Zhaozhao got up very early the next day. To be precise, she was forced to. She was shaken awake by Song Yao.
Half - asleep, she staggered into the bathroom to wash up. When she came out, she saw a big, fat cat in the living room with its eyes wide open.
"Are... are you Taotie?" Zhaozhao asked the cat uncertainly.
The cat seemed to roll its eyes at her, licked its paw, and drawled lazily, "Of course it's me. Do you have any other spiritual pets?"
It sounded a bit annoyed. Zhaozhao quickly shook her head.
Raising a Taotie was already difficult enough. She didn't have any other little kitties.
But she still felt strange. "Why did you turn into this form?"
"Stupid master," Taotie said without any self - awareness of being a spiritual pet. "Are you going to catch ghosts without taking me with you?"
Zhaozhao really hadn't planned to. She honestly shook her head. "I planned to let you stay at home quietly. Besides, aren't you afraid that your fourth brother will recognize you and you'll lose face? So you'd better not go."
"You're so annoying! Stop blabbering!" Taotie had just asked casually, but unexpectedly, the other party really had no intention of taking it. Now it was really angry.
"With your meager power, what would you do without me? Have you forgotten who helped you deal with that headless ghost in the corner that night? It was me, young master!" Taotie roared angrily, its fur all fluffed up.
Alas, little Taotie was good in every way except for its loud voice. Zhaozhao covered her ears with a headache.
How frustrating!
"Let it go. It's your spiritual pet, and protecting you is its duty," Song Yao said as she came out of the room after packing up. Her cold eyes fell on Taotie.
"Okay, fine," Zhaozhao said. Actually, after Taotie's outburst, she had already decided to take it with her.
"Humph! Tiny humans, you know nothing about the power of Taotie," the "big fat cat" squatting in the living room lifted its cat face, looking extremely arrogant.
Zhaozhao couldn't bear to look and turned her eyes away.
When they arrived at the Chen family's place, Fufeng and Chu Ming were already waiting at the door.
The Chen family was truly a well - known aristocratic family in Jinghai. Their house couldn't even be described as a villa. It was completely a retro garden, looking rather like a royal mansion in ancient times.
Maybe families that had been passed down for generations paid more attention to feng shui. Zhaozhao could tell at a glance that the location of the Chen family's manor was excellent, a real feng shui treasure land.
Moreover, the main gate was grand and upright, facing a lucky land. She wondered who had given them advice, as it faintly had the feeling of gathering spiritual energy.
Zhaozhao stared for a long time until Song Yao gently nudged her with her elbow, then she came back to her senses.
"What are you daydreaming about? Have you noticed anything strange?"
"Ah? Oh, no," Zhaozhao said, raising her hand to block the glaring sun. "I was just sighing that their house is built so well."
But it was precisely because it was so well - built that something was amiss.
Using the art of Qimen so boldly to shape the land and draw all the good fortune and luck to their own family, weren't they afraid of backlash?
Obviously, Song Yao also noticed this, but she wasn't too surprised. Her expression was calm. "People who can collude with Song Changming can't be good people."
After saying that, she walked away on her own.
Looking at her cousin's back, Zhaozhao thought that her cousin really hated Song Changming and even disliked the Chen family because of it.
Taotie, who had turned into a cat, nestled in Zhaozhao's arms and secretly peeked at its fourth brother not far away.
Then it slapped Zhaozhao's hand with its paw and meowed softly, "Let's go, stupid master. What are you looking at?"
Zhaozhao felt a bit of pain from its scratch. She frowned unhappily and followed with Taotie in her arms.
"Bad thing, if you call me stupid again, I'll tell Senior Chu Ming your identity!"
"Hey! You little girl have a vicious heart!"
"Humph!"
The human and the beast bickered as they caught up with the group.
"Finally, you're here. Let's go, let's go in," Fufeng said, hands on hips, feeling like a little martyr.
Who ever heard of the King of Hell having to come to the mortal world to catch ghosts himself!
"Hey, stop looking. Su Yuan is busy. It's only been a day since you last saw him. Do you miss him that much?" Seeing Zhaozhao looking around, Fufeng teased with a lecherous smile.
Zhaozhao said frankly, "Yes, I miss him very much."
"...... I'm really convinced by you lovebirds." Fufeng was speechless. He had just wanted to tease Zhaozhao, but instead, he got a mouthful of dog food.
"Sister - in - law," Chu Ming was much more serious. He handed Zhaozhao a small paper dragon and said, "The southern demon kings are having a new election, and the boss has to go and oversee it, so he can't come. This is what he asked me to give you. The boss told me to tell you that he'll come back as soon as it's over there. It won't be long."
At the words "sister - in - law", Song Yao's face darkened instantly. She dragged Zhaozhao and walked in under the guidance of the Chen family members. "Let's go in!"
Chu Ming looked confused. "Did I say something wrong?"
On the other hand, Fufeng was looking forward to the show. "Tsk tsk, it seems that our Dragon Lord has a long way to go to win that little girl's heart."
Then he walked away leisurely, leaving Chu Ming sniffing in place.
Strange. Why did it seem like he could sense the aura of his fifth brother, Taotie? But that kid had been missing for hundreds of years.
Since the old true dragon passed away and entered the cycle of reincarnation, the nine brothers had gone their separate ways. Chu Ming thought maybe he had misrecognized the smell because he hadn't seen his brother for hundreds of years. He touched his nose and followed.
The group entered the Chen family's house. Mrs. Chen greeted them, and Lu Chukong was also there.
Lu Chukong winked at them suggestively. Song Yao gave him a cold glare.
"Your esteemed presence in the Chen family is deeply appreciated," Mrs. Chen said.
But her polite words were interrupted by Fufeng. "Alright, no need for more pleasantries. Take us to see the father and son of the Chen family."
Zhaozhao looked at Fufeng, who suddenly became serious, with admiration in her eyes. He was such a good actor!
Mrs. Chen nodded and quickly led them upstairs.
When they reached the floor and opened the door to Mr. Chen's room, everyone couldn't help but cover their noses.
It stank!
A smell of decaying flesh mixed with perfume made people want to vomit.
"Damn it. He's not even dead yet. What's this smell?" Even Fufeng, who was from the underworld, couldn't stand it, which showed how unpleasant it was.
"Ever since the accident, my husband has gradually started to emit this smell, and his body has also changed," Mrs. Chen said calmly as she entered the room and opened the window for ventilation, her movements as natural as if she had done it many times.
"He still has signs of life, but his whole body is like a corpse that has been dead for many days," she said slowly as she walked over and pulled the quilt for Mr. Chen on the bed.
The moment Mrs. Chen pulled the quilt, Zhaozhao saw a totem on the back of Mr. Chen's hand at the base of his thumb.
It was the same totem she had seen at the elevator entrance on the eighth floor, a tree burning in raging flames.
But before Zhaozhao could react, the next second, a golden bird flew out of the jade pendant that Song Yao had given her and spat a ball of fire at the person on the bed.