Red Tiger

Demons have both good and evil sides, while humans harbor unpredictable hearts.

As Zhou Tong fled, this phrase involuntarily kept coming to mind.

This is a phrase that Old Master Chen has been saying a lot lately. He used to think it was just a cliché, but now every word is stained with blood and carries immense weight.

Zhou Tong's current predicament perfectly illustrates this statement.

Her own brother was betrayed by his teammates and his fate was unknown. The old man was imprisoned, and she was about to be killed. If the old man hadn't reversed the prison's arrangements at the last moment and released her, she probably wouldn't have escaped death either.

Even though she had seen countless deaths in this Demon-Subduing City, this battle of life and death still filled her with dread, and all her thoughts and methods became a jumbled mess.

Especially now that they're being hunted down.

However, looking at the giant "Heavenly Eye in the sky," she gritted her teeth and limped away in that direction.

The Heavenly Eye is high above, indifferent and ruthless, treating everyone equally as mere dust in this city.

But this impartiality, devoid of any emotion, gave Zhou Tong a strange sense of security.

She believed that as long as she found Brother Hu, there would definitely be a way to rescue her brother and Old Master Chen.

Suddenly, a series of piercing screams rang out in the air. Soon, an "owl" descended from the sky, its wings stained with blood and nailed with a coffin nail.

The Demon-Subduing Spirit Cat shrieked several more times and pointed in one direction.

Zhou Tong quickly turned around; blood was still seeping from her arm, seemingly from a cut made by some kind of sharp object.

This was not caused by the city's Devil Creature, but by the persecution of the city's Rogue Cultivator.

As a former hostage of Zhang Ping and the Min Yao, Zhou Tong witnessed firsthand how those people tortured and killed those Routou.

As if Roof Leak weren't bad enough, she now encountered almost the same group of people.

However, Zhang Ping and his group used the Ghost Makeup of Min Yao to harm people.

The group currently hunting her down are riding on undead.

It was the same old corpse I had seen at the Rebirth Shrine.

Just as she was about to turn into the alley, a visible yin Yin Qi transformed into a murky gray mist, surging out from the cracks in the walls, the ditches, and the sewers, quickly enveloping the entire narrow alley.

Immediately afterwards, paper money began to fall from the sky.

One by one, pale white paper money, inscribed with birth dates and times, fell like winter snow, sticking to her face and shoulders, carrying the damp chill of the earth.

Amidst the paper money, tiny bits of ashes were scattered, falling softly into her hair and collar. The touch was as light as dust, yet so heavy it made it hard for her to breathe.

The walkers have appeared!

They moved very slowly, their joints like rusty door hinges, each step producing a dry "click," but in the narrow, winding alleyways, this slowness created a terrifying encirclement.

The light was deathly pale, shining on their withered, bluish-black skin, giving it a cold, pottery-like sheen. Some had empty cavities, and with each step, one could hear the rustling sound of cinnabar being stuffed into them; others had half their cheeks rotted away, revealing gleaming yellow teeth, but their eyes had no pupils, only two eerie green corpse flames locked onto the living Blood Qi emanating from Zhou Tong.

But the leaders were almost indistinguishable from living people.

Even the way he looked at her was filled with mockery.

These old corpses seemed to move slowly, but they were as if they ignored gravity. Their first step landed on the ground, and their second step landed on the wall, leaving two footprints of corpse water on the ground and the wall. As more and more footprints appeared, the figures of the corpses seemed to overlap.

Just seeing this bizarre scene made Zhou Tong feel nauseous and want to vomit.

She quickly changed direction, but then several more people emerged from the opposite direction, carrying blood-stained magical Law Artifact —skin-peeling whips, bone-piercing nails, and soul-capturing bells—their eyes filled with the excitement of a hunt.

Zhou Tong's heart sank to the bottom of the sea.

I subconsciously looked up at the sky. Through the dark clouds, the Heavenly Eye still coldly and mercilessly looked down upon the world, witnessing the Ghost Haunt of humankind.

From the rooftop of the government compound, Hu Mang naturally had a complete view of everything.

With a backhand grab, the Immortal Weapon Shattering Thunder, stuck in the ground, transformed into a bolt of lightning and landed in his palm, buzzing loudly.

"Let me think..."

The Hu Mang muttered to itself and quickly found the power it desired from the divine authority.

"Tianpeng, Tianpeng, Nine Yuan Demon Child, Five Ding Commander, Gao Diao Bei Weng. Spear-wielding Divine King, slaying evil and destroying traces. Devouring demons and ghosts, drinking the wind with his body. Splitting corpses for a thousand miles, driving away misfortune. With a single strike of the divine spear, ten thousand ghosts scatter. Hasten, hasten, as decreed by the Jade Emperor!"

As he spoke, the Innate Thunder Pattern on the spear lit up one by one. After twenty-four patterns lit up, they suddenly transformed into a bolt of lightning and disappeared.

Hu Mang replied without turning his head.

"You're coming along too."

The next moment, a huge fiery phantom flashed by.

Almost simultaneously, Zhou Tong suddenly looked up, and the Devil-Suppressing Divine Mark above and below the Heavenly Eye of the thunderclouds shone brightly. The divine eye closed, and the next moment, a thick pillar of lightning descended from the sky, striking directly at the oldest corpse that was pouncing at the front.

This ancient corpse had already resembled a living person by nine-tenths. Faced with such lightning power, its eyes instantly turned yellowish, its corpse aura surged, and sharp claws grew from its hands and feet.

However, the next moment, a bolt of lightning descended from the sky, a spear pierced through the forehead and into the floor. Terrifying lightning swept across, and wherever it passed, the living corpses turned to ashes.

In the blink of an eye, the entire alley was empty and spotless.

All that remained on the ground was the divine spear that still hummed and flowed with the "Strict Laws of Heaven," and the charred cracks that spread out like a spider web from the spear tip, filled with a purifying aura.

At the same time, a cold voice rang out from the sky.

"Roll!!"

The expressions of the several cultivators changed.

"Devil-Subduing Heavenly Soldier!!"

One of the leaders blurted out.

His eyes initially hesitated, but quickly turned fervent.

"You're just one person; we are the retinue of the Thunder God!!"

"Make your move, kill her first, then seek protection from the Thunder God!!"

However, the next moment, a raging inferno of demon-slaying flames swept across the sky, engulfing the group.

In the firelight, a ferocious beast, over ten feet long with blood-red fur, slowly emerged from the flames. Its posture was both fierce and elegant, and its tiger-like eyes shifted from Zhou Tong to the disheveled "owl".

People say I am noble, Non-Self to my ability; it is due to the times, luck, and fate.

They're both Ding Fire Cat, but their treatment is worlds apart. It's clear that the eye for choosing a cat owner will determine the future of a good cat for life.

It has always had excellent judgment.

"See? I told you to get out, but you wouldn't listen. You insisted on trying, and now you've died..."

Hu Mang lay on his back on a rooftop in the compound of government offices, his head propped up by his hand, his gaze fixed on the gloomy sky now obscured by thunderclouds, muttering to himself.

"Moreover, today is the third day, why hasn't Lord Thor come to distinguish good from evil yet? Has something really gone wrong?"

This languidness continued until the "fierce cat," or rather, the "Demon-Subduing Vicious Tiger," a small red-haired kitten, carried Zhou Tong over.

A deep, imposing panting sound came from the main entrance.

The Hu Mang looked up and saw a giant beast, the size of a calf, with fiery red fur all over its body and thunder patterns appearing on its forehead, carrying the pale-faced Zhou Tong, walking steadily towards them.

The behemoth landed silently on its four legs, but when its dark golden vertical pupils swept over the Hu Mang, they carried a scrutinizing gaze and a faint, ferocious aura befitting a apex predator.

The previously Ding Fire Vicious Cat has now become a majestic and awe-inspiring Demon-Subduing Vicious Tiger.

Previously, at the same time as the "Heavenly Soldier Divine Office" was activated, this kitten also hatched and grew from Ding Fire Cat into a mature cat, also known as the "Demon-Subduing White Tiger".

The Hu Mang named it "Red Tiger".

Pair Red Tiger with a red fox, and you can easily get the "Fox Borrowing the Tiger's Power" achievement.

With a light leap, the Red Tiger jumped three zhang high and landed directly opposite the Hu Mang. When the Hu Mang reached out and rubbed the fur on the back of its neck, the tiger's Sha Qi vanished, and it let out a few affectionate calls before obediently lowering its head.

Red Tiger opened its mouth and spat out four Storage Bag.

"Long time no see," Hu Mang said to Zhou Tong with a smile as he petted the tiger. "But it doesn't seem like it's been many days, only five or six."

Zhou Tong opened his mouth, but his throat was hoarse and he couldn't speak. His eyes immediately reddened.

"... So, Xu Qing deliberately lured you into the Demon-Subduing Prison, then made you fight his master, the failed Prison-Subduing Official, with the ultimate goal of possessing his master, that heretical old monster called Turbid Sha Old Man, right?"

While opening another self-heating hot pot for the other person, Hu Mang repeated what the other person had said.

"Waaah, mmm."

Zhou Tong wiped away her tears while her cheeks were bulging from eating.

This thing called "mala tang" is so delicious!

Something just doesn't feel right.

Hu Mang's expression was strange as he handed the other person a bottle of mineral water.

How does he plan to possess someone?

"After you left, Brother Hu, Old Master Chen deduced several more 'Ghost Makeup techniques' from that little black booklet. One of them was called 'Human Face Makeup,' which involved peeling off one's own facial features and then attaching them to someone else's face. In just a few breaths, it could replace the person's face."

Upon hearing this taboo operation, Hu Mang raised an eyebrow.

"Such a forbidden skill, doesn't it come at a price?"

"According to Old Master Chen, this kind of 'Human Face Makeup' requires the person whose face is covered to be unconscious; otherwise, if their three souls and seven spirits retaliate, the makeup will be ruined. In addition, this kind of Human Face Makeup needs to be touched up every day, and the paint used for the touch-up is the blood of a human heart. Therefore, after Old Master Chen comprehended this method, he felt that it was against the natural order and abandoned its use. Xu Qing then secretly mastered it while we weren't paying attention."

Hu Mang raised an eyebrow again.

Has Chen Sheng, this seasoned veteran, been caught off guard again?

"So how did you escape?"

"The old man saw your Heavenly Eye, so he used the excuse of teaching 'Ghost Makeup' to send Xu Qing away and secretly let me out so I could go find you."

Hu Mang nodded. This old man was imprisoned, yet he still had the ability to release people. Impressive.