Tao Yaoye asked, "Since the demon bird is looking for Zhang Guanjia, have you tried letting the bird meet him?"
The village head sighed deeply. "We didn't need to arrange a meeting. A few days ago, that demon bird flew straight to Zhang Guanjia's house and shouted at him, 'Monster! Monster!' Then it flew out the window and off to who knows whose house."
"We were at a loss about what to do when you two arrived."
Tao Yaoye thought for a moment, then guessed, "Is Zhang Guanjia a monster? Is the demon bird warning you to be wary of him?"
There were plenty of kindhearted members of the Demon Race. Some took on human form, while others revealed their true forms to warn people that disaster was looming.
Take the great demon king Zhu Yan, for example. In folk legends, wherever Zhu Yan appeared, it meant chaos would soon engulf the land, so people considered it an ill-omened beast.
The immortal sects knew the truth was exactly the opposite. Zhu Yan hadn't brought chaos; it had learned in advance that chaos was coming and traveled all the way from the Demon Realm to the Central Continent to warn humanity. It had meant nothing but well.
Of course, the people's misunderstanding was partly Zhu Yan's own fault—it was socially awkward and afraid to speak.
A taciturn demon with a fearsome face didn't exactly inspire confidence that it was benevolent.
Perhaps this demon bird was the same, here to warn the people of Taiping Village that Zhang Guanjia was a great demon in human form.
At this, the village head looked troubled. He didn't want to contradict the beautiful immortal maiden from the sect, but he couldn't disregard the facts and insist that Zhang Guanjia was a member of the Demon Race.
"Zhang Guanjia grew up right here in Taiping Village. The elders can all vouch for that. He has two younger brothers, Zhang Guanyi and Zhang Gu Bing. The three brothers are very close. He's opened a private school and teaches the children Confucianism and cultivation. He's one of the few teachers in Taiping Village."
"If you say he's a monster, I'm afraid..."
Tao Yaoye disagreed with the village head's point of view. "The Demon Race is long-lived. Many long-lived species will spend decades in one place, slowly growing old until they're no different from ordinary people. Then, once they've seen all there is to see, they fake their deaths and slip away, rising from their graves to start over somewhere new."
The village head opened his mouth, but his knowledge couldn't compare to Tao Yaoye's, and he didn't know what to say.
Lu Yang gently shook his head and pointed out the flaw in Tao Yaoye's theory. "If Zhang Guanjia were a monster, he'd have to be a great demon in human form. How could such a powerful demon tolerate a little bird spouting nonsense? The bird probably wouldn't even get a chance to speak before Zhang Guanjia killed it."
Tao Yaoye didn't argue. What Lu Yang said was indeed true.
Lu Yang stood up. "Even so, we should still meet Zhang Guanjia."
The village head hurriedly led the way. "This way, Daoists."
As they walked, Lu Yang pointed out that the village head's form of address was incorrect. "We're all cultivators pursuing immortality. Never mind that the two of us are only in the Foundation Establishment Realm—even a True Lord at the Body Integration stage or a Venerable at the Tribulation Transcendence stage, those mighty cultivators closest to achieving immortality, wouldn't be worthy of being called immortals."
"You can call us Daoists."
The village head smiled apologetically. He wouldn't dare treat Lu Yang and Tao Yaoye like ordinary cultivators in the Foundation Establishment Realm. Fewer than one in ten ordinary cultivators at that level could advance to the Golden Core stage. But Ask Dao Sect disciples were all but guaranteed to reach the Golden Core stage; what heights they might reach in the future was beyond his imagination.
"It's just that no one's become an immortal, and all we have are rumors of immortals, pieced together from scraps."
Lu Yang only smiled at that and said nothing more.
Before long, the three of them arrived at Zhang Guanjia's home.
"Old Zhang, you have visitors. Open up."
The wooden door creaked open, and Zhang Guanjia stood behind it, his expression wooden.
"Let me introduce you. These two are disciples of Ask Dao Sect. They've come to help us get rid of the demon bird."
At the words "Ask Dao Sect," Zhang Guanjia's expression changed. He said helplessly, "I'm really not a monster. You can't just believe whatever the demon bird says. It also yells, 'Come play with me, uncles!' Why don't you send a few uncles over to play with it?"
The village head laughed awkwardly. "We were just taking a walk, and happened to pass by your place."
The village head worked diligently, and everyone agreed he was a good official. Since he'd put it that way, Zhang Guanjia could only open the door and let the three of them in.
Zhang Guanjia's home was a two-courtyard residence. It felt empty with just one person living there.
Zhang Guanjia was past forty and still unmarried.
No matter how they tried, the conversation kept circling back to the demon bird. Zhang Guanjia grumbled, "I've never even seen that bird. Who knows why it keeps shouting my name?"
"I've never left Taiping Village in my life. The farthest I've gone is Quhe Commandery. How would I know a demon bird?"
"Every day, students ask me, 'Teacher, teacher, are you a monster?' Some of them are even so afraid I'll eat them that they finish their homework on time every day!"
"Even my neighbor came to me. He said he had an enemy at the Foundation Establishment stage in Quhe Commandery and asked if I could secretly kill the guy for him. He said we could negotiate the price!" Zhang Guanjia ground his teeth as he spoke, practically itching to fight the demon bird and clear his name.
He was an ordinary person, yet the demon bird could open its beak and turn him into a member of the Demon Race. It was utterly unjust!
After talking for a while, the three of them had learned nothing useful. All they'd heard was Zhang Guanjia complaining for two hours about how much the demon bird had disrupted his life.
Fortunately, Lu Yang and Tao Yaoye quickly promised to slay the evil and rid the people of harm, destroy the demon bird, and restore Zhang Guanjia's good name. Only then was he satisfied enough to stop complaining.
"The demon bird's back!" someone shouted outside the house, fleeing for their life and putting as much distance as possible between them and the bird.
Hearing the commotion, Lu Yang and Tao Yaoye immediately put aside their leisurely mood, grabbed their magical treasures, and left the courtyard to confront the demon bird.
"Daoists, be careful!" The village head told the villagers to keep quiet and stay well away from wherever the demon bird appeared.
Lu Yang gripped his sword hilt. The moment the demon bird showed the slightest intention of attacking someone, a flash of cold light would split it in two.
Tao Yaoye brought out a red paper umbrella, her life-bound treasure, the Thousand Illusions Umbrella. As the umbrella opened, it shimmered like a dream. Her enemies would drown in its illusions without even realizing it.
Lu Yang carefully gestured that he would scout ahead. Tao Yaoye nodded.
The demon bird landed at a private home. Lu Yang moved like a cat, soundless and light-footed, creeping quietly toward his prey.
Lu Yang was on high alert, his muscles taut as he prepared to draw his sword and fight at any moment.
The most optimistic estimate was that the demon bird was at the seventh level of Qi Refining. That was the best-case scenario. In the worst case, it was a monster at the late stage of Foundation Establishment. Fighting it would be no easy task, and defeating it would take some effort.
At last, he saw the demon bird that had troubled Taiping Village for twenty days.
Its deep green feathers were brilliantly vivid and glossy, while a large patch of red ran from the corner of its eye down to its neck. The red and green made for a striking sight.
Lu Yang recognized the demon bird at a glance. It came from the depths of a dense forest, fed on figs and berries, and was skilled at mimicking human speech.
It was a parrot.
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