"Hmph! Zhou Tian Shifting Illusion—such a petty formation dares show off before me?" Zhou Qing sneered. He had long noticed someone following them, but he had not expected them to make a move in broad daylight, right on the street. This Zhou Tian Shifting Illusion first used illusions to bewilder the enemy, then shifted them into a formation prepared in advance for slaughter. Illusions were one thing, but shifting involved transformations of space and consumed enormous amounts of spiritual power; it also required fine treasures to support it. The stronger the formation, the harder it was to shift someone into it, and the spiritual power consumed increased tenfold. Few people bothered with such a laborious and thankless task. If they wanted to fight an enemy, it was far more effective to simply fight them head-on.
The other side must have known that fighting in the streets would be too shocking and outrageous, so they did not dare act recklessly. They intended to shift the four of them somewhere secluded before dealing with them.
Zhou Qing finally understood the hardships demons faced. On a whim, he had brought the three of them out for a stroll, forgetting for the moment to conceal their auras, and righteous guardians who exterminated demons and devils had immediately come knocking. Liao Xiaojin was one thing—he was human to begin with, so others could not tell. But Zhou Chen and Little Fox were steeped in demonic aura; anyone with even a little cultivation would know they were no humans.
With matters at this point, Zhou Qing was not afraid. He could have easily broken the Zhou Tian Shifting Illusion, but he wanted to see exactly who the other party was. He grabbed the three of them, secretly remained on guard, and allowed the formation to shift all four away.
A flash of clear light swept past, and the four people who had been standing in the street vanished. The street remained a surging sea of people, yet the surrounding crowd felt nothing at all about the disappearance of the four.
In an instant, the four appeared in a small grove. Zhou Qing surveyed the surroundings and found them familiar—it was the suburbs not far from the city. Zhou Qing thought to himself that the person using this formation did not seem particularly skilled. At its highest level, Zhou Tian Shifting Illusion could shift people a thousand miles away in an instant. This had only moved them a few dozen miles at most. Still, it could not be ruled out that the other side had done so deliberately.
Zhou Qing gave Liao Xiaojin a meaningful look. How could Liao Xiaojin fail to understand? Having followed Zhou Qing for so long, he understood Zhou Qing even better than the roundworm in his stomach. Stepping forward, Liao Xiaojin clasped his hands toward the seemingly empty grove and called out loudly, "Which fellow Daoist is playing such a joke on us?" He put on quite the grand display, making Little Fox laugh.
"Hmph! Demon! Who is your fellow Daoist?" A crisp yet overbearing female voice came from the grove, making Zhou Qing deeply uncomfortable. One woman and three men emerged from the trees. They all looked around twenty. The three men were heroic and dashing, handsome and elegant, no less than Liao Xiaojin. Yet they lacked the noble air that showed through Liao Xiaojin's vampiric chill. Furthermore, Liao Xiaojin had deliberately dressed in a suit and leather shoes for the outing. Compared with the four of them, purely in terms of appearance, Liao Xiaojin came out ahead.
Zhou Qing felt somewhat displeased by the faint arrogance on the faces of the three men and one woman. The girl held a palm-sized, Eight Trigrams-shaped mirror that radiated intense spiritual energy. It was presumably the treasure used to activate Zhou Tian Shifting Illusion. Colored light flickered over the hands of the three men, and faint ripples of spiritual power spread outward.
The treasures in their hands were all extraordinary. Should he kill them and take their treasures? Zhou Qing pondered inwardly. The three men and one woman never would have dreamed that Zhou Qing had placed them on the scale of whether to kill or spare them.
The girl stepped forward and shouted sweetly, "What kind of demons are you? Have you registered yourselves? Wandering around among crowds in broad daylight—do you not know the restrictions?"
Hearing that string of words spill from the girl's mouth, not only Liao Xiaojin but even Zhou Qing felt utterly baffled. Registration? Restrictions? How could such novel terms possibly be connected to demons? Zhou Qing looked at Zhou Chen in confusion.
Zhou Chen naturally understood what she meant and hurriedly explained, "We demons are in a disadvantaged position, but we still possess considerable influence. The state fears that we might cause trouble, so it has long joined forces with cultivation sects to suppress our existence. Although the Daoist Sect is powerful, it is impossible for them to wipe out all demons. They also fear that we might throw caution to the wind and create some major disturbance. So, several decades ago, they established this rule: all demons must register with a government department. Once registered, they must remain in a fixed location. They cannot cause trouble or let humans discover that demons exist. They cannot harm humans, and they cannot appear in crowded places during the day. Those are roughly the three restrictions. Then cultivators will not come looking for trouble, and it counts as peaceful coexistence. But there are also some powerful demons who simply do not accept this arrangement, and neither the state nor the Daoist Sect can do anything about them. Tianxuan Blood Demon is one of those."
"Demons! Miss, I'm not a demon!" Though Zhou Chen had spoken very softly, Liao Xiaojin had still heard her explanation. He secretly pitied the plight of China's demons. They had practically lost all personal freedom! His favorable impression of the people before them instantly dropped below zero. But seeing that Zhou Qing had said nothing, he did not dare act rashly and could only make a joking remark.
"Shut up! We weren't talking about you. We mean those two foxes. Get out of the way. You look like you have some ability yourself, yet you associate with demons. We'll take you back later and question you properly." One of the men spoke arrogantly.
At the word "foxes," Zhou Can's expression changed. She was about to strike, but Zhou Chen grabbed her. Zhou Chen glanced at Zhou Qing, whose expression remained unchanged, and whispered to Zhou Can, "Sister, don't fool around. They're from a state security department and have grown used to being arrogant. We shouldn't clash with them."
"Everyone, my sister and I have both registered. These are our documents." To Liao Xiaojin's astonishment, Zhou Chen took out two little red booklets and handed them over. Another man accepted the documents, flipped through them, then casually threw them onto the ground. Liao Xiaojin's face turned cold. His mouth opened slightly as he prepared to spit out his Flying Sword and kill them. Seeing his movements, Zhou Chen naturally knew what he intended to do. She hurriedly gripped Liao Xiaojin tightly in secret and sent him a voice transmission: "Senior Brother, they belong to the state. We can't fight them. Don't be impulsive—let's see what Master says."
Liao Xiaojin remembered Zhou Qing's warning. People from the state truly could not be touched lightly. Seeing Zhou Qing standing there without reacting, Liao Xiaojin could only let it go.
Seeing Zhou Chen pick up the two documents, the three men all gave strange laughs. "So you're demons from the Charming Fox clan! You really have flavor. But you have violated the restrictions by appearing in a crowded place during the day. We're taking you back to investigate."
"And you! You too must come with us!" The girl also spoke, pointing at Zhou Qing and Liao Xiaojin. "Which sect's disciples are you? Why are you together with demons? Explain everything clearly, or we won't be polite."
"When have you ever been polite to us?" Zhou Can said indignantly upon hearing the girl's words.
The girl instantly flew into a rage. "What are you? A slutty fox dares talk back to me?" With a wave of her hand, the Eight Trigrams Mirror erupted with a burst of golden light that shot toward Zhou Can. That golden light could actually absorb the spiritual energy in the air, growing ever more dazzling. A piercing, bizarre howl also rang through the air. Zhou Chen had never expected the girl to attack so suddenly. Seeing the golden light shoot toward Zhou Can, while she herself lacked the speed to block it, she was so frightened her soul nearly flew from her body.
Bang! Zhou Qing waved his hand. Without any sign of what treasure he had used, the golden light was scattered. Zhou Qing stepped forward twice and said, "We can talk things out. Why hurt someone?"
Seeing Zhou Qing disperse the golden light released by her Xuantian Eight Trigrams Mirror without the slightest effort, the girl and the three men were all shocked. They knew perfectly well what kind of treasure the Xuantian Eight Trigrams Mirror was and how great its power was. Seeing that Zhou Qing was such a tough opponent, one man stepped forward and shouted fiercely, "We are disciples of Mao Shan and members of the state's Dragon Group. We have been ordered to monitor demonic activity. You actually dare obstruct us from carrying out official business. Are you tired of living?"
"We'll go with you," Zhou Chen said as she stepped forward, afraid of provoking major trouble.
"Hmph! You will certainly come with us. But to prevent you from making any unusual moves, we must seal your powers!" one of the men said. The other two men and the girl all nodded. Liao Xiaojin and Zhou Chen looked terrible. Having one's powers sealed meant becoming fish on the chopping block, left to be butchered by others. That was absolutely impossible.
Liao Xiaojin and Zhou Chen both looked to Zhou Qing, hoping he would think of a solution. Zhou Qing's expression remained unchanged as he said mildly, "Little Fox, take care of yourself. You two—Xiao Jin, Chenchen—make it clean. Leave no one alive!"
Before you continue