Intolerable

"Hmph! Zhou Tian Shifting Illusion, you dare to show off such a minor formation in front of me!" Zhou Qing sneered. He had long noticed he was being followed, but he hadn't expected them to make a move in broad daylight, on a busy street. This Zhou Tian Shifting Illusion worked by using illusions to confuse the enemy, then teleporting them into a pre-prepared formation for slaughter. The illusion part was fine, but the teleportation involved spatial manipulation, which consumed a lot of magical power and required a high-quality treasure to assist. The more powerful the formation, the harder it was to teleport into, and the magical power consumption increased tenfold. Few people would do such thankless work. It was more effective to just fight directly.

They must have known that fighting on the street would be shocking and disruptive, so they didn't dare to act rashly and wanted to teleport the four of them to a secluded spot before dealing with them.

Zhou Qing finally understood the difficulties faced by demons. He had impulsively brought the three of them out for a stroll and forgotten to conceal their auras, attracting the attention of those who claimed to uphold righteousness and eliminate demons. Liao Xiaojin was one thing; he was human, so others couldn't tell. But Zhou Chen and Little Fox had strong demonic auras, and anyone with even a little cultivation would know they weren't human.

Facing the situation, Zhou Qing wasn't afraid. He could have easily broken the Zhou Tian Shifting Illusion, but he wanted to see who their opponent was. He grabbed the three of them, secretly on guard, and let the formation teleport them away.

With a flash of clear light, the four people who had been on the street vanished. The street bustled with activity as before, and the surrounding crowd seemed to have no awareness of the disappearance of the four.

In an instant, the four appeared in a small grove. Zhou Qing surveyed the surroundings; it was familiar, the outskirts not far from the city. Zhou Qing mused that the person using the formation wasn't very skilled. The highest level of Zhou Tian Shifting Illusion could instantly teleport people thousands of miles away, but this was only a few dozen miles. However, it was also possible that they had done it intentionally.

He gave Liao Xiaojin a look. Liao Xiaojin understood immediately. Having followed Zhou Qing for so long, he understood Zhou Qing better than anyone. He stepped forward, cupped his hands towards the seemingly empty grove, and said loudly, "Which fellow Daoist is playing such a joke on us?" He put on quite a show, making even Little Fox chuckle.

"Hmph! Demons! Who's your fellow Daoist!" A clear but somewhat arrogant voice rang out, making Zhou Qing very uncomfortable. One woman and three men emerged from the woods. They all looked to be around twenty years old. The three men were full of heroic spirit and handsome, no less than Liao Xiaojin. However, they lacked the noble aura tinged with a hint of coldness that Liao Xiaojin possessed from his vampire heritage. Coupled with Liao Xiaojin's specially chosen suit for the outing, the four of them paled in comparison, and Liao Xiaojin had the upper hand in appearance.

Zhou Qing felt a hint of displeasure at the subtle arrogance emanating from the faces of the three men and one woman. The girl held a palm-sized, spirit-infused mirror shaped like an eight trigram. It was likely the treasure used to activate the Zhou Tian Shifting Illusion. The three men's hands were flashing with colorful light, emitting faint fluctuations of magical power.

The treasures in their hands were no ordinary items. Should he kill them and take their treasures? Zhou Qing pondered. The three men and one woman never dreamed that Zhou Qing was considering whether to kill them or not.

The girl stepped forward and said in a sweet, commanding voice, "What kind of demons are you? Are you registered? Wandering around in broad daylight in a crowd, don't you know the regulations?"

Hearing the string of words coming from the girl's mouth, not only Liao Xiaojin but even Zhou Qing felt bewildered. Registration, regulations – what fresh terms were these, and how did they relate to demons? Zhou Qing glanced at Zhou Chen in confusion.

Zhou Chen understood immediately and quickly explained, "We demons are in a disadvantaged position, but we still have considerable influence. The country fears we might cause trouble, so they have consistently worked with the cultivation sects to suppress our existence. Although the Daoist sects are powerful, they cannot completely eradicate us demons, and they also fear that if we become desperate, we might cause incidents. So, decades ago, they established this rule: all demons must register with a national department. After registration, they must stay in a fixed location, not cause trouble that humans discover, not harm humans, and not appear in crowded places in broad daylight. Those are roughly the three main prohibitions. Cultivators won't bother them, and it's a form of peaceful coexistence. However, there are some powerful demons who completely disregard this, and neither the country nor the Daoist sects can do anything about them. The Tianxuan Blood Demon is an example."

"Demons! Miss, I'm not a demon!" Although he spoke very softly, Liao Xiaojin heard Zhou Chen's explanation. He secretly pitied the plight of demons in China; they had no personal freedom! His good impression of the group before him immediately dropped to negative. However, seeing that Zhou Qing hadn't spoken, he didn't dare to act rashly and could only try to play along.

"Shut up! We're not talking to you, we're talking to those two foxes. You, stand aside. You look like you have some ability. Being with demons, we'll have to take you back for questioning later." One of the men said arrogantly.

Hearing the word "fox," Zhou Can's expression changed, and she was about to attack, but Zhou Chen grabbed her. Zhou Chen looked at Zhou Qing, whose expression was calm, and whispered to Zhou Can, "Sister, don't be foolish. They are from the National Security Department, and they're used to being arrogant. Let's not conflict with them."

"Four of you, my sister and I are registered. Here are our identification documents." To Liao Xiaojin's astonished gaze, Zhou Chen took out two red booklets and handed them over. Another man took the documents, flipped through them, and casually threw them on the ground. Liao Xiaojin's face turned cold, his mouth slightly open, about to unleash his flying sword to kill them. Zhou Chen saw his movement and knew what Liao Xiaojin was about to do. She quickly and firmly held Liao Xiaojin back, transmitting her voice, "Senior Brother, they are government officials. We can't fight them. Don't be impulsive. Let's see what Master says."

Liao Xiaojin remembered Zhou Qing's warning; government officials were indeed difficult to deal with. Seeing Zhou Qing standing there indifferently, Liao Xiaojin could only give up.

Seeing Zhou Chen pick up the two documents, the three men chuckled. "So you're demons from the Enchanting Fox tribe! As expected, quite flavorful. But you've violated the regulations by appearing in a crowded place during the day. We'll have to take you back for questioning."

"And you! You! You have to come with us too!" The girl also spoke, pointing at Zhou Qing and Liao Xiaojin. "Which sect disciples are you? Why are you associating with demons? You have to explain yourselves, or we won't be polite."

"When have you ever been polite to us!" Zhou Can couldn't help but retort angrily upon hearing the girl's words.

The girl immediately became furious. "What do you think you are? A slutty fox daring to talk back to me!" With a wave of her hand, a ball of golden light erupted from the eight trigram mirror and shot towards Zhou Can. The golden light seemed to absorb the spiritual energy from the air, growing brighter and brighter, and the air emitted a sharp, whistling sound. Zhou Chen hadn't expected the girl to attack so suddenly. Seeing the golden light shooting towards Zhou Can, she knew she couldn't react fast enough to block it and was terrified.

Bang! Zhou Qing waved his hand, and without any visible treasure, the ball of golden light was dispersed. Zhou Qing took two steps forward and said, "Let's talk things through. Why resort to violence?"

Seeing that Zhou Qing had effortlessly dispersed the golden light from his Xuantian Eight Trigrams Mirror, the girl and the three men were all shocked. They knew very well what a treasure the Xuantian Eight Trigrams Mirror was and how powerful it was. Seeing such a tough opponent, one of the men stepped forward and said sternly, "We are disciples of Mao Shan and members of the national Dragon Group. We are on official duty to monitor the movements of demons. You are actually obstructing us from carrying out our duties. Do you not want to live?"

"We'll go with you!" Zhou Chen said, fearing they would get into bigger trouble.

"Hmph! You will definitely come with us, but to prevent any unusual activity, I will seal your powers!" one of the men said. The other two men and the woman nodded in agreement. Liao Xiaojin and Zhou Chen's faces turned grim. Having their powers sealed would be like being fish on a chopping block, at the mercy of others. That was absolutely unacceptable.

Liao Xiaojin and Zhou Chen both looked at Zhou Qing, hoping he would find a solution. Zhou Qing's expression remained unchanged, and he said calmly, "Little Fox, take care of yourself. You two! Xiao Jin, Chenchen! Make it quick, and leave no survivors!"