Chapter 4 No wonder it smells so human
The moment the “master” shoved him off, Bai Xuci practically saw his own demise. It seemed he wouldn’t live to see the righteous forces intercept the great demon; his little life was about to end here.
“It’s…” Bai Xuci felt an inexplicable sense of unease. Why hadn’t he considered a wild boar? There were so many species on this mountain; it wasn’t strange to find wild boars.
“Little demon, this meat is exquisite! Quickly tell me, where did you get it?” As he spoke, the pig demon pulled Bai Xuci closer, acting very chummy.
Bai Xuci felt his neck was about to break. His body tilted slightly, his clothes brushing against a nearby wine cup, staining it with wine.
A pang of anxiety struck him.
But he still managed to say, “Uh… this?”
“Does Your Lordship find it delicious?” Bai Xuci thought for a moment and changed the subject.
If the other… uh… was satisfied…
Were his chances of becoming a spicy rabbit head reduced?
The large and burly “Lordship” pondered for a moment, then touched the bristles on his face and said gravely, “Little demon, it’s indeed quite good, but—”
Bai Xuci’s breath hitched. Looking down at the food on the table, he suddenly felt a sense of kinship.
Perhaps…
Tomorrow, there would be an extra dish here?
“I feel something’s strange. It shouldn’t be the foul-smelling ‘xiangrou’?” At this, the other’s eyes suddenly showed impatience, a look of deep disgust towards whatever they were discussing.
Bai Xuci was still wondering what “xiangrou” was, but seeing the other’s expression… he had a strange guess.
Could it be… that even demons… didn’t like human meat?
That was quite a mind-blowing revelation.
“So, little demon, what exactly is this delicacy?” The other’s grey eyes suddenly drew closer, scaring Bai Xuci back.
“It’s—” he drawled.
“It’s?”
Bai Xuci looked at the approaching large face, then at the bizarre surroundings, and swallowed.
There was no escape. Even if the other didn’t ask, they could find out.
Feeding the pig demon domesticated pork.
Ah… he might as well just run headfirst into a wall.
Taking a deep breath to relax—his life was already on the line anyway.
“It is actually—”
A catastrophic slideshow began playing in his head. Bai Xuci’s eyes welled up; he felt like the ultimate “degenerate” among demons.
Moral condemnation reached its peak.
Finally—
“It’s actually domesticated pork.”
The slideshow in his mind froze on the scene from his last dream—a succulent, spicy rabbit head.
Bai Xuci awaited his judgment, pondering his fate as a rabbit.
What cooking method would be the most dignified…?
“What?!” A roar came from the other side, accompanied by a hand slamming on the table.
A brief silence followed; there seemed to be more probing gazes from behind the screen…
Bai Xuci closed his eyes, thinking his life was over.
Oh well, he didn’t want to witness the bloody scene of a “rabbit slaughter.”
He waited quietly…
A warm stream of blood splattered onto Bai Xuci’s face, followed by a strong metallic smell.
Ah…
So, he was dead…
…
Hmm? He slightly frowned, realizing something was wrong.
Why wasn’t it painful?
Bai Xuci opened his eyes and wiped his face. He looked down.
Yes, it was blood.
“It’s actually pork! Why didn’t you say so earlier!” A slightly frantic voice rang out, and Bai Xuci hesitantly looked up.
Then he froze.
The other was holding a piece of meat, still bleeding, drop by drop.
Bai Xuci’s gaze slowly moved down… then he saw a small piece missing from the pig’s leg.
His pupils constricted, and with a scream, he slid backward.
He went right through the screen.
From the highest seat on the stage, a pair of golden eyes looked down at the “small animal” with half its face covered in blood.
They leaned forward slightly, seemingly wanting to observe…
Just as Bai Xuci was about to lose his mind, he felt a tap on the back of his hand. He looked down in a daze.
It was a crisp carrot.
Huh?
He tilted his head in confusion.
“Tsk, Zhu Chong, don’t scare the little rabbit. Look what you’ve done to him!” A teasing voice rang out.
“He’s quite pretty. His transformation is quite good!” A voice of apparent praise.
Bai Xuci involuntarily turned his head to see that the speaker was a “monkey.”
He was startled again, staring rigidly at the monkey squatting on the table, pouring wine with its tail.
The monkey seemed displeased with his stare.
It unhappily retracted its tail and said haughtily, “What are you looking at me for? My transformation is amazing, too!”
As soon as the words left its mouth, ripples appeared in the air.
In an instant, the monkey on the table transformed into a young man.
He had sword-like eyebrows and starry eyes, his hair tied in a high ponytail, now leaning against the table, watching Bai Xuci with interest.
He held a wine cup, swinging it leisurely back and forth.
Bai Xuci seemed to have a delusion; the person in front of him didn’t look like a monkey; he looked more like a young general…
Full of spirit and vigor.
He dazedly shook his head, trying to clear his mind.
“Hey, little demon, why are you running away? I didn’t cut any of your flesh,” Zhu Chong’s tone was slightly displeased, seemingly surprised by the reaction to his little action.
Xuan Li even joined in the fun, so embarrassing…
Bai Xuci stared back, realizing that the astonishingly handsome “Pig Demon Lordship” had changed his appearance; he now looked like an ordinary middle-aged man.
He even seemed quite amiable.
As for the wound on his leg, it was completely gone.
Not a single scar was visible. The only thing reminding Bai Xuci that what he’d experienced wasn’t a dream was the fresh piece of… still showing muscle fibers… “pork” on the table.
Demons… actually had regenerative abilities?
But was that the focus now? He… he… why did he cut his own flesh?
“I’m… sorry,” Bai Xuci’s brain was still a bit overloaded, and he spoke haltingly.
Bai Xuci supported himself with his hands, his hair falling to the ground. He slowly glanced around.
He found that besides the monkey who threw the carrot, the “demons” inside the screen were all looking over…
Although he could only vaguely see their shadows, Bai Xuci still inevitably saw things like antlers, ram horns, and ox horns.
He felt like he was being stared at.
His gaze shifted to the left; there were steps, and it seemed someone was up there.
But before he could finish looking, Bai Xuci was pulled back to attention by the “Pig Demon Lordship” behind him.
“Little demon, come over here!”
“Are all rabbits this timid…?” came some disgruntled muttering.
Bai Xuci: “…”
Was it a matter of courage? He was a good student who had never done anything wrong, his greatest achievement being watching horror movies with his roommate.
Now, he’d woken up in a fantastic creature film set.
It’d be fine if he didn’t have a mental breakdown.
Well, at least his life wasn’t over yet. Bai Xuci wiped the blood from his face, feeling dejected.
After a moment, he calmed himself.
Then, looking at the bloodstains on his hands, he had a sudden thought and smelled them.
A smell of blood mixed with iron rushed to his nostrils, causing Bai Xuci to frown and quickly take his hand away, looking quite disgusted.
But the disgust lasted only a second. He cautiously glanced at the “master,” realizing that he hadn’t noticed, then nervously licked his lips.
He obediently sat back in his place.
But this scene was all witnessed by the person on the stage, whose hand, with clearly defined knuckles, was playing with a night pearl encrusted with real gold.
Perhaps it was something looted from the human world.
He looked very relaxed.
Bai Xuci straightened his clothes, sat at the back, and cautiously apologized:
“My Lord… I’m… sorry… for causing trouble.”
A wave of teasing laughter came over.
Bai Xuci frowned and was about to look up, but he found that the “monkey” had changed seats and came to them.
“Here, carrot, you forgot to take it. Tsk tsk, so disobedient.” As soon as the words left his mouth, Bai Xuci’s hand was hit a second time.
“…”
Zhu Chong had wanted to talk to the little demon, but the monkey came over and even snatched his wine cup.
“What do you want, Xuan Li? I haven’t provoked you, so don’t start trouble!” Zhu Chong said in disgust.
His gaze shifted to Bai Xuci, pointing at him:
“Little demon, after the banquet, come to my territory—”
“Why?” The original “monkey” immediately interrupted, picking up a banana from the plate and preparing to eat it.
“This little demon is really handsome; I’ve got my eye on him!”
“Are you sick?”
“He took my carrot, so he must follow me!” Xuan Li retorted reasonably.
Zhu Chong fiercely turned his head, and sure enough, the little rabbit was holding a carrot.
Bai Xuci: “…”
He silently tried to let go.
But a burst of magic came over, changing his action from letting go to clenching it tighter.
“…”
Xuan Li smugly sat on the table, showing off.
“You’re asking for a beating, aren’t you?” Zhu Chong said with low pressure.
“Can you beat me?”
“!!”
This guy needed to be beaten up!
“Um, can I go…” Bai Xuci timidly raised his hand.
Bai Xuci really wanted to return to his rabbit burrow. He wanted to sleep; he didn’t want to stay here.
It was too scary…
“No!”
“No!”
They retorted in unison.
Maybe it’s better to make him into a “spicy rabbit head,” Bai Xuci thought self-deprecatingly.
After a long while…
“So, in the human world, there are ‘red-braised pork,’ ‘braised pig trotters,’ ‘pork and scallion dumplings,’ ‘pork ribs’…” Bai Xuci slowly said, looking questioningly at the two demons beside him.
They had finally stopped arguing and were now staring at Bai Xuci reciting dishes.
Xuan Li reached out and patted the pure pork on the table, curiously saying:
“Wow, I didn’t expect that your meat could be made into so many dishes?”
Zhu Chong, seeing Xuan Li’s action, slapped his hand, taking back his meat, and said unkindly, “Don’t touch that!”
He still planned to have the little demon cook something!
Xuan Li could only withdraw his hand and casually looked at Bai Xuci.
The other, with red eyes and white hair, stood tall and looked like a beautiful person.
“How did you transform into this appearance?”
Bai Xuci, who had been listlessly picking at his fingers, was startled by the monkey’s sudden approach.
“Ah?”
“I… I just transformed!” Bai Xuci didn’t understand the big demons’ train of thought; they kept changing the subject.
They didn’t give him any time to react.
“Hmm?” It was still a questioning voice, and they started to examine Bai Xuci from top to bottom.
Xuan Li found it very strange; all the living beings and demons on Mount Lin were living here, but most of them had only recently gained intelligence; their transformations were quite poor.
Most were crude and clumsy.
Even because of being hunted by humans before, most didn’t like the human form.
Most were half-human, half-true form.
His own transformation was due to his time with the Venerable One in the human world.
This nameless little demon…
But his transformation was perfect. And…
“You say this is domesticated pork?” A lazy, questioning voice, glancing at the scraps in the dish.
Bai Xuci again experienced a change of subject; his rabbit brain was overloaded.
“Ah, yes.”
“No wonder you have a human scent all over you.”
Immediately—
A wave of uproar swept through the banquet.