Monsters Die When Killed-Chapter 61 - 37: Effortlessly Obtained

The third day of the seventh lunar month. Year of Jiawu, the Year of the Horse. Month of Xinwei, Day of Xinchou.

-Auspicious for demolishing buildings, tearing down walls, and resolving disasters. Avoid all other activities.-

July 29, 2014. Tuesday, 3:47 PM. The Shao Family Mansion.

"Breaking a curse is definitely what ’resolving disasters’ means."

Using the excuse of studying together once again, Su Zhou, wearing contact lenses, stood in the center of Shao Qiming’s room. He held the Holy Water Cross Bottle in one hand while comforting the nervous Shao Qiming beside him. "Don’t worry. The almanac today says it’s an auspicious day for everything. Watch, I’ll just give it a little push. Heh!"

As he spoke, a bluish-purple flame erupted from Su Zhou’s hand. He poured his Spiritual Power directly into the Cross inside the Holy Water Bottle.

In an instant, a faint trace of Holy Light awakened from its slumber, like the first light of dawn leaping up from the horizon. The colorless radiance flashed for only a moment, startling the two of them before everything returned to tranquility.

With Su Zhou’s current Spiritual Power, he was not yet strong enough to fully activate this Great Miracle Level Holy Relic. At most, he could rouse it for a single moment.

But a single moment was more than enough.

Putting away the Holy Water Bottle, a mentally fatigued Su Zhou focused his gaze downstairs.

Through his Spiritual Vision, he could clearly see that a profound darkness had just been illuminated. Countless wailing Resentful Spirits were annihilated in an instant, turning into pure motes of Spiritual Essence that slowly dissipated into the world.

Even the Evil Spirits that had manifested as dark chains, comparable to the Awakened Level, had no time to show even a hint of malice or mockery before dissolving into nothingness in less time than it took for a thought to form, becoming a refreshing tide of Spiritual Qi.

They completely disintegrated, never even knowing that death had come for them.

"Huh? My body suddenly feels a lot lighter..."

Wen Yuefeng, who was watching the TV drama *As a Forensic Pathologist, I Have the Hands of a Demon and the Heart of a Buddha*, suddenly felt her body lighten for no apparent reason. She subconsciously looked around, her mood brightening considerably. The world, which had already been bright, suddenly seemed even more so.

After a moment’s thought, she patted her wheelchair and shouted, "Sister Hex, I want to eat steamed pork with rice flour and hot and sour shredded potatoes tonight!"

"Eh? No problem!" Aunt Hex, who was cleaning, was surprised to hear Wen Yuefeng requesting specific dishes, which was rare. After a brief pause, she was overjoyed. "Whatever you want to eat, I’ll make it for you!"

"Phew..."

Upstairs, hearing the relaxed tone in his mother’s voice, Shao Qiming let out a breath. His tightly clenched fist relaxed, but then it quickly tightened again, only to loosen once more.

Having consumed too much Spiritual Power, Su Zhou closed his eyes and held his breath for a moment. A few seconds later, after recovering some of his energy, he opened his eyes again. He nodded at Shao Qiming, signaling him to go downstairs and give her the gift they had long prepared.

A string of sandalwood Wooden Pearls.

As Wen Yuefeng held the TV remote, humming a little tune and continuing to watch her show, she noticed her son walking toward her with a brown wooden box. She found it a bit strange but still asked in a lighthearted tone, "Qiming, what is it?"

"A surprise for you, Mom."

Shao Qiming smiled and opened the box, revealing a string of sandalwood Wooden Pearls inside.

The sandalwood was pure black, and its fragrance was rich, deep, and long-lasting. Each Wooden Pearl was engraved with incredibly intricate sacred patterns, making it look grand yet delicate, understated yet luxurious.

"I designed the patterns, and Azhou carved them by hand."

Without needing any further explanation, Shao Qiming watched with a smile as his mother, her face full of delight, picked up the string of Wooden Pearls.

"This..."

Tracing the patterns and recognizing the different ancient emblems on each Wooden Pearl, Wen Yuefeng was about to say something in delight. But after a second thought, she deliberately put on a stern face and turned to the two boys, who were blinking in anticipation of her comments. "Go on, you kids. Using my money to buy Wooden Pearls and then giving them to me as a gift... What is this, ’presenting the Buddha with borrowed flowers’?"

"Seeing as you strung and carved them yourselves, and put so much thought into it, I won’t scold you this time for not studying and for messing around with all this nonsense. I’ll accept the thought, but don’t do it again. It’s a waste of money!"

Although that’s what she said, anyone could see from her gleeful expression and the way she held the string of Wooden Pearls, unwilling to put it down, that she was just giving them a verbal lesson. In her heart, she couldn’t be happier.

"This one is for Uncle Shao."

Seizing the opportunity, Su Zhou spoke up. He stepped forward, handed over another box, and said cheerfully to Wen Yuefeng, "I made about seven or eight of them. Shuangyue and Aunt Hex each get one too."

"Sigh... Honestly, this is too much. He and Sister Hex will definitely be very happy."

Taking the second box of Wooden Pearls, even Wen Yuefeng couldn’t keep a straight face anymore. Although she was genuinely happy, she still sighed. "You two kids... I’m not worried about anything else, but Su Zhou, you have to study hard. Qiming really needs your help... His grades are good, but his health is like mine. If he doesn’t have any friends, I really don’t know how he’ll manage at the Academy alone..."

"If you could get into the same Academy as Qiming, that would be for the best. We’d all be able to rest easy..."

As parents often do, Aunt Wen started to ramble on, her words filled with genuine concern. Although Su Zhou and Shao Qiming were tired of hearing it, they still listened dutifully until Aunt Wen happily put on her string of Wooden Pearls.

"Oh, right, Azhou." Whether it was a placebo effect or not, after putting on the bracelet, Wen Yuefeng genuinely felt her health improve even more, a warmth spreading through her heart. Then, she asked with some curiosity, "What about the ones for your parents?"

Su Zhou smiled and replied, "I already gave it to them. I personally delivered my parents’ set last night. My dad’s reaction was pretty much the same as yours, Aunt Wen. My mom seemed to be in the middle of a very important surgery, so I asked a colleague she knows well to give it to her."

「At the same time.」

’Look! My son gave me this!’

Although he didn’t say a word, every time the Patrol officers of the Second Criminal Investigation Division looked up from compiling their files, they could see a certain captain "casually" revealing an exquisite, hand-carved sandalwood bead bracelet. Rumor had it his son had carved it himself...

Hey, you had to admit, the carving was beautiful. A closer look revealed that they seemed to be a series of different Dragon patterns!

’Why isn’t my brat of a son/daughter this thoughtful!’

Seeing this, the Patrol officers who had children of their own immediately felt a pang of envy.

"Jealous, aren’t you! My son gave this to me!"

On the other side, there was less restraint. A certain deputy director on her way back to her office basically showed it off to every acquaintance she met. Since they were all so familiar with her, everyone just mumbled a few words of praise, which gave her no sense of accomplishment at all.

’Sigh, whatever. It’s rare enough that my son was sensible enough to give his parents a gift.’

But this was something that didn’t need praise from anyone else to bring joy.

「Shao Mansion.」

"KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK."

"The door’s unlocked!"

Shao Shuangyue, who was in a bitter struggle against a colossal, sword-wielding Banyan Giant and getting chased around by it, suddenly heard a rhythmic knocking from behind her. Knowing instantly who it was, she yelled irritably, "Next time, don’t interrupt me when I’m in a boss fight!"

Then, she went back to focusing on her boss fight, until a wooden box was placed on the desk beside her.

"Huh? What’s this?"

Sensing that she was about to get distracted, Shao Shuangyue immediately paused the game. She took off her headphones and looked up at the two behind her with a strange expression. "What are you two up to?"

"A souvenir for you."

Shao Qiming smiled without speaking. Su Zhou shrugged and, gesturing for the girl to open it, continued in Cantonese, "Still not gonna say ’Thanks, Brother Azhou’?"

"Piss off!" Shao Shuangyue retorted in Cantonese, rolling her eyes. The rebellious, chuuni gamer girl squinted at them. "Let me see what this is..." She reached out, opened the wooden box in front of her, and her face showed a flash of surprise, followed by disgust.

"Whoa, seriously? A sandalwood bracelet? What kind of old-fashioned gift is this... Hey, you’re not trying to make a move on me, are you?"

Shao Shuangyue turned her head, looking at Su Zhou and her own brother with disdain. "Brother Zhou, forget it, right? We’re closer than actual siblings. But if you carry me in some games, I guess we could discuss me being your online girlfriend for a while..."

"Get lost. It’s just a gift, for fun. I honestly think you’re the one person who needs this the least."

"Tch. Classic straight-guy chauvinism!"

"I won’t be called that by a shut-in gamer girl."

The two exchanged a few more... fragrant... remarks, and Su Zhou couldn’t help but sigh. ’Where did the sweet little sister Shuangyue go? The one who used to be so well-behaved, except for when she was flaming and reporting people in-game?’ He glanced around the room, which had an Exorcism Power of 135, and felt deeply that the exorcism bracelet he’d given her was most likely completely unnecessary.

"I should get going. Qiming, take care of yourself, and keep a close eye on Aunt Wen’s condition."

Having more or less dealt with the curse, Su Zhou needed to go home and plan his next move. Before leaving, he also patted Shao Shuangyue’s shoulder. "Shuangyue, you too. Don’t stare at a computer screen all day. Aren’t you afraid you won’t be able to find a boyfriend in the future?"

"I’m happy with my games! Who needs some stinking man!"

Before he left, Su Zhou glanced at Shao Shuangyue’s computer screen. She had already turned back to her bitter struggle. The model for the huge Banyan Giant was well-made, its movements powerful. It really had the feel of a boss.

’Looks like the industry standards have improved in the half-year I haven’t been gaming...’ That’s what he was about to think.

But when he saw the long, black figures slowly crawling all over the Banyan Giant’s body, Su Zhou’s expression froze. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

"Wood... Wood Centipedes?!"