Demons Beside You

“I don’t have to prove it to you. I only need you to find that monster for me.”

“You really want to fight that monster?” Camilla asked. “I can help you find her, but you have to promise that Sienna and Rupert won’t get involved or be in danger.”

“I don’t need their help,” Chen Zhao said.

“Teacher, can you really find Evangeline?” Sienna asked, surprised.

“I’m familiar enough with her. We were once friends.”

“Can we do it now?”

Camilla shook her head. “She’s hurt. She won’t appear so easily.”

“Then, fine. Notify me whenever you think you can find her.” Chen Zhao glanced at Rupert. “What about you, little girl? When can you find Pierce South?”

“Don’t call me ‘little girl’ or else I’m gonna curse you!” Rupert exploded. “I’ll tell you when I find him.”

Chen Zhao patted her head and turned around with a smile. Suddenly, he felt his body turn heavy. The Mouth of Gluttony opened and sucked Chen Zhao’s body.

He instantly recovered. Turning to Rupert, he said, “You just tossed Weak at me?”

“What, you’re going to attack me?” Rupert looked guardedly at him. She was actually nervous that Chen Zhao would attack her.

“No, toss me some more curses. I think your spell was quite tasty.”

Chen Zhao wasn’t lying. Rupert’s curse was indeed tasty. At least, it was tastier than swallowing the Disasters and Nest of Curses.

The only flaw was that it wasn’t as powerful.

Everyone’s magic tasted differently to the Mouth of Gluttony. Different people would have different flavors. The Mouth of Gluttony was clearly interested in Rupert’s curse.

“F*ck you. Get the f*ck out!”

Rupert was deeply hurt. She thought her curses were very powerful, but to Chen Zhao, it was just tasty? This comment was too much!

She glared at Chen Zhao with clenched teeth. She decided that she would never curse Chen Zhao again.

After spending the entire night at Sienna’s house, the sky was already lightening as he went home. When he arrived, it was already seven in the morning.

Fali was already up. “Chen, you’re so late… No, how come you’re so early? How is Ethan’s condition?”

Chen Zhao kissed her. “It’s okay. Not dangerous.”

“Are you going out?” Fali looked at him. She still felt bad for Chen Zhao. She knew that, because of his job, he would run into many emergencies. But she still hoped that Chen Zhao could rest more, instead of pushing himself to the limits. “I think you should rest today.”

“I’ll rest in the morning and see in the afternoon,” Chen Zhao said.

After Fali left, Chen Zhao called Tiger. “Tiger, come to my place for training in the afternoon. My address is 21 Mirror Lake, Mountain Town. Turn left at the vet billboard on route 21.”

After giving Tiger directions, Chen Zhao fell straight asleep.

In the afternoon, Tiger’s calls woke him up.

Tiger had seen Chen Zhao’s RV before, so he knew that Chen Zhao was pretty rich. However, he was still shocked when he saw the house. The RV cost more than the house, but it wasn’t as impressive.

Tiger had still been hospitalized during the housewarming party, so Chen Zhao didn’t invite him. This was his first time at Chen Zhao’s house. His eyes inadvertently turned envious.

“Hi.” Chen Zhao came downstairs, shirtless with a toothbrush in his mouth. “Take a seat. Do you want to drink anything? Other than alcohol.”

Tiger had healed, but he was still recovering, so he couldn’t drink. Plus, an athlete’s basic requirement was to watch what they ate.

“Any drink is fine,” Tiger said.

“There are energy drinks in the fridge. Help yourself.”

Chen Zhao got dressed and came back out. “Take this card.”

“Mr. Chen, what’s this?”

“From now on, I’ll send $20,000 into your card every month.”

“Why?”

“I said before that I’ll invest in you. This $20,000 is my investment. I’ll send it until you can make money by yourself.”

How much did an athlete need every month? Even just looking at food, Rufford’s basic nutrition meals cost at least $200 per day. As a heavyweight athlete, Tiger couldn’t afford his meals at all.

Even regular food was stressful for his family.

Chen Zhao knew that Tiger accepted some illegal gigs. After all, it wasn’t a big secret.

“This is the money for your food and training. I’ll also introduce you to a professional trainer. They’re obviously really skilled. I learned my techniques from them. Can you imagine that they beat me up before?”

“Mr. Chen, stop joking. No one can beat you up.”

“I’m not lying. I was once beaten up badly by that trainer. I wanted to learn boxing to take revenge, but then they ended up as my trainer.”

Tiger was shocked. “Did you get revenge?”

“We became friends.”

Tiger didn’t expect this story.

Chen Zhao continued, “But you’ll still do rehabilitation training with me. You also have to listen to me for your diet.”

“I understand.”

“Today’s task is swimming. Mirror Lake is two kilometers wide. I want you to swim to the end and back.”

Boxing wasn’t just punching, punching, punching all day. Boxers had to train in many other sports too. For example, swimming was something practically all boxers did.

Long-distance swimming could improve a boxer’s endurance. Aerobic exercise was helpful for Tiger’s recovery too.

Chen Zhao also got into the water to accompany Tiger.

Tiger was too heavy. He chose the 86 kilograms and above weight class. He weighed about 98 kilograms, which was pretty standard.

Even though the boxer only had to meet the requirement for the 86-kilogram and above weight class, there was still a threshold. The closer you were to the threshold, the better your performance would be.

The range was around 50 kilograms. Higher than that, your weight would weigh you down. Lower than that, your force would be affected.

Tiger’s weight stopped him from improving his swimming speed. This was also a great burden.

“Tiger, watch the rhythm of your breathing.”