My Mother Has a System but Won't Use It

Chapter 192: Communication with the whole Continent under one's grasp.

"There is a demon in our lands," an old monk said, seated on the Temple's long steps. He was breathing heavily, obviously tired after ascending the long flight of stairs.

The three children each looked at him in fear.

A demon really lived near them?

The other two monks smoking pipes also listened on with focused faces, stroking their beards. Another demon… and this one near them?

It was indeed very troublesome. Many monks might die if they had to fight.

"This Demon hails from the Starlight Clan but has no powers of the starlight," The old monk continued, his voice deep, "He kills children and the elderly without blinking or hesitation. His heart is cold, and his sword even colder."

The pipe-smoking monks grew serious, their faces growing severe. Yet, they didn't stop smoking.

The older monk had just gone down the Temple but had to come back running after hearing the news, which had stunned him. To believe that the Demon was just a young man was... really a fearful thought.

The three little ones had their faces go pale.

It was a beautiful evening of the 12th month. A new year was soon approaching, and the Temple was celebrating the days by giving the ordinary people clothes to wear and rice to eat.

Who would have thought the first thing they heard after waking up would be this news?

Demons were always scary when they appeared. Men; unscrupulous men with no bottom line or any fear of worldly laws. They always caused chaos.

The temple steps turned quiet as the monks stopped talking. The youngest monk here, a short old man with a pipe, asked, "Why did you say it in front of the little ones?"

"To warn them," the eldest said seriously, "To tell them to run if they ever see a man with shoulder-length black hair and pure crimson eyes. To run and warn us so we could escape with them. This Demon is dangerous as far as the news I heard spoke."

The other two monks nodded in assent.

"But also be wary of the woman who is always with him. She might seem weak, but she is also dangerous," the eldest added.

"Woman?" A child questioned. Women can be villains?

"The demon's mother," The monk sighed, "she is always with him, apparently, and is just as dangerous if I heard correctly, and she has red, crimson hair when she uses her powers."

The children were afraid and sat along with the monks. Each mumbling to each other about past demons and how their Temple had subdued some.

One of the two monks asked the old monk, "So, where did you hear of this particular Demon?"

Cursing his bad luck, the old monk looked at the orange skies that were on the verge of turning dark. "The news spread out from the Southern Lust City. Apparently, the Demon had killed innocent people there before running away with stolen Magical Resources and his mother. Anyone who kills the Demon would be given an enormous bounty."

"Who needs bounty?" The children shivered, and a boy said: "We should put him down! We should contact the higher Temple; the Demon Restraining Temple would surely have strong people to get him on his knees. He is just an Evolved, after all."

The monks chuckled. The oldest said chidingly, "The Demon is just around here. Nobody said he would surely come here of all places. Where are the other monks? Why is the Temple so empty?"

"We don't know," The youngest monk breathed out a puff of smoke. "All of those people ran out earlier and moved towards the waterfall towards the south. We tried to follow, but they told us to stay here and protect the Temple from monkeys."

The old man sighed, looking into the distant horizon. "I can't help but grow anxious. This Demon was said to have withstood a fight against a Power Born. He incited a fight because some Power Borns wanted to gain the secrets in his body. Then, he killed some people and ran away."

Had Han Li heard those words, he would have been steaming and speechless. When had he fought Power Borns? When was it that a fight happened between Power Borns due to his secrets? Wasn't all of that to be blamed on Li Shuanwei?

Li Shuanwei had the Power Borns fight for him. It was that guy who incited everything. Now it was all on his head, and he even had a fat target on top of him?

Had Han Li heard it…

...

In the skies, Han Li's face was as dark as the bottom of a pot. He bit his nails out of pure frustration, his brows furrowed deeply. Indeed, when he messed with Li Shuanwei, he should have expected this; it was his oversight.

Li Shuanwei had used many means to spread the word that Han Li was a Demon. He had even involved his mother in the whole ordeal. Somehow, Li Shuanwei even got the news that his mother's hair would turn red when she used her Spark.

A target!

A fat target was on his head now. All over the world, no matter which city he visited, he would never be able to gain legal entry unless he sorted this out.

Han Li looked at the monks flying around him, all carried in the sky by Monk Hen Shin, as they moved towards the nearby Temple.

The boy he had wounded earlier was floating beside him, telling him what he had meant by the word 'Fame.' Han Li had indeed become infamous. And just as his mother wanted, she had also become infamous along with him—as his mother. That was quick.

His face became even more unsightly when all of his women looked at him with expressions of unease. They didn't know what would happen from now on, but Han Li had a faint idea. If it was not for Hen Shin, he alone could slaughter all these tender monks like sheep, but with Hen Shin, it was the opposite.

The old man's smile as he floated in the air was immensely languid.

'He must have been able to see the whole world when he got the chance to Teleport,' Han Li guessed, 'and then should have ordered these monks to come surround me where I am.' That was the only guess he could come up with.

Or else, the monk had somehow put a tracking method on him or his mother when they were in the Demon World when they met. That was plausible. Regardless, the man's smile was inscrutable even to Han Li.

If the monk wanted to kill, though, Han Li knew they'd be dead.

He looked at the little monk whom he had hurt and asked, knowing that Hen Shin would hear this, "Did Monk Hen SHin order you people to surround me?"

The boy nodded. "The Monk did. The monk said to track you down and send us a location where you might be. We found you and he teleported there."

Han Li's brows shot up. So, can Hen Shin speak with people all over the world when not using his teleportation power? Information was power; if someone had such a world-encompassing way of communication, he would rule the era.

Han Li prodded Hua Yu, who was silently following beside him, to make him move forward to Hen Shin's side. Hua Yu complied, and Han Li floated to stand in the air beside Hen Shin.

"Monk, does your Teleportation power come with any other authorities?" Han Li knew he was being awfully nosy, but monks shouldn't mind. Or so he hoped. This power could really put a stain on all of his plans for the future in one way or the other.

He might have to think of a way to kill this monk when he could. As friendly as the person was, and as much gratitude as he felt for him because he had looked after Ruo, Han Li couldn't risk his future ambitions for that. Not that the man seemed killable.

Yet, the biggest issue of all was another thing. Monk Hen Shin had a Lie Detection Magic Power if he remembered correctly. So, it would all get slightly tricky if he were to antagonize the man.

"Other authorities?" The monk rubbed his white beard. Monks were usually not people with a beards, but Hen Shin was quite different from a run-of-the-mill monk. "I do have other authorities. For example, I have a perpetual connection with all of the continent, as in, I can contact any person I wish to with a thought."

Han Li felt a chill in his heart. Calling a person from one end of the continent to the other with a thought? That would make Hen Shin one of the most influential people of this era when added with the power to teleport once per year. It was almost assured that the monk would get one of the Transcendence orbs in the next Transcendence War.

"…That is convenient," he chuckled wryly.

The monk also laughed, merry. "Indeed, convenient. But I need something they use, like a piece of clothing or a lock of hair or something. I contacted these monks earlier and made them find you. Then, I had the location and teleported right beside you."

Han Li grimaced slightly. "So if you had a piece of my clothing, you could appear beside me any time?"

No matter where he hid...

The monk smiled. "Indeed. This monk has become quite something."

All the monks around laughed and clapped their hands, to which Hen Shin also laughed and clapped his hands.

Han Li sighed.

"This is your era, Monk Hen Shin," he said. Then, Han Li looked at little Ruo, who was cradled in his mother's hands; his women had all already been quite familiar with flying due to Hua Yu helping them up and down the waterfall cavern, but they were still amazed by this long-distance flight.

Hen Shin shook his head and also looked at little Ruo.

The monk who had been helpless against the Fang Family to save Ruo by himself was not the current Hen Shin. The current Hen Shin could easily save Ruo with no trouble. He would have the influence once the world knew his power, and he was also stronger than when he had entered the Demon World.

The monk had nothing to worry about since no one, even the Transcendent, could steal his power. It was the power of the Demon World itself to look after anything, and he was just given a minor authority over it because he had won the 5th Trial.

Fang family, the reason for all of Ruo's torments, was not even one of the four sects. Only the four sects had Transcendent cultivators. Hen Shin only had to worry about the Transcendent now. If he so wished, he could save Ruo.

Han Li was not one to say no to such favors, and since the monk desired to help Ruo from the start, he had a feeling the monk would help her. It would be a weight out of his back but he would have to check the process from start to finish.

"I won't help her," The monk said, and Han Li was startled. A distant temple appeared before them, and soon enough, they descended on them, startling the people conversing there. They especially looked at Han Li.

Han Li looked at the monk. Even if Hen Shin didn't help, Han Li had the means to save Ruo by himself. Calmly, he nodded. "Fair enough if you don't want to help. But may I know why?"

The other monks all exchanged glances. The calmness Han Li was displaying against a Power Born hadn't been lost on them. They had noticed it, but saying it out loud and snorting were not the styles of practice they endorsed.

Hen Shin cupped his hand on his back and looked up at the sky; night had already fallen. Stars littered the sky.