Chapter Eighty-Nine: The Little Scholar Who Collected Monsters

“Form up, form up! Lord Skyfeather is about to grant the feast!”

The sharp, grating cry rang through all of Red Blossom Town. Perched on a dead tree was a raven demon covered in black fur, with a bird’s head on a human body and a pair of oversized shorts hanging from its waist.

Its crimson eyes swept the crowd below.

“Move it, or you won’t get any of the blessed feast.”

“That’s right, that’s right. Hurry and line up.”

“Those in front, pick up the pace. Stop wasting time, damn it.”

Watching the demons and vile cultivators ahead of him obediently standing in neat lines, Qi Xiu was taken aback.

What sort of figure was this Lord Skyfeather, anyway?

He actually managed to train these vicious, depraved, and twisted demons and evil cultivators into behaving like well-mannered children waiting for snacks at kindergarten.

No sooner had the line been formed than two raven demons came trudging up the long stone street of Red Blossom Town, carrying a blazing red iron pot between them.

At the same moment, a rich and peculiar fragrance instantly spread through the entire town.

The moment they caught that aroma, the demons began to salivate. Their tongues lolled out, and their eyes locked greedily on the huge red iron pot.

They looked as though they would gladly dive headfirst into the pot if only that would satisfy them.

“What exactly is this blessed feast from Lord Skyfeather?” Qi Xiu asked, nudging the white-faced man’s backside with his foot.

“Lord Skyfeather is one of the three demon sovereigns who rule over Red Blossom Town.

“He’s kind-hearted and generous. To strengthen us demons and evil cultivators, he grants the feast on the first and fifteenth of every month.

“And this feast is no ordinary thing. One bite is worth the flesh and vital essence of a hundred or more living men.

“That’s why, whenever the day comes, every demon in the vicinity rushes here just for a mouthful of it.

“You’re really lucky. First time here, and you already get to witness the feast.

“Though we arrived a little late, so by the time it reaches us, there’ll probably only be the thin broth left.”

Rubbing his rear, the white-faced man was also staring longingly at the blazing red iron pot, licking his lips again and again.

In these times, all the great clans and sects had joined the campaign to exterminate demons.

For demons like them, it was hard enough to find anything to eat.

Unless they launched a full-scale attack on a city, or attached themselves to some powerful demon lord, they could forget about feeding freely on humans.

If you tried to hunt mortals alone, you could wait for the court or one of the sects and noble houses to come knocking.

“So... they’re giving it away for free?”

It was hard to imagine beings like demons being described as kind and generous. Qi Xiu watched the red iron pot with a skeptical eye.

The two raven demons carried the pot along the line. For each demon or evil cultivator they reached, they would lift a palm-sized iron ladle and scoop out a trembling, translucent, jellylike mass of scarlet.

Demons were a filthy, rough bunch. Each one accepted the scarlet jelly with both hands and gulped it down in two ravenous bites.

If any of it accidentally fell to the ground, the demons nearby would all fight to extend their tongues and lick it clean.

The sight made Qi Xiu feel sick to his stomach.

By the time the distribution reached him, only a few scraps clinging to the edges of the pot remained, along with some thick, bubbling slurry.

Clang, scrape—

The sound of the ladle grinding against the bottom of the pot made Qi Xiu frown repeatedly.

“Hold out your hand.”

The raven demon scooped up a ladleful of the jelly, broth and all, and held it out to Qi Xiu.

Qi Xiu frowned at the bizarre scarlet jelly, thick with fragrance, then waved it away and pointed at the white-faced man beside him.

“Give it to him.”

“Hah? Hahaha, all right, give it to me, give it to me.”

Not expecting such luck, the white-faced man hurriedly bowed and thanked Qi Xiu again and again.

He reached out, took the ladle, and swallowed it down in great gulps.

The raven demon gave a cold snort. “Hmph, looks like you still don’t know what you’ve missed.” Then it sneered at Qi Xiu once before lifting the pot and continuing down the line.

Very soon, the huge pot of scarlet jelly was gone.

Even the last traces of the nourishing broth were licked clean by the demons at the back.

They looked as though they would have chewed the iron pot itself if they could.

“So comfortable.”

After finishing the so-called blessed feast, the white-faced man lay contentedly on the ground. Faint red streams of vital energy began to circulate through his body, steadily increasing his cultivation and power.

In just a few minutes, Qi Xiu could clearly sense the sharp rise in the man’s aura.

A trace of surprise flashed in his eyes, and he rubbed the ring on his thumb.

No wonder these demons were so desperate to come to Red Blossom Town.

That blessed feast could truly and rapidly enhance their strength.

The demons who had eaten it lay down on the spot, absorbing the surging vital energy brought by the red jelly as they advanced their cultivation.

Meanwhile, those poor souls who had failed to get any wore resentful expressions and prepared to leave.

As they walked, they muttered among themselves, “Next time I’m coming three days early to line up.” “Damn it, look at those bastards. So what if they got the feast once? Like that makes them special.” “Exactly. When we get ours next time, we’ll show off properly too!”

Watching those furious demons and evil cultivators depart one after another, Qi Xiu glanced left and right. Seeing that every demon was busy with closed eyes, absorbing spiritual energy, his eyes turned.

Then he quietly followed the group preparing to leave.

In his hand, he was still clutching a pouch-shaped object.

...

On an antiquated wooden building made entirely of red pine, a spacious yet elegant hall flickered with strange, dim yellow candlelight.

The floor was covered in a tasteful, luxurious black carpet, soft as if woven from some creature’s fur.

Three mountain-sized figures had gathered there, and their terrible weight made the beams and boards overhead creak and groan.

“How many came today?”

A long snout curled around a teacup on the table, and a thick, crimson liquid was poured into its mouth.

“About two hundred.”

Another figure, with a narrow face and a sharp beak, spoke slowly and unhurriedly.

“Too slow. At this rate, when will we ever gather five hundred little demons?

“The sect master of the Scarlet Cloud Sword Sect has gone to the provincial capital and won’t be back for three months.

“Right now, the Scarlet Cloud Sword Sect has only five elders stationed there, plus four or five hundred ordinary disciples.

“If we can gather five hundred little demons, we can unleash the Heaven-Obscuring Demon Art and break the sect’s mountain-protecting formation.

“Then the two counties under its control, along with those four or five hundred disciples, will be ours to devour at will.

“Second brother, third brother, this is a gift from heaven. We must not miss it.”

The figure seated at the head of the table was the largest of all, with golden beard and hair and a tangled, majestic mane. Its voice seemed to contain some uncanny force; the moment it opened its mouth, it felt as though the entire wooden building might be shattered by its roar.

Truly terrifying beyond measure.

“Big brother, rest assured. Though only a little over two hundred demons came today, our Crimson Fortune Paste has already spread its name far and wide.

“These past two months, the number of demons coming to Red Blossom Town has gone from a mere dozen to several dozen, and now to more than two hundred.

“I believe that by the next blessed feast, the number of demons will certainly not be less than four hundred.

“Gathering five hundred little demons is only a matter of time.” The sharp-beaked demon lightly fanned itself with a folding fan, its tone confident and assured.

“These days have all been thanks to third brother’s hard work. Once we take down the Crimson Sky Sword Sect, big brother will definitely hold a banquet to celebrate your merits!”

“Oh, we’re family. Why be so polite, big brother? Right, second brother?”

“That’s right, third brother speaks true.”

“Second brother! Third brother!”

“Big brother! Second brother!”

“First brother, third brother!”

“...”

“Drink tea, drink tea...”

...

“Ah, we came all this way and still didn’t get to eat that Crimson Fortune Paste. What a loss.”

In the dark and deathly still forested valley, soft footsteps rustled from afar and drew nearer.

Two pig demons with human bodies and pig faces, both potbellied and wearing aprons stained with blood, each with a pair of boning knives at their waists, muttered as they walked forward.

They had originally been butchers from a scattered market some hundred li away.

One day, while out and about, they had found a scroll covered in minced meat. After taking it home and opening it, they were eroded by the strange demon attached to it and transformed into this half-human, half-pig form.

If an ordinary person had become this hideous, they would probably have thrown themselves into a well and drowned long ago.

Yet these brothers had not been sad for long.

After their transformation into demons, they gained inhuman strength and completely freed the brutality and filth in their hearts.

In only a few days, the scattered market of a hundred or so people had been ruined by them.

The men and children were all thrown into the pot and cooked.

As for the women, their fate was even more miserable: they were subjected to daily abuse, and even in death they were never granted peace.

“It’s fine. The feast only comes once every fifteen days. We can just come earlier next time.” Pig Great Strength, with two tufts of yellow hair on his head, comforted his younger brother a few times.

“Oh, right. The women at home have all gone rotten.

“Why don’t we see if there’s some village or market nearby and snatch a few more to take back with us?

“Heh heh heh, living ones are always better than dead ones.”

“That’s right, that’s right. Big brother, you really are clever.”

Pig Second Strength, missing half an ear, immediately lit up at the idea. He wiped his drool and nodded repeatedly, his bean-sized eyes gleaming.

Just as the brothers had hooked arms, singing filthy bawdy songs and grinning as they prepared to go catch some new women, the trees in the forest before them suddenly began to writhe and sway, striking seductive poses as though they had become spirits.

“Hey, big brother, this tree... this tree’s turned into a spirit, huh.”

Rubbing his pig eyes, Pig Second Strength chuckled twice and puckered his lips as he leaned toward a hollow in the trunk.

“Wrong! Second brother, we’ve fallen for it!”

Pig Great Strength’s head was clearly better suited for thinking. As soon as he sensed something was wrong, he hurriedly tried to circulate his demon power to resist the medicine’s effects.

But the pair’s ability to become demons had been nothing more than the result of the strange power sealed within that scroll.

When it came to using their energy, they were no better than a newly initiated itinerant cultivator.

Before the demon power in their bodies could even be mobilized, their eyes rolled back and they collapsed to the ground with a thud, like cockroaches on their backs.

“This letter comes just in time; Heaven aids Huang Zhong in his triumph...”

A leisurely tune drifted through the quiet, desolate forest.

With one hand clasped behind his back, Qi Xiu strolled out at an unhurried pace and walked to the side of the two unconscious pig demons.

He lifted his leg and, aiming squarely at the three-inch mark below their lower abdomens, delivered two heavy, brutal kicks.

The ground trembled and sank with a thunderous boom, sending up a wave of dirt half a meter high.

The two pig demons’ original organs vanished in an instant.

“That’s better.”

Feeling thoroughly relieved, Qi Xiu flipped his hand and produced the Soul-Gathering Treasure Pouch, into which he stuffed the two castrated pig demons.

“Forty-six, forty-seven.

“Yes, at this rate, the stock of Primeval Pills will rise very soon.

“Standing at the camp gate, I shout aloud; the young and old soldiers listen and heed the tale...”

A clear, drawn-out operatic line rose once more.

In the dim and deep forest, that tune, like a death knell, lingered above the heads of the demons.

They could not escape, and they could not run.

...