On the occasion of the mountain demon's birthday, Emperor Xiu saw that everyone else was enthusiastically participating and also planned to participate. However, after searching around the den, he couldn't find anything worthwhile to offer.
The mountain spirit is single-minded in its cultivation, and will swallow any spiritual herbs it happens to see without any hoarding.
001 glanced at the nearby hills and sighed, "Too late, there's no Ganoderma lucidum or ginseng left."
Emperor Xiu circled around and found a branch that had fallen from the tree demon's body. It was fresh and still had some lingering spiritual energy. The tree demon saw it and was somewhat puzzled, but did not stop it.
Back in its den, 001 appeared, peeled the bark off the branches, and pressed them to the ground to prevent it from rolling around. Di Xiu flicked out his fingernail and began to carve an array on it, as if he were doing micro-carving.
Half an hour later, he exhaled a ball of spiritual fire, refined it from beginning to end, and then announced the end.
"What is this for?"
"defense."
001 was momentarily at a loss for words, and after a long pause, asked with an awkward expression, "Use a tree branch?"
"It's just a vehicle."
That's not wrong, since it's called a magic weapon, but it's actually a formation.
"What level of defense can that block?"
"Let's see how much spiritual energy this branch can withstand."
001 Oh, her mouth rounded.
He then quietly observed the gifts prepared by the other demons in the mountain and discovered that Emperor Xiu's gift was unique. Few demons possessed magical treasures, and although they were grateful to the mountain demon, they weren't generous enough to give away their treasures.
Fairies' birthdays are generally impossible to pinpoint to a specific day; it's good enough if you can barely remember their age. Even the mandrill can't remember; its last birthday was in spring, but this time it's set for the 15th of the tenth lunar month, which is the Lower Yuan Festival.
All the fairies went to the mountaintop early in the morning to pay homage to the Mountain King.
Unlike humans who prepare food, songs, and dances to entertain guests, the mandrills basically prepare nothing, only providing a title. These fairies not only have to bring gifts, but also food.
Ultimately, the mandrill was just showing off his power as the mountain king, while the other demons took the opportunity to thank him, give him gifts, and then get together for a meal and drinks.
Di Xiu only realized he needed to bring his own food when he was about to leave, so he strung some wild fruit on a branch and left.
The mountaintop seemed to have been specially decorated, yet it remained simple. A rattan chair with a backrest five feet high stood out prominently, facing north, and was even covered with a tiger skin.
On either side of the tall rattan chair were ten less exaggerated low chairs. Last time there were only nine, but Hu Dayu happened to have successfully transformed this year and was able to sit on the tenth low chair.
The other fairies who hadn't taken human form either squatted in groups or sat on the ground, and basically didn't need chairs.
Di Xiu looked around, found a place to settle down, and picked the bunch of wild fruit he had been carrying from the tree branch.
A sparrow spirit flew over and landed on the back of a deer demon that was resting nearby. It tilted its head and said with a hint of mockery, "Fox, is this all you bring as food?"
Emperor Xiu's gaze swept over the sparrow spirit, his claws itching to strike.
001, in a high-pitched voice, added: "Little sparrow, little sparrow, can you be my food?"
Di Xiu looked at the sparrow spirit's small body, which was lying prostrate on the ground, and then suddenly pounced on it. The sparrow spirit was immediately so frightened that it could not speak human language and kept chirping "chirp chirp chirp" in a fit of rage. Even if you couldn't understand it, you could guess that it was cursing the fox.
The sparrow spirit landed on a nearby tree. Not long after, there was a sudden commotion in the tree, and it hurriedly flew away, leaving behind a few feathers. A tabby cat licked its paws and meowed.
With so many fairies gathered together, almost every fairy will encounter their superiors and inferiors in the food chain, but they will at most play around and won't cause trouble today.
As noon approached, the mountaintop was bustling with activity, but no animals were moving around anymore; almost everyone had arrived, and only one empty seat remained near the center of the ten low chairs.
There appeared out of nowhere a fair-skinned little boy, about five or six years old, with his hair tied in a topknot, wearing a red bib, hands on his hips, looking very arrogant.
He stood in front of the high-backed rattan chair, cleared his throat, and called out, "Please invite the Great King of the Mountain Demon."
All the fairies fell silent, looking expectantly at the high chair. Seeing that they weren't cooperating at all, the little boy shouted again. Hu Dayu's eyes lit up, and he shouted along. The other fairies suddenly realized what was happening and then spoke up.
After much coaxing, the mandrill finally appeared. He transformed into a burly man, nine feet tall, with two necklaces of animal teeth around his neck. His bare upper body was tattooed with his original form, and he walked with powerful strides, as if he were about to cause mountains to collapse and the earth to split.
He leaped up suddenly, spun in mid-air, and landed with a thud in front of the high-backed rattan chair, laughing heartily, "Thank you all for coming. The banquet begins. Tonight, let's drink until we drop!"
The little boy watched him sit down, then jumped into the last empty seat. Eleven monkeys or apes ran out carrying wine jars on their heads, one for each of the demons in human form. After a while, they carried over several more jars for the demons below.
The first part was the gift-giving session. The first ten people, who were close by and had high social standing, were the first to give gifts.
There was armor specially made by mortal craftsmen, spiritual wine brewed from morning dew, mountain springs, and hundreds of flowers, and an ice bed dug up from who-knows-where. When Hu Dayu held up the little fox and said he was giving it to the king to cheer him up, the other demons were shocked and thought, "Is this even possible?"
The little fox, bewildered, left its father's embrace and landed in the mandrill's hands. Sensing the mandrill's powerful aura, it obediently lay on his lap. The mandrill stroked it a couple of times and then tossed the little fox to the boy beside it.
Other fairies presented their gifts one after another. There weren't any particularly valuable items, but the sentiment was what mattered. After looking at them for a while, Di Xiu stood up, holding a tree branch, and said, "Hu Sibai presents a tree branch."
Many demons were shocked and couldn't understand how he could be so brave as to try to fool the king with a tree branch.
Di Xiu used his spiritual power to lift the branch and present it to him. The mountain demon glanced at it, his slight anger disappearing. He took it and admired it for a while, then revealed a look of surprise and delight, asking him, "You really gave it to me?"
Hu Dayu's heart skipped a beat. He gestured to his neighbor to shut up and quickly said, "Your Majesty, he may have accidentally taken the wrong gift. Please forgive him."
The mandrill ignored him, picked up the branch and looked at it again and again, then burst into laughter, leaving the demons dumbfounded.
He called out, "Little Fruit," and the little boy beside him immediately looked over: "Your Majesty, what's wrong?"
"Go and get that green box from my bedside table."
"Okay, sure."
The boy burrowed into the ground and returned in no more than two breaths, bringing back a green box that shimmered with a lustrous light. The mandrill beckoned to the red-haired fox: "Come here, I have something good for you."
Emperor Xiu swept his divine sense over the area and was slightly moved, not expecting such an unexpected surprise.
He did as he was told, and the mandrill opened the box, grabbed something, and quickly stuffed it into his mouth.
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