Chapter 139 - 138: In the Bustle of the Mundane World, Found the Rat Demon

With a clear plan, Li Jing and Chen Yuran each brought their cats for Sky Control and arrived at Quanah Pedestrian Street. They chose different entrances in the north and south, and walked into the pedestrian street.

The Quanah Pedestrian Street was bustling in the midnight.

Although North City was a suburban area of Jianghai, the surrounding area of Central Avenue was an extremely prosperous location.

Looking at the entire city of Jianghai, the prosperity level of North City Central Avenue could rank in the top three citywide.

All major domestic and international enterprises had office spaces along Central Avenue. There were countless corporate branches, some even set up their headquarters there.

These office buildings along Central Avenue catered to millions of white-collar workers, driving the economic development of the entire area.

The Quanah Pedestrian Street, located in the heart of Central Avenue, was obviously bustling.

As the only pedestrian street in the surrounding Earth Realm, it was undeniably lively.

In other places, it should have been quiet by midnight.

But here, the night was just the beginning.

The white-collar workers who were under high-intensity work pressure during the day, who could resist some nightlife?

What if the pressure was too great?

Find a place to vent, of course!

As the pedestrian street saw regular visits from high-consuming white-collar workers, more and more businesses started to cater to different needs. Eventually, the place became quite mixed and diverse.

Not long after Li Jing entered the pedestrian street with Ji Qing, they came face to face with a humanoid demon - a man with a big gold chain, hugging a short skirt beauty.

The Health Bar number above his head showed 4358.

He was in the late stage of Three Realm.

Li Jing was here to find the Rat Demon, so naturally, he wasn’t concerned about other monsters he encountered along the way.

A humanoid demon obviously drowned in the dazzling world of wealth and power wasn’t worth his attention.

With a golden chain on, this guy who had reached the late stage of Three Realm was likely to have reached his limit.

Gold was the most mundane thing in this world.

Even the people of One Realm didn’t care about owning it. Only those who were incredibly fond of the sparkling gold would have a demand for gold jewellery.

Li Jing turned a blind eye to the humanoid monster he came across. The latter took a glance at him and kept his distance.

The monster didn’t avoid Li Jing, but Ji Qing.

When monsters encountered each other, they could sense each other’s presence.

Just a single gaze was enough to determine what kind of monster the other was.

They all lived in the shadows. Monsters that didn’t know each other would usually avoid contact to avoid any unpleasant situation.

Moreover, the monsters who were seen in their true form with humans were either protected by someone or being raised by someone. They were unwise to provoke.

Just like the Meng family’s actions.

If discovered, they’d face the possibility of being blackmailed due to their monster identity.

No monster wanted to face such a situation.

After all, when faced with it, there were only two options – submit or revolt.

No matter what choice, its desired good life would come to an end.

Life is filled with many helplessness.

The life of a monster, too, was the same.

Just as Li Jing moved past the humanoid demon with the big gold chain, he walked straight further into the Quanah Pedestrian Street. Ji Qing, who was on his shoulder, turned back for a glance. Then his voice arose directly in Li Jing’s ear.

"That Pig Monster we just passed seems to be doing pretty well. The girl in the short skirt he was hugging was wearing a professional T-shirt with lace inside. Looks like she is a white-collar worker."

Li Jing was slightly taken aback by his words, returning a strange glance.

He wasn’t really interested. But, upon hearing it was a Pig Monster, he felt a bit uncomfortable.

Did the woman he was hugging know that she was being "courted" by a "purebred" pig?

Watching as the Pig Monster and the beauty in the short skirt walked away, Li Jing withdrew his gaze. His lips moved and he responded to Ji Qing in a subdued tone.

"Recently, due to my ability to detect monsters, I have seen a lot of monsters in many places that I previously had no chance to go to. I never knew before, but it turns out that monsters can also be indulged in the flash and glitter of the mundane world."

Whispering was a technique of Power use, not a Magic Skill.

As long as one’s mastery of power was fine enough, one could learn it automatically.

After mastering Spirit Control Skill, Li Jing had actually acquired the ability to talk to people separately.

However, what he could do at present was merely to suppress his vocal tone. He needed to speak the words through his mouth, inevitably opening and closing his lips, making this skill somewhat pointless.

If he wanted to accomplish true silent whispering, he had to learn ventriloquism.

Well, not everything can be learned by studying.

Ji Qing also can’t do it.

However, under her cat-like disguise, her lip movements can be masked as fake actions like licking her fur.

Li Jing had the ability to identify monsters, Ji Qing knew this.

Receiving the vocal transmission, she licked her fluffy paw and sent a transmission back.

"Discarding their beastlike nature, demons that transform into humans are no different than humans. Your human entertainment is plentiful and can easily lead people astray, it’s not unusual for transformed monsters to become obsessed and lose their path of cultivation."

Having said that, she sent another transmission.

"Humans have seven emotions and six desires, so do monsters. In terms of self-control, monsters that lack ethical concepts are far worse than humans. If it weren’t for the low tolerance of human society, causing monsters to restrain themselves, the number of monsters you see falling into depravity would be far greater."

Li Jing nodded in silence after listening to Ji Qing’s explanation.

Indeed, those who have ethical notions do have stronger self-control.

But even so, the dazzling mundane world still led countless people astray.

Picking up Ji Qing from his shoulder and holding her in his arms, Li Jing sent a transmission.

"I need to talk to you about something, I bought the villa next to Yuran’s house yesterday and moved out."

Before he had finished, Ji Qing widened her gem-like eyes and looked up.

"You’re separated?"

"..."

Li Jing was silent for a moment, then transmitted back.

"I was just staying at Yuran’s house before, so it wouldn’t be considered separation, would it?"

"This... seems to make sense."

Ji Qing blinked her eyes, writhed in his arms to find a more comfortable position, and transmitted back.

"So... Did you get a girlfriend or what? Why did you suddenly move out from Yuran’s house?"

"I got a girlfriend."

Li Jing smiled.

"Wow! You’re something!"

Ji Qing was surprised and transmitted back with a question.

"The lady boss from the chicken shop who came to my shop with you before for hotpot?"

"Yup."

Li Jing nodded.

"Gosh!"

Ji Qing smacked her lips, then transmitted back with chuckles.

"I didn’t expect you to become a winner in life so quickly after I left for a short while. Could I get a discount if I want to eat Spirit Chicken in the future?"

"I can’t promise that."

Li Jing smiled and transmitted back.

"But Sisi brings a Spirit Chicken home every day, you’re welcome to come to my house for dinner."

"I’ll pass on that."

Ji Qing quickly shook her head and transmitted back.

"Dining with you would inevitably involve Yuran, if she found me at your place, I’m afraid I’d be dragged back and stuffed into her quilt. Without you to keep an eye on her, escaping might be..."

Midway through her words, she suddenly wrinkled her nose.

"I smell a Rat Demon."

Upon hearing her words, Li Jing paused and looked around.

After a casual chat, he and Ji Qing were already deep into the pedestrian street at Full Step.

In his field of vision, there were frequent flashes of a health bar on the busy street, hidden among the crowd.

Maintaining his pace, Li Jing telepathically asked.

"Which direction?"

"Turn left ahead, it should be pretty close."

Ji Qing transmitted back.

"With all these people and monsters coming and going here, the smells are mixed. The smell that I can distinguish won’t exceed a thousand meters. I can’t identify the individual numbers, but there’s definitely more than one, and they’re all on the street."

"Mm."

He nodded, turned left at the intersection, took out the Little Ai and sent a message to Chen Yuran.

"Ji Qing has picked up the scent of the Rat Demon, but I’m not sure if it’s the group we are looking for. I will send my position to you, bring Jing Ming along and confirm if they are the Rat Demons she encountered."

After sending the message, Chen Yuran quickly responded.

"Jing Ming and I are quite a distance away, it may take about ten minutes. Don’t act too hastily. Our priority is to retrieve the stolen elixirs. If we kill them, our lead will be lost."

"Understood."

Li Jing replied and then carried on with Ji Qing by his side.

Not far ahead, he noticed a group of seven at a seafood stall, each with a health bar hanging above their heads.

All seven health bars read around 3500, including five men and two women.

The two women were dressed in typical street-chic style.

Cropped tops and short skirts.

One had short hair straightened to a pin, wearing heavy smoky makeup, and a lip ring at the corner of her mouth.

The five men were topless, their bodies filled with weird and remarkable tattoos.

Dragons, tigers, lions, and other such awe-inspiring beasts, could be seen tattooed on their bodies.

The most outrageous one.

Had a green dragon on the left, a white tiger on the right, and a bull was located around his waist.

The seven of them sat boisterously around the table, oblivious to their surroundings.

Observing this from a distance, Li Jing stopped in his tracks, frowning.

This group of seven could easily be the most peculiar human-shaped Demons he had ever encountered.

If not for the visible health bars, Li Jing would hardly believe these seven individuals were human-shaped Demons.

Did they fear that others might not identify them as "gangsters"? Wouldn’t they get stopped and questioned for ID if they encountered a patrol on the street?

Li Jing communicated with Ji Qing to confirm his suspicion. "Are the Rat Demons you smelled these seven?"

Ji Qing was somewhat stupefied by the sight of the five men and two women in the distance.

She had heard that Rat Demons tend to behave boisterously in groups, from Jing Ming.

But who would have thought they’d be this brazen?

After hearing Li Jing’s question, she came back to her senses and sent her response. "Yes, the two women are transformed house rats, and the five men are transformed field rats."

Li Jing narrowed his eyes upon hearing this. If all seven were Rat Demons, they must be the ones they were looking for.

There was no need to wait for Jing Ming’s confirmation.

Just as he was contemplating taking another route to observe covertly, all seven Rat Demons turned to stare at him.

Li Jing quickly maintained his pace and continued walking.

Rats may not have senses as strong as cats’, but they are known for being particularly alert.

It was evident that his momentary pause had alerted them to the presence of Ji Qing, their "natural enemy".

The sensitivity of rats towards cats was only to be expected.

As he walked past the seafood stall, Li jing shot the seven Rat Demons a casual glance.

Carrying Ji Qing in his arms, pretending not to notice them was not an option.

Ji Qing didn’t care either, her gem-like eyes glanced at the seven Rat Demons a few times before nonchalantly shifting away.

Passing the seafood stall went smoothly.

However, barely a few steps out, the seven Rat Demons all stood up, with the Dragon-Tiger-Tattooed one calling out, "Boss! Check, please!"

Without looking back, Li Jing continued forward. He had a hunch that he and Ji Qing were being "watched".

Not to mention this group of Rat Demons were known for their flamboyant behavior, they had already irritated quite a few monsters recently.

With him, a human, carrying Ji Qing, it was too eye-catching.

Sure enough.

A few steps later, Ji Qing whispered in his ear, "They’re following us."

"I know."

Li Jing responded, sighing inwardly.

We’re in trouble.

Without slowing down, Li Jing took out his device to send a message to Chen Yuran.

"I’ve spotted the Rat Demons, seven in total. They should be the same group that Jing Ming encountered. Ji Qing and I are being targeted, might not be able to get away."

Almost at the same moment as he sent the message, he received a message from Chen Yuran.

"I’ve run into a situation here. Jing Ming has encountered the Rat Demon that she recognizes by smell, but it’s not in the same direction as you."

Stunned by this sudden information, Li Jing froze for a moment.

Jing Ming had encountered the Rat Demon she recognized elsewhere?

Then the group behind him...

Before he could ponder further, Chen Yuran responded to his message.

"If you can’t get away, find a convenient place and pull them into the Subspace. Kill them if necessary to avoid complications. I’ve asked Jing Ming, the Rat Demons she encountered are a group of more than ten, with their leader on my side. The seven you encountered are probably underlings, the Elixir is most likely not with them."

Seeing such a response, Li Jing raised his eyebrows.

He liked the idea of killing them.

Without the leader of the Rat Demons here, he didn’t have much to worry about.

Given the current situation, escaping is almost impossible.

He’d have to confront them, there was no other option.

If it were just him, he wouldn’t mind showing weakness, but he couldn’t stand by and watch Ji Qing be bullied.

Tolerate?

That’s not an option.

Just as he was about to reply, Chen Yuran sent another message.

"If you and Ji Qing can’t handle it, retreat and protect yourselves. Make sure not to arouse their suspicions,"

"No problem, I can handle it."

Li Jing sent his reply and then drafted another message.

"Be careful on your side, these Rat Demons are quite sensitive to cat demons, getting too close might get you discovered. I’ll contact you when I’m done here."

After sending the message, Li Jing put away his device and turned a corner, leaving the pedestrian street and heading outside.

The seven Rat Demons behind him followed.

Not only followed, but the distance between them lessened and their chatter became louder.

Leaving the street, Li Jing stopped at a section of the central avenue nearby.

This place, is just right.

It was inconvenient to set up Boundary Stones in the busy pedestrian street.

There were fewer people here on the outside avenue.

Casually turning around, Li Jing stared at the seven Rat Demons walking towards him.

These seven Rat Demons indeed acted arrogantly.

It was clear that Li Jing had stopped to wait for them, and yet the seven of them looked at each other before marching straight up and stopping in front of him.

The one with a dragon on the left and a tiger on the right sneered.

"Kid, you should know what your cat is. Judging from your reaction earlier, she must have told you what we are. This matter can’t be settled just like that."

Before he even finished speaking, a male Rat Demon with a lion tattoo on his chest sneered.

"Be sensible, leave the cat for us; let us have some fun. Otherwise, neither of you will get away tonight."

The other five Rat Demons laughed along with the taunts.

Li Jing watched them stoically, wondering internally.

How did these guys make it till now?

He seriously doubted that the Elixir was stolen by these dimwits.

Could these few people really steal from several high-grade Alchemists of the Alchemy Association without leaving any traces?

Even if they could, wouldn’t they surely make it known to the whole world afterwards?

While contemplating, Ji Qing, in his arms, looked up anxiously.

"Li Jing?"

"It’s ok, I’m here."

Li Jing gave a gentle smile, lifted her to the top of his head, then stretched out his hand towards the group.

"Fellows, let me show you a treasure."