"Then we're practically family," she said.
"...Huh?" I didn't understand at first, but quickly caught on. Family meant sharing the same surname. She was surnamed Bai, and I was "Bai Ze," so we were family. As expected of 201, so good at currying favor!
"After I took office yesterday, the first document I signed and approved was your Purple Sun Sect's application for establishment."
"Wow! That's very kind of you!" I said with a smile. Besides currying favor, she was also good at reminding people of her contributions.
"You don't need to thank me. You are the reincarnation of Bai Ze, so the greater the responsibility, the greater the ability. Our Shabia will definitely stand by your side, jointly inheriting history, and together thwarting the conspiracies of lawless individuals. I hope that in the future, we can cooperate wholeheartedly..."
She spoke a lot of words, clearly empty platitudes, but because of her melodious tone, rising and falling, it made me feel a surge of excitement. If I were truly Bai Ze, I might have even sworn brotherhood with her and the humans she represented right then and there on the phone!
But I wasn't Bai Ze, and besides, how could the true Bai Ze's state of mind, accumulated over ten thousand years of ups and downs, be swayed by a few inflammatory words from 201?
I understood the gist of what she was saying: let Bai Ze gather his old subordinates and collectively fight the Shan Hai demonic tribes. However, 201 still hoped that Shabia would take the lead in this matter and asked for my opinion.
I dared not agree to such a momentous decision on behalf of Yao Yao, so I vaguely replied, "This matter can be discussed, can be discussed. It will be best to make long-term plans as the situation develops. Don't you agree?"
201 probably just wanted to probe and didn't press the issue further. After a few more pleasantries, she asked me to hand the phone to Shen Xingyue.
They exchanged pleasantries for a while longer, and then hung up.
I noticed that Shen Xingyue's face had turned pale and I couldn't help but chuckle, "Are you that afraid of this 201!"
"It's not fear, it's respect," Shen Xingyue said seriously. After thinking for a moment, she corrected herself, "It's more like awe..."
"What do you mean by that?" I asked. Awe and respect were two entirely different things.
"You don't know Bai Qingcheng's background, do you?" Shen Xingyue swallowed.
I shook my head. How would I know about such old matters in the martial world!
Shen Xingyue lowered her head and moved the phone, confirming it was indeed hung up, before telling me and the fox demon about Bai Qingcheng's origins.
She wasn't very old, born in 1985, making her thirty-seven this year. But twenty years ago, at the age of seventeen, she already had a nickname: "Hundred Demon Slayer"!
"Hey! Hundred Demon Slayer? You can play like that!" I asked with mild interest, my mind immediately going in a wrong direction.
Shen Xingyue clearly knew about the series and sternly corrected me, "It's not what you're thinking. She has a genuine record of killing over a hundred demons!"
"At just seventeen, she could kill a hundred demons? What was her aura like back then?" I asked.
"Purple Qi mid-stage!"
Amazing, truly amazing. For a human girl, reaching Purple Qi mid-stage at seventeen was simply inconceivable. Even Lin Xi, in her thirties, had only just touched the threshold of Purple Qi mid-stage, not officially becoming mid-stage yet. Yet Lin Xi was already the captain of the strongest team, the Bordered Yellow team, among the eight major battle teams, truly a peak combatant of Shabia, at least "one of" the peaks. I didn't expect there to be an even more formidable character!
"What kind of demons did she slay?" the fox demon asked.
"Bai Qingcheng has been part of Shabia since childhood, so of course, she killed Shan Hai demonic tribes. The Bai Ze demonic tribe rarely causes trouble, so she had no reason to slay them," Shen Xingyue said.
"And then?" I asked.
"Six years later, fourteen years ago, there was a traitor in headquarters, remember that great battle?"
I nodded. The final great battle had taken place on Chrysanthemum Mountain below Nine Immortal Cave.
"That traitor was her master. Although Bai Qingcheng didn't participate in that rebellion, she was still suppressed by headquarters for ten years. Otherwise, her position would have been in the headquarters' ranks much earlier. She was only re-employed four years ago, responsible for Shabia's Southwest region branch. In four years, she completed an even more astonishing 'Thousand Demon Slayer' mission, striking fear into the demonic realm's martial world. Because her weapon was a white cloth, and she would always smile before killing any demon she encountered, and she was quite beautiful, thus, the martial world gave her the nickname 'Three Feet of White Silk, A Smile That Topples Cities,' abbreviated as 'Bai Qingcheng.'"