Demons Beside You

While it was still dark, Pierce South snuck into a deep alley.

The alley was filled with a stench. It had clearly been a long time since the trash containers were last cleared.

The entire alley was enveloped in darkness, with sewage seeping out from the ground.

Pierce quickly covered his nose. He would not be here if not for the dire situation.

He walked further in and eventually stopped before a rusty iron door.

Clank, clank!

The iron door produced a loud noise. Then, Pierce heard a voice from inside.

“Come in.”

Pierce South pushed the door open. The room was similarly very dim.

Crash!

Pierce had accidentally knocked a jar.

Just then, Pierce heard another voice, which he found rather awkward.

“You’ve broken my experiment equipment. A thousand dollars.”

Pierce immediately pulled out his wallet and said, “Ms. Rupert, hi, I’m Pierce South. I think you should remember me.”

“Nope,” Ms. Rupert answered rudely in the darkness.

It was really awkward. Pierce picked himself up and continued, “Ms. Rupert, I need your help.”

Then, a neon light sign beside her lit up.

Business Scope: Revenge, $2,000+. Extramarital affairs investigation, $10,000+. Stealing a specified item, $1,000+.

“Err…” Looking at the complicated business scope, Pierce South felt that he had entered the wrong place. “Err, Ms. Rupert, I would like to hire you to deal with a sorcerer.”

“Huh? Oh I see, sorry.”

The sign dimmed and another sign lit up.

Various curses, $10,000+.

Evil spirit harassment, $10,000+.

Nightmare harassment, $10,000+.

Diseases, $3,000 each.

Divination, $1,000 each time.

Attacking a witch/wizard, $100,000 each, whether successful or failed.

“Ms. Rupert, can you please turn the lights on? I would like to talk to you face-to-face.” The room was really dim, so Pierce could only roughly see a shadow.

“Err… the lights are broken. Let’s just speak like this.

“Alright, I need you to attack a wizard. He just killed Viper Jacia from India’s Snake God Clan, so I need your help.”

“So he’s very powerful?” Rupert asked.

“Yes, very.”

“Then I recommend a combo for you: Attack him plus evil spirit harassment plus nightmare harassment. Discounted price, $120,000.”

“Where’s the discount again?”

“I won’t charge you for the conversation.”

“…” Pierce was already regretting his decision. Nevertheless, Rupert was the most famous witch in Los Angeles, and Pierce had no other choices. If Chen Zhao found him, he would be dead for sure.

After some hesitation, Pierce said, “I want him dead.”

“Murder is illegal.”

“Not if you do it with magic and don’t get caught.”

“Fine, a million dollars.”

“Wait… Why is it so expensive?”

“I’m a witch with principles. Why would I violate my own principles without a sufficient price?”

“The combo you just said… To what extent can you injure him?”

“That would depend on how strong he is.”

Pierce was dissatisfied, but there was nothing else he could do.

“When would you begin.”

“Depends on my mood… No, I mean depends on whether I can find an opportunity.”

…

Chen Zhao went to town and asked around. Pierce had actually moved away a month ago.

The chemical plant that he had been working in had fired him for some unknown reason.

Chen Zhao was very annoyed by this, but he had nowhere to vent his anger.

He had to move on. Clearly, he would not travel everywhere just to look for Pierce.

Then, Chen Zhao went to the hospital. Tiger’s arms had already healed.

Chen Zhao first helped Tiger to be discharged from the hospital. After all, the hospital was not a good place for Tiger’s eye replacement.

“Tiger, board my van.”

With an eye mask, Tiger entered Chen Zhao’s RV. Chen Zhao had healed Tiger’s arms in just half a month, which made Tiger much more confident in his medical skills.

Nonetheless, Tiger’s left eye was completely blind. Could Chen Zhao really cure his eye too?

It was impossible for Tiger to become a professional boxer with just one eye.

Because it would reduce the field of vision greatly.

Being observant and alert was the most basic requirement to becoming a boxer.

Therefore, Tiger was still lost about his fate and future.

“What do I do now?” Tiger was quite familiar with Chen Zhao’s pets, so he was not surprised when he saw them in the RV.

“Lie there.”

Following Chen Zhao’s instruction, Tiger lay on the bed.

“Then, you’ll sleep.”

Chen Zhao snapped his fingers and Tiger lost consciousness.

Chen Zhao took out a Pristine Eyeball. Replacing Tiger’s eye was an easy task for him since the Pristine Eyeball would complete everything by itself.

Although the process looked somewhat like parasitism in those horror movies, it was a very normal thing in Hell.

Chen Zhao drove the van to UCLA, during which Tiger had an amazing sleep.

He felt that it had been a long time since he had such a good rest. In the last period of time, his damaged eyeball had been continuously causing pain, disrupting his sleep.

Slap…

“Wake up.”

Tiger felt that someone was slapping his face. He waved his hand. “Go away.”

“Wake up.”

“Go away before I beat you up.”

Swish!

The next instant, Tiger was lifted into the air.

Tiger opened his eyes and realized that he was being held by Chen Zhao. “You want to beat me up?”

“Huh? No!” Tiger almost cried for his carelessness. “I was dreaming.”

“That’s better.” Chen Zhao put Tiger back onto the floor.

Lucky…

Tiger patted his chest, but he felt that something was wrong.

He closed his left eye, and then switched to the other eye.

I can see with my left eye?

No way…

Is this an illusion or a dream?

“Mr. Chen, my eye?”

“Forget the past. If anyone asks you about it, say that your eye was just injured, not blind,” Chen Zhao said. “Do you understand?”

“Mr. Chen, what happened to my eye?”

“Why do you have so many questions? Do you want me to dig your eye out and then put it back again?”

“No. I won’t ask anymore.” Tiger feared Chen Zhao even more, but he also found Chen Zhao mysterious.

“Let’s go to the boxing club and practice. Everyday, I’ll be spending two hours on your rehab training, until I think that you can stand in the ring again.”