Chapter 631: Bound to the Fertility System, Becoming a Winner in Life Chapter 632: Background Rabbit Demon (4)

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Protagonist:

Shen Yao

Shen Yao lifted the curtain and glanced at the distant mountain ranges and trees veiled in faint floating clouds, thinking to herself that there were quite a few demons here, the thick demonic aura almost taking shape.

The Qingwei Escort Agency's carriage sped up, and even Escort Zheng stopped speaking to Shen Yao, everyone hurrying along the journey.

Thud-thud-thud—

Horse hooves struck the soft, wet earth heavily, splashing mud everywhere, as if someone were chasing behind them; a tense atmosphere slowly enveloped the entire Qingwei Escort Agency.

"Whoa! Stop and rest!"

At the Head Escort's command from the very front, the suppressed emotions suddenly dispersed, and the originally focused wedding guests all exhaled.

"Miss Shen, get out of the carriage."

Zheng Li's hearty voice came from outside the carriage.

Shen Yao lifted the front curtain, took Zheng Li's arm, and leapt down lightly.

"This place is"

The dirt beneath her feet was too soft; Shen Yao raised her eyes and curiously looked around.

Zheng Li smiled, "Fortunately, the Qingwei Escort Agency has been on escort missions for many years and has its own routes."

"This mountain road leading to Floating Cloud City was personally opened by the Head Escort; although dangerous, it can save several days and also avoid certain unspeakable matters."

Unspeakable matters?

Shen Yao thought of the demon words Zheng Li had mentioned to her, thinking this couldn't be avoided; it could only be said that certain great demons in the mountains would restrain small demons, allowing the Qingwei Escort Agency to avoid disturbance.

It seems the Head Escort of the Qingwei Escort Agency has some ability; when in Qingping City, Old Zhu said this Head Escort was once saved by an immortal when young—could there be some unspeakable cause and effect here?

Shen Yao looked intently forward; unfortunately, she was too far from the Head Escort's position and could only vaguely see the other's outline.

Tsk tsk tsk

'Not a demon, and not much demonic aura on them either;' rather, the evil qi was too heavy.

It seems this Head Escort, having been on escort missions for many years, has slain quite a few demons and monsters.

After all, on escort missions, one must always keep one's head at one's waist; without heavy evil qi, one cannot be an escort.

The car fleet rested on the spot, temporarily setting up tents to stay in.

Shen Yao didn't need to do these manual rough chores; she just walked around here and there, and by the way appreciated the mountain scenery and distant views.

In the distance, a flash of light passed by.

'Host, it's a demon!'

The system was so excited it almost jumped out, wishing to make a loud announcement right then and there.

Shen Yao:...

'There are more demons on the mountain; why make such a fuss?' She was now also a demon.

'Host, won't you go contact and build feelings?' Being demons together, mutual exchange isn't harmful at all.

'A flesh-eating wolf demon; are you asking me to go contact feelings or to throw myself into the net?' Her true form was a rabbit demon, her original form only the size of an adult's arm, not even enough to fill that wolf demon's teeth gaps.

Rolling her eyes at the unreliable system, Shen Yao casually pulled some wild flowers and grass beside her, and with the strength in her hand, twisted them into a beautiful bouquet.

Zheng Li called her over to eat dinner; soup stewed with fresh meat, paired with stir-fried tender green sprouts, and a bowl of rice piled full.

Shen Yao ate a bite of vegetables, a bite of soup, a bite of rice; after eating and drinking her fill, she touched her bulging belly, feeling that the Qingwei Escort Agency's food was really good, except the expenses were a bit too high.

"Miss Shen, after night falls tonight, you absolutely must not come out of the tent; even if you hear someone calling you, do not respond; just wait until dawn and we will set off."

Zheng Li's expression was serious, indicating she would sleep at the door of Shen Yao's tent at night; Shen Yao could call her anytime if she had matters.

"Escort Zheng, rest assured, I won't go out tonight;" but if some person or demon sneaked into the tent, she wouldn't ignore it either.

'Host, could it be that a demon will sneak down the mountain?' The system was acting suspiciously.

'The mountain is so big, and there are so many demons; besides, demons long for the human world;' seeing so many people all of a sudden, unless they were great demons who had experienced much, inexperienced small demons were easily bewitched.

After spreading out her bedding, Shen Yao removed the jewelry from her head and placed it by the bedside, then lay back on the bed and closed her eyes.

Night fell; the Qingwei Escort Agency's car fleet formed a large circle, with several clusters of torches lit in the middle, and escorts coming and going to keep watch and patrol.

Crackle-pop—

It was the sound of firewood burning; the young escort, seeing this, added some wood to the fire, then raised his hand to rub his eyes, "Why did fog rise?"

A thin layer of light gray fog drifted around the car fleet; just smelling it made one want to sleep.

Huh?

The young escort's eyelids twitched; finally, he ruthlessly slapped himself and simultaneously woke the escort keeping watch with him, "Something happened!"

In an instant, the horses' neighing made the entire encampment lively.

However, this liveliness was only for a moment; then, the entire encampment became quiet, as if a needle dropping could be heard.

Shen Yao was lying on the bed sleeping, if one ignored her eyelids blinking rapidly.

Not far away, a mouse demon, no bigger than a palm but with golden light in its eyes, stared thievishly at the jewelry by the bedside.

"Hehehe, strike it rich!"

This refined mouse's greatest daily hobby was collecting shiny things; Shen Yao's jewelry directly poked the mouse demon's fancy; well, other demons had repeatedly ordered only to steal horses, but the mouse demon couldn't help but run in to steal jewelry.

Gray claws tightly gripped the edge of the jewelry; the mouse demon was about to return the same way, but unexpectedly, before it left, its surrounding vision suddenly rose higher.

"Squeak squeak squeak..." Save me!

"Stop shouting; even if you shout your throat raw, no demon will notice you, this dishonest mouse demon."

Shen Yao sat up; she was still wearing her daytime attire, only her hair was loose and spread behind her head.

Shen Yao pinched the mouse demon's tail with one hand, shaking it left and right, and tapped its forehead with the other. "Greed is unacceptable."

Mouse Demon:... squeak squeak squeak! (It was wrong!)

Shifting her posture to lean more comfortably, Shen Yao glanced out at the quiet window. "Tell me, how did you come down from the mountain?"

"Squeak squeak squeak"

"Speak human language"

"Squeak, I, I'm not very familiar with it, just became a demon not long ago"

The mouse demon spoke haltingly, feeling like crying but with no tears in its heart.

What an injustice, just being a bit greedy for wealth usually, it wasn't some great sin of ten evils, so how did it stumble like this?

Shen Yao didn't get much information from the mouse demon's mouth; who let the mouse demon be too marginal and have no presence? Including this time the demons came down the mountain, they just took a fancy to the horses for pulling people and goods, thinking to take them back to satisfy their cravings.

"You came down from the mountain behind the Great Demon's back, aren't you afraid of trouble?" Shen Yao raised her eyebrows.

"The Great Demon isn't on the mountain, otherwise we wouldn't dare act rashly," the mouse demon said, then begged Shen Yao to let it go; it really was a first offender, and once back on the mountain it would continue closed-door cultivation.

"Oh? How did you learn of the Great Demon's whereabouts? Beware that this might be a trick of the eyes."

"No, there is no breath of the Great Demon on the mountain, which shows the Great Demon has left for some time."

After speaking, the mouse demon actively sniffed its nose, indicating its nose was very sensitive; it could smell the scent of a fox demon from far away, but there was nothing now, so it definitely wasn't around.

But it turned out the Great Demon here was a fox that had become a demon.

Shen Yao shook the mouse demon in her hand and chatted idly with the system, "Could it be a fox demon that has some connection with me?"

System:...

The system used silence instead of admitting it, and Shen Yao was amused into a light laugh. "Then where is the place she wants to go? Floating Cloud City?"

"Host, the fox demon and the scholar met, knew each other, and fell in love in Jiangning City, and then the scholar went to the capital, which led to the subsequent story developments."

"Oh, so it has nothing to do with me," she said, making a patting sound as she threw the mouse demon on the ground. "The death penalty can be exempted, but the living punishment cannot be escaped."

"We demons don't follow so many human rules; your ability is insufficient and you were caught by me."

"Leave a section of your tail, then go back up the mountain to cultivate bitterly."

Shen Yao ultimately chose to show leniency; if it were another demon, whether the mouse demon's life could be preserved would be debatable.

The mouse demon obviously knew the ins and outs of the matter; silently chopping off a section of its own tail, it then cupped its hands toward Shen Yao, turned around, and transformed into a wisp of green smoke to leave.

As the saying goes, coming in a hurry, leaving in a hurry.

The mouse demon originally thought to take some jewels to fill its inner treasury, but ended up losing both the wife and the troops, and even bringing itself to the point where it couldn't easily come down to the mortal world in recent years.

"If I don't go down, I don't go down; there are so many capable people and demon seniors down the mountain that a small mouse demon like me isn't even fit to hold their shoes."

The mouse demon glanced at its severed tail, heartache over its lost cultivation realm; fortunately, this time its foundation wasn't injured. Since that demon senior let it go, presumably they wouldn't continue to pursue the matter.

Shen Yao didn't know that the inner drama of the mouse demon that had already run away was so rich.

She saw that the encampment was quiet, and everyone had fallen into dream illusions, so she knew the Qingwei Escort Agency couldn't keep the horses they brought this time.

Indeed, without a Great Demon to govern and manage, the wild mountain ranges were still dangerous; if not necessary, one shouldn't come over easily.

If what the mouse demon said was correct, in not too long, the demons in this mountain would enter the mortal world one after another, either becoming cultivation resources for others, or getting involved in karma and making demon life difficult.

Only very few demons who enter the mortal world can advance their cultivation realm and return to the mountain forest without karma; such demons reach heights that other demons cannot hope to match.

One night passed, and Zheng Li woke up first.

She stood up and looked toward the encampment, discovering that the escorts who should have been keeping night watch were all lying haphazardly on the ground, and the temporary livestock shed in the distance was clean, not a single hair left.

Zheng Li woke the escorts, then reported the situation to the Head Escort in the tent; only after these important matters were busy did she return to Shen Yao's tent to ask in a low voice.

Shen Yao rubbed her eyes, lifted a corner of the tent, "I slept a bit drowsily last night, Escort Zheng, did something happen at the encampment?"

Zheng Li made an affirmative sound and nodded, "The livestock that should have been pulling the carts are gone; we must have encountered those ghostly mountain spirits skilled in illusion realms."

Last night she seemed to hear someone shout "trouble," but after that, she had no impression at all.

"Miss Shen, wash up quickly; we may need to leave this mountain range."

"Alright"

Zheng Li turned around, gripping the hilt of her horizontal blade tightly, her eyes sharp as she scanned the surroundings, wishing she could dig three feet into the ground to eliminate danger.

Actually, there was no danger at the encampment in the morning, because those demons who boasted of having earned enough had already returned to the mountain early; some who liked liveliness were shouting and clamoring to eat well, drink well, and play well.

As for why demons don't eat people? Human flesh tastes sour and has many impurities, and isn't a great tonic medicine; except for some demons who are unrefined or not picky, basically no demon likes to eat people.

After Shen Yao finished washing up, she changed into a set of vigorous attire convenient for traveling.

There was no way; the horses were gone, so the carts naturally couldn't be used, and everyone had to leave on foot.

Even though the people of the Qingwei Escort Agency guaranteed they would repurchase carts and horses upon reaching the next town and arrange things, there were still various complaints among the crowd.

Shen Yao carried a small bundle half on her back; in front was Zheng Li responsible for leading the way, and around her were several women dressed in gorgeous clothes, not very suitable for walking.

These were all customers of the Qingwei Escort Agency; Zheng Li could only patiently coax them away, even though their travel speed was getting slower and slower.

"Escort Zheng, it's almost dark."

Shen Yao raised her sleeve to wipe the sweat under her chin; through the bright, dappled light, she could still feel the gloom and darkness within the mountain forest.

Zheng Li looked up upon hearing this, somewhat dissatisfied with their travel progress today; at the current speed, it would take several more days to walk out of this mountain range.

But on the very first night they arrived, they encountered the "lower horse power" of missing livestock; who knew if staying here for several more days would bring even greater trouble.

Zheng Li knew there were demons here; usually when escorting, they rarely encountered demons eating people, but times were different now; who knew what the demons were thinking.

Waving her hand to let several people rest in place, Zheng Li turned around to find the Head Escort for instructions.

Indeed, compared to staying in place to rest, it was better than traveling at night.

The Head Escort waved his hand, telling the escorts of the agency to pay attention to vigilance, while others pitched tents and rested in place.

Shen Yao got a tent without being busy, but out of safety considerations, Zheng Li needed to stay with her.

Shen Yao naturally had no problem; as for Zheng Li, she embarrassedly adjusted the special clothes on her body; if the situation weren't so complex, the escorts really wouldn't stay in the same place as the customers.

The evening meal was simpler, not unpalatable, but lacking the ease of before.

Because of the missing livestock earlier, Qingwei Escort Agency had reluctantly left behind much luggage, including various food and sundries.

Now they ate only things easy to carry, and could only replenish supplies at the next town.

The clients on this journey each had their own discomforts, and the agency's escorts had their own unspeakable bitterness; even if they delivered everyone safely to Floating Cloud City, this deal would still lose money.

Fortunately no lives were lost, otherwise Qingwei Escort Agency's troubles would be greater.

They rested normally at night; Shen Yao slept soundly with her head buried, while the agency's escorts stayed tense all night, only relaxing considerably after dawn.

The team continued on their journey, striving to leave this mountain range in the shortest time possible.

At this time, the Head Escort's aura of evil qi helped them fend off some beasts of low spiritual wisdom, and also added a bit of meat flavor to their meals.

Three days later at dawn, Qingwei Escort Agency successfully brought everyone down the mountain.

"Go forward not more than ten li, there is a not-small town; we'll seize the time and strive to stay at an inn by evening."

Compared to painting cakes, tangible benefits are more motivating.

The wedding guests endured wind and rain lodging in the mountains; the men were fine, but the women truly found it hard to bear.

Hearing they could stay at an inn by evening? Why wait? Hurry up and journey on.