Once upon a time, Mo Fan had fantasised about blending back into human society, but after nearly being turned into a pill by the “fairy sister,” he abandoned that idea.
“Damn it, if I can’t be human in this life, then I’ll be a free and unrestrained demon!”
“Didn’t that monkey in Journey to the West do pretty well?”
“I, Mo Fan, will take a page from that monkey’s book, carve out my own legend in this world, and become a towering Great Sage!”
“That way, my demon life won’t be in vain!”
Talking to himself, Mo Fan lay on the grass after eating his fill, daydreaming about the future while listening to the sound of flowing water. Before long, he drifted into sleep.
After the day’s rollercoaster—from joy to despair, then back to excitement—the ups and downs had left Mo Fan mentally and physically exhausted.
In his dream, he saw himself as a Demon Clan Great Sage, even becoming brothers with the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, Sun Wukong, and drinking merrily with the Bull Demon King, until Sun Wukong suggested they go wreak havoc in the Heavenly Palace…
Mo Fan woke with a start, cursing under his breath.
“I finally managed to become a demon in this damn world, and you want me to go mess with the Heavenly Palace? Are you trying to get me killed?!”
Mo Fan admired the Great Sage Equal to Heaven from Journey to the West, but not his Heavenly Palace rampage. To him, that was foolish—why not just be a proper Demon King instead of causing trouble?
It got him suppressed under Five Finger Mountain for five hundred years, and even after breaking free, he was tamed by the tightening band, reduced to an obedient dog!
No way would Mo Fan ever stir up trouble like that!
“It was just a dream, scared the hell out of me!”
Snapping awake, Mo Fan patted his chest and began pondering his next steps.
Since he’d embarked on the path of a demon, he had to keep going, but he knew nothing about cultivation. Becoming a demon was thanks to the spirit fruit, but where was he supposed to find more?
Relying on spirit fruits for cultivation was unrealistic, so his priority was finding a backer, ideally a powerful demon, to gain access to true demon cultivation methods.
And that book he’d swiped from the little girl needed translating soon—it might be a cultivation technique.
He vaguely recalled the “demoness” mentioning something about a demonic cultivator’s breathing method, likely related to cultivation.
At this, Mo Fan muttered, “Can demons even practice human cultivation methods?”
After mulling it over, he faced two paths: find humans, learn to read, and decipher the book’s contents, or seek a great demon as a backer to obtain demon cultivation techniques.
But looking at the dense forest around him, both paths seemed daunting.
“Forget it, first I’ll find my way back to the cave. I need to store those three stones in my internal space, so I can use the golden coin to duplicate more!”
To Mo Fan, those milky-white stones were no ordinary objects and might prove useful later.
But it wasn’t just about retrieving the stones—he also wanted to revisit the cave filled with those milky-white stones, worth another look.
With that, Mo Fan drifted downstream along the creek.
He figured the stream by his cave might be the same as this one!
Though it was a guess, he turned out to be right.
After drifting for two full days, he finally saw familiar surroundings, his heart leaping with joy.
But when Mo Fan returned to his old cave, he was dismayed to find he could no longer fit inside—his body was now far too large.
In the end, he painfully dug and dug, destroying the home he’d lived in for months…
But seeing the three faintly glowing milky-white stones, Mo Fan’s heart eased.
“Good, they’re still here!”
He opened his mouth, storing the three stones in his internal space, then took one out to hold in his mouth before heading back toward the cave without hesitation.
Yes, walking!
This was Mo Fan’s practice after becoming a demon.
To him, since he was now a demon, he couldn’t keep hopping like an ordinary toad—that would be too undignified for a demon!
In reality, after transforming, his legs were strong enough to support his body.
But his walk was awkward—his toad legs couldn’t stand straight like a human’s, bending outward in a bow-legged stance, with his big belly sticking out like a pregnant woman’s.
Mo Fan didn’t mind. To him, being only six months old and already walking was astonishing by human standards!
Who’d ever seen a six-month-old human baby walk?
So Mo Fan thought he was already impressive, and walking was something that came with practice, right?
The two-mile journey took him nearly two incense sticks’ worth of time.
Mo Fan didn’t show himself right away, hiding in the bushes to observe for a while. Confirming no one was around, he boldly entered the cave.
But upon going deeper, he was dumbfounded.
“Damn that demoness, she didn’t leave me a single stone—she’s a bloody skinflint!”
Mo Fan cursed. The cave’s milky-white stones were gone, and even the treasure tree in the depths was missing. No need to guess—it had been taken by that “fairy sister” from the other day!
He could only give up, though unwillingly, and continued deeper into the cave, eventually emerging from another exit.
This exit was clearly much larger than the one by the stream, big enough for an adult human to enter. Looking out, he saw a lush, pristine forest.
Since he was here, Mo Fan decided not to turn back and ventured into the forest to search for any spiritual herbs.
After half a day, he found no herbs but spotted another cave beneath a cliff.
“Could this be another treasure cave?”
His heart stirred, and he headed toward it, but at the entrance, a foul stench hit him, hinting at something hidden inside.
After hesitating, he went in, hoping to find some treasures.
But a few metres in, he saw a massive creature lying on a pile of dry grass, gnawing on something.
It sensed Mo Fan’s presence and looked up at him.
“T… Tiger!!”
Seeing the striped beast with faintly glowing blue eyes, Mo Fan froze, his body stiffening.
Only then did he realise.
This wasn’t a treasure cave—it was a bloody tiger’s den!
“Roar!!”
Spotting an intruder, the tiger stopped eating and let out a low growl at Mo Fan.
“Wait, I’m a demon now—what do I have to fear from you?!”
Snapping out of it, Mo Fan opened his mouth, roaring back with bared fangs. A faint demonic aura burst forth.
As his demon presence spread, the once-ferocious big cat instantly backed down, shrinking its neck and lying low, even wagging its tail at Mo Fan, turning into a docile feline.
“This actually works?”
Stunned, Mo Fan burst into laughter, striding forward and smacking the tiger’s head, snorting, “You dare roar at me? Think your Grandpa Mo is a pushover?”
“Since you’re wagging your tail so eagerly, from today on, you’re called Erha!”
