The story begins with the bride marrying off her daughter, and the woman, at the age of one hundred,

I didn't take night owls seriously before.

Chang Shou didn't get a good look at his appearance.

His mindset has changed, and he's started to carefully examine this little guy who's caused him trouble.

Under the bright moonlight.

After the distance is reduced.

Chang Shou finally saw the true face of this night owl.

Its body shape is no different from that of an ordinary night owl, but its head is more than twice the size, chubby, and its big eyes are like light bulbs.

It looks like it has wings and legs growing out of its head.

The words "fat chicken" flashed through Chang Shou's mind.

It was clear that there was no way to avoid it.

Changshou manifested the form of a Yin spirit.

He glared at the fat chicken that had brought him trouble, silently making a mental note of it, and then formed a hand seal, ready for battle.

Be prepared to act at any time.

The fluctuations of magical power approached from afar.

Three large rats rushed out of the forest.

Each one is as big as a fat orange, glistening with oil from eating, and has shiny black fur.

Their eyes were bloodshot, staring at the night owl with hatred, as if they had a mortal feud with him.

Changshou could see it clearly.

All three large rats were covered in blood, looking as if they had been scratched by sharp claws, while the fat chicken feet did indeed have bloody rat fur.

It's in an owl's nature to hunt mice.

It seems this guy smelled food, so he rushed out, only to find himself outnumbered and quickly retreated.

The perception that the enemy outnumbers us.

Changshou was not fabricated out of thin air, because the two magical energy fluctuations not far away were still intense, and one of the fluctuations was very similar to those of the three rat spirits, clearly indicating that they were from the same group.

Three rat spirits appeared.

Chang Shou originally intended to observe from the sidelines.

Unexpectedly, the fat chicken's big head wasn't for nothing; it was incredibly clever and actually flew around Changshou.

This provoked the three rat spirits to directly attack Changshou.

They squeaked and roared, their hind legs bending and pushing off the ground as they charged towards Changshou like cannonballs, some baring their steel teeth, others spewing thick black smoke.

Chang Shou moved swiftly, successfully dodging the attacks of the three rat spirits, while simultaneously having a thought.

The water in the mountain forest air was stirred up and quickly condensed, and three streams of water suddenly appeared, hanging around the necks of the three rat spirits like ropes.

Suddenly lift upwards and pull backwards.

Without a foothold, the three mice were thrown into disarray.

They moved frantically, struggling wildly with their limbs, but all their efforts were in vain, because their throats were bound, and even shouting was a luxury.

Coo coo!

Joyful chirping sounds rang out.

Fat Chicken is good at kicking someone when they're down.

It quickly revealed itself as a predator, flapping its wings and rushing towards the three rat spirits. Its sharp beak pecked one rat spirit to death, and its two sharp claws lifted the rat spirit, flying straight into the sky before suddenly letting go and smashing the other rat spirit to death.

When he returned, the third rat spirit had already hanged itself.

---

The fat chicken circled around Changshou.

The cooing sound had clearly changed; it was less shrill and more strange, as if it were showing off its achievements.

Chang Shou felt somewhat unwell.

I always felt that the fat chicken's clucking sounded a bit strained.

Seeing the fat chicken's pleading expression.

Chang Shou glared at him again.

"What? You want me to praise you? Didn't you bring this trouble upon yourself? Considering your efforts just now, I'll let you off this time to make amends. But if there's a next time, I'll pluck all the hair off your body and put you in a pot to make soup."

I sensed the ill influence of Changshou.

The fat chicken was so frightened that it flapped its wings and flew away, its cries carrying a hint of flattery and grievance.

Chang Shou's lips twitched; he couldn't bear to look.

The battle not far away is not over yet, and to avoid being caught in the crossfire, it is not advisable to stay here for long.

He transformed back into pure spiritual energy and was about to leave when a beam of mysterious light shot towards him and then collapsed in front of him.

The speed was so fast that he couldn't react at all.

Changshou saw clearly the true form of the mysterious light.

This is a black fox, as big as a calf. In addition to its demonic aura, it also exudes the scent of incense from a temple, clearly a spirit that cultivates by borrowing incense offerings.

Its aura was mixed and lacked any sense of uprightness; it was more like a wild god wandering in the gray area.

At this moment, her fluffy hair was stained with blood, and her back, limbs, and face were covered with dense wounds of all sizes. One of her eyes was even blinded, with blood flowing freely. The hideous wound cut down from the end of her eyebrow, through her eye socket, and extended to her nose.

However, her protruding belly was intact, becoming the only area not stained with blood. Even when she fell, she instinctively protected her abdomen, clearly indicating that she was pregnant.

Her intact eye, with its orange-yellow amber pupil, stared at Chang Shou, filled with an intense, almost overflowing plea.

Even though he couldn't understand the language of raccoons, Changshou still understood what she meant.

Protecting one's offspring is an innate instinct of all living beings.

Pregnant mothers are even more overflowing with maternal love.

Chang Shou sighed.

It seems that their swift and decisive resolution of the battle gave the mother fox hope of protecting her cubs, which is why she unleashed her astonishing speed and charged out.

Just to give their child a sliver of hope.

He made this guess because the mother fox was emanating an aura of death, clearly indicating that she was seriously injured and would not live much longer.

A deafening sound rose from the mountains and forests.

The stones vibrated, and dust and sand flew up.

More than fifty large rats came chasing after them.

Ignoring her pleas, Xuanli instinctively turned around as if facing a formidable enemy. Her fur stood on end like steel needles. She arched her back, her limbs tensed, her neck lowered, and her remaining eye was filled with vigilance as she stared intently at the powerful foe opposite her. She growled in her throat, full of warning.

The opposing side has a large and powerful rat force.

Even the smallest ones are twice the size of ordinary mice.

There were still six rats exuding demonic energy, some more intense than others. The leader rat spirit was as big as a millstone, almost the same size as the black fox.

At this moment, although they were all injured, their morale was high. As the leader rat spirit squeaked, the rats quickly surrounded the black fox.

They also surrounded Changshou.

Looking at the two sides fighting, Chang Shou quickly realized that it was a battle between natural enemies.

It looks like the rats took advantage of the mother fox's pregnancy and weakened state to kill her and wipe her out.

At least that's the situation for now.

As for whether it's true or false, Chang Shou has no interest in investigating.

Seeing that the rats surrounded him but did not attack, he did not take the initiative to make a move.

---

The leading rat spirit stood upright, enveloped in black smoke.

A moment later, the rat spirit disappeared, and in its place appeared a five-foot-tall, round-bodied fat man, wearing an animal skin, with a human body and a rat's head, and a lewd expression.

He stroked his beard, spoke in a high-pitched voice that seemed disproportionate to his stature, and said to Chang Shou:

"Human, this is a feud between me and the Tanuki Clan. If you leave now, I can forgive and forget and spare your life."

I glanced at the night owls circling in the sky.

The Rat King suppressed his hatred and gritted his teeth, saying:

"I can pretend that this fat-faced chicken killed one of my generals."

Changshou was indeed tempted.

The Rat King in front of us is not easy to deal with.

Although I am not afraid, it will still take some time and effort.

Do not take on matters that are not your responsibility.

There's no need to force yourself to take on responsibilities that aren't yours.

But when he met Xuanli's pleading eyes and saw her tightly protected, swollen belly, Changshou couldn't bring himself to be ruthless.

Memories, long buried, flow like a burst dam.

Chang Shou, as if possessed, thought of his son and daughter-in-law who had been dead for more than thirty years.