“Misunderstanding? What about that arrow you shot at me? My thigh’s still bleeding, where’s the misunderstanding in that?!”
The bird demon swooped down from the sky, transforming to reveal a fairly handsome human head, glaring angrily at Mo Fan.
“This bird brother looks remarkably dashing, probably the most handsome demon in Black Wind Mountain, right?”
Mo Fan opened with a flurry of compliments, catching the bird demon off guard, who instinctively touched his cheek and asked uncertainly, “You really think I’m handsome?”
“Truer than pure gold!” Mo Fan nodded without hesitation.
“You toad may be ugly, but you’ve got sharp eyes. I’m indeed the best-looking demon in our Ding!”
The bird demon didn’t hold back, grinning smugly before snapping, “But my handsome face nearly got ruined by an ugly thing like you!”
“Er… Bird Brother, didn’t I shoot your leg? How’s that got anything to do with your face?” Mo Fan asked, puzzled.
“I said *nearly*! I’m the face of our Ding, after all. Shooting at me is like trying to smash our Ding’s reputation, so this can’t just be brushed off!”
Seeing the bird demon still fuming, Mo Fan was speechless, thinking to himself, *How the hell do you link a leg to a face? What a daft bird.*
“Bird Brother, we’re civilised demons, let’s be reasonable. Tell me, when I first saw you, had you transformed to show your human head?” Mo Fan asked.
“No, I hadn’t,” the bird demon replied offhandedly.
“Ha, exactly! Let’s be fair here. Since you hadn’t shown your human head, how was I supposed to know you were a demon kin? If I’d known, would I have shot you?”
“So, it’s just a misunderstanding!”
“What do you think, Bird Brother?” Mo Fan countered.
The bird demon froze, stunned, standing there for a good while before muttering, “Seems like…”
*Smack!*
Before he could finish, he got a slap on the back of his head.
“Are you bloody daft?”
“Do we demons need to reason with this ugly thing?”
A wolf demon approached, eyeing Mo Fan, the rabbit demon, and the big tiger with a menacing look, then snorted, “This ugly thing’s cunning. Let’s tie them up and take them to Lord Ding Mu for judgement!”
“Righto!”
A snake demon slithered closer, hissing, while a rat demon popped out from the ground beside the tiger, spitting out a rope and leaping onto its back to start binding Mo Fan and the rabbit demon.
Mo Fan wanted to resist, but seeing the wolf demon’s cold gaze, he gave up, though he kept shouting, “I said it’s a misunderstanding, why won’t you believe me?”
“Can’t you Black Wind Mountain demons be reasonable?!”
“I don’t wanna die! I’m still young, I only just became a demon! This has nothing to do with me, I’m just a guide! Please, great demon lords, let me go!!”
The rabbit demon wailed beside him, terrified.
“Shut up, or I’ll eat you first!”
The wolf demon glared fiercely at the rabbit demon, who shrank back and didn’t dare make another sound.
“Whether it’s a misunderstanding, Lord Ding Mu will decide. For now, you lot come quietly to Black Wind Mountain!”
“Don’t even think of escaping. You newly turned demons are like chicks to me, not worth a hit!”
The wolf demon sneered, directing the other three demons to tie up Mo Fan and the rabbit demon and drag them off, even grabbing the big tiger by the tail and hauling it towards Black Wind Mountain.
And so, Mo Fan finally entered Black Wind Mountain, though not quite as he’d imagined.
Black Wind Mountain had no grand gate or even a single guard demon.
If Mo Fan hadn’t seen other demons halfway up the mountain, he’d have wondered if this was some rundown demon hideout.
Led by the wolf demon, the bound Mo Fan and company became a striking sight on Black Wind Mountain.
“Qingmian, what’s all this about?”
A fat-headed, half-humanoid demon on a large rock asked curiously.
“We caught two wild demons attacking White Fur down the mountain, so we’re taking them back for Lord One-Eye to deal with!” the wolf demon Qingmian grinned.
“Wild demons, eh? It’s been ages since we’ve had wild demons up here. Wonder if they’re here to join or to be served up?” the fat-headed demon chuckled.
“No idea, best let Lord One-Eye decide!”
Qingmian grinned, gave a nod, and moved on.
Their chat caught the attention of nearby demons.
“Come quick, One-Eye Ding’s demons caught some wild demons, that’s a rare sight!”
“Let’s go see what kind of wild demons they are!”
“Heard there’s a female demon, real fluffy and gorgeous!”
“Rubbish! I heard it’s a toad demon. How good-looking can a toad be?!”
“I heard it’s a big tiger!”
“Let’s go check it out…”
Soon, news of Qingmian’s crew catching wild demons spread, drawing more demons to gawk.
Curiosity was in demons’ nature. Unlike humans who laboured or cultivated, they were lazy, spending most of their time outside specific cultivation or hunting periods just messing about.
As a demon gathering spot, Black Wind Mountain rarely had anything exciting beyond feasts or fights, so wild demons being caught was big news, naturally pulling in a crowd.
“Bloody hell, how’d One-Eye Ding’s demons get so fierce? Only a few days patrolling and they nabbed two wild demons!”
“Yeah, Qingmian’s gonna be cocky as hell now!”
“Who cares about that? I just wanna know if we can get a feast out of this. Lately, there’s not even a shitting bug around Black Wind Mountain. I’ve been eating grass for days, lost a ton of weight!”
Some demons envied Qingmian’s crew, others grumbled, hoping for a feast.
To Black Wind Mountain’s demons, Mo Fan and the others were a curiosity, but to Mo Fan, these demons were just as curious. While they sized him up, he was sizing them up too.
He noticed they seemed rough and scruffy, maybe from hunger, their eyes lighting up at the mention of a feast.
“Demon brothers, we’re not wild demons! We came to join Black Wind Mountain’s demon king, but this wolf demon tied us up and dragged us here! Judge for us!”
Seeing the growing crowd, Mo Fan shouted, hoping to draw more attention and let them know he was here to join, not to be served up.
In his view, since these demons gathered in such a big place, there had to be a demon king and some rules.
Without rules, it’d be chaos—how could so many demons stick together?
So, the bigger the fuss, the better.
“Make way, Lord Blackie from Ding Mu is here!!”
