Chapter 16: Traitor Demon Girl
A bright dazzling light pierced his eyes.
“You’re awake? Good, I was actually worried you were going to die.”
A soft and pleasant voice rang in his ears and a fragrant aroma assaulted his nose.
“Ughh….”
Yao Chen used his hand to block the piercing light and took a couple deep breaths. Immediately he felt the fragrance enter his lungs, which caused a comfortable feeling to spread throughout his whole body, but at the same time it caused him to feel weak and powerless….
Powerless?
Suddenly Yao Chen jerked and his memory of what had just happened flooded back into his mind. He had been being chased by people trying to kill him when he was knocked down….
Yao Chen fiercely struggled to stand up, but his body wouldn’t listen to him and would only tremble slightly. The fragrance in his lungs brought with it some kind of anesthetic effect.
“You shouldn’t struggle. I gave you Thick Honey Fragrance so you can no longer move. Although actually, this is for your benefit. You don’t need to be afraid anymore; the people trying to hurt you have already all been eaten by me… yup, all taken care of.”
The soft voice once again entered in his ears.
“Wait… you said you ate them? You’re…?”
Yao Chen astutely caught on to the keyword. Humans wouldn’t use the word ‘eat’ to deal with their enemies and the chance it was just a slip of a tongue was not very high.
“Fine, I’m a Nine Star Fox. You won’t have any bad prejudice against me right? After all, I did save your life.”
The soft voice seemed to become a bit dissatisfied. Yao Chen narrowed his eyes, trying to turn his head to see just what this Nine Star Fox looked like, but he found out that he couldn’t even turn his head. For a while, the two just stayed in taciturn silence.
“Hey, do you even have manners? I saved you and I still haven’t heard a word of thanks.”
“Do people who call others ‘hey’ have manners… but thank you.”
Yao Chen blinked a couple times and said a couple words of thanks.
“Fine, I guess I’ll forgive you then. Oh and your forehand has a fire seal on top of it, so does that mean you’re a disciple of the Yao clan? But to be chased by Yao clan’s murderers, it seems more like you’re a traitor of the clan.”
“You’re the traitor! I’m just… just….”
“Just what are you?”
“Why do I have to tell someone who drugged me to the point where I can’t even move?!?”
“Ah, I did that to heal you! Hmph, what do you think the Thick Honey Fragrance is used for!”
“I have my own healing medicine.”
“Right, you’re a traitor from the YAO clan, I forgot.”
Yao Chen once again angrily countered, “You’re the traitor!”
“Haha, not exactly, I’m a traitor from the demon clan.”
Who would have thought the soft voice would actually say this in such a cheerful manner.
“You….” Yao Chen hoarsely said. Towards this kind of person who smiled while cursing, just what other words could you have to say?
“Traitor, you’re so boring, sigh. How can you not even ask me how I revolted out the demon clan?”
“… Fine, why did you revolt out the Demon clan?” Yao Chen willingly followed along and asked her. The fragrance’s flavor was weakening, however there was some other kind of faint fragrance that was also present. This fragrance seemed to smell even better and caused his heart to feel a fervent heat.
“Why do I have to tell you? Haha!”
Yao Chen smiled. As expected, he was simply countered with the words he had just used.
However he didn’t really have much interest in that kind of thing, and at this moment his body was gradually recovering his energy. Although his body still couldn’t move, his hands had already recovered to the point where he could wriggle his fingers. Just as he was about to take out some healing medicinal pills, he noticed that there was a very strong medicinal energy in his body that was rapidly healing his injuries. He quickly recognized it as an Emergency Treatment Pill that Iron Guards commonly used.
Taking out and swallowing a couple pills that could assist the Emergency Treatment Pill’s medicinal essence, in a short period of time his body had quickly recovering from his deeply injured and anaesthetized condition. Yao Chen also noticed that while the Thick Honey Fragrance caused him to be unable to move, it actually did have the effect of healing his injuries, and at this time he was already healed by over seventy percent.
“Thanks.”
This time his thanks were actually sincere, and Yao Chen crawled back up from the ground and slowly turning his head he looked at the demon girl who called herself a traitor of the Demon clan.
“Cough!”
Yao Chen almost choked on his own breath.
There was only one way to describe it… a demonic body with pink skin wearing a green skirt that completely didn’t match the human race’s aesthetic views. And her face seemed to have strange lumps? It appeared as if she had failed to take human shape.
“Hey! You have a complaint!?”
“No, it’s just your voice… cough.”
“It’s pleasant, right?”
“Uh huh.” When Yao Chen looked at this little demon girl’s appearance and he thought to himself that that was pretty much her only strong point.
“Fine, I’ll forgive you for your rudeness. Hey, what’s your name?”
Yao Chen hesitated for a few seconds but still replied, “… Yao Chen. You?”
“Haha, I’m called the little demon girl.” The little demon girl’s eyes spun crazily as if she had thought of something amusing.
“How did you save me?” Yao Chen looked at her. He sensed that even he would be able to defeat her, so just how did he save him from three Da Dou Shis?
“I’m not telling you.”
“Fine. I’m going to go leave now. This favor will not be forgotten by me during my lifetime.” Yao Chen wanted to say more, but his heart felt completely empty. He didn’t even know what would happen to him tomorrow, and as for ways to pay back this favor, he felt even hollower inside as the feeling of being unable to return the favor washed over him.
Yao Chen bowed deeply. Then orienting himself, he started to very carefully start moving again while doing as much as possible to avoid leaving behind any traces of himself.
“You don’t need to be this careful. The ten people chasing you have already died.” At this time the little demon girl’s voice rang out from behind.
Yao Chen was shocked, and turning around he once again sized up the little demon girl. Nowhere on her body was the aura of a strong person, and amongst the ten people chasing him there were at least three nine star Da Dou Shis, so how was she capable of taking care of them?
“Do you know how to leave here? Actually I’m already lost, and originally I wanted to return to the Yao clan but halfway through I lost my map.” The little demon girl blinked her eyes a couple times, and although she didn’t match up to the human race’s aesthetics, but looking at her there was kind of charming pitiful feeling.
“Ok, let’s go together.”
Yao Chen nodded. Even if she was a woman, being a free bodyguard for her seemed pretty useless… but in any case, helping her to leave this place could also count as a little way he could start to repay her for saving his life.
“Excellent, if you didn’t bring me with you then… haha, let’s go.”
Yao Chen shivered, and he told himself not to think too deeply on the hidden meanings behind this little demon girl’s words.
However, Man proposes but God disposes….
Two days later, Yao Chen had once again lost the way. Originally it had been going very well, but just as they were about to leave the Shennong Mountain Range, the little demon girl suddenly provoked a nest of over ten thousand Fire Ants that covered the ground as far as the eye could see. This kind of force was something that even someone with a Dou Wang level of strength wouldn’t wish to provoke. The two of them spent a whole day running all over the place before they managed to shake them off, but they zfled so abruptly that Yao Chen had lost his orientation.
“What do you mean it’s all my fault! Who would have thought that those Fire Ants would be this savage? They didn’t even get affected by my charm; otherwise they would have become my servants.” The little demon girl argued in order to avoid responsibility. However she was playing with a fiery red crystal in her hands, proving that she had caused this incident. This was a Fire Ant Crystal which is formed from the energy inside the Fire Ant Queen’s body before being secreted out. Based on the size of this Fire Ant Crystal, it had to contain at least ten years worth of the Fire Ant Queen’s agglomerated energy. If the Fire Ant Queen’s lifetime was almost ended, she could swallow this Fire Ant Crystal and there would be a definite chance for her to transform to the higher rank Raging Inferno Ant Queen, thus extending her life.
The little demon girl’s stealing of the Fire Ant Crystal meant that she had cut off the chance for the Fire Ant Queen to advance and extend her lifetime, so as for her charm? Go charm an idiot! This kind of enmity she caused was clearly endless until death!
It wasn’t as if Yao Chen could say much more of anything anymore, and he merely shook his head and said, “Let’s go. The Fire Ants can still sense the crystal so this spot still isn’t safe.”
The little demon girl stuck out her soft and tender tongue, “Let’s split it up. I’ll eat two thirds and I’ll give you one third for you to eat.”
“Eat…” Yao Chen rolled his eyes, “That’s too wasteful.”
“No, if we don’t eat it then it’ll be basically a waste. The longer it leaves the Fire Ant Queen’s side, the more its efficiency drops.”
“If you directly ate it, it would be a miracle for you to digest one hundred percent of its energy. Refining it into a medicinal pill is the best way.” Yao Chen informed.
The little demon girl blinked. “You know how to refine medicine?”
“Uh, nooooo, I….” Yao Chen opened and closed his mouth. Looking at the little demon girl’s smiling face that couldn’t be considered pretty from any angle, he immediately understood… the nonsense about eating it was just the little demon girl’s indirect method of getting what she wanted.
It was true that not refining it would be a waste, however refining the Fire Ant Crystal required quite a few medicinal ingredients. Although he was fleeing, Yao Chen had still not been completely preoccupied with it and along the journey he had collected quite a few precious and rare medicinal ingredients. Most likely these medicinal ingredients had been noticed by the little demon girl and so she had entered the Fire Ant nest in order to fight over the Fire Ant Crystal.
“I’ll refine it.”
His father had taught him that the favor of a drop of water when in need should be repaid with a spring of water later. Favors had to be repaid many times over.
The favor of saving his life meant he had to repay it with his own life. However, before he accomplished his father’s dying wish and carved his father’s name onto the Clan Monument, he still had to treasure his own life. After dying then he would have nothing; everything would end in darkness. Two years ago, the day that his father had died, Yao Chen had understood just how heavy the word ‘death’ was.
Finding a relatively empty and open area, Yao Chen took out his medicinal cauldron. Over this whole month he had been fleeing so it had already been quite a while since he had practiced his refining. His hand was trembling slightly as he touched the medicinal cauldron and he also recalled the events that had happened during the Medicine Competition. It took quite a long time before Yao Chen finally took a deep breath, and when he started moving his Dou Qi he felt that his meridians had a kind of scorching prickling pain. This was due to the life and death moment causing him to enter the mastery level of the Triple Flower Agglomerating Flame Technique, causing his body to undergo some bizarre changes.
Using the Triple Flower Agglomerating Flame Technique’s Dou Flame to start his medicinal cauldron, Yao Chen noticed that when the Dou Flame appeared, the little demon girl’s face clearly had some fear and she retreated a step.
With the Fire Ant Crystal as the core ingredient, the only thing that could be refined was the Fire Crystal Pill. This pill didn’t have a rank, and it only let the Fire Ant Crystal become easier to absorb. As long as there were sufficient medicinal ingredients to complement it, the difficulty was not very high.
Two hours later, Yao Chen’s forehead was covered with sweat. The time to receive the pill had almost arrived. Although this was a simple essence extracting refinement, this Fire Ant Crystal’s quality had exceeded his expectations and was approaching top grade. His refinement was split into three porcelain bottles, and in total there were forty nine pills.
“I’ll give you one bottle, and the rest will be mine.”
The little demon girl acted pretty quickly, and with a swish she took two of the bottles in Yao Chen’s hand. Yao Chen smiled bitterly. What was the point in fighting over it with him? Originally he didn’t even want it. Bakin the Fire Crystal Pills would let him absorb the Fire Ant’s essence, which would increase his body’s endurance and resistance towards fire. Taking another glance at the little demon girl’s eyes, he realized being polite and refusing would be offensive, so Yao Chen decisively collected the medicinal bottle into his Storage Ring. The little demon girl laughed mischievously, and from her robe she took out some medicinal ingredients, “Huh, your refining technique isn’t that bad. I have quite a few things here; look and see if they are useful to you.”
Yao Chen took a glance, and couldn’t help but to tremble in shock. There weren’t a large amount of the medicinal ingredients, but every single one was a seventh grade or eighth grade medicinal ingredient. Amongst them was even a Flame Devil Demonic Heart which was a genuine ninth grade medicinal ingredient which could only be obtained by luck!
“These medicinal ingredients… they have exceeded my abilities to use. Also, don’t lightly show these medicinal ingredients to strangers….”
Yao Chen’s throat croaked, and he actually had an urge to steal them from the little demon girl. These medicinal ingredients would all give rise to a bloody rain and evil wind from people trying to steal it, and even in the Yao clan they were all extremely precious and wouldn’t be lightly revealed to others. If they were handed over to the clan treasury, then who knows how many benefits you could obtain. And if you were to exchange it for merit points then it would end up in the thousands.
“Ah, I know. It’s not like you’re a stranger. I’ll leave these with you for now and when you’re able to use them you can refine them for me, how’s that sound?” The little demon girl’s expression had ‘I’m a very treacherous person’ written all over it as she piercingly stared at Yao Chen.
“Cough, you trust me this much?”
“Of course I trust you, your name is Yao Chen right? I… hehe, I think this name is a very righteous and loyal name.”
“Oh really?” Yao Chen doubtingly looked at the little demon girl. Thinking back to how his mother had said the more beautiful a woman was the better she was at tricking people, he now felt that as long as it was any woman she would definitely be able to trick people. The little demon girl definitely had some hidden intentions and wanted something from him.
However, this life of his was saved by her. Yao Chen laughed and decided to accept them unconcerned. The heavens were large and the earth was large; what else could be larger than the favor of saving his life?
“Let’s go.” The little demon girl’s nose sniffed and she started walking a certain direction.
“You know where to go?”
“Not really, but there’s a river to this side. I know the Shennong Mountain Range only has a single river, the Shennong River. It flows north and as long as you follow the flow, it’ll bring you to the Central Plains.”
“The Central Plains….” The Shennong mountain range was located to the extreme south of the Central Plains. Although they were technically within the boundary of the Central Plains, the Central Plains she spoke of was ten thousand miles away from the Shennong Mountain Range. Yao Chen immediately felt an extreme feeling of unfamiliarity.
She blinked at him and said, “Hurry up! Oh wait, do you know how to refine sweets?”
Yao Chen wasn’t able to tear his thoughts away, and he moodily replied, “No.”
“Tch, how petty… help me refine some food; I’ve already finished everything I brought from my home. I brought the recipe and the ingredients. Just refine some for me.”
“No! Who was the one who said we had to hurry up?!”
“Refine them for me when we get to the riverside.”
“We’ll discuss it when we get there then.”
“Deal!”
“I didn’t say yes!” Yao Chen had a headache from her; woman really were troublesome, especially demon women.
They argued as they cut their way through the bush. But at least it wasn’t lonely. When it was evening, the rumbling sound of water filled their ears.
“A waterfall!”
The demon girl jumped up and rushed over.
Yao Chen quickly followed her, and in a short moment a long winding river appeared before his eyes. Not far was a cliff hundreds of meters high. A waterfall dozens of meters wide crashed down from it. Mist flew into the air, creating a huge dazzling rainbow.
The demon girl jumped and shouted in front of the waterfall; this was the joy that came from playing with water.
Yao Chen also smiled slightly. Walking up the water, he filled his water canteens. He then took out some food. Using the Triple Flower Agglomerating Flame Technique, he heated the meat and sprinkled some spices over it as well as the herbs he had collected along the way.
When the little demon girl smelled it, despite enjoying the water, she jumped over dripping wet and pitifully looked at Yao Chen. Although she had a fox’s face, the way she was drooling with desire was also a bit cute.
Yao Chen shook his head and used his Triple Flower Agglomerating Flame Technique to cook up some more meat and wrapped it with fresh herbs, giving it to her. She happily bit into it. “Hm, people with flame attribute Dou Qi really do have an advantage here. Every single one of them are master chefs.”
Yao Chen smiled bitterly; after all, that flame was supposed to be used for refining medicine. But using it for cooking was also not bad. After all, his control over the flame was definitely not lacking. He had eaten it like this hundreds of time without tiring of it, however… he had never actually once personally cooked one for his mother….
As soon as he thought of his mother, Yao Chen’s face darkened. He didn’t know how his mother was right now. Before he left, his mother’s blood and qi had rebelled, and he wondered whether the clan elders would help her. Since Yao Wangui hadn’t captured him, would he take it out on his mother?
“Are you thinking of home? I also miss my mom a bit…”
The little demon girl ate her full and patted her stomach. Her gaze rippled.
Yao Chen raised his head and looked at her. “You also have a mom?”
“Hey, are you provoking me? Do you think only you have a mother? Although I’m a demon, we are also born from a mother.” She looked just like a cat whose tail had been stepped on as she jumped up and angrily glared at Yao Chen.
“No…” He rubbed his nose, his face apologetic. He didn’t know much about the demon clan.
His entire life, he had always been indifferent to anything that wasn’t cultivating Dou Qi or alchemy.
“Hmph, I guess you must be a blockhead or you wouldn’t have been expelled from the Yao clan. You know what, how about you come home with me. I’ll make my dad give you the title of a grandmaster alchemist,” she said, looking for his reaction.
Yao Chen hesitated but still shook his head. In terms of escape paths, going to the demon clan wasn’t a bad choice, but if he did go, then he would probably never be able to leave. He still remembered his mother telling him to carve his name on to the Clan Monument. Although he was expelled from the clan, but as long as acted properly, there would be a day he could go back. But if he entered the demon clan, no matter how great his actions were in the future, he would never be able to carve his name onto that monument. For Yao Chen, nothing was more important than his father’s final wishes and his mother’s expectations.
“My demon clan has many medicinal ingredients. Whatever you want to refine, you won’t lack for ingredients.”
“Haha.” Yao Chen laughed, but firmly shook his head.
“Tch, it’s almost dark. Let’s rest here tonight and make a raft tomorrow. We can follow the river quickly.” Saying this, for some reason she suddenly laughed.
Yao Chen felt his vision blur for a moment, and it seemed as if the little demon girl’s fox nose seemed to recede a bit, but as soon as he blinked she returned to normal.
Appearance Changing Pill?
His heart shook, but he still turned and smiled normally. “I’ll go find a place we can rest for the night.”
The huge mountain range on the horizon quickly swallowed the setting sun’s last rays, causing night to descend. The sound of birds and bugs became much louder. The place they chose to rest was a couple hundred meters away from the river, and the rumbling from the waterfall was no longer as deafening here.
The mountain forest’s night was extremely cold, so Yao Chen ignited some smokeless wood. He also set up a simple warning Dou Formation. Although it wasn’t powerful, but it was enough to repel some large beasts.
The little demon girl had become exhausted from playing in the water all afternoon, so she slept soundly as soon as she lied down.
Yao Chen consumed some pills that could recover energy as he rested, looking at the fire. Although this place was hundreds of miles from the Yao clan and the people chasing him were dead according to the little demon girl, he didn’t dare become overconfident.
As the smokeless wood cackled, for some reason Yao Chen started to feel his eyelids become heavy and he became extremely sleepy. He was unable to resist as he lay down.
Strange….
His head hit the ground and he fell asleep.
At this time, a large figure appeared beside the fire like a phantom.
“Huh? Spirit Slumber Grass?”
Suddenly the sleeping demon girl jumped up. A jade decoration on her waist emitted a faint green glow.
“Miss.”
A huge figure knelt down to the little demon girl.
“Oh, it’s you. You scared me.” She patted her stomach. “I’m not going back. I want to keep playing.”
“Miss, master sent a message that if I don’t bring miss back within three days he’ll blame me.”
“Hmph, I knew he would use this to threaten me. You never should have followed me from the beginning.”
“Haha.” The huge figure let out a straightforward laugh; if it weren’t for him taking action in the dark, how could she possibly have managed to play this happily relying on just her own strength? Let alone the experts from the Yao clan, even the Magical Beasts along the way were enough to obliterate her and the kid from the Yao clan hundreds of times. Those dangerous moments had occurred several times, and even he had received a few wounds to block them. But when he saw how happy the young miss was, he felt that it was worth it.
“Take him back to the clan with us. Our demon clan is most lacking in alchemists.”
The huge figure shook his head. “Miss, forgive me for speaking bluntly. This kid has been expelled from the Yao clan, and the one who punished him was Yao Wangui. Perhaps… master might exchange him for some benefits with the Yao clan.”
She was stumped for a moment. The reason she had joined Yao Chen wasn’t just to play around. The demon clan was in dire need of alchemists. Even lower tier alchemists were extremely lacking. Furthermore the human race was completely evil and would rarely take out a large amount of medicinal pills for them. She frowned, “But his potential…”
Thu huge figure firmly said, “This little one doesn’t wish to see miss have a conflict with master just for a human. Furthermore, if we bring him back to the clan and Yao Wangui learns of it, it might end up hurting our relation with the Yao clan.”
“Fine, I get it.” She waved her hand a bit angrily but helplessly. Looking at the unconscious Yao Chen, she hesitated a moment before leaving a few words for him. “I went back home. Don’t worry. My name is actually Hu Jiujiu, and if we ever meet again, you can’t call me little demon girl. Also, you haven’t helped me refine my sweets, so the favor of saving your life has yet to be repaid. So you have to make sure to stay alive and not just randomly die.”
Thinking about it, she also left behind an adorable troublemaking Nine Star Fox picture beside the words.
“Okay, let’s go,” she said, wiping her hands.
The huge figure waved his hand, and a shadow completely enveloped her. The two of them turned into a black wind that flew up into the sky and disappeared.
Footnote:
Hu Jiujiu means Fox NineNine.
Chapter 16: Traitor Demon Girl
A bright dazzling light pierced his eyes.
“You’re awake? Good, I was actually worried you were going to die.”
A soft and pleasant voice rang in his ears and a fragrant aroma assaulted his nose.
“Ughh….”
Yao Chen used his hand to block the piercing light and took a couple deep breaths. Immediately he felt the fragrance enter his lungs, which caused a comfortable feeling to spread throughout his whole body, but at the same time it caused him to feel weak and powerless….
Powerless?
Suddenly Yao Chen jerked and his memory of what had just happened flooded back into his mind. He had been being chased by people trying to kill him when he was knocked down….
Yao Chen fiercely struggled to stand up, but his body wouldn’t listen to him and would only tremble slightly. The fragrance in his lungs brought with it some kind of anesthetic effect.
“You shouldn’t struggle. I gave you Thick Honey Fragrance so you can no longer move. Although actually, this is for your benefit. You don’t need to be afraid anymore; the people trying to hurt you have already all been eaten by me… yup, all taken care of.”
The soft voice once again entered in his ears.
“Wait… you said you ate them? You’re…?”
Yao Chen astutely caught on to the keyword. Humans wouldn’t use the word ‘eat’ to deal with their enemies and the chance it was just a slip of a tongue was not very high.
“Fine, I’m a Nine Star Fox. You won’t have any bad prejudice against me right? After all, I did save your life.”
The soft voice seemed to become a bit dissatisfied. Yao Chen narrowed his eyes, trying to turn his head to see just what this Nine Star Fox looked like, but he found out that he couldn’t even turn his head. For a while, the two just stayed in taciturn silence.
“Hey, do you even have manners? I saved you and I still haven’t heard a word of thanks.”
“Do people who call others ‘hey’ have manners… but thank you.”
Yao Chen blinked a couple times and said a couple words of thanks.
“Fine, I guess I’ll forgive you then. Oh and your forehand has a fire seal on top of it, so does that mean you’re a disciple of the Yao clan? But to be chased by Yao clan’s murderers, it seems more like you’re a traitor of the clan.”
“You’re the traitor! I’m just… just….”
“Just what are you?”
“Why do I have to tell someone who drugged me to the point where I can’t even move?!?”
“Ah, I did that to heal you! Hmph, what do you think the Thick Honey Fragrance is used for!”
“I have my own healing medicine.”
“Right, you’re a traitor from the YAO clan, I forgot.”
Yao Chen once again angrily countered, “You’re the traitor!”
“Haha, not exactly, I’m a traitor from the demon clan.”
Who would have thought the soft voice would actually say this in such a cheerful manner.
“You….” Yao Chen hoarsely said. Towards this kind of person who smiled while cursing, just what other words could you have to say?
“Traitor, you’re so boring, sigh. How can you not even ask me how I revolted out the demon clan?”
“… Fine, why did you revolt out the Demon clan?” Yao Chen willingly followed along and asked her. The fragrance’s flavor was weakening, however there was some other kind of faint fragrance that was also present. This fragrance seemed to smell even better and caused his heart to feel a fervent heat.
“Why do I have to tell you? Haha!”
Yao Chen smiled. As expected, he was simply countered with the words he had just used.
However he didn’t really have much interest in that kind of thing, and at this moment his body was gradually recovering his energy. Although his body still couldn’t move, his hands had already recovered to the point where he could wriggle his fingers. Just as he was about to take out some healing medicinal pills, he noticed that there was a very strong medicinal energy in his body that was rapidly healing his injuries. He quickly recognized it as an Emergency Treatment Pill that Iron Guards commonly used.
Taking out and swallowing a couple pills that could assist the Emergency Treatment Pill’s medicinal essence, in a short period of time his body had quickly recovering from his deeply injured and anaesthetized condition. Yao Chen also noticed that while the Thick Honey Fragrance caused him to be unable to move, it actually did have the effect of healing his injuries, and at this time he was already healed by over seventy percent.
“Thanks.”
This time his thanks were actually sincere, and Yao Chen crawled back up from the ground and slowly turning his head he looked at the demon girl who called herself a traitor of the Demon clan.
“Cough!”
Yao Chen almost choked on his own breath.
There was only one way to describe it… a demonic body with pink skin wearing a green skirt that completely didn’t match the human race’s aesthetic views. And her face seemed to have strange lumps? It appeared as if she had failed to take human shape.
“Hey! You have a complaint!?”
“No, it’s just your voice… cough.”
“It’s pleasant, right?”
“Uh huh.” When Yao Chen looked at this little demon girl’s appearance and he thought to himself that that was pretty much her only strong point.
“Fine, I’ll forgive you for your rudeness. Hey, what’s your name?”
Yao Chen hesitated for a few seconds but still replied, “… Yao Chen. You?”
“Haha, I’m called the little demon girl.” The little demon girl’s eyes spun crazily as if she had thought of something amusing.
“How did you save me?” Yao Chen looked at her. He sensed that even he would be able to defeat her, so just how did he save him from three Da Dou Shis?
“I’m not telling you.”
“Fine. I’m going to go leave now. This favor will not be forgotten by me during my lifetime.” Yao Chen wanted to say more, but his heart felt completely empty. He didn’t even know what would happen to him tomorrow, and as for ways to pay back this favor, he felt even hollower inside as the feeling of being unable to return the favor washed over him.
Yao Chen bowed deeply. Then orienting himself, he started to very carefully start moving again while doing as much as possible to avoid leaving behind any traces of himself.
“You don’t need to be this careful. The ten people chasing you have already died.” At this time the little demon girl’s voice rang out from behind.
Yao Chen was shocked, and turning around he once again sized up the little demon girl. Nowhere on her body was the aura of a strong person, and amongst the ten people chasing him there were at least three nine star Da Dou Shis, so how was she capable of taking care of them?
“Do you know how to leave here? Actually I’m already lost, and originally I wanted to return to the Yao clan but halfway through I lost my map.” The little demon girl blinked her eyes a couple times, and although she didn’t match up to the human race’s aesthetics, but looking at her there was kind of charming pitiful feeling.
“Ok, let’s go together.”
Yao Chen nodded. Even if she was a woman, being a free bodyguard for her seemed pretty useless… but in any case, helping her to leave this place could also count as a little way he could start to repay her for saving his life.
“Excellent, if you didn’t bring me with you then… haha, let’s go.”
Yao Chen shivered, and he told himself not to think too deeply on the hidden meanings behind this little demon girl’s words.
However, Man proposes but God disposes….
Two days later, Yao Chen had once again lost the way. Originally it had been going very well, but just as they were about to leave the Shennong Mountain Range, the little demon girl suddenly provoked a nest of over ten thousand Fire Ants that covered the ground as far as the eye could see. This kind of force was something that even someone with a Dou Wang level of strength wouldn’t wish to provoke. The two of them spent a whole day running all over the place before they managed to shake them off, but they zfled so abruptly that Yao Chen had lost his orientation.
“What do you mean it’s all my fault! Who would have thought that those Fire Ants would be this savage? They didn’t even get affected by my charm; otherwise they would have become my servants.” The little demon girl argued in order to avoid responsibility. However she was playing with a fiery red crystal in her hands, proving that she had caused this incident. This was a Fire Ant Crystal which is formed from the energy inside the Fire Ant Queen’s body before being secreted out. Based on the size of this Fire Ant Crystal, it had to contain at least ten years worth of the Fire Ant Queen’s agglomerated energy. If the Fire Ant Queen’s lifetime was almost ended, she could swallow this Fire Ant Crystal and there would be a definite chance for her to transform to the higher rank Raging Inferno Ant Queen, thus extending her life.
The little demon girl’s stealing of the Fire Ant Crystal meant that she had cut off the chance for the Fire Ant Queen to advance and extend her lifetime, so as for her charm? Go charm an idiot! This kind of enmity she caused was clearly endless until death!
It wasn’t as if Yao Chen could say much more of anything anymore, and he merely shook his head and said, “Let’s go. The Fire Ants can still sense the crystal so this spot still isn’t safe.”
The little demon girl stuck out her soft and tender tongue, “Let’s split it up. I’ll eat two thirds and I’ll give you one third for you to eat.”
“Eat…” Yao Chen rolled his eyes, “That’s too wasteful.”
“No, if we don’t eat it then it’ll be basically a waste. The longer it leaves the Fire Ant Queen’s side, the more its efficiency drops.”
“If you directly ate it, it would be a miracle for you to digest one hundred percent of its energy. Refining it into a medicinal pill is the best way.” Yao Chen informed.
The little demon girl blinked. “You know how to refine medicine?”
“Uh, nooooo, I….” Yao Chen opened and closed his mouth. Looking at the little demon girl’s smiling face that couldn’t be considered pretty from any angle, he immediately understood… the nonsense about eating it was just the little demon girl’s indirect method of getting what she wanted.
It was true that not refining it would be a waste, however refining the Fire Ant Crystal required quite a few medicinal ingredients. Although he was fleeing, Yao Chen had still not been completely preoccupied with it and along the journey he had collected quite a few precious and rare medicinal ingredients. Most likely these medicinal ingredients had been noticed by the little demon girl and so she had entered the Fire Ant nest in order to fight over the Fire Ant Crystal.
“I’ll refine it.”
His father had taught him that the favor of a drop of water when in need should be repaid with a spring of water later. Favors had to be repaid many times over.
The favor of saving his life meant he had to repay it with his own life. However, before he accomplished his father’s dying wish and carved his father’s name onto the Clan Monument, he still had to treasure his own life. After dying then he would have nothing; everything would end in darkness. Two years ago, the day that his father had died, Yao Chen had understood just how heavy the word ‘death’ was.
Finding a relatively empty and open area, Yao Chen took out his medicinal cauldron. Over this whole month he had been fleeing so it had already been quite a while since he had practiced his refining. His hand was trembling slightly as he touched the medicinal cauldron and he also recalled the events that had happened during the Medicine Competition. It took quite a long time before Yao Chen finally took a deep breath, and when he started moving his Dou Qi he felt that his meridians had a kind of scorching prickling pain. This was due to the life and death moment causing him to enter the mastery level of the Triple Flower Agglomerating Flame Technique, causing his body to undergo some bizarre changes.
Using the Triple Flower Agglomerating Flame Technique’s Dou Flame to start his medicinal cauldron, Yao Chen noticed that when the Dou Flame appeared, the little demon girl’s face clearly had some fear and she retreated a step.
With the Fire Ant Crystal as the core ingredient, the only thing that could be refined was the Fire Crystal Pill. This pill didn’t have a rank, and it only let the Fire Ant Crystal become easier to absorb. As long as there were sufficient medicinal ingredients to complement it, the difficulty was not very high.
Two hours later, Yao Chen’s forehead was covered with sweat. The time to receive the pill had almost arrived. Although this was a simple essence extracting refinement, this Fire Ant Crystal’s quality had exceeded his expectations and was approaching top grade. His refinement was split into three porcelain bottles, and in total there were forty nine pills.
“I’ll give you one bottle, and the rest will be mine.”
The little demon girl acted pretty quickly, and with a swish she took two of the bottles in Yao Chen’s hand. Yao Chen smiled bitterly. What was the point in fighting over it with him? Originally he didn’t even want it. Bakin the Fire Crystal Pills would let him absorb the Fire Ant’s essence, which would increase his body’s endurance and resistance towards fire. Taking another glance at the little demon girl’s eyes, he realized being polite and refusing would be offensive, so Yao Chen decisively collected the medicinal bottle into his Storage Ring. The little demon girl laughed mischievously, and from her robe she took out some medicinal ingredients, “Huh, your refining technique isn’t that bad. I have quite a few things here; look and see if they are useful to you.”
Yao Chen took a glance, and couldn’t help but to tremble in shock. There weren’t a large amount of the medicinal ingredients, but every single one was a seventh grade or eighth grade medicinal ingredient. Amongst them was even a Flame Devil Demonic Heart which was a genuine ninth grade medicinal ingredient which could only be obtained by luck!
“These medicinal ingredients… they have exceeded my abilities to use. Also, don’t lightly show these medicinal ingredients to strangers….”
Yao Chen’s throat croaked, and he actually had an urge to steal them from the little demon girl. These medicinal ingredients would all give rise to a bloody rain and evil wind from people trying to steal it, and even in the Yao clan they were all extremely precious and wouldn’t be lightly revealed to others. If they were handed over to the clan treasury, then who knows how many benefits you could obtain. And if you were to exchange it for merit points then it would end up in the thousands.
“Ah, I know. It’s not like you’re a stranger. I’ll leave these with you for now and when you’re able to use them you can refine them for me, how’s that sound?” The little demon girl’s expression had ‘I’m a very treacherous person’ written all over it as she piercingly stared at Yao Chen.
“Cough, you trust me this much?”
“Of course I trust you, your name is Yao Chen right? I… hehe, I think this name is a very righteous and loyal name.”
“Oh really?” Yao Chen doubtingly looked at the little demon girl. Thinking back to how his mother had said the more beautiful a woman was the better she was at tricking people, he now felt that as long as it was any woman she would definitely be able to trick people. The little demon girl definitely had some hidden intentions and wanted something from him.
However, this life of his was saved by her. Yao Chen laughed and decided to accept them unconcerned. The heavens were large and the earth was large; what else could be larger than the favor of saving his life?
“Let’s go.” The little demon girl’s nose sniffed and she started walking a certain direction.
“You know where to go?”
“Not really, but there’s a river to this side. I know the Shennong Mountain Range only has a single river, the Shennong River. It flows north and as long as you follow the flow, it’ll bring you to the Central Plains.”
“The Central Plains….” The Shennong mountain range was located to the extreme south of the Central Plains. Although they were technically within the boundary of the Central Plains, the Central Plains she spoke of was ten thousand miles away from the Shennong Mountain Range. Yao Chen immediately felt an extreme feeling of unfamiliarity.
She blinked at him and said, “Hurry up! Oh wait, do you know how to refine sweets?”
Yao Chen wasn’t able to tear his thoughts away, and he moodily replied, “No.”
“Tch, how petty… help me refine some food; I’ve already finished everything I brought from my home. I brought the recipe and the ingredients. Just refine some for me.”
“No! Who was the one who said we had to hurry up?!”
“Refine them for me when we get to the riverside.”
“We’ll discuss it when we get there then.”
“Deal!”
“I didn’t say yes!” Yao Chen had a headache from her; woman really were troublesome, especially demon women.
They argued as they cut their way through the bush. But at least it wasn’t lonely. When it was evening, the rumbling sound of water filled their ears.
“A waterfall!”
The demon girl jumped up and rushed over.
Yao Chen quickly followed her, and in a short moment a long winding river appeared before his eyes. Not far was a cliff hundreds of meters high. A waterfall dozens of meters wide crashed down from it. Mist flew into the air, creating a huge dazzling rainbow.
The demon girl jumped and shouted in front of the waterfall; this was the joy that came from playing with water.
Yao Chen also smiled slightly. Walking up the water, he filled his water canteens. He then took out some food. Using the Triple Flower Agglomerating Flame Technique, he heated the meat and sprinkled some spices over it as well as the herbs he had collected along the way.
When the little demon girl smelled it, despite enjoying the water, she jumped over dripping wet and pitifully looked at Yao Chen. Although she had a fox’s face, the way she was drooling with desire was also a bit cute.
Yao Chen shook his head and used his Triple Flower Agglomerating Flame Technique to cook up some more meat and wrapped it with fresh herbs, giving it to her. She happily bit into it. “Hm, people with flame attribute Dou Qi really do have an advantage here. Every single one of them are master chefs.”
Yao Chen smiled bitterly; after all, that flame was supposed to be used for refining medicine. But using it for cooking was also not bad. After all, his control over the flame was definitely not lacking. He had eaten it like this hundreds of time without tiring of it, however… he had never actually once personally cooked one for his mother….
As soon as he thought of his mother, Yao Chen’s face darkened. He didn’t know how his mother was right now. Before he left, his mother’s blood and qi had rebelled, and he wondered whether the clan elders would help her. Since Yao Wangui hadn’t captured him, would he take it out on his mother?
“Are you thinking of home? I also miss my mom a bit…”
The little demon girl ate her full and patted her stomach. Her gaze rippled.
Yao Chen raised his head and looked at her. “You also have a mom?”
“Hey, are you provoking me? Do you think only you have a mother? Although I’m a demon, we are also born from a mother.” She looked just like a cat whose tail had been stepped on as she jumped up and angrily glared at Yao Chen.
“No…” He rubbed his nose, his face apologetic. He didn’t know much about the demon clan.
His entire life, he had always been indifferent to anything that wasn’t cultivating Dou Qi or alchemy.
“Hmph, I guess you must be a blockhead or you wouldn’t have been expelled from the Yao clan. You know what, how about you come home with me. I’ll make my dad give you the title of a grandmaster alchemist,” she said, looking for his reaction.
Yao Chen hesitated but still shook his head. In terms of escape paths, going to the demon clan wasn’t a bad choice, but if he did go, then he would probably never be able to leave. He still remembered his mother telling him to carve his name on to the Clan Monument. Although he was expelled from the clan, but as long as acted properly, there would be a day he could go back. But if he entered the demon clan, no matter how great his actions were in the future, he would never be able to carve his name onto that monument. For Yao Chen, nothing was more important than his father’s final wishes and his mother’s expectations.
“My demon clan has many medicinal ingredients. Whatever you want to refine, you won’t lack for ingredients.”
“Haha.” Yao Chen laughed, but firmly shook his head.
“Tch, it’s almost dark. Let’s rest here tonight and make a raft tomorrow. We can follow the river quickly.” Saying this, for some reason she suddenly laughed.
Yao Chen felt his vision blur for a moment, and it seemed as if the little demon girl’s fox nose seemed to recede a bit, but as soon as he blinked she returned to normal.
Appearance Changing Pill?
His heart shook, but he still turned and smiled normally. “I’ll go find a place we can rest for the night.”
The huge mountain range on the horizon quickly swallowed the setting sun’s last rays, causing night to descend. The sound of birds and bugs became much louder. The place they chose to rest was a couple hundred meters away from the river, and the rumbling from the waterfall was no longer as deafening here.
The mountain forest’s night was extremely cold, so Yao Chen ignited some smokeless wood. He also set up a simple warning Dou Formation. Although it wasn’t powerful, but it was enough to repel some large beasts.
The little demon girl had become exhausted from playing in the water all afternoon, so she slept soundly as soon as she lied down.
Yao Chen consumed some pills that could recover energy as he rested, looking at the fire. Although this place was hundreds of miles from the Yao clan and the people chasing him were dead according to the little demon girl, he didn’t dare become overconfident.
As the smokeless wood cackled, for some reason Yao Chen started to feel his eyelids become heavy and he became extremely sleepy. He was unable to resist as he lay down.
Strange….
His head hit the ground and he fell asleep.
At this time, a large figure appeared beside the fire like a phantom.
“Huh? Spirit Slumber Grass?”
Suddenly the sleeping demon girl jumped up. A jade decoration on her waist emitted a faint green glow.
“Miss.”
A huge figure knelt down to the little demon girl.
“Oh, it’s you. You scared me.” She patted her stomach. “I’m not going back. I want to keep playing.”
“Miss, master sent a message that if I don’t bring miss back within three days he’ll blame me.”
“Hmph, I knew he would use this to threaten me. You never should have followed me from the beginning.”
“Haha.” The huge figure let out a straightforward laugh; if it weren’t for him taking action in the dark, how could she possibly have managed to play this happily relying on just her own strength? Let alone the experts from the Yao clan, even the Magical Beasts along the way were enough to obliterate her and the kid from the Yao clan hundreds of times. Those dangerous moments had occurred several times, and even he had received a few wounds to block them. But when he saw how happy the young miss was, he felt that it was worth it.
“Take him back to the clan with us. Our demon clan is most lacking in alchemists.”
The huge figure shook his head. “Miss, forgive me for speaking bluntly. This kid has been expelled from the Yao clan, and the one who punished him was Yao Wangui. Perhaps… master might exchange him for some benefits with the Yao clan.”
She was stumped for a moment. The reason she had joined Yao Chen wasn’t just to play around. The demon clan was in dire need of alchemists. Even lower tier alchemists were extremely lacking. Furthermore the human race was completely evil and would rarely take out a large amount of medicinal pills for them. She frowned, “But his potential…”
Thu huge figure firmly said, “This little one doesn’t wish to see miss have a conflict with master just for a human. Furthermore, if we bring him back to the clan and Yao Wangui learns of it, it might end up hurting our relation with the Yao clan.”
“Fine, I get it.” She waved her hand a bit angrily but helplessly. Looking at the unconscious Yao Chen, she hesitated a moment before leaving a few words for him. “I went back home. Don’t worry. My name is actually Hu Jiujiu, and if we ever meet again, you can’t call me little demon girl. Also, you haven’t helped me refine my sweets, so the favor of saving your life has yet to be repaid. So you have to make sure to stay alive and not just randomly die.”
Thinking about it, she also left behind an adorable troublemaking Nine Star Fox picture beside the words.
“Okay, let’s go,” she said, wiping her hands.
The huge figure waved his hand, and a shadow completely enveloped her. The two of them turned into a black wind that flew up into the sky and disappeared.
Footnote:
Hu Jiujiu means Fox NineNine.
