After leaving the mountaintop, Mo Fan encountered no more demons blocking his path. The most excited ones on the journey were Dali, the rabbit demon, and the other lesser demons under Mo Fan’s command.
The earlier scene had become their topic of conversation, with occasional exclamations of “The boss is truly fierce!” causing Mo Fan quite a headache.
Clearly, after this battle, Mo Fan had not only gained fame among the demon underlings but also earned the deep admiration of his group of lesser demons. To some extent, when a demon leader was formidable, their underlings felt pride by association. At the very least, when boasting to other demons under different leaders, saying, “I’m a lesser demon under Boss Laibao,” would elicit surprise, even awe and envy, from others.
Mo Fan, however, had no interest in such matters.
Upon returning to his cave dwelling, he immediately checked the dragon loaches in the bamboo basket in the spring pool. They were still steadily maturing, with no unusual changes.
“Duyan has been causing me trouble repeatedly, likely at the instigation of that Fourth General. Though Black Wind Mountain’s rules prevent Venom Fang from acting recklessly, rules always have loopholes, and I can’t truly rely on them…” Mo Fan mused to himself, pondering recent events. He knew he had to take the initiative, starting with unraveling the secrets of that human skin.
Only then could he avoid being on the defensive.
However, to uncover the secrets of the human skin, he first needed to learn human writing—a relatively tricky task. The more challenging it was, the more Mo Fan understood the urgency of mastering it, as it wasn’t just the human skin but also the contents of that book that required deciphering.
With this in mind, Mo Fan raised his hand, and a promissory note appeared. Looking at it, he smirked and muttered, “Looks like it’s time to use this note.”
Instead of heading straight to Lu Tantan’s cave, Mo Fan spent a whole day in quiet cultivation. At dusk, he grabbed two golden dragon loaches from the bamboo basket in the spring pool and headed to Lu Tantan’s cave.
Upon arriving, two small deer demons guarding the entrance stared at him warily.
“Our boss isn’t here, Boss Laibao, please leave!” they said before Mo Fan could speak.
“Not here?” Mo Fan frowned slightly.
“Really not here!” The two demons exchanged glances and shook their heads in unison.
“Truly not here?” Mo Fan asked again, then spat out a palm-sized gourd and tossed it to them. “This contains Monkey Wine, a low-grade spirit wine that can aid your cultivation.”
“Thank you, Boss Laibao!” The two demons’ eyes lit up as they caught the gourd, bowing in unison. Then, in a rehearsed manner, they said, “Our boss told us if Boss Laibao came looking, to say he’s not here!”
“So, Boss Laibao, you’d better head back!”
Mo Fan instantly understood, thinking, “This deer demon is greedy enough, but his underlings are just as bad!”
“I see. Go tell your boss I’m not here to collect a debt but to clear up a misunderstanding, and I’ve brought some gifts. If Lu Tantan still refuses to see me, I’ll leave,” Mo Fan said.
The two demons exchanged looks. One nodded and said, “Please wait, Boss Laibao, I’ll inform him!” With that, he turned and entered the cave.
Mo Fan wasn’t in a hurry. He knew Lu Tantan’s character and was certain he’d come out. Smiling at the remaining deer demon, he said, “Little deer demon, do you think your boss will see me?”
“Probably not. After you gave him that promissory note last time, he’s been in a foul mood. I’ve never seen him so down,” the demon replied with a wry smile.
“How about a bet?” Mo Fan said, eyeing the wine gourd in the demon’s hands with a grin.
“What’s the bet?” the demon asked warily.
“Let’s bet on that gourd of Monkey Wine. If your boss sees me, you lose it to me. If he doesn’t, I’ll give you another gourd. How’s that?”
The demon hesitated.
“Tell you what, if I lose, I’ll give you two gourds of Monkey Wine!” Mo Fan added.
“Boss Laibao, you think you’ve got me beat?” the demon asked, a glint in his eyes, feigning innocence.
“No way! A bet’s a fifty-fifty chance. I’m no fortune-telling immortal; how could I be sure?” Mo Fan shook his head.
“Then why risk two gourds of spirit wine?”
“Don’t you worry about losing?”
“A bet’s about winning or losing, right? I don’t believe my luck’s that bad. Even if I lose, it’s just a few gourds of low-grade spirit wine,” Mo Fan said with a smile, then pressed, “So, do you bet or not? Give me an answer, or forget it!”
The demon gritted his teeth and said, “Since you’re so keen, Boss, I can’t ruin your fun. I’m in!”
Mo Fan grinned, glancing at the other deer demon hurrying out of the cave. With a flick of his hand, the gourd flew back to him. “Sorry, looks like you lost!”
As he spoke, the other demon arrived and said respectfully, “Boss Laibao, our boss invites you in!”
Mo Fan’s lips curled slightly. Ignoring the demons, he strode into the cave. As he entered, he faintly heard them grumbling behind him.
In a cheerful mood, Mo Fan entered and saw Lu Tantan sitting behind a desk, his expression sour.
“What do you want, coming to my cave?!” Lu Tantan snorted before Mo Fan could speak.
“Brother Lu, don’t be mad. I’m here to bring you riches!” Mo Fan chuckled, approaching the desk. Noticing Lu Tantan’s empty cup, he clucked his tongue, opened his wine gourd, and filled it.
“Monkey Wine?” Lu Tantan’s expression softened at the scent, but he snorted again. “You’d better explain yourself clearly, or I won’t dare drink this. Who knows if I’ll end up with more promissory notes out of nowhere!”
“Brother Lu, it’s all a misunderstanding!” Mo Fan smiled, pulling out his promissory note from his sleeve. “This was just a joke. Why take it seriously?”
With that, he tore the note to shreds.
“Look, it’s gone now. Doesn’t that show my sincerity? That’s a debt of fifty spirit stones! It’s like giving you money, isn’t it?”
“Get lost! I never owed you any spirit stones!” Lu Tantan snapped, though his expression normalised.
“Right, right, you don’t owe me anything,” Mo Fan nodded, then shifted gears. “How was the boiled fish last time?”
“Pretty good, just too small, only enough for a snack,” Lu Tantan said, downing the wine and casually taking the gourd to pour himself more.
Mo Fan didn’t mind, placing two golden dragon loaches from his bamboo basket on the desk. “Since you liked it, I’ve brought two more for you, Brother Lu.”
“Two palm-sized fish?” Lu Tantan frowned, sneering. “Boss Laibao, you’re getting stingier!”
“Not at all!” Mo Fan smiled. “Ever heard of dragon loaches? They naturally absorb spiritual energy and have three stages. The first is silver, brimming with spiritual energy. The second is golden, even richer—one golden dragon loach equals a low-grade spiritual herb!”
He didn’t mention the third stage, as his goal was achieved. Lu Tantan’s eyes gleamed, fixed on the loaches, practically drooling.
“Of course, these loaches aren’t free,” Mo Fan added. “I need a favour, Brother Lu. Take me to the human market to broaden my horizons!”
