“Brother Futai, take a good look at your Daisy. How beautiful and virtuous she is!”

Jason Brooks’s voice was calm and resolute. At such a critical moment, the young man was surprisingly clear-headed and composed, not the least bit flustered.

Franklin Warren looked as instructed, and witnessed a scene he would never forget for the rest of his life—

Daisy stood about thirty feet away, hesitating to come closer. Her almond-shaped eyes were wide open, fixed intently on Jason Brooks. The expression on her face shifted constantly, but was clearly abnormal, filled with a complex mix of shock, fear, resentment, and more.

She made several motions as if to pounce, but each time stopped herself. After a moment, she suddenly gritted her teeth and said hatefully, “The bell has wronged me. With no master present, what do I have to fear? I’ll feast on the hearts of these two and be gone!”

With that, Daisy extended her ten fingers, and in an instant, pitch-black, razor-sharp nails grew wildly from her fingertips. She raised her hand and slashed at herself, cutting straight down from the center of her brow with a hissing sound. Then, with a backward pull, she peeled off a layer of human skin draped over her body. With a roar, she revealed her true form—a green-faced, tusked shanxiu demon, eyes glowing like lanterns, fangs jagged as saws, protruding half a foot from her lips.

“Ah!”

Franklin Warren was scared out of his wits, his crotch jolted, the stench of urine spreading as he wet himself in terror.

Jason Brooks let him go, and he immediately collapsed to the ground, his whole body convulsing like a pile of mush, unable to move even a finger, foaming at the mouth, though not yet unconscious.

Roar!

The shanxiu demon, furious, lunged forward.

At this moment, Jason Brooks was actually extremely tense, cold sweat breaking out down his back, not even having time to react. The bell chimed urgently, and the magical artifact he had tucked in his robe flew out on its own, hovering in midair. Faint golden light shot from its surface, stabbing at the shanxiu like eyes.

Shhh! Shhh! Shhh!

The golden light pierced its body like blades.

The shanxiu bled emerald-green blood from its wounds. But it was exceptionally fierce, refusing to retreat, and charged forward with all its might, determined to tear Jason Brooks to pieces.

“Franklin Warren has doomed me!”

A fierce wind swept in. Jason Brooks cursed inwardly. At this life-or-death moment, his whole body tensed, and he swiftly leapt backward, barely dodging the attack. Fortunately, things were different now—if he still had his old, feeble body, his limbs would have gone weak and he’d have been unable to move, ending up a victim under the shanxiu’s claws.

Buzz!

The shanxiu’s ferocity was unmatched. The bell artifact spun even faster, suddenly bursting with golden light. Faintly, various runes appeared, flowing like ripples. With a whoosh, it turned into a shooting star and crashed into the shanxiu.

Boom!

A thunderous crash. The shanxiu let out a miserable scream as half its massive body was shattered into pieces, flesh and blood flying everywhere. But it wasn’t dead. Stamping its feet, its mangled body burrowed into the ground. With a rustling sound, a trail of churned earth sped northward and quickly vanished.

Earth escape!

Thud!

The bell artifact’s golden light faded, returning to normal, and it dropped straight to the ground.

Jason Brooks let out a long breath, hurried forward to pick up the bell, and saw several cracks had appeared on its surface, a large area fractured—this magical artifact was showing signs of being destroyed.

No way…

Jason Brooks was greatly surprised, and only now, thinking back, did he feel afraid. If the bell hadn’t been able to subdue the shanxiu, wouldn’t he have lost his life?

In fact, his original plan was to avoid putting himself in danger as much as possible. After all, with the enemy’s strength unknown, caution was necessary. Unexpectedly, Franklin Warren suddenly brought Daisy back, causing an unforeseen turn of events and disrupting the original plan—something Jason Brooks could not control.

He carefully gathered up the layer of human skin shed by the shanxiu. Looking in the direction the demon had fled, then back at the seemingly petrified Franklin Warren, he clasped his hands behind his back and said leisurely, “A night as husband and wife brings a hundred days of grace. Brother Futai, I think Daisy will definitely come back for you.”

“Liuxian, Liuxian, save me!”

With a wail, Franklin Warren, having come to his senses, scrambled over and clung to Jason Brooks’s left leg.

Jason Brooks sneered, “Brother Futai, weren’t you going to sever ties with me?”

Franklin Warren’s face was pale, tears, snot, and saliva streaming down. “Liuxian, it was all my foolishness…”

Looking at him, Jason Brooks was both exasperated and amused. “So, from now on, you’ll do exactly as I say?”

“Yes, yes, absolutely!”

Having seen the shanxiu’s true form, Franklin Warren was already scared out of his wits. If his nerves were any weaker, he might have fainted. Now, he regarded Jason Brooks as his only lifeline, almost worshipping him. Even if Jason Brooks told him to eat shit, he’d believe it was for his own good.

“A teachable child indeed.”

Jason Brooks helped Franklin Warren up. Once he’d calmed down a bit, Jason Brooks instructed him not to breathe a word of this to anyone, to go home and reflect behind closed doors, focus on his studies, await further instructions, and not step outside during this period.

Franklin Warren nodded like a pecking chicken, agreeing to everything, clutching his hand tightly, eyes brimming with tears. “Liuxian, you’re a good man.”

Jason Brooks shook him off in disgust, thinking to himself: I tried to be a good man, but almost lost my life for it. Clearly, it’s hard to be a good person in this world…