He Li agreed, while also calculating how many years of good karma he would lose by deceiving a fool, and whether he would incur divine retribution. Everyone he had met on his journey, whether enemy or ally, had been sharp as a tack.
Suddenly encountering a fool, he felt a bit unaccustomed.
He couldn't do anything that would harm his good karma; after all, he was a god.
But he could do things that were morally questionable, because, after all, he had no morals.
He Li spent a few seconds convincing himself, then looked up at Xu Shuya, his smile brilliant.
"Little Xu, are you a Level 1 Spirit Warrior now?"
"Yes."
Xu Shuya quickly swallowed a piece of fish she had picked up with her chopsticks, then put them down. She reached out, grabbed the long saber leaning against the side of the table, and showed it off to He Li.
She said, "See? The day after I awakened my spiritual power, our team leader reported it, the director signed off, and I personally took the director's signed slip to the armory to claim it."
After speaking, she examined the long saber in her hand, pondered for a moment, and exclaimed, "Truly a precious weapon!"
Seeing this, He Li had a clear understanding. Chuunibyou was harder to cure than schizophrenia, and he doubted electroshock therapy would even work.
Xu Shuya's gaze returned to He Li. "Kool, what level Spirit Warrior are you?" She actually had a rough idea, estimating he was at most a Level 5, or perhaps Level 3 at the very most.
He Li replied, "Spirit Nurturing Realm."
As soon as he finished speaking,
He Li watched Xu Shuya stare at him blankly.
He Li's heart sank. Had he stated his level too low? That shouldn't be the case. The Spirit Nurturing Realm was already very powerful. If she thought his realm was low and decided to renege, where would he get his information?
Then,
He Li slowly took a sip of water and added, "Peak Spirit Nurturing Realm."
"Ah!"
Xu Shuya let out a scream and slammed the table with a bang, startling the waiter who had been sleeping behind the counter. He looked over with a resentful gaze.
He Li was also startled. This woman's voice was truly loud. Was she trying to scare him to death with her exclamations?
"You're in the Spirit Nurturing Realm?" Xu Shuya stared at He Li with her large, expressive eyes.
"Ah, yes, Spirit Nurturing..."
"You're amazing! You're already in the Spirit Nurturing Realm at such a young age. Our director is almost fifty, and he's only in the Spirit Nurturing Realm." Xu Shuya acted like a fangirl, leaning forward with her hands on the table, her face getting closer and closer.
He Li nodded, instinctively leaning back, and began to plot again.
This girl wasn't simply foolish; she was likely ill, and seriously so. He couldn't cooperate with her. If he did, it wouldn't just be about scheming to get information; it would turn into a convention for mentally ill individuals.
Forget it.
He Li abruptly stood up, cupped his fists towards Xu Shuya, and performed a martial arts salute. "My lady, please enjoy your meal. I have matters to attend to, so I must take my leave. May we meet again!"
He Li turned and ran. With a few quick steps, he reached the restaurant entrance and stopped abruptly, turning back to say:
"I haven't touched any of the food on the table, so I won't be splitting the bill. Goodbye!"
He Li pushed open the door and fled.
"Hey?"
Xu Shuya was stunned. She wanted to grab her saber and chase after him, but the waiter's voice echoed from behind her,
"Customer, the bill!"
Xu Shuya turned around, looked at the table full of dishes, fell silent for a moment, and slumped back down, utterly dejected. What had she said wrong?
"Pack it up, I'll take it."
The waiter, with a strained expression and dead fish eyes, said, "The takeout box is 10 yuan, and the takeout bag is free. Which kind would you like?"
"The takeout box."
"Alright, the total is 1160. Scan to pay or cash?"
Xu Shuya paused, then looked up, her brow furrowed. "Is Huabei okay?"
The waiter, with drooping eyelids, said, "Heh... yes."
He Li, having escaped, walked down the street, still shaken. He immediately decided that he would never deal with fools again; they were too terrifying.
What if the chuunibyou acted up? It would be hard to control. When he was in school, a classmate bought an Ultraman mask. During a self-study session, with the homeroom teacher sitting at the back of the classroom writing lesson plans, that Ultraman classmate kicked open the classroom door with a bang, leaped onto the podium, and started firing "Specium Ray" at the students, complete with "pew pew pew" sound effects.
The entire class was stunned, and the homeroom teacher was utterly bewildered.
This event was historically known as the "Battle of Gler" at Binjiang Second Middle School.
To this day, He Li remembered it vividly because he had been sleeping in the back row at the time. Woken up, he was immediately displeased.
As the "Guardian of the Classroom" sitting by the window in the last row, how dare you disturb the study of my dear classmates? Was this any different from defecating on my head and then asking me for toilet paper?
This was the power of chuunibyou. It was more troublesome than mental illness. Mental illness simply meant being sick, not necessarily foolish, but chuunibyou was another matter entirely.
Returning to the guesthouse, the willow tree had withered to an unrecognizable state. He Li paid it no mind. Without its demonic energy, the willow tree was just firewood.
It was already very late.
But,
He Li couldn't sleep. He sat on the bench in the third-floor corridor, his long saber resting across his knees, gently stroking the patterns on the scabbard, and looked up at the moon in the sky.
Yan Ping appeared, sitting on the railing with his legs crossed, facing He Li. He smiled slightly and said, "Seeing that girl today, although she was foolish, she was indeed beautiful. Didn't you have any thoughts about her?"
He Li shook his head and replied, "No. There are many beautiful people in the world. Should I like them all? Besides, I'm not in the mood for that right now."
He Li continued, "I didn't sense any divine aura, nor were there any post-battle scenes. That means the Hunter Group released a smoke bomb. Since the Hunter Group dared to release a smoke bomb to lure a god,
they must have had absolute confidence. Their greatest reliance is the [God-Slaying Nuclear Bomb] and [Slaughter Weapons]. Other than that, the Hunter Group has no special combat power capable of fighting a god.
Therefore, I suspect they have already deployed many [Slaughter Weapons] in the city of Wulin, just waiting for a god to appear.
What do you think I should do now?"
This time, it was Yan Ping's turn to shake his head. He smiled and looked at He Li, saying, "How would I know what you should do? In the past, you would consult with Xiao Yue about things. Now, you don't even consult anymore. You're asking me, and I know even less. Do whatever you want, and we'll try our best to help you."
He Li remained silent. Consult with Xiao Yue? Yes, he used to discuss everything with Xiao Yue. Jin Fang would also occasionally come out to mock Xiao Yue for being cold-blooded and heartless.
Now,
As his spiritual power grew stronger, they appeared less and less frequently.
...