The Invincible Ox Guardian
He stood tall and proud, towering over six feet.
His armor hung heavy at his waist, and he gripped a long halberd.
His face was fierce, but his eyes were dull.
He looked both foolish and clever, with a muddled expression.
This was Ox Guardian, a minor leader of Black Wind Mountain. He also served as its gatekeeper, and he was a wild ox who had cultivated into a demon.
Here on Black Wind Mountain, the gatekeeper's job was, to put it plainly, guarding the front gate.
The post offered no perks and took plenty of effort. He had to stand watch day and night and could never leave his post. It was a thankless, backbreaking chore... and Ox Guardian had stuck with it for over a hundred years!
Though he had never been promoted during that time, he had never once complained. He admired their Great King deeply, and the Great King often rewarded him with pills, which left him quite satisfied.
They said he liked to keep those pills in a gold-lacquered rosewood box lined with brocade. Before taking one, he would wash his hands, rinse his mouth, burn incense, and pay his respects to heaven and earth. He was exceedingly careful—not at all like the other little demons in the mountain, who simply gobbled their pills down the moment they got them.
Once, a little demon saw how Ox Guardian remained so tall, strong, and vigorous despite the exhausting work of guarding the mountain every day. Suspicious, he claimed the pills from the Great King were different from the ones given to the other little demons, then asked to trade.
Ox Guardian refused no one. If anyone thought the pills the Great King gave him were different from their own and wanted to