Chapter 380: Seeing Through

The bite was solid and deep, drawing blood instantly!

The old monster watched with envy, drooling uncontrollably.

But not long after, the young monster’s body was enveloped in a green, glowing aura. His appearance began to change—his ears returned to normal, and his eyes regained their usual shape…

“Stop quickly!”

Seeing this transformation in the young monster, the old monster was startled and shouted loudly, ordering him to stop.

The young monster obeyed and halted. Under the influence of the green light, he had already transformed back into a normal human child. He felt his stomach churn and couldn’t help vomiting violently, spewing out a large amount of blood. This blood fell to the ground and slowly transformed into green gas, which seeped into the wound on Shui Miao’s neck.

“Grandpa, what… what happened to me?”

The young monster, now a frightened child, looked at the old monster with confusion and fear.

The old monster gently laid Shui Miao down and stared at the boy in disbelief. “How is this possible? You’ve recovered! You’ve actually recovered! How could this happen?”

Of course, the old monster had no idea that it was the natural Dao essence within Shui Miao’s body that had saved his grandson.

“Grandpa, then you should bite him too!”

The boy, now fully transformed into a child, pointed at Shui Miao lying on the ground. “Grandpa, he’s the medicine! You wanted to find Grandpa Wang Yong to cure you, right? Well, you don’t need him anymore. Hurry up and bite him!”

“…”

The old monster stared at Shui Miao in a daze. Besides feeling shocked, he was also wondering whether he really wanted to become human again.

The green gas returned into Shui Miao’s body, and he was recovering rapidly.

“Grandpa, what are you waiting for? Hurry and bite him! Then we won’t have to be monsters anymore!” The child tugged at his grandfather’s hand, but the old monster shook his head. He hugged the child tightly. “Child, Grandpa can’t go back to being the old me. If I do, I’ll just be an old cripple again, and I won’t be able to protect you anymore.”

“But Grandpa, if you stay a monster, you’ll still be a monster!” The child looked up at his grandfather with innocent eyes. He had experienced a lot, so he was much more mature than other children his age.

The old monster shook his head with a smile. “It doesn’t matter. Grandpa doesn’t care. Monster or not, I don’t mind, as long as I can protect you.”

“Hmph, nice words. You just don’t want to give up your supernatural powers.” Shui Miao sat up. Except for having exhausted all his immortal energy, his vitality and spirit had already been restored by the natural Dao essence.

“You little brat, don’t talk nonsense! Just because you’re still alive doesn’t mean you’ll stay that way. If biting you didn’t kill you, I’ll just have to kill you myself!” The old monster pressed his sharp claws against Shui Miao’s neck, ready to end his life once and for all.

Just then, Wang Yong and Lin Xue, having heard the commotion, came running over.

Seeing the old monster, Wang Yong frowned. “Who are you? Why don’t I recognize you?”

“Stop right there! Let Shui Miao go, or I’ll shoot!” Seeing Shui Miao in danger, Lin Xue quickly drew her gun and aimed it at the old monster.

The old monster narrowed his eyes and looked at Shui Miao. “Boy, are these your friends?”

“They’re also your friends, because this man is Wang Yong—the very ‘You Tiao Zi.'” With the natural Dao essence in his body, Shui Miao knew he wouldn’t die easily, so his tone was very relaxed. But he didn’t like having claws pressed against his neck either. He had lost all his immortal energy because of this, so how could he not seek revenge?

Therefore, secretly, Shui Miao began to channel the power of the natural Dao essence, preparing to strike suddenly and transform the old monster back into a human.

The old monster feared losing his special abilities, so Shui Miao was determined to make him lose them.

“What…?”

The old monster looked closely at Wang Yong and realized that he really was the person his master had described. He was momentarily stunned.

Suddenly, Shui Miao activated the natural Dao essence and enveloped the old monster in it.

“Ahh!”

Startled, the old monster tried to kill Shui Miao but found that his claws had already transformed into hands!

“Hmph! Old monster, I helped you return to human form, so you should thank me. What’s so great about being a monster anyway? You can’t even see the sunlight. It’s like living death!” Mimicking the old monster’s earlier tone, Shui Miao stood up and watched the transformation. “Hehe, you don’t need to thank me, really. Once you turn into an old man, I’m sure you’ll be grateful. At least you and your grandson can walk in public without hiding. Isn’t that better? Haha…”

Shui Miao mocked the old monster, knowing full well how furious he must be feeling right now.

The old monster had returned to human form, but the green aura of the natural Dao essence still surrounded him without dispersing.

The old man stood up and glared at Shui Miao. “Boy, you’re pretty tough. But you won’t win in the end. I still have one last card to play!” Saying this, he pulled out the divine scroll, tore it up, and swallowed the pieces.

“Huh?”

Shui Miao blinked, sensing something was wrong.

“Shui Miao, what the hell is going on here?”

Wang Yong ran over to Shui Miao’s side, his expression serious.

Lin Xue also came closer, still pointing her gun at the old monster.

Shui Miao glanced at Wang Yong and said calmly, “He said you and Master once robbed a celestial tomb in Kunlun Mountains. Afterward, you disappeared, and later you returned to the tomb and took something valuable. He claims he’s the new apprentice taken in by your Master, and he came here asking for your help to cure him and turn him human again. I was willing to help, but this old monster betrayed me, destroying all my magical powers, and even ordered his grandson to kill me. But my blood restored his grandson to normal. Yet he still wants to remain a monster. Tell me, how can I allow such a treacherous person to continue being a monster and harming others?”

“What nonsense! Where is this celestial tomb? Is this old guy some kind of fraud?” Wang Yong looked astonished. “Who would dare impersonate my Master’s disciple? I know my Master’s abilities better than anyone. Besides, a celestial tomb is a tomb of immortals—how could someone dig into it? Anyone who says such an unprofessional thing must be a fake. Who the hell are you anyway?”

Shui Miao also doubted the existence of a celestial tomb in the mortal world—it sounded ridiculous.

“Haha! Finally, I can return to my original form!”

Suddenly, the old monster roared like a beast, tearing off his upper clothes and laughing maniacally. His body began to change, turning black. Black fur sprouted rapidly across his skin. His head started transforming into the shape of a rat. Just as Wang Yong had described earlier, he was becoming a full-fledged rat monster.

“Grandpa! Grandpa! What’s wrong with you!?”

The boy clung to the old monster in fear.

The old monster had momentarily forgotten about his grandson. But when the boy called him like that, he suddenly snapped back to his senses a little.

“Child, run! Run away…”

The old monster knew what he was about to become—something that would kill indiscriminately.

“No! I won’t leave you! I want to stay with you!”

The boy tightly hugged the old monster’s leg.

The old monster’s body was rapidly growing long, black fur. Only his back remained bare. Suddenly, he let out a roar and grabbed the boy, hurling him violently toward a wall several meters away. From his posture, it was clear he was trying to kill the child—hitting the wall would surely be fatal.

“No!”

Lin Xue screamed. Just a second before the boy was thrown, she fired a shot at the old monster’s arm. Thanks to her quick action, the boy was thrown with less force, but he still landed several meters away, his head hitting the wall. The impact was too much—he immediately lost consciousness.

At that moment, as the old monster turned, Shui Miao noticed that his back still hadn’t grown fur. In other words, he hadn’t completely lost his humanity. So why would he try to kill his own grandson? Shui Miao’s mind raced—he sensed something was wrong.

“You dare shoot me!?”

The old monster glared at Lin Xue with a terrifying expression.

Exactly! Something was wrong!

The old monster was still capable of speaking coherently, which proved he was still in control of his mind.

Shui Miao’s eyes narrowed. He immediately concluded that this boy was definitely not the old monster’s real grandson. What was really going on here?

Without hesitation, Lin Xue fired again, shooting the old monster and knocking him down.

“You want to kill me? Not so fast!”

The old monster screamed like a madman, got back up, bleeding heavily, and charged at Lin Xue!

“Pengpengpeng…”

Gunshots rang out. Chu Miaoyi and two colleagues arrived, firing three guns—eighteen bullets—all hitting the old monster.

The old monster was riddled with bullets, bleeding all over, and collapsed on the ground.

This was the chance! Shui Miao quickly stepped forward, channeling the remaining natural Dao essence in his body into the old monster. With a thought, the old monster was engulfed in a massive surge of natural essence and transformed into an infant. Then the infant’s face turned blue and black, and gradually dissolved into a green mist, vanishing into the air.

The old monster was dead.

Even more suspicious to Shui Miao was that the old monster had no soul.

Shui Miao focused his mind, withdrawing the natural Dao essence. He immediately picked up the boy and concentrated on sensing his thoughts. A faint trace of immortal energy had just returned to his dantian, and with it, he could sense the child’s mind.

Soon, Shui Miao handed the boy to Chu Miaoyi and urged her to take him to the hospital immediately.

Turning back, he let out a furious roar into the wilderness. “Despicable coward! You even dared to harm an innocent child! I despise you! I know you’re watching me in the shadows. I know you’re the hidden mastermind behind all this. You tried to pin the blame on my godfather, Wang Yong, hoping to lower my guard. How childish! I’m not someone you can manipulate! No matter what your goal is, I want you to know—you’re playing with fire. Keep playing this game, and one day I will expose you, drag you out, and crush you underfoot like garbage. You’re not even worthy of being my pawn!”

His furious roar echoed through the dark night.

“Whoosh!”

Suddenly, from the distant wilderness, a giant shadow the size of a building shot into the sky, startling countless birds resting there and sending them flapping into the air in panic.

“I was right! This was really a conspiracy?”

Seeing the massive dark figure vanish into the sky, Shui Miao felt a chill run through him. That black silhouette had been far too large—he couldn’t help but break into a cold sweat.