Sword-bearing scholars were the trend these days; the notion of a frail scholar lacking the strength to even tie up a chicken simply didn't exist.
Though a young scholar, Lin Jue was a country boy who had grown up running, playing, and doing hard chores in the mountains. Driven by a surge of anger, he gritted his teeth, summoned every ounce of his strength, and locked the demon in a death grip.
The creature actually felt lighter than a normal man; Lin Jue was nearly hoisting it off the ground.
"Grrr..."
A threatening, low growl rumbled from the demon's throat as it violently twisted its body, trying to break free of Lin Jue's grasp.
But just as the creature whipped its head around and bared its fangs in a feigned attempt to bite him, it caught something out of the corner of its eye—they were practically face-to-face, and the dense, pent-up fire surging to the young man's throat looked to the demon like a mouthful of red light radiant as the morning sun, an utterly terrifying sight.
The demon could even feel the heat radiating against its face.
The yin energy swirling around its body recoiled as if threatened.
"Awoo—awoo—awooo—"
Sounds akin to a terrified stray dog immediately echoed through the mountains, intermingled with frantic shouting.
"Immortal, have mercy! Don't kill me! Awoo! Awoo! Don't burn me! I've never hurt anyone!"
Lin Jue saw the sheer terror in its eyes.
"Immortal?"
Could he actually be called an Immortal?
A moment of thought brought clarity to Lin Jue. This demon was simply a coward. Seeing the young man so utterly fearless, even daring to initiate an attack—and noticing the pent-up fire in his mouth—it had mistakenly assumed he was a seasoned master of the Dao.
It probably even thought he was here to exorcise demons.
As for the words coming out of its mouth...
Lin Jue had just been tricked by it twice in a row; naturally, he wasn't about to believe a word it said.
Even if it were true, it only meant the demon hadn't eaten anyone or used its fangs, claws, and demonic arts to physically maul anyone. But didn't lurking in the dark to terrify travelers count as harming them? The entity haunting the Wang Family Ancestral Hall was incredibly restrained, yet it had still frightened self-proclaimed bold skeptics into falling severely ill. This demon, on the other hand, was utterly detestable, clearly going out of its way to terrorize people.
Fuming with anger, Lin Jue truly wished he had the cultivation base to teach the creature a harsh lesson.
"Run for your life! Run! Awoo!"
"..."
The pent-up fire was already at the tip of Lin Jue's tongue, and his left hand was gripped tightly around his knife. Yet, seeing the demon grovel so pitifully, he couldn't help but hesitate.
If the demon hadn't begged for mercy just a moment ago, he would have thrown caution to the wind. By now, the flames would have already been spewed, and the knife would have been plunged into its flesh. But the creature's desperate pleas had stalled his fury, allowing him to cool down.
With its ferocious face and bared fangs, this demon did not look like something easily provoked. It was well-versed in the Transformation Art, capable of seamlessly taking on a human form, which meant its cultivation level couldn't be low. If he kept using his Fire Spitting to roast it, he might eventually burn it to death, but the moment the flames touched it, the beast would definitely fight back with its life on the line. Meanwhile, the pent-up fire in his chest would only last for seven or eight breaths. He could very likely singe off all its fur, but beyond that, he would probably only manage to burn its skin.
As for the knife in his hand...
Although he possessed the courage to clash with a demon, he was ultimately still trapped in the body of a fifteen- or sixteen-year-old boy. He hadn't fully grown into his strength yet. Up against a beast as large as a grown man, victory was far from guaranteed.
Lin Jue weighed these thoughts, but he remained unafraid and refused to show the slightest hint of weakness.
"You've never harmed anyone?" he said in a deep voice. "You expect me to believe that just because you say it?"
"I'm innocent, Immortal! This is an official road, and a merchant route to boot! If I actually harmed people here, I would have been exterminated long ago! Besides, Qiyun Mountain is only a few days' journey from here. If any demons or ghosts dared to harm people in this area, how long do you think they could survive?"
The demon let Lin Jue hold it in the air, trembling in sheer terror without daring to put up the slightest struggle.
Even though Lin Jue had swallowed back the fire in his mouth, to the demon, this restraint only served as further proof of the young man's calm confidence and formidable strength.
"Furthermore, I was originally a domestic dog, raised by humans! From beginning to end, I've never bitten a single person. I've known how terrifying humans can be since I was a puppy, so how could I ever dare to harm one?"
"So you're a dog demon!" Lin Jue instantly pieced it together. "Huang Quan? You mean 'Yellow Dog'!"
"Th-That's right! Whimper..."
"Then why are you out here at night tricking and terrifying people? Is your dog's gall reaching the heavens or something?"
"Well..."
The demon was temporarily at a loss for words.
With its furry face, bared fangs, and wolf-dog appearance, it looked ferocious, yet its eyes darted around nervously. It fidgeted and stammered, glancing left and right for a long while before finally squeezing out a single sentence:
"It's... it's fun... I couldn't help myself..."
"Fun?"
"Immortal, you're a human. You have companions everywhere and all sorts of things to do. How could you... how could you possibly understand the loneliness and bitterness of a demon?"
Seeing the look in its eyes under the moonlight, Lin Jue couldn't help but freeze for a moment.
It wasn't for any profound reason. It was just that the demon's current expression perfectly mirrored his memories of typical village dogs—the kind that loved to chase and bark at strangers. Those dogs would gleefully pursue anyone who panicked and ran, but the moment the traveler stopped and spun around to face them, they would instantly cower and slink away, or pretend nothing had happened.
Amidst its cowardice, there was a certain pitiful quality to it.
For a fleeting second, it felt entirely surreal—
The talkative traveler from earlier had suddenly morphed into a demon, and then, from a seemingly ferocious monster, it had devolved into a pathetic dog begging him for mercy. The contrast was incredibly jarring.
After a moment of thought, Lin Jue loosened his grip.
"Phew..."
The dog demon audibly sighed in relief. Even so, it kept its head turned away, too afraid to look at him directly, merely stealing covert glances out of the corners of its eyes.
Whenever its gaze flicked to the knife in Lin Jue's hand, it would flinch.
"How many people have you frightened tonight?"
"J-Just two."
"Two, including me?"
"Yes... mm-hmm..."
"With so many people on the road, why did you target me?"
"Huh? You didn't come here specifically to catch me, Immortal?" The dog demon blanked for a second. However, seeing Lin Jue glare at it, it didn't dare to dwell on the thought and hastily answered, "I saw you were traveling alone without anyone else around. Plus, since you look quite young, I figured you'd be easier to trick and pick on..."
"Hmph..."
"Awoo, awoo, awooo!"
"Stop whining! Where did this mule come from?"
"It belonged to the person before you. After I scared him, he abandoned the mule and ran off," the dog demon said in a very soft voice. "The reason I handed the mule to you before trying to scare you was because I figured that once you panicked, you would drag the mule along as you ran. There's only one place to rest for the night up ahead. Once you got there, you would definitely run into that man, and you could conveniently return his mule to him."
"You expect me to believe you have such a kind heart?"
"I was a domestic dog. I know that to a common family, a mule is as valuable as a human life."
"I'll trust you for now," Lin Jue said coldly. "I have some questions for you. If you answer them well, I'll let you go."
"Please ask, Immortal..."
"Since you were a domestic dog, how did you end up as a wild demon in the mountains?"
"My master passed away, of course."
"Then how did you attain the Dao and become a demon?"
"How... how would I know that?" The dog demon immediately looked troubled. "I don't know how it happened either. I just naturally became a demon and gained sentience. After living in these mountains for a few years, I eventually grasped the Transformation Art."
"..."
Lin Jue fell silent for a moment, chewing over the information.
"How do you transform?"
"I just... do it..."
"Transform again. Let me see it!"
"A-As you command..."
With a soft poof echoing through the mountains, a thick mist billowed up beneath the moonlight.
Cloaked by the black mist, the dog demon silently changed its form.
The ferocious face and bared fangs vanished, replaced by the appearance of a rather handsome young man.
It was the exact image of Huang Quan from earlier.
"?"
Lin Jue frowned slightly.
He hadn't sensed any fluctuation of power whatsoever.
Even when he reached his hand into the black mist, he felt no strange sensations.
"Where did your Transformation Art come from? And how exactly does the transformation process work? Explain it to me in detail!"
"How could I possibly know that? I've loved mimicking humans since birth. Even when I was just a regular dog, I copied whatever people did. It was the same after I gained sentience. Over time, I didn't just learn to mimic human movements and speech; I eventually found myself able to physically shift into a rough likeness of one."
"..." Lin Jue's eyes flickered. Wasting no time, he quickly pressed on, "Do you have any other spells or divine abilities?"
"Just the black mist I spew. It blinds people."
"Besides that."
"N-Nothing else."
"Nothing else?"
"My... my cultivation is too low."
"You can literally transform into a human, yet you claim your cultivation is low?"
"I honestly don't know! Besides, my Transformation Art is incredibly shoddy. I can only use it at night, and the disguise is full of flaws. I only get away with it because it's hard to see in the dark. The moment the sun comes up, people can immediately see through the illusion."
"..."
But he had no way of verifying it, either.
He couldn't help but feel a deep sense of disappointment.
However, he quickly spoke up again. "I'm on a journey to seek Immortals and inquire about the Dao. Was everything you said earlier about Qiyun Mountain true?"
"Whimper..."
The dog demon had been lost in thought, but the moment it heard the phrase "seek Immortals and inquire about the Dao," it was frightened all over again.
"Every word was true!" it hurriedly answered.
"What kind of abilities do the Daoists on the mountain possess?"
"I do not know..."
"Are there any who have cultivated to become an Immortal?"
"I do not know..."
The terror in the dog demon's eyes grew even more pronounced.
"Are there any who have achieved immortality?"
"I... I do not know..."
The dog demon's voice hitched violently as it shivered like a leaf.
This human casually tossed around concepts like becoming an Immortal and achieving eternal life. How could a lowly creature like itself possibly know about such lofty matters?
"How can I trust you?"
"Please see clearly, Immortal! The only lie I told was claiming to be human. Everything else is just rumors I overheard on the road. If what I said turns out to be false, it isn't because I'm deceiving you—it means they were deceiving me..."
"You mean the travelers you terrified?"
"Yes..."
Lin Jue pondered for a moment before continuing his interrogation. "Then besides Qiyun Mountain, are there any other immortal mountains or profound caves around here? Do you know the way to them?"
"To answer the Immortal, I don't know much. Aside from Qiyun Mountain, I've heard rumors of another immortal mountain located just a few hundred miles from here. However, it's incredibly remote, and very few people even know it exists. The person who mentioned it to me had only heard of it in passing, so I don't know the route there either."
"What is it called?"
"Mount Yi."
"Mount Yi..."
Lin Jue couldn't help but mutter the name to himself.
His brow furrowed instinctively.
It sounded somewhat familiar.
"Immortal..."
The dog demon cautiously sized him up.
"Get lost. I'll let you off the hook this once," Lin Jue said. "But from now on, you are strictly forbidden from randomly scaring people on this road."
"Thank you, Immortal!"
Only then did the dog demon turn around. Forgetting to even deploy its smokescreen, it bolted straight into the bamboo forest and vanished in the blink of an eye, leaving behind only the fading rustle of disturbed leaves.
"This thing..."
Lin Jue breathed a sigh of relief himself.
The demon really was a coward.
Though to call it simply cowardly might be inaccurate. Its behavior likely stemmed from a deep understanding of human society and a fundamental lack of predatory viciousness.
Reflecting on the encounter, Lin Jue slowly realized something. When the demon had first approached him under the guise of a human, its conversation had been riddled with genuine nervousness, awkwardness, and anxious glances—especially during their second exchange. Those reactions probably hadn't been entirely faked. It had been genuinely terrified that Lin Jue wouldn't fall for its scare tactics and would turn around to attack it instead.
It proved that one absolutely must not show weakness when facing a demon!
You had to be even fiercer than the monster...
"Mount Yi..."
Lin Jue muttered the name once more, committing it firmly to memory.
Suddenly sensing something, he whipped his head around.
The moonlight was still washing the crushed stone path in a pale, jade-like glow. But there, standing among the bamboo stalks just behind him, were several people, all staring directly at him.
They had more than likely overheard the entire conversation just now.
Because of the darkness, Lin Jue couldn't make out their facial expressions. He assumed they were probably quite shocked, but beyond that, he couldn't guess what they were thinking.
Catching movement out of the corner of his eye, Lin Jue was surprised to realize that the mule the demon had dragged over was still standing dutifully by his side. After a moment of thought, he bent down to pick up the reins. He didn't care whether the figures lurking in the shadows were humans or demons, nor did he allow himself to worry about it. He simply turned his head and casually extended an invitation:
"Fellow townsfolk, since we've run into each other, why don't we travel together? We can embolden each other on the road."
"..."
The group of people hurriedly quickened their pace and walked over.