There is nothing wrong with the training method of the Justice Messenger

“But I didn’t help at all.”

"Just come over here. If you care about my safety, I will also care about your safety."

Chapter 323: My thoughts are unrestricted, my methods are unrestrained

When Li Nian found Tsuchigumo, he only informed Isayama. Because he didn't have Nura Rikuo's contact information, he wanted to inform him through Isayama. However, Isayama not only told Rikuo, but also told Suzuka. At that time, the two colleagues hurried over.

Isayama and Suzuka had already expressed their desire not to have anything to do with Tsuchigumo, so why did they rush over here? Of course, it was to support Li Nian.

Although the whole battle process was fortunately conducted, no one was allowed to interfere in the fight between Li Nian and Tsuchigumo. Li Nian was the winner and stood till the end. He defeated Tsuchigumo by himself and did not let them help to collect his body. From beginning to end, Isayama, Suzuka and Rikuo were just watching from the side.

But Li Nian is not blind, and of course he can see clearly the reason why these three people came. They are concerned about your safety and are afraid that you will be beaten to death, so they come to help without saying a word. They are also prepared to fight with the earth spiders and are willing to take the corresponding risks. So he, Li Nian, must remember this favor and repay it.

So when Suzuka said she needed his help, Li Nian's thought was already to help her to the best of his ability. The questions he asked were just to confirm Suzuka's purpose of holding the Taishan Fujun Festival and the possible impact - since her purpose was to resurrect her relatives and the impact was within a controllable range and would not cause harm to society, it was not a bad thing.

As for the Curse Search Department...

It's just a forbidden technique. If you don't say it and I don't say it, who would know about it?

Even if you know and I don't admit it, what can you do to me?

Li Nian had already thought of his confession when the matter was exposed. When he was questioned, he could just say that he was just an ordinary passerby, doing a righteous act and bailing someone out. Is this reasonable? This is very reasonable! Compared with Suzuka's confession, he distanced himself from him. Both sides did not talk about the secret deal. Who can determine that he was an accomplice of the forbidden technique?

Not knowing that Li Nian had already thought about how to record the confession after the truth was revealed, Suzuka felt warm in her heart when she heard what Li Nian said, and she rarely showed a gentle smile.

"...You are the type who only cares about feelings."

"Hmm? Don't I usually look like someone who's sentimental?"

"They don't look like that when they're fighting."

"Of course, I'm fighting and killing my enemies, so why should I care about my feelings?"

The two looked at each other and smiled.

Having said that, Dalian Temple Suzuka has confirmed that Li Nian has agreed to help her protect the Taishan Lord Festival, but she has no intention of lowering the specific amount of the reward too much.

"Okay, I'll do as you wish and reduce the salary - the full 80 million won't change, and I'll keep the few million in change for my spending these days."

"...No, I meant two million?"

When Li Nian was about to say something, Suzuka waved her hand impatiently: "Are you the man or am I? Stop whining and making noise over there. I think it's not a loss to hire a new exorcist like you to protect me for 80 million in exchange for increasing the success rate of the ritual. Money is useless to me. You can just keep it and make use of it."

"..." Li Nian really couldn't understand Dalian Temple Suzuka's attitude of not treating money as money, but he already understood that Dalian Temple Suzuka had made it clear that she was going to go all out in the execution of the Taishan Fujun ceremony.

Although I still vaguely feel that something is not right.

But the sponsor had already said this, and if he refused again, it would seem that he, Li Nian, was hypocritical. He would be a fool not to make money. Here, Li Nian nodded and agreed, and only sighed: "Children who have never lacked money don't know how difficult it is to make money... Don't regret it in the future. Okay, I accept it."

"Then it's a deal!" Fearing that Li Nian would refuse, Dalian Si said anxiously, "I'll ask my agent to go to the bank and exchange a check for 40 million for you as a deposit, and I'll pay you the other half after the deal is done."

"Okay, until the Taishan Lord Sacrifice is completed, I, Li Nian, will be at your disposal. Once the money is in place, I will crush anyone who stands in your way."

Now Li Nian really agreed to participate in this matter.

Moreover, the scope of responsibilities agreed upon seemed to be even broader than what was agreed upon. Suzuka was stunned at first when he heard that, and then he laughed.

"You said that before the Taishan Lord Sacrifice is carried out, you can let me command you?"

"Yes, just consider it as a free service for 80 million. Since you've raised such an exaggerated price, I should show some sincerity, right?"

"Wow, there is such a good thing." Dalian Temple Suzuka thought it was very interesting. He looked Li Nian up and down and said, "What if I ask you to be my servant?"

Li Nian really bent over and gave her an awkward salute. "I am Li Nian, and I will do whatever Miss Suzuka tells me."

Dalian Temple Suzuka saw Li Nian's sincerity and was pleasantly surprised: "This is really an unexpected gain, I feel like I've earned it... Let me make it clear first, you were the one who brought it up first, I won't be polite to send you on a mission, and it will take at least a month for me to complete the perfection and preparation of the ceremony until Fujiki sends the information and the ceremony is officially performed. This period of time is all within the time range you mentioned, don't feel that you have lost out and regret it along the way!"

Li Nian pretended to be a decent butler, smiling and saying nothing, thinking, "Yes, yes, I have lost a lot. I only made 80 million yuan to be your thug for a month. You really let me win."

Dalian Temple Suzuka looked at Li Nian and kept circling around him. Now that the Taishan Lord Festival had been settled, she knew Li Nian's character and he was a man of his word. Once he promised, he would definitely do it. She was relieved about this and felt that with the help of a strong man like Li Nian, at least the smooth execution of the ceremony was guaranteed. At this moment, she was more concerned about the fact that Li Nian agreed to be ordered around, and to what extent he would go through fire and water for her, his [master].

The girl thought about it and asked tentatively: "How about a dog barking?"

Li Nian raised her head with a smile: "I'm sorry, sir, you didn't give me enough, you have to pay more."

"…How much more?"

"One billion."

"Why don't you just go and rob it!?... Tsk." Suzuka smacked her lips. She knew that this price was just something Li Nian said casually. This guy just said that to let her know that he would not agree to such an unreasonable request. "You are so arrogant even as a servant. Okay, okay, I'm going to ask you directly, to what extent can you let me order you around."

"To the extent that I do it when I want to, and I don't do it when I don't want to."

"...You are really sincere in letting me be ordered around, right?"

Dalian Temple Suzuka snorted twice in dissatisfaction, knowing that her probing was a bit too much, which drew Li Nian's warning.

She felt a little guilty about what she had said. Fortunately, Li Nian was able to take a joke and did not draw his sword to chop her because of such an offense. Thinking of Li Nian's ferocious look when he was beating the earth spider, Dalian Si shuddered and temporarily restrained the idea of ​​random probing, but still muttered a little dissatisfied.

"What's the use of you as a servant?"

Li Nian rubbed his hands enthusiastically and introduced his expertise: "My subordinates are very good at killing and arson. Miss, is there anyone you don't like? I can kill him in a minute and I guarantee that the means are clean and neat, and I won't suspect you."

"...I now feel that you are more dangerous than Fujiki and his gang." Suzuka thought for a moment: "If I don't want you to kill or burn anything, it would be ok for you to give me a back massage, right? Or do you think this is a humiliation to your personality and is something you don't want to do?"

"Order."

Li Nian agreed to this request readily. It just so happened that when he was learning [Tiger Climbing the Mountain], he also learned the massage skills of an old Bajiquan master. He didn't use them himself, and had to keep them hidden as he rarely got to use them. Now, someone suddenly offered to give him a chance to put his knowledge into practice, so Li Nian became eager to try and actually went behind Suzuka to massage her shoulders.

Suzuka didn't expect Li Nian to agree. Although she was the one who made the request, she was still caught off guard when Li Nian got around her and the man grabbed her shoulders with both hands. She was so scared that she trembled all over.

She was not used to anyone's touch, especially from men.

"Wait... Mmm~~~!" Suzuka wanted to call for a stop, but Li Nian just pinched her hard. The sudden sour and pleasurable feeling made her only let out a charming gasp.

Li Nian was squeezing the girl's shoulders very vigorously. He was the kind of person who would use all he had learned to exercise whenever he got a chance. He felt the power coming from his hands, and used it to carefully feel the muscles of the girl's shoulders, adjusting the strength he should use while speaking.

"Your shoulders are really stiff. Maybe you sit for too long. I think you need to give them a couple of squeezes. Okay, relax your shoulders."

“Wait… wuwuwu… stop… haah~~~.”

"Ah, do you want to stop?" Li Nian finally understood Suzuka's instructions and stopped.

"..." Li Nian paused and immediately felt a warmth on his shoulders. Suzuka, whose usual stiffness had been relieved, hesitated for a moment, and then thought that Li Nian's previous massage was actually quite comfortable. He knew that this guy was really good at controlling the strength and was not pressing randomly. After thinking for a while, he blushed and said, "No, you continue."

"Oh." Li Nian began to knead the girl's shoulders again.

I have to say that the girl's delicate shoulders feel really good to the touch.

Dalian Temple Suzuka tried to relax her shoulders and cooperate with Li Nian's movements. She felt more and more comfortable and squinted her eyes in enjoyment: "I didn't expect that you not only mastered both magic and physical skills, but also had an absurdly high level of massage. Where did you learn this skill?"

"I learned it from an old man who was good at killing people with taijutsu."

"...You're not going to twist my head off while pressing me, are you?"

"If you're not afraid of me, I won't." Li Nian said with a smile.

"Why would I be scared if you don't play some weird jokes..." Suzuka muttered, but she didn't really raise her guard. Instead, she became more relaxed.

"Speaking of you, kid, do you always stay up late to do your research? Your shoulders are ridiculously stiff."

"I want you to manage."

"Staying up late is bad for girls' health. Aren't you afraid of getting older faster? You won't be able to find a boyfriend when you are old and ugly."

"I'm only a teenager, why should I panic?"

"Here we go, here we go, classic young people's idiotic thinking. Minor problems accumulate and become major problems. Overdrawing your health will cause problems sooner or later. It's better to be careful."

"Are you my mother? Are you preaching to me?"

Suzuka squinted her eyes comfortably, and the voice of her chat with Li Nian became lower and lower, feeling the ever-changing force of the careful kneading on her shoulders, and listening to Li Nian's chattering. Suddenly, all her unnecessary shy thoughts disappeared, and instead her heart was filled with a comfortable peace and tranquility.

Just like the man standing behind you, he is the kind of person you can trust and get close to unconditionally.

Why did she feel this way? Suzuka herself found it strange.

It was obvious that Li Nian was not gentle to her. He always made dangerous jokes and showed his dangerous side of being powerful and radical. He said that he respected her as a national first-class exorcist, but his actual attitude was so casual that he almost didn't know etiquette. He always spoke bluntly and even treated her like a child without taking it seriously. For example, he pinched the girl's shoulders and kept preaching to her. He was not polite at all.

But Suzuka also knew that Li Nian really cared about her, and had said that he would protect her and was willing to help her. His impolite words and actions showed that he was truly doing it for her own good.

...Maybe this is what it feels like to have a real brother? Suzuka thought.

After a moment of silence, Suzuka suddenly spoke.

"I know I'm a bit stupid. I actually tried to subvert the boundary between life and death and resurrect the dead. Li Nian, you probably think what I want to do is ridiculous. Laugh if you want to. I don't care."

Although Li Nian acted as if he didn't care at all about Suzuka's performance of the forbidden technique of Taishan Fujun Festival, and didn't question her idea of ​​reviving her brother, the idea of ​​resurrecting the dead had long been defined as impossible and stupid in the industry. It was believed that the idea of ​​breaking the boundary between life and death was disrespectful to life and death itself. In the world of sorcery where ancient traditions are still followed, it is generally believed that anyone who tries to break this boundary will suffer retribution.

After hearing what Suzuka said, Li Nian showed a confused expression.

"Huh? What's ridiculous and stupid."

"You are such a smart person, you must know that my idea of ​​resurrecting my brother is unrealistic after all. It's really hard for you to accompany me to do such a thing."

Suzuka felt that Li Nian didn't show contempt just to give her face. In fact, she secretly felt that her ideas were stupid and naive, and very unrealistic. She didn't mind because she had this self-knowledge.

"I don't think it's unrealistic, nor do I think it's nonsense."

"...Don't you think that the idea of ​​resurrecting the dead and breaking the boundary between life and death is actually stupid and will bring retribution?"

"Now that you put it that way, I do think you're pretty stupid."

"...Sure enough, you also think I'm doing something stupid." Suzuka's expression darkened. Realizing her own disappointment, she cursed herself in her heart for being really stupid. It was she who presumptuously thought that Li Nian would think so. So why should she be disappointed when she heard him admit that he really thought so?

"I think your silly scruples are stupid." Li Nian was concentrating on controlling the strength of the massage, and said nonchalantly, "What's wrong with the idea of ​​resurrecting the dead? You pull the soul, prepare the body and put it in, so that the person can move, hear, think and feel, then he will be alive, right? It is feasible in theory and in practice, so it is not a stupid idea."

Suzuka was stunned. She didn't expect Li Nian to say this: "Do you... think it's feasible?"

"Of course." Li Nian answered straightforwardly, because he himself was an example. After his death, his soul was taken by God and placed in this body, so he became a new self.

Suzuka asked again in confusion: "So, about the taboo of breaking the boundary between life and death..."

"This is the first time I've heard of this taboo. Will there be retribution for breaking the boundary between life and death? Is there anyone who sets this boundary? Who will punish those who break this boundary?" Li Nian asked out of genuine curiosity.

When asked this question, Suzuka herself didn't know how to answer. After hesitating for a while, she said, "...No one, but everyone thinks that this idea goes against the will of heaven."

"So there's no one guarding the gate..." Li Nian snorted in boredom: "That's just a bored person scaring himself with his bored ideas. Is that against the way of heaven? The way of heaven is constant. It doesn't exist for the sake of Yao or die for the sake of Jie. The way of heaven doesn't care about people's life or death."

"……How to say?"

It just so happened that the Taoist tradition he had been studying recently was about this aspect, and Li Nian began to share his insights with great interest.

"Life and death are just descriptions of states, not real things. The real way of heaven refers to the laws of all objective existence. These laws are not subject to anyone's will. Under the way of heaven, there is no difference between the living and the dead. People and stones are different forms of different substances, and there is no difference. The boundary between life and death? That is only defined by people, imagined by people, and subverted by people all the time. Refusing death and seeking life is the nature of living things. Resurrecting the dead is just doing this. Isn't that what doctors in the world do? Why haven't they been punished by heaven?"

Chapter 324: She is Already Light

Li Nian's words were very bold.

If it were someone else, Suzuka would only laugh at him for being ignorant and making reckless comments about the Way of Heaven. If you were just a middle school boy from somewhere, it would be fine if you could talk about it casually, but Onmyoji and the like cannot talk about such things casually. They cannot lose their awe of the Way of Heaven. Without the corresponding knowledge, they are not qualified to discuss such a grand proposition as "The Way of Heaven". Half-baked theories will only make people laugh and despise them.

But since it was Li Nian who said this, Suzuka couldn't help but think too much.

Because Li Nian is a powerful magician.

The battle with the Tsuchigumo has proved that Li Nian is a very powerful mage. Among the people Suzuka knows, there are warriors who are not very knowledgeable but very powerful, but there are no mages who are very powerful but not very knowledgeable. All the abilities of a mage are based on his or her own understanding of spirits. A mage as strong as Li Nian must have a correspondingly deep accumulation of knowledge.

This is also one of the reasons why she identifies very much with Li Nian.

So she did hear that this argument reflected Li Nian's understanding of "art" as a magician.

Li Nian said this just out of inspiration, but she found it enlightening. After thinking about it carefully, the more she thought about it, the more she agreed with it.

Yes, what is the Way of Heaven? It is the law of the endless operation of all things, which is not subject to anyone's will. Under this framework, all living things are equal. Living creatures are no more special than stones on the roadside. Life and death are just descriptions of status. Corpses turn into soil, and soil gives birth to new life. In the endless cycle, the boundary between life and death has never existed.

This is a simple truth, but why didn't I pay attention to it before?

The dark clouds that had accumulated in Dalian Temple Suzuka's heart seemed to be forcibly dispersed by a big hand, and all her thoughts suddenly became clear.

She mentioned this matter, saying that there is a boundary between life and death, and breaking it will bring disaster. Of course, she wanted to ask Li Nian's opinion on this matter. She said that she didn't mind, but she thought in her heart that she shouldn't mind it. In fact, she couldn't mind it. This thought hovered in her mind, hard to forget, and even harder to get rid of. It was looming. It made her less confident about holding the Taishan Fujun Festival. Suzuka was thinking of successfully performing the ceremony and bringing back her brother's soul. If she failed, she would die. But she always felt that there would be a failure waiting for her, and the possibility of dying was greater.

But Li Nian's words made her suddenly realize that this worry itself was wrong, false, and untenable.

Tsuchimikado Yoko once said that the essence of curses is lies. Even without mobilizing cursed power, one can influence a person's mind with just a few words and manipulate the person's behavior. This is the essence of the word spirit. It seems that he has also been hit by the "curse" of [rumors and lies] and [sticking to the old ways] without knowing it.

This is obviously the biggest taboo for researchers.

Just like a pair of shackles on his body fell off, Suzuka smiled and said: "...But your argument is really new. It is still considered treasonous in the current world of sorcery. Hearing you say this, a group of old-timers will jump out and scold you for not respecting the way of heaven."

"What? This is considered treason?" Li Nian was a wizard who had sprung up from nowhere. He had learned a wide variety of spiritual knowledge, but it was not a person who grew up in the [Spell World]. He really couldn't understand why such a simple and easy-to-understand principle he said would be considered treason in the industry: "Why?"

"The old people in the world of spells still believe that all things have spirits - of course, the way of heaven also has spirits, and they have transformed into eight million gods in the world, who are in charge of everything. They believe this without a doubt, and of course they will think that your idea is an offense to the way of heaven."

"Oh, that's the argument." Li Nian suddenly realized and accepted it. "Well, it's true that gods have appeared since ancient times, each with its own powers, and demons have been rampant with different powers - but this doesn't mean that they really represent the operation of the way of heaven. Not only that, I think what they represent is the way of man, which is the exact opposite of the way of heaven."