Bieyao Valley
Mentioning Qiling Mountain made Ren Xiangxiang's expression even more unpleasant.
In fact, from the moment she appeared outside the door, Huo Xiefei had keenly sensed that Ren Xiangxiang was acting strangely today.
She used to come here all happy, with a smile on her face, but today, she seemed unable to smile at all, and looked lifeless.
"Actually...we've heard about Qiling Mountain from Caowa too, if..."
“No, Sister Fei.” Ren Xiangxiang shook her head. “Qiling Mountain can handle the matter itself. I came here this time…”
As she spoke, she pursed her lips, her expression looking even worse than before.
Consort Huo Xie, confused, tried to lighten the mood, "So you're here to see Grass Boy, right? Grass Boy talks about you all the time, and we all like you a lot. You're different from those demon masters; you're our friend. Demon Valley will always be open to you—"
"Sister Fei, please stop talking." Ren Xiangxiang interrupted her, her expression showing a mixture of inner turmoil and pain.
Fire Scorpion Consort was even more confused, and looked past Ren Xiangxiang to Mo You.
"Xiangxiang," Mo You whispered, hesitating to speak.
"Sister Fei," Ren Xiangxiang interrupted Mo You, "I'm here to see Caowa. Is he alright?"
Fire Scorpion Consort noticed the strange expressions on the two women's faces, but still nodded and led Ren Xiangxiang to Grass Boy's residence.
“As you know, my master and mistress are actually quite worried about Caowa going out on his own. He doesn’t have the ability to protect himself. But we’re all very happy that you can become his friend. Ever since he was able to leave the Yin-Yang Pass of the Underworld on his own, my master and mistress haven’t been paying much attention to him. However…”
Fire Scorpion Queen paused for a moment, then led the two to a cave. "However, this time when Grass Boy returned, Master and Mistress reacted rather strongly and imprisoned him again. We can only enter this place with permission, so..."
As she spoke, she looked at Ren Xiangxiang and said, "Master instructed that if you come looking for Caowa, you should be allowed to go in alone."
As soon as he finished speaking, Mo You became visibly nervous. Ren Xiangxiang tugged at his hand and comforted him, "It's okay, it's safe here."
Fire Scorpion Consort narrowed her eyes, and her gaze toward Mo You quickly lost its previous friendliness. After all, the other party was a fox from Fox Mountain, who had caused her husband such a great loss.
"Ha! You're not at ease? Our Demon Valley is definitely safer than your Fox Mountain."
Mo You ignored Huo Xiefei, and since she was a guest, Huo Xiefei didn't say anything more.
As Ren Xiangxiang stepped into the pitch-black cave, a cool breeze suddenly blew into her ears, accompanied by the faint, cheerful voice of the grass child.
"I knew Xiangxiang would come to play with me..."
Ren Xiangxiang pursed her thin lips and walked step by step into the depths. She didn't know how long she had walked when a small ball of light suddenly appeared in her field of vision.
She hurriedly quickened her pace to catch up, only to find that the light slowly spread out, revealing a blurry figure sitting there.
"Hey! I can talk now!"
This is the voice of the grass child.
Ren Xiangxiang was startled and immediately followed the sound. She found that the sound came from the ball of light, and right in front of the sitting phantom, there was a ball of deep purple light.
"Hehe... It's good that you can talk. You little thing, you were so anxious when you couldn't talk before."
The answer came from a deep, aged voice.
The deep purple light spot circled the phantom, bouncing up and down as if it were jumping.
"What's the outside world like? Can I go out and see it?"
The phantom shook its head. "If you go out like this, you'll be swallowed by some other monster in no time. It's too dangerous."
"But it's so boring here! I want to go out and play, I want to go out and play!"
The purple light spots began to protest. Ren Xiangxiang slowly widened her eyes. As the light gradually faded, more light spots and sounds suddenly appeared around her.
"Mother, please let me go out to play! I want to go out to play!" The purple ball of light began to whine to another illusory figure.
"No! You have to wait a little longer!"
"No! Unless you tell me about what's happening outside!"
"Outside……"
He spoke slowly, beginning to describe the mountains, rivers, lakes, and seas, and the lush greenery.
Ren Xiangxiang unconsciously sat down on the ground, as if watching a past event. The scene in the ball of light became clearer and clearer. The purple ball of light began to leave the cave for the first time, watching the spring flowers bloom and the ice and snow melt outside, and watching the bees and butterflies dance and the flowers bloom in full glory.
Soon, winter snow fell, covering the entire landscape in silver. It enjoyed flying in this valley, but it couldn't fly too far, and it never saw a third person besides its parents.
The autumn wind was bleak, and fallen leaves were flying everywhere. The purple light returned to the cave.
"I want to go out and play by myself. I want hands and feet. I want to play with everyone. Look, the birds all have companions, the bees and butterflies all have companions, and the grass grows in clumps. Why don't I have any? I don't even have a name! I want parents too!"
The purple orb of light sullenly hid in the cave, unwilling to come out again. After much deliberation, the two old people finally compromised.
"Okay...we'll try to find you a suitable body..."
"Really?" The purple ball of light suddenly jumped up.
But they searched everywhere and found nothing, especially no living creatures.
"I found it!" Just as the two were frowning in worry, the purple ball of light excitedly ran into the cave with a large pile of straw. "This... I can control this! I'll use this as my body!"
The two old men looked at each other in confusion, and one of them, half-believing and half-doubting, made a scarecrow and placed it in front of the purple ball of light.
The purple ball of light let out a cheer and darted inside.
The purple light surged, and Ren Xiangxiang was so excited that she stood up abruptly and blurted out, "Grass Boy!"
The purple light in the ball of light dissipated, revealing the clear outline of the grass doll. He slowly opened his eyes, and the eye on his forehead met Ren Xiangxiang's gaze.
“It really is you…” Ren Xiangxiang suddenly burst into tears.
The grass doll in the ball of light looked at its hands and feet, and happily jumped up and down, "I can run and jump now, I still have hands, I'm so amazing, I can go out and play!"
"return!"
As a result, the little grass child, who had just gained a body, hadn't even run a few steps before the two old people grabbed him and brought him back. "You can't go out now. It's not too late to go out when you can independently navigate the underworld and the path between the living and the dead. But I will let the other children in the valley come in and play with you as a reward."
The little grass child, who had just been discouraged, immediately cheered up when he heard that he could play with the other people in the valley.
The light dimmed again, and Ren Xiangxiang subconsciously walked deeper into the area.
Clusters of light appeared on the left and right sides; those were the first friends of the Other Demon Valley that Grass Child encountered.
"A scarecrow? A scarecrow can become a spirit?"
"Grass Doll is not a scarecrow!"
"You can call me Sister Fei. Come on, little grass child, I'll take you out to play secretly."
"Yay! Grass Boy likes Sister Fei the most!"
"My name is Zhuye. Here, look, this is a grasshopper I made myself. You can play with it, okay?"
Wow! It looks so real! Can you make little butterflies?
"Uh... I'll give it a try..."
"Grass baby, grass baby, look what this is!"
"What a beautiful little bird! But... what if its parents can't find it after you catch it?"
"Uh... then I'll let it go!"
...
The orbs of light grew more numerous and brighter, layer upon layer, intertwining together. Caowa's voice was always the purest and happiest, while Ren Xiangxiang was already crying her eyes out.
She wiped her eyes as she watched the grass doll become clearer and clearer within the orb of light, until the surrounding orbs of light gradually dimmed.
The grass child ran out from the depths of the cave, its body glowing with a soft light. Ren Xiangxiang was stunned and not prepared, when the grass child passed right through her body.
"Wow! I'm out! I'm out of here!"
As the little grass child ran out of the cave, he turned back and waved to the cave entrance, saying, "Father, Mother, don't worry, I will protect myself!"
After saying that, Caowa happily skipped and hopped away.
Ren Xiangxiang stared blankly at Caowa's departing figure, sobbing uncontrollably, "Caowa... Caowa... why..."
It's unclear how long she stood there, but the cave lit up again, and a soft light slowly spread out.
Caowa skipped and hopped back to the place, and said as soon as he opened his mouth, "Dad, Mom, I found a new friend. Her name is Ren Xiangxiang. I like Xiangxiang the most!"
"Xiangxiang is a demon master from Qiling Mountain, but she is special. She has excellent medical skills and also possesses demonic energy..."
"Xiangxiang has been to many places. She's very capable and brave. I'll bring her back to you all to meet her someday..."
"See, I told you! Sister Fei and the others also like Xiangxiang very much... I like her too, Xiangxiang is the best Xiangxiang in the whole world..."
"Caowa wants to be best friends with Xiangxiang forever. Xiangxiang promised me that she will go with me wherever she goes in the future. She said she will take me to play with her!"
"Xiangxiang doesn't lie! Xiangxiang even caught me little rabbits to play with, but the rabbits were too small, so we returned them to their mother..."
"I want to go out and play with Xiangxiang!"
"Xiangxiang..."
Ren Xiangxiang finally broke down in tears, her tears flowing uncontrollably. How could she do such a cruel thing to Caowa?
She can't do it, she can't...
Inside the Yin-Yang Pass of the Underworld, Caowa was still waiting for Ren Xiangxiang to come out at the exit.
"Father, Mother, why isn't Xiangxiang coming out yet? Please don't bully her!"
Behind Caowa sat two elderly men, each less than a meter tall, one with a bird's head and a human body, and the other with a human head and a bird's body. They were none other than Mingtu and Sixie, the original founders of Bieyao Valley.
The bird-headed, human-headed Mingtu sighed and comforted them, "Wait a little longer. We don't bully people, especially cute little girls."
After he finished speaking, Si Xie, who had a bird's head and a human body, glanced at him, and Ming Tu immediately coughed to cover it up and stopped talking.
"Little Grass Boy! Isn't it too boring keeping us two old folks company?"
Grass Boy immediately turned around and replied, "How could that be? Grass Boy loves Mom and Dad the most! Without you, I'd still be stuck in this dark cave, and I wouldn't be happy at all... it's just..."
"If she were truly your friend, she would consider your feelings," Si Xie replied calmly, taking a sip of tea.
The little grass child tilted its head, not understanding, and shouted into the cave, "Xiangxiang, I'm here—"
Two days have passed since the sun set and the sun rose, and Ren Xiangxiang still hasn't come out of the cave.
Mo You gradually became irritated, but just as he was about to approach, he was pressed down by a powerful demonic force and could not move, so he had no choice but to retreat.
After several attempts, he finally gave up; this was a place he couldn't force his way in.
The Fire Scorpion Queen, who had been observing from the shadows, gradually came to her senses.
Master and Mistress are not normal, and Ren Xiangxiang is not normal either. What happened to Caowa?
But Grass Boy...
He's right here in the Valley of the Demons, by his master's and mistress's side. Who could possibly harm him?
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