Having stayed up all night, the little demons were exhausted and lost interest in further antics, parting ways at the mountainside.
Back at the cave, the dog demon Lai Fu immediately fell asleep in the hall, snoring like thunder.
Mo Fan shook his head at the sight, walked to the back door, and jumped into the spring pool.
When he swam to the stone wall, he found the bamboo basket still there, completely undamaged.
He gently opened the lid and saw the dragon loaches inside, now noticeably larger, with golden patterns appearing on their silver bodies.
This discovery thrilled Mo Fan.
From what he’d learned from Lai Fu, he knew this was a sign of the dragon loaches evolving to their second stage, when their bodies would turn fully golden.
The loaches in the basket were still dormant, and there were plenty of spirit stones at the bottom, so Mo Fan didn’t add more.
After closing the basket, he spat out a pile of spirit stones, preparing to trap more dragon loaches.
With yesterday’s trapping experience, he knew spirit stones were irresistibly tempting to them.
The more spirit stones, the more loaches they’d attract.
While waiting for the loaches to take the bait, Mo Fan didn’t idle. He held a spirit stone in his mouth, frantically duplicating them.
Having realised the value of spirit stones, he wished he could duplicate them non-stop, using them to trap or nurture dragon loaches for evolution.
A whole day passed like this.
For an entire day, Mo Fan stayed under the spring pool, only surfacing briefly to breathe.
This led Lai Fu to think he’d fled, prompting the dog demon to rush to the scorpion cave to report to Hei Zi Yao Ding.
In that day, Mo Fan devoured nearly two hundred dragon loaches.
But this time, he found the spiritual energy in his body wasn’t enough to support a third transformation.
On reflection, he understood. He’d heard from other demons how difficult it was for little demons to transform. Each transformation required the total spiritual energy of all previous transformations combined.
In other words, his third transformation needed as much energy as the first and second combined.
While two hundred loaches held potent spiritual energy, it was far from enough.
Realising this, Mo Fan felt relieved. As long as it wasn’t an issue preventing transformation, the vast amount of spiritual energy wasn’t a problem for him now.
After introspection, he found spiritual energy and demonic energy coexisting separately in his body. The demonic energy was denser, mostly concentrated in his mind and dantian, with a small portion flowing through his arms, while the spiritual energy was more scattered, filling every part of his body.
Both energies could be freely manipulated by Mo Fan.
Knowing he’d spent a full day under the pool, he didn’t dare linger, fearing complications. After checking the loaches in the basket, he hurriedly swam upward.
But as he surfaced, he was stunned.
Hei Zi Yao Ding stood there, face dark and expressionless, staring at him. Behind him were his three close followers, with Lai Fu sniffing at the pool, as if searching for something.
“Stupid dog, stop sniffing, Lai Bao’s right there!”
Lao Liu slapped Lai Fu’s head, startling him. Lai Fu opened his eyes, saw Mo Fan nearby, and exclaimed joyfully, “Master, this guy’s back!”
Hei Zi glared at Lai Fu, then said coldly to Mo Fan, “Lai Bao, where were you today?”
“Master, I didn’t go anywhere, just swimming in this pool!” Mo Fan replied respectfully, though his heart chilled, realising why they were here, they thought he’d escaped!
“Oh, is that so?”
Hei Zi nodded, his expression softening, then turned to Lai Fu, “Stupid dog, didn’t you say Lai Bao ran off? He’s been here all along!”
“Master, I swear, I didn’t see Lai Bao all day, so I thought he’d fled, that’s why I reported to you,” Lai Fu said with a bitter smile.
“So that’s what happened.”
Mo Fan laughed, then bowed to Hei Zi, “Master, my true form is a toad, I love water. I spend most of my time in this pool, sometimes diving for fun. Brother Lai Fu must not have seen me and got worried.”
“Yes, exactly! I didn’t know this ugly thing stayed in the pool all the time. Please, Master, don’t be angry!” Lai Fu nodded eagerly.
But his words sparked a killing intent in Mo Fan’s heart.
He now understood the warning from the ox demon Da Li.
Perhaps from the start, Lai Fu’s insistence on staying in his cave wasn’t well-intentioned. The dog demon was likely sent by the scorpion to monitor him, to prevent his escape?
At this thought, Mo Fan felt both angry and unnerved.
He realised Hei Zi Yao Ding had never trusted him, only used him!
“Since it’s a misunderstanding, no harm done.”
Hei Zi waved his hand, turned away, and said coldly, “Lai Fu, don’t suspect Lai Bao again. Black Wind Mountain has loose rules, and I’ve always been kind to you lot. Why would he run?”
“With you, a dog demon, around, who in Black Wind Mountain could truly escape?
“Our mountain never spares deserters. If caught, they’re served up as a feast.
“Lai Bao is the smartest demon in our Ding group, he wouldn’t be ignorant of that.
“So, no more mistakes!”
“Yes, Master!”
Lai Fu nodded respectfully, seeing Hei Zi and his three followers off.
Mo Fan understood that Hei Zi’s words, though scolding Lai Fu for disunity, were actually a warning to him.
Though this incident was a big misunderstanding, it had one benefit for Mo Fan, Lai Fu no longer had the cheek to linger in his cave and returned to his dog den under the banyan tree.
But this experience also made Mo Fan realise that escaping Black Wind Mountain would be far harder than he’d imagined.
Forget the rest, Lai Fu alone could easily track him, and then there were Zha Zha and Lao Liu, who could fly.
Leaving unnoticed would be incredibly difficult.
At this thought, Mo Fan’s heart sank.
He looked at the fish swimming in the pool, all his earlier joy gone, suddenly feeling like one of those fish.
Seemingly free, but in truth, always kept in captivity, ready to be served when the master was hungry!
“Yao Ding, huh…
“If I cultivate fast enough, perhaps… that scorpion demon won’t be so terrifying!”
Mo Fan murmured, a ruthless glint in his eyes.
