The four of them left the living room and went into the courtyard. Yao Yao seemed satisfied with my performance earlier. Shen Xingyue also gave me a thumbs-up. "I didn't expect this, facing a formidable enemy, you managed to remain calm and handle things in an orderly fashion."
"Don't praise me too much, hurry and arrange for manpower," I said with a wry smile. The real test was yet to come.
"What manpower arrangements?" Shen Xingyue asked.
I opened the map on my phone and gestured. "That tunnel, it's the only way into the mountains, right?"
"Yes," Shen Xingyue replied, at least that's what the map indicated.
"Have your people set up three lines of defense outside the tunnel, inside, and by the forest along the plank road. This is to prevent 'Chiyou' from stealing the egg. The four of us will stay in the courtyard as the final barrier," I said.
"Alright, I'll go arrange it now." Shen Xingyue took out her phone and stepped aside to make a call.
"Yao Yao, you keep an eye on the enemy's movements at all times." I added.
Yao Yao puffed out her chest and gave me a modern military salute. "Ye Se'er!"
"Big Brother, you can rest for a while. If 'Chiyou's' people break into the villa later, we'll still need you to act as a human shield," I joked.
"Haha, no problem. I'm just hungry. Will it be enough time to go hunt in the back mountains?" Sha Wuji asked.
"It'll be enough time. Go ahead," I said. There were still over two hours until the egg hatched. If I were the enemy, I definitely wouldn't come looking for trouble beforehand. That would defeat the purpose of a surprise attack or ambush.
"Wuji, wait a moment." Yao Yao called out to Sha Wuji, who was already hunching over, about to transform into a large tiger. "You were injured by lightning and lost a lot of your vital energy. I'll infuse some of my qi into you, which can help you recover quickly."
"Oh, how dare I trouble Your Highness..." Sha Wuji said, filled with trepidation.
"Cut the act! I already told your sister earlier, our Qing Dynasty has long forgotten such formalities. Call me by my name from now on. Come!"
"Alright..." Sha Wuji knelt on one knee before Yao Yao. Yao Yao placed her hand on his head, her fingers splayed like the Nine Yin White Bone Claw, gripping Sha Wuji's head. Her small hand trembled slightly, causing Sha Wuji's head to shake as well. wisps of ethereal white energy emerged, as if he were in a steam bath.
After about half a minute, Yao Yao withdrew her hand. It was done.
"Thank you, Lady... Thank you!" Sha Wuji was still not used to calling her "Yao Yao."
"You can call her Boss too," I chuckled. Some demons called her that. Yao Yao was the Boss, and I was the Owner. We had a dual leadership system.
"Haha, alright, thank you, Boss! This name feels more natural!" Sha Wuji said with ać¨ĺ (simple and honest) smile. "Then, Boss, I'm off!"
"Go ahead." Yao Yao wiped the fine sweat from her forehead. Only after Sha Wuji transformed and climbed over the wall to enter the mountains did Yao Yao grab my arm, nearly collapsing to the ground!
"Hey, hey, what's wrong?" I asked anxiously.
"It's nothing," Yao Yao struggled to stand steady, forcing herself to widen her eyes. "Some of my qi was depleted, but it will recover quickly. You can understand why I didn't use this method to save Elder Sun earlier, right?"
"I hadn't even thought about it," I said with a smile. Now that I thought about it, I understood. Earlier, when Li Jingxiang was helping Elder Sun walk, Yao Yao had stepped forward a couple of times, hesitating to speak. Jingxiang had asked her if she had any instructions, and Yao Yao said no.
Perhaps at that moment, Yao Yao had wanted to use this method to help Elder Sun recover quickly so she could ask him what had happened. But she didn't. There were probably two reasons: First, Yao Yao felt that exchanging her own vital energy for this information wasn't worth it. Second, Elder Sun had, in a dream, zapped Yao Yao before. More importantly, Elder Sun had disrupted Yao Yao's plan to revive me after forty-nine days of close contact, so Yao Yao still held a grudge!
I helped Yao Yao sit on a stone stool to rest. Shen Xingyue, having finished her call, also came over to sit.
"What exactly is this 'Chiyou'?" I took the opportunity to ask Shen Xingyue. Yao Yao likely didn't know.
"Chiyou is the largest demon hunter organization in the Jiangnan region. According to incomplete statistics, the organization has over five hundred members, with influence spread across the eighteen provinces of Jiangnan. They have many experts. Furthermore, they not only hunt demons and sell demon cores, but they also rob graves, and use the money they earn to open legitimate companies, engage in import and export trade, and real estate."
"So they've basically washed clean?" I asked.
"Pretty much. That's why it's troublesome for us to deal with them. Many people within Chiyou are influential business elites, and even some from the government. Even if we catch them hunting demons, after their maneuvering, most cases will be dropped. So, dealing with them isn't something our Shakespeare organization can do effectively. Basically, we can only rely on demons."
"Then, if they attack later, can your people hold them off?" I asked worriedly.
"That shouldn't be a problem. I've had them set up three cordon lines and establish a restricted area, citing an ongoing mission. When Shakespeare is on a mission, no one is allowed to enter, not even high officials or dignitaries," Shen Xingyue said.
That's more like it...