The Ming Dynasty's henchmen, working from nine to five

Chapter 39 Battle Against the Great Demon Tonghui

"I never imagined that the princess had gone through something like this."

Childhood trauma doesn't disappear with age; it only gets buried deeper.

If suppressed for too long, and then erupts again, those negative emotions that were temporarily suppressed will be magnified hundreds or thousands of times and surge forth in an instant.

Shen Lang finally understood why Princess Changning had reacted so strongly even before the other party had actually made a move.

But at the same time, an even bigger question arose in my mind—

Why did the evil spirit kill everyone but leave behind a six-year-old child?

Could it be that the princess is hiding some secret, or is this a conspiracy against Prince Jing'an?

Just like the real culprit in this flower thief case, someone is secretly plotting something.

Shen Lang hesitated for a moment before quickly bringing his thoughts back to the present.

There is too little information to make an accurate judgment, and there are more important things to do right now, so it's not a good time to ponder these things.

Shen Lang looked at Princess Changning and repeated his words, "Would the Princess be willing to come with me?"

Despite everyone's strong opposition, he still wanted the princess to see for herself what exactly was behind the attack on her.

You can't suppress the knot in your heart; the more you try to escape it, the more severe the backlash will be.

Only by facing it squarely and peeling away its mystique can we achieve true peace.

Of course, this is just his opinion; ultimately, the princess's own wishes must be respected.

Princess Changning gently raised her eyes and met Shen Lang's gaze.

For some reason, looking into Shen Lang's clear black and white eyes, she suddenly felt less afraid and subconsciously nodded.

"Changning!"

Princess Jing'an immediately became anxious, but before she could speak to dissuade her, Princess Changning smiled gently and said softly:

"Lord Shen wouldn't harm me. With him here, nothing will happen."

"You silly girl..."

Princess Jing'an was about to reprimand her when, halfway through her sentence, she suddenly gritted her teeth and said, "Then I'll go with you!"

Shen Lang didn't explain further, he just smiled:

"In that case, let's go."

......

The group started from the Xiulou Pavilion, passed through dozens of corridors, almost spanning half of the palace, and finally arrived at the West Courtyard.

Shen Lang raised his hand, ordering everyone to stop.

Princess Jing'an tightly gripped Princess Changning's small hand, surveyed her surroundings, and asked timidly:

"Isn't this a place in Changning where cats are kept?"

"Is this where the thief is hiding?"

"Could there be a mistake? These cats are cared for every day. If the thief really was here, how could they not have been discovered?"

Shen Lang was temporarily unable to spare the attention to answer the princess's questions.

At this moment, his eyes were filled with a swirling gray mist as he carefully examined his surroundings through the illusory realm.

Monsters were not unfamiliar to him.

A year and a half ago, when he was still a constable in Lin'an County, he had encountered one.

He had been assigned to suppress bandits, and not wanting to be late for get off work, he went in alone without waiting for the others to join him.

Things went very smoothly. He captured or killed the 136 bandits in the stronghold, and soon the area was cleaned up.

However, just as he was about to clock out of get off work, a huge black bear, more than three people tall, suddenly appeared!

Before this, Shen Lang had never seen such a huge beast.

He thought it was some kind of strange creature and immediately became interested, planning to catch it and study it carefully.

But as the black bear pounced, he suddenly realized something was wrong.

This beast's strength and speed are almost on par with his own, a martial arts master of the first rank!

He was forced to use his savings and spend a lot of skill points to temporarily add several max-level techniques, which finally allowed him to successfully defeat the black bear.

Even so, it still took some effort and almost made me late getting off work.

Later, when he came down the mountain with a bear paw on his shoulder and a bear gall bladder around his neck, he realized that this beast was not some strange creature, but a monster.

That black bear monster was the strongest opponent Shen Lang had encountered since coming to this world.

The orange cat currently hiding in the palace seems to be even more formidable than the black bear.

Therefore, even though Shen Lang is now an eighth-rank martial artist, he dares not be careless in the slightest.

After confirming once again that the guards had surrounded the area like an iron barrel, as he had instructed, he then decided to take action.

"Brother Pei, the commotion that's about to happen will probably be quite big. Please keep a close eye on the Princess and the County Princess, and make sure that thing doesn't hurt them."

"What is it?"

Pei Ci was still in a daze, completely unaware of what had happened.

Shen Lang said succinctly, "An orange cat, a very fat orange cat."

"An orange cat? One of those yellowish-brown cats, extremely cunning and treacherous?"

Why did it injure the princess and the noblewoman?

Pei Ci was utterly confused and kept rambling on, but Shen Lang had no time to pay him any attention.

The orange cat seemed to know he was coming; it was now pricking up its ears and watching him warily.

Shen Lang ordered his guards to form a battle formation, then slowly drew his sword from his waist, walked at the front, and entered the courtyard first.

......

A group of menacing strangers suddenly appeared in the west courtyard.

The cats that were leisurely sunbathing or chasing and playing suddenly scattered and fled.

The chubby orange cat also mingled among them, running around with the other cats, pretending to look for a hiding place.

However, no matter where it ran, Shen Lang's gaze remained fixed on it.

Seemingly sensing this, the orange cat slowly stopped moving.

It stood on all fours, slowly licked its paws, tilted its head to look at Shen Lang, and suddenly spoke in human language:

"How did you discover me?"

This bizarre scene immediately drew gasps of surprise!

"What is this thing? How can a cat talk like a human?!"

"A demonic beast?!"

"Quickly, protect the Princess Consort! Protect the Princess!"

Whoosh! Whoosh!

The guards drew their swords and stepped forward to shield the women behind them!

Even Pei Ci, a master who had reached the first rank, was speechless with his mouth agape!

Shen Lang looked at the orange cat and chuckled softly, "The entire palace is under my control."

"Don't even mention a cat; even an extra flower or a blade of grass won't escape my eyes!"

The orange cat's pupils shrank to a vertical line, its expression one of disbelief:

"Are you crazy?!"

"Who would be so bored as to memorize all this nonsense?!"

Shen Lang smiled again: "You're right, that's why I caught you."

"Capture the real person?"

The orange cat licked its paws dismissively, then suddenly let out a huge roar!

Immediately afterwards, its body began to expand and change rapidly!

In just a few seconds, it transformed into something completely different—

Its reddish-yellow fur is crisscrossed with black lines, its sharp fangs are bared, its limbs are thick as pillars, its ears have white spots, and its tail has rings.

The character "王" (king) is printed in the center of his forehead.

"A giant tiger with piercing eyes and a white forehead?"

Shen Lang raised an eyebrow, a hint of surprise on his face.

Unexpectedly, the true form of this orange cat monster was actually a tiger!

"You're saying I'm a giant worm?"

The tiger slowly stepped forward, its huge eyes, like copper bells, gleaming with a chilling light.

At this moment, Pei Ci suddenly came to his senses and exclaimed in surprise:

"The Great Demon of Tonghui?!"

P.S.: There's more.