I Am Your Natural Enemy

Humans provide offerings, and in return, some of the demons help protect their homeland.

The ones who hate these yellow weasels the most aren’t the Scorching Sun Department over there, nor the humans, but the legitimate demons themselves.

In the past, someone accidentally found a yellow weasel that had been bitten to death by a pack of its own kind, its corpse hung high up in the branches as a warning—back then, it was the real demons cleaning house.

If they didn’t do the cleaning, then come winter, when the Scorching Sun Department makes a big move, it wouldn’t be just one or two dead.

Enjoying benefits while standing by and doing nothing, if that piles up enough, it always leads to a large-scale indiscriminate purge. This kind of thing has happened before, more than once.

Right now, the most irreconcilable conflict is between the demons themselves.

Wen Yan followed Skinny into the room, where a long table stood inside.

On the table sat a porcelain bowl, and floating in the clear broth inside was an eyeball.

The porcelain spoon left on the table was still stained with soup—it was clear someone had just been here.

”That’s my eye...” The Demonic Corpse immediately stepped forward, reaching for the bowl on the table.

”Careful,” Tong Si warned at once.

But it was already too late. On the empty chair, a short old man in a short jacket suddenly appeared.

At the very instant he materialized, he stretched his hand out, plunging it straight through the Demonic Corpse’s chest, yanking out her heart.

The Demonic Corpse staggered back several steps, clutching her chest, as if about to fall.

Wen Yan reached out a hand, supporting the Demonic Corpse.

”You’re already dead. That heart hasn’t beaten in a long time.”

The fright on the Demonic Corpse’s face twisted into confusion. Regaining her balance, she touched the gaping hole in her chest. Indeed, she didn’t really feel anything, and even the phantom pain faded away.

Just then, a blood rope shot forth, almost looping around the old man’s neck when he suddenly turned, biting down hard on it.

Sizzling, corrosive energy erupted—the blood rope was forcibly bitten through, scattering into scarlet deathly energy visible to the naked eye, which the old man swallowed down in a gulp.

Sitting atop the chair, he sized up Wen Yan, and the two Ghosts beside him.

”I thought you were with the Scorching Sun Department. Didn’t expect... you’re not.”

”Not with them, and still you didn’t run?”

”Heh, if you’re not from the Scorching Sun Department, then what am I running from? That guy over there, whose reason is almost drowned in bloodlust and malice?”

The old man grinned, baring his teeth in a smile.

Wen Yan smiled back.

”Glutton (Toothless) (1/5)”

”A lover of rare and special delicacies—the origin of the legend of ’two-legged sheep’.

During the great dragon-slaying event, for the sake of survival, he tore out his own teeth.

He split himself apart, assumed the name of a Dragon Son, fell into dormancy, and escaped the reckoning.

After awakening, he began searching for his teeth.

Innate greed tormented him endlessly.

Until one day, he discovered something he’d never tasted before.

It was the purest, most beautiful of wishes.

And in this era, there are countless people who, as they die, brim with this pristine, beautiful, final wish.

Though they pass away, a part of them, bearing that dying wish, helps others live on.

This is something Glutton can never refuse.”

”You are facing only one-fifth of the Glutton.

When one part dies, the others immediately sense it.

They are made to be whole; naturally, unity calls them together.

Be warned: do not let him devour any part of you.

Devoured parts have a chance to be utterly erased—wiped out for good.

The moment he took on the Dragon Son’s name, he planted the seeds of his own downfall.

In time, legend becomes reality.”

”Temporary abilities.

1. Slaughtering Dragon Platform.

2. Dragon Gate.

3. Taotie Teeth.”

Wen Yan immediately equipped all three, examining each in turn.

1. Slaughtering Dragon Platform.

When protocols are complete and files in order, you can summon the Slaughtering Dragon Platform at a designated site.

2. Dragon Gate.

At a specific time and place, with full preparation, and over 50% Scorching Sun completion, you can temporarily Enlighten a Dragon Gate.

3. Taotie Teeth.

One of the few things capable of harming creatures like this. And you have already seen the Taotie Teeth, even before they healed.

At last, Wen Yan understood why this little old man felt so fearless.

He could even bite through Pei Tugou’s blood rope, devouring the scattered blood aura.

Turns out, he was the legendary Glutton—and this was only one-fifth of him.

And that title, Dragon Son—supposedly one of those born of the Divine Dragon’s nine sons—was just a borrowed alias from this guy all along.

Wen Yan thought back; he remembered reading somewhere that the ’Divine Dragon’s Nine Sons’ only gained their names and records in the dynasty of Old Zhu’s Family.

Maybe not reliable—a theory, at best.

But looking at the system prompt, he felt this theory might just be true.

The origin was Glutton himself, borrowing the Dragon Son title to slip into dormancy.

Yet, as years and centuries passed, what was once a lie began to become truth.

Wen Yan gazed at the mural on the back wall—upon it, a five-clawed Divine Dragon with closed eyes.

He looked at the old man who still sat firm and steady, laughing softly.

”If you’d run, you might’ve actually gotten away.

You relics from broken times always have this mysterious confidence.

Who knows where you get the balls to show up in front of me, and even act all high and mighty.”

As Wen Yan spoke, Pei Tugou walked in step by step from behind, blood ropes unfurling into a nest of writhing blood snakes, lashing out in a frenzy.

Boss Tao’s form blurred, disappearing from the spot to evade every blood rope.

The next instant, he reappeared in front of Wen Yan, a hand lashing upward for Wen Yan’s chest.

Wen Yan instantly Burst Qi—Yang Energy on his body erupted like burning flames, igniting in a flash.

His right arm swelled a size; all these days of Pioneering, his Yang Energy pathways turned into bright crimson-gold patterns, wrapping his right arm.

With a swift whip and grab, his hand traced a deceptively simple arc, slamming down on Boss Tao’s nape and pinning his head into the floor.

With a thunderous bang, Wen Yan’s body twisted as he pressed a single hand atop Boss Tao’s neck, driving his head deep into the floorboards.

The floor caved in with a sudden dent, spiderweb cracks spreading for meters around, making the whole house shake at that moment.

”Did you think this was the old days? Who’s giving you the courage now, to try a martial artist at close range in human shape?”