Chapter 145: King Mouse the Great

When Zhou Qing saw the true form of the man in the yellow robe, a trace of concern arose in his heart. He hadn’t expected that there would be a demon hiding within this bandit lair; had he known, he would never have brought Zhu Yidan here. If his own abilities proved insufficient to defeat this demon, their only option would be to flee. In that case, a single careless moment could cost young Zhu his life.

Assessing the current situation, Zhou Qing quickly weighed his options. He decided to first test his adversary’s strength with a spell. With his current cultivation, ordinary mountain spirits or ghosts were nothing to fear.

With his mind made up, just as Zhou Qing was about to cast his spell, the rat demon in the yellow robe suddenly burst into wild, contemptuous laughter. In the rat demon’s eyes, this midnight intruder was far too ordinary—neither a fellow demon cultivator nor, judging by his attire, a Taoist priest or sorcerer. That left only one possibility: he was a highly skilled martial artist.

For decades, the rat demon had ruled as a bandit on Wolf Howl Mountain. Over the years, several martial artists had come, each believing themselves invincible and seeking to uphold justice. In the end, all met the same fate—cast down the cliffs by the rat demon.

“Arrogant fool, disturbing my dreams in the dead of night—how do you wish to die?” the rat demon barked, flicking his sleeve with a sinister edge to his voice. Behind him, the bandits all grinned maliciously, their eyes fixed on Zhou Qing.

“You’re just a paltry rat demon, yet you talk so big. Since you ask, choose your own method of death—I’ll oblige you.” Zhou Qing responded calmly, wasting no more words. He waved his folding fan, Illusory Peerless, toward the crowd. Instantly, a whirlwind of white mist materialized and swept rapidly toward them.

The moment Zhou Qing finished speaking, he unleashed his Clear Wind Soars technique without pause. The rat demon had no time to react before the mist wind was upon him.

A look of astonishment flashed across the rat demon’s face—the same astonishment Zhou Qing had felt upon seeing the demon’s true form. The rat demon had assumed Zhou Qing was merely a martial artist. But this proved otherwise; how could a mere martial artist have seen through his disguise?

The mist wind whipped forward with astonishing speed—arising and arriving in the span of a blink. The rat demon had no chance to dodge and was engulfed at once.

As Zhou Qing fanned out the whirlwind of white mist, the bandits behind the rat demon recoiled in terror.

After unleashing the wind, Zhou Qing folded his fan and sighed in relief. From what he’d seen, the rat demon’s cultivation was beneath his own.

“Let’s all attack together—kill him!” a long-bearded bandit, panic in his voice, stepped forward, brandishing his blade.

But before he could finish, Zhou Qing waved Illusory Peerless in his direction. The bandit was ensnared and yanked to Zhou Qing’s feet.

With a heavy stomp to the bandit’s back, Zhou Qing transformed his fan into a blunt weapon and, with two strikes, shattered the bones of the bandit’s shoulders.

Outnumbered as he was, Zhou Qing knew it would be exhausting to defeat them all one by one. It was best to display overwhelming power, to cow them and make the rest easier to handle.

The long-bearded bandit howled in pain. At that moment, the mist wind dissipated and the rat demon, dazed and dizzy, collapsed to the ground.

Zhou Qing kicked the bandit away, sending him rolling several yards, then dashed forward and planted his foot on the fallen rat demon.

Seeing Zhou Qing approach, the other bandits recoiled in fear, stepping back in unison.

Zhou Qing smiled inwardly; it was clear he had thoroughly intimidated them.

The rat demon’s cultivation was not high. Still dizzy from the whirlwind, he had no chance to recover before Zhou Qing brought down the blunt fan upon his head.

With a pitiful shriek, the rat demon’s yellow figure dissolved like smoke into a yellow mist, revealing his true form at last.

“Demon! Demon!” the bandits gasped, their fear intensifying as they saw that Zhou Qing now had a giant black rat pinned beneath his foot.

Ignoring their cries, Zhou Qing transformed Illusory Peerless into a spear and stabbed it into the ground beside him. From his treasure pouch, he withdrew a dragon tendon and tightly bound the black rat.

After tying the dragon tendon to Illusory Peerless, Zhou Qing produced his other weapon, Ruthless.

“Mercy, immortal! I know I was wrong. Please, for the sake of my difficult cultivation, spare me this once!” the rat demon begged as Zhou Qing advanced, blade in hand.

“I have no intention of killing you. There’s no need to be afraid,” Zhou Qing replied. Nonetheless, he pressed his foot down upon the black rat and drove Ruthless into its body.

The rat demon shrieked in agony, writhing violently before its movements gradually subsided. Yet it did not die; one could still see the rise and fall of its breathing, like a cat.

With one thrust, Zhou Qing drew a thin green tendon from the demon’s body—its demon root. With this root removed, all the demon’s cultivation was lost.

“You’ve committed evil here for years. Today, I strip you of your cultivation as punishment. If you are wise, return to the mountains and cultivate anew. In time, you may regain your strength. But before you go, heed my words.”

“Please, Immortal, I am listening,” the black rat replied weakly, crawling to Zhou Qing’s feet and bowing as best it could with its forepaws.

“Humans and demons are not the same. If you seek the great Dao, you should retreat to the forest and cultivate in solitude, not consort with men and commit wickedness. Had another powerful human passed this way, you might not have been so fortunate. Do you understand my meaning?”

The black rat nodded, propped itself up on its hind legs, and, imitating a human, saluted Zhou Qing.

“I’ll release the dragon tendon. Go your own way,” Zhou Qing said, preparing to let the rat demon go.