It's over! Ethan Brooks felt a chill run straight up his spine to the top of his head, every single one of his 480 million body hairs standing on end. He wanted to run, but found his legs so weak he couldn't move at all.

"Classmate Liu, did you see everything?"

Lily Lane's smile was beautiful. On any other day, Ethan Brooks might have been smitten by that smile, but right now... that sweet smile was, in his eyes, the most dangerous expression in the world.

"See, see, see, see what? I-I-I-I just got here... W-w-why are you here?" Ethan Brooks stammered, denying everything.

Lily Lane gently waved her right index finger in front of Ethan Brooks: "As a good student who upholds the Five Virtues and Four Beauties, lying is not a good behavior, you know."

Ethan Brooks grumbled inwardly: And you call yourself a model student! Aren't you here dabbling in some feudal superstitious nonsense? And! Who in class knows you can exorcise demons? Your phone charm cat can even suffocate people? You...

Suddenly, Ethan Brooks felt the world spin, a wave of dizziness washing over him, and finally everything went black as he collapsed to the ground.

"Heaven and earth without bounds, borrow the power of the universe, the great orange takes precedence, amnesia spell."

Ethan Brooks's head was sat on by the orange tabby cat. When he woke up again, he was already on his bed at home, and the first thing he saw was the old face of his dad, Ethan Bruce.

"Still sleeping, still sleeping? The two of us need to get out of here." Ethan Bruce dragged Ethan Brooks out of bed, pointing at two already packed suitcases: "I've packed everything."

Run away? Ethan Brooks looked at the two suitcases, quickly recalling everything that had happened today: getting lost in a ghostly maze, the gray rat fighting the white fox, the school beauty Lily Lane and the orange cat Yu Huan, getting his head sat on by that big cat, and that "amnesia spell" Lily Lane mentioned.

Lily Lane's finger-waving was just a hypnotic technique. As the son of a con artist, how could he not recognize it? Fainting at the time was just playing along, but he hadn't expected to be humiliated by the orange cat sitting on his head.

As for the amnesia spell? Ethan Brooks didn't really understand what that was, but anyway, he hadn't lost his memory.

But, if he hadn't lost his memory and then ran away and disappeared? Ethan Brooks knew very well that would only make Captain Lane suspicious. By then... in order to protect her own secret, would Captain Lane do something even more extreme, like silencing him for good? That was hard to say.

Ethan Brooks's mind raced, and he quickly made a decision: staying was much safer than leaving. First, the jade pendant was already smashed to pieces. Second, he wouldn't arouse Captain's suspicion.

"Dad, the fat sheep realized he'd been conned right after leaving and came back to take his money. I saw how fierce they looked and didn't dare ask for your precious jade back." Ethan Brooks put on a frustrated face.

"What? You didn't tell them no refunds?" Ethan Bruce deflated like a punctured ball, slumping onto the shabby sofa at home. "A total loss, a total loss. At least the jade pendant was worth three-fifty."

"That female client you had today..."

"Don't mention it. I just got to their house and ran into an old man who claimed to be from the National Fortune Bureau. He was even better at bluffing than me. They believed him and kicked me out." Ethan Bruce suddenly picked up his phone and started scrolling. "That old man even made a red certificate for the 'National Fortune Bureau.' Looked really official."

"National Fortune Bureau? What the heck is that?"

"How should I know what the heck it is? Obviously a well-prepared old scammer! Anyway, I've learned something this time. I'm going to find someone to make fake certificates for me too. Not just a red one for the National Fortune Bureau, but also one for the Earth Fortune Bureau!"

Ethan Bruce got more and more excited as he scrolled, searching for fake certificate makers with even more enthusiasm. "And you, stop sleeping. Go downstairs to the supermarket and buy a can of bug spray. I did too much charity for the mosquitoes last night."

Ethan Brooks got up, went downstairs, and bought the bug spray. His dad Ethan Bruce was showering in the bathroom, while he recalled everything that had happened today. Suddenly, he remembered that when he touched the "jade," he had heard something about the "Great Demon King System" being successfully installed.

"The Great Demon King System has been successfully activated..."

This time, when the voice sounded, Ethan Brooks was sure it came from inside his mind. He instinctively looked at himself in the mirror across from him, and suddenly, a strange, desolate, ruined temple rose up in his mind.

On the mottled offering table in the ruined temple were several black cards. Each card wasn't very big, and it was impossible to tell if they were made of metal or extra-thick copperplate paper.

The spot behind the offering table, where a statue should have been, was completely empty. Only a fist-sized black shadow floated where the statue should be.

"Junior before the hall, do you not kneel and pay respects upon seeing me?"

Suddenly, a voice full of majesty echoed through the ruined temple. Just hearing it made one feel the urge to kneel and kowtow.

Ethan Brooks's knees bent a few degrees, but then he suddenly stopped. There was something familiar about this voice—the majesty felt a bit fake, or rather, there was more temptation than authority in it. It was just like the feeling he got when his dad took him out to scam people.

"Junior before the hall, why do you not kneel at once? What are you waiting for!"

Chapter Six: The Three Immortals Return to the Cave, Competing for Size