Rat in Yellow Wind Ridge, rising from plundering entries

Chapter 4 Cunning Demons—Old Eagle, I’ll Help You!

Crackle! Snap!

Poisonous flames roared, consuming everything in their path.

“Heh, and you call yourself a noble Hǔi serpent? Didn’t I already kill one of you?”

The Yellow Wind King sneered, flipping through the air to dodge the fire before turning and dashing away, leaving only a faint afterimage.

Of the Thirty-Six Stratagems, running away is the best!

“You’re courting death!”

Hearing the Yellow Wind King mention the past, the Red Hǔi seethed with rage.

All creatures had natural predators. Even among demons, there were inherent food chains—chickens overcame insects, birds preyed on snakes and dragons, and so forth. Snakes, in turn, dominated rodents.

Yet, despite that, both it and its brother had suffered defeat at the hands of a mere rat. This was an unbearable disgrace—it had to be avenged.

Rolling up demonic mist and summoning fierce winds, the Red Hǔi pursued the Yellow Wind King relentlessly, leaving behind a trail of withered vegetation. Its terrifying presence sent tigers, leopards, wolves, and apes fleeing in all directions.

“It’s furious!”

The Yellow Wind King’s heart pounded. The path of dragon evolution was undeniably one of the most powerful choices for ordinary demons—none could compare.

From an ordinary Red Chain Snake, this creature had transformed into a Red Hǔi. The difference in strength was staggering, no wonder it was so arrogant.

Even if the Yellow Wind King had teamed up with the Boar Demon and the Wolf Demon, the three of them together still wouldn’t have been a match for this monster. That was the cruel reality of the gap between demons.

Fortunately, the Yellow Wind King was exceptionally fast and agile. Darting between mountains and valleys, he had already put several dozen li (miles) between them. But the Red Hǔi refused to give up—it had set its mind on having rat meat for dinner today.

In the distance, a towering gray cliff came into view. A shadow loomed in the sky above, circling. The Yellow Wind King’s lips curled into a grin—he had arrived.

His retreat wasn’t random.

Stopping abruptly, he took a deep breath and shouted at the top of his lungs.

“Old Eagle! I’ve brought you a feast!”

Sensing something amiss, the Red Hǔi hesitated for a moment, slowing its pursuit. The Yellow Wind King wasted no time—after his shout, he suddenly turned and charged at the Red Hǔi, trying to cut off its escape.

Feeling the danger, the Red Hǔi did not hesitate—it immediately turned and ran.

“Hey, you damned snake! Don’t run! Come fight me!”

The situation flipped—now the Yellow Wind King was the one chasing after it, slashing wildly. The Red Hǔi was fuming, but it said nothing. It just slithered away even faster.

Most demons that evolved from ordinary animals shared the same instinct.

If you can’t win, run. If there’s danger, run…

Survival comes first. The one who lives is the real boss.

Just then—A piercing cry!

From the towering cliff, a sharp screech echoed through the skies. A gust of wind followed, and a massive gray-black bird burst out of the clouds. It was a Gray Eagle, but an abnormally large one.

Its wingspan stretched thirty zhang (nearly 100 feet), casting a shadow over the forest below. Its keen eyes immediately spotted the Yellow Wind King and the Red Snake—delight gleamed in its gaze.

With a powerful flap of its wings, it created a mighty wind, swooping down from the sky.

“Little rat, are you bringing me a meal?”

The Yellow Wind King yelled back, “Old Eagle, I know your days are numbered! You don’t have much time left—so I brought you a rare snake!”

“If we work together and kill it, I won’t take a single scrap of its body. You can use it to evolve one last time and live another hundred years!”

The Red Hǔi panicked.

“Brother Demon! Don’t listen to his lies! Rats are deceitful—I was just driving him towards you!”

The Gray Eagle laughed coldly.

“Hah! If prey comes knocking, I’ll take it all!”

It dived. The speed was terrifying—air trembled with a thunderous boom, like a jet breaking the sound barrier.

Under the sunlight, its razor-sharp talons spread wide, gleaming like blades that could pierce through steel and stone. Its true target wasn’t the rat—it was the Red Hǔi.

A snake with dragon blood was a rare delicacy—an unparalleled opportunity to evolve.

And just as the Yellow Wind King said, its life was nearing its end. If it didn’t undergo one last transformation, it would die of old age in this very mountain.

“Too much bullying!”

The Red Hǔi roared.

Coiling its massive body, it bared its fangs, and its crimson scales shimmered dangerously. Then, it spewed a torrent of poisonous fire directly at the Gray Eagle. From afar, the Yellow Wind King took a deep breath. His sharp eyes noticed above the Gray Eagle’s head.

With a thought, he examined it.

[Species: Demon – Carving Roc (3%)] [Realm: Qi Transformation – Shapeshifted] [Traits: Gold-Devouring Breath (Red), Supersonic Speed (Blue), Eagle Eye (Blue), Greedy Heart (White)…]

The Gray Eagle had underestimated the Red Hǔi’s ability to breathe fire. Caught off guard, it took a full blast of flames to the face and plummeted.

Luckily, its feathers emitted a faint white glow, shielding most of the damage. However, parts of its body that weren’t protected burned away, leaving charred patches of bare skin.

Especially on its head—it now had a bald patch, making it look like an old, bald fool. Crashing to the ground, the Gray Eagle rolled, shifting into its humanoid form—a tall, bird-headed man cloaked in gray-gold feathers, wielding a steel spear.

Seeing its enemy weakened, the Red Hǔi seized the moment.

Whoosh!

It whipped its colossal tail, swinging it like a massive whip.

Boom!

The Gray Eagle barely managed to block with its spear, but the force sent it flying into a grove of trees, knocking them over like twigs.

“Hah! I thought you were a Golden-Winged Roc. Turns out you’re just a washed-up, dying old eagle!”

The Red Hǔi sneered. It had initially run because it instinctively feared the presence of a Roc—a natural enemy of snakes and dragons.

But now that they were fighting, it realized the Gray Eagle’s strength had declined significantly.

Its eyes gleamed with hunger. If it ate the eagle, it could refine its dragon blood further—its power would soar.

“Filthy bird, you dare challenge me!”

The Gray Eagle growled.

“Little rat! I accept your offer—we’re neighbors, we should stand together!”

The Yellow Wind King’s eyes twinkled.

“I changed my mind. I want a third of the snake’s body, or I’m leaving.”

He shamelessly raised his price. The Red Hǔi hissed, turning to the eagle.

“Brother Demon! I have no grudge against you, but I must kill that rat!”

“Why don’t we join forces instead? Help me kill him, and you can have his entire corpse!”

The Yellow Wind King chuckled.

“Old Eagle, I’m of the Yin attribute, and you’re of the Yang. Eating me won’t help you evolve.”

“But he’s fire-aligned—he’s your real chance!”

“And don’t fool yourself—he wants to eat you too.”

The Red Hǔi roared, “Shut up!”

It ripped a massive tree from the ground and hurled it at the Yellow Wind King before lunging.

The Yellow Wind King slashed the tree in midair, twisting to block the snake’s bite. The Gray Eagle’s eyes flashed.

If he were a hundred years younger, he could have taken on both of them alone. But time was cruel.

“The snake is the strongest. The rat is the weakest. Kill the snake first… then deal with the rat!”

Raising his spear, he charged.

“Fine! You get a third! Kill it!”