For Mo Fan, since the demon core was of little use to him at the moment, he might as well do the snake demon a favour.
This would show her that following him had its benefits, and with such a favour, how could she not serve him well in the future?
Seeing that Mo Fan didn’t seem to be lying, Bai Yaoyao nodded, not exposing his clumsy acting. She accepted the demon core with a smile, saying, “In that case, Yaoyao thanks the Great King.”
“Heh, no need for thanks. Just serve this king well in the future, and together we’ll make Black Wind Mountain thrive, restoring the glory of our demon race,” Mo Fan gave an awkward smile, his gaze lingering on the demon core in Bai Yaoyao’s hand, reluctant to let it go.
That was a demon core, after all.
A treasure only a Demon King could form.
His battle with the Monkey King had cost him great effort, and now he was giving it away just like that.
“With this demon core, I’m confident I can recover to the peak of the Demon General stage within six months,” Bai Yaoyao said with a smile.
“That’s good… wait, only the peak of Demon General?” Mo Fan nodded, initially thinking that if Bai Yaoyao could recover to the Demon King realm, he’d feel somewhat comforted.
But then it hit him that she hadn’t mentioned returning to the Demon King realm.
His words made Bai Yaoyao roll her eyes, and she said irritably, “My King, this isn’t some miraculous pill. Recovering to the peak of Demon General is already impressive. Once I’m there, even ordinary Demon Kings won’t be a threat.”
Hearing this, Mo Fan’s mood improved, and he quickly chuckled, “Of course, I trust you.”
“By the way, since the two demon mountains are quiet and Black Wind Mountain is stable, I plan to go into seclusion again to prepare for strengthening my power, so we’re not caught off guard if those mountains attack,” Mo Fan added, smiling at Bai Yaoyao. “So, I’ll need you to keep working hard.”
“My King, are you addicted to being a hands-off leader?” Bai Yaoyao said helplessly, a bit frustrated.
“Heh, don’t put it like that. I’m thinking of Black Wind Mountain’s future,” Mo Fan replied. “Besides, the capable do more work, so I’ll leave it to you.”
“Oh, I just remembered something. I’ll head off now, no need to see me out,” Mo Fan said, not giving Bai Yaoyao a chance to retort, and turned to leave.
Watching Mo Fan’s retreating figure, Bai Yaoyao could only glare, stomping her foot in frustration.
But soon she smiled, muttering to herself, “This guy must have failed to absorb the demon core’s energy, so he came to me for answers. When he realised he couldn’t do it, he decided to give it away as a favour. What a prideful fool.”
Looking at the demon core in her hand, a smile spread across her face. “But I, Bai Yaoyao, will remember this kindness.”
After parting with Bai Yaoyao, Mo Fan returned to the Spring Pool Cave, where he saw a tiger lounging boredly at the entrance, yawning.
“My King, when can our personal guard camp get some new demons?” Er Ha, in his transformed form, complained as Mo Fan approached. “Back when I wasn’t a commander, I guarded your gate. Now that I’ve finally become the personal guard commander, I’m still stuck guarding your gate. My King, I’m suffering.”
“What, you don’t want to guard my gate?” Mo Fan glared, and Er Ha immediately shrank back, his fierce tiger face breaking into a sycophantic grin. “How could that be?”
“My King, that’s too harsh. Who am I, Er Ha? Your personal guard commander. You can doubt anyone, but not my loyalty. My devotion to you is as clear as the heavens, as bright as the sun and moon.”
“Stop. If you’re so loyal, why all the whining? Guard the gate properly, or I’ll skin you,” Mo Fan cut him off irritably.
“My King, can you stop with the skinning threats? My fragile heart can’t take it,” Er Ha said with a pained expression, inwardly cursing his domineering king.
Mo Fan chuckled, amused that Er Ha had learned to talk back. He nodded approvingly, “Not bad, then how about I roast you instead?”
“No, let’s stick with skinning,” Er Ha’s tiger head drooped, and he said bitterly, “My King, I’m not nagging, but with my high cultivation, guarding a gate feels like a waste. I’m your appointed personal guard commander, yet I’m doing a gatekeeper’s job. If the other demons hear about this, I’ll lose face in Black Wind Mountain. And it doesn’t reflect well on your reputation either, does it?”
“What high cultivation? You’re just a lowly demon,” Mo Fan teased, winking at Er Ha. “And don’t worry, the whole mountain already knows you’re guarding my gate. As for face, you’re a commander. Who’d dare mock you?”
Er Ha froze as if struck by lightning, his tiger eyes welling up, feeling deeply wounded.
“Heh, just teasing you. You made some sense, though. Next time you see Dali, ask him for some lesser demons,” Mo Fan offered as a small concession.
As expected, Er Ha’s face lit up, and he grinned, “I knew you were the best, My King.”
“Er Ha thanks you for your grace.”
“When did you pick up Red Eyes’ shameless act?” Mo Fan rolled his eyes but didn’t bother arguing further, asking, “Where’s Big Head?”
“Big Head said he was cultivating some spirit fish for you, so he went down to the spring pool early,” Er Ha replied.
“Alright, I got it. Keep up the good work. I have high hopes for you,” Mo Fan said before entering the cave and heading to the spring pool’s edge, diving in without hesitation.
But when he reached the protruding stone wall, he found the bamboo baskets for cultivating dragon loaches all broken, with no sign of Big Head or the loaches.
“Did something happen here?” Mo Fan’s heart sank, and he released his demonic aura to probe the depths of the spring pool.
The pool was too deep for even his aura to reach the bottom, but he found traces left by Big Head on the lower stone wall.
“Something’s definitely wrong,” Mo Fan frowned and swam deeper into the pool.
After a quarter of an hour, he spotted two figures in the dark water curtain below, accompanied by Big Head’s exasperated voice.
“You can’t be so reckless next time. If the Demon Kings of Black Water River caught you, how would I explain it to the Great King?”
“And you’d better spit out what you ate, or else…” Big Head was still talking when he noticed a figure above. Looking closely, he saw it was his king.
“My King,” Big Head called out.
“Daddy,” a golden figure darted to Mo Fan’s shoulder like lightning. It was Ying Ying.
“So you were with Big Head in the spring pool,” Mo Fan said, patting Ying Ying’s head. Noticing Big Head’s hesitation, he added, “Whatever you have to say, we’ll talk back at the cave.”
With that, Mo Fan used his demonic power to bring Big Head back to the stone wall where the dragon loaches were cultivated, asking, “Big Head, what happened here?”
