How Dare You
Startled by the loud roar, Lu Congxing instinctively curled his fingers.
He Zhouyan turned around, clearly displeased, but made no move to let go. “You scared the cub.”
Taotie quickly covered his mouth. “Sorry.”
But right after he apologized, his expression turned grim.
Regaining composure, he spoke sternly, “What are you two doing?”
He tried to make himself look more authoritative, but in truth, his eyes were glued to their interlocked hands, twisted with rage like he could devour someone.
No matter how he looked at it, Bai Ze’s hand felt like an eyesore. If he wasn’t afraid of scaring the cub again, he would’ve already rushed over to beat He Zhouyan to a pulp.
He Zhouyan acted like he didn’t notice the fury in his eyes and said calmly, “Since you’re here, I won’t have to make a special trip. I’d like to dissolve my guardianship of Lu Congxing.”
For once, he used the cub’s full name, which made Taotie take him seriously. He stared in disbelief. “What did you just say?”
He couldn’t help but want to explode. What did this guy take the cub for? Does he think he can just end a guardianship whenever he wants?
But He Zhouyan’s next sentence completely shattered his self-control.
Although his tone was calm, the pride in it couldn’t be hidden. He raised their clasped hands and declared, “We’re together now. From now on, we’ll have a bond even closer than guardianship.”
With a loud mental snap, the last string in Taotie’s mind broke. Anger consumed all reason. Without caring that they were still outside the Bureau of Supernatural Affairs, he transformed into his original form and roared, “Are you a beast, He Zhouyan?! How dare you!!”
Embodying Taotie’s nature to devour all things, he opened his mouth wide and lunged at He Zhouyan, ready to swallow him whole.
Luckily, the Deputy Director arrived just in time to stop him. With a splitting headache, he shouted at the massive beast, “What the hell are you doing?!”
Though the Bureau’s entrance was protected by a barrier that kept humans from seeing, if Bai Ze and Taotie really started fighting, it would still be a huge problem.
The entire city might get flattened.
The Deputy Director had to use nearly ninety percent of his power just to barely restrain the furious Taotie—and even then, just barely. Seeing that Taotie wasn’t reacting, he turned to shout at He Zhouyan, “What did you do to piss him off this badly?!”
He Zhouyan let go of Lu Congxing’s hand and carefully cast a protective shield around him. Then, loosening his tie with one hand, he turned around, battle-hungry flames in his eyes. “I told him I’m with the cub now.”
Saying it filled him with a deep sense of satisfaction. His entire body radiated the hormonal instinct of a male ready to protect his mate. The aura he normally kept hidden surged out in full force.
All the nearby supernatural beings instantly sensed something was wrong. The smaller ones near the Bureau shivered in fear, not daring to approach the entrance.
Even though he’d already suspected it, the Deputy Director was momentarily stunned upon hearing those words. Taking advantage of that moment, Taotie broke free and once again charged at He Zhouyan with his hooves raised.
This time, the Deputy Director didn’t stop him. With a disturbingly calm tone, he said, “Go. Tear him apart.”
“ROAR!” Taotie dove forward like a missile.
He Zhouyan dodged, then shifted into his original form—taller even than Taotie. His massive white tail swung with incredible force and smacked Taotie, sending him tumbling head over heels.
The colossal impact crashed into the Bureau’s front gates. If not for the protective formation, the gates would’ve been smashed clean through.
Taotie shook off the dust, got back on his feet, and lunged at Bai Ze again. His mouth full of razor-sharp fangs looked like he wanted to bite that fluffy tail clean off.
The two enormous beasts quickly realized the ground wasn’t enough. They took to the skies, circling above the Bureau and clashing violently midair. Every collision sounded like a small explosion, thunderous and earth-shaking.
It was like they were being petty on purpose—neither of them used any magic or spells. It was pure, physical combat. Biting, slamming, wrestling—everything was just brute strength and body. But even so, the scale and intensity of their fight were terrifying.
It was Lu Congxing’s first time seeing two grand mythical beasts battle this close up. One was a fierce beast, the other an auspicious one. The pressure was like a storm cloud pressing down from the sky.
But confusion slowly set in.
Why did Bai Ze, the supposedly benevolent one, seem even more terrifying in a fight than the ferocious Taotie? His combat power looked like it was on a whole other level.
After barely ten minutes, Taotie was already losing ground—his fur a mess, his body scratched and bleeding.
In contrast, Bai Ze didn’t even look like he was in a fight, aside from a slightly heavy breath.
He Zhouyan slammed a ruthless claw onto Taotie’s short snout, tearing through his tank-like hide. Blood spurted out instantly.
Taotie let out a furious wail, like a cat that lost a fight, mewling with rage. He felt utterly humiliated in front of the cub and glared at He Zhouyan like he wanted to rip out a chunk of flesh.
He Zhouyan, finally done holding back, asked while summoning wind with a flick of his claw, “Why didn’t you tell me I was the guardian beast foretold to be most compatible with the cub?”
He’d even gotten jealous of that imaginary rival—only to later learn, through Lu Congxing’s inner thoughts, that he himself was the one best suited to be the cub’s guardian.
Taotie sneered, even as he took a full-force slap from Bai Ze. He roared disdainfully, “You? Worthy!?”
That sentence was like a fuse—it only intensified their fight.
Lu Congxing shouted at them to stop from below, but it had the opposite effect. They seemed even more fired up, as if determined to beat each other into the ground.
Even the usually calm and composed Deputy Director stood by and watched, silently expanding the protective barrier to prevent the Bureau of Supernatural Affairs from actually getting destroyed.
Unable to take it any longer, Lu Congxing suddenly raised his hand and released ghostly fire. It flared hotter and hotter inside the protective shield He Zhouyan had placed around him, eventually shattering it from the inside out.
The moment he was free, the Deputy Director stepped in to stop him.
With a tone that sounded like he was grinding his teeth, the Deputy Director muttered, “Let them fight.”
He examined the cub, clearly unwilling to accept what he was seeing—especially when it became obvious that the cub willingly chose to be with that old bastard Bai Ze.
Meanwhile, the power radiating from the two ancient beasts above was growing more and more terrifying. A slash had opened at the corner of He Zhouyan’s eye, and the blood only deepened the madness in his gaze.
Lu Congxing suddenly pushed the Deputy Director aside and reached for the small bell he always wore on his wrist. “Stop.”
He raised the bell as if ready to smash it—and that finally made He Zhouyan lose focus. He instantly shrank down and rushed to Lu Congxing’s side, rubbing up to him like a big dog trying to get forgiveness, making soft whining sounds in his throat.
Taotie was halfway through charging up its attack when it realized the opponent had fled. It was so angry its tail almost tied itself in a knot—but upon seeing the cub, he managed to cool down.
Faced with Lu Congxing’s angry expression, reason finally returned. He shrank down and scooted over as well.
But as a ferocious beast, his appearance was far from appealing. Trying to mimic Bai Ze’s pitiful expression didn’t work so well, especially since his eyes were located under his armpits, making the whole thing unintentionally comical.
Bai Ze, on the other hand, looked even more beautiful than the legends described. Shrunk down, his pure white, silky fur was mesmerizing—like a white, long-haired tiger emerging slowly from a snowy landscape. The pale markings only appeared on his limbs and head, and he bore a unicorn-like horn.
Looking pitiful, he tilted his head and showed Lu Congxing the cut near his eye—the crimson standing out starkly against his white fur.
The way he played the victim made Taotie even angrier. He shifted into his human form and furiously called He Zhouyan shameless.
Bai Ze ignored him and simply lowered his head, adopting an even more pitiful stance.
In the past, Lu Congxing would’ve softened instantly—but not this time. He firmly pushed away Bai Ze’s big, fluffy head. “No more fighting. Ever.”
He Zhouyan glanced at Taotie with an expression that basically said: Next time, then.
Surprisingly, Taotie actually swallowed his pride and agreed.
Because the cub was clearly upset, they had no choice but to stop fighting and unite in trying to comfort him.
He Zhouyan exhaled through his nose, muttering, “It doesn’t even hurt.”
Taotie scrambled for an explanation too. “We used to fight all the time, actually.”
That much was true. Their past fights were even rougher—what they’d just done was already restrained, considering the cub was watching.
But Lu Congxing only looked more upset. He liked every creature in the Bureau and didn’t want any of them to get hurt—especially not over him.
Realizing he was truly angry, the Deputy Director joined in to help coax him. Just moments ago, the three of them had been tearing through the sky trying to kill each other—now, they were all gathered around, frantically trying to calm one upset cub.
So much so that when the other high-ranking demons arrived—rushed over by the chaos—they all froze at the sight before them.
They looked at one another, battle intent slowly draining away.
Qinglong1, one of the four guardian beasts, cautiously approached and asked, “…Are you still fighting?”
Lu Congxing, now mostly calmed down, looked up warily. “Fighting who?”
Xuanfeng2 quickly pressed down on the dragon’s head and said, “No fighting. We’re all here to stop the fight.”
Looking completely justified and confident, with no trace of the murderous aura from just moments ago.
Every high-ranking demon now wanted to show their most gentle, kind side to the cub. Behind the scenes, however, they were elbowing each other for position, each trying to edge the others out of the way.
Even Xuanwu3, the most mild-tempered of them all, slowly nodded along.
In his human form, he looked like the classic kind old grandpa. He gently pulled Lu Congxing over for a closer look and slowly muttered, “You’ve lost weight.”
At that, the crowd of overprotective demons completely forgot about beating up Bai Ze. To them, nothing was more important than the cub.
Suddenly, everyone began speaking at once, pulling out various treasures and foods, all desperate to feed the cub and make him happy again.
Lu Congxing didn’t even have time to refuse before his arms were suddenly stuffed full of things.
He didn’t even know who it was that roughly threw a thousand-year-old ginseng spirit into his arms. The sentient ginseng blinked at him and said, “I’m very nourishing, you know.”
After a chaotic scramble, the situation finally came under control.
But Bai Ze had become something like a public enemy—every high-ranking demon came over to politely ask, “Are you a beast?”
He Zhouyan actually nodded, wearing an expression that clearly said, Yeah, I’ve already won him over—what are you gonna do about it?
The high-ranking demons were furious but couldn’t show it in front of the cub, so they were all smiles.
They pointed at Bai Ze, nitpicking in the most critical tone they could muster, trying to find some flaw that would make the cub reconsider dating him.
But after listing things for a while, they realized… there really wasn’t anything. In terms of combat power, he was one of the strongest. He knew astronomy, geography, and the nature of all things. He knew every kind of malevolent ghost in the world and how to get rid of them. He could turn misfortune into fortune—truly the most suitable match for a cub with a physique that attracts evil. Even in the human world, his wealth was considerable.
His only flaw—an explosive temper—didn’t even show up around the cub.
The high-ranking demons could only watch helplessly as their precious cabbage was taken by a pig, grinding their teeth in frustration.
Even Dijiang had been dragged here by the nine-tailed fox, trembling in the midst of so many powerful demons.
This kind of high-stakes summit would have knocked out any lesser demon from sheer pressure, but the auspicious beast in the center, currently being skewered by everyone’s piercing gazes, just lazily stretched as if nothing were wrong.
He was still in his original beast form, holding the young one close with an absolutely possessive posture. His big, fluffy tail swayed back and forth—until it was hugged tightly by someone.
- 青龙 (Qīng lóng) or Azure Dragon
↩︎ - 玄凤 (Xuán fèng) or Vermillion Bird
↩︎ - 玄武 (Xuán wǔ) or Black Tortoise
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