“This is really interesting!”
Du ke bit on the white jade smoke pipe, occasionally smacking his lips and blowing out faint white smoke.
The smoke rising from the smoking pot was a mix of five colors, representing the essence of the five elements condensed together. With each puff Du ke took, he drew the essence of the five elements into his body, his organs absorbing it. Naturally, what he breathed out was white smoke.
Old Li was right, whether it’s the smoking pot or smoking bullets, they’re just vessels.
The point is to simplify things and spare Du ke the trouble of directly absorbing the spiritual essence of the five elements.
“Awoo?”
Shi san stared at the dowry procession leaving in the distance, anxiously pawing at the ground with his claws.
Boss Cat, should we follow them?
“Let’s go, let’s go see what this is about.”
Du ke breathed out another wisp of white smoke from the pipe.
“I must see who would make such a big fuss so late into the night disturbing your sleep!”
“Woof!”
Shi san immediately broke into a trot to follow the procession.
The procession marched on, drums beating as they headed down a forest path. The deeper they went into the woods, the more deafening the drums became.
A thick fog also rose amongst the trees.
Shi san sniffed at the air in distaste as he passed through the fog. Ever since getting lost in Steaming Cloud Mountain, he hated fog.
And heights too!
It’s definitely not because he was afraid of heights, he just didn’t like the cold at high altitudes, that’s all!
Emerging from the fog, Shi san tailed the procession.
The deeper the procession went, the thicker the fog became.
It was so dense that even Du ke felt like he was back in Steaming Cloud Mountain.
The endless fog was like a vast ocean with no end in sight.
Du ke blinked and a golden light flashed across his eyes. Spiritual energy emanated out from his eyes and slowly thinned out the heavy fog, restoring visibility.
At this moment, a large mansion with red lanterns hanging over the front gate came into view.
Despite the red lanterns shining brightly over the entrance, there wasn’t a hint of joy or celebration. Instead, there was an eerie atmosphere.
Just then, the mansion gates swung open to both sides revealing several giant rats standing on their hind legs inside.
The rats smiled as they watched the procession enter.
Firecrackers exploded raucously at the gate at the same time. Amidst the popping sounds, the bridal sedan chair came to a stop inside the compound.
As soon as the sedan chair halted, a few coarse furred rats scampered over and tore open the door. Some female rats led a few babies that still had their natal fur.
As soon as the baby rats emerged, their mothers herded them into the sedan chair. Then, a young woman in red bridal robes stumbled out in panic.
“Rats, rats, rats!”
The baby rats clung onto her bridal gown, blinking curiously at why she was so afraid.
“Oh my, don’t be scared new bride. These are the ‘bridal rats’ Big Lord specifically chose for you,” one of the white-furred elder rats said with a smile. “See how fond they are of you, refusing to let go!”
“I...I...” the young woman stammered, at a loss for words. She could only force down her horror and disgust, avoiding looking at the rats clinging onto her.
“Quick, bring the veil over!”
The rat who had spoken earlier grabbed a red bridal veil from a platter held up by one of the servant rats nearby. He tossed it over the young woman’s head.
Oddly enough, as soon as the veil settled onto her head and obscured her face, her tightly clenched hands unconsciously relaxed. The tension in her body also dissipated.
“The new bride is here!”
As the big rat announced loudly, the group of rats escorted the young woman into the mansion.
Du ke and Shi san stood outside watching for a while. Then Shi san looked up at Du ke and asked, “Awoo?”
Boss Cat, what should we do next?
“Keep watching. I have a feeling things won’t be so simple,” Du ke murmured while puffing on his smoking pot. “These rats have shallow vitality and aura. Clearly they’re lesser spirits forcibly brought to life by someone.”
“But the monster capable of vitalizing beasts into spirits cannot be too weak!”
“We’ll need to be more careful moving forward!”
“Woof!”
Boss Cat, why don’t we just leave this alone and go back to sleep instead?
“What nonsense!”
Du ke rapped the dog’s head with his smoking pot. “If you see something, how can you not get involved?”
“Awoo?”
But that woman is a total stranger. Why should we care?
“Didn’t you see how distressed she looked?” Du ke raised his hand as if to hit Shi san. Shi san shrank back and kept silent.
It looked like Boss Cat was determined to intervene. But as Boss Cat said, these big rats were lesser spirits forcefully cultivated by someone.
Whoever could vitalize beasts into spirits must at least be at the stage of “Entering the Path”.
While they weren’t too weak themselves, there was still a huge gap compared to those at the Entering the Path stage.
Shi san really couldn’t understand why Boss Cat wanted to get involved in this kind of situation.
Seeing the odd look on the dog’s face, Du ke educated him, “When taking action, you must look at the motivation behind it!”
“Back then, I traveled hundreds of li through the night for Mao City Baby. I charged into Wutong Temple alone. So why can’t I draw my sword now to aid this tormented young woman?”
“If you see something and look the other way, you might as well turn yourself into a clay or wooden statue!”
“But when following your heart, don’t overthink the road ahead!”
Du ke rapped Shi san’s head with the smoking pot again. “Understand?”
“Woof!” Shi san nodded vigorously. But in the next moment, doubt surfaced again.
“Awoo?”
So what should we do?
There could be someone at the Entering the Path stage here!
“With you by my side, at worst I’ll just put the girl on your back and sneak her out.”
“Also, in the past ten days I refined nearly five hundred Essence of Sun Pills. I refuse to believe that many pills still won’t be enough to crush an Entering the Path cultivator!”
When Shi san heard this, he shrank his neck at once.
In the last ten days, Du ke had seized every opportunity to refine Essence of Sun Pills. The largest one was as big as a teapot.
Earlier, Du ke had even roasted meat with that huge pill in the stove.
If that pill was thrown out...
Shi san swallowed. Even for an Entering the Path cultivator, they would be blasted into nothingness!
“Alright, let’s......”
Before Du ke could finish speaking, both he and Shi san whipped around to look back.
Out of the endless fog, a burly silhouette crashed through towards them.
As the figure drew near, Du ke could finally make out what it was.
It was a one zhang (10 ft) tall mountain raccoon dog with a face that resembled dried melon peel. Its eyes shone as it surveyed its surroundings after arriving at the mansion’s entrance.
Its huge maw resembled a giant basin. It couldn't help but curl back its lips, revealing dense sharp teeth.
Shaggy black fur covered its body and it wore a belt of beast hides around its waist that concealed its privates. In one hand, it carried the freshly killed corpse of a muntjac deer.
As the raccoon dog came to a stop at the front gate, the elder rat from earlier emerged from within and came up to greet him.
“Oh my, I thought I smelled an inauspicious air!” The rat fawned with a smile. “So it’s Brother Xiao who’s come!”
“Please, please come in!”
“I heard Rat King has taken another wife. I’ve come to congratulate him and drink a bowl of wine!”
The one called Brother Xiao bared his teeth at the rat before tossing over the deer carcass he held. “This is my gift.”
"Ai yo, Mr. Xiao is still so generous with his money. Please come in quickly and take a seat!"
The big rat beckoned several rats and led the mountain demon into the manor.
After the mountain demon entered the manor, the flattering smile on the rat's face vanished without a trace.
"This stinky monkey comes here again to freeload food and drink without bringing any gifts that the Big Lord likes, only these wild mountain goods!"
The big rat kicked the deer carcass in disgust and pinched its nose as it called over some more rats.
"Take this pile of meat to the back kitchen and let the kids eat it."
"Today is the Big Lord's favorite Hundred Cats Feast banquet. This kind of flesh and blood can't be served on the table!"
"An idiot is an idiot. No wonder he can't get into the Cangzhou Demon Market!"
"Not like the Big Lord who is an honored guest every time he enters the market!"
As the rat said this, the rats it had summoned carried the deer carcass into the yard.
After the deer was taken away, the big rat waved its paws. "Come over here, kids. Clean this area spotless. Don't let the bloody smell overwhelm our celebration guests."
Immediately, a group of baby rats rushed over and licked the leftover deer blood on the ground clean.
"Alright, all of you be alert. Today we have an important guest from the market coming to celebrate. Don't be rude to the honored guest!"
The big rat took out a silk handkerchief from its clothes and waved it around, as if to dispel the bloody smell.
"There are still guests to receive..."
Duke stroked his chin with a gleam in his eyes.
"Hehe, I have an idea!"
"Awoo?"
Thirteen blinked. Cat Lord, what's your nasty idea again?
"What nasty idea? Your Cat Lord is so wise and brave with extraordinary intelligence. My cat tummy is full of great plans and tactics. Do you think I'm some petty thief?"
Duke impatiently knocked Thirteen on the head. Thirteen rolled his eyes, not sure who was the one planting bombs in Wutong Temple and stuffing aphrodisiac pills down the latrine.
"Woof woof?"
So what should we do?
"Of course, congratulate this big rat and send him a big gift!" Duke laughed sinisterly with deep malice gleaming in his eyes.
"A huge gift!"
...
Half an hour later, at the manor entrance.
The big rat in human clothes twirled its whiskers absentmindedly, sighing sorrowfully.
Ah, more white hairs.
Transformed by the King late in life, even with his favor, it doesn't change the short lifespan of rats.
Wonder if there's some way to prolong my life so I can serve beside the King for more years, rely on his might to bully some cats for fun, and eat a few more.
Just as the rat was lost in thought, the fog outside the manor was forcibly shattered. An astonishing demonic aura gushed in along with the broken fog, assaulting the manor.
In an instant, the rats waiting in the entrance collapsed with their eyes rolled back, bodies convulsing, pissing and shitting wildly.
The big rat fared slightly better but not by much. It kneeled on the ground, body weak and eyes filled with shock.
Such a terrifying aura, even more dreadful than its King!
Could it be one of the legendary demon beasts its King mentioned?
But how could demon beasts care about a remote and desolate place like this?
Don't they occupy spiritual lands and become overlords?
While the big rat was astonished, a black and white wolfhound with a stern expression arrogantly barged into its view.
The wolfhound wore a chicken feather crown and carried a small saddle on its back without any other decorations.
But that astonishing aura could not be ignored.
"Your...your...your..."
The big rat stuttered, unable to get the words out. Meanwhile, the indifferent wolfhound glanced down and howled.
"What, don't even have someone who can greet guests?"
As the voice fell, the gathered aura erupted with soaring demonic clouds sweeping the fog in all directions, stirring up horror.