Chapter 26: Testing the Waters

“Shen, Shen, are you alright?”
Su Hongyi emerged from somewhere, looking at Shen Chang’an, who was sprawled out on the ground from exhaustion, and hurriedly asked.

Shen Chang’an exhaled a heavy breath and shot him a glare. “Go in there and save your girlfriend.”

This kid, so clueless—even though he was only worn out, if Sun Qiqi wasn’t rescued soon, she really might lose her hand.

Hearing this, Su Hongyi rushed into the cave without hesitation.

At this moment, Chen Mengchen approached, concern in her voice. “Mr. Shen, are you feeling unwell anywhere?”

Shen Chang’an tried moving his limbs, only to feel a deep ache all over. He’d been dashing side by side with the mountain fiend moments before, and even with his magical strength, his body still hurt.

“Everything hurts. I’m dead tired,” he muttered.

Suddenly, Chen Mengchen reached out her small hands and gently kneaded his shoulders, asking tentatively, “Does this feel better, Mr. Shen?”

Shen Chang’an curled his lips and waved her off. “Stop that, it doesn’t help.”

A few moments of her massage couldn’t compare to circulating his own magic power.

Slightly embarrassed, Chen Mengchen withdrew her hands. She rarely gave anyone a massage—much less a man—so to be rejected outright by Shen Chang’an caught her off guard.

But Chen Mengchen was not one to let things become awkward. She quickly changed the subject. “Mr. Shen, what exactly was that thing?”

“A mountain fiend,” Shen Chang’an answered curtly, not intending to explain further.

But Chen Mengchen had heard of such creatures before and quickly said, “Weren’t mountain fiends just big monkeys that ancient people mistook for ghosts? How come…”

Shen Chang’an frowned. Chen Mengchen wanted to know what was going on—so did he.

Since returning to the present world, Shen Chang’an had noticed that the spiritual energy here was much weaker than in the world of the book—barely a tenth as much.

In the book world, he could have done nothing but cultivate by absorbing energy and probably reached ascension. But here, at most, he could expect longevity—a few extra centuries of life.

Theoretically, this era shouldn’t have any mystical beings, yet the appearance of this mountain fiend had shattered that assumption.

“This world still harbors demons and spirits,” Shen Chang’an mused, “but their numbers are astonishingly scarce.”

He began to ponder whether he should take this chance to visit some legendary places to see if supernatural beings truly existed.

Of course, before that, he needed a few days to draw some talismans.

“Oh, right—did you call the police earlier?” Shen Chang’an suddenly remembered and looked at Chen Mengchen.

She paused, then said, “No, we were in such a hurry coming here that we didn’t call.”

Shen Chang’an had insisted they hurry all the way, leaving Chen Mengchen breathless—she hadn’t the energy to call anyone.

He let out a sigh of relief. “Since you haven’t, don’t bother. Let’s pretend this never happened.”

Chen Mengchen stared at Shen Chang’an, wide-eyed with surprise.

He waved his hand and lowered his voice. “My situation isn’t easy to explain.”

The ancient beast-skin book was a matter far too complicated. Shen Chang’an had no intention of telling anyone about it—it was better left buried deep underground.

His magical abilities were also difficult to justify. At first, he’d assumed it was just a wild animal and planned to call the police, but now that he knew it was a mountain fiend, he had no wish for the authorities to get involved.

He simply wanted a peaceful life. After finally escaping from the world of the book, getting tangled up in these matters would make it all for nothing.

Chen Mengchen and Su Hongyi had hidden nearby earlier, witnessing how Shen Chang’an killed the mountain fiend.

If his earlier actions could be explained by physical strength and stamina, that last talisman strike defied any explanation.

Sensing Shen Chang’an’s unease, Chen Mengchen hesitated, then said, “Mr. Shen, about that… mountain fiend, could you sell it to me?”

Shen Chang’an gave her a puzzled look. “You want its corpse? What for?”

“I want someone to study it—maybe it has scientific value. And I need to know, is it really a monster or just a monkey?”

Shen Chang’an thought for a moment. “I just need a bottle of its blood. You can have the rest.”

After all, a mountain fiend was a kind of demon, and its blood contained spiritual energy—useful for drawing talismans.

“That’s wonderful! Mr. Shen, how much should I pay you?” Chen Mengchen said excitedly.

Shen Chang’an shook his head. “I don’t need your money. The corpse is just lying here—whether you or someone else takes it makes no difference. I couldn’t move it anyway. But remember, you can study its blood if you want, but never inject it into another living creature.”

“I’ve seen people eat demon flesh and blood, only to become monsters themselves,” Shen Chang’an said meaningfully.

Chen Mengchen shivered all over and hurriedly promised, then asked, “If you want the blood, could you give me an address so I can find you later?”

Shen Chang’an considered this. “I haven’t settled on a place to stay yet. Once I’ve rented a place, I’ll send you the address.”

Chen Mengchen nodded quickly, then added, “Mr. Shen, are you sure you don’t want any money? This is an extremely rare specimen—I could pay you something…”

Shen Chang’an cut her off. “No need. Just take it. Just don’t say you got it from me. I want nothing to do with it, and you should be careful too—don’t invite trouble.”

In truth, when he killed the mountain fiend, Shen Chang’an had already come into contact with its blood. Perhaps because it lived in the present world, its blood was much weaker than that of the yaksha he’d encountered in Wang Family Village.

Even the yaksha’s flesh and blood only became truly demonic after being refined through Wang Yi’s secret arts. The mountain fiend’s blood, at best, might poison someone, but it was far too weak to cause transformation.

If the blood had truly posed a risk of corrupting others, Shen Chang’an would have burned the corpse at once. Leaving it to Chen Mengchen was simply a matter of curiosity.

He wanted to use this opportunity to probe how many supernatural incidents existed in this world, observe the authorities’ response, and then decide what path to take next.