Chapter 15: Are You That Wealthy Tycoon?

Shi Zhiyan took a clean hand towel and handed it to Mingxi. She stared at it in confusion.

“What is this for?”

“…When I begin using my power, bite down on this towel if the pain becomes unbearable. And remember, do not make a sound, or you may alert the people from the Ming Estate!”

His words filled Mingxi with a sudden, bone-deep despair. Before she could say anything, Shi Zhiyan began chanting. A forceful surge of energy drove fiercely through her waist, as though her entire skeleton were about to be pierced through. The pain was so intense that Mingxi could not utter a word.

She knew he was setting her bones. But Shi Zhiyan was right: if she screamed that loudly in the dead of night, she would certainly draw those despicable people from the Ming Estate. Then everything would be over.

All she could do was bite down hard on the towel. Cold sweat poured from her body, soaking her long hair, yet Mingxi did not make the slightest sound. She felt as though she were about to collapse completely, while tears burst uncontrollably from her eyes.

She did not know how long the agony lasted before it finally ceased. Only when Shi Zhiyan withdrew his power did Mingxi feel as though she had been released from torture.

Yet her entire body was utterly limp, as if she had melted into the bed.

“How do you feel now? Does it still hurt?” Seeing Mingxi looking utterly exhausted, Shi Zhiyan suddenly felt that she was remarkably strong. From beginning to end, she had not cried out once, nor had she struggled even a little.

“Much better… Thank you…” she replied weakly before finally studying Shi Zhiyan more closely.

The man was tall and slender, with an extraordinary bearing. His delicate, beautiful features seemed almost painted, while his ink-dark eyes were deep and distant. Even his every movement carried a trace of scholarly refinement.

…One glance was enough to tell that he was definitely not from around here!

Shi Zhiyan, however, was watching her just as intently. After a while, he gave a faintly wicked smile.

“Why are you staring at me like that?”

“That is what I should be asking you,” Mingxi retorted indignantly. If he had not been looking at her, how would he have known she was staring at him?

“…I noticed that your neck was injured. It is nothing serious; it will be fine after I treat it.” With complete seriousness, Shi Zhiyan took out some herbs and applied them to her wound. Another searing pain swept across Mingxi’s neck.

Only after he finished applying the medicine did Mingxi feel as though the entire world had finally grown peaceful. She carefully sorted through everything that had happened—

Tonight, she and her son had planned to steal the most valuable object in the Ming Estate and flee the place forever. The treasures they discovered, however, were the Scarlet Cry spear and the Divine Oracle grimoire. While Mingxi had been concentrating on stealing them, a magical beast had suddenly attacked her. Since she possessed no spiritual power at all, she had been wounded and knocked unconscious. When she awoke, she found that the strange man who was constantly using talismans had rescued her and brought her here.

There was one thing she could be certain of: although the process had been rather chaotic, she had ultimately escaped that damned place, the Ming Estate.

But this sudden stranger before her…

“By the way, who are you? Why were you in the forbidden grounds?” Mingxi looked up at Shi Zhiyan.

“→_→ Shouldn’t I be asking you that? Who are you? What were you doing in the forbidden grounds in the middle of the night? Don’t you know that magical beasts have been causing trouble in the county lately? Are you tired of living, sneaking into the forbidden grounds at midnight to steal things?”

“…My name is Mingxi.”

“Mingxi? Could you be the one the local people have been talking about…”

Before Shi Zhiyan could finish, veins stood out on Mingxi’s forehead as she shouted, “Not that Mingxi! I am not the useless seventh young lady of the Ming Estate! I am Mingxi the Phantom Thief—Ming from the Netherworld, Xi from Hope!”

Shi Zhiyan pondered for a moment, then suddenly laughed.

“Ming from the Netherworld, Xi from Hope? That is quite an inspiring name. Still… I never expected it to belong to a little thief like you.”

“What is wrong with being a thief? Thievery is a profession too, you know!”

“It certainly is a profession. But, Miss Mingxi, you should understand that on the Xuanling Continent, if you are a member of the beastfolk, you should pursue the path of a warrior. If you are an ordinary human, you should become a summoner. That is the law of the Xuanling Continent, and it is also the most revered profession. Is it truly wise to remain a petty thief forever?”

There was some truth in his words. After all, the Xuanling Continent had only four nations: Eastern Ridge, Northern Xiang, Western Chang, and Southern Xi. Its ruling beings were divided into just two races: ordinary humans and beastfolk.

The beastfolk were usually prodigies of cultivation. Every one of them became a warrior on this continent, and the most outstanding among them might even be chosen to enter the imperial court and become generals. They generally cultivated martial techniques based on profound energy. From lowest to highest, the stages of profound energy were Human Profound—Red, Yellow, Green, Azure, Blue, Violet, and Ink—followed by Heavenly Profound, Divine Profound, and Profound Sovereign. Each stage was further divided into nine grades.

If Mingxi’s judgment was correct, then Shi Zhiyan, as a member of the beastfolk, had already reached the third grade of Ink Profound. His power was certainly formidable.

As for ordinary humans, the path to strength lay in forming contracts with magical beasts and becoming summoners, continually taming beasts in order to increase their own power. On the Xuanling Continent, magical beasts and fairies were regarded as inferior life-forms.

Compared with Mingxi—a useless phantom thief whose only assets were a dim-witted, half-human, half-beast son and a magical beast named White Ling that was practically a pet—Shi Zhiyan was undeniably impressive.

Yet the moment she thought of this, doubt stirred in Mingxi’s heart.

Just who was this man, really?

“What is your name?” Mingxi’s curiosity about Shi Zhiyan’s identity deepened. It was as though the man were surrounded by unanswered questions.