After Jiang Lan got the full picture of the situation, his disgust with the Three Water Village deepened.

In the darkness, his eyes turned red. After knowing the origin of this tower, he had no wish to stay here a moment longer. This place made him feel agitated.

He decided to finish his business here as quickly as possible.” Don’t hide, I have seen you.”

His sound echoed in the dark tower.

Jiang Lan looked around. After a few seconds, he suddenly strode towards the furthest corner from him, where many broken baskets were piled. He kicked away the baskets and grabbed a thing that was attempting to escape.

“It is you!”

Only Tao Wu, who once ranked among the four devils and was his evil associate, could make him feel uncomfortable.

“When did you become like this?” Jiang Lan shook Tao Wu violently, who was now barely bigger than a basket.

With his fur bristling, Tao Wu wrapped his long tail around Jiang Lan’s arm and flashed his teeth threateningly, growling.” Let go of me.”

Jiang Lan agreed and dropped him into a pile of broken baskets.

Tao Wu jumped to his feet miserably and tried to fight Jiang Lan.

Jiang Lan held him down with just a finger and mocked him.” You were no match for me before. Do you think now you can beat me with this miniature body of yours? I will make a rug out of your fur.”

Tao Wu froze on the spot.

But he was still talking.” It has been a long time since we last met. Now you seem to be much smarter.” 

Tao Tie, Hun Dun, Qiong Qi, and Tao wu were called four devils in ancient times. They all had impressive backgrounds and were powerful. With a foul-tempered reputation, no monster dared to mess with them.

They often hung out together because they had similar backgrounds and were more or less matched in strength. Like rebellious high-born young masters, they formed an evil gang that liked to cause trouble and bully people.

Tao Tie was the last to join this gang, and he was initiated into this gang by Tao Wu, who thought him dim-witted and wanted to manipulate him and use him as his sidekick. But he didn’t expect that his plan would backfire. At that time, Tao Tie was stupid but very fierce and gluttonous. Driven by his hunger, Tao Tie would bite anything that was in sight. Tao Wu was no match for Tao Tie. On several occasions, he had to escape from Tao Tie when he was mad with hunger.

He then tried to manipulate Tao Tie into picking a fight with his much powerful brother, to let his powerful brother teach Tao Tie a lesson.

In the end, his powerful brother was also no match for Tao Tie and barely escaped the fate of being devoured by Tao Tie. After hearing this, the Yellow Emperor^[1]TL’s note: 黄帝, one of the legendary Chinese sovereigns, more on this Wikipedia page came and was angered by what he saw. He felt he had to stop Tao Tie before he caused endless troubles to the world. So he used a magic seal to imprison him.

Picking up Tao Wu’s neck, Jiang Lan looked at him with a hostile look.” Perhaps I became wiser after having been manipulated by you for so long.”

Hearing this, Tao Wu fell into silence with a sense of guilt.

Even though he was rarely bothered by his conscience, he visited the place where Tao Tie was imprisoned and attempted to free him after Tao Tie was sealed by the Yellow Emperor, Tao Wu’s own grandfather. But Tao Tie was under the seal of the Xuan Yuan Sword. Faced with this majestic power, there was nothing Tao Wu could do about it.

Tao Wu straightened his neck.” Now you can eat me. Stop talking, let me die in peace.”

“Oh, you are too small. I would rather eat Tu…..”

Before Jiang Lan could finish his sentence, a bolt of lightning suddenly struck in the dark night and shattered the black tower in an instant. Jiang Lan evaded the lighting nimbly, but Tao Wu, who was thrown away by Jiang Lan when the lighting struck, didn’t escape in time. He screamed in pain after his bottom was burned by the lighting.

After getting up, Jiang Lan mocked his burned bottom without pity.

The friendships between the four devils were just that fragile.

Shamed and angered, Tao Wu howled.” I will kill you!”

Then his body suddenly expanded into the size of an adult tiger and jumped on Jiang Lan and knocked him down, catching Jiang Lan off guard.

****

After hearing from Secretary Huang that Jiang Lan might still be alive, Ying Qiao rushed to the burial ground and was outraged by what he saw there:

Soaked in blood and powerless, the Little Monster was pinned down by sharp claws. At that moment, dripping with saliva, Tao Wu’s sharp teeth were just inches away from the Little Monster’s fragile neck.

Ying Qiao’s eyes suddenly sharpened, and a bolt of lightning tore open the miasma and went directly for Tao Wu. Tao Wu leaped aside, trying to dodge. But the lightning acted as if it was guided by an invisible force, taking a sharp turn and striking him down.

Tao Wu spat out some blood. Burned and running out of strength, he lied on the ground motionless.

He was very weak these days, so he shrunk his body size to conserve energy. That’s why he was totally crippled after being struck by lightning twice today. He turned his head with much difficulty and tried to ask Jiang Lan to lift him up.

But he didn’t expect to see Jiang Lan being picked up by someone else.

Tao Tie was picked up!

Tao Wu thought that everything was different now. Even an evil monster, Tao Tie, could be picked up casually and cuddled. If their enemies got to know this, they, the infamous four devils, would lose dignity.

Where is your self-respect? How can you allow yourself to be cuddled like a pet?

He tried to warn Jiang Lan that four devils would lose face because of you!

But he was so severely wounded that he had no strength left to utter a sound.

But he could clearly hear the conversation between Ying Qiao and Jiang Lan.

“Sorry, I am late.”

Ying Qiao took care to hold Jiang Lan gently. Looking at his blood-soaked body, he didn’t dare to examine his wound for fear of hurting him more.

Jiang Lan was a little fazed by Ying Qiao’s sudden appearance, staring at him unblinkingly.

Ying Qiao thought he was just scared. Covering his eyes, he whispered.” Don’t be afraid, everything is ok now.”

Fluttering his eyelashes, Jiang Lan finally recovered from his shock and said numbly.” Don’t worry. I am not hurt. It’s not my blood.”

Then he struggled to his feet and untied his dirty and torn clothing, proving to Ying Qiao that he was unhurt.

Seeing this, Ying Qiao took a breath of relief and eased his eyebrows. Stroking his hair, Ying Qiao felt the pleasure of recovering his lost treasure.

“It’s good you are unhurt. You need to rest. I will take care of the rest.”

Mindful of what he had just done, Jiang Lan racked his brains, trying to find a suitable explanation for what happened here.

Ying Qiao started to search the burial ground, looking for any potential danger. Actually, except for Tao Wu, who was barely alive, the rest of the breathing creatures had already been wiped out by Jiang Lan.

Tu Lou’s body was buried under the tower’s debris, and Gu Diao’s family of three were hung from a dead tree.

Ying Qiao’s face grew suspicious, and he said hesitantly.” Tu Lou and Gu Diao……you killed them?”

With a shocked expression, Jiang Lan kept shaking his head, trying to deny it.” Of course not, they killed each other.”

Then he began to tell an imaginative story in which Gu Diao tried to hunt him, Tu Lou finished Gu Diao, and Tao Wu killed Tu Lou. He widened his eyes, trying to look innocent.” Xue Meng and I hid separately. But after that creature killed Tu Lou, he discovered me…..”

Pointing at burned Tao Wu, in the colour of charcoal, Jiang Lan said with a fearful look.” Luckily a lightning struck him before he could harm me.”

Jiang Lan didn’t know it was Ying Qiao who summoned this lightning. He just thought Tao Wu was incredibly unlucky today.

Tao Wu ????

He tried to move, to show his anger.

How times fly, even the hungry stupid Tao Tie knew how to tell a lie.

Jiang Lan seemed to be scared by his movement. Jumping behind Ying Qiao, he said.” He is moving!”

Ying Qiao kicked Tao Wu and then turned to comfort Jiang Lan.” Now he doesn’t move.”

Tao Wu passed out……

Looking at the motionless Tao Wu, Jiang Lan gave Ying Qiao a smile of relief.

Then he turned to look around and asked Ying Qiao.” You are here alone?”

“My boss and the Taoist monks next door are all here.” Ying Qiao told him what he knew about the Three Water Village and said.” I am worried about you, so I came here first.”

He said this with a solemn look. Meeting his eyes for a few seconds, Jiang Lan lowered his eyes with a sense of guilt and whispered his thanks.

“No need to thank me.”

Ying Qiao grabbed his wrist with a soft look in his eyes.” Let’s go. My boss will take over from here.”

Before Jiang Lan turned to go, a thought suddenly struck him.” Oh, I forget Xue Meng is still hiding in the coffin.”

Striding towards the coffin and lifting the cover, Jiang Lan asked.” Are you ok?”

Having heard everything that had been said between Ying Qiao and Jiang Lan, Xue Meng didn’t know what to think.” Can I come out?”

Giving him a wink, Jiang Lan helped him to his feet.

Xue Meng followed him like a frightened bird and didn’t dare to say a word. In his mind, he thought about what he had just heard and reflected on the intricacies of those masters’ mysterious world.

Before they left the scene, Cheng Hua sprinted towards them from the woods while shouting.” Calm down Ying Qiao. Don’t do something foolish.”

Ying Qiao halted his steps and looked at him coldly.

As if he was watching a fool talking nonsense.

Cheng Hua halted before him. ????

He opened his mouth and looked at Jiang Lan from the top down. His tone was both weird and relieved.” Oh, you are all right, nothing happened to you?…..”

Jiang Lan smiled.” Sorry for making you worry.”

Cheng Hua thought it was fortunate that nothing happened to you; otherwise, this dragon would probably vent his anger by causing much destruction to the world.

He gave Ying Qiao a troubled look and asked him to go. Then he sent a message, asking his team to move in and mop up the mess here.

The three of them walked towards the village while talking.

Jiang Lan was worried Secretary Huang might involuntarily expose his lies and asked Ying Qiao.” Did you run into Secretary Huang on the way here?”

Ying Qiao said.” Yes, but he was so scared that he went mad.”

He had managed to revive him, but secretary Huang talked incoherently. From what he heard, Ying Qiao speculated that Jiang Lan might still be alive, so he went to the burial ground.

Hearing this, Jiang Lan felt relieved.

Xue Meng was cheered by this news.” Oh, he totally deserved it. He tried to trick us and that’s what he got. Karma!”

Then, it occurred to him that he left his phone in the room with a voice recording of his will.” I left my phone in his house with my will recorded in it! I have to retrieve it.”

Jiang Lan was uncomprehending?

“Why do you leave a will?”

Xue Meng mumbled.” I thought you were devoured by that creature….and I believed I would be the next….”

Then he cheered up.” I am indeed the God chosen one, not fated to die like this. Now my fortune will take a turn for the better….”

Ying Qiao turned to glance at him.”……”