of the leader, while observing the spoils he just obtained.

Among the five new items, three were Spirit Stones...

The remaining two, one was the Soul Core of the Ape Ghost, and one was the Soul Core of an ordinary Demon Ghost...

Almost like blood-tinged red fruits, yet pulsating like a heart, each pulse capable of absorbing and releasing Demonic Power... These are Heart Cores of Demon Ghosts, solidified essences of power. Judging by the description, they’re raw material.

And—can be used as Skill Badges.

This made Gu Mo’s eyes light up, implying through the system’s function conversion, in this aspect, he and Ah Xiu aren’t really different? They can command defeated demon ghosts’ Soul Cores, converting countless Demon Ghost powers into their own?

Just as he was contemplating this, the road ahead reached its end. Accompanied by a muffled sound from a heavy door being pushed open, the courtyard of the temple at the mountain’s end appeared before the two.

At the crack of dawn, a remarkably enormous Sakura tree unfolded in front of Gu Mo and the black-haired girl.

The trunk was so massive it would take three to five people to encircle it, its expansive canopy akin to an endless canopy covering the entire temple’s realm. Sakura petals fluttered in the morning breeze, scattering like snowflakes, breathtakingly beautiful.

This scene was stunningly beautiful, prompting Gu Mo to consider taking a photo with his cellphone to use as wallpaper—

If not for the giant Horse-headed Monster under the tree, slowly turning its head and stopping using its massive saw blade to cut through a mound of villagers’ bodies, this scenery would be truly flawless.

Hidechika gritted her teeth, her expression changing slightly, as she quickly drew her sword and charged forward.

At the same time, the Horse-headed Monster bent down and turned around to stand upright. Its long horse face revealed a mouth full of sharp fangs, emitting a screech, as if an invisible pressure exploded at its center. The entire world rapidly descended from the Human World to the Demon Realm.

Near-monochrome tones, Other Shore Flowers bloomed and fell swiftly, while the air became dark and heavy like water...

—In the small, seemingly insignificant Thirteen Sakura Village, the third consecutive Lord of Constant Darkness at this moment unfolded its previously concealed Demonic Power Domain!