Chapter 40 Tiger, I’m coming in.
Hongzhu was lying on the dining table, both of its legs were broken.
She watched the deer demon holding her left leg and eating it with relish. She heard several merchants she had saved crying quietly. They huddled in a corner, not daring to look at her.
She had previously lost her right leg in Fugui Village and was finally rescued by a mysterious swordsman. She managed to survive, but on her way home she encountered this group of monsters again.
This group of monsters went to Xili Mountain to attend the full moon banquet of the mountain king's granddaughter. They randomly robbed passers-by on the mountain road and used them as gifts for the banquet. Hongzhu could have used the magic talisman to escape, but when he heard the cries for help from several merchants, he couldn't help but turned back.
She ambushed the deer demon who was about to tear out the merchant's heart and lungs, and prepared to use the escape technique to take them away. As soon as she put her hand on one of them's shoulder, she was grabbed by the remaining ones.
The terrified merchants held her tightly, shouting wildly, but could not hear her rising voice.
They regarded the red candle as a life-saving straw when drowning, without considering the consequences of the straw sinking.
Hongzhu couldn't get rid of them, nor could he perform any escape techniques. The deer demon, who had recovered, opened a self-retracting rope and easily tied them up and brought them back to Yinyuan.
The merchants along the way were trembling and asking her what to do. They saw the cloud-patterned talisman on her waist and knew that she was a demon hunter, so they regarded her as their backbone.
Hong Zhu asked these traveling merchants to listen to her instructions for a while. There were many of them, and if one or two of them could seize the opportunity to escape and go to the prefectures and counties for help, the rest would have hope of survival.
The merchants agreed well, but when they entered the monster's cave and saw tiger monsters, mink monsters, wolf monsters, and all kinds of demons, they lost their last bit of courage.
The deer demon laughed, took out a bone-chopping knife, pointed it at Hongzhu, and said to the merchants, "I'll give you a chance. Choose for yourself. Each of you can give her an arm in exchange for her life. Are you willing?"
The merchant shook his head and cried, "Your Majesty, please eat her. I heard that those who practice martial arts have firmer flesh."
The deer demon started eating from Hongzhu's left leg, laughing as he ate: "Fool, these are the people you are protecting."
It glanced at Hongzhu's already broken right leg and asked curiously, "Did you lose your other leg like this, too?"
Hongzhu did not answer it, but silently adjusted his breathing, stopped the injury on his leg, and practiced martial arts to restore his spiritual power.
Next to her was Xing Shen, who was tied up.
A little rabbit demon was trying to persuade him earnestly: "As long as you are willing to obey, the king will not miss any benefits from you. Why are you so stubborn..."
Xing Can was a Mohist. He became a disciple at the age of six and studied for twenty years, focusing on mechanical engineering. After completing his studies, he wanted to sell his skills to the imperial family. However, because his teacher had different ideas from the master who built the imperial city, the court issued a decree that their lineage would never be employed again.
It’s not that Xing Can had never thought about changing his job, but right after he packed his bags, his deceased teacher appeared in his dream and scolded him for seven days and seven nights, nearly killing him.
He swore to the teacher that if he dared to go to another place, he would have to do their job for the rest of his life. Only then did the teacher believe that he was truly repentant and let him wake up.
When he opened his eyes, half of his body was already buried in the soil. The villagers were teaching him a lesson: "You must study hard, otherwise when you grow up you will be like this uncle, unable to find a living and lying in the mountains waiting to starve to death..."
When Xing Can suddenly sat up, everyone around him was startled. He said with a weak breath, "Can I have a bowl of rice?"
The villagers hurriedly brought him food and water. Seeing a shadow under him and heat on his body, they realized that he was not pretending to be dead. They breathed a sigh of relief and apologized to him, saying that they had not intentionally buried him alive. Seeing that his head was almost bitten by a wild boar, they dragged him back to the village so that his body could be kept intact.
Xing Can sighed, looked at the bag that was already buried in the ground, and thought that perhaps this was his fate.
From then on, he no longer thought about how to make a living. In order to repay the villagers for their kindness in giving him a meal, he stayed in the village and became a teacher. He also helped to repair houses, build water wheels, and modify looms.
With his help, the villagers lived better and better, and his reputation became even greater than before. Within a radius of fifty miles, anyone who wanted to build a house, dig a well, make new farm tools, or buy a coffin for a death would think of him first.
When Xing Shen was learning martial arts, his teacher repeatedly warned him to be respectful and not to treat his enemies like weeds and slaughter them without caring about them just because he had the ability to capture cities and territories.
Neither the master nor the apprentice had imagined that this skill, which they had learned for the purpose of killing people, would actually become a good thing for the countryside when applied to this land.
Xing Can originally thought that he would live an ordinary life like this.
That day he was at home, thinking about how to improve the plow and increase the speed of plowing, when he suddenly smelled a strong smell of blood.
He ran out of the house and saw blood flowing from the ditch that he and the villagers had dug. At first he thought it was the work of their enemies.
It was not until he saw a group of wolf monsters that he realized that there was a Xili Mountain nearby. The daughter of the mountain king had given birth to a child. She heard that he was good at building houses, so she wanted to invite him to the mountain to build a better one next to her house.
Xing Can looked at the bloody half of a human in the wolf demon's hand and asked in confusion: "If you want me to do something, just tell me. Why hurt these innocent villagers?"
The wolf demon blinked his eyes and said innocently, "I've been walking for a long time. I'm hungry."
As they were talking, the village chief arrived with other villagers.
They smelled blood and saw bloody corpses. Although they were scared, they still carried their hoes and rushed towards the monster.
The wolf demon was originally quite considerate of Xing Can. Seeing that he had feelings for the villagers, they told him that as long as he went with them, they would not harm the rest of the people.
Xing Can agreed.
He clearly agreed.
The villagers were unwilling and spat at the monster. The village chief pointed at the corpse in the wolf monster's hand and said, "Our ancestors drove away wolves, tigers and leopards and opened up land among the thorns, not to make us food for the monster."
Xing Can asked the village chief to keep the green mountains and not to fight for temporary courage.
The village chief said again: "Sir, please leave now and don't worry about us."
You can say that the villagers are stupid or courageous, but in short, they have upheld their human dignity on their own land.
There were 128 households in the village, including men and women, old and young, who all died in the battle.
The wolf demons couldn't understand, but they also gave them the greatest respect.
They lit the stove in the village chief's house and ate all the villagers, leaving no bones behind.
Finally, they built a cenotaph for the villagers before tying up Xing Can and taking him back to Yinyuan.
These days, Xing Shen didn't eat or drink, and didn't speak. The mountain king got angry and threw him to the full moon banquet. If he still refused to do anything for it, it would be considered as adding a dish to the banquet.
The rabbit demon was entrusted by the wolf demon to come and persuade him. Aren’t they rabbits eaten by wolves enough? Now they are still working under the tiger. If the wolf demon goes out and encounters something delicious and fun, remember to bring it a portion.
Xing Can seemed to have heard nothing and turned a deaf ear to the rabbit demon's words.
The rabbit demon had talked until his mouth was dry, but he still couldn't convince him. He turned his eyes and saw Qi Ying concentrating on refining the elixir beside the tiger, and he had an idea.
"Look at her, she is so well-behaved. The mountain king asked her to make some elixirs to prolong life and strengthen the body, and she agreed without thinking. The mountain king gave her a thousand gold coins. When she returns to your human territory, she will have no worries about food and clothing for the rest of her life."
The three words "one thousand gold" did not arouse any interest in Xing Can. He still lay on the table with a withered face.
The traveling merchant who was listening nearby stopped crying, raised his tearful eyes and looked at the woman with mottled skin and wearing a crane cloak and holding a jade whisk. Envy and greed welled up in his eyes.
The woman's name was Qi Ying. She was an alchemist. She had no master, but she found a book on alchemy from the remains of a corpse-reincarnated immortal and became an alchemist by self-study.
Because she was born with a large birthmark, when she was five years old, her family took her to the market and sold her to a circus troupe.
She was not good-looking and could only act ugly. She played the role of a pug, went through a ring of fire, lay on the ground as a horse, carried the children of noble families, and was whipped while shouting "Gee".
No one knows how Qi Ying learned to read, how he found the alchemy book, and how he learned the art of alchemy.
All everyone knew was that the acrobatic troupe died out overnight, and Qi Ying transformed himself into an alchemist, refining elixirs that could cure all diseases and make people full of energy.
Qi Ying became a guest of honor in wealthy families, especially those gentry who were old and weak and unable to do things. After taking her medicine, they could not only restore their youthful physique, but most importantly, regain their virility.
Her fame spread immediately, her medicines were in short supply, and she built up a huge fortune in just a few years.
But perhaps this woman was afraid of being poor when she was young, and she loved money more than anything else, so she accepted the demon's requests.
Several merchants grumbled quietly.
"If you seek the skin of a tiger, you are not afraid of being killed after you have done your work."
"You black-hearted bastard, can you still sleep at night?"
"You have lost your conscience. I'm afraid you won't be able to be reborn after you die."
Hongzhu heard their discussion, glanced at the deer demon that had already eaten her left leg, shook her head in her heart, and quietly took out a talisman in her hand.
The deer demon, with blood still on the corner of his mouth, picked up the wine glass and toasted with the surrounding demons. Then he waved his hand and grabbed a traveling merchant.
The merchant screamed in horror: "My lord, that woman still has half of her body. She tastes better than me!"
The deer demon took out his knife and chopped off his two legs. Amid his screams, he patiently explained, "But I like to eat legs."
The traveling merchant was an ordinary person, without Hong Zhu's cultivation, and soon passed out due to the severe pain.
The rest of the people were all shaking like sieves, with shit and urine all over the place.
A fishy smell mixed with the smell of blood. The monsters cursed and looked at the restless ingredients with unfriendly faces.
On the main throne, the tiger who was holding his granddaughter for fun suddenly looked gloomy. He handed his granddaughter to the wet nurse and stretched out his tiger paw, ready to kill all the living mortals immediately.
The reason we keep these people is to eat something fresh. Now they are stinking. It would be better to drain the blood first, set up a grate, and eat barbecue instead.
In the magnificent hall, there were shrill screams and people fled in all directions like sheep.
The pale-faced Hongzhu moved his lips and was about to cast a talisman.
The Mozhe Xing Can, who looked hopeless, suddenly sat up, all the hemp ropes on his body fell off, and he held a pitch-black crossbow in his hand, and fired several arrows at the tiger's throat, chest, abdomen, and limbs.
The sound of breaking air startled all the monsters and they all turned around to look. The tiger did not dodge or evade. Its demonic energy emanated from its body and all the crossbow arrows seemed to hit an invisible wall and fell to the ground one after another.
"Finally, I've been waiting for it." Shanjun showed an expected look, and with a casual wave of his tiger claws, the crossbow arrow that fell on the ground flew into the air again, reversed direction, and rushed towards Xing Shen fiercely, piercing into his body with a "puchi" sound, nailing him to the table.
Xing Can did not scream, because his throat was pierced by a nail and he could only make a hoarse sound.
Hongzhu looked at him and turned her head away. She saw him shake his head slightly, signaling her with his eyes not to do it, but she still held the talisman paper, opened her mouth, and prepared to recite the spell.
At this moment, a strange fragrance filled the hall. Just one sniff of it made people feel relaxed and happy, as if they were floating in the air.
Everyone/monsters turned their heads and looked towards the alchemy furnace with different expressions. Taoist Qi Ying gathered his crane cloak, held the jade whisk in his hand, and stood up with a calm expression.
The tiger was overjoyed: "Done?"
Qi Ying nodded: "It's done."
"Good, good, good." Shanjun clapped his hands and ordered the maid, "Open the elixir furnace, get water from the east flow, and wash away the poison in the elixir. I want to enjoy the elixir with my brothers and sisters."
The maid took the order and left. The mountain king sat down at the main seat. The monsters tied up the mortals who dared not escape again and returned to the banquet to continue drinking and eating meat. They would wait until they had finished eating the elixir before dealing with these mortals.
Everyone shed tears silently, and the brave ones stared at Qi Ying with hatred.
They dare not look the monster directly in the eye, but they can always condemn the evil people who associate with the monster.
Hongzhu opened his mouth and prepared to take action for the third time.
"I want to build a mountain and sea pavilion..."
A sound of clanging gold and jingling jade came from outside the garden, as if it was ringing in the ears of everyone/monsters, making all the sounds in the hall disappear.
"...Please borrow the mountain king's cave for a while."
Although there was the word "please", it implied a cold and murderous intention. A few little demons with poor cultivation could not help but roll their eyes and fall to the ground just after hearing this sentence. A closer look revealed that they were strangled to death by the murderous aura in the voice.
Black and gold lines appeared on the tiger's face, and a majestic "king" character appeared on his forehead. He stood up with a fierce smile and said, "What a big tone, take my soldiers..."
Before the word "器" came out of its mouth, it suddenly felt a tightness in its chest and couldn't help but spit out a mouthful of black blood.
The other monsters were even worse. They vomited blood in large mouthfuls and fell off their seats like dumplings.
Someone poisoned!
Shan Jun's lightning-like gaze suddenly shot towards Qi Ying who was not far away. The fragrance of the elixir just now came to his mind. That was not an elixir at all, it was clearly poison!
The latter smiled slightly and was about to step back.
"court death."
Out of the corner of his eye, the tiger saw that the nurse who was holding her granddaughter had also fallen to the ground, and it was unknown whether she was dead or alive.
A surge of anger rushed to the top of its head. It opened its mouth and let out a tiger roar, leaping up from the seat, and in a blink of an eye, it pinned Qi Ying under its tiger claws.
Qi Ying's poison didn't make it show any signs of decadence.
"I have treated you well, and you repay me like this?"
Qi Ying's chest cracked several times, and her sternum and ribs were all broken. She spat out a mouthful of blood foam, hitting the tiger monster's forehead. The smile on her mottled face became even more intense, and she said, "In my life, what I hate most is that others don't treat me as a human being."
"You people always think so highly of yourselves!"
"That's right." Qi Ying laughed, "This is a human!"
The tiger slowly wiped the blood foam from his forehead and increased the strength of his tiger claws, about to tear Qi Ying into pieces.
The voice coming from outside the garden gate has appeared at the door of the hall.
"Since Shanjun didn't say anything, I came in on my own."
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