Miao Third Son was a guard at the Tao Family residence in the White Jade Market.

At this moment, he was standing at the entrance of the Tao residence, casually chatting and shooting the breeze with a few colleagues.

“Damn it, I was supposed to be off duty today, why did they call me in again!”

Miao Third Son’s face was full of indignation, his voice filled with a tone of complaint.

His rest days while on duty at the Tao residence were already few, only two days per month. Today, he had finally gotten his turn to rest, but unexpectedly, he was suddenly called to the residence for guard duty.

“Third Son, don’t be angry, kid. Didn’t they tell you? Yesterday, a Loose Cultivator came looking for someone. In the end, judging by his expression, he probably wasn’t too convinced. Calling you all here tonight is precisely because we’re afraid that kid might come to cause trouble,” the guard captain explained with a calm expression.

“Cause trouble?” Miao Third Son sneered, his face full of disdain. “Who dares to cause trouble here? Haven’t you heard of Kong Mengli’s reputation in the White Jade Market? If you ask me, even if you gave that kid thirty guts, he wouldn’t dare to come!”

“Hey, caution is the parent of safety. Better safe than sorry…”

“Sigh, I had already made plans with Little Lan from the Yihong Courtyard tonight. I haven’t been there for over half a month, and I was thinking of releasing some of my little brother’s pent-up anger tonight. This is really fucking unlucky!” Miao Third Son tugged at his waistband, his face full of helplessness.

“Haha, don’t worry, don’t worry. Once this period of tension passes, you can go as much as you want!” the guard captain laughed heartily.

Just as Miao Third Son was about to reply, he suddenly caught sight of a familiar figure approaching from the corner of his eye. He quickly shut his mouth and straightened his posture.

The person arriving was none other than the young master of the Tao Family, Tao Xi.

As soon as Tao Xi appeared, the few people present immediately put away their playful smiles and adopted serious expressions.

The guard captain stepped forward and asked, “Young Master, are you going out tonight?”

“Yes.” Tao Xi nodded lightly.

Hearing this, Miao Third Son and the other two colleagues exchanged a brief glance, feeling somewhat puzzled.

After all, the guard captain had just said that Tao Xi planned to avoid going out as much as possible during this period. Why was he suddenly going out now…

However, as professional guards of the Tao residence, they naturally had no right to question their young master’s arrangements. They tensed up and followed closely behind.

Tao Xi walked leisurely in front, while Miao Third Son and the others followed closely behind.

Some Loose Cultivators or mortals passing by, seeing this formation, quickly moved aside, afraid of offending this young master.

After all, it was obvious at a glance that this was an upper-echelon cultivator from the market district, and his background was certainly not small. He absolutely must not be provoked.

Miao Third Son also felt quite proud. Usually, only when accompanying his young master out could he experience this kind of awe-filled gaze from passersby, giving him a feeling of being above others.

It had to be said, it felt pretty damn good.

“Hmm?” Miao Third Son suddenly frowned. He noticed that Tao Xi was not heading towards the market.

Usually, when going out, Tao Xi would either go to the market to wander and have fun, or go to crowded places to find young mortal girls, forcibly dragging them back to the residence to have his way with them.

Miao Third Son was used to seeing this.

But tonight, his young master’s route was actually heading towards the wilderness.

“Young Master, are we leaving the city tonight?” the guard captain immediately stepped forward and asked.

Tao Xi replied lightly, “That’s right. I received news that a treasure has appeared outside the market district. I’m going to check it out tonight.”

Miao Third Son, hearing this from behind, couldn’t help but show a puzzled expression. He hadn’t heard any rumors about treasures during this time.

But upon second thought, he understood. After all, at his level, there were certainly many pieces of information he couldn’t access.

Miao Third Son steadied his mind, and his expression began to turn grave.

Within the market district, he could relax a little, as life-and-death struggles were rare there. But in the desolate wilderness, it was a different story.

Moreover, given his young master’s proclivities, he had probably offended many people. Assassination attempts were inevitable, so being careful was definitely not wrong.

The several guards, sharing the same sentiment, followed behind Tao Xi as they walked out of the market district’s protective array light screen.

And began heading into the wilderness.

As they walked, traces of people gradually became scarce. The gloomy environment put all the guards on edge. The guard captain even stepped forward to advise:

“Young Master, it seems a bit unsafe in the middle of the night like this. How about we come back tomorrow? Besides, that Loose Cultivator from yesterday seemed to be at the late stage of Qi Condensation. If he…”

“It’s fine. This treasure only appears at night,” Tao Xi said, continuing on his own.

“But…”

“No buts. The place is just ahead.”

Hearing this, the guard captain nodded helplessly, then turned and shouted to Miao Third Son and the others, “Everyone, be careful! Protect the young master!”

“Yes!”

This was a dense forest. The dim moonlight made it hard to see the surroundings clearly. Miao Third Son cautiously surveyed the area.

Although his cultivation had reached the seventh layer of Qi Condensation, ever since arriving here, he had felt something was off.

It seemed like an ominous premonition.

“Roar——!”

Suddenly, an ear-splitting roar came from behind!

This sound filled Miao Third Son’s heart with great fear. Without even thinking, he knew it was the sound of a demon beast!

The terrifying roar made him hurriedly turn to look.

He saw a tiger several meters long suddenly appear behind them, charging towards the group at extreme speed.

“It’s a [Green-Eyed Tiger]!”

“Everyone, form up to meet the enemy!”

“Protect the young master!”

For a moment, several voices arose in succession.

Everyone was quite coordinated. Following the guard captain’s order, the four immediately converged, forming a combat array.

“Boom——!”

A loud noise erupted in the area. The [Green-Eyed Tiger]’s body violently crashed into the Defense light screen formed by the four.

The next moment, the protective shield shattered like a bubble, instantly destroyed.

All four people in the battle formation were simultaneously impacted and sent flying in different directions.

“Thud!”

Miao Third Son’s body violently crashed into a tree. With a retching sound, he spat out a mouthful of blood.

The impact of a high-grade first-order demon beast was something he simply couldn’t withstand.

Wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth, his expression couldn’t help but turn bitter. He was afraid he would die here tonight.

This was a [Green-Eyed Tiger]! Without the ninth layer of Qi Condensation, it couldn’t be taken down. Their group was definitely no match.

“Damn it, my life is most important! Run for it!”

Miao Third Son almost made this decision the instant he thought of it. At a time like this, escaping was the most important thing.

But just as he wanted to flee, he saw that [Green-Eyed Tiger] actually charging towards his direction!

“Why is it coming for me?!”

Miao Third Son felt like crying but had no tears. He could only take out his trump card Defense talisman and immediately activate it!

A yellow protective shield enveloped his entire body, but the next moment…

“Bang!”

The shield shattered in an instant. A tremendous force instantly impacted Miao Third Son’s body. The force made him unable to help but roll his eyes back. A feeling of dizziness immediately assaulted him.

And at the moment before Miao Third Son lost consciousness, looking at the demon beast right in front of him, he had only one thought in his mind: My life is over!

……

An unknown amount of time passed.

Miao Third Son was stabbed by the intense sunlight and abruptly opened his eyes. When he clearly saw the surrounding scene, he couldn’t help but suddenly sit up.

“I’m not dead?!”

The next moment, joy surged in his heart.

“As expected, fate hasn’t abandoned me!” Miao Third Son clenched his fist, his face full of excitement as he stood up from the ground.

But when he looked into the distance, his expression couldn’t help but freeze, then turn heavy.

That area was a complete mess. A large number of trees had fallen. And most importantly, in the middle of the churned-up soil lay a familiar figure.

That figure only had the upper half of its body; the lower half was nowhere to be seen. The wound was dripping with blood, as if bitten by a demon beast.

The upper body was also trampled into a pulp, mixed with the soil, making it extremely difficult to recognize. But based on the clothing and body, Miao Third Son recognized this mutilated corpse at first glance.

The Tao Family young master—Tao Xi!