14: Chapter 14 Behind the Mask is Still a Mask

"What are you doing? Let me go!"

In the dark alley corner, Luo Qingqian was suspended in mid-air, her hands and feet bound by several ribbons of black silk emitting a faint, eerie glow; as she struggled, her voice carried a hint of panic.

The Cultivator of the demonic path before her wore black night-traveling clothes, arms crossed over her chest, eyes locked onto her, with a cold tone that carried a hint of confusion.

"You have a scent on you that I'm familiar with. Have we met somewhere before?"

The demonic Cultivator stepped forward slowly, leaned in close to Luo Qingqian, sniffed carefully, and furrowed her brows slightly.

"Everyone I know should be on the Main Planet; it's impossible for them to appear here..."

A flash of impatience crossed her eyes.

"Forget it. I'll know once I take a look."

As she finished speaking, the demonic Cultivator stopped thinking, reached out, and let her fingertips wander slowly over Luo Qingqian's body, finally stopping on her veiled cheek with a hint of provocation.

Immediately after, with a flick of her wrist, the veil covering her face was knocked to the ground.

Luo Qingqian's face was thus exposed.

"Huh? Why haven't I seen this face before?"

The face beneath the veil was not beautiful; on the contrary, it was somewhat ugly.

The confusion in the demonic Cultivator's eyes turned to disappointment; after a moment of recollection, she had no impression of her at all.

"I saw you traveling with your face covered and thought it was because you were stunningly beautiful and afraid of causing trouble."

"I didn't expect it was just to hide your ugliness."

She let out a strange, mocking laugh; all the women she had seen in the past were stunning beauties.

Since covering one's face like that was usually for the sake of keeping a low profile, she had subconsciously categorized Luo Qingqian into that same group, only to end up disappointed.

Hearing this mockery, Luo Qingqian's eyes grew firmer instead, and she struggled desperately with unyielding defiance.

"Let me go!"

Seeing her like this, the demonic Cultivator completely lost interest, her tone turning icy.

"With a face like this, you truly don't catch my Dharma Eye."

Before she finished speaking, she raised her hand and clenched her fist; the black silk ribbons binding Luo Qingqian tightened instantly, making her bones creak.

The ribbon wrapped around her neck tightened even further, clearly intending to strangle her to death.

With her hands and feet locked, even struggling became a luxury; the sensation of suffocation surged like a tide, Luo Qingqian's vision gradually blurred, and her consciousness began to drift away.

In her dying moments, she vaguely heard a sigh of disappointment from the demonic Cultivator.

"I thought tonight, my 'Soft Silk Absolute Yuan Technique' could advance a step further..."

At the same time, a familiar male voice echoed through the alleyway.

"Holy crap, a demonic Cultivator! Run for your life!"

Li Fan saw the commotion in the alley corner, shouted in shock, turned around, and bolted, muttering loudly as he went.

"It must be that demonic Cultivator who's been killing people everywhere. I saw what she looked like; I have to report it to the General Management Bureau immediately!"

The demonic Cultivator in the alley corner heard this and felt surprised, 'This kid has such good eyesight?'

She immediately abandoned the dying Luo Qingqian, turned into a black shadow, and chased after Li Fan.

"Stinking man, where are you running!"

In just a breath or two, the demonic Cultivator caught up behind Li Fan; countless black silk ribbons erupted from her sleeves, the originally soft silk now like sharp blades, piercing directly at Li Fan's vital points.

"Go to hell, disgusting man!"

At the critical moment, Li Fan turned around abruptly, flicked his wrist, and a short blade already charged with Spiritual Qi shot out, accurately severing the approaching ribbons, its momentum undiminished as it continued to fly toward the demonic Cultivator.

"Trifling skill."

Although this sudden counterattack was unexpected, she remained calm.

Even more ribbons whirled out from her sleeves, about to weave into an airtight net.

But just at this moment, a ripple suddenly erupted from around Li Fan; the Spiritual Qi within several hundred meters instantly surged over, transforming into an invisible, immense force that pressed down fiercely toward the demonic Cultivator.

Spirit Reflection!

This was Li Fan's second time using it; he was still a bit rusty, but it was enough.

The demonic Cultivator felt the surrounding Spiritual Qi suddenly solidify, and the next moment, it transformed into a heavy pressure that crushed down upon her.

Outside the Secret Realm, the Spiritual Qi was thin, so this Spiritual Pressure was not considered strong, but strangely, the circulation of Spiritual Qi within her body became sluggish, and even her physical movements slowed down.

"Spirit Reflection?!" The demonic Cultivator was greatly shocked. It wasn't that she hadn't seen Spirit Reflection before, but she had never seen one so bizarre... "It's actually a Spirit Reflection that targets the circulation of Spiritual Qi!"

At this moment, she couldn't afford to hide her strength; a ripple also erupted from her body as her own unique Spirit Reflection was deployed with difficulty, and she let out a low shout.

"Soft Absolute Desire World!"

The moment her Spirit Reflection was deployed, the obstructed Spiritual Qi finally resumed circulation, but it was already too late to mobilize the ribbons to block the short blade.

The demonic Cultivator could only force her body to twist, barely avoiding her vital points; the short blade grazed her cheek, and although it didn't cut into her flesh, it tore the headscarf covering her face.

The headscarf fell away, dark strands of hair tumbled down, and a cascade of long hair draped over her shoulders, making the lines of her neck appear even more slender.

"A woman?"

Li Fan looked at the flowing long hair, hesitation in his eyes.

He had originally thought it was a shifty-eyed flower-picking thief, but he hadn't expected it to be a woman.

The demonic Cultivator, however, had no heart to care about her appearance being exposed at this moment; her heart sank as she realized that with such a big commotion, people from the General Management Bureau would likely arrive soon.

She didn't know that those rushing over were not the General Management Bureau, but a team of Foundation Establishment Cultivators urgently summoned by the [Personal Security Privilege] attached to Li Fan's [Outstanding Talent] Aptitude.

The situation was already unfavorable; the demonic Cultivator dared not stay any longer, glared fiercely at Li Fan, her eyes full of venomous hatred.

"Damn man, I have remembered your face!" Before the words even finished, she turned into a black shadow and instantly vanished into the depths of the night.

Li Fan let out a long sigh of relief but still dared not lower his guard; who knew if that demonic Cultivator would make a return, so he secretly felt fortunate.

"It's a good thing I was quick-witted just now and bluffed this demonic Cultivator."

Just now, the demonic Cultivator had been standing in the shadows of the alley corner; it would have been a miracle if Li Fan had seen her appearance clearly.

Seeing that Luo Qingqian's condition was bad, and unable to determine the demonic Cultivator's strength, he had no choice but to call out to attract the demonic Cultivator's attention, while simultaneously calling for help and running away, all in one go.

Looking at the direction in which the demonic Cultivator had disappeared, Li Fan stepped forward to pick up the lock of black hair that had been sliced off by the short blade and threw it into his System space.

Afterward, he came to Luo Qingqian to check on her condition.

At this moment, Luo Qingqian was still hanging in mid-air by the ribbons, appearing to have fainted.

Perhaps because the demonic Cultivator had left, the Spiritual Qi controlling them had dissipated, so the ribbons were not as tight and began to turn into black mist and vanish.

Li Fan used his Spiritual Qi to control the short blade and severed the remaining ribbons; Luo Qingqian fell from mid-air, and he stepped forward quickly, reaching out to catch her in his arms.

"She's actually quite heavy."

Fortunately, he was now a Qi Refining sixth-layer Cultivator; if it were his old physique from back when he stayed at home all day, just holding her steady would have been a struggle.

He lowered his head and, for the first time, looked closely at Luo Qingqian in his arms, a thought subconsciously popping into his mind.

'This weight, I'm afraid most of it comes from those two places on her chest...'

"Cough... cough."

As soon as the thought arose, Luo Qingqian in his arms suddenly coughed twice, her long, slender eyelashes trembling as she slowly opened her eyes.

Seeing clearly that the person holding her was Li Fan, Luo Qingqian subconsciously raised her hand to cover her cheeks tightly, her fingertips trembling slightly, as if she was extremely unwilling to let him see her "ugly" appearance.

Li Fan watched her actions, tilted his head, didn't understand what she was doing, and didn't ask any more questions.

He took out a bottle of Fire Plum Juice from his System space, supported it with Spiritual Qi, and brought it to her lips.

"Fire Plum Juice. It's sweet and sour; it'll soothe your throat."

Seeing that there was no disgust in Li Fan's eyes, and that he didn't care about her appearance at all, Luo Qingqian slowly lowered the hand covering her face.

A flash of surprise crossed her eyes; then, she gently took the Fire Plum Juice with both hands and drank it in small sips, her eyes and brows looking gentle and docile, like a well-behaved kitten nestled in his arms.

Not long after, two teams arrived at the alley entrance one after another; one team wore standard armor and had steady auras—they were the Foundation Establishment guard team summoned by Li Fan's privilege.

The other team wore silver-white uniforms and held Magical Artifacts; they were the apprehension team from the General Management Bureau that had arrived upon hearing the noise.

The two groups of people looked at each other, both assuming the other was the target of their mission, and the atmosphere instantly became tense.

Seeing this, Li Fan hurriedly walked forward and explained the cause and effect.

The guard team had come specifically to protect Li Fan; seeing that he was safe and sound, they turned and withdrew.

The people from the General Management Bureau, however, were extremely concerned about the demonic Cultivator matter that Li Fan had mentioned.

Over the past few days, there had been a series of cases of Cultivators being murdered in the Yan Region, and they had been investigating for a long time, all in confusion.

The captain of the apprehension team was a Foundation Establishment Cultivator with a resolute face; he didn't mind the difference in Realm with Li Fan at all, bowed to him with folded fists, and spoke in a solemn tone.

"Little brother, the information you provided is crucial. Thank you for your help!"

After speaking, he led his team to chase in the direction where the demonic Cultivator had disappeared, not forgetting to inform him before leaving that he would record a merit for Li Fan.

Seeing that the matter had settled, Li Fan turned and walked toward the venue of the class reunion; just two steps later, a System notification sounded in his mind.

[Strongest Underdog Counterattack System: Detected that the host has completed a bottom-up reversal by successfully repelling a Foundation Establishment Realm demonic Cultivator. Because the bottom-up reversal item issued by the System was not used, an additional reward of 100 hard training points is granted.]

Hearing this, Li Fan felt speechless.

The situation was urgent just now, and the System had switched suddenly; he hadn't even seen where the item was, so how could he have had the time to use it.

'Forget it, getting 100 hard training points for free isn't a loss.'

Thinking this, he had already arrived at the entrance of the reunion venue, where the melody of the ending of a Xianmi Group song could be faintly heard from inside.

Just as he lifted his foot to go in, Luo Qingqian suddenly spoke softly.

"Um... could you put me down first?"

It turned out that Luo Qingqian was still being held by Li Fan; the Fire Plum Juice in her hand had long since run out, and her fingertips were tugging slightly at Li Fan's sleeve, with a hint of discomfort.

"Oh, oh, I forgot, I forgot."

He hurriedly put Luo Qingqian down, only to see a faint blush on her cheeks.

Earlier, when Li Fan was negotiating with the guard team and the people from the General Management Bureau, he had kept holding her in his arms; in front of so many people, she was too shy to speak up and could only drink the Fire Plum Juice silently, eventually getting used to it, until they reached the entrance of the venue and she remembered there were many people inside, and she finally came to her senses.

Luo Qingqian raised her hand and put the veil back on to cover her face.

"How are you? Are you feeling better?" Li Fan asked.

Luo Qingqian nodded, her voice soft: "Much better."

"Do you want me to take you home?"

Luo Qingqian subconsciously wanted to refuse; she still maintained her integrity as an idol and absolutely could not expose where she lived.

At this time, the door of the reunion venue was pushed open, and the students walked out one after another, all dressed up; finally, Mo Shang also strolled out and spotted Li Fan and Luo Qingqian at a glance.

"Let's go, Fan-zai, the next round continues!"

Li Fan had no desire to keep messing around and refused.

"Luo Qingqian is going home, I'm taking her."

A flash of understanding instantly crossed Mo Shang's eyes; he then showed a wicked grin, winked at Li Fan, and made a 'go for it' gesture.

"I believe in you! Brother!"

After saying that, without waiting for Li Fan to reply, he hurried off to catch up with the main group, looking back repeatedly as he walked, gesturing "get her," "get her" to Li Fan.

This scene was seen by both Li Fan and Luo Qingqian; Li Fan, however, spoke quite naturally.

"Don't mind Old Mo; he's just like that, never serious. Let's go, I'll take you."

Luo Qingqian, however, became increasingly embarrassed, her voice intermittent; through the veil, one couldn't see her expression at this moment.

"I... I can go back by myself, I won't trouble you." She still insisted, unwilling to expose where she lived.

Li Fan seemed to see through her concerns and didn't force it; he had just been looking for an excuse to slip away anyway.

"Alright, then take care of yourself." Li Fan waved his hand. "That demonic Cultivator is currently being chased by the General Management Bureau, so you don't need to worry too much."

"Then I'll be going first."

Hearing him agree, Luo Qingqian left as if fleeing.

In truth, she didn't really not want Li Fan to take her; if Li Fan had insisted on taking her, she would not have refused.

Earlier, when she was held in his arms, that steady aura made her feel inexplicably at ease.

Seeing Luo Qingqian walk away, Li Fan also strolled home, only—it seemed they were heading in the same direction?