Hell's Handbook

The Demon Lord spoke like she was trying to cut a deal with Xu Ran and Xu Ran was actually taking interest. From the moment he set foot into the house, he knew that this woman was incredibly powerful. She was way more powerful than he was.

“If you don’t mind, I’d be willing to supply you with anything you want,” said Xu Ran.

The Demon Lord smiled faintly. She paused to think, then said, “Anything I want? I want a huge house, a really huge one. And… I don’t want to be disturbed by anybody. And I mean ANYBODY. Simple, right?”

“It sounds simple, but it’s pretty much impossible for anybody in this world to go through life without being disturbed at all. Luckily for you, I’m good at achieving the impossible, so… it’s a deal,” said Xu Ran without hesitating.

The Demon Lord gave a pleased nod, then said to Su Jin, “I prefer this fellow to you.”

“The feeling is mutual. After all, nobody would turn their benefactor’s house into a complete mess,” muttered Su Jin. He pulled her to one side, set up a wall of psychokinesis to keep their conversation private, then said, “You’re sure you want to leave with him?”

“Aha, I remember this expression! Whenever I shifted my favor and attention to a different believer, the one I used to favor would have this exact expression,” said the Demon Lord merrily as she poked at Su Jin’s chin.

Su Jin was even more convinced now that sending her away was the right thing to do. But he left her with a warning anyway, “Don’t say I didn’t warn you – this man is someone very closely connected to the leaders of this country and this country doesn’t believe in gods.”

“That doesn’t matter. I’m not a god now. I’m this young man’s psychokinesis mentor!” The Demon Lord seemed very excited about this prospect.

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Su Jin had nothing more to say, so he gave her his phone and said, “I’ve blocked all the other numbers in this phone and I’ll get a new one for myself later. In any case, I’m the only person who can call this number now and I’ll give you my new number once I get one. If you run into any trouble, call me, okay?”

The Demon Lord made a face and complained, “This model is so ugly. I prefer the… oh, forget it. I’ll just use this.” The Demon Lord decided not to argue when she noticed the scowl on Su Jin’s face.

Su Jin’s head hurt from just talking to the Demon Lord. He removed the psychokinetic wall and walked toward Xu Ran. Xu Ran smiled and said, “You treat your guests really well, huh. You put up a wall of psychokinesis right in front of me, which was clearly meant to keep me out. You were just short of telling me that I’m not welcome around here.”

“I’m really sorry about that, I have my reasons for doing so.” He put up another wall to keep his conversation with Xu Ran private and said, “Just a friendly reminder: this woman is not someone you can afford to offend. If you insist on living with her, then… you’d better be prepared for anything.”

“Are you saying that… she might suddenly go crazy?” asked Xu Ran.

“Uhhhh… you could put it that way! But trust me, if she goes insane, the only thing you can do is to yell for help,” said Su Jin with a snort.

Xu Ran was a little perturbed by Su Jin’s reaction and said with an awkward smile, “You’re… just joking, right?”

“Haha! I wish I were, but I’m not. I’m trying to warn you, so you’d better take it to heart. If something really happens, get in touch with me as soon as possible. For now… you can take your psychokinesis mentor away with you.” Su Jin was basically asking him to leave now.

Xu Ran was a top notch user of psychokinesis and having clairvoyance was something that he told Su Jin about himself. And now, he had a bad feeling about this. But he tried to console himself, believing that perhaps he had begun to feel something special for people more powerful than himself after he had been bashed up by that crazy intruder a week ago.

“Let me ask you one last question. Does she… have anything to do with Hell’s Handbook?” asked Xu Ran puzzledly.

Su Jin patted Xu Ran’s shoulder and gave him a look as if to say, “What do you think?” before removing the psychokinesis wall.

The Demon Lord walked toward them and said to Xu Ran, “Can we leave now?”

Xu Ran was beginning to have second thoughts, but after considering how his capabilities had reached a standstill and he needed someone to help him make a breakthrough very urgently, he felt that it was only right for him to take this risk.

“Of course.” He waved a hand to open the door and motioned for the Demon Lord to take the first step out of the house. He said to Su Jin, “Call me anytime.”

“I don’t have your number,” said Su Jin with a smile.

“You’ll have it soon,” said Xu Ran before leaving. Immediately after the door closed, a phone number appeared in Su Jin’s mind.

When it came to Xu Ran, Su Jin was still filled with gratitude for what he had done. If he hadn’t appeared in time back then, he and Kano Mai would be dead by now, so they were friends in that sense. On top of that, Situ Jin and Xu Ran were old friends, so they were all actually on very good terms. Of course, this was if you ignored how Su Jin and Situ Jin had snuck into Xu Ran’s temple and did some things they shouldn’t have. Other than that, Xu Ran was considered a friendly force and it would be best if they could all continue being on good terms.

After Xu Ran and the Demon Lord left, Su Jin could finally have a good rest. His heart had been on tenterhooks all this time because the Demon Lord was basically like having a time bomb in the house.

Just a few minutes later, Kano Mai came rushing back into the house. Su Jin couldn’t help but laugh as he said, “What’s going on? You heard that the Demon Lord has moved out and so you came rushing home?”

“Wait, what? The Demon Lord has moved out?” Kano Mai was surprised to hear this, but she quickly shook her head and said, “That’s not the time to talk about this. Take this phone call first.” She passed her phone to Su Jin.

Su Jin was puzzled but put the phone to his ear anyway. “Hello? This is Su Jin speaking. Who’s on the line?”

“Situ Jin. Do you have time now?” It was Situ Jin’s voice, but he sounded a little tired.

“Yeah, I do. How did you end up calling Mai? Were you looking for me very urgently?” asked Su Jin. He had passed his own phone to the Demon Lord and blocked all other numbers, so Situ Jin had probably called Kano Mai out of desperation. But why?

“I couldn’t get through to your phone. And I wouldn’t call you guys if it wasn’t urgent. To put it simply…if you can’t find us within the next seven hours, it means we’re all dead.”

“We? Your Department of Supernatural Affairs?” asked Su Jin.

“Yep. Our entire department, besides yourself of course, has been cornered by someone. By my most optimistic estimates, we’ll be able to hold up for no more than seven hours. So, if you only arrive after that, you can help to bury our bodies,” said Situ Jin.

Su Jin was alarmed and said, “Who’s cornered you guys? And where are you now?”

“Initially I thought this guy was some psycho serial killer, but he turned out to be an owner and he’s a very powerful one too. I’m no match for him and I’m just stalling him now. If I were here by myself, I could have snuck off. But my entire team is here and I can’t just abandon them like this.” Situ Jin’s voice was a little weak, as though he had been wounded. “We’re in W City, but I’m not really sure exactly where we are either. We moved quite a bit while fighting this guy but I think we’re in the suburban area.”

“Got it. Hang in there, we’ll go over immediately!” said Su Jin. After giving it a thought, he called the Demon Lord and she picked up very quickly. “It hasn’t even been an hour and you miss me already? If you beg me, I might consider returning to your place!”

“Pass the phone to Xu Ran,” said Su Jin. Since Situ Jin was in trouble, it was only right for Xu Ran to come and help his friend out. He also hoped that the three of them could also take this chance to clarify their relationship and strengthen it.

“What’s happened?” asked Xu Ran.

“Your friend, Situ Jin, has been cornered somewhere in the suburbs of W City and it seems like his entire department is about to die. I’m going to help him right now. What about you?” Su Jin went straight to the point.

Xu Ran was a smart man and understood more or less what Su Jin was thinking about. He nodded and said, “Sure. I’m done over here as well, so I’ll go over right now. See you in W City!”

“See you!” Su Jin nodded, then hung up and left the house with Kano Mai. He was now a member of the Department of Supernatural Affairs, so he went straight to S City’s airport and got himself a small plane and pilot that set off for W City immediately.

Meanwhile, Situ Jin was in the suburbs of W City, covered entirely in wounds as he hid in a shadow. Suddenly, the shadow over him disappeared, revealing the others who were hiding in the shadow with him. These were all members of his department, including Glasses, General, Grandmaster, Bo Ya and so on. All of them were badly injured.

“Damn it, am I running out of Spirit Power?” Situ Jin’s hands trembled slightly, which was a sign that his energy was running low. He had really tried his best, but his opponent was way more powerful than himself and he also had a lot of colleagues to protect. The only thing he could do was to keep escaping and hiding.

“Hoho! What a surprise, what a surprise! A guardian of this country, a member of the Department of Supernatural Affairs, actually turns out to be a Handbook owner as well! What a shocker! At this rate, not only will I be able to wipe out the entire Department of Supernatural Affairs, but I’d also be able to kill a powerful owner! What a happy day it is for me!” a raspy voice resounded from a spot not too far from Situ Jin.

Situ Jin glanced at his companions, then grit his teeth as he shifted them to a dark corner before dashing out all by himself.

“Over here!” Immediately after he dashed out, a red beam of light came for him. But just before the red light could hit him, he leaped into a shadow and the red light hit the ground instead.

“What a sneaky little loach.” The owner of the raspy voice was an old man who looked fairly advanced in age, skinny and frail. He folded his hands behind his back and walked around casually as he said quietly, “Let’s see how much longer you can hide from me.”

Meanwhile, Situ Jin reappeared in another patch of darkness. His face was even paler now, but at least he had managed to stall the old man for a little while more.

“Heh heh! So, my little loach is hiding right here!” Just then, the old man suddenly appeared behind him and cackled.