When the car stopped, Tu Xiao'an was greeted by the sight of the suave Su Yu, who smiled as he opened the door for him.

After getting out of the car, Tu Xiao'an gazed ahead. It was indeed a construction site, still in the process of being built.

"Brother Xiao'an, what do you think of this place? I'm building a luxury residential complex here, and it's been under construction for over a year now."

Su Yu explained with a smile.

This area was in Wencheng's new development zone and was projected to become very prosperous in the future, which was why Su Yu had spent a fortune to win the bid for this plot of land.

Compared to such a grand undertaking, Wei Xian Pavilion was truly small potatoes for Su Yu.

"I'm really sorry for causing trouble at your restaurant today."

Since Su Yu didn't bring it up, Tu Xiao'an felt he had to. Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to figure out what Su Yu was really up to.

'Why did he bring me to his construction site?'

Su Yu chuckled. "I heard about it. It was a small matter, Brother Xiao'an; you don't need to worry about it. That kid's name is Liu Haoran, and I know him, too. I already called him. The matter is settled."

Tu Xiao'an didn't care who the other guy was; he just felt bad for starting trouble in Su Yu's restaurant.

"Then why did you ask me to come here today?"

Su Yu said, "Brother Xiao'an, you're a Snake Catcher. I presume you must have quite a few fine snakes on hand."

Tu Xiao'an still couldn't figure out what the man was getting at.

"Don't tell me you want another snake to act as your restaurant's guardian treasure?"

Su Yu shook his head, then nodded. "Brother Xiao'an, I'll be straight with you," he said.

"After that Dragon Snake of mine went missing, my Feng Shui Master said it would affect my personal luck. I only half-believed him at the time, but now, I'm a total believer."

"Look at this construction site. From the bidding process to the start of construction, everything was smooth sailing with barely a hitch. But right after the Dragon Snake disappeared, this place immediately started having problems."

"You're not going to believe this, but my construction site is suffering from a rat plague." Su Yu wore a wry smile.

"A rat plague at a construction site?" Tu Xiao'an was stunned, as if he'd just heard some fantastic tale.

'A construction site isn't a field. What could rats possibly eat here?'

'Concrete?'

Su Yu looked completely fed up. "The site is on a complete work stoppage. The workers are too scared to even show up. Tens of thousands of rats have swarmed out of nowhere, running rampant all over my site. Their teeth are incredibly sharp. They've chewed this partially-built structure until it's riddled with holes. And if any workers are around, the rats immediately attack them with suicidal ferocity."

"Several workers have already been chewed to death by them."

He had to pay a huge sum in compensation to their families.

'Rats biting people to death?'

Tu Xiao'an immediately made a connection. 'Could a Rat Spirit, a Huo Luan, be behind this?'

"Boss Su, are you hoping to use a snake to exterminate the rats?"

Su Yu said, "I've asked around. To make these rats disappear, I need an extremely powerful venomous snake to stand guard over the place. Only then will they know to back off."

"Once, in ancient times, there was a village that was plagued by rats year after year. The farmers could never get a good harvest; almost half their crops ended up feeding the rats. Later, the villagers discovered a sentient snake living in an abandoned temple and immediately came up with an idea. They enshrined the snake as the temple's Guardian God, bowing in worship and bringing it offerings, asking it to protect the village from the rat plague."

"The sentient snake, having eaten the villagers' offerings, naturally had to help them in return. So, it went out to hunt the rats, and slowly but surely, the village's rat plague was resolved."

The following autumn, they had a bumper crop.

"That day, I saw the little snake in your girlfriend's hands, Brother Xiao'an. It must be an Awakened Snake Species, correct?"

Tu Xiao'an knew the girlfriend he was referring to was Li Qingzhao, and the little snake was, of course, the Taiyin Snake.

"I didn't recognize it as an Awakened Snake before. That was my oversight." He smiled and continued, "This world has a hidden side. I know you're no ordinary person, Brother Xiao'an. You're an Awakened Martial Cultivator, and you possess an Awakened Snake Species. So I was hoping to ask for your help. Would you be willing?"

'The Su Family is a major family in Wencheng,' Tu Xiao'an thought. 'It isn't so strange that he would know these things.'

Besides, Su Yu's ever-present black-clad bodyguard was himself an Awakened Martial Cultivator.

'Using an Awakened Snake Species to guard the site and keep the rats away is one possible solution.'

'But a rat plague of this scale, especially on a construction site, can't be an ordinary one. There must be an Awakened rat leading them.'

'Then it all comes down to which is stronger: the Awakened Snake or the Awakened rat.'

"Take me up to have a look."

If there really was an Awakened Rat Spirit, a Huo Luan, then since Tu Xiao'an was already here, he didn't mind lending Su Yu a hand.

Besides, he had just caused a scene in the man's restaurant, so he could consider this repayment for the favor Su Yu had shown him.

The site contained not only an Awakened Rat Spirit but also tens of thousands of regular rats. This wasn't something a mere Martial Cultivator could handle.

Otherwise, Su Yu's bodyguard wouldn't just be for show.

"That's wonderful! Brother Xiao'an, if you can solve this rat plague for me, I will be sure to reward you handsomely."

With the site only half-done, construction couldn't proceed. He was losing a huge amount of money every day, and it was affecting the final completion schedule.

This was a new development zone. If progress on his luxury complex was too slow and another one was completed first, he'd be left in the dust.

The losses would be disastrous.

Su Yu led Tu Xiao'an toward the construction site, the black-clad bodyguard trailing them like a shadow.

At the entrance to the site, everything inside was eerily quiet. Su Yu spoke up, "Brother Xiao'an, don't be fooled by how normal it looks in there. The moment someone steps inside, a horde of huge, fat rats will swarm out. They're incredibly vicious."

"Do you have that Awakened Snake of yours with you?" he asked.

Snakes and rats were natural enemies in the food chain; the presence of a snake would have a powerful deterrent effect.

"That snake won't be necessary."

Tu Xiao'an smiled. 'Is he joking? I, a throned Snake King, am here in person. Why would I need some other Awakened Snake?'

Suddenly, the bodyguard behind them took a phone call and then whispered a few words to Su Yu.

Su Yu's expression suddenly turned awkward. He said to Tu Xiao'an, "Brother Xiao'an, I almost forgot. Because of this rat plague, and the suspicion that an Awakened Rat Spirit is behind it, I already hired a Demon Hunter from the Bai Family."

A Demon Hunter was a type of profession among Awakened Martial Cultivators, one that specialized in dealing with creatures that had evolved into Demons.

Much like Daoist priests who exorcise ghosts, they were a discipline unto themselves.

The Bai Family was Wencheng's largest reclusive cultivation family and had a great number of Demon Hunters in its ranks.

Demon Hunter ranks were divided into First Grade, Second Grade, and Third Grade, which corresponded to Rank One, Rank Two, and Rank 3.

In truth, Su Yu hadn't thought of Tu Xiao'an initially. It was only when he got an unexpected call from the restaurant about Tu Xiao'an being in a dispute with a customer that he suddenly remembered the man's Awakened Snake.

"Contact the Demon Hunter from the Bai Family and tell him not to come."

The black-clad bodyguard replied, "President Su, he's already arrived."

Just then, a car approached from a short distance and pulled up directly in front of the construction site's entrance.

'The Bai Family again,' Tu Xiao'an thought, annoyed. 'I have to admit, their influence in Wencheng is immense. During that snake incident at the school, even that female police officer was one of them.'

'And now here's a Demon Hunter from the Bai Family.'

Whenever the major families encountered demonic or paranormal incidents, they would pay to hire a Demon Hunter from the Bai Family to handle it.

Of course, it wasn't only the Bai Family that offered such services, but their strength was the greatest, and their Demon Hunters were considered more reliable.

Now that the other person had arrived, Su Yu felt rather awkward.

Tu Xiao'an smiled. "Since a professional Demon Hunter is here, it's for the best if he can solve the rat plague. It would save me the trouble."

He didn't really mind.