The child reached out and pinched the hem of Tang Yao's robe, tears welling in his eyes.
She crouched to help the child up, but just then, he suddenly revealed a sly smile. His little hands clamped tightly around Tang Yao, and his fangs slid out.
"Hungry... eat."
Tang Yao tried to pull her wrist back, only to find that he seemed to weigh a thousand pounds.
No, this wasn't a human!
Putting this together with how those people had behaved earlier, she realized this was clearly "that thing" the valley master had mentioned!
Tang Yao immediately used her other hand to take a pill from her Storage Bag, hoping to make him let go. She frowned. "Eat this."
The child sniffed at Tang Yao's hand and said weakly, "The grade is too low..."
Tang Yao: "..." He was even being picky now?
Seeing that Tang Yao could not pull her hand free, Xiao Linyu hesitated for a long time before finally mustering the courage to call out from behind her.
"What grade do you want?!"
The child ignored Xiao Linyu and blinked at Tang Yao. "You have... high-grade ones... on you..."
Tang Yao immediately thought of Elder Yuan's storage ring and took it out. There were indeed high-grade pills inside, though they were things like Nine Yin Yellow Springs Pills and Soul-Devouring Pills.
This time, the child sniffed, then swallowed one in delight. He savored it over and over as though it were a feast of gold and jade, and even the way he looked at Tang Yao changed.
Tang Yao froze. He had swallowed such a deadly poisonous pill without any reaction. "What's your name?"
The child looked forlorn.
"I don't know... someone very powerful... my head hurt so much... I can't remember anything..."
Then he looked up at Tang Yao, his eyes shining brightly. This was the best thing he had eaten lately, and this big sister had given it to him...
"It's okay!"
"Big sister, give me a name!"
Sure enough, whoever supplied the milk was mother.
Tang Yao pondered for a long while. The child before her was far too underworldly; she should balance that out with a name from the world of the living.
As though he could hear her thoughts, Xiao Linyu whispered, "Call him Little Sun."
This thing was far too sinister...
The child swept an icy glance at him, his face expressionless. Xiao Linyu instantly turned into a quail, finding somewhere behind them to squat.
Tang Yao fell silent for a moment. "...Then let's call you Kui."
Sunflowers belonged a little more to the world of the living, too.
The child's expression instantly changed, and he happily nuzzled Tang Yao. "It sounds so nice!"
Xiao Linyu, in the corner: "...?"
What was the difference between those two names?!
Just then, a crack rang out, and a group of people burst through the door, heading straight toward them.
They clearly were not the same group as before; several different people had come instead.
The happiness vanished from the child's eyes, replaced by hatred in his black gaze. Unconsciously, he tightened his grip on Tang Yao's robe.
The next instant!
The child was pinned to the ground, but he refused to cooperate and kept struggling.
Tang Yao watched the scene in shock, powerless to do anything.
What exactly were these people doing?
They took out a small bowl, slit the child's wrist, and began collecting his blood...
His blood was a dark purplish-black.
Though the child was young, his strength was not to be underestimated. The two sides struggled for a long time before the people finally filled an entire bowl and left in satisfaction!
As they shut the door, one snorted coldly. "You do this every time. Wouldn't you suffer less if you just cooperated?"
The child lay sprawled on the ground, his eyes lifeless.
Standing beside him, Tang Yao silently handed him a pill. As it turned out, he was remarkably easy to coax: his tears immediately turned to smiles, and he swallowed it happily.
What astonishing resilience...
Tang Yao stroked the child's head to soothe him. "Little Kui, what do these people want your blood for?"
At the mention of this, tears misted Little Kui's eyes, and he could not stop sniffling. "I heard them say my blood can restore the Medicine God's power. Once the Medicine God's power is restored, he'll be able to save the hibiscus flowers..."
With that, he pointed at a long root in the cave ahead. The roots were constantly drawing in power.
Tang Yao extended her Divine Sense to investigate. Five beautiful flowers were blooming above those roots, but a closer look revealed that a few petals were faintly yellow, showing signs of withering.
Tang Yao approached the roots and reached out to touch them. They faintly emitted Devil Qi.
She gathered a wisp of Devil Qi on her finger. Like a desert encountering water, the roots instantly absorbed every last trace of it!
These flowers were absorbing Devil Qi...
"Your blood? Why can it save the Medicine God?" Tang Yao turned to look at Little Kui.
What exactly was he?
Recalling the valley master's words, Tang Yao thought Little Kui must be a beast-
And his appearance clearly meant he was no spirit beast.
He was a Devil Beast.
What kind of god used a Devil Beast to restore his power?
That was far too contradictory.
Tang Yao activated her Spirit Root, gathering a wisp of Spiritual Qi at her fingertip before placing it against the roots. Just like the Devil Qi earlier, it was absorbed.
It felt to her as though two forces inside the flowers were contending with each other, except the side of spiritual power was extremely weak.
Most importantly, this was supposed to be an immortal valley of healers who hung out their medicine gourds to save the world.
How could the valley master, a healer, treat lives like grass without distinguishing right from wrong? Shouldn't he be saving people instead?
Everything about this was strange.
"Little Kui, you're a beast, aren't you?"
Tang Yao fed him again.
"...What's your original form?"
After swallowing the pill and savoring it, Little Kui whispered somewhat hesitantly, "Big sister, my original form isn't pretty. Don't get scared and stop giving me food afterward..."
Having said that, he sneaked a glance at Tang Yao.
Seeing this, Tang Yao rubbed his soft black hair.
"I won't."
Xiao Linyu: "?"
Wait, this little brat was actually a beast? He'd thought he was a ghost! So this was what that old man wanted him to control. If he was a beast, he wasn't so scared anymore!
In an instant, a phantom appeared behind Little Kui. Its body resembled a mountain, covered in scales and armor, with a sheep's body and a human face. Its voice was like an infant's, and its eyes shone red in its beast form.
Tang Yao stared at the enormous creature before her in shock.
"Taotie?"
Xiao Linyu: "?" In a panic, he shrank farther into the corner.
That old man could go die! Was he insane, sending him to deal with Taotie?!
Little Kui cautiously stole glances at Tang Yao, wanting to see her reaction. When she did not approach for a long time, he moved his little legs and ran to her side, hugging her thigh with tears shimmering in his eyes.
Tang Yao tried to pull Little Kui away, only to find she could not budge him at all. "Do you really not know who you are?"
He was Taotie. If he got upset, he might very well eat her.
Little Kui shook his little head.
Tang Yao swallowed and asked, "Why don't you swallow their whole divine flower? I remember... you should be able to, right?"
Little Kui tugged at Tang Yao's robe without answering, merely dry-heaving in silence.
Tang Yao: "..." All right.
Perhaps it was because there was still spiritual power inside the divine flower...
Next, without needing to be asked, Tang Yao poured out the devil plants, pills, and Devil Artifacts from Elder Yuan's storage ring, forming a small mountain.
Little Kui's eyes lit up, and his whole demeanor brightened. "These are all for me?"
Once Tang Yao nodded.
Little Kui immediately began sweeping through them like a gale scattering clouds.
A cup of tea's time later.
With crumbs clinging to the corners of his mouth, the look he gave Tang Yao grew greedy.
Tang Yao could not help stepping half a pace back. In the end, he was Taotie. Though his head was injured and he could only perform basic actions at present, greed was his nature, after all...
She gave a dry laugh and offered a reminder.
"Little Kui, you know the difference between one full meal and a full meal every day, right?!"
Taotie's eyes glowed red as he instinctively approached Tang Yao, step by step. "Big sister..."
Tang Yao had already retreated into a corner.
The young boy lowered his head, his black hair veiling his eyes.
To him, the human girl before him was like a long-term meal ticket, and she would not hurt him, either.
Just then, he suddenly raised his head!
Baring his fangs, he viciously bit into Tang Yao's arm.
The pain made Tang Yao frown.
Somewhat indignant, Xiao Linyu mustered his courage and stepped forward to berate Little Kui. "Hey, what are you doing?! Repaying kindness with enmity, are you?!"
Before Xiao Linyu could continue scolding him, a dazzling red light appeared before them.
Tang Yao's pupils abruptly contracted as she stared at him in disbelief. At that moment, he was licking the place he had bitten like a little beast.
Because his mental power exceeded hers, he had taken the initiative to sign an unequal contract.
The Master-Servant Contract was established.
With an Equal Contract, the contract automatically became void when the master perished.
With a Master-Servant Contract, however, whether the master unilaterally terminated the contract or perished, they would suffer considerable backlash!