I Am Your Natural Enemy

The last time I entered the Water Ghost Domain was by accident.

The demons I met back then could all talk, we could communicate, and it honestly wouldn't be weird if those guys, like Sparrow Cat, were glued to their phones watching videos in this day and age.

But this time, the two evil ghosts I ran into, plus a green-haired zombie, were clearly braindead.

Wen Yan really couldn't picture these types scrolling short videos on their phones.

That evil ghost from earlier couldn't hold back from attacking the second he saw Wen Yan. Losers like him would never dare act up where there's a lot of humans around.

Overall, the Scorching Sun Department is always short-handed and has to prioritize, but for different races bold enough to go on a rampage where humans gather, they always hit back hard, no matter the cost.

If one squad isn't enough, they'll call in backup on the spot—won't stop until it's dead.

Chasing down an evil ghost is way easier than handling a Domain.

The little zombie wiggled its body, whining, and even rubbed its face against Wen Yan's.

"Alright, alright, thank you, little boss."

Wen Yan reached out and tapped the little zombie on the forehead, this time giving it a little extra Yang energy.

He seriously would've been hit by that hidden weapon just now if not for the little zombie.

The little zombie squinted happily, sniffed lightly, and a wisp of the green-haired zombie's leftover green energy burst from the dirt and shot into her nose as she mumbled her zombie-speak.

Sparrow Cat pricked up his ears, whiskers twitching a little, looking excited.

"She says that green-haired zombie attacked her just now, and she's memorized its scent. When we get back, she's going to call home and tattle. Her family told her some things you can play by ear, but getting attacked by a zombie is strictly off-limits."

"Huh? She even knows how to make a phone call?" Wen Yan was a little surprised, catching onto that key detail.

He turned his head just in time to see the little zombie sprawled out on his shoulder, fast asleep.

Sparrow Cat's ears drooped—he suddenly felt like he'd said too much. The little zombie had slipped right into a nap, which probably meant more headaches for Sparrow Cat once they got home...

Wen Yan didn't bother trying to wake the little zombie. If she didn't want to talk, there was no need to push. All that mattered was she wouldn't hurt him, and at the crucial moment, she'd save him. That was enough.

Uncle trailed after Wen Yan as they made their way toward the pond.

Halfway there, they ran into another walking dead—this one only had half its body left and was crawling along the ground, like it had only just ended up this way not long ago.

That confirmed it for Wen Yan: the two evil ghosts and the super toxic green-haired zombie from before definitely didn't come in through some short video portal.

Creatures with zero brains, just like movie zombies, couldn't possibly be scrolling videos on their phones, right?

"Uncle, you handle this. Even a mosquito's leg is still meat, don't waste it."

Uncle didn't even open his eyes—as he passed by, he casually stomped the half walking dead to death. As he strode away, he sucked the creature's power right up and left it a pile of ash.

Right now, at the edge of the pond, the water flowing down from upstream had turned into black water.

Lady Lie stood on a thick tree branch, face set, her golden earrings gently swaying and making the faintest metallic sound.

On the ground, twenty or thirty walking dead were surrounding a red-haired fox with two tails. The red-haired fox backed away slowly, while in the little river behind, a dark fog swirled as a single-horned evil ghost, nearly two meters tall, surfaced from water barely half a meter deep.

The red-haired fox's tails twitched—flames sprang up, swelling wide—when the flames vanished, the red-haired fox was gone, reappearing instantly on a tree over ten meters away.

The Red Fox's long eyes darted slightly. She looked over at Lady Lie on the other side, tilting her head a bit, as if to ask a question.

Lady Lie shook her head gently—not clear if it meant she didn't know or just didn't want to say.

Her brow tensed as she eyed the ever-growing horde of ghost objects and walking dead crawling out of the river, then turned her gaze to the Red Fox.

This Red Fox hadn't been back since her last visit; today was her second time showing up.

Last time, Lady Lie had been caught up recruiting Su Yue and hadn't paid much attention to the Red Fox, even though the fox boasted two tails.

It's not that having more tails automatically makes you powerful—or full of potential, for that matter. That stereotype is really just a trait of the Nine-tailed Lineage's foxes.

And those foxes are all White Foxes.

For other fox demons, growing a second tail just marks their cultivation realm, that's all.

But after looking over some information and asking around, Lady Lie came away with a new hunch: this Red Fox really might be connected to the Nine-tailed Lineage in some way.

Times have changed. You can't look at things with old eyes—society's development inevitably shakes up the different races, too.

With shifts in human thinking, it was only natural different races would be affected. Fox Clan these days really aren't as stodgy as the old stereotypes made them out to be.

If one day a "giant rebel" popped up in the Nine-tailed Lineage, some anti-tradition fox who hooked up with a Red Fox, it actually wouldn't be that surprising.

Lady Lie looked at the growing chaos down below. Off in the distance, she could see even more ghost objects and zombies appearing upriver, their numbers steadily rising.

Just what she could see already numbered forty or fifty ghosts and zombies.

With numbers like that, and more coming every minute, there was no way she could handle it—not that she had any interest in trying.