A half-foot-long gray rat suddenly darted out from the bushes. With two quick leaps, it reached the corpse, grabbed the precious jade—bought from Ethan Brooks for thirty thousand—with its mouth, and turned to run.

　　The fox, seeing this scene, bristled with silver fur, both tails lashing behind it. It spat out a mouthful of fresh blood and shouted, “Hey! Wicked beast!”

　　Three feet above the half-foot-long rat’s head, a fist-sized ball of lightning appeared out of thin air, blasting the rat into a charred lump of flesh, which was then flung more than ten meters away—landing, by sheer coincidence, right in front of Ethan Brooks, who was hiding behind a tree and relieving himself.

　　Ethan Brooks looked at the dead, greedy rat and gasped, his mind racing. Was this dead rat the little brother of that big rat? Why did it snatch the jade? Even after being electrocuted, it still clung to it? Am I the real fool here? Is this truly a precious jade?

　　The jade landed right on top of Ethan Brooks’s discharge. Tainted by a bit of the liquid, the jade began to show tiny cracks, and Ethan Brooks suddenly felt a warm current surge inside him, guiding his arm to reach for the jade pendant.

　　Ethan Brooks didn’t even have time to resist grabbing the jade tainted with his discharge; his fingertips had already touched it. And at that very moment… countless fine cracks appeared on the jade. In the next instant… the jade crumbled into powder.

Chapter Four: The Mighty Orange Cat Subdues Demons

　　Thirty thousand for that jade! As Ethan Brooks mourned the loss, a voice suddenly rang out in his mind: Demon King System installation complete.

　　‘What the heck? Demon King System?’

　　As Ethan Brooks searched for the source of the voice, his attention was diverted by a hoarse roar.

　　“Charlotte Hughes! Couldn’t you just stay put under Great-Grandfather Hughes’s command? Why come inside the pass and ruin my plans! Are you trying to ruin the alliance between our five families?”

　　The speaker was a one-foot-long big gray rat. Even from over ten meters away, Ethan Brooks could see the bulging veins beneath its fur; the whole rat looked like a muscle-bound rodent.

　　The white fox Charlotte Hughes flicked her two tails, and when she spoke, it was in the voice of a young maiden: “Henry Hall, you betrayed the Gray family. You violated the Five Clans’ code, entered Shanhaiguan without permission, accepted offerings, abused the Gray family’s skills, and took lives. I’m taking you back to Shanhaiguan myself.”

　　The big gray rat Henry Hall grew even more agitated at Charlotte Hughes’s words, roaring, “The Black Moon falls into the sea, heaven and earth are renewed, spiritual energy returns, and the era of great strife is upon us again! What’s a few deaths? Now is the time for the five great immortals to rise! You’re all cowards, locking yourselves away in the Northeast, afraid to venture out! Well, I’ll go myself!”

　　“Silence! The future’s great affairs are not for you to fathom! Great-Grandfather sent me here…”

　　“Sent you here?” Henry Hall interrupted Charlotte Hughes with a laugh. “He sent you, a two-tailed fox? Looks like Sam Hughes has lost his mind! If you hadn’t used dark arts to break my formation…”

　　“I used dark arts? Wasn’t it you who used dark arts to break my formation?”

　　Charlotte Hughes’s words left both fox and rat stunned. During their magical duel, it wasn’t the other who broke their formation—there must be someone else nearby!

　　In the quiet woods, aside from the gentle evening breeze, only the chorus of insects remained.

　　Ethan Brooks had no mood to enjoy the summer evening. The wary, searching eyes of the fox and rat made him feel he could be discovered at any moment.

　　Ethan Brooks knew very well that, though the two nearby had been hurt by his boy’s urine, if they wanted to twist off his head, it would be as easy as blinking. That ball of lightning just now was proof enough.

　　“Northeast Great-Grandfather Hughes’s subordinate Charlotte Hughes is here to clean house. If any fellow immortals happen to be passing by, please do not interfere.” Charlotte Hughes pressed her two front fox paws together in a fist salute. “If you visit the Northeast in the future, the Hu family will be sure to treat you well.”

　　Henry Hall’s beady rat eyes darted around. The reputation of Great-Grandfather Hughes was such that even people from the National Destiny Bureau would show some respect. Today’s plan to seize the jade was likely ruined, but fortunately Charlotte Hughes didn’t know about the jade. As long as he escaped, there would still be a chance to recover it…

　　Silence. The small woods still answered Charlotte Hughes only with the sound of insects, making her wary of acting rashly, afraid that the person who broke the formation in the shadows was waiting to reap the benefits.

　　Ethan Brooks, hiding behind the tree, was trembling, his mind racing. What should he do? Keep hiding? Or just go out and try to act like his old man?

　　After a brief moment of thought, Ethan Brooks decided to take a gamble and go out to put on an act like his father! If these two found him hiding, they’d probably be even more hostile—might even attack him as an enemy! Better to go out and pretend to be a master…

　　“Exorcist Zuo family’s Lily Lane, greets Grandma Hughes.”

　　About thirty meters from Ethan Brooks, a girl who looked like a high school student jumped down from a tree. As soon as she spoke, Henry Hall felt as if the sky had gone dark.

　　The Exorcist Zuo family! After the disappearance of spiritual energy, most of the exorcist clans barely survived, with only a few truly capable families left. The Zuo family was an exception—exorcist dragon clan!

　　The Zuo family wasn’t actually descended from dragons, but among the exorcist clans, only the strongest could be called the dragon clan!

　　Lily Lane?