Humans and demons are different
Within the universe, the world changed drastically, and the damp and cold nest was replaced by a desolate land.
Yellow sand filled the sky, and the cries of a baby could be heard amidst the howling sand. The wind howled in my ears, and sand blown by the gale got into my eyes, blurring my vision, making them dry and astringent, and bringing tears to my eyes.
My chapped skin resembled parched earth, and my tears, like sweet rain, stung my skin, burning my eyelids.
Amidst the howling, there were occasional wicked laughs; the tribesmen had captured a lost mortal.
The elderly woman had a hunched back, her head wrapped in a headscarf, and she wore a coarse linen shirt, looking no different from an ordinary person.
Only those elf ears were unusual.
The crying grew louder and louder; it was getting closer—it was a child.
The crying is so loud, it must be a boy.
In weather like this, if we just leave it alone, we're likely to die.
The old woman took off her headscarf, and her rough, withered hands touched the baby's wet, pink body, which smelled of blood, indicating that the baby had just been born.
Three or four days have passed since the great battle, how could a mortal child have been left behind on the ancient battlefield?
The baby wiggled its chubby arms and legs, bleating softly.
The laughter amused the old woman, who touched the little one with her fingers and let him suckle as if it were breast milk.
So small and so soft, its scent is just too tempting.
They couldn't let anyone find out, so they carefully wrapped their headscarves around their wounds. The old woman, with her frail body, followed her clansmen back to the village.
The village has been inhabited by demons for generations. Unlike demons who became demons later in life, they are pure evil spirits who mainly eat human flesh.
The villagers were called a cannibal village, and the monsters here were called cannibal monsters, each with its own unique appearance.
The baby was taken back to the village by the old woman. Naturally clever, the baby didn't make a sound the whole way, and when it entered the room, it just opened its bright eyes.
The old woman liked it more and more as she looked at it; her initial intention in picking it up was simply to keep it company.
A basin of clean water was brought over to wash the bloody body, and the little guy remained obedient and quiet, not making a sound.
The clear water in the basin turned murky and red. The old woman took it out and poured it onto the small tree by the door. The baby's headscarf could no longer be kept.
They dug a hole and quietly filled it in.
The faint scent of blood was so tempting that, in the short time the old woman went out, the gate to the courtyard was wide open, and a burst of laughter came from the small house.
"What are you doing?" The baby stumbled in, its tiny limbs swaying on the table. The padded jacket wrapped around its body had been removed, exposing its fair skin to the air.
Several young demons used their claws to gesture at the baby's body, dividing it into sizes for consumption.
Its claws were sharp, and its razor-sharp nails tore through its soft body, drawing blood.
Even so, the baby still didn't cry.
"This hand is mine."
"I want the heart and lungs."
"The head is quite nice. Even with the brain drained, it can still be used as a wine vessel."
"Don't try to take it from me, it's mine."
With just a few words, life and death were decided. The old woman, her heart set on the baby, rushed forward to save him, shouting, "I brought him back! You're robbing him, you're thieves, you're robbers!"
The young demon remained unmoved, saying, "Say whatever you want. We are demons. Those insults have no effect on us."
The group burst into laughter. The old woman, enraged, rammed her body into them. The young demon easily dodged, but the old woman slammed her head against the corner of the table, drawing blood.
After the loud bang, the old woman's body went limp and she collapsed to the ground, remaining unresponsive for a long time.
They panicked instantly. The village chief was the most ruthless; if they lost their lives, he would definitely not let them off easily.
Their desire to eat people vanished, and after a discussion, they had no choice but to truthfully report to the village chief.
Knowing what had happened, the village chief, leaning on his cane, struck the demon with a single blow, silencing the group.
They stood in the room, heads bowed, not daring to breathe.
When the old woman woke up, her wound had already been bandaged.
“Village Chief,” the old woman said in a hoarse voice.
The village chief poured her a bowl of water and served it to her. The old woman, thinking of the child, shed tears of gratitude.
Knowing what she wanted to ask, the village chief comforted her, saying, "Don't worry, I've already reprimanded them. They know they were wrong and won't do it again."
"As for that child, since you brought him back, you can raise him if you want." The village chief was reasonable. He firmly believed that there would be a day when humans and demons could reconcile, and that the cannibalistic way of life in the cannibal village was ultimately not a long-term solution.
He dedicated himself to changing this situation, only to find that his efforts alone were too insignificant.
But the child the old woman took in was a glimmer of hope.
If a cannibal village raises a mortal child, and that child grows up and goes out into the world to tell people that the people of the cannibal village aren't so bad, and that not all demons in the world are evil.
Among the demon race, there are also good demons, just as the true nature of mortals is fickle and not all of them are good people.
Some things cannot be generalized.
"Thank you, village chief." The old woman was moved to tears.
"Get some rest."
Newborn babies drink milk and can only eat other foods after three or four months.
A baby that doesn't cry or fuss is like a soulless shell.
They finally managed to get some milk from the tiger demon, but they couldn't get it into the tiger demon's mouth for ages.
The old woman had no choice but to pry open the baby's mouth and found a jade pendant in its mouth with some characters on it, which she could not recognize.
As soon as it was pulled out of her mouth, a burst of crying erupted like a flood.
"Wow—wow—wow—"
The old woman was in a flustered state and tried to feed the baby while the baby was crying. Milk got into the baby's nasal cavity, causing the baby to cough.
The breast milk soaked the swaddling clothes, and she was so flustered that she couldn't even take care of herself.
"Don't cry, sweetie. Grandma will feed you milk. You'll stop crying after you finish." She hugged the child, patted his back gently, and coaxed him for a while until he calmed down.
When they had some free time, they showed the jade pendant to the village chief. None of the villagers could read, and even the well-informed village chief could only recognize the characters.
"Born with a jade in his mouth, this child is no ordinary person." After saying this, the village chief added a layer of mystery to the child.
The jade plaque was engraved with two characters: Rong Yan.
The little guy is Rong Yan.
The girls in the village were curious about Rong Yan, and the village chief's descriptions were so fantastical that they always wanted to find out more.
By then, Rong Yan had already learned to sit. He sat in a bamboo basket with animal fur underneath, munching on a snack he had gotten from who-knows-where.
Several girls, seeing that he was cute, touched his cheeks and head, trying to make him laugh.
The laughter reached the ears of the nearby young people, and several of them were so jealous that their eyes turned red.
After some time, six-month-old Rong Yan could no longer drink milk. In order to grow, he had to eat meat, but it couldn't be human flesh; it could only be wild game.
The old woman was too old to walk, so the village chief ordered the whole village to find food for Rong Yan and also found a book from somewhere for Rong Yan to study on his own.
During the day, the villagers hunted pheasants and rabbits in the mountains for Rong Yan. Several people were indignant that the villagers of the cannibalistic village were going to worship a mortal as a bodhisattva.
"I think the village chief has really lost his mind." Indeed, many of the younger generation dislike Rong Yan.
In their eyes, Rong Yan was an anomaly, a useless good-for-nothing who couldn't lift a finger and was just waiting to freeload.
The group conspired to kill Rong Yan and planned to do so under the cover of night.
It never rains in the cannibal village, and summer nights are like ovens. The old woman would leave Rong Yan outside to cool off while she stayed inside mending clothes.
As night fell and she grew drowsy, the old woman went to bed, forgetting about Rong Yan outside.
The four conspirators climbed through the back window of the hut and entered. Seeing someone on the bed, they raised a dagger and stabbed it into the bed.
They acted swiftly, blood splattering as the dagger was pulled out. The four had a clear division of labor: one person kept watch, while the other two held the blankets tight to prevent the old woman from struggling. The old woman was completely covered by the blankets, unable to breathe at all.
"Have you seen him to death yet?"
As the four men pulled back the covers, the old woman's body suddenly went limp, turning towards their faces.
The four men froze in fright and staggered out of the village.
Upon hearing the call, Rong Yan called out "Old Granny." Although his pronunciation was unclear and his voice was hesitant, it was a sign of his concern for the old woman.
There was no response for a long time until a bloody smell spread. The short Rong Yan slowly entered the small house and walked step by step to the bedside.
The old woman's mouth and nose were bluish-black, and her lips were purple, indicating she had suffered greatly before her death. There were repeated stab wounds in her abdomen, suggesting she had been suffocated and stabbed to death by having her mouth and nose covered.
The villagers were all crying, and Rong Yan, who didn't understand anything, also cried along with them.
This was the first time so many people had appeared in the old woman's hut. Among them were villagers, clansmen, and even mountain spirits.
These things happened because of the old woman's death. He stayed by her side, feeling the loss of his loved one.
A young villager then burst into the hut and whispered in the village chief's ear. Upon hearing this, the village chief's fear turned into anger.
At that time, Rong Yan didn't understand anything, and it wasn't until half a year later that he realized it.
The death of demons is different from that of mortals. Mortals are born, grow old, get sick, and die, and the mourning, funeral, and burial are all conducted according to etiquette.
Even many years after their death, their descendants will still burn paper money and offer incense and prayers during festivals, never forgetting their ancestors.
When a demon dies, his body cannot be burned with incense or placed in a coffin. Before it decomposes, the village chief will distribute the remains to the entire family.
When they were dismembering the old woman's body, Rong Yan screamed and tried to stop them. Subconsciously, he felt that it was wrong to do this; how could a person eat their own family member?
But he forgot that they were demons, not humans, and their survival habits were vastly different, which couldn't be changed overnight.
Even an enlightened village chief cannot violate the natural laws inherent to the demon race just because of one person.
Rong Yan felt utterly pale and powerless. His consciousness awakened in the dead of night, and he felt that he did not belong here. He was forced to exist in the world, dancing with wolves under the racial system.
His feelings of gratitude grew stronger after the village chief's death. One night, he was awakened by a start; he was only two years old then, an age when he couldn't even take care of himself.
In the following six months, four people suddenly appeared in the village. They were villagers who had escaped. It was said that they had trained under the Fourth Prince for six months and had made great progress. Because of the care they received from the villagers, they specially came back to stay for a while.
Rong Yan knew about them, and he also knew that they had killed the old woman.
The four men looked at him with hostility, as if they had come prepared.
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