Chapter 357: The Little Nian Beast Shows Its Power, and the Returning Lord (Two-in-One Monthly Ticket Request)

"Come on all of you, one isn't enough for me."

Just as the Little Nian Beast finished sternly speaking harsh words to the members of the Zodiac Team, the Totoro lying on its back suddenly came over and licked its cheek. The wet touch made the Little Nian Beast silent for a long time.

It looked up helplessly, only to see the little chinchilla staring at it with an innocent look.

"Are you annoying? Can you please stop lying on my back?" the little Nian Beast said impatiently, "Whether you are a chinchilla or a panda, get off me right now!"

After saying that, it suddenly twisted its body and threw the chinchilla off its shoulder, then slapped it away, making it roll back onto the mat.

The chinchilla rolled on the ground, then lay down on the red cushion with a wronged look on its face.

"What did Lord Little Nian Beast say just now?" the Rat Demon asked at this time.

"Is there something wrong with what I said just now?" The little Nian beast raised its head and looked at the three zodiac demons: snake, horse and ox.

It suddenly thought of something, and said in a daze, "Oh, I forgot to mention... I just said not that the three of you should come together, but that all eight of you should come together. Do you understand?"

A brief silence enveloped the huge temple, and then a loud laughter spread.

The Little Nian Beast raised his eyebrows and looked up in the direction of the laughter. He saw the Rat Demon and the Monkey Demon. The former was laughing so hard that his beard was shaking, and the latter was shaking out the half-eaten peach residue in his mouth, which fell to the inside of the temple with a plop.

"What's so funny?" asked the little Nian Beast in confusion.

"The young are to be feared, the young are to be feared..." The Rat Demon grabbed his beard and forced himself to stop laughing.

"Even the Nian Beast Lord wouldn't dare to say that he can fight against the Zodiac Team at your age." The Monkey Demon sighed and said lazily.

The green snake demon narrowed his eyes, and his pupils were so cold that they seemed to be able to freeze.

It had never liked the Nian Beast Prince who had run away from home without a word and caused the deaths of countless demons on Haifan Mountain. Now the little Nian Beast had returned to the mountain with a shameless face, acting as if nothing had happened, which was even more annoying, not to mention the little Nian Beast's contemptuous attitude.

The Little Nian Beast looked at the members of the Zodiac Team. "You were the ones who took the initiative to ask me to test you. Can you please stop talking nonsense?" It scratched its ears. "You're so slow. I didn't realize your zodiac sign was the turtle."

"Since Little Nian Beast has said so, then I would like to ask you first. Let me see what Little Nian Beast has been doing for the past ten years." said the Mad Bull Demon.

In the blink of an eye, the mad bull demon opened its eyes.

It suddenly stood up, stretched its horns forward, and landed on all fours, crushing the ground with a loud bang, leaving a crack. Then its huge body rushed towards the little Nian beast, stirring up a black and dense gust of wind.

The little Nian beast heard the loud noise in its ears, and the whole temple was shaking, even the waterfall at the exit of the temple was deformed. Accompanied by the howling wind, the fifty-meter-long giant rushed straight towards it.

It was as terrifying as a high-speed train.

The angry bull was getting closer and closer, and the bull's face reflected in the pupils was getting bigger and bigger.

The little Nian beast stomped its feet and leaped, its frail form spinning in mid-air. Its body rapidly expanded, from tiny to gigantic, like a mandala blossoming from a seed.

In an instant, a thirty-meter-tall purple-red giant lion opened its huge mouth, roared, and fell down. At the same time, its body was wrapped in a wild stream of flames, like a purple-red meteor falling from the sky, illuminating the entire dim temple.

[Magic Flame Attack: The Little Nian Beast's entire body is covered in magical flames. It charges forward with all its might, transforming into a stream of flames to attack the opponent, becoming unstoppable during this period.]

Everyone in the Zodiac Team was stunned. They seemed to have not expected the little Nian Beast to grow so quickly. A normal Nian Beast's lifespan is around two hundred years, so reaching the size of the Great Nian Beast would take at least eighty or ninety years.

But the little Nian Beast is only 19 years old, and the speed at which his body grows far exceeds that of his peers.

In an instant, the little Nian beast turned into a huge pillar of fire and collided with the mad bull demon. A loud gale swept outward, carrying pieces of ember-like flames in the wind. The purple and red flames were both enchanting and violent.

The Rainbow Horse Demon suddenly swung its tail, and a rainbow light swept out, surrounding the Little Nian Beast and the Mad Bull Demon, and absorbing the sweeping flames into it.

"Bang!" A dull thud sounded, and the body of the mad bull demon moved backward uncontrollably. Its limbs rubbed against the ground, creating sparks and plowing out two trenches that were a hundred meters long.

It raised its head in disbelief and looked at the thirty-meter-tall purple-red giant lion.

At this moment, the green snake demon had silently jumped up from its seat and shot towards the little Nian beast from mid-air like a green arrow.

"It's faster than I thought. It seems it's more than just a quasi-catastrophic level..."

The little Nian Beast knew that every demon in the Green Snake Demon clan contained a toxin that was enough to kill a whale in an instant, and the toxins in the bodies of the Green Snakes that were selected to become members of the Zodiac Team were naturally more dangerous.

Even a disaster-level body may not be able to withstand the green snake's venom. Disability and paralysis are just minor matters. If the toxin really erodes the weak parts of the body, leading to infection and death, that would be quite scary.

So the body of the little Nian beast suddenly shrank at this moment, and even gradually turned into the outline of a human. It was a teenager with black hair and black eyes, with a strand of purple-red hair on his forehead.

The raging fire had not yet dissipated, and his body was covered with purple-red flames, so he would not appear naked in their eyes.

"Transformed into a human form during the battle?" The Rat Demon was stunned. "What is Little Nian Beast thinking?"

"Are you showing weakness?" The Bull Demon frowned, "But Green Snake is not someone you can easily talk to."

The Rainbow Horse Demon raised his heterochromatic pupils and stared motionlessly at the human-shaped Little Nian Beast, ready to stop the Green Snake Demon with a rainbow light at any time.

The next second, the little Nian beast suddenly rushed towards the direction where the green snake demon was shooting, raised the five fingers of his right hand, and beast-like nails spread out from the fingertips, and then drew a gray crack in the air, which generated a violent suction force.

"Do you want to fight me head-on?"

The Green Snake Demon's body was covered in layers of scales, each of which was smeared with poison. At the same time, the scales suddenly became transparent, and its body completely disappeared from the spot.

This is one of the racial talents that the Green Snake Demon has developed during hundreds of years of hunting. It allows the demon to enter an air-like state to avoid enemy attacks.

But it was no use. Even though it had been prepared, the transparent body still slipped into the space crack. The crack closed immediately, and it disappeared from the spot.

[Space Claw: Creates a spatial rift leading to an independent dimension. You can enter the independent dimension, or temporarily transfer enemies into the independent dimension. After the time limit is reached, the enemies will automatically return to reality.]

"Is this... a spatial ability?" The Rainbow Horse Demon could no longer suppress the surprise in his eyes and suddenly jumped up from the huge cushion.

At this time, the little Nian beast turned its head and looked at Hongma coldly. He thought that the Hongma demon also planned to challenge him, so he clenched his right hand into a fist and drilled into a dark circular space crack.

In an instant, his fist appeared fifty meters away, at the jaw of the Rainbow Horse Demon.

"Soliugen——!" The little Nian Beast yelled, imitating the "Rising Dragon Fist" in "Street Fighter", submerging his entire arm into the space crack, and punched upward with an uppercut, hitting the Rainbow Horse Demon's chin!

The Rainbow Horse Demon finally came to his senses, with a look of surprise in his eyes.

Of course, a normal human's punch wouldn't be enough to defeat this giant horse. But this was the fist of Little Nian Beast. Even in human form, Little Nian Beast's strength far exceeded that of a normal natural disaster-level beast, and it could even fight against the four great bee lords who hadn't yet become kings.

At this moment, the little Nian beast's uppercut hit the Rainbow Horse Demon's jaw. The Rainbow Horse's flesh and bones rose and fell like waves, and then the entire horse's head rose high with a hiss, and saliva splashed out of it.

[Aerial Attack: Allows the humanoid Little Nian Beast's limbs to penetrate the spatial rift, instantly appearing within a 50-meter radius, allowing it to launch an unexpected surprise attack on the enemy.]

"Have you had enough fun?" The little Nian beast snorted and withdrew its fist from the space crack.

While the remaining flames in the air could still cover its body, it quickly transformed its body into the state of the Nian beast, and then turned into the jumping little lion, with a flame rising above its head.

The crack that had originally closed and disappeared suddenly opened, as if a foreign creature opened its chaotic mouth and spit out the green snake demon.

The green snake demon pressed its tail against the ground, quickly bounced back, and landed on the mat.

At this moment, except for the Totoro demon who was still lying on the mat and wagging his tail with a wronged look on his face, the other seven zodiac demons were looking at the little Nian beast in surprise.

"I'm asking you a question...and testing me?" The little Nian beast squatted down on the ground, raised its paw to cover its mouth, yawned, and scratched the fur on its head.

The green snake demon was silent. It didn't even understand what had just happened.

"No more exams." The Rat Demon stroked his beard. "Little Nian Beast's strength is truly far superior to what it was before... Not only can he wield the magic flames flexibly, but he's also made such great strides in his spatial abilities. He's truly worthy of being the Grand Lord's child."

The monkey demon took a bite of the peach, swallowed the whole big peach into his stomach, and then patted the peach residue on his hands.

The Aries Demon suddenly spoke up, "Let's stop here. Don't make things too difficult for Little Nian Beast. It was indeed wrong for it to leave without permission for ten years, but isn't it a way of making up for its mistakes by coming back to help us now?"

The little Nian Beast looked at the kind-faced Aries curiously, and didn't expect that someone would speak up for him.

Although from their perspective, the fight over the Nian Beast lake hunt that year was indeed caused by the little Nian Beast running away from home.

But from Ji Minghuan's perspective, regardless of whether he had generated the "Little Nian Beast" body, the dispute between the two sides would have happened anyway. The appearance of the Little Nian Beast merely changed the reason that served as the fuse.

So there is no need for him to feel guilty about this, and there is no need for him to apologize to these people in a humble manner.

It was as if he didn't consider Xia Pingzhou's family as his own, because if the second unit had not been generated, Xia Pingzhou would never have appeared in the first place.

Even if the family killed by the Ripper were all dead, there would not be a person named "Xia Pingzhou" who would be angry about it or even seek revenge.

Similarly, the same goes for Su Ying's death. In Ji Minghuan's view, he has no obligation to avenge Gu Wenyu's mother.

Because he never existed from the beginning, Ji Minghuan didn't need to bear the emotions and responsibilities of a non-existent person. All his actions were only for himself. If he hadn't had to kill the Ripper, he wouldn't even bother to get involved in these troubles.

"So where is my dad?" The little Nian Beast tilted his head.

The Rainbow Horse Demon, who had been inexplicably punched, finally lowered his head. He once again prostrated himself on the futon and murmured, "The Lord has not returned yet. Little Nian Beast, please wait a moment."

"I will go find the Lord and tell him the news." The green snake demon said coldly.

"What news?" asked the little Nian Beast. "Tell him that I have passed your test and he can come to see me now?"

“No, the Lord doesn’t know that Master Little Nian Beast has returned.

The little Nian beast was stunned.

"The test I just mentioned was just made up by me. I apologize to you." After saying that, the figure of the green snake demon shot out from the cushion, passed by the side of the little Nian beast like a phantom, passed through the waterfall and blurred in the morning light.

"Has it always been like this?" The little Nian beast looked at the Rat Demon.

"It's always like this. If you don't cooperate with it, it will be sulking again later." The Rat Demon sighed.

"Lord Little Nian Beast, why did you punch me just now?" asked the Rainbow Horse Demon.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I thought you were going to test me too." The little Nian Beast said, "I should have known not to give you a Rising Dragon Fist. Since my father hasn't come back yet, I'll go out for a walk first." After saying that, the little Nian Beast skipped away.

It passed through the waterfall, with columns of fire erupting from its hooves, and flew into the woods like fireworks, then lay down on the branch of a giant tree.

The little Nian beast quietly gazed at the valley in the distance. When the king was young and had no time to take it for a ride on the cliff outside, it would often stay on this tree alone, watching the grass grow and the birds fly in the spring, and watching the falling snow in the winter.

Looking at the forest shrouded in morning light, the little Nian Beast suddenly remembered what happened eleven years ago.

After meeting on the smuggling boat, Lin Xingshi and the little Nian beast chatted for a whole night.

Finally, Lin Xingshi let the little Nian beast take a nap first, and she was responsible for watching the bad guys on the boat. The little Nian beast didn't think much about it, and rested his head on Lin Xingshi's shoulder, closed his eyes and wanted to sleep.

"My clothes are dirty and covered in dust," Lin Xingshi said, "Don't lean on me."

"It's okay, you smell nice." said the little Nian beast.

Lin Xingshi was stunned and his face turned slightly red.

The little Nian beast fell into a deep sleep.

When they woke up the next day, the human trafficking boat had arrived in Lijing, the capital of China.

It was the first time for Lin Xingshi and Little Nian Beast to come to such a big city. They lay on the boat window and looked out curiously.

What greeted my gaze was a vast steel city, its skyscrapers towering like giants. Billboards adorned the streets advertising Nutri-Express, and stylishly dressed people roamed the streets.

"This is Li Jing." Lin Xingshi wiped the dust off his face.

"Li Jing." The little Nian beast murmured.

"Xiao Nian, have you been to Lijing?" she turned her head and asked.

The little Nian Beast shook his head, staring blankly at the bustling crowd outside the window. The morning light streamed down, illuminating the faces of the two children in the cabin.

"Let's go." Lin Xingshi took the little Nian beast's hand, humming a song softly as he led him down the cabin, while observing the stowaways in the cabin with his peripheral vision.

Just as they were about to leave, someone on the boat suddenly wanted to attack them. He hurried over with a cloth bag and a rag, but Lin Xingshi just turned his head and a scorching flame in his hand burned the man's hand, leaving a bloody spot.

At that moment, the little Nian beast seemed to see a hazy red lion shadow above the short-haired girl's head.

He suddenly remembered that the Lord of Nian Beasts once told him that exorcists are the biggest enemies of demons, but Lin Xingshi seems to be an exorcist. Can he really go with her?

"Don't follow me, I won't be so gentle next time." After saying that, Lin Xingshi wiped his nose, and amid the man's screams, he walked away proudly holding the hand of the little Nian beast.

The two walked on the streets of Lijing. Lin Xingshi glanced at the little Nian Beast's clean clothes, then looked at his own tattered jumpsuit, and suddenly felt a little inferior.

She hadn't changed her clothes for several days, and hadn't taken a bath for some time. She looked messy and her face was covered in dust, like a little beggar.

"Do I look like a beggar?" She suddenly let go of the hand holding the little Nian beast, put it behind her back, and asked in a low voice as she walked, with a nonchalant look on her face.

"What is a beggar?"

"They're the ones who have no money and can only beg for food," Lin Xingshi raised an eyebrow. "How come you don't know anything? No wonder they were kidnapped."

"Then I want to be a beggar too," the little Nian Beast whispered. "Begging is so good. So free and powerful."

"You..." Lin Xingshi shook his head. "Forget it. You won't understand even if I tell you."

"Forget it. You won't understand even if I tell you." The little Nian Beast was imitating her words again.

"By the way, where did you get such clean clothes?" Lin Xingshi suddenly asked again.

"I don't know." The little Nian beast shook his head.

He knew that he couldn't say that he was a devil, nor could he say that he secretly took a set of clothes from the children's clothing store, otherwise Lin Xingshi might beat him to death.

She is a dangerous exorcist, and the thing demons should fear most is exorcists!

"Alright." Lin Xingshi curled his lips and muttered, "Then let's stay away from you, otherwise people will look at us strangely, as if a little beggar like me really kidnapped you."

"Aren't you going to kidnap me?" The little Nian Beast stopped, tilted its head, and stared at her blankly, "You... don't want me anymore?"

Lin Xingshi was stunned.

After a long moment, she opened her mouth but could not utter a word. Finally, she held his hand speechlessly and said, "Okay! Let's go. Don't worry about what others think."

"My mother said... girls should be pretty." The little Nian Beast was led away by her and suddenly said, "I'm a boy, I should give you my clothes to wear."

Lin Xingshi shook his head. "How can this be possible? I don't want it."

"you want."

"I don't want it."

"Okay, then you're a boy and I'm a girl," said the little Nian Beast. "That way I can wear pretty clothes and you can wear dirty clothes. That way we're fair."

Lin Xingshi was choked.

She coughed several times, then touched his forehead while laughing, "I'm so curious about how your head looks like... But I don't want to be a boy. If you treat me like a boy, I'll be sad."

The little Nian Beast looked at her quietly and seriously. He could see that Lin Xingshi was a little sad, but he didn't know what to say.

After a moment, he walked away without saying a word.

"Where are you going?" Lin Xingshi was stunned. She asked while following the little Nian beast.

The little Nian Beast ran to the outside of a children's clothing store, crouched outside the glass cabinet and peeked in for a while. Then it reached into the dark crack in the space and grabbed a small skirt and a denim jacket.

Lin Xingshi stared at the scene blankly, his whole body frozen in place.

Under her fixed gaze, the little Nian Beast pulled its hand back from the space crack, turned around, and handed the clean clothes to Lin Xingshi.

"Are you... a person with superpowers?" Lin Xingshi was stunned for a long time before asking.

"Xiao Nian is not a demon, Xiao Nian is not a demon..."

The little Nian beast felt a little uneasy and muttered.

"What are you talking about? How can a demon use spatial abilities?" Lin Xingshi said seriously, "My father said that only humans can use spatial abilities. It's the highest level of supernatural power. If you use it well, anyone can be defeated."

She paused and said, "Besides, it takes a very long time for a demon to transform into a human. How can you, as young as you, become a human?"

"Oh oh oh oh." The little Nian beast slowly raised its head, "Then I am a mutant."

"You don't always think you are a devil, do you?" Lin Xingshi looked at him curiously.

"It's all my dad's fault. He said I was a demon, but it turns out I'm a superpower." The little Nian Beast suddenly realized, "My dad is such a bad guy."

"Didn't your parents die?" Lin Xingshi asked suspiciously, "You told me that on the boat."

The little Nian beast suddenly shut up, then nodded vigorously, "Yes, he's dead."

Lin Xingshi was silent for a long time. She looked at him with his head down, then looked at the clean little dress and jacket in her hands. She suddenly felt like crying.

At this time, the manager of the children's clothing store came out. She was stunned for a moment, wiped her eyes, grabbed the little Nian beast's hand and ran away.

As the two were running, it suddenly started to drizzle, so they ran into an abandoned building to shelter from the rain.

Lin Xingshi and the little Nian beast sat down against the pillar, looking out the window at the white city, the traffic lights changing their hazy lights in the rain.

"Thank you." Lin Xingshi said suddenly.

"What's the matter?" The little Nian beast was puzzled.

"You're the only one who thinks I'm a girl." Lin Xingshi whispered, holding the clothes that the little Nian Beast had secretly given her. "Everyone in my family says it would be better if I were a boy... but I don't want to be a boy at all. I really don't want to be a boy at all."

"Then don't be one!" the little Nian Beast yelled, angrily saying, "I don't like my family either. They locked me up and won't let me leave."

The rain is getting heavier.

The two children in the abandoned building remained silent, staring at the heavy rain outside the window.

"It's great to meet you." Lin Xingshi said suddenly, "Otherwise I'd be all alone, not knowing where to go."

"Me too."

The little Nian beast nodded.

The heavy rain blurred the scene reflected on the window. Two blurry, small black shadows nestled in the abandoned building and fell asleep quietly.

"The Lord is back--!" Suddenly, a sharp crowing of a rooster resounded in the woods. The sound waves were like a gust of wind sweeping across the entire forest and fell into the ears of the little Nian beast.

This was undoubtedly the work of the Divine Chicken Demon. Whenever the Nian Beast Lord came back, the Divine Chicken Demon clan in the forest would shout loudly like eunuchs delivering messages.

The purple little lion opened its eyes from the branch and slowly raised its head. Only then did it realize that it had just recalled the past and fell asleep unknowingly.

It looked into the distance and saw that the originally dark forest suddenly became bright, with lights on everywhere, just like the long streets in the city at night, with lantern demons emitting warm lights, illuminating the deep paths.

The little Nian beast slapped the gear panel with its claws and called up the main task.

Main Quest 1 (Phase 1): Gain the approval of the "Nian Beast Lord" and the "Zodiac Team," thereby taking over the position of the Nian Beast Lord and gaining command of all the demons on Haifan Mountain.

"Has Lord Nian returned?" Little Nian thought, shaking his head. "I'll have to hurry up and give Dad a good beating in front of the Zodiac Team. Can I make them admit that I'm the true Demon King?"

(End of this chapter)