East Mountain Cat Clan

Night fell, and the mountain forest was quiet.

Chu Liang walked alone on a small path in the suburbs.

East Mountain wasn't large, but its slopes were unusually steep, so few people usually ventured there. The night wind howled, carrying moisture, suggesting a mountain rain was imminent.

He held the jade talisman in his hand. A crimson glow of cinnabar on the talisman guided his direction, indicating the approximate location and distance. Unless a powerful cultivator removed the Following Curse from Madam Ming, she wouldn't be able to escape the talisman's lock.

Proceeding cautiously, Chu Liang arrived before a hidden cave dwelling when the moon was high in the sky.

It was concealed behind the steep cliffs of the mountain forest. If not for the guidance of the Following Jade Talisman, he likely wouldn't have found it, which explained why Ming Yuanwai had searched everywhere without success.

Having located Madam Ming, he felt relieved. With two leaps, he arrived at the entrance of the cave dwelling.

Out of politeness, he didn't break in directly but knocked on the door.

Tap tap tap.

Tap tap tap.

After knocking for a long time, a sound somewhere between a beast's roar and a yawn emerged. Then the stone door was pulled open, and a large cat head peered out.

"Who is it?"

This fellow had a black-spotted cat head and a lazy, half-asleep look on his face. His fur and long tail were still present, but his body had transformed into a human shape, wearing coarse cloth clothes. It was clear he was a low-level demon who couldn't fully maintain his transformation, with his head and tail still in their original form.

So Chu Liang smiled slightly and said, "I am a disciple of the Mount Shu. I have come here to find Madam Ming from the Ming Residence in Xingzhou City. Please inform her."

"Shu Mountain, huh." The little demon lazily turned around, then suddenly froze, and abruptly looked up again. "Shu Mountain?"

"Yes, Shu Mountain." Chu Liang nodded.

"Mama mia!" The little demon let out a strange, high-pitched cry, his entire body suddenly shooting up ten feet high. He ran back as if fleeing for his life, shouting as he ran, "Great King! Great King! Disaster! A Mount Shu cultivator has come knocking! Meow!"

"Meow!" "Heh heh heh!" "Meow!"

The entire cave dwelling immediately erupted with a chorus of cat sounds. Who knew how many demons were startled awake from their sleep.

These small mountain demons truly had a deep-seated fear of the Divine Nine and Terrestrial Ten.

Chu Liang stood politely blocking the entrance. After a while, a tall, thin man with a proud bearing and messy hair came out with a group of small demons. Looking at his appearance, he did bear some resemblance to Madam Ming, likely her brother.

Behind him were about ten small demons, most of them with incomplete transformations, having cat heads and human bodies. Some hadn't transformed at all and were just large cats lying there, orange, white, and spotted, everything imaginable.

"I am the Demon King here, Cat Great King." The Demon King stared at Chu Liang. "Why have you visited my cave dwelling late at night?"

"Excuse me for the disturbance," Chu Liang said. "It's just that a Madam Ming from Xingzhou City, who was enfeoffed by my Mount Shu, has recently gone missing. I was entrusted by someone to come and find her."

"What Madam Ming, Madam An, we don't know!" Cat Great King said in an unfriendly tone.

"Hmm..." Chu Liang maintained his friendly tone. "To be honest, my sect has a tracking curse that shows she is here."

"Perhaps your curse is mistaken..." Cat Great King frowned. "Let me tell you, the demons in our cave dwelling are all good demons who don't do evil deeds. But if you insist on coming here in the middle of the night to cause trouble, I'm not afraid of you!"

"My intention is absolutely not to cause trouble. It's just, if it's convenient... could I go in and search?" Chu Liang inquired.

"Not convenient!" Cat Great King refused without hesitation.

Chu Liang smiled. "Is that so..."

"Help, help... help... no, young hero, spare my life!"

A moment later.

Cat Great King, bound to the ground by the Demon Binding Rope in the classic Tortoise Shell Binding, let out a desperate cry for help.

As a heroic and good demon who grew up in the mountains, he didn't think being captured was scary, nor was being killed. To make him beg for mercy? That was a dream!

But being tied up in such a posture in front of his dozen or so subordinates, he was terrified!

If even a little bit of today's scene got out, he, Cat Great King, wouldn't be able to show his face within ten miles!

"Then I still have the same question, can I look for Madam Ming?" Chu Liang asked politely.

"Quickly take the young hero to see my little sister!" Cat Great King roared.

The group of small demons, who were timidly shrinking back and not daring to step forward, immediately led Chu Liang into the cave, winding around to an inner stone chamber.

Chu Liang didn't forget to drag Cat Great King with him as he entered.

Pushing open the door, he saw Madam Ming also tied up with ropes. Of course, the method wasn't as professional as the Demon Binding Rope, it was just a rough restriction of movement.

"Young Hero Chu?" Madam Ming's eyes lit up when she saw Chu Liang.

"Sigh!" Cat Great King, on the other hand, let out a heavy sigh.

"I heard from Ming Yuanwai that you came home to visit your parents and siblings. What's going on?" Chu Liang asked while having the small demon untie Madam Ming.

"This matter..." Madam Ming glanced at Cat Great King, her eyes dimming.

"Our family originally lived as small mountain cats on this East Mountain. We never fought with humans, nor did we harm them, living carefree lives," Madam Ming slowly recounted. "But when I returned here the other day, I found that both my parents had passed away, and my brother... had opened a cave and become a mountain king."

"When I returned, I happened to meet a Demon King from another mountain who was visiting. When that Tiger Great King saw me, he insisted on marrying me..."

"I swore I would die rather than agree, so my elder brother tied me up here."

"Oh." Chu Liang looked at Cat Great King. "So you're this kind of brother."

"I'm not!" Cat Great King roared. "You don't understand anything at all!"

He turned to look at Madam Ming and said, "Didn't I already tell you how our parents died? In recent years, more and more foreign demons have come. East Mountain is only so big, we have to fight for territory and food, and we don't dare go towards the human cities, so we can only fight amongst ourselves! They both died in conflicts with other demons."

"Do you think I want to be a mountain king? I took in all the wandering cat clans and established this cave so that the East Mountain Cat Clan could have a place to stand!"

Speaking of his grief and indignation, Cat Great King was in tears. "Thinking back then, when my cave just opened, there were only a dozen or so demons and seven or eight weapons..."

"I worked hard to manage it all these years and barely survived here. Until a few days ago, I met Tiger Great King from Hidden Forest Mountain. His cultivation and power are far greater than mine, and he is willing to make friends with his own kind. I thought if I could befriend him, then we wouldn't have to fear other demons snatching our territory on East Mountain anymore. That's why I went to the trouble of befriending him and invited him to the cave for a feast."

"Who knew... who knew that my little sister would return at this time."

"That Tiger Great King is most lustful and took a fancy to my little sister's beauty at first sight. He immediately said that as long as I married my little sister to him, he could forever protect our East Mountain Cat Clan. If I didn't agree, then... then he might attack us!" Cat Great King said helplessly.

"But didn't you say your little sister already has a husband?" Chu Liang asked.

"Of course I said that!" Cat Great King nodded heavily.

"What about him?" Chu Liang asked again.

Then he heard Cat Great King say, "He got even more excited."