In an instant, black blood surged from the wound, making the waves of blood around the cat spirit even more violent!

Not good.

Liam Carter frowned.

This cat spirit, stacked with special blessings, possessed the traits of an infant spirit. That is, any damage it received would be converted into new power for it—the more severely it was injured, the stronger it became! If it wasn’t killed in a single strike, one had to be prepared to face an even stronger enemy!

This manifested in the cat spirit’s speed becoming even faster!

Whoosh—

It was almost an invisible streak of black light, slashing out like two bolts of lightning, and in the next second, it was already behind Liam Carter.

Liam Carter reacted instantly, recalling his flying sword to his hand, but no matter what, he couldn’t defend against an attack from behind!

His hair stood on end. Although there was no sound, he knew the cat spirit’s sharp claws were about to strike!

At the critical moment, Liam Carter suddenly loosened his right hand and shouted, “Bind!”

A red light shot out from his sleeve like a spirit snake, instantly binding the cat spirit that had just reached behind Liam Carter and was about to strike.

Tortoise Shell Binding!

Demon-Binding Rope!

“Meow—” The cat spirit let out a shrill cry, but its body uncontrollably crashed to the ground.

When dealing with extremely agile enemies, what works best?

Control!

And in Liam Carter’s hand, he just happened to have the Demon-Binding Rope he had obtained the day before.

But even with a magic treasure, it wasn’t a guaranteed hit. It was precisely to use the Demon-Binding Rope at close range that he took the risk and let the cat spirit approach.

If he had been even a fraction slower in releasing the Demon-Binding Rope, the outcome of this battle would have been reversed. If he hadn’t kept his composure and the distance wasn’t close enough, the magic treasure might have been dodged by the cat spirit.

No matter what, he had won. He turned over and waved his hand—the sword rose and fell.

Slash.

One strike to slay the demon.

A spirit body is formless; once slain, nothing remains. Only a golden phantom drifted down onto Liam Carter.

The dust settled.

A short but perilous battle—compared to the spider demon from the other day, this cat spirit with special traits was clearly much harder to deal with.

He let out a long breath. Before he could go to report, he heard hurried footsteps from the other side. The servants of the Ming family, led by Mr. Miller, all rushed out.

“Oh my, Young Hero Liam is so mighty!”

“I told you Young Hero Liam could do it.”

“Young Hero Liam is amazing, he slew the evil spirit in just a few moves!”

“……”

A chorus of flattery rang out.

Liam Carter looked at this celebration party, surprised at how practiced they were at disappearing and reappearing so suddenly.

……

The next morning.

After a night’s rest, Liam Carter woke up feeling refreshed. After washing up, a maid came to call him, saying that Mr. Miller had already prepared a banquet to celebrate Young Hero Liam’s victory.

“I’ll be there shortly,” Liam Carter replied gently.

Then, he strolled through the backyard, circled around the corridor, and came to a luxurious bedroom door. This was the bedchamber of Mr. Miller and his wife.

Knock, knock, knock—he rapped on the door.

“Who is it?” came a soft female voice from inside.

“I am Liam Carter. I heard that Madam is unwell and have come to pay my respects,” he replied.

“……” There was a moment of silence inside before she said, “So it’s Young Hero Liam from Shushan Sect. I’m not in a position to receive guests right now, but I appreciate your kindness. Please, go back.”

Unlike the enthusiastic Mr. Miller, Mrs. Miller’s voice was tinged with coldness.

“I know some secret arts of Shushan. Perhaps they might be effective for Madam’s illness. I can wait here and visit when it’s convenient for you.”

After a pause, he heard footsteps, and then someone opened the door with a creak.

Mrs. Miller looked weary, without makeup, dressed in a home silk robe. Yet her skin was still fair and her features delicate—she was indeed a beauty.

She led Liam Carter to sit by the screen inside the room. The light was a bit dim, so she lit a red candle and poured two cups of tea before saying, “It’s nothing but a fright. Since Young Hero Liam got rid of that demon last night, I’ll be fine in a day or two. No need for you to worry.”

“That’s good,” Liam Carter nodded, then added, “But about that cat spirit last night… there are some things I’d like to discuss with you.”

“Oh?” Mrs. Miller frowned. “What does Young Hero Liam want to say?”

“It’s just some speculation…” Liam Carter said slowly. “Because that cat spirit last night was quite strange. It was a resentful spirit, a demon spirit, and also an infant spirit, which made me very curious. So I wondered, why did it come to your Ming residence…”

“Do evil spirits need a reason to harm people?” Mrs. Miller said.

“They do. If it’s a resentful spirit, it would first seek out the person who killed it… If it’s an infant spirit, the first person it would look for is its mother…” Liam Carter continued, “And this cat spirit, in your Ming residence, advanced day by day for three days, but didn’t harm anyone. It was as if it was searching for something…”

“Searching for what?” Mrs. Miller’s gaze seemed a bit unfriendly.

“I was thinking, Mr. Miller said your family is a house of virtue and never harms animals. Then… is it looking for its mother? But it’s a demon spirit—could its mother also be a demon?”