"She's here?"
Boss Qiao fell silent for a moment, then looked Black Cat over and said mockingly, "If she's come in person, who are you to give her orders?"
A distinctly human look of anger appeared on Black Cat's face. Then the cat sneered, "I'm acting on orders from that lord in the Upper Realm! That lord is the true leader of all the Outer Demons in the mortal world! Now tell me whether I have the authority!"
Boss Qiao fell silent again before saying, "I came to this mortal world and finally gained my freedom. I don't want any further part in your battles with the cultivators."
"You're defying orders?" Black Cat half narrowed one eye, an icy gleam shining in that green-gold slit pupil.
"After I served her last time, she promised I would never have to act again. Forgive me, but I cannot agree."
Boss Qiao said calmly, "Besides, I'm just an ordinary businessman living an ordinary life in this mortal world. Why must you force me to fight the cultivators?"
"She?" Black Cat scoffed. "So what if she promised you? This order came from that lord in the Upper Realm. Behind that lord stands the Outer Path that encompasses the Three Realms! The supreme sovereign! As for her, she merely reigns over the mortal world. This time... she doesn't get the final say!"
"Ridiculous..."
Boss Qiao glanced at Black Cat. "'It' is the exalted embodiment of the rules. It has never forced us Outer Demons who have gained our freedom to do anything! If I fight cultivators and kill them, it rewards me. But if I don't fight them, or even help them, it doesn't punish me! That is the freedom it bestowed on me! What right do you have to invoke its authority?"
Black Cat