noffsinger Chapter 45 A Good Demon Chooses Its Master
Chapter 45 A Good Demon Chooses Its Master
Several days have passed since Lu Changgeng escaped from Bibo Pool.
It was around midnight on this day, outside Cuiyun Town.
There is a large wild bamboo forest here, thick and strong. Passing through the bamboo forest and then along a section of the official road, you will reach the entrance to the town.
The moonlight was thin, and the bamboo shadows were horizontal and oblique.
Two figures walked through the bamboo forest, their steps uneven.
By the moonlight, one could vaguely make out that it was a wolf demon and a deer demon.
As the deer demon pushed aside the bamboo branches blocking his path, he complained in a low voice, "Hey wolf demon A, the king's temper is getting worse and worse. What if one day he takes a liking to us and twists our heads off to use as wine cups?"
The wolf demon walked behind it, carrying an empty cloth bag in its hand, but its ears were constantly perked up, listening to the sounds around it.
It didn't reply, but instead lowered its body and sniffed the ground before squeezing out a sentence from its throat: "Deer Demon B, say less. Finish your business and go back quickly. We are both demon generals in the Nascent Soul stage. The King knows what he's doing and won't harm us."
The deer demon glanced back at it: "Even if we don't harm you and me, what about the lesser demons below? They just want to eat, but they haven't had any food these past few days. Instead, many of them have been sent to meet the King of Hell by the Great King!"
All my former brothers are either dead or have secretly run away, so now I'm the only demon left.
The wolf demon paused slightly: "Am I not a demon?"
"You...you're an exception!" The deer demon sighed.
"I know what you're saying. The king is in a bad mood right now and has been punished by the immortal. He should be fine after a while."
Besides, you've forgotten that the methods of cultivation we practiced were taught by the King, and even our names were given to us by the King.
"Without the Great King, there would be no Wolf Demon Armor today!"
The deer demon was speechless for a moment, then took a few more steps before suddenly speaking again: "Then tell me, are we now considered the king's subordinates or the immortal's subordinates?"
"Is there even a need to ask? They are naturally the Immortal's subordinates."
"Why don't we just become disciples of the immortal? Why go through the King and go through the middleman? In the words of the mortals in that town, it's called... or something like 'no middleman making a profit.'"
"What nonsense are you spouting! If the King knew, he would tear you apart alive! Besides, the Immortal Master only cares about Lady Teng and his junior sisters; he doesn't care about anyone else. Don't even dream about it!"
The deer demon sighed again: "Well, you're right... Wolf Demon A, how much salt and seasoning do you think we can steal this time?"
The wolf demon didn't make a sound, but sniffed the air.
Deep in the bamboo forest, a few rays of moonlight pierced through, illuminating the withered bamboo leaves scattered on the ground ahead.
He suddenly stopped, grabbed the deer demon's hind leg and pulled it behind a thick bamboo pole.
About fifty paces ahead, two figures, one large and one small, were walking out from the other end of the bamboo grove.
The deer demon was also startled and hid.
As the two figures drew closer, it became clear that they were also two demons.
One had long ears, and the other had blond hair.
"Pshaw, it's someone I know! They scared me half to death in the middle of the night!" The deer demon patted his chest and came out.
After recognizing the person, the wolf demon followed behind.
Long-eared and Yellow-haired were startled by the two demons who suddenly jumped out. After looking them over from a distance of about ten steps, Long-eared cursed, "Deer Demon B, Wolf Demon A! Are you two trying to kill me? You scared me half to death!"
Long Ears is a rabbit demon, Yellow Hair is a weasel spirit, and they are actually acquaintances.
The blond-haired guy chimed in, "What are you two doing here in the middle of the night, playing these ghostly tricks instead of sleeping?"
The wolf demon raised its paw and shook the cloth bag in its hand: "My king wants a midnight snack, so I asked you to come out and get some seasonings. Aren't you two just putting on an act here?"
"I'm just another errand boy like you guys." Yellow-haired guy spat, looked around, lowered his voice, and took two steps closer. "I need to ask you something. Have you seen a red-haired young man in this area recently? He's quite tall, handsome, and uses water manipulation techniques. My king is looking for him, and there's a big reward for finding him."
The deer demon's head snapped around, and just as it was about to open its mouth, the wolf demon kicked it with its hind leg without making a sound.
The force was a bit too strong, and the deer demon hissed and bared its teeth.
"Hey, what's wrong with you?" Long Ears asked.
"Oh, his neck hurts," the wolf demon answered for him.
"Your neck is on your feet," said the long-eared deer demon, who was hugging his feet.
"Isn't the ankle a neck?"
"Okay, you're awesome." Long Ears stopped pursuing the topic. "By the way, have you guys seen this guy?"
As he spoke, he pulled out a tattered cloth from between his legs, and in the moonlight, one could vaguely see a human face drawn on it.
"What the hell is this drawing? Seriously! You drew this!" The wolf demon tilted his head, looking disgusted.
Long Ears was a little embarrassed; he couldn't figure out what the drawing looked like either, so he stuffed it back into his crotch.
The wolf demon stepped forward, draped his arm over Long Ears' shoulder, and said casually, "There are only a few springs and a few broken caves on this ridge. We haven't even seen a decent person. What does your king want with this person?"
"Don't even mention it, it's an order from above." Long-eared man spread his paws, his face showing an impatient and bitter expression. "You all know that our king previously became a disciple of the Ape Demon King."
Last night, the Great King was woken up from his bed by the messenger demon of the Ape Demon King, who said that the Ten Thousand Saints Old Dragon King of Bibo Pool had personally given orders to find a red-haired water demon in the transformation stage.
This water demon was incredibly audacious. It sneaked into the Azure Wave Pool and stole the dragon clan's unique escape technique, called something like Canglang. The old dragon king was furious and sent word to all the mountains within a thousand miles, promising a huge reward for finding it.
Our king immediately dumped this task on me, and I've been running around like crazy these past few days, my legs are about to give out, and I haven't even found a single red hair."
Long-eared one added from the side, "Our king said that whoever finds it first will be rewarded with three hundred-year-old spiritual fruits. Whoever leaks the news and lets another mountain get there first will have their skin peeled off."
Yellow Hair asked again, "You've been patrolling this ridge, haven't you really encountered anything?"
The wolf demon shook his head: "We didn't run into them. This ridge is so big, and we only recently moved here. Where would we possibly find them?"
It paused, then changed the subject, "Alright, it's almost dawn, we need to hurry and... find some salt, I'll invite you two for drinks another day."
After saying that, it pulled the deer demon along and continued walking forward.
The deer demon was pulled a couple of steps, then realized what was happening and waved its hooves at the yellow-haired and long-eared creatures, forcing a smile.
The two groups of demons parted ways in the bamboo forest, each going their own way, their footsteps gradually drowned out by the rustling of the bamboo leaves.
After walking about half a mile, and confirming that the demonic aura of the yellow-haired and long-eared creatures had completely disappeared at the other end of the bamboo forest, the deer demon grabbed the wolf demon's tail and pulled it to a stop.
Its voice was low, but it couldn't hide its barely suppressed excitement: "You heard it all, didn't you? Do you think that person is an immortal? The old dragon king of Bibo Pool personally gave the order, and the demon kings of several surrounding mountains have been alerted. If we leak this news..."
"Leak what?" the wolf demon interrupted, turning around. Its eerie green eyes stared at the deer demon in the moonlight, its gaze cold and calm. "Leak to whom? To the Ape Demon King? Or go directly to the people at Azure Wave Pool?"
"Of course..." The deer demon opened its mouth, realizing it hadn't actually decided who to contact, but that didn't stop it from continuing its excitement. "Whoever rewards the most, we'll report it to! We can also take this opportunity to defect directly to another place. The immortal isn't our king, why should we keep it a secret for him?"
"It's worth it." The wolf demon spoke these two words without the slightest hesitation, even with a seriousness the deer demon had never seen on its face before. "The immortal is not our king, that's true, but look at our king now, does he still dare to eat people?"
The deer demon paused for a moment, then shook its head. How did this get into cannibalism?
"Foolish! The Great King has been so subdued by the Immortal that he dares not eat anyone anymore. Just think how powerful the Immortal is!" The wolf demon switched the cloth bag to his other paw, lowering his voice even further. "I'll ask you again, since the Immortal came out of the Xie Zhi Cave, has he lost a single hair?"
The deer demon shook its head again.
"The Immortal's cultivation level is beyond our comprehension. If you leak it out and inform on him, do you think you can hide it from him? Besides, I think there must be someone behind the Immortal! A powerful figure! The King suspects that the Immortal's cultivation method is something only immortals possess! We can't afford to offend the Immortal! We absolutely cannot inform on him!"
"Besides," the wolf demon continued, "even if you manage to deceive them, even if the people from Bibo Pool come, do you really think they can do anything to the Immortal Master? If the Immortal Master is unharmed, the first thing they'll investigate is who leaked the information..." The wolf demon stretched out his claw and made a horizontal cut across his own neck, his voice chilling, "would we still be alive?"
The deer demon's Adam's apple bobbed, and the excitement he had just felt was like a bucket of cold water being poured over his head and down to his toes.
It recalled the pitiful state of the mandrill now lying paralyzed in the cave, not even daring to secretly speak ill of the immortal. A chill ran down its spine, and it shivered involuntarily.
"Then, what do you suggest we do? Just pretend we don't know? There are so many lesser demons on this mountain, what if the other lesser demons find out... it will still leak out eventually."
"Naturally, I will report this matter to the Immortal Master."
"Report to the Immortal Master? What benefit would that bring us?"
"I don't know what the benefits are, but I do know how to be a good little demon." The wolf demon gently stroked the whiskers on its chin with its paw, its face unfathomable.
The deer demon asked naively, "How do I do it?"
"A good demon chooses its master to serve!"
"..."
-
That night, at Pansiling Ridge, in the Cleansing Spring.
Steam rises from the Cleansing Spring, and moonlight filters through the pine and cypress branches, shattering into silvery scales that float on the surface.
Lu Changgeng leaned against the pool wall, rested his arms on the edge of the pool, and closed his eyes to regulate his breathing.
Dozens of fine, golden rays of light, as thin as gossamer, were slowly flowing into his dantian through the water veins. Needless to say, there was a woman in the Cleansing Spring, nourishing him.
On the opposite side of the pool, Teng San Niang wore a semi-transparent plain gauze robe. The gauze, soaked by the spring water, clung to her body, outlining the soft curves of her shoulders, neck, and waist.
She sat cross-legged beside the spring, her hands forming a mudra in front of her lower abdomen, her eyes slightly closed, fine water droplets clinging to her eyelashes. With each breath, a wisp of azure-green wood-based spiritual energy flowed through her meridians into her dantian.
Under the moonlight, the plain gauze dress was almost invisible, clearly showing the curves of her collarbone and the hollows of her waist. The edges of the gauze were wet, hanging heavily on her chest, making her already fair skin appear even more radiant.
Lu Changgeng opened one eye and glanced at her, then closed it again.
A thick jet of water gushed from the spring, splashing water all over her, and Lu Changgeng's dantian began to stir.
The ball of light and shadow that the demon infant was holding had been acting increasingly strangely lately.
A few days ago, faint wisps of energy began to flow from the spring toward the demon infant. This thing, which was originally just a blurry halo, began to become more and more concrete each day.
At first it was just an outline, then you could see a whole shape, and later even the surface texture became clear.
The more he looked at it, the more it seemed to resemble a little chick, with its wings curled up, its neck hunched, and a round little bump on its head, like a basketball.
Could it be that the Golden Crow has been reborn?
He knew that the Cleansing Spring was transformed from a golden crow after its death.
The key point is that after absorbing this energy, he felt an inexplicable burning sensation rising in his lower abdomen, which became even more pronounced when he looked at Teng San Niang.
He tentatively called this energy "Golden Crow Evil Fire Energy." Right now, as he soaked in the spring, this Golden Crow Evil Fire Energy was still continuously seeping into the demon infant.
Although he was somewhat worried about the agitation it might cause, he had a feeling that he absolutely had to absorb this energy, as it would bring him even more benefits.
He took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the agitation back into his dantian, and the water temperature rose a few degrees.
As if sensing something, Teng San Niang slightly opened her eyes to look at him, and the water droplets on her eyelashes gently shook off with the blinking motion.
Seeing that nothing had happened, he closed his eyes again.
The true energy of the "Yi Wood Creation Scripture" within her body was circulating in its third cycle, and the azure-green Yi Wood spiritual energy was continuously flowing into her meridians. As expected of a celestial technique, it was far superior to the technique she originally cultivated.
She had only been cultivating for a few days when a new bud, about an inch long, sprouted from the natal green vine in her dantian. The bud tip was tender green and trembled slightly.
The area around the spring fell silent again, with only the sound of the gurgling water remaining.
Teng San Niang's breathing gradually became fine, even, and long. Her gauze dress rippled gently in the water, enveloped in a hazy, soft light by the moonlight and misty vapor.
Not long after, very light footsteps were heard outside the bamboo grove on the shore. One of her two personal maids approached the spring with light steps and whispered to the stone screen by the spring: "Immortal Master, two little demons request an audience. They say they are a wolf demon and a deer demon patrolling the mountain and have something important to report."
Lu Changgeng suddenly opened his eyes, seemingly lost in thought: "Let them come over."
As the wolf demon and deer demon were led by the maid through the bamboo forest to the spring, their legs trembled slightly.
It wasn't the cold; the steam rising from the spring was warmer than their king's cave. It was just the tension.
The wolf demon walked ahead, its tail drooping and its head bowed, its eyes not daring to look into the spring, but only staring at the blue stone slab three feet in front of its feet.
The deer demon followed behind, its neck hunched, its hooves barely making a sound on the stone slabs, its heart pounding with anxiety.
Lu Changgeng leaned against the pool wall, his right hand casually resting on the edge of the pool.
His gaze swept over the two little demons. Oh, an old acquaintance, oh no, an old familiar demon.
He really didn't expect that these two demons would have the guts to come looking for him.
"Speak, what business do you have with me?"
The wolf demon took a deep breath, stepped forward, knelt on one knee, and recounted from beginning to end how he had met Huang Mao and Chang Er in the bamboo forest outside Cuiyun Town.
The old Dragon King of Bibo Pool contacted some demon kings in the surrounding area and offered a reward for the capture of a red-haired water demon in the transformation stage who could control water...
He explained every detail clearly, including Huang Mao's complaint that "my legs are about to break from running" and Chang Er's mention of "three spirit fruits."
After speaking, he lowered his head, appearing extremely respectful.
The deer demon nodded repeatedly beside him, and added, "Don't worry, Immortal Master! We didn't say a word more than necessary. Brother Wolf even went out of his way to find out that the order came from the Ape Demon King's line, and the search area hadn't yet reached our Pansiling territory."
Lu Changgeng listened without showing any expression.
All of this was expected. Wan Sheng Lao Ni Qiu lost his gun and dared not make a fuss. He could only use the pretext of secretly learning his Bi Bo Tan's secret technique to mobilize the various demon kings to help him search for people.
Those demon kings were willing to help, mostly to do the old dragon a favor. He didn't believe that these demon kings would really stake all the treasures of their caves on it.
However, trouble is trouble. The location of Pansiling will be found sooner or later. There are too many lesser demons under the mountain demon's command. With so many demons, there will be too many mouths to feed, and it will be leaked sooner or later.
If we just stay here, someone will come knocking on our door sooner or later.
He hesitated for a moment, then turned his gaze back to the wolf demon and the deer demon.
The two little demons' performance tonight surprised him somewhat.
A young wolf patrolling the mountain and a young deer running errands, they encountered a reward offered to them but kept their mouths shut and even knew to report it to the authorities as soon as possible afterward.
This courage and sense of propriety made him stand out from the rest of the motley crew of mandrills.
"What are your names?" Lu Changgeng suddenly asked.
The deer demon looked bewildered and pointed to himself: "I...we didn't call out."
Lu Changgeng was speechless for a moment and looked at the wolf demon.
The wolf demon patted the deer demon's head and grinned, saying, "Reporting to the Immortal Master, my name is Wolf Demon A, and his name is Deer Demon B."
"Heh, interesting. I'll remember you two."
With a casual wave of his hand, six hundred-year-old spiritual fruits flew out of the spring and landed steadily in front of the two little demons.