Chapter Thirty-One: Did President Lu Agree to Let Them Bully Your Sister Li?

“I think that’s a splendid idea!”

With that thought, Shen Qingli scrambled away in the opposite direction, hands and feet working in tandem as she fled, tossing out various objects behind her to block An Yan’s pursuit. All she needed was to reach a crowded area—then he wouldn’t dare lay a hand on her.

But suddenly, a powerful force yanked her back, making her run in place against an invisible suction.

The man appeared before her with a cold sneer. Once again, his hand clamped around her neck.

“Ugh!” Shen Qingli grunted as she felt herself lifted off the ground, her toes dangling several centimeters above the earth.

“You’ve tried running before, haven’t you? But you’ll never escape my grasp.” An Yan gazed at her, his other hand morphing into razor-sharp claws. “Don’t worry. For the sake of your pretty face, I’ll make your end a dignified one.”

“But rest assured, I’ll be gentle—when your chest is torn open, you won’t feel a thing.”

A crazed grin split An Yan’s face as his claws edged closer to her chest.

Desperately, Shen Qingli struggled, fighting to break free, but the claws drew ever nearer. She could almost feel the pain blossoming in her chest.

Is this really where my life ends? The thought rose in her mind, despair clouding her gaze.

An Yan’s eyes shone with exhilaration. As his claws were about to pierce her chest, something felt off.

A sudden, resonant hum filled An Yan’s ears. Radiance flared from Shen Qingli’s chest, and in the next instant, a surge of spiritual energy erupted from her, hurling him backward.

“Ah!” An Yan stared, horror-stricken, at his hand—now nothing but bare bone.

“How…how is this possible!” he snarled, gritting his teeth. Then, another menacing aura washed over him.

Shen Qingli sensed something burst forth from within her, shooting straight toward the man.

An Yan, feeling that terrifying force, ignored the pain in his hand and spun to escape.

But he never got the chance. Before he could move, the Demon-Hunting Ring materialized and pinned him to the ground, rendering him completely immobile.

Now, the one screaming in agony was him.

“Damn it, damn it! You actually have a Demon-Hunting Ring on you!” An Yan howled at the dazed Shen Qingli. The more he struggled, the tighter the ring constricted.

Even thunder flickered across the ring, crackling over his entire body.

[Host, now’s your chance! Finish him off while he’s down!] Green Cilantro’s voice rang out in Shen Qingli’s mind, jolting her back to her senses.

She recalled the spiritual force from before and slowly approached An Yan.

The Demon-Hunting Ring tightened further, and An Yan’s form shifted from human to fox, though the ring showed no signs of relenting.

“No! Stop!” the fox cried in a human voice, fixing Shen Qingli with a pleading gaze. “Please, I won’t hurt you anymore—just take this thing off, I beg you!”

Shen Qingli shrugged playfully. “Well, I have no idea how to remove this thing either.”

“Serves you right for trying to kill me. Call it karma.”

She grinned, and An Yan’s eyes darkened with venom.

“If I’m going down, I’m taking you with me!” he shouted, clearly preparing to self-destruct.

But the Demon-Hunting Ring was no ordinary artifact. A protective barrier instantly formed around An Yan, sealing him within.

A muffled explosion sounded. Shen Qingli shielded her eyes from the red flash.

As the light faded, Green Cilantro’s voice buzzed with excitement.

[Host! That’s a spiritual core! It can rapidly restore spiritual energy!]

A wave of joy swept over Shen Qingli. She hurried over and scooped up the still-warm inner core.

“With this and the right herbs, Xie Jinchuan should recover much faster,” she murmured, nestling the spiritual core carefully against her chest.

Seeing the sky tinged with dusk, she pulled out her phone and called her driver.

“Come pick me up.”

After hanging up, Shen Qingli foraged for a few medicinal herbs nearby before heading toward the foot of the mountain.

The driver arrived swiftly. He wanted to express concern after seeing Shen Qingli’s obvious injuries, but her anxious expression left no room for questions, and he sped toward the Lu residence.

Upon arrival, Shen Qingli wasted no time. She went straight to the kitchen, prepared the spiritual herbs, and hurried upstairs with a bowl of herbal broth and the spiritual core.

“Xie Jinchuan, I went through a lot to find something good for you today!”

She muttered to herself as she approached the bed. Seeing his pallid face, she deftly fed him the broth mouth-to-mouth as usual, then was struck by a serious dilemma.

[Host, what’s wrong?] Green Cilantro asked, watching Shen Qingli fumble uncertainly with the spiritual core.

“I was just thinking… This core is the size of a fist. How am I supposed to get Xie Jinchuan to ingest it?”

She stared at the spiritual core in her palm, thinking that the earlier fight with An Yan was child’s play compared to this.

[Uh, I don’t know either.]

After pondering for a long while and coming up empty, Shen Qingli slumped onto the edge of the bed, raising the core and frowning at the swirling energy within.

“Saving someone is such a hassle,” she sighed, turning away.

Suddenly, the core began to quiver in her hand, as though trying to break free.

“What’s going on?” she murmured, loosening her grip. Instantly, the core shot toward Xie Jinchuan and dissolved into a red glow, enveloping him completely.

“This…this!” Shen Qingli’s eyes widened as she watched Xie Jinchuan absorb the spiritual energy on his own. “Only Immortals of the Divine Lord rank or higher can passively absorb spiritual energy like this!”

Green Cilantro, hearing her astonished voice, felt as though cold sweat was pouring off its imaginary body.

Oh no, is President Lu’s secret about to be exposed?

Shen Qingli glanced around nervously, her suspicion deepening as more energy surged into Xie Jinchuan.

“Cilantro, you’d better explain this to me.”