A Bunch of Old Freaks Raised One Big Freak-Checks Out

In the short time it took an incense stick to burn, Black Shadow and Bai Mang had already tidied up the dilapidated inn.

And they had cleaned it thoroughly.

"Demon Venerable, please." Black Shadow respectfully invited Feng Moyuan inside.

Feng Moyuan glanced toward Su Ying. The instant he swept his sleeve, she seemed to be drawn by some force and involuntarily followed in his footsteps.

"Huh?"

"Ah?"

"Help! What is this?" Su Ying cried out.

Feng Moyuan offered no explanation and walked into the inn.

Su Ying was forced to follow him inside.

Black Shadow and Bai Mang had truly had their eyes opened. Feng Moyuan had actually used the Step-Separation Technique on Su Ying. Was he unwilling to let her out of his sight for even a moment?

Once they had followed him inside, Feng Moyuan immediately placed a barrier around the inn.

"Demon Venerable?" Black Shadow was a little puzzled. Spirit beasts often appeared in this area, but those beasts posed no threat to them whatsoever.

Besides, because of those spirit beasts, no one lived here anymore.

Otherwise, how could the inn have fallen into such disrepair?

"To stop someone from sneaking away." Feng Moyuan stared straight at Su Ying.

Su Ying secretly rolled her eyes.

She really could not break through this barrier.

It looked as though her plan to sneak away tonight was going down the drain again.

"Su Ying," Feng Moyuan said again.

Su Ying instantly composed herself. "Yes, Lord Demon Venerable. What are your orders?"

Her fawning did little to please Feng Moyuan, and he began settling accounts with her. "How many times did you touch me during Sword Flight?"

"Well..." Su Ying's eyes darted around before she simply played dumb. "Lord Demon Venerable, did I? Why don't I remember any of that? Haha..."

Black Shadow said, "Demon Venerable, Miss Su touched you at least five times."

He added bluntly, "She was practically holding on to you the entire time, starting from when we left the Demon Palace."

Su Ying glared at Black Shadow. Did he have a grudge against her?

She rubbed her still-aching neck and immediately dropped to her knees. "Mercy, Demon Venerable!"

Feng Moyuan gave Black Shadow a chilly glance.

Black Shadow felt a wave of murderous intent strike him head-on...

"Su Ying, if you can prepare a dinner that satisfies me, I will let this matter slide." Feng Moyuan had never intended to take her life.

Su Ying breathed a sigh of relief. "Yes!"

Black Shadow's eyes widened. That was it?

He could not help wondering how their lord, who had always been free of wants and desires, had become like this.

He had given Su Ying one chance to live after another, and had even become obsessed with the food she made.

Could this woman really become their Demon Venerable's Demon Empress?

The moment Black Shadow considered that possibility, he lost the will to live.

Su Ying could not care less about all that. She only knew that to survive now, she had to prepare dinner for the Demon Venerable. Only by making it properly would she have a chance to live.

With that thought, she took various ingredients out of her Spatial Ring.

Su Ying wanted to stir-fry a few dishes for Feng Moyuan and make some for Bai Mang and herself as well.

As for Black Shadow...

Su Ying had no intention of preparing anything for him. This man had repeatedly opposed her and even knocked her unconscious. She was not the sort of fool who repaid malice with kindness.

"Bai Mang." Watching Su Ying set up a stand nearby to cook, Feng Moyuan called out.

"Demon Venerable!" Bai Mang withdrew his gaze and bowed respectfully to Feng Moyuan.

"Tell me what is going on with those spirit beasts at Flame Mountain," Feng Moyuan said.

He had slept for a thousand years.

He knew nothing about the outside world, and he had not been back for long. He had not read a single memorial.

Thus, he had no idea what state the Demon Realm was in now.

"Yes." Bai Mang began explaining.

"Five hundred years ago, the spiritual vein at Flame Mountain suddenly stirred, and a spirit beast abruptly burst out of the ground. But the nearby villagers thought nothing of it. They believed it was a divine beast bringing blessings from heaven, so they kept it at the village chief's home.

"The spirit beast was pitch-black all over, with a red beak and red claws. It could command fire, and flames rose from its body whenever it grew angry. It mainly ate meat. The villagers thought this was a good omen. At least with a spirit beast there, they would not have to worry about the village's safety. Who could have known that it would grow larger and larger, until it stood as tall as a person, and become increasingly savage? One night, it slaughtered the village chief's entire family and burned everything to ashes. When the villagers prepared to join forces to hunt it down, they discovered that it could split in two and produce a smaller spirit beast.

"The smaller spirit beast had a vicious temper. During the villagers' attack, it killed a villager and split in two again.

"As a result, the spirit beasts multiplied. The villagers realized that whenever these beasts killed them, their numbers would grow, so they hurriedly moved away. That is why the land for a hundred miles around Flame Mountain has long been all but deserted."

Feng Moyuan's violet eyes darkened. "Those old bastards."

Black Shadow and Bai Mang instantly lowered their heads.

"They were afraid that if they took soldiers to hunt the beasts down and proved too weak, they would only make the beasts multiply. So they did not dare act, and simply let those beasts prey on the people of the Demon Realm. A bunch of useless fools!" A savage aura radiated from Feng Moyuan.

Black Shadow and Bai Mang were even less willing to speak.

Every elder in the Demon Realm was a ruthless character, and each had helped raise Feng Moyuan and keep him alive. Thus, even when Black Shadow and Bai Mang disapproved of the elders' conduct, they dared not say anything.

Sitting there stir-frying, Su Ying could not help frowning at what she heard.

Damn, this great demon king doesn't seem to be a bloodthirsty killer after all... He actually knows to protect his people. Still, those elders who raised him really are rotten bastards. If the great demon king knew they originally decided to adopt him because they wanted a little kid to torment, I wonder what he would think.

Ah, if those elders had known they were adopting something like him, someone they couldn't beat once he grew just a little, they probably wouldn't have raised him. A bunch of old freaks raised one big freak-checks out.

Feng Moyuan's expression darkened further.

But he had long known that those old bastards had harbored ill intentions when they adopted him.

He was simply gifted, so they had not been able to bully him for long.

Feng Moyuan asked again, "What does that spirit beast look like?"

"That spirit beast looks like a crow, but it isn't a crow. According to the villagers who escaped, it is an avian beast," Bai Mang said.

"Huh?" Su Ying could not help making a sound when she heard this.

Feng Moyuan looked at her. Remembering that she knew the entire plot, he asked, "What is it?"

"Pitch-black all over, red beak and claws, able to command fire, and shaped like a crow-isn't that a Zhitu?" Su Ying had not expected the original author to use spirit beasts from the Classic of Mountains and Seas in the novel.

"You know this beast?" Bai Mang hurriedly asked.

Su Ying shook her head. "I've only heard of it. My master mentioned this kind of spirit beast while teaching us before, but I don't know the details."

"Tch. Just make the Demon Venerable's dinner properly. Don't pretend to know things you don't," Black Shadow snapped, unable to hold himself back.

Su Ying wanted to dump the entire basin of chilies over him. Why are the people around this great demon king so annoying?