Chapter 34: Dispelling the Gloom, the Peril of Red Eyes

Beneath the spring pool, Mo Fan gazed at the dozen or so golden dragon loaches in the bamboo basket, his heart surging with excitement.

According to the information the dog demon Fortune had given him, these golden dragon loaches had already reached the second stage. The spiritual energy contained in their flesh was enough to rival that of ungraded spirit medicines.

In other words, these dozen-odd golden dragon loaches were equivalent to more than a dozen ungraded spirit medicines!

At the thought of this, Mo Fan was about to devour them all at once, but he quickly restrained his desire.

“Since these dragon loaches can be raised artificially, is it possible to cultivate them even further, all the way to the third stage?”

Mo Fan’s heart pounded. Third-stage dragon loaches would be genuine spirit medicines of an established grade, and their effects would certainly far surpass those of the second stage.

After a brief hesitation, Mo Fan made up his mind.

Since the dragon loaches could indeed be cultivated and evolved, he decided not to eat the golden dragon loaches for the time being. Instead, he would continue feeding them spirit stones until every one of them evolved to the third stage!

By then, they would be equivalent to more than a dozen Yellow-Grade spirit medicines!

As far as Mo Fan knew, even the demon generals of Black Wind Mountain would find Yellow-Grade spirit medicines immensely tempting.

If he could truly cultivate all these dragon loaches to the third stage, perhaps he could take advantage of the opportunity to break through directly into the realm of a demon general!

And if that happened, what would the mere scorpion demon Blackie amount to?

He could crush him outright with superior cultivation and destroy him with a flick of his finger!

At that thought, all the pent-up gloom Mo Fan had accumulated over the past few days vanished without a trace.

He suddenly understood that true fear stemmed from insufficient strength. If his cultivation were powerful enough—powerful enough to make even the scorpion demon hesitate to act against him—what would he have to fear?

Once this thought arose, he could no longer suppress it.

“In any case, it’s difficult to leave Black Wind Mountain now. I might as well stay. With these dragon loaches assisting my cultivation, my progress should be rapid. When the time comes, I won’t merely have to keep running away. Perhaps I can even carve out a bright future for myself here in Black Wind Mountain!”

Mo Fan muttered inwardly, and his gaze grew increasingly bright, as though he could already see a promising future ahead.

In his view, if the dragon loaches had never appeared, or if they could not be cultivated and evolved, he would most likely still have to flee.

His cultivation was not particularly high at present, but after undergoing demon transformation three times, he understood that as his cultivation grew, his need for spiritual energy would only increase. If he relied solely on first-stage silver dragon loaches, they would never be enough to support him to a truly high realm.

But things were different now. The dragon loaches could be cultivated and evolved, and they even held the promise of becoming comparable to Yellow-Grade spirit medicines. This was undoubtedly a powerful boost to his confidence.

Under such circumstances, leaving Black Wind Mountain would instead be the most foolish choice.

He would be leaving only to escape the schemes of the demon captain known as the Scorpion Demon, yet he would then face pursuit. Worse still, his path of cultivation would be cut short, and he would have no idea how long it might take to resume it.

At least with his current cultivation, he did not dare venture into human territory to learn letters. Let alone demon hunters capable of contending with demon captains, he might not even be able to defeat the village guardians of the human settlements.

If he stayed in Black Wind Mountain, however, he could rely on the dragon loaches to increase his cultivation rapidly. His greatest problem would merely be dealing with the scorpion demon.

Given the speed of his cultivation, Mo Fan was no longer especially worried about him.

After sorting all this out, Mo Fan felt completely at ease.

Over the following days, he continued patrolling the mountain as usual, occasionally visiting the spring pool to check on the dragon loaches’ progress.

While patrolling, Mo Fan always chose relatively secluded places, making it more convenient to duplicate spirit stones.

After observing them for several days, he discovered that the golden dragon loaches devoured spirit stones even faster than the silver ones. The hundred or so spirit stones he had put in earlier had long since been eaten, and he had added nearly two hundred more.

As a result, Mo Fan’s stock of spirit stones had dwindled considerably, which was why he spent day and night duplicating them.

At his current speed, he could duplicate three spirit stones in a quarter of an hour, twenty-four in the time it took an incense stick to burn, and more than a hundred over the course of an entire day.

Previously, that dead dog had always been by his side, making it inconvenient for Mo Fan to duplicate spirit stones.

Now that he patrolled the mountain alone, he no longer had to worry about being discovered. Even when he occasionally encountered familiar lesser demons, he would immediately draw the spirit stones in his mouth into his inner space, and thus attracted no attention from the other demons.

Just like that, the eleventh day of his patrol arrived before he knew it.

That day, Mo Fan was patrolling the mountain as usual when he suddenly saw the ox demon Mighty coming up from the foot of the mountain.

When Mighty drew closer, Mo Fan noticed the anxious look on his face and immediately asked, “Brother Mighty, what’s wrong?”

“So it’s Treasure!” Mighty looked up and was somewhat surprised to see Mo Fan. Then, as though he had thought of something, he hesitated and fell silent.

“What happened?” Mo Fan pressed.

“It’s all because of that damn miserly rabbit! I told him to patrol the mountain, but instead he went off to play dice with some other demons and ended up losing five dan of meat!

“But where could a little rabbit demon like him possibly get that much meat? Chatter suggested that he come find you and fish some river creatures from the spring pool to repay the debt. But Red-Eye couldn’t bring himself to do that, so he said he would catch the meat outside and pay them back himself. Then he abandoned his patrol duty as well, and no one has seen him since. He’s driving me mad!”

Mighty ground his teeth, sounding thoroughly frustrated by Red-Eye’s failure to live up to expectations.

Mo Fan understood the situation at once. He knew that the demons of Black Wind Mountain loved to fool around, and that some were hopelessly addicted to gambling. Their gambling habits, however, had all been learned from humans.

The most common game was rolling dice. It required little thought, so it had naturally become one of the favorite pastimes among the lesser demons.

From what he had heard, Red-Eye had most likely been set up by the others. Mo Fan immediately asked, “Do you know which captain’s subordinate was playing dice with Red-Eye?”

“You should know him. It was Rattletail, under the command of the One-Eyed Demon Captain!” Mighty replied.

Mo Fan understood immediately. He concluded that Red-Eye had indeed been framed. After all, the hostility between the One-Eyed Demon Captain and the Scorpion Demon was plain for all to see.

“So that’s what happened. Then where are you rushing off to, Brother Mighty?” Mo Fan asked casually.

“Where else could I be going?”

“I’m obviously going to find the Lord and ask him to decide the matter.”

Mighty shrugged, then continued, “I just feel that something about this isn’t right. Red-Eye was probably set up, so the Lord has to intervene.”

With that, the ox demon prepared to continue up the mountain.

“Wait, Brother!”

Seeing this, Mo Fan hurriedly stepped forward and stopped him.

“If you go to the Lord, this matter will only become a major incident. Red-Eye’s gambling is a minor offense, but if Grand King finds out that he abandoned his post, he might be thrown straight into the oil cauldron and cooked up for a feast.

“Our entire patrol team could be held responsible. We might all be punished!”

Mighty froze upon hearing this. After thinking it over carefully, he realized that Mo Fan’s words made perfect sense.

“What should we do, then?”

“You’re cleverer than I am, Treasure. Think of something for me.”

Mo Fan fell silent for a long while before asking, “Did Rattletail give him a deadline?”

“No. But we can’t keep owing him forever. At most, we can delay it until our patrol ends.” The ox demon considered the matter.

“Then this is easy to solve. As long as we gather the five dan of meat within the next few days, won’t everything be fine?”

Mo Fan smiled and continued, “But first, we have to find Brother Red-Eye. Otherwise, he may not be able to escape punishment for abandoning his post.”

“That may be true, but who’s going to find that miserly rabbit and get the meat?”

Mighty looked troubled. After all, they were currently on patrol and could not wander about freely. If anyone reported them, they truly might end up in the oil cauldron, just as Treasure had said.

“Does Fortune know about this?” Mo Fan suddenly asked.

“How could we possibly tell that fellow? Once he finds out, the news would probably reach Grand King’s ears in no time!” Mighty snorted coldly, clearly wary of the dog demon Fortune.

“In that case, if you trust me, I’m willing to look for Red-Eye and help him gather the five dan of meat.”

Mo Fan smiled.