I Am Your Natural Enemy

"Thanks to your help."

The middle-aged man personally escorted the old lady with a fox face out, arranged a car, and sent her home.

He gazed at the car as it drove away, sighing with emotion.

He started working here in his twenties, and even back then, this old lady was the same: easy to talk to, kind and gentle, and she taught him a lot back in those days.

Only, at that time, the old lady still had a fox's face, looking just like an upright, clothes-wearing fox.

Now, you can't see any trace of the fox in her at all.

According to the Scorching Sun Department, since the Spiritual Qi Resurgence, these demons have also been evolving.

He's one of only two Scorching Sun Department employees left in this town.

On the surface, he works at the post office, with a cushy post, counting down the days to retirement every day.

But what he really does is mostly dealing with these demons.

He's had a quiet life here for more than twenty years.

The last time there was trouble was over twenty years ago, when people were still poaching in the mountains—foxes, birds, black bears, and all sorts of wild animals.

Back then, someone illegally snatched a Black Bear Demon's cub and pushed the bear to the edge.

The black bear stormed into town, and the situation blew up fast.

The group of monsters, already outraged, completely exploded.

Just as it looked like the conflict was about to get out of hand—blood would be spilled—the Old Lady with a Fox Face stepped in, quelled the uproar, and talked things through with the Scorching Sun Department's reinforcements.

One huge problem, solved just like that.

Of the three poachers, one had a gun. Even when caught, he refused to put it down and tried to fight back, so he was shot dead on the spot.

The other two, original poaching charges aside, had a bunch more stacked up—three people making a criminal organization, firearms involved, armed resistance, particularly terrible circumstances, and serious consequences.

They didn't get the death penalty in the end, but last he heard they're still inside sewing away on the prison machines.

To this day, that case is still used as a textbook example.

After so many years, nobody here dares to go poaching now. From elderly ladies in their eighties to kids just a few years old, everyone knows: pretty much any animal you see in the wild is a protected species.

If you don't recognize it, it's at least a Class II National Protected Animal.

Another thing, people here live better than before; with the law getting popularized, no one uses "can't afford to eat, gotta hunt for meat" as an excuse anymore.

These days, life's steady for him. His monthly salary's not bad, his housing fund's enough to pay off two houses locally, and there's nothing he'd risk his life for. All thanks to the Old Lady with a Fox Face keeping the peace.

The demons are doing better too—hardly any of them are bored enough to stir up trouble anymore.

He remembers the old lady saying, twenty years ago, the mountain demons could barely get a meal—dreaming of eating their fill was just wishful thinking.

Some demons have trouble having offspring—it used to just be up to fate, but now they all come for help.

Doctors are held in super high regard in the mountains; whenever a doctor comes up, there's always a demon secretly keeping an eye out.

So plenty of modern tales float around about herb-pickers here—like a doctor getting lost in the mountains, and some animal leads him safely back out.

The demons in these mountains treasure their lives now even more than people do.

If anyone did get the crazy urge to cause trouble, the Scorching Sun Department wouldn't even need to step in—internal punishment among the demons is much harsher than the law for humans.

This little town at the foot of the mountain owes its atmosphere mostly to the Old Lady with a Fox Face, and that's why he holds her in such high respect—sometimes he even feels that living with demons is way easier than dealing with people.

He stood at the door, watched the car leave the town, then finally turned back inside, drove off himself to deliver the package to the city, where the Scorching Sun Department's secret logistics would take over and send it off by land.

...

Wen Yan came home, arranged for the Little Zombie and Sparrow Cat to go to bed, but seeing how pitiful Sparrow Cat looked, she sighed and called Feng Yao.

"Hey, you awake?"

"It's only six! Of course I'm not up!"

"Well, you're up now, aren't you? Bring breakfast when you come, lots of it—we're starving, worked all night again."

"Hmm? Oh, okay, I'm getting up now, be right there." Feng Yao heard that and knew Wen Yan had been in the Water Ghost Domain again.

After the call, they set the table and got the stools ready, waiting for food. Wen Yan sent Uncle back to the basement first, and whether Uncle could understand or not, she still chatted on for a few more minutes.

After a while, Wen Yan walked upstairs from the basement, glanced at Sparrow Cat slumped listlessly on the booster seat, and headed into the kitchen.

"Old Xi, you want some noodles?"

"Nope, I'll wait for Feng Yao's food."

"Alright."

Wen Yan boiled water, cooked a small bowl of noodles for Sparrow Cat, rinsed them in cold water, and brought them out, placing them in front of him.

"You're a cat who likes noodles—can't say I've seen that before."

"I'm a sparrow, and I just like noodles," Sparrow Cat muttered.

The Little Zombie sat obediently in the child's seat nearby, head lifted, making little whimpering sounds.

"I remember you, I didn't forget."

Wen Yan smiled, walked over, tapped the Little Zombie on the forehead, and gave her a bit of yang energy.

Meanwhile, Sparrow Cat looked at the little bowl of noodle soup in front of him, his emotions surging up and down all night, and after holding it in so long, finally couldn't help but lower his head and drop a few pearl-like tears.

Soon enough, Feng Yao came bursting in, arms full of breakfast.

Wen Yan didn't bother with small talk—first, they ate.