Otherworldly Affairs Office

Just before Mei Simiao's longsword pierced Sarah's throat, in a different dimension of the Magic Realm, inside a rural farmhouse, while the time in the real world was at midnight, here the sun shone brightly in the cloudless sky. It was the hottest and most oppressive time of the sunny afternoon, and the noblewoman Hanni had just had lunch. At that moment, she was leaning lazily by the baby's crib, fanning herself with a paper fan as her youngest son slept soundly.

Looking at her son's chubby little face and hearing his murmurs in his sleep, Hanni's face showed a happy and doting smile. She was very satisfied with her current life and constantly felt grateful in her heart to the person who rescued her from the abyss—Sarah Witch!

She was born into a lowly family, with parents who were miners in a Magic Energy Ore site. In a mining accident, her father unfortunately lost his life, and her mother vanished with her young brother from her sight not long afterward. Left all alone, she learned to trade her body for food at the tender age of fourteen to survive.

She had long despaired of this world. When she thought she would end her miserable life in this filthy mine, Sara Witch appeared in her sight. Like a beautiful angel, that person punished those bastards who bullied her and took her away from that place she never wanted to return to.

It was she who healed the wounds on her body; she who gave her a stable and comfortable life; she who taught her to read. Furthermore, she found her a reliable and industrious husband, and all she had to do in return was to take the medicine prescribed by Sarah Witch every month, chant a lengthy and obscure spell in a dark room, and soak in a foul-smelling bathtub once.

She understood there was no such thing as a free lunch in this world. Sarah Witch must have had some ulterior motive for doing all this, but what did it matter? If not for Sarah, she would have rotted in that hellhole long ago. These extra years of life were all a gain for her.

Thinking of this, she pulled out a handkerchief from her chest to wipe the sweat from her forehead and looked outside at the blazing sun, thinking that Sarah Witch had been gone for a few years now. Maybe she had forgotten about her. If so, it would be good; she could continue to live peacefully with her husband and child.

At this moment, her son's cries interrupted Hanni's thoughts. Just as she was about to get up to check, she felt a sharp pain in her neck. Her body staggered and kneeled on the ground. Shocked, she covered her throat with both hands, unable to stop the inexplicable wound that suddenly appeared. A large amount of blood gushed from her throat, splattering onto the crib in front of her. The infant, drenched in its mother's blood, cried even louder.

"Has this day finally come?" Screams of a maid rushing over filled the air, and the image of her son blurred further in her eyes. Hanni mumbled softly, reaching out to touch her son's cheek one last time, only to fail before a sharp pain in her head obliterated everything. A headless corpse lay beside the crib.

In a mysterious space within the investigation hall, Mei Simiao, unaware of these events, looked distressed. He gazed upward as the dust from the flames in the air gradually coalesced into a graceful figure he loathed. What he feared had inevitably happened!

For one to revive after being torn apart like that, either one has a life-preserving artifact or a substitute puppet. Looking at Sarah floating down slowly before him, Mei Simiao couldn't help but think of another little fatty in the hall who had the same ability.

"Didn't you promise to build a tombstone with my name on it after you killed me? Yet you haven't kept your word!" The naked Sarah casually waved her hand, and a long dress appeared, covering her body. She looked teasingly at the spear-wielding Mei Simiao.

Mei Simiao couldn't be bothered to engage in banter with her, letting out a long sigh and rubbing his sore neck as he asked, "May I ask how many more of those life-saving tricks you have?"

Hearing this, Sarah's eyebrows shot up, her face cold as frost and inner anger boiling. How many? Hanni was not just anyone to her. Finding someone with a similar astrological destiny and cultivating them with secret techniques had consumed over a decade of her effort, not to mention the sentiments involved. If not for her momentary negligence! Alas!

Though this was Hanni's fate, the man before her must pay for it! Understanding something about Extranatural beings, she realized through combat that this opponent was unlike the small fry she had encountered before. He was at least at the seventh awakening stage, and having such power at such a young age suggested he was no ordinary member of the investigation hall.

Now, she entirely dismissed her contempt and prepared to use her best measures without holding back. Without delay, several Magic Scrolls appeared in front of her.

Seeing this, Mei Simiao felt a headache coming on. Helplessly, he had no choice but to brace himself and drive the Wind and Fire Wheel forward for another battle. Although his movements were swift as a shooting star under the wheel's influence, he was still a step too late. As the first Magic Scroll unfolded a corner, surging magical energy erupted, filling the entire area, as if the flow of time had been reduced to slow motion. Actions of those present slowed as if time itself was suspended, while others quickly noticed the key issue and turned their eyes towards this direction.

At this moment, the remaining two scrolls in front of Sara had already unfurled. Instantly, the world changed colors, and a bitterly cold wind swept across the sky. Mei Simiao, suspended in mid-air, suddenly saw a massive frozen longsword protrude steeply from below, fiercely thrusting at his chest. A flash of red light, and Mei Simiao, protected, was blasted away.

And beneath him, a seventy-meter-tall, mountain-like Frost Giant emerged from the ground. Standing on its shoulder was Sarah, her red hair blowing in the wind. Under the gaze of the crowd, she extended her right hand, and the Frost Giant responded, clutching its sword handle with both hands, raising it high and smashing it fiercely to the ground.

After another violent tremor, the battlefield covered in blazing rubble was swiftly covered by a spreading sheet of ice. What was once a scene resembling a blazing Hell transformed in the blink of an eye into a vast icy field.

On the ice field, the severely frostbitten Mei Simiao struggled to rise from the ice. His protective Chaotic Heaven Silk was completely shattered, the Wind and Fire Wheel at his feet and the Fire-tipped Spear in his hand lost their luster in the cold. He spat out a mouthful of fresh blood, freezing on the ground, forming a pattern akin to plum blossoms, staining the ice before him red.

Looking up at Sarah standing proudly on the Frost Giant's shoulder with contempt in her eyes, Mei Simiao smiled bitterly and shook his head. Ignoring the frostbite on his feet, he took a difficult step forward, and with each step, a piece of magical equipment fell from his body, disappearing back into the air. By the time he reached the Frost Giant, he had dispelled all mystical transformations, returning to his original form as a middle-aged man, eyes closed, hands in a prayer position against his chest.

"Have you despaired? Given up on resisting?" Still skeptical, Sarah dared not relax her guard, urging the Frost Giant beneath her to swing its longsword for one final lethal blow toward Mei Simiao.

Just as the sword was raised and about to fall again, Mei Simiao suddenly opened his eyes, two gleaming glints shooting forth as his hair stood on end. He roared with anger, "Nine Dragon Divine Fire Shield!"