Purple Gold Bell

"Great King, I think you'd best keep your distance from those Great Sages. None of them are good people!" Snake Princess looked down on Bull Demon King—not specifically Bull Demon King, to be precise. She looked down on everyone except Duke.

"That's fine, because your Great King... isn't a good person either!"

A burst of hurried footsteps sounded outside. Snake Princess's expression darkened, and she reluctantly rose from Duke's embrace. It was the same female demon from before, presenting an urgent document.

It was a personal letter from the current ruler of the Vermilion Purple Kingdom, seeking Duke's help.

The letter explained everything in detail. The unlucky one was not the Vermilion Purple Kingdom, but the king himself—his wife had been abducted by a demon.

A Demon King lived on Qilin Mountain in the Vermilion Purple Kingdom, calling himself Sai Taisui. On the Dragon Boat Festival, he had abducted Empress Jinsheng. Having lost the love of his life, the king fell gravely ill. Only after his ministers reminded him did he recall that the Vermilion Purple Kingdom had Duke as its Imperial Preceptor, so he wrote this letter asking Duke to intervene.

After reading the letter, Snake Princess handed it to Duke. Duke skimmed through it at a glance and immediately understood.

Sai Taisui of Xiezhi Cave on Qilin Mountain was actually the Golden-Furred Hou, Guanyin Bodhisattva's mount. While the attendant boy was asleep, it bit through its iron chain and descended to the mortal world to become a demon. That was the official story, anyway. Everyone knew what was really going on, but since the big shots said so, they might as well take it as truth.

The Vermilion Purple Kingdom was considered a major nation in the West Niuhe Continent, but although it was large, its national fortune