Zhang Zongnian had already finished the work at hand.
The noisy little Demonic Beasts in the storeroom had all left, and Yang San Hu was leading several warehouse lackeys to inventory a batch of supplies inside.
In the empty outer room, he sat alone at a table made of wooden stumps.
He closed his eyes, resting and reciting the contents of the Heavenly Demon Transformation Art and the Beast Refinement Codex silently in his mind.
These days, after finishing work and returning to the small room he occupied in the warehouse, he would take out these two cultivation manuals and memorize them bit by bit.
Fortunately, he had an excellent memory; memorizing both manuals did not cost him much effort. He already had their contents committed entirely to heart.
The Heavenly Demon Transformation Art—he had already burned it. The contents of the Beast Refinement Codex, too, had been wiped clean from that Jade Slip using Spiritual Power.
While memorizing the two manuals, he became acutely aware of their value, realizing just how heaven-defying they were.
The Heavenly Demon Transformation Art went without saying; just look at Lin Xue.
She was merely a little demon at Body Tempering Middle Stage, yet she could conceal all traces of her beast form in appearance, looking identical to a human.
Though many great demons who reached the Condensed Core Realm could fully take on a human form, it was only superficial; their meridians inside still followed a beast’s pattern.
The moment they channeled demonic power, Demon Aura would overflow, and any cultivator with Ling Shishu could tell a demon from their aura at a glance.
But with the Heavenly Demon Transformation Art, a Demonic Beast’s inner structure became identical to a human’s, all meridians and acupoints complete, able to practice every human cultivation technique.
Once a demon learned human cultivation techniques, they could conceal their demon power and cultivate Spiritual Power; even when running techniques, what overflowed would be Lingqi.
Even a cultivator with Ling Shishu could not discern her true form.
The Beast Refinement Codex was even more formidable, allowing a low-stage demon to rapidly raise their level by consuming the Serpent Core of other demons.
Granted, the Beast Refinement Codex had its limits—it could only digest and absorb Serpent Cores from the Body Tempering Stage, not those from Condensed Core Realm and above.
But the ability to quickly produce a large number of high-stage demons was already a terrifying thing.
If other demons acquired these two manuals and they were spread, many demons indistinguishable from humans and possessing great power would blend into Human Territory and do evil as they pleased.
Humans and demons had always been at odds; humans needed pelts, blood, bones, whiskers, organs, and Serpent Cores from Demonic Beasts as materials, while demons loved to eat human flesh—and it was said some could increase their power by eating humans.
If great numbers of Demonic Beasts infiltrated human towns, it would surely wreak havoc on the peaceful lives of humans.
He was, after all, human, raised in Hengqiao Town since childhood, and the townsfolk were friendly and kind.
The neighbors had always cared for him and his mother. He did not want to see demons invade the towns, bringing disaster upon humans.
Thus, he destroyed both manuals, ensuring they would not fall into other demons’ hands.
After silently reciting the contents once more, Zhang Zongnian opened his eyes.
Trapped in the den of demons, facing the empty storeroom, he felt intensely lonely.
Lin Xue’s beautiful face once again floated in his mind.
Ever since the day she led others to release him from the dungeon, he hadn’t seen her for seven days.
He wondered if she was getting by well at the side of that proud demon princess.
Lin Xue had said that once the Teleportation Ring’s Chuanyin Fashu could be used, she would come find him.
Eight days had already passed.
There were twenty-two days left before he could see her again.
Zhang Zongnian touched the Paper Crane in his bosom and thought: With this flying artifact, as long as Miss Lin Xue could slip away from the Demon Princess at that time, we could ride the Paper Crane and leave Yao Mountain together.
As he was lost in thought, light footsteps sounded at the door.
He looked up and saw a graceful, beautiful figure.
Her long hair flowed like a waterfall, her face fair as the bright moon, her brows and eyes exquisite as if painted.
Dressed in a white, form-fitting Taoist robe, her slender waist and long legs were accentuated.
It was Lin Xue, the one who’d lingered in his mind for days.
Zhang Zongnian froze.
He rubbed his eyes, thinking it must be a hallucination from missing her so much.
Lin Xue walked into the storeroom.
After a few days apart, seeing Zhang Zongnian’s somewhat dazed face again, she actually felt a touch of warmth.
She smiled softly at him and said, “Brother, I had some free time today, so I came to see you. How are you doing here? These demons haven’t bullied you, have they?”
Only then did Zhang Zongnian realize it was truly her and not an illusion.
He was both startled and delighted, standing up as he replied, “I’m doing quite well.”
He glanced around, saw Yang San Hu and the other lackeys still in the storeroom, then stepped out from the table, excitement in his voice as he whispered to Lin Xue, “Miss Lin, look, I got the Paper Crane!”
He took the Paper Crane from his bosom and handed it to Lin Xue.
Lin Xue’s eyelid twitched.
She received the Paper Crane, her heart pounding wildly.
In an instant, she realized—with this Paper Crane, why should she wait another twenty-some days?
They could leave with Zhang Zongnian right now.
The speed of this flying artifact was no slower than Hong Yanzhi’s cloud.
By the time Hong Yanzhi got word and gave chase, she and Zhang Zongnian would have long flown beyond the Nine Heavens.
She exchanged a look with Zhang Zongnian, and both saw excitement and anticipation in each other’s eyes.
She whispered, “Let’s go!”
Zhang Zongnian nodded, saying, “Let’s go!”
She then put the Paper Crane into the ring, grabbed Zhang Zongnian’s hand, and pulled him quickly toward the exit.
These past days, she had not stopped yearning to escape this wretched cave.
She had never expected that the opportunity would arrive so suddenly.
Once they were out, the sky would be the limit, the sea as wide as their ambition.
Lin Xue could already see freedom waving at her.
She was overflowing with joy.
But just as they reached the doorway, a tall figure blocked their path.
Lin Xue looked up and recognized the newcomer.
It was Shu Da.
The rat demon who’d had cat urine poured over him by Hong Yanzhi.
Shu Da led a line of rat demons, carrying over a dozen large Jiu Tanzi, about to lower their heads and enter the storeroom.
He saw Lin Xue and Zhang Zongnian holding hands, walking lightly and clearly heading outside, and his rat face showed a hint of doubt as he asked, “Mr. Zhang, where are you going?”
He was large and burly, filling the doorway completely so that Lin Xue and Zhang Zongnian couldn’t leave for the moment.
Lin Xue, seeing an outsider arrive, let go of Zhang Zongnian’s hand.
Zhang Zongnian felt a bit awkward and explained, “I haven’t seen my little sister for days. There’s nothing to do in the storeroom right now, so we siblings were just going out to catch up.”
Shu Da let out an “oh” and said, “So I’ve interrupted your family reunion.”
He pointed to the line of rat demons behind him, saying, “Sorry, but I’ve brought you some work. This batch of wine was just procured from the mountain. I’ll need to trouble Mr. Zhang to weigh them and enter them into the storeroom, then you can catch up with your sister.”
With Shu Da blocking the door and showing no intention of moving aside, Zhang Zongnian could only look apologetically at Lin Xue before returning to the table, taking out Paper and Brush to record the inventory.
Lin Xue was anxious but powerless.
After all, she and Zhang Zongnian were about to run away—not something to announce.
Shu Da stooped into the storeroom, his line of lackeys huffing and puffing with the Jiu Tanzi, filling the outer room to the brim. Then the lackeys brought out a large scale and began weighing each wine jar.
Zhang Zongnian stood aside, distractedly recording the data.
Behind Shu Da was a rat demon also quite tall, though a head shorter than Shu Da, with an extremely similar appearance.
But while Shu Da looked stern, this rat demon wore a lecherous grin. Since entering, his eyes had never left Lin Xue.
Lin Xue was already used to being ogled by demons. She just averted her gaze, heart anxious, cursing this group of rats for arriving at the worst possible moment.
Shu Da noticed the rat’s look and kicked him, scolding, “Shu Er, go keep an eye on those fools and make sure they’re counting the jars right.”
The rat demon called Shu Er muttered, “Yes, big brother.”
He reluctantly withdrew his gaze and went to Zhang Zongnian’s side, though his eyes kept flicking toward Lin Xue.
After a round of commotion, the dozen or so Jiu Tanzi were weighed, and Zhang Zongnian led the rat lackeys to move them to the designated area.
Lin Xue was frantic with impatience.
Nearly half an incense stick’s time had passed.
If she was gone too long, Hong Yanzhi would surely grow suspicious.
The sooner they left, the better the chance to escape.
At last, Zhang Zongnian finished and returned with the rat lackeys to the outer room.
Shu Da cupped his hands to Zhang Zongnian, saying, “Thank you, Mr. Zhang. We’ll be taking our leave.”
Zhang Zongnian cupped his hands as well, saying, “No need to be so polite, Headman Shu.”
Lin Xue let out a breath.
It was finally over.
Now she could leave with Zhang Zongnian.
Shu Da led Shu Er and the other rat demons out the door.
Just as they stepped outside, they all suddenly stopped, then knelt down one after another, lowering their heads.
The rats behind them pressed their heads flat to the ground.
Lin Xue started, a bad feeling rising in her heart.
She heard Shu Da’s voice: “Greetings, Young Master.”
Young Master!
There was only one Young Master in this cave—Hong Huzhi!
Hong Huzhi had arrived!
Lin Xue’s mind went blank.
It was as if a bucket of ice water had been dumped over her, freezing her to the bone.
A fat, towering youth strode into the storeroom, a wicked grin on his face and his eyes fixed on her.
“So you ran off here. Made this Young Master look all over for you.”
Eight burly lackeys followed behind him, all as robust as Shu Da, their gazes full of menace and lust as they leered at Lin Xue.
“Hehehe, little beauty, didn’t I tell you? Sooner or later, you’ll be mine.”
Hong Huzhi licked his lips, eyes filled with evil desire, grinning at Lin Xue.
His smile was cruel and mocking, staring at Lin Xue like a wolf eyeing a lamb.
Lin Xue felt chilled to the marrow, every hair standing on end.
These days, all she’d thought about was how to kill this fat cat.
But no matter how she pondered, she could not come up with a foolproof plan.
This fat cat was Red Third’s darling, and Hong Yanzhi’s younger brother.
Unless she could kill him in absolute secrecy without leaving a trace, she would never escape from this den.
But with so many demons in these caves, that was impossible.
If she killed the fat cat, Red Third and Hong Yanzhi would hunt her madly.
Even Zhang Zongnian would be implicated.
What to do now?
Her thoughts raced as she searched for a solution.
Hong Huzhi caught the hint of panic on Lin Xue’s face.
He was thoroughly pleased with himself.
He had long wanted to get his hands on this little Snake Spirit, and now the opportunity was here.
Who would have thought that in just a few days, she’d even grown a pair of legs—this would make playing even more exciting.
This time, he would learn from what happened with Ping Ping and be careful not to kill her.
As long as she didn’t die, his sister would at most scold him.
After all, they were siblings; Hong Yanzhi wouldn’t really turn against him over a maidservant.
Besides, their always-indulgent father was there to back him up.
Imagining soon tearing off the clothes of this beautiful demon, having his lackeys pin her to the table, holding her hands and feet, watching her unable to resist while he ravaged her beautiful body at will, Hong Huzhi couldn’t help feeling a burning heat below.
He grinned ferociously and walked toward Lin Xue.
A figure stepped in front of him, blocking his way.
Zhang Zongnian had stepped in front of Lin Xue, shielding her from Hong Huzhi.
He had sensed something was wrong the moment Hong Huzhi entered the storeroom.
In his days in the warehouse, he’d heard the little demons gossip, catching wind of this Young Master Huzi’s “deeds.”
Overbearing, lawless, bullying the weak, indulging in every vice.
Last month, he’d even killed his sister’s maidservant.
Because of Young Master Huzi’s notorious behavior, Zhang Zongnian had been worried about Lin Xue’s safety these days.
Every day, he feared hearing the little demons say this Young Master Huzi had done something to the Demon Princess’s new maidservant.
He had only relaxed today after seeing Lin Xue unharmed.
He had not expected this thug to barge into the storeroom and corner Lin Xue.
From the way the scoundrel acted, his intentions toward Lin Xue were obvious.
What he planned to do to Lin Xue next—anyone could guess.
Zhang Zongnian felt a rush of blood to his head.
He refused to let Lin Xue suffer the slightest harm.
Ignoring the enormous difference in cultivation between himself and Young Master Huzi and his lackeys, he resolutely stepped forward, blocking Lin Xue.
Hong Huzhi was stunned to see someone dare block his way.
He scrutinized Zhang Zongnian and asked, “A human cultivator?”
Zhang Zongnian had no weapon; he could only clench his fists, shielding Lin Xue behind him as he coldly said, “Don’t touch her.”
Hong Huzhi was dumbfounded.
He scratched his ear, leaned in, and shoved his face close to Zhang Zongnian’s, asking, “What did you say? This Young Master didn’t catch that. Say it again?”
Zhang Zongnian gritted his teeth, enunciating each word, “You—don’t—touch—her!”
Hong Huzhi clutched his belly, pointed at Zhang Zongnian, and burst into uproarious laughter, as if he’d just heard the world’s greatest joke.
He turned to his lackeys and said, “Hahaha, did you hear what this idiot just said?”
The lackeys let out a chorus of ghostly laughter. “That fool said Young Master shouldn’t touch that Snake Spirit.”
Hong Huzhi threw back his head and howled with laughter.
He turned back, glared at Zhang Zongnian, and reached out to slap his face, grinning viciously,
“You little fool, not only am I going to touch her—when I’m done with her, I’ll eat you to boost my strength, and then have another go at her, again and again.”
“They say human cultivators’ flesh is a great tonic. Today, this Young Master will try it—let’s see how many more times I can play with that Snake Spirit after eating your meat.”